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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: reading

reading stories: 42 news summaries

1 - 20 of 42 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

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ANALYSIS

Kids Pick Their Own Books in Classroom Revolution

But will Harry Potter beat out the Bard?

Aug 29, 09 4:11 PM CDT
(Newser) - To Kill a Mockingbird or Captain Underpants? The choice, for most middle school students, is a no-brainer—and an increasingly prevalent one now that schools from New York to Seattle hope to revolutionize English classes by letting students choose their own books, the New York Times reports. The approach, known... More »

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literature • reading • teachers • students • reading workshop

Americans Read Over President's Shoulder

Obama's vacation book list drives leaps in Amazon sales rankings

Aug 27, 09 1:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama’s poll numbers are faltering, but his summer reading choices are getting rave reviews, Politico reports. A survey of the Amazon.com standings of the five books the White House announced he would take with him on his Martha’s Vineyard vacation show a drastic improvement in sales.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
literature • publishing • reading • vacation • Thomas Friedman • book • Amazon.com • John Adams • President Obama • Martha's Vineyard • David McCullough • George Pelecanos • Richard Price • Kent Haruf

 A Supermodel's 
 Summer Reads 

You can look smart, but still get your fill of juicy sex

Aug 27, 09 1:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Paulina Porizkova “quit school at 15 to live off of my looks,” but she’s also a lifelong bookworm, she writes for Modelinia. Because she feels “the need to constantly prove I’m not some dumb model,” she offers up her “summer reading for folks... More »

MORE ABOUT:
publishing • model • reading • summer • novel • book • supermodel • Paulina Porizkova

Overanalysis

The True Meaning of Obama's Reading List

Prez hunkers down with thrillers, Friedman

Aug 25, 09 11:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama is on vacation, and that means it’s the media’s sacred duty to overanalyze his summer reading plans. John Dickerson of Slate delves into the meaning behind what Obama’s packing:
  • The Way Home by George Pelecanos
  • Lush Life by Richard Price
  • Hot
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • reading • vacation • The Wire • Thomas Friedman • book

OPINION

 Let's Make Health 
 Insurance Policies 
 Readable 

Legal mumbo-jumbo means patients can't tell what they're covered for

Aug 20, 09 8:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - There’s one important health care issue that’s generated little chatter: the oft-inscrutable language of insurance policies, writes Rhode Island health official John Cogan in the New York Times. Policies are penned at a grad-school level, which led his state to require, as of next year, that they be... More »

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health insurance • insurance companies • reading • health care reform

 Has Tweeting Ruined Reading? 


Aug 10, 09 7:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - The digital world has become so engrossing that David L Ulin finds it difficult to focus and read a book—not a good sign when you're the editor of the Los Angeles Times book review. "The encroachment of the buzz," from hours of emails to inane rumors across... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • literature • reading • book • digital content

 15-Letter Phrase 
 for Memory Boost?  
 Crossword Puzzle 

Activity may fend off the start of memory loss

Aug 4, 09 12:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - Doing crossword puzzles may delay the slide into forgetfulness associated with dementia, a study shows. Researchers monitored the frequency with which a group of elderly subjects engaged in reading, writing, group discussions, playing music, playing cards, and doing crossword puzzles, and found that those who developed dementia took part in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
music • dementia • study • writing • memory loss • reading • crossword puzzle • health research

(Newser) - Simon & Schuster is going to put about 4,500 book titles for sale on a relatively new website that caters to e-readers, reports BusinessWeek. The publisher, which handles authors such as Stephen King, Mary Higgins Clark, and Dan Brown, said the ebooks will be available starting tomorrow on... More »

MORE ABOUT:
reading • Kindle • Simon & Schuster • ebooks • publishing industry • Scribd

(Newser) - The women of the Supreme Court—Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and now likely Sonia Sotomayor—may come from wildly different backgrounds, but they all shared a common childhood pastime: curling up with a Nancy Drew novel. What was it about that wholesome teenage detective? wonders Mary Jo... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg • Sandra Day O'Connor • reading • US Supreme Court • Sonia Sotomayor • Nancy Drew

OPINION

 Lame Dads Rule in Kids Books 

Old dad, poor dad as out of it as ever in kid lit

May 26, 09 4:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - Despite major upheavals in gender roles, clueless dads unable to parent or set a table still rule in children's books—if they exist at all—laments one stay-at-home father. "I’m aware that there is plenty of good-natured humor to be had from lampooning fathers," writes columnist Damon... More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • parenting • children • literature • reading • children's books • gender stereotypes • gender bias • fathers

OPINION

Teach to the Test—But Make Better Tests 

Tie reading passages in with curriculum to even playing field

Mar 23, 09 10:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - Critics worry that the current system of “fill-in-the-bubble” school testing promotes teaching to the test—but maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing if we had tests “worth teaching to,” writes Ed Hirsch Jr in the New York Times. The tests themselves are highly reliable... More »

MORE ABOUT:
education • reading • teaching • No Child Left Behind • standardized testing

OPINION

Steinbeck's Laugh Would Echo Down
Wall Street

Grapes of Wrath author hated US affluence

Mar 22, 09 3:12 PM CDT
(Newser) - John Steinbeck would relish our economic decline if he were alive today, writes Rachel Dry in the Washington Post. The author of the Great Depression classic Grapes of Wrath, which is regaining popularity these days, romanticized economic hardship and grieved over the affluence of post-WWII America. "He'd think... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recession • reading • John Steinbeck • The Grapes of Wrath

 'Sexy' Classics We 
 Say We've Read 

We think fibbing about reading classics makes us appear intelligent, 'sexier'

Mar 5, 09 8:36 AM CST
(Newser) - The Bible, War and Peace, 1984, and Ulysses are some of the classics people say they've read but actually haven't, a new British study has found. Why? Two-thirds of those surveyed fibbed about their reading mainly to appear intelligent and "more sexually attractive," a researcher tells the Daily ... More »

MORE ABOUT:
literature • reading • dating • book • lying • classics

(Newser) - Tech bloggers reading their tea leaves say e-book fans can expect the new version of the Kindle on Feb. 9. Though maker Amazon has made no announcement, the company has scheduled a major press conference that day with chief Jeff Bezos. And, notes Brad Stone of the New York Times,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
reading • Jeff Bezos • Kindle • tech industry • Amazon.com

 More Americans 
 Reading Fiction: NEA 

Study indicates literary decline might be reversing

Jan 12, 09 1:37 PM CST
(Newser) - The percentage of Americans reading fiction has increased for the first time in years, a new study by the National Endowment for the Arts indicates. The reported 50.2% of the population who picked up a book for pleasure marks a turnaround from a statistical decline in literary culture over... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Harry Potter • Internet • literature • reading • libraries • book • National Endowment for the Arts • Oprah's Book Club • Twilight

462 Books a Year? No Big Deal for One Critic

LA Times critic explains her incredible literary appetite.

Jan 11, 09 3:21 PM CST
(Newser) - Determined to read more this year? Critic and columnist Sarah Weinman may be able to help, if her standard doesn't intimidate: She plowed through 462 titles last year. "I read a page not necessarily word by word,” she tells the Los Angeles Times, “but by capturing pages... More »

MORE ABOUT:
reading • book

 10 Biggest College Libraries 

Labyrinthine stacks good for more than reading

Jan 11, 09 7:09 AM CST
(Newser) - Whether your purpose is to study, flirt or nap, college libraries are "labyrinths" of opportunity. The editors of College on the Record list the biggest, and why they like them.
  1. Harvard (13,617,133 books): "Because size matters."
  2. Yale (9,932,080 books): "Because
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
University of Illinois • University of Texas • UC Berkeley • reading • Harvard • Yale • library


 Web Novels  
 Let Readers 
 Drive the Plot 

Weekly installments end with a choice

Jan 5, 09 3:03 PM CST
(Newser) - Fantasy fans who’d like a role in the action can turn to literature’s latest incarnation: the online Web-novel, or wovel, NPR reports. Readers can click and read a chapter each week. Then, “at the end of every installment, there's a binary plot branch point with a vote... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • Web 2.0 • literature • reading • web • novel • book

OPINION

 Rove: Bush 
 Is a Bookworm 


Dec 26, 08 8:30 AM CST
(Newser) - Bitter liberals may believe the president is an illiterate buffoon, but in 2006 the president read a whopping 95 books, and, just for good measure, read the entire Bible front-to-back, Karl Rove assures us in today’s Wall Street Journal. “In the 35 years I've known George W.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Karl Rove • reading • book • George W. Bush

OPINION

 Bolaño's 2666 Tops 
 Another Book List 

Choi's A Person of Interest also gets Salon fiction nod; '67 Oscar race tops non-fiction

Dec 8, 08 2:55 PM CST
(Newser) - Chilean author Roberto Bolaño's novel 2666, about the murders of women in a border town, features on Salon's list of the 10 best books of the year. They include:
  • 2666: Bolaño, who died young in 2003, is celebrated posthumously in the English-speaking world. "He pursues, with
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
reading • great books • Roberto Bolano • Jane Mayer • Susan Choi • Mark Harris • Best of 2008

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