Friday, August 30, 2019

America Has a Digital Skills Gap. Libraries Can Help Fix It



When Calvester Sanders was promoted to head of housekeeping at the Redmont Hotel in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2016, she felt conflicted. On the one hand, she was excited about the greater responsibility and better pay. On the other, the thought of managing her staff’s schedules through the hotel’s computer system made her anxious. “I literally didn’t know how to turn it on,” she says.

Read more HERE

Thursday, August 29, 2019

A Novel Concept: Silent Book Clubs Offer Introverts A Space To Socialize



The air tingles with prose. Patrons perch atop bar stools, but they aren't drinking. Individuals congregate together as a group, but they aren't talking.

Paperbacks adorn a table stained by water rings, and tote bags dangle over the backs of chairs. Classic rock is blaring from the speakers, but at this table, silence rings out.

A Silent Book Club is meeting.

Read more HERE

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Audiobooks or Reading? To Our Brains, It Doesn’t Matter By Jennifer Walter


brain maps of reading and listening

If you don’t have time to sit and read a physical book, is listening to the audio version considered cheating? To some hardcore book nerds, it could be. But new evidence suggests that, to our brains, reading and hearing a story might not be so different.
Read More HERE

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

50 MUST-READ BOOKS RECOMMENDED BY ROXANE GAY

Is it just me, or are we all just biding our time until the next piece of work by Roxane Gay is released? Whether she’s writing fiction, nonfiction, short stories, comics, or screenplays, her writing makes an unforgettable impact.

Read more HERE

Monday, August 12, 2019

Anonymous Reviewer: "Wild Ride" by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer

If you've never read a Crusie book, you are missing out! And when Jennifer and Bob team up, it is a truly wonderful read! That being said, if you HAVE read Crusie before, "Wild Ride" is NOTHING like any of her others. Most Crusie or Crusie/Mayer books are fun contemporary romance...but not boring! There's plenty of twists and the dialogue is laugh-out-loud fantastic, so even though you know it's gonna end happily you can't guess exactly how they're gonna get to the end. The cover insert on "Wild Ride" tells you that Dreamland is an amusement park that doubles as a prison for the five most powerful demons in world history and they want to be let out. Even after reading the insert and first few chapters, this AR stayed under the delusion that there wouldn't really be actual demons; Crusie'll Scooby-Do it and it'll simply be pranksters trying to ruin the park. (This AR can be quite talented at ignoring the obvious.) A supernatural battle wasn't what this AR particularly wanted to read, but the heart of what I look for when reading Crusie was still there and it turned out to be a fabulous read. I especially recommend picking it up in October.

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

25 WRITERS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF LIBRARIES

http://bit.ly/2GV99Gp

British children’s author Terry Deary — best known for his Horrible Histories series and controversial chatter about the nation’s school systems — told the Guardian he thinks libraries “have had their day.” He’d prefer that people buy their books instead of borrowing them, claiming that “books aren’t public property.” Deary added, “Authors, booksellers and publishers need to eat. We don’t expect to go to a food library to be fed.” The cranky comments feel like a swift kick in the teeth since libraries around the world are struggling against significant budget cuts each year, and authors have been tirelessly advocating for their importance. We gathered a few passionate statements from 20 writers that emphasize why libraries aren’t “sentimental” institutions. See what Neil Gaiman, Judy Blume, Ray Bradbury, and other writers have to contribute to the conversation, below.

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Anonymous Reviewer: Gwendy’s Button Box By Richard Chizmar and Stephen King

Reading, after the fact, that Stephen King had a hard time ending the book, thus brought in Richard Chizmar seems a little lazy on King’s part, at least to this AR. This story was pretty tight, and I can’t imagine the master needing the help. Maybe that’s why it hit, but not with the usual dull hammer claw King’s books typically swing with.