Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was expected to earn more than $5 million from his book about leading New York during the coronavirus pandemic, according to figures released by his office on Monday, as investigators continued to look into his use of state resources to write and promote the book. Read more
Category: Miscellaneous
A New Brain Implant Translates Thoughts of Writing Into Text
In early experiments, a paralyzed man with implants in his premotor cortex typed 90 characters per minute—by envisioning he was writing by hand. Read more
When reading to learn, what works best for students — printed books or digital texts?
A wealth of research comparing print and digital reading points to the same conclusion — print matters. For most students, print is the most effective way to learn and to retain that knowledge long-term. Read more
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How a COVID-era Federal Writers Project went from wild idea to a proposed bill
During the Great Depression as part of the New Deal, Roosevelt established the FWP with the goal of providing work for writers, historians, librarians, editors, teachers and others. At its peak, the program employed more than 6,000 people nationwide. Read more
How To Handle and Store Rare Books
One of the questions rare booksellers get asked a lot is how best to handle and store books. From climate-controlled vaults to the ubiquitous white gloves that we often see on our screens, the handling of works on paper is misrepresented and over-complicated in popular culture, and this has give rise to the idea that specialist training and environments are needed to house a rare book collection. While it’s certainly true that some items of extreme fragility require specialist environments and care, most books can, with care, be safely stored in ordinary homes. Read more
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Lucille Clifton’s House is Now an Artists’ Retreat
40 Years Ago, Poet Lucille Clifton Lost Her House. This Year, Her Children Bought It Back. Read more
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‘I couldn’t be with someone who liked Jack Reacher’: can our taste in books help us find love?
Readers are in demand on dating sites, with one focused entirely on bringing book-lovers together. But is our taste in literature truly a good indication of compatibility? Read more
Coming Soon – Digital Collectible Books?
One advantage we always thought physical books had over their digital counterparts is that physical books are collectible. There is no way you could collect a book composed of ephemeral electronic impulses, a copy of which everyone on earth could have on their computer. Where is the substance? Where is the rarity? So much for common wisdom. Our perceptions were stunned a few weeks ago when a digital artwork sold for an astonishing $69.3 million at Christie’s. Seriously. There is nothing on canvas, no physical painting. What the buyer got was a digital file, the same (almost) as every other one you can copy off the internet for free. Welcome to the world of NFTs. Read more
Oscar winner ‘Nomadland’ based on book by former Oregon journalist
“Nomadland,” which follows a woman in her 60s as she takes up a nomadic lifestyle after losing everything in the Great Recession, won Best Picture. Its director, Chloé Zhao, won Best Director, becoming the first woman of color and the second woman ever to win that award. Frances McDormand won Best Actress, her third such Oscar. Read more
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Roshan the Camel Brings Books to Homeschooling Children in Rural Pakistan
The school children, who live in remote villages where the streets are too narrow for vehicles, put on their best clothes and rush out to meet Roshan. They crowd around the animal shouting “the camel is here!” Read more
