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 ]
TWO RECENT TITLES from the University Press of Florida make for a remarkably successful pairing: one focuses on the “golden years” of George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet through the memoir lens of former soloist Bettijane Sills, while the other offers, through a series of impressionistic... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-07-28 17:00:03 UTC ]
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Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes has harsh words about Facebook and its founder. Thursday morning, the New York Times published an op-ed by Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes that pulled no punches. Hughes’s message was right there in the headline: “It’s time to break up Facebook.”Read Full Story Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2019-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Devised as a highly participatory hub of more than 2,500 events, the Sharjah Children's Reading Festival opens in the coming UNESCO World Book Capital. The post Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival: ‘Making Reading a Lifelong Habit’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scholastic's biennial Kids & Family Reading Report finds American families are reading books aloud to their children more often. The post Scholastic’s New ‘Kids & Family Reading’ Report: Reading Aloud Is Up appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Former President Obama is out of office but he’s keeping up on politics and social issues with the books he’s reading. Obama shared a list of books he's been reading on Facebook on Saturday. The list is long on intellectual nonfiction and short on anything that could be described as a beach read.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Just launched this month, Croatia's 'free reading zone', funded by government and private donors, is intended to offer thousands of free ebooks to residents and visitors. The post Naming Itself a Free Reading Zone, Zagreb Launches ‘Croatia Reads’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-12-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Read On. Get On. is to campaign for a new measurement of primary school children’s reading, as part of plans to get all children enjoying reading by 2025. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Being a publisher today is hard work. On Day Two of the Digiday Publishing Summit, we granted publishers anonymity to share their biggest challenges. Publishers see big opportunity to reach new audiences on social media. But distributing to platforms efficiently and without giving up reader... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2016-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Reading Agency is launching a project to provide reading activities for older people thanks to a £2.1m grant from the Big Lottery Fund. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Around 27% of people fear reading could become a “forgotten pleasure” according to new research commissioned to mark the 10th anniversary of Galaxy Quick Reads. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The number of children in the UK who took part in The Reading Agency’s Summer Reading Challenge this year was down 2.8% on last year’s figure. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Many "Walking Dead" fans have been moping about over the past few weeks due to an unexpected and violent character death. Now the recent casting news of actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan has readers of the comic books in a tizzy. Hero Complex can confirm that Morgan has been officially cast in the role... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quick Reads is set to become one of the The Reading Agency’s programmes after the two charities have decided to work together. Cathy Rentzenbrink, project director of Quick Reads, told The Bookseller she is very excited about the partnership. “All the work we now do will have a greater impact.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Frank Schembari loves books — printed books. He loves how they smell. He loves scribbling in the margins, underlining interesting sentences, folding a page corner to mark his place. Schembari is not a retiree who sips tea at Politics ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Specs Who LeVar Burton Age 57 Claim to fame Emmy-winning actor (Roots, Star Trek: The Next Generation); host and producer of Reading Rainbow; author of the children’s book The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm (available Oct. 7) Base Los Angeles Twitter @levarburton What’s the first information you... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2014-10-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Men are giving up on reading books because they prefer to watch the big screen version instead, a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In our increasingly global society, books that compare and illuminate the worlds’ faiths can prove useful tools in fostering tolerance and cooperation. Today, with events in the Middle East still at center stage, understanding Islam in the context of other faiths dominates the field. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Early last month Junot Díaz nearly caused a riot when hundreds of fans descended on the Union Square Barnes & Noble in New York City to hear the author read from his latest, This Is How You Lose Her. But, to put it mildly, not every author is Junot Díaz, and getting a crowd to hear you read... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Are you ready for a bombshell? Turns out people who read ebooks read more books than those don't. That tidbit comes from the number crunchers at Pew. According to a new report titled "The Rise of E-Reading," the ebook readers read an average of 24 books in the past year, versus the 15 books read... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cysts in both wrists made reading a literal pain. But Lamicall’s Tablet Holder takes that pain away by holding up my Kindle for me. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2024-05-12 13:00:00 UTC ]
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