"Write now is good."

A city of books, media stacking, and making more room to read

 

Photo: "media stacking" by Will Lion

A few worthwhile finds from my recent Web travels are:

1. Are you a "media stacker"? Read this TimesOnline article "Hello? I'm on the internet - and watching the television" to find out.

2. "The Buzzwords of 2008" is full of overused, wordy gems. On this New York Times' list, you'll find digital cliff, staycation, and Phelpsian, among many others. The article is co-written by Grant Barrett, "a lexicographer specializing in slang and new words, ... co-host of the public radio program 'A Way With Words' and head of the New Words Committee of the American Dialect Society." Accompanying illustrations by Jessica Hische are witty and original.

3. "This is where we live" is a stop-motion animation of a city made entirely of books. Over 1,000 copies of various books from U.K. publisher 4th Estate were used to make it. From ViaComIT.

4. Make more room to read! Change This and 800CEORead are working together on an innovative benefit for Room to Read. The details:

For $30.00, we are putting together a Mystery Box of three business books. In this box you are guaranteed one title that either won, or made the shortlist for, the best book of 2008 in its category, along with 2 other titles from last year that were submitted for the awards. As a bonus, we will include a copy of this year's In The Books, our annual review of business books. 100% of the purchase will go directly to Room to Read, and we'll cover the shipping on all orders.

Room to Read promotes increased literacy in the developing world by establishing libraries, computer labs and even schools in communities with few educational resources. It is a powerful organization which makes real and lasting positive impact. If you're not familiar with the group, I suggest clicking through and looking at what they do; it is inspiring.

What's the whole story?

I found "Why Women Read More Than Men" on NPR's site. Researchers have found that, for a variety of societal and biological reasons, girls and women read more. (For the Harry Potter series, however, boys and men were the majority readers.)

Questions I now have:

1. How long will it take for the next study to appear which will completely contradict this study?
2. OK, so women are reading more — but who is WRITING more?

Thoughts, anyone?

via [BB-Blog]

Review: "The Gift of Nothing"

Before you read "The Gift of Nothing" by Patrick McDonnell, try to answer these questions:

1. What do you give the person who has everything?
2. In a completely empty space, what can people create?

With its title being "The Gift of Nothing," the book's punchline is clear. What makes this story most satisfying is how it is told. Author/illustrator McDonnell uses a few well-chosen words and minimal, expressive drawings to show how one friend gives another a most appropriate present. Quality rules quantity in this world, in a clear and inspiring way.

The book's age range is advertised as 3 to 6 years old. We know many in the 6-plus group, however, who love reading "The Gift of Nothing" over and over again. If you tend towards appreciating life's rich, simple pleasures, definitely consider knowing this tale.

Sorted book clusters: new stories revealed

Read the titles of the above books in sequence from top to bottom. What happened to The Bathers on A Day at the Beach?

Nina Katchadourian started her Sorted Books project in 1993 and has photographed more than 130 separate book clusters since then.

The project has taken place in many different places over the years, ranging form private homes to specialized public book collections. The process is the same in every case: culling through a collection of books, pulling particular titles, and eventually grouping the books into clusters so that the titles can be read in sequence, from top to bottom...Taken as a whole, the clusters from each sorting aim to examine that particular library's focus, idiosyncrasies, and inconsistencies — a cross-section of that library's holdings.

Her book groupings tell their own stories and also much about the books' owners. Shark is a New York-based journal of poetry and art. The editors publish it from "a home office lined wall-to-wall with books."

My bookcases need some rearranging. To remove all books from their usual spaces and re-shelve them according to new narratives would make finding one an entirely new challenge.

Via Notebookism.

World cultural treasures, now available online

Turning the Pages™, the British Library's online rare books and manuscripts gallery, is an inspiration. It reveals some of the most influential texts in world history. When I stumbled across the site, I felt like I'd found treasure, now open for all to see. It is also one the most comprehensive, beautifully done and easy-to-use multi-media set-ups I've seen online.

Some of the great books featured are:

• Leonardo da Vinci's personal notebook — It's breathtaking to see his scribbles.
• The oldest printed "book" — the Diamond Sutra printed in China in 868. You actually turn the scroll to see the entire work.
• The first atlas of Europe, which Mercator put together in the 1570's
• Mozart's musical diary — This also includes 75 audio excerpts.

There are many additional books featured on the site, and too many great works to list them all.

The British Library has made it fun to look at these books. All items can be magnified; to do so, click the magnify button and drag a large, flat virtual magnifying glass across the map or text. Click the audio button to hear more facts about the notebook, or simply read the text by clicking the text button. The help button is nearby, but the site is so effortless to use, it doesn't seem it will get much attention.

For a quick, wondrous peek, take the online highlights tour. Experts' articles on the works are part of the features section. Block out some free time, and enjoy.

In the excitement of finding this site, I forgot to note where I first found the link...

A holiday story worth reading

This post really touched me. It works on so many levels, but I don't want to give anything away. It is a true story also, which makes it even more poignant.

"The Secret Name: My Favorite Christmas Story" by Patry Francis.

Does anyone have any links to other great holiday stories online?

Last chance to tell me what to read

I'm still taking advice on what I should read for 2007 through this December 31st. Then I'll announce my first book selection the first week of the new year.

Many of you have answered my original post, and a great list of beloved and treasured books is building. It's really interesting to see what has been submitted. But I'd like to add more because I see a larger discussion forming which is based on this.

You might be asking yourself, "Why should I make a book recommendation?" Here are a few reasons:
1. You'll be helping out a writer (me), who is seriously out-of-touch with reading for fun, rediscover the magic of books.
2. You'll be part of a larger book-recommendation discussion, which is fun.
3. I'm going to give a big thank-you on my blog to the person, and his or her blog, whose book I pick. All other recommenders get a mini thank-you.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and love of books.

What do you think I should read?

These words by author Susan Straight have nearly haunted me the last few days (thanks, KnitWrit, for the compelling quotation):

“Reading is the passion that brought me to writing. Reading to me is crucial. I tell my students all the time, ‘If you’re not reading, who’s going to read you?’”

Then I read this post at Quantum Storytelling about catching up on some good books.

I realized that I have not read for fun in ages.

I've been reading only for work lately — a lot of factual figures, different editorial and advertorial pieces, and marketing prose — and I'm always learning something new (one of my favorite parts of the job). After reading for many hours each day, however, my eyes do not have the stamina to keep going.

But then I remembered how much I used to love reading for fun. I would read for hours, getting completely lost in books' worlds. This recreational reading inspired me to write in the first place.

So today I'm starting one New Year's resolution early. With January 2007's arrival, I will commence reading a book for fun. I will find some time and place in my life for it.

But I need some recommendations from YOU, Current Blog Readers, because I have no idea where to start.

What do you think I should read? Please post your book recommendations, and a few choice words on why I should read them, in the comments.

On January 1, 2007, I'll post which book I've chosen and give a supreme shout-out to the recommender.

Thanks in advance. I am looking forward to the feedback.