Thanks to Spinballer for this link – the article tells the story of a teenage fan who became penpals with J D Salinger. It’s quite genuinely touching.

Post Gazette

Just because you don’t judge a book by its cover doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate them. Here’s a massive archive of over 1000 book covers for you to enjoy.

Book Cover Archive

There are plenty of people out there who would like to improve their reading speed, and for those of you into superfast reading a quick Google search will turn up any number of speed-reading courses of no doubt variable quality. There’s more than one speed-reading method out there, as Wikipedia outlines, and the current world champion is Anne Jones, who set a new record by reading the final Harry Potter book in 47 minutes. If you think you can do better than that, there’s even a competitive side to it – according to the World Speed Reading Council, it’s one of five Learning Mind Sports showcased regularly by the international Festival of the Mind.
What do you think – useful skill, or largely a bit of a gimmick?

In the 1990s, Colombia reintegrated five left-wing guerrilla groups back into mainstream society after decades of conflict. Education was a big priority – many of the guerrillas had spent their entire lives fighting and were more familiar with the grasp of a gun than a pencil. Reintegration offered them the chance to learn to read and write for the first time in their lives, but it also offered Manuel Carreiras a chance to study what happens in the human brain as we become literate.

Full article at Not Exactly Rocket Science

A traditional red phone box has been recycled into one of the country’s smallest lending libraries – stocking 100 books.

Villagers from Westbury-sub-Mendip in Somerset can use the library around the clock, selecting books, DVDs and CDs.

Users simply stock it with a book they have read, swapping it for one they have not.

“It’s really taken off. The books are constantly changing,” said parish councillor Bob Dolby.

He added: “It is completely full at the moment with books. Anyone is free to come and take a book and leave one that you have already read.

“This facility has turned a piece of street furniture into a community service in constant use.”

Full article at the BBC

We will be running this for a few months and as soon as we start to see more reviews we’ll be upping what we give away. So WATCH THIS SPACE!

Jo

The vast majority of books out there seem to garner their credibility on a gutter press quote on the jacket or a reader top 10 list that featured the likes of Jordan or some other equally vacuous celebrity. Training books always seem to offer to turn you in to a wizz in 24hrs and I’m always amazed at how hard it is to get a good recommendation.

So I intend to wade through all the crap out there and recommend a good solid reading list that will both entertain, inform and allow visitors to hopefully help build a complete list of worthwhile releases.

If you have any books that you feel are important and a good read then please email me and we will review.

Enjoy

Joe