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 ]
A government report sheds light on the status of bricks-and-mortar stores in the late 2010s. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-01-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Lauren Savage and Diane Savage, her mother-in-law, opened The Reading Bug in San Carlos, Calif., a community south of San Francisco and north of Palo Alto, in 2008. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-01-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
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More than 100 writers, artists, comedians and musicians will voice James Joyce’s seminal novel in celebration of its publication a century agoOne hundred years ago, in February 1922, Sylvia Beach, owner of the Paris bookshop Shakespeare and Company, published James Joyce’s Ulysses, in full, for... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-01-20 09:30:55 UTC ]
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The Reading Agency is turning 20, and launching a birthday campaign to get the nation reading with the help of new ambassadors, including Dara McAnulty, Michael Rosen and Benjamin Zephaniah. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-19 22:05:03 UTC ]
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Andrew Lipstein's "Last Resort" captures our tenuous ownership of life experiences and the vampiric practice of fiction writing. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-01-18 13:57:08 UTC ]
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Facing tough comparisons to 2021, when sales got off to a strong start compared to 2020, unit sales of print books fell 13.9% last week from the first week in 2021 at outlets that report to BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-01-13 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The publishing industry is booming. According to Publishers Weekly, sales of print books rose 8.9% in 2021, selling 825.7 million units, up from 757.9 million in 2020. This is the second year in a row to see a similar sales jump; in 2020, sales were up 8.2% from 2019, in which 693.7 million... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-01-12 19:07:42 UTC ]
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Your first audiobook of the year sets the tone for the rest of the reading year. So how do you make sure to pick the right one? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-01-11 11:30:00 UTC ]
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Tasked with bringing more cohesion to the Asian and Island Pacific communities in diaspora, Gold House names the first six of its 2022 books. The post Gold House Issues a New Asian and Pacific Islander Reading List appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-01-07 15:01:59 UTC ]
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Bethanne Patricks' January picks cover train wrecks, political drama, enraging inequality, the complications of polyamory and the joy of the ampersand. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-01-07 14:33:51 UTC ]
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Whether you're talking to a bookseller or watching a TikTok, you may be getting a rec from someone who hasn't read the book. And that's okay. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-01-05 11:37:00 UTC ]
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If you’re looking for the best book club books, 2022 releases have a ton to offer! Check out our picks for fiction and nonfiction, like How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-01-05 11:31:00 UTC ]
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Layoffs and restructuring at DC, the growing popularity of digital and print Korean comics, and the return of in-person attendance to New York Comic Con are among the topics covered in the most-read comics stories published by 'PW' in 2021. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-01-05 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Sequioa Nagamatsu discusses his much-awaited debut novel about people living in a future beset by the Arctic Plague. The post Sequoia Nagamatsu’s Dystopian Debut Is a Must-Read for the New Year appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2022-01-04 21:00:24 UTC ]
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Manga is filled with many ongoing titles, but what if you want to read something that’s finished? Here are the best completed manga series, including Haikyu! by Haruichi Furudate. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-01-04 11:32:00 UTC ]
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Feeling nostalgic? Try ‘The Chronicles of Prydain.’ For something more modern, there’s ‘The Midnight Bargain. And so many more. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-01-03 23:00:00 UTC ]
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Set in the claustrophobic world of academia, this twisty tale by Mark Prins will remind you of Donna Tartt’s ‘The Secret History’ Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-12-31 23:16:02 UTC ]
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Exploring the diversity of The Atlantic’s original fiction: Your weekly guide to the best in books Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2021-12-31 15:24:18 UTC ]
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The stories of the US short-story writer O. Henry, real name William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), are characterised by their irony and by their surprise endings, which became something of a signature of a good O. Henry short story. However, another word that is often used to describe O. Henry’s... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2021-12-31 15:00:32 UTC ]
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The Association of American Publishers (AAP) has welcomed the decision by New York Governor Kathy Hochul to veto a bill that would have forced publishers and authors to grant e-book licences to libraries under state-imposed terms. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-31 06:31:54 UTC ]
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