Why Reading Novels Isn’t a Waste of Time

More than a century ago, Henry James defended the value of fiction by saying that “a novel is a direct impression of life.”  Recent research has found that he was right.

Academic researchers from York University have gathered data indicating that fiction-reading activates neuronal pathways in the brain that measurably help the reader better understand real human emotion — improving his or her overall social skillfulness.

The ability to interpret and respond to those different from us — colleagues, employees, bosses, customers and clients — is plainly critical to success, particularly in a globalized economy. The imperative to try to understand others’ points of view — to be empathetic — is essential in any collaborative enterprise.

The Best Selling Books of All Time

It is no surprise that seven of the 21 best selling books of all time are Harry Potter books.   The first in the series, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” sold 107 million copies.  The sixth in the series, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” not only sold 65 million copies but it sold them very quickly – 9 million within 24 hours of its release in 2005.

It is estimated that Agatha Christie mysteries sold 1 billion copies.  The only one on the list is, “And Then There Were None” which sold100 million.

Re-reading a Book is Good for the Mind

Reading a favorite book for a second time often feels like a different experience – now scientists say that it actually IS different.

The habit of reading books multiple times encourages people to engage with them emotionally.

The first time people read, they are focused on events and stories.

The second time can offer profound emotional benefits. By enjoying the emotional effects of the book more deeply, people become more in touch with themselves. The scientists say, “By doing it again, people get more out of it.”

What books do you like to re-read?  Read more…….

Henry Miller and the Making of the “Tropic of Cancer”

Frederick Turner’s aim in his new book, “Henry Miller and the Making of the Tropic of Cancer”” is to explain how “Tropic of Cancer” came to be written, banned and eventually an American Classic.

Turner tells a story that beats in time with the story at the heart of Ameri­ca’s self-image.  As an unemployed and unemployable dropout, Miller is at odds with the Puritan work ethic, but he is in line with America’s pioneering frontiersman mythology.  Turner places Miller in a line of American folklore heroes, real and invented, like Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett, Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.

Bridging the Gap between Electronic and Traditional Books

Melville House, a small but innovative publishing firm, wants to bridge the gap between electronic and traditional books. Why should electronic and traditional not collaborate?

Melville has introduced a new series, HybridBooks, to meld the two cultures. On the physical side, the Hybrids are attractive, stripped-down paperbacks, with nothing inside but a short classic text.  The electronic element comes in with ancillary material that mimic our own reading process. When someone reads a book they like, they want the experience to continue.  So they pursue more information about the writer, or the setting, or some aspect of the plot’s background.

Valentine’s Day: The 10 Best Love Stories of All Time

Books in which man meets woman, man woos woman (or, woman woos man) and man and woman live happily ever after are a dime a dozen. Enjoyable, for sure, but not what you’d call memorable. So, the editors at Reader’s Digest Select Editions  have come up with a list of 10 favorite, and timeless, love stories, each of which goes above and beyond basic romance.

Whether it’s glimpsing 19th-century Russia in Anna Karenina, or witnessing family drama on the Australian outback in The Thorn Birds, or imagining time travel in Outlander, each of these fabulous books has something special.  Select Editions editor-in-chief Laura Kelly writes, “Books take you into the minds of all the characters, where their hopes and dreams will really fire up your own imagination.”

Franzen on e-books and the end of books

Speaking at a book festival in Cartagena, Colombia, Jonathan Franzen said, “I think, for serious readers, a sense of permanence has always been part of the experience. Everything else in your life is fluid, but here is this text that doesn’t change. Will there still be readers 50 years from now who feel that way? Who have that hunger for something permanent and unalterable? I don’t have a crystal ball. But I do fear that it’s going to be very hard to make the world work if there’s no permanence like that.”

LATimes

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Fiction for Downton Abbey Fans

The internet is awash with Downton Abbey reading lists compiled by literary bloggers, publishers, book shops and libraries.

Books about the British aristocracy such as Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited rank highly on most lists. Other recommendations cover almost anything that receives a mention in the series, from memoirs of Titanic survivors, to tales of the 1918 flu pandemic.

Some suggestions are “Lady Almina and the real Downton Abbey,” “The Forsyte Saga” and “Below Stairs.”

For more suggestions, read…..

NZHerald

Happy Birthday, Charles

Today is the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens’ birth.

It was the enormous popularity of his work that went furthest to explaining the effect his death had on book-reading Britain and beyond.

To mark today’s 200th anniversary of his birth, the Economist magazine  tried to discover which of his novels sold best during Dickens’s life.

Most of us have read (or were required to read) many of his books.   “Oliver Twist,” “A Tale of Two Cities” and “A Christmas Carol” come to mind but do you know which of his many books were the best sellers?  To find out, look at the Economist chart……

Margaret Atwood coins new word – “ustopia”

Booker Prize-winning author Margaret Atwood is a novelist, poet, activist and Canada’s national treasure.

She is an avid tweeter with nearly 300,000 followers.  In 2011 The Guardian newspaper named her one of the 10 best Twitter personalities.  According to Atwood, her Twitter followers —perhaps much like her readers — are a mixed bunch. From fans of her work to those interested in new technologies to those just interested in “weird stuff,” they love to keep her informed.

Her new book, Other Worlds, discusses her love of science fiction, which began as a child.  In one of the most fascinating chapters,  Atwood looks at utopian and dystopian fiction and creates a new word: “Ustopia.”   What does it mean?  Read more……..