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Report Finds 'Dispiriting' Drop in Kids Reading for Pleasure

Number has dropped sharply in recent years, UK's Nationan Literacy Trust says

(Newser) - "For a report focused largely on reading enjoyment, much of this is not an enjoyable read," a report from the UK's National Literacy Trust states. The report found that the proportion of children 8 to 18 years old who enjoy reading in their spare time has fallen...

In a World Run on 'Vibes,' Undergrads Balk at Reading

And it doesn't seem as if this writing professor blames them, per his op-ed for the New York Times

(Newser) - Jonathan Malesic teaches writing at Southern Methodist University, and in the early 2010s he was assigning his students nine books a semester to read. Now, more than a decade later, after COVID and the full-fledged arrival of AI, "that reading list seems not just ambitious but absurd," he...

In Posthumous Memoir, Navalny Shares the 'Important Thing'

Acceptance is key, late Russian dissident writes in Patriot

(Newser) - In a memoir released eight months after he died in prison, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny never loses faith that his cause is worth suffering for while also acknowledging he wished he could have written a very different book. "I so much do not want my book to be...

Court Suspends Panel That Decided History Book Is Fiction

Recent decisions by Montgomery County's citizens review board have been stayed

(Newser) - The Texas review board that mandated public libraries move a book about the mistreatment of Native Americans to the "fiction" section has been suspended, as have all of its recent decisions, in response to widespread pushback. That means historian Linda Coombs' Colonization and the Wampanoag Story will be returned...

Texas Board Reclassifies Indigenous Book as 'Fiction'

Move comes after Montgomery County removed librarians from the process

(Newser) - A review board in Texas has made the controversial decision to reclassify a book about a Native American tribe from nonfiction to fiction in a public library. The move regarding Colonization and the Wampanoag Story came after Montgomery County stripped the review board of librarians, reports LoneStarLive.com . The rationale...

Melania on 2020 Election: 'It Was a Mess'

Former first lady dishes on that, her first encounter with husband, son Barron, and more in new book

(Newser) - Melania Trump's new memoir, Melania , dropped on Tuesday, and the reviews range from describing it as one of "graceful grievance" to calling it "truly bad" and "deeply weird." The former first lady's remarks about her stance on abortion rights earned attention before the 256-page...

Woodward: Trump Secretly Sent Putin COVID Tests

'I don't want you to tell anybody,' the Russian leader reportedly told him

(Newser) - Bob Woodward has a new book coming out, one that covers national and international affairs, and outlets have begun offering highlights. The Washington Post , for example, zeroes in on Woodward's assertion in War that then-President Trump secretly sent COVID tests to Vladimir Putin in 2020 for his personal use....

National Book Award Finalists Are Out

Salman Rushdie, Percival Everett, Miranda July make the cut

(Newser) - Salman Rushdie's memoir about his near-fatal stabbing, Knife, and Percival Everett's revisionist historical novel, James, are among the finalists for the 75th annual National Book Awards. Others nominated include author-filmmaker Miranda July for her explicit novel on middle age, All Fours, and the celebrated Canadian poet Anne Carson...

English Class in America Is Now Reading 'in Baby Form'

Kids across America are reading fewer novels in school; not everyone is happy about it

(Newser) - Chris Stanislawski didn't read much in his middle school English classes, but it never felt necessary. Much of the reading material at Garden City Middle School on Long Island was either abridged books or online texts and printouts, he said. "When you're given a summary of the...

Want to Reread a Favorite Book? Rethink That
Loved That Book?
Never Read It Again
OPINION
Sep 15, 2024 2:30 PM CDT

Loved That Book? Never Read It Again

Oscar Schwartz advocates for the joys of diving in to beloved reads intensely—and only once

(Newser) - Nearly everyone has experienced the joy and satisfaction of finishing an excellent book—but for "rereading evangelists," who tend to gravitate toward the classics, "one time through, for the great books, is not enough." Oscar Schwartz says we should maybe rethink that, writing for the Paris ...

She Bribed Her Daughter to Read a Book. It Worked

'Feels like the best money I ever spent,' writes Mireille Silcoff

(Newser) - Mireille Silcoff loves to read. Her 12-year-old-daughter does not. In a New York Times essay, Silcoff writes that after many failed efforts to convince her "whip-smart" daughter to pick up a book, she resorted to flat-out bribery—and it worked. So much so that she is encouraging other parents...

Obama Drops His Summer Reading, Music Lists

Former president is having a 'brat' summer with Charli XCX's '365,' among other tunes

(Newser) - With the year's warmest weather heading into its final stretch, former President Obama has dropped his summer song and reading lists. "With summer winding down, I wanted to share some songs that I've been listening to lately—and it wouldn't be my playlist if it didn'...

Melania Trump Has a Book Deal
Melania Trump Has
a Book Coming Out
Jul 25, 2024 10:50 AM CDT

Melania Trump Has a Book Coming Out

Former first lady is releasing Melania this fall

(Newser) - Former first lady Melania Trump has a memoir coming out this fall, Melania, billed by her office as "a powerful and inspiring story of a woman who has carved her own path, overcome adversity, and defined personal excellence." Melania will be released by Skyhorse Publishing, reports the AP...

10 Best Books of the Century
10 Best
Books
of the 21st
Century
Jul 12, 2024 1:56 PM CDT

10 Best Books of the 21st Century

New York Times counts down its favorite 100 since 2000

(Newser) - The New York Times has been gradually revealing its picks for the best 100 books of the 21st century, and the complete list is now here. More than 500 writers, critics, and others weighed in, with Italian author Elena Ferrante (a pseudonym) getting top honors for My Brilliant Friend of...

James Patterson Keeps Finding Celebrity Collaborators

Author is working on a new novel with acclaimed actor (and author) Viola Davis

(Newser) - An upcoming thriller about a female judge in the contemporary, rural South will have two very famous, and very different, authors: Oscar winner Viola Davis and mega-selling novelist James Patterson. Little, Brown and Company announced that Davis and Patterson are collaborating on a novel, currently untitled and scheduled for 2025...

First Edition of Frankenstein Fetches a 'Hair-Raising Sum'

Heritage Auctions sets new high price for 3 beloved book titles

(Newser) - The only privately-owned first edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein became the pièce de resistance of a rare book auction over the weekend, selling for a "hair-raising sum" of $843,750, nearly triple the estimate, per UPI . Just three first editions of the horror novel are known to...

She's Shipping Hundreds of LGBTQ+ Books Across the US

Becka Robbins of San Francisco's Fabulosa Books is pushing back against nationwide book bans

(Newser) - In an increasingly divisive political sphere, Becka Robbins focuses on what she knows best—books. Operating out of a tiny room in Fabulosa Books in San Francisco's Castro District, one of the oldest gay neighborhoods in the United States, Robbins uses donations from customers to ship boxes of books...

School Board Bans Ban This Book
School Board Bans
Ban This Book
Jun 12, 2024 12:53 PM CDT

School Board Bans Ban This Book

Florida board members say it teaches 'rebellion of school board authority'

(Newser) - In a move that author Alan Gratz calls "incredibly ironic," a Florida school board has banned his book Ban This Book. The 2017 book is about a fictional fourth grader who starts a secret library of banned books in her locker after a librarian tells her that her...

Kavanaugh to Revisit 2018 Brouhaha in Memoir

Supreme Court justice writing book to be released in 2025 or 2026: Axios

(Newser) - Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is about to spill the beans. The 59-year-old justice who's been relatively quiet since his animated 2018 confirmation hearings is writing a legal memoir to touch on "everything from the fracas over his 2018 confirmation to the 2022 plot to kill him,"...

A New Hunger Games Book (and Movie) Is Coming

Suzanne Collins' 5th book based in fictional Panem will be out next March

(Newser) - Inspired by an 18th-century Scottish philosopher and the modern scourge of misinformation, Suzanne Collins is returning to the ravaged, postapocalyptic land of Panem for a new Hunger Games novel. Scholastic announced Thursday that Sunrise on the Reaping, the fifth volume of Collins' blockbuster dystopian series, will be published March 18,...

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