Leisure reading has been linked to a range of good academic and professional outcomes—as well as difficult to fully explain. But a chief factor seems to be the household one is born into, and the culture of reading that parents create within it. - The Atlantic
"With one intriguing exception, activity increased in the areas of the cerebral cortex involved in the brain's language-processing network when these polyglots — who spoke between five and 54 languages — heard languages in which they were the most proficient compared to ones of lesser or no proficiency." - Reuters
In short, the literary weblog may have prepared the way for a critical writing about literature online that not just rivalled but eventually exceeded both in quantity and depth what had been available in general-interest print publications, but in the end it has reconstructed the apparatus that makes literary commentary an elite practice. - The Reading Experience
The spectacle of writers refusing to entertain the work of other writers in the name of freedom never fails to dispirit, though at this point it no longer surprises. - The New York Times
"A panel yesterday at the London Book Fair addressed the threat of English-language editions cannibalizing or otherwise supplanting sales of translated books, as the TikTok generation is increasingly happy to read in English." - Publishers Weekly
Combined with the promo page and countdown clock, the feature allows authors to engage in fandom in a way that is more typical of music than publishing. It’ll launch in mid-April. - The Verge
Can historical fiction even be considered a genre of its own? Its many varieties share few common attributes other than that they all take place in the past. Even the simplest qualities are hard to pin down: for instance, how far back do you have to go? - The Drift
While one hardcover copy of a novel costs the library $18, it costs $55 to lease a digital copy — a price that can't be haggled with publishers. And for that, the e-book expires after a limited time, usually after one or two years, or after 26 checkouts, whichever comes first. - ABCNews
"Look a little more closely, and ‘growing pool of freelancers’ is a terrible euphemism for ‘jobs are disappearing and more and more of us are fighting for scraps by competing for freelance gigs.’” - LitHub
"What is a home for if not to fill it with books? What would I do without them? I can’t get rid of these stories, even though I’ve internalized them. They’re part of me. They’re mine, and the physical reminder of that needs to be here, on the shelf.” - Reactor
"What kinds of intellectual work is considered worthy of our attention? What boxes have women historically been permitted to fill?” - The New York Times
"Everything radiated outward from this central core across two carpeted floors, in diminishing order of importance: the slightly smaller publishing houses, then the ones whose best years are behind them, then the niche ones, then the flatly obscure." - The New York Times
In setting out to identify that new American canon, we decided to define American as having first been published in the United States (or intended to be—read more in our entries on Lolita and The Bell Jar). And we narrowed our aperture to the past 100 years. - The Atlantic
It's with the app called Espresso, whose 2023 subscriber numbers were up 64% from 2022. Says marketing VP Nada Arnot, "It's a snack-size version if you will, but it's not in any way a diluted version. It's not a substitute to the core product." - Press Gazette (UK)
“Poetry was the first way in which Tolkien expressed himself creatively and through it the seeds of his literary ambition would be sown." - The Bookseller
