Last Week's Links

Literary Links

Charles Frazier Wants You to Wait Before Reading the Classics

“‘Over the years,’ says the historical novelist, whose new book is ‘The Trackers,’ ‘I’ve come to realize that many great books we were assigned to read in school are far more enjoyable and have more to say when approached later in life.’”

I was attracted to this interview with Charles Frazier because I’ve always thought that Henry James’s novels, with the possible exception of What Maisia Knew, shouldn’t be taught until graduate school.

Category: Reading

Granta reveals its pick of future star British novelists

“The journal’s once-in-a-decade selection of the best fiction writers under 40 has broadened its selection of 20 to include authors who ‘regard the UK as their home’”

Since 1983, Granta magazine has been releasing, every 10 years, a list that spotlights 20 novelists under the age of 40. Read about this year’s list here.

Categories: Author News, Writing

How Bookshop.org Survives—and Thrives—in Amazon’s World

“Andy Hunter’s ecommerce platform was a pandemic hit. Now he’s on a mission to prove that small businesses can scale up without selling out.”

An interesting story about the online bookstore that helped many independent book retailers survive the COVID pandemic.

Categories: Bookstores, Reading, Writing

Indie Booksellers Recommend 13 Books for 2023

Speaking of indie booksellers, here they offer some book recommendations.

Categories: Book Recommendations, Bookstores

Survey Finds Self-Published Authors Making Gains

Here’s some surprising good news for self-publishing authors: “A survey commissioned by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) found that income from self-published authors increased substantially in 2022 compared to 2021, and that independent authors earn on average more than authors published by traditional houses.”

Categories: Publishing, Writing

Truth Is Drifting Away From True Crime

Sarah Weinman, a writer and editor of true crime, discusses what she sees as a “troubling trend” in the genre: errors. She writes that true crime is in a “credibility crisis — thanks to the pressures of a voracious market for documentaries, docuseries, podcasts and movies purporting to be based on real events.”

It’s become a familiar cycle: A criminal case becomes a book, becomes a podcast, becomes a documentary, becomes a scripted series or a film, becomes another, more sensational film. There are now even true crime cookbooks. But somewhere at the start of it all an actual crime took place, leaving behind not just facts but victims and survivors. Where does a true crime cookbook leave them?

Categories: Publishing, Writing

End-of-Life Dreams

“A hospice doctor makes sense of our final visions.”

Soon after Paul Lauritzen’s wife, who was dying of ovarian cancer, entered hospice care, she had a dream of her parents, on a boat outside her window, beckoning her to come with them. The hospice physician told Lauritzen that patients who report such dreams “‘almost always die within a day or two. I’m so sorry.’ My wife died a little more than twenty-four hours later.”

Lauritzen, an emeritus professor of theology and religious studies at John Carroll University, began researching end-of-life dreams. Read his fascinating discussion of what he learned about “the power of listening to the marginalized.”

Category: Story

An end to the reading wars? More US schools embrace phonics

For decades the debate has raged about how best to teach reading. “One historical approach to teaching reading was known as ‘whole language.’ (Close cousins of this approach are ‘whole word’ and ‘look-say.’) It focused on learning entire words, placing the emphasis on meaning.” On the other side of the argument were the proponents of “phonics, with supporters arguing students need detailed instruction on the building blocks of reading. That meant lots of time on letter sounds and how to combine them into words.”

This article from the Associated Press indicates that the teaching of phonics is currently emerging as the best way to address the issue of nationwide low reading scores.

Category: Reading

© 2023 by Mary Daniels Brown

2 thoughts on “Literary Links”

  1. A thought-provoking post! I like the quote by Frazier, but, to be honest, it is equally applicable to films and music, too. I mean, a 12 year old listening to Mozart, and a 55 year old listening to Mozart or Bach are possibly different experiences, and I think truly classic films are better appreciated in terms of true dissection, analysis or appreciation when well over 30. That is just my personal opinion, of course 🙂

    1. Mary Daniels Brown

      And it’s an opinion I definitely share, Diana! Thanks for reading and commenting.

Comments are closed.

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