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Brooklyn, NY — Weary of the never-ending influx of writers, Brooklyn has finally said, "Enough."
A moratorium on new authors passed the Borough Council unanimously and goes into effect at the end of the month.
"They're everywhere!" complained Edith Wharton. "You can't walk out your door without tripping over one. We should build a wall. And make them pay for it."
Ralf Halfcalf, owner of Cuppa Java agrees. "They're in here the whole damn day—on their laptops—and they buy one lousy decaf-skinny-mocha-capp. Buncha cheapskates, y'ask me."
Where once Brooklynites saw a rich diversity on their sidewalks and in their neighborhoods, they now see drab monotony—an endless parade of skinny jeans, plaid shirts, and vintage Keds.
Not everyone is happy about the new ban. When asked how it might affect her personally, Brooklyn author Irma Vepp sounded distresed. "So… yeah. It's like… you, know, like… so WEIRD??" —her anxiety painfully evident in her pronounced upspeak.
Bella Ziplock, borough president, seemed almost apologetic. "Really, I've met some of them, and they seem decent enough. But there's been a lot of pressure—we just can't take in any more of them."
Cherie Belle Korteks, special to City Examiner
and LitLovers.
ritten by Cheryl Jones* for LitLovers.We all know reading to youngsters is important. But aside from the pure joy we feel, it's easy to overlook why it's so important.
Take a look at these highlights from a study conducted by the Melbourne (Australia) Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.
Reading to Young Children
------A Head Start in Life
--------—Ages 4 to 5—
♦ Reading to this age group has a significant positive effect later in life—on reading (language & literacy) and cognitive skills (numeracy & cognition).
♦ Children read to more frequently achieve higher scores on the [Australian] National Assessment Program for both Reading and Numeracy for ages 8 to 9.
♦These differences in reading and cognitive skills are not related to the child's family background or home environment.Authored by: G. Kalb and J.C. van Ours, 2012
Print size matters. Based on work by Glenn Dorman, a child development specialist, young children’s eyes are still developing, which is why lettering in children's books is so large (small letter aren't helpful). Good rule of thumb: the younger the child, the bigger the letters.
Frequency matters, too. According to the Melbourne study (above), reading to children 3-5 days a week advances reading skills by six months. Reading 6-7 days a week can advance their skills by a full year!One reason early reading is so beneficial is that it strengthens vocabulary and thinking skills—enabling children to ask questions when they're presented with difficult new material. The greater the vocabulary, the easier it is to ask for help.
Other studies over the years have shown that when children fall behind in the lower grades they often stay behind in the upper grades. Worse, they're at risk of dropping out later on.
A love of reading is a precious gift to give a child. And as every person who visits LitLovers knows, learning doesn't end with high school or college—which is why you happen to be here, reading this, right now.Starting early with reading not only gives kids an extra boost when they're young—it turns into an advantage for life. It can be a key factor in keeping them engaged in school, as well as keeping them in school. And, importantly, it can inspire in them a life-long love of reading—just like you.
*Cheryl Jones is a blogger and a free-lance witer. Visit her blog here.
case you hadn't noticed, the novel seems to be getting longer and longer, some clocking in at 700-800+ pages. In a gag news article we wrote a while back, we riffed on the idea of authors taking performance enhancing drugs, enabling them to pound out longer and longer sentences, leading to "stupefyingly longer" books.
Now someone's pushing back. Although publishers have pressed him "to write longer books," Welsh author Cynan Jones praises the short novel.
He points to The Old Man and the Sea, They Shoot Horses Don't They?, Animal Farm, even Gatsby (though Fitzgerald worried it was too short). Here's Cynan Jones on the subject:
I've never met a reader who doesn't like short novels.... For me, the opportunity to sit somewhere for two hours and read a book from start to finish—to submerge myself in it—is a thrilling experience. A short novel makes a straightforward demand: give me this time.Readers don't buy books by the the pound, Jones points out. And publishers should get over their obsession with longer works. "The only thing to be taken into account should be the impact a piece of writing has," says Jones. Yep, we couldn't agree more.
Cynan Jones is the author of The Dig and, more recently, Everything I Found on the Beach. The full article can be read in Publisher's Weekly.
| Authors Battle for November Contest |
||
Feb. 28, 2016: Greenville, NC— |
November is when the coveted NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS are announced. This year stakes are high with tempers running even higher. Never this bad "I've never seen it get this nasty," said Reagan Eagan, awards jurist. "Authors typically behave with greater decorum." True. Still, it's hard not to feel a twinge of guilty pleasure listening to these Olympiads sling their polished insults. Charge of elitism One debate had best- selling AUTHOR Bernie Sandbag calling rival Hillary Clinchpin a sellout. "You don't give a hoot for the average reader," Sandbag said. All you care about is Goldman Smacks. |
Emails Tedino Cruz chimed in that people are a lot more interested in Hillary's emails than her books. "Pipe down," Tedino. Nobody likes you," Hillary said. "Even your editors don't like you." Their novels "OMG!" said one book critic. "This beats any of their novels. The language is poetic ... the characters so believable. Another critic agreed: "No one could write this stuff. No one would even try." Fronta Loeb, special to The Daily News and LitLovers. |
We get lots of mail asking for Discussion Questions for mysteries, and there've been a lot of them lately—emails AND new crime novels (all claiming to be the "new" Gone Girl).
Sadly, for book clubs, authors or publishers don't often issue questions for mysteries—for a couple of reasons:
♦ Specific questions tend to give away the plot, ruining the element of surprise. Remember, mysteries depend on withholding information.
♦ Bestselling crime novels aren't considered "book club" material. They're all about plot and don't necessarily open themselves up to discussions about character dynamics or weighty social issues. Major serial authors like James Patterson, Michael Connelly, J.D. Robb, David Baldacci write for different reasons and audiences.
So we've got our own questions below. Feel free to use them or access them here.
Questions for Mystery - Crime - Suspense - Thrillers
1. Talk about the characters, both good and bad. Describe their personalities and motivations. Are they fully developed and emotionally complex? Or are they flat, one-dimensional heroes and villains?
2. What do you know...and when do you know it? At what point in the book do you begin to piece together what happened?
3. Good crime writers embed hidden clues, slipping them in casually, almost in passing. Did you pick them out, or were you...clueless? Once you've finished the book, go back to locate the clues hidden in plain sight. How skillful was the author in burying them?
4. Good crime writers also tease us with red-herrings—false clues—to purposely lead us astray? Does your author try to throw you off track? If so, were you tripped up?
5. Talk about the twists & turns—those surprising plot developments that throw everything you think you've figured out into disarray.a. Do they enhance the story, add complexity, and build suspense?
b. Are they plausible or implausible?
c. Do they feel forced and gratuitous—inserted merely to extend the story?
6. Does the author ratchet up the suspense? Did you find yourself anxious—quickly turning pages to learn what happened? A what point does the suspense start to build? Where does it climax...then perhaps start rising again?
7. A good ending is essential in any mystery or crime thriller: it should ease up on tension, answer questions, and tidy up loose ends. Does the ending accomplish those goals?a. Is the conclusion probable or believable?
b. Is it organic, growing out of clues previously laid out by the author (see Question 3)?
c. Or does the ending come out of the blue, feeling forced or tacked-on?
d. Perhaps it's too predictable.
e. Can you envision a different or better ending?
8. Point to passages in the book—ideas, descriptions, or dialogue—that you found interesting or revealing, that somehow struck you. What, if anything, made you stop and think? Or maybe even laugh.
9. Overall, does the book satisfy? Does it live up to the standards of a good crime story or suspense thriller? Or does it somehow fall short?
10. Compare this book to other mystery, crime, or suspense thrillers that you've read. Consider other authors or other books in a the series by the same author.
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
By Molly Lundquist, LitLovers.
Who doesn't want to be cool? Well, my friends, THIS is what cool looks like … and what it doesn't.
I'm a wanna be. Just when I deluded myself that—after all these years—I might be getting close, here comes LEIGH BARDUGO, author of the Grisha Trilogy (Shadow and Bone, etc.)
And now Leigh's got a brand new fantasy novel—Six of Crows, published to rave reviews. Think Oceans Eleven with a bunch of adolescents.
Not only is the book cool, but take a look at the photos of Leigh and friends on Instragam. Top row is Leigh. Bottom… guess who. Me. Cool? Not even close.
This just in: A Facebook friend wrote asking about the use of Kindles and other e-book devices in her book club.
A good friend and I are starting a book club, and someone has asked if she can use her Kindle. Although I don't see a problem, my co-founder says, "Definitely not." What are your thoughts? Any advice would help.
The problem the friend has with Kindles, apparently, is her fear that e-readers are putting bookstores out of business. So a compromise was reached: use your Kindle at home, but just don't bring it to the book club.
Wanting to save bookstores is a laudable concern. But the club's solution—use your Kindle, just don't let us see you do it—is like closing your eyes against a tsunami: if you don't see it, maybe it's not happening.
Tough issues—preserving tradition vs. moving into the future. But both the future and technology are unstoppable—technology IS a tsunami ... and it WILL engulf everything in its path. One need only took to history: ♦ scroll → book ♦ buggy → auto ♦ movies → tv ♦ mailbox → inbox.
Still, there's room for books and e-readers. Scroll down to the blog post right below this one, BOOKSTORES MAY STICK AROUND AFTER ALL. The past five years it seems have seen real growth in their numbers.
So what do you think? Do your book club members use Kindles?
It might be time to remove BOOKSTORES and LIBRARIES from the list of endangered species!
Over the past several years, those dealing in print books were preparing themselves for extinction. With ebook sales skyrocketing, it looked as if end times were on the horizon. But that may have changed.
According to the Association for American Publishers (AAP), digital ebook sales have dropped—by about 10%. Okay, that's not a lot, but it's enough to give books-on-shelves some wiggle room...and booksellers some hope. *
Adding to the good news, the American Booksellers Association (ABA) says its member bricks & mortar bookstores have increased their numbers over the past five years—from 1,400 to 1,700.
Moreover, some surveys show that young readers, the ones in love with digital devices, still prefer reading on paper.
Not that we readers are leaving our digitial devices behind: it's more like we're becoming "hybrid readers," toggling from hard copies to ebooks. I'm a hybrid—I love my Kindle but also enjoy the feel of a print book. You can read more in the New York Times.
So what about you? Are you a hybrid reader, strictly ebooks, or strictly paper ones?
* This just in . . . Publishers Weekly reported that April, 2016, book sales rose 8.8% over March—which means bookstore sales have risen every month this year compared to 2015. Even more impressive, bookstore sales have outpaced growth for the entire retail segment for the first five months of 2016.
Ah, Pinterest—all those lists and photos of the BEST PLACES TO READ...inside, outside, in cities around the world. But the novelty's wearing thin.
And that got us to thinking—perversely—about where you DON'T want to be caught with a book. So we put together our own list. This one is about . . .
THE 7 WORST PLACES TO READ
1 — Job Interview
Terrific resume. Great experience. Top-notch references. And there you sit, peering down at a book—just to prove you can multi-task. Gee, how could they not hire you?
2 — Lunar Landing Craft
You wanna screw this up? Your one big shot at making history? The world is watching, so put the book down—now—and land this baby.
3 — Parent-Teacher Conference
You think you're showing off your reading skills—which have rubbed off on your gifted kid. But while you sit there with your nose in a book, the teacher?...well, she thinks differently.
4 — Speeding Traffic
Eyes on the road; hands on the wheel. Do we really need to explain this one?
5 — Tax Audit
That's right, just keep on reading. Nonchalance implies innocence. He'll see right through you.
6 — Real Bedroom
This isn't on Pinterest—because this is LIFE. Picture yourself curling up here with a book and a Pinot. You can't, can you?
7 — Empire State Building
You could accidentally drop your book from the Observation Deck—you would see it accelerate at (32 ft. per sec.)2, hitting the ground in 15 sec. at a terminal velocity of 50 mph. And THAT would crack the book's spine—which everyone knows is a crying shame.
So, dear reader, you tell us...what's YOUR worst place to read?
Hardy (or hearty?) congratulations go to STEPHEN KING and JUMPHA LAHIRI, who are to be awarded the prestigious Medal of Arts by President Obama. The presentation will take place at a White House ceremony today.
The National Endowment for the Arts awards medals each year to a wide range of individuals in the arts—actors, authors, dancers, film makers, musicians, and visual artists (painters and sculptors)—recognized for their "outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States."
A (tiny) sampling of previous recipents includes such luminaries as Saul Bellow, Rene Flemming, Clint Eastwood, Earnest J. Gaines, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Bradbury, Jacob's Pillow Dance, Roy Lichtenstein.
Below is what the White House has to say about the choice of King and Lahiri:
Stephen King for his contributions as an author. One of the most popular and prolific writers of our time, Mr. King combines his remarkable storytelling with his sharp analysis of human nature. For decades, his works of horror, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy have terrified and delighted audiences around the world.
Jhumpa Lahiri for enlarging the human story. In her works of fiction, Dr. Lahiri has illuminated the Indian-American experience in beautifully wrought narratives of estrangement and belonging.
Couldn't have said it better ourselves.
This year's winners also include theater director John Baldessari, choreographer Ping Chong, actress Miriam Colon, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, actress Sally Fields, visual artist Ann Hamilton, composer and singer Meredith Monk, tenor George Shirley, the University Musical Society, author and educator Tobias Wolff.
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