These are articles from around the web that caught my eye over the last week. IS FICTION AN ADDICTION? Who among us who love reading fiction have not asked ourselves these questions: At some point we must ask ourselves if fiction is junk food for our souls. Too much of my lifetime has been consumed in …
As e-book sales remain stalled at some 25 percent of the market, hardcovers and paperbacks held steady at a time digital has upended the music, film and television industries. Source: From coloring books to Harper Lee, a good year for the physical book | The Seattle Times
If you enjoyed a good book and you’re a woman, the critics think you’re wrong Jennifer Weiner never passes up an opportunity to lament how the world of literary criticism mistreats authors (like her) and readers of popular literature. “Every once in a while,” she explains, “a literary novel becomes tremendously popular, transcending the typical …
The universe within. This is not an example of outstanding writing. But I can’t help but warm to someone who can write this: While reading you create a universe within you where your characters talk and move through breathtaking landscapes and everything is as unique as you and your imagination are. You become the container …
She swoons to conquer Batya Ungar-Sargon, who has a Ph.D. in the eighteenth century novel, asks, “Readers of romance fiction enjoy tales of alpha males and forced seduction. Could they still be considered feminists?” In 2013, Americans spent $1.08 billion dollars on romance novels, which represented a whopping 13 per cent of the adult-fiction revenue …
Everything Science Knows About Reading On Screens This article summarizes research into how we read differently on screens than in books. Of course not all screens are the same: A smartphone screen is much smaller than a laptop or desktop computer screen, a Kindle is different from an iPad. “But many researchers say that reading …
The 6 types of Little Free Library patrons Mary Ann Gwinn, book editor for The Seattle Times, receives LOTS of books. As a way to spread the wealth around, her spouse built her a Little Free Library for her birthday. The Little Free Library movement was started in Wisconsin by Todd Bol and Rick Brooks …
Being a Better Online Reader Maria Konnikova collects evidence and hypotheses about how the shift from print to online texts has changed the experience of reading. She begins with reference to Maryanne Wolf, whose book Proust and the Squid examines the history of the science and development of the reading brain from antiquity to the …
The top 10 books about reading A list by Rebecca Mead, author of The Road to Middlemarch: I wasn’t aware of the term “bibliomemoir” until the novelist Joyce Carol Oates used it – or perhaps coined it? – in reviewing my book, The Road to Middlemarch, earlier this year. But it’s a fitting enough label …
INFOGRAPHIC: How Long Does It Take to Read Popular Books? For visually oriented readers: Ever wondered how long it takes to read The Great Gatsby (2.62 hours) compared to Atlas Shrugged (31.22 hours)? If so, you’ll like this infographic by Personal Creations. William Golding Flies classic holds true 60 years on It’s 60 years this …
