What We're Reading: Hay Festival special

Take a look at previous What We’re Reading blogs for more reading inspiration. Hungry Ghosts, by Kevin Jared HoseinI'm thoroughly enjoying Hungry Ghosts, the debut novel by Kevin Jared Hosein, who won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2018, and whom I had the pleasure of hearing read at the Bocas Lit Fest in Trinidad and Tobago. It's 1940s rural Trinidad, and there's a storm brewing. Quite literally, in the shape of torrential downpours which impact the lives of the ensemble cast of characters: Hansraj and Shweta, who dream of escaping their leaky barrack for a plot in the nearby town; their son Krishna, who gets into trouble again while out searching flooded paddy fields for fish; and the wealthy businessman Dalton Changoor who mysteriously disappears during the storm, leaving his wife Marlee piecing together his disappearance. But bigger change is also in the air, with the arrival of an American military base and the resulting displacement of families and communities.I’m only a short way in – so no spoilers here – but this novel has already grabbed my attention with its highly sensory depictions of its characters, its energetic interweaving narratives, as well as the comprehensively portrayed historical backdrop of Trinidad on its journey from a colony to an independent republic. I’m looking forward to more of Kevin Jared Hosein’s writing.Matthew Beavers, Literature Relationship Manager The New Life, by Tom CreweThere is a much quoted line in Tom Crewe’s exquisite... Continue reading at 'British Council global'

[ British Council global | 2023-05-25 16:57:18 UTC ]
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Malcolm Gladwell as punishment? Judge orders woman to read 'David and Goliath'

After a woman recently turned herself in to American authorities and confessed to participating in setting several fires, a judge ordered she read both 'Goliath' and Mary C. Wood's 'Nature's Trust' in addition to serving a prison sentence and completing community service. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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10 New Books You Need to Read This Year

From biographies to technical studies and step-by-step guides, here are 10 books that you should look for in the next few months.Of course, we think you can learn a lot online. But, if you're looking to take a deeper dive, there is often no substitute for the kind of thoughtful analysis you can... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2014-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mirror, Independent and Standard enjoy festive website traffic boost | Digital ABCs

Three sites buck annual trend, but Mail, Guardian and Telegraph report month-on-month declines in daily unique browsersMirror Group Digital, Independent.co.uk and Standard.co.uk enjoyed month-on-month traffic gains in December, when the festive holiday usually results in newspaper website user... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Writers attack 'overrated' Anglo-American literature at Jaipur festival

Xiaolu Guo warns that English-language mainstream has warped a broader 'reading habit', on panel with Jhumpa Lahiri and Jonathan FranzenAmerican literature is "massively overrated", the award-winning author and film-maker Xiaolu Guo told the Jaipur literature festival – and fellow panellist and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pew survey: Reading of print books increased in 2013

The Pew survey found that e-reading increased as well but that more adults read a print book in 2013 than in the previous year. 'Print remains the foundation of Americans’ reading habits,' the report stated. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Future of Reading: 10 Trends for 2014 and Beyond

The Internet has been disrupting the businesses of publishing and bookselling for the past two decades. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The bad side of Goodreads' Reading Challenge

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... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-reading on the rise but print books still dominate

New research by the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that the percentage of American adults who read an ebook in the past year has risen to 28 percent, up from 23 percent in 2012. Yet the tree book isn't dead yet, at least in the popularity sense, as the results show most ebook... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2014-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pew: E-Reading Surges, But Print Is Hanging On

E-books are rising in popularity, but according to the Pew Research Center, print remains the foundation of Americans’ reading habits. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stafford’s 100th Celebrated with Readings, Releases

For the past 15 years or so, poets and poetry lovers around the world have earmarked January 17 as a day to pay tribute to the late poet and pacifist William Stafford (1914–1993) with public readings from his works. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Second Twitter fiction festival to run in March

The second Twitter fiction festival, searching for authors from across the world to tell stories... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How can we make sense of the world without reading stories? | Rachel Cooke

Last week, Ruth Rendell claimed that reading novels is a dying art. Sadly, she might have a pointNo one can say precisely why John Williams's novel Stoner has become a bestseller almost 50 years after its first publication. After all, plenty of books, "forgotten" or otherwise, are recommended by... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reading Harris novel stimulates brain, finds study

Reading a novel stimulates the brain for days, US researchers have found. The study,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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YotaPhone update lets you read more ebooks and documents on its energy-saving E Ink display

Much as we admired the potential of the YotaPhone in our recent review, we just couldn't overlook its lack of support for popular e-reading platforms like Amazon Kindle and Google Books. That problem hasn't been solved just yet, but things are ... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-12-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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French a laureate for good fun reading

If Jackie French gets her way the nation's children's books will be a lot stickier and messier.     Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald

[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The "Netflix For Books" Business Model, And How It'll Change The Way You Read

Mark Coker of Smashwords, which recently inked a major content deal with Scribd, weighs in on how the all-you-can-read model changes the way we read, how authors make creative choices, and how everyone gets paid.Is a "Netflix for ebooks" nearing viability? Yesterday, Smashwords, the largest... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lisa Campbell appointed as Edinburgh TV Festival director

Journalist, who has been editor of trade magazine Broadcast since 2007, will take over from Louise Benson on 24 FebruaryLisa Campbell, editor of trade magazine Broadcast, has been appointed director of the Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival.Campbell has been with the TV... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-Reads Reissues Harlan Ellison Backlist

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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There's lots to like at Upworthy, but not much to read

The fast-growing news-feature website leads the league in approvals. Is that because it publishes less rather than more?The driving belief for news websites is that more (that's more stories, features, videos, blogs) equals more hits and thus more money. But what if less can also equal more... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What authors are reading in 2013

Australian authors and critics sift through the piles of books they read in 2013 to highlight the treasures they found.     Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald

[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2013-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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