Turning literature into a numbers game makes some sense for the book trade, but none for readersWe may be halfway through January already, but the spirit of new year is still in full swing over in San Francisco, where the 2014 Goodreads Reading Challenge goes from strength to strength to strength. More than 240,000 of Goodreads' 25 million members have already committed to reading more than 14m books this year, pledging to get through them at an average of more than a book a week. And many fans of books will say hurrah for that. I reckon I'm pretty much in favour of books and literature, too, but the Goodreads Reading Challenge just sets my teeth on edge.It starts right there in the name. Since when was reading any kind of challenge? Isn't it supposed to be fun? Maybe not for children still learning to differentiate their Perfect Peters from their Horrid Henrys, or for the one in six UK adults who still struggle with literacy, but Goodreads is a site for people who are already "readers" . I don't think they have schoolchildren in mind when they suggest you should "raise your reading ambitions" and it certainly doesn't look like a scheme designed to help adult learners "make it to the final chapter". All this talk of pledging, of targets, of tracking your progress, is just another step in the marketisation of the reading experience, another stage in the commodification of literary culture.We know that literacy correlates with better social outcomes, that literary fiction... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
Bethanne Patrick's May highlights include new fiction by John Waters, Chris Bohjalian and Emma Straub, fresh David Sedaris, breakout poetry and more. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-05-02 13:00:40 UTC ]
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While arguing against intolerance, Azar Nafisi draws parallels between literary dystopias and contemporary America. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-04-29 12:00:16 UTC ]
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Amazon reported a net loss of $3.8 billion in the first quarter of 2022 as online sales fell 3%, to $51.1 billion. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
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When learning about the Holocaust, it's important to center Jewish voices and books that don't shy away from the brutal realities of it. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-04-28 10:35:00 UTC ]
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Iranian American author Azar Nafisi explores fiction as a means of engaging with the world, rather than retreating from it in “Read Dangerously.” Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2022-04-27 19:45:22 UTC ]
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Today's release of Don Winslow's 'City on Fire' opens a social-media 'read-along' project for HarperCollins and Tandem Collective. The post Marketing: A Social Media ‘Read-Along’ With HarperCollins appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-04-26 19:29:53 UTC ]
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Australian author Aaron Blabey's popular graphic novel series The Bad Guys is hitting the big screen. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The publishing jamboree was finally back after a two year break with clues of what we can expect in bookshops once all the deals are signedAfter two years off because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the London book fair, one of the biggest international literary events, returned in full force last... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-04-13 12:56:37 UTC ]
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War never happens in a vacuum. These books show the historic contours of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2022-04-12 17:08:00 UTC ]
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April children's book releases feature new books by award winning authors like Kyle Lukoff and Dan Santat as well as fantastic debuts. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-04-08 10:32:00 UTC ]
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In exhibit #3,767 of ginned-up cancel culture panic, The Daily Mail is reporting that Stirling University in Scotland… …has removed Jane Austen [from a literature course] to help “decolonise the curriculum” and “contribute increased diversity” on the syllabus. Stirling University’s English... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-04-06 15:14:17 UTC ]
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Two outstanding examples that daringly upend familiar conventions are Andre Bjerke’s “The Lake of the Dead" and Masahiro Imamura’s “Death Among the Undead." Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-04-06 13:00:44 UTC ]
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These are the 10 books the American Library Association reports as being the most banned or challenged titles of 2021. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-04-05 14:07:04 UTC ]
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729 formal book challenges were reported to the American Library Association in 2021, which is likely only 10% of total challenges. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-04-04 17:35:10 UTC ]
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ALA kicked off National Library Week with the release of its annual State of America's Libraries report, and its "Top 10 Most Challenged Books" list. The 729 challenges tracked by ALA in 2021 represent the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling its list 20 years ago,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-04 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Bethanne Patrick's April picks include highly anticipated novels from Jennifer Egan, Emily St. John Mandel, Don Winslow and Douglas Stuart. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-03-31 13:00:29 UTC ]
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If I could, I’d delve into undeservedly forgotten novels, works of intellectual history and biography -- and so much more Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-03-30 16:51:25 UTC ]
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Mine is the story of the woman who thought she was making a book about others; realized only as it was about to be published, that she was the broken one the book talked about. The fragmented, the dispersed, the uprooted. When I was editing the anthology Home in Florida: Latinx Writers and the... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2022-03-29 11:00:00 UTC ]
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In Peng Shepherd's fantastical thriller, a cartographer realizes the true power of maps. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-03-24 13:36:56 UTC ]
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A reading list hints at the richness and breadth of African American children’s writing before Brown v. Board of Education. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-03-19 09:00:07 UTC ]
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