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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: reading

reading stories: 42 news summaries

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Glossies

 Death of Reading 
 Greatly Exaggerated 

Author Eggers pooh-poohs skeptical pundits, says it's 'as alive as ever'

Sep 29, 08 4:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - Our bleak outlook on the future of reading owes itself to a doomsday reflex, the pervasive belief that things are bound to get worse, author Dave Eggers writes in Esquire. "It must be true, we think—just yesterday I saw some kid on the bus, and he wasn't reading... More »

MORE ABOUT:
literacy • reading • youth • book • children's books • Dave Eggers • publishing industry • 826 Valencia

10 Books to Pass Up
With Confidence

Richard Wilson saves us all a bunch of time and effort with a not-reading list

Sep 20, 08 5:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - Forget the coma-inducing titles that lit lovers keep telling you to read, Richard Wilson writes in his book, Can’t Be Arsed: 101 Things Not to Do Before You Die. He lists the top 10 clunkers in the Daily Telegraph:
  • Ulysses, James Joyce: notoriously hard, so why bother?
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
reading • Hunter S. Thompson • James Joyce • book • Ernest Hemingway • Homer • Richard Wilson • Marcel Proust • Jane Austen • Leo Tolstoy

ANALYSIS

 Re-Kindling May Not Be Enough

Version 2.0 is coming, but a megahit may still elude Amazon

Aug 26, 08 9:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - Amazon plans to launch the next generation of its Kindle e-book player in the coming months, but an iPod-sized hit may still be out of the company's grasp, Peter Burrows writes in BusinessWeek. Much-needed improvements are on the way, but the real future for Kindle could be in using its... More »

MORE ABOUT:
technology • reading • Jeff Bezos • Kindle • Amazon • ebooks

To Turn Boys Into Readers, Gross Them Out

Publishers embrace books about farts, boogers, blood

Aug 8, 08 11:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Young boys, who trail far behind their female peers as readers, are reversing that trend with help from publishers who seek to exploit their love for everything gross. The Wall Street Journal examines the wave of children's’ titles rife with farts, boogers, blood, and flesh-eating bacteria—and talks with some... More »

MORE ABOUT:
education • children • reading • Scholastic • book • children's books • Penguin Group

analysis

Kindle Is King of the Market —But It's a Small Market

Amazon's electronic reader is up against tough demographics

Aug 5, 08 9:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - After about 9 months on the market, how goes the Kindle? No official sales figures are out for Amazon's electronic reader, but Liz Gunnison of Portfolio tries to get a sense of things. If you were expecting it to ignite a revolution in reading, keep dreaming. Amazon has likely... More »

MORE ABOUT:
technology • reading • Jeff Bezos • Kindle • Amazon • ebooks

Does Surfing Equal Reading?

Experts debate whether kids' online time is
as educational as hitting the books

Jul 27, 08 2:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - As kids spend more time on the internet and less time reading books, a debate is raging over whether online reading is as educational as the traditional kind, the New York Times reports. While the Web allows readers to quickly gobble up multiple perspectives and information, some experts worry that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
education • Internet • web surfing • children • reading • book

analysis

Online Readers Have No Attention Span

So writers serve it up fast and simple, with lists and links

Jun 14, 08 6:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - Web readers are fidgety, so writers have to serve up the goods fast, Michael Agger writes in Slate. For example:
  • Online readers are “selfish, lazy, and ruthless,” according to theorist Jakob Nielsen.
  • They are informavores hunting for information at all costs.
  • They like text
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • online media • reading

 Search Engines: How
 They're Reshaping Your Brain 

Is faster thinking always better?

Jun 11, 08 10:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - Although he’s thrilled with all the time he saves using the Internet for research and awed by the vast intellectual opportunities available to every web surfer, Nicholas Carr is a bit disconcerted that he no longer has the patience for reading books or long articles. With his netizen mind... More »

MORE ABOUT:
artificial intelligence • Internet • reading • human intelligence • book • computer

Bored at Work? Site Disguises Classic Lit

Readatwork.com lets you fool the boss

May 30, 08 2:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Business world got you down? Want to escape into a classic poem or short story? The New Zealand Book Council has made a website to help you: ReadatWork.com. The site brings up a fake Windows desktop with folders and PowerPoint files, the Wall Street Journal reports. Click on them,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
corporate culture • literature • reading • poetry • office • website • novel

 10 Easy Breezy Summer Reads 

Mostly light new literary fare from the Devil Wears Prada scribe and others

May 28, 08 12:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - The perfect summer read is like a breathmint: light, refreshing, and available for purchase at the airport. Cosmopolitan book editor John Searles dishes his top 10 titles  of the season to MSNBC.
  1. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein: a family tell-all—from the dog’s
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
reading • summer • book • Frank Lloyd Wright • Lauren Weisberger • Augusten Burroughs • Garth Stein • Chris Bohialian • Andrew Sean Greer • Emily Giffin • Lisa Unger • Michael Tonello • Birkin bag • Jessica Anya Blau • Nancy Horan

Depressed Dads Make Kids
Less Literate

Sad fathers don't read as much to babies, whose vocabs suffer

May 7, 08 1:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - About 10% of new fathers show signs of clinical depression—a rate twice that of other men—and that can have a noticeable effect on their children, an American Psychiatric Association study finds. Sad dads interact less with their progeny, which means less bedtime reading and a smaller vocabulary by... More »

MORE ABOUT:
fatherhood • parenting • depression • literacy • reading • infant • vocabulary • toddler

 Don't Get Comfy,
 Harry Potter 

Dr. Seuss, EB White win popularity contest over Rowling

May 5, 08 4:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - Both are fantasists who've sold zillions of books, but in a recent poll of American children, the classic wins out: Dr. Seuss' works are more popular than JK Rowling's. Three million-plus kids weighed in on an educational software company's website, and Rowling's Harry Potter books trail works by EB White,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Harry Potter • Dr. Seuss • JK Rowling • children • reading • book • Harper Lee • Laura Numeroff • EB White • Judy Blume • Katherine Paterson

Dems' Advice
on Reading: 'Blah Blah Blah'

Errant email from Pelosi's office offers talking points

Feb 28, 08 5:24 PM CST
(Newser) - Your Democratic congressional representative may do well to avoid the advice from Nancy Pelosi's office regarding “Read Across America” day next Monday, writes Washington Post blogger Mary Ann Akers. An email on how to deal with the big day urges Dems to stress the damage done to education programs... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Nancy Pelosi • email • reading • Read Across America

Eating Isn't Only Healthy Benefit of Family Dinner

Structured, deep interaction at meals yields adjusted kids

Feb 7, 08 1:18 PM CST
(Newser) - Studies in the 1990s showed that regular family dinners made kids less likely to do drugs, smoke or have psychological problems, but a closer look now finds that it's what goes on during those meals—strong verbal interaction, parents showing interest in their children—that really counts in the youngsters'... More »

MORE ABOUT:
family • literacy • reading

JK Rowling to Speak at Harvard Commencement

Hogwarts creator will get honorary degree

Jan 18, 08 4:54 AM CST
(Newser) - Harvard students will get a Hogwarts send-off at their spring commencement this year, reports the Crimson, with Harry Potter author JK Rowling as the keynote speaker.  "Perhaps no one in our time has done more than JK Rowling to inspire young people to experience the excitement and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Harry Potter • JK Rowling • reading • author • book • Harvard • Harvard Crimson • Hogwarts • commencement speech

Is Our Children Reading?

No, and neither are teenagers and adults, new study finds

Nov 19, 07 12:46 PM CST
(Newser) - As far as young people are concerned, books are so 20th century. Reading's popularity has fallen as gadgets have taken over modern life, according to a new National Endowment for the Arts report. Only a third of high school seniors read at a proficient level. “And proficiency is not... More »

MORE ABOUT:
children • literacy • reading • book • National Endowment for the Arts

Amazon's E-Book Gamble Gets Big Play

Newsweek looks at changes $399 device could wreak on reading

Nov 19, 07 3:24 AM CST
(Newser) - News that Amazon would debut its new Kindle e-book leaked earlier this week, and a Newsweek cover story has the full hype on what Jeff Bezos and company hope to achieve with it. "This isn't a device, it's a service," Bezos says of of the Kindle, pointing to... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Google • publishing • reading • book • Jeff Bezos • Annie Proulx • John Updike • E Ink • Kindle • Amazon.com

Readers Hurt
by Paper Cuts

Newspapers dropping book reviews helps confine ideas to a 'literary ghetto'

Sep 3, 07 4:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - Newspapers are under financial pressure, and one of the first things to go is often the book reviews. But author and editor Steve Wasserman thinks that's a serious problem. “Civilization is built on a foundation of books,” he declares in a polemic in CJR, and  stripping their pages... More »

MORE ABOUT:
newspaper • literature • reading • book reviews • book • print journalism

What CEOs Read Before They Lead

Business leaders find refuge and resource in luxury book collections

Jul 22, 07 1:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scanning the personal libraries of CEOs, tech gurus and venture geniuses reveals not only what they read but how they think, the Times reports. The well-heeled have taken to housing their exorbitant collections in luxurious, custom-built, private spaces. And if you read between the lines, the literature tends to reflect... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Steve Jobs • CEO • business • literature • reading • Michael Milken • Galileo • Machiavelli • Queen Elizabeth I • personal library • libraries • book

Teens Having Safer Sex, Fewer Babies

Record-low birth rate part of positive trends in kids' health

Jul 13, 07 4:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - High school students are having less sex than kids in the past, and more are using condoms. The teen birth rate is at an all-time low, and the proportion of teens completing high school is up. A new federal report looks at the condition of Americans under 18 and finds... More »

MORE ABOUT:
pregnancy • sexual health • sex education • condom • sexuality • reading • teenager

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