It's almost a new year, let the embarrassing work Christmas parties commence and the Auld Lang Synes ring! For my part, I'd like to say farewell to 2012 and herald 2013 with a list of favorite things I discovered or enjoyed this past year, for the most part online. Hopefully you'll agree that this collection…
Tag: books
Top Ten Self-Deprecating Quotes from Authors
The literary world is a pretentious place, right? You wouldn't think so judging by these ten quotes from authors playfully poking fun at their success. Who knew the Paris Review was such a popular venue in which to be self-deprecating? Know of any others? Tell us in a comment below. 1. Vladimir Nabokov "Lolita is famous,…
Catcher in the Rye To Be Dropped from Curriculum? Puh-lease
New Common Core Standards drop classic novels in favor of "informational texts." The US school system will undergo some big changes within the next two years, chiefly due to a decision to remove a good deal of classic novels from the curriculum, or so the recent media reports would have you think. The idea behind…
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#twitterfiction Worthy of a Retweet
Literary festivals come to town and go, and for whatever reason you just couldn't make it out to all you wanted to see this year. Fear not! Now the festival can come to you. Today is the first day of Twitter's very own Fiction Festival, an event that draws writers and readers from around the…
The Truth About Youth and Books
Young people today just don't read enough, right? If you're under the age of 30, you've probably been accused of this at some point in your life. In fact, it seems that every upcoming generation is stereotyped as lazier than the one that came before it. We've all overheard the same complaints: "always up to…
Some Pig, Some Book: Charlotte’s Web Turns 60
How E.B. White loved spiders before the rest of the world fell in love with his. Some children's books are truly timeless. When you think of their titles, the very smell of their pages seems to seep from your memory, and you find yourself once again feeling those same emotions you felt on the first…
A Promising Payday, a Petulant Penguin
Lena Dunham scores with Random House while Penguin seeks repayment on book deals gone sour. If you've evaded living under a rock this past week, you've probably also heard about the bidding war over Lena Dunham's forthcoming book of essays that resulted in a $3.5m payout for the author (slash director, slash actress). Yes, now…
Ruh Roh, JK Rowling Upsets Middle England and Sikh Community
It seems that when beloved Harry Potter author JK Rowling departed Hogwarts with her latest novel, she strayed a little far from her adoring public, too. The new book, A Casual Vacancy, has been published for all of a week and is already shrouded in controversy. Though it was never intended to be for a young…
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