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The True Meaning of Obama's Reading List
The True Meaning of Obama's Reading List
Overanalysis
Aug 25, 2009 11:27 AM CDT

The True Meaning of Obama's Reading List

Prez hunkers down with thrillers, Friedman

(Newser) - President Obama is on vacation, and that means it’s the media’s sacred duty to overanalyze his summer reading plans. John Dickerson of Slate delves into the meaning behind what Obama’s packing:
  • The Way Home by George Pelecanos
  • Lush Life by Richard Price
  • Hot Flat and Crowded by
...

Let's Make Health Insurance Policies Readable

Legal mumbo-jumbo means patients can't tell what they're covered for

(Newser) - There’s one important health care issue that’s generated little chatter: the oft-inscrutable language of insurance policies, writes Rhode Island health official John Cogan in the New York Times. Policies are penned at a grad-school level, which led his state to require, as of next year, that they be...

Has Tweeting Ruined Reading?
 Has Tweeting Ruined Reading? 
Aug 10, 2009 7:50 AM CDT

Has Tweeting Ruined Reading?

(Newser) - The digital world has become so engrossing that David L Ulin finds it difficult to focus and read a book—not a good sign when you're the editor of the Los Angeles Times book review. "The encroachment of the buzz," from hours of emails to inane rumors across...

15-Letter Phrase for Memory Boost? Crossword Puzzle

Activity may fend off the start of memory loss

(Newser) - Doing crossword puzzles may delay the slide into forgetfulness associated with dementia, a study shows. Researchers monitored the frequency with which a group of elderly subjects engaged in reading, writing, group discussions, playing music, playing cards, and doing crossword puzzles, and found that those who developed dementia took part in...

Simon & Schuster to Sell Ebooks on Scribd.com

(Newser) - Simon & Schuster is going to put about 4,500 book titles for sale on a relatively new website that caters to e-readers, reports BusinessWeek. The publisher, which handles authors such as Stephen King, Mary Higgins Clark, and Dan Brown, said the ebooks will be available starting tomorrow on...

Common Tie for Women of Supreme Court? Nancy Drew

(Newser) - The women of the Supreme Court—Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and now likely Sonia Sotomayor—may come from wildly different backgrounds, but they all shared a common childhood pastime: curling up with a Nancy Drew novel. What was it about that wholesome teenage detective? wonders Mary Jo...

Lame Dads Rule in Kids Books
 Lame Dads Rule in Kids Books 
OPINION
May 26, 2009 4:09 AM CDT

Lame Dads Rule in Kids Books

Old dad, poor dad as out of it as ever in kid lit

(Newser) - Despite major upheavals in gender roles, clueless dads unable to parent or set a table still rule in children's books—if they exist at all—laments one stay-at-home father. "I’m aware that there is plenty of good-natured humor to be had from lampooning fathers," writes columnist Damon...

Teach to the Test&mdash;But Make Better Tests
Teach to the Test—But Make Better Tests 
OPINION
Mar 23, 2009 10:38 AM CDT

Teach to the Test—But Make Better Tests

Tie reading passages in with curriculum to even playing field

(Newser) - Critics worry that the current system of “fill-in-the-bubble” school testing promotes teaching to the test—but maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing if we had tests “worth teaching to,” writes Ed Hirsch Jr in the New York Times. The tests themselves are highly reliable...

Steinbeck's Laugh Would Echo Down Wall Street
Steinbeck's Laugh Would Echo Down
Wall Street
OPINION
Mar 22, 2009 3:12 PM CDT

Steinbeck's Laugh Would Echo Down Wall Street

Grapes of Wrath author hated US affluence

(Newser) - John Steinbeck would relish our economic decline if he were alive today, writes Rachel Dry in the Washington Post. The author of the Great Depression classic Grapes of Wrath, which is regaining popularity these days, romanticized economic hardship and grieved over the affluence of post-WWII America. "He'd think that...

'Sexy' Classics We Say We've Read

We think fibbing about reading classics makes us appear intelligent, 'sexier'

(Newser) - The Bible, War and Peace, 1984, and Ulysses are some of the classics people say they've read but actually haven't, a new British study has found. Why? Two-thirds of those surveyed fibbed about their reading mainly to appear intelligent and "more sexually attractive," a researcher tells the Daily ...

Here Comes the New Kindle (Probably)

(Newser) - Tech bloggers reading their tea leaves say e-book fans can expect the new version of the Kindle on Feb. 9. Though maker Amazon has made no announcement, the company has scheduled a major press conference that day with chief Jeff Bezos. And, notes Brad Stone of the New York Times,...

More Americans Reading Fiction: NEA

Study indicates literary decline might be reversing

(Newser) - The percentage of Americans reading fiction has increased for the first time in years, a new study by the National Endowment for the Arts indicates. The reported 50.2% of the population who picked up a book for pleasure marks a turnaround from a statistical decline in literary culture over...

462 Books a Year? No Big Deal for One Critic

LA Times critic explains her incredible literary appetite.

(Newser) - Determined to read more this year? Critic and columnist Sarah Weinman may be able to help, if her standard doesn't intimidate: She plowed through 462 titles last year. "I read a page not necessarily word by word,” she tells the Los Angeles Times, “but by capturing pages...

10 Biggest College Libraries
 10 Biggest College Libraries 
Jan 11, 2009 7:09 AM CST

10 Biggest College Libraries

Labyrinthine stacks good for more than reading

(Newser) - Whether your purpose is to study, flirt or nap, college libraries are "labyrinths" of opportunity. The editors of College on the Record list the biggest, and why they like them.
  1. Harvard (13,617,133 books): "Because size matters."
  2. Yale (9,932,080 books): "Because it’s
...

Web Novels Let Readers Drive the Plot

Weekly installments end with a choice

(Newser) - Fantasy fans who’d like a role in the action can turn to literature’s latest incarnation: the online Web-novel, or wovel, NPR reports. Readers can click and read a chapter each week. Then, “at the end of every installment, there's a binary plot branch point with a vote...

Rove: Bush Is a Bookworm
 Rove: Bush 
 Is a Bookworm 
OPINION
Dec 26, 2008 8:30 AM CST

Rove: Bush Is a Bookworm

(Newser) - Bitter liberals may believe the president is an illiterate buffoon, but in 2006 the president read a whopping 95 books, and, just for good measure, read the entire Bible front-to-back, Karl Rove assures us in today’s Wall Street Journal. “In the 35 years I've known George W. Bush,...

Bola&ntilde;o's 2666 Tops Another Book List
 Bolaño's 2666 Tops 
 Another Book List 
OPINION
Dec 8, 2008 2:55 PM CST

Bolaño's 2666 Tops Another Book List

Choi's A Person of Interest also gets Salon fiction nod; '67 Oscar race tops non-fiction

(Newser) - Chilean author Roberto Bolaño's novel 2666, about the murders of women in a border town, features on Salon's list of the 10 best books of the year. They include:
  • 2666: Bolaño, who died young in 2003, is celebrated posthumously in the English-speaking world. "He pursues, with suave
...

Death of Reading Greatly Exaggerated
 Death of Reading 
 Greatly Exaggerated 
Glossies
Sep 29, 2008 4:39 PM CDT

Death of Reading Greatly Exaggerated

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

(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...

10 Books to Pass Up With Confidence
10 Books to Pass Up
With Confidence
Sep 20, 2008 5:27 PM CDT

10 Books to Pass Up With Confidence

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

(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?
  • Lord
...

Re-Kindling May Not Be Enough
 Re-Kindling May Not Be Enough
ANALYSIS
Aug 26, 2008 9:46 AM CDT

Re-Kindling May Not Be Enough

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

(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...

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