Tragic fiction may leave you emotionally upset It might seem logical that reading a sad fictional story would be less upsetting than reading a less sad but true story. But new research suggests this is not the case: “Consumers may choose to read a tragic fictional story because they assume that knowing it was fictional […]
Required Reading: 10 Books We Read For Class That Will Change Your Life As summer winds down, many students turn with desperation to those lists of required summer reading that they put aside a couple of months ago. But not all assigned reading is dull and unfulfilling, the editors at Huffington Post say: Sometimes reading
Reading Literature on Screen: A Price for Convenience? I love my Kindle because it allows me to carry a lot of books around without having to carry a lot of books around. And having recently downsized to a retirement home game me another reason: I no longer have room for enough bookcases to hold every
The Feud Between Amazon, Hachette Publishing, and Readers Heats Up It’s difficult to keep up with all the nuances of this issue. Here are a couple of recent articles: Dispute Between Amazon and Hachette Takes an Orwellian Turn Maybe Amazon really is rattled by the whole Authors United phenomenon organized by Douglas Preston. The writers
Harry Potter and the Battle Against Bigotry Sure, Harry Potter destroyed the evil Lord Voldemort. But, aside from making lots of money for book publishers and film studio/theme-park conglomerates, what has the wizard done for us lately? In fact, he has been helping to reduce prejudice. That’s the conclusion of research just published in the
Although we tend to think of mysteries and thrillers together, there is a difference: In a mystery, the reader sees the clues and, near the end, discovers the culprit along with the fictional detective. In a thriller, the reader learns early on who the villain is and watches as the hero and the villain try
A Dozen Mysteries and Thrillers That Blew Me Away Read More »
Could reading dark literature harm your teenage children? This isn’t a new question, but this answer is fairly well balanced, with discussion from scientists for both sides of the issue. Judy Blume: ’I thought, this is America: we don’t ban books. But then we did’ A delightful interview with Judy Blume, who has her own
When the Water’s Too Cold, Something Else to Dive Into: A Critic’s Survey of Summer Books As for this summer’s brand-new reading, if there’s one overriding motif, it’s this: the crazier, the better. Here’s a whole long list of recommended summer reading. Norman Mailer’s A Fire on the Moon: a giant leap for reportage On the
Gillian Flynn: By the Book In this interview with The New York Times, the author of the wildly successful thriller Gone Girl reveals what books she’s currently reading, who is her all-time favorite novelist, what makes a great thriller, and how she’s faring with the self-imposed project of reading every Pulitzer Prize-winning novel in chronological order.
Additions to Your TBR List Just in case your TBR (to-be-read) list isn’t long enough, here are two articles with recommendations you can add. 10 overlooked novels: how many have you read? Most novels come, have their day, and are gone. For ever. Most deserve their “do not resuscitate” label. Every so often, though, a
