December 6, 2009
Hardcover Fiction
This Week
1 I, ALEX CROSS, by James Patterson. (Little, Brown, $27.99.) Tracking the murderer of a relative, Alex Cross discovers a wild Washington scene with explosive secrets. Last Week Weeks on List 1
2 UNDER THE DOME, by Stephen King. (Scribner, $35.) When a Maine town is trapped by an invisible force field, a sanctimonious and hypocritical politician takes over. Last Week 1 Weeks on List 2
3 THE LOST SYMBOL, by Dan Brown. (Doubleday, $29.95.) Robert Langdon among the Masons. Last Week 2 Weeks on List 10
4 FORD COUNTY, by John Grisham. (Doubleday, $24.) Stories set in rural Mississippi. Last Week 3 Weeks on List 3
5 THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett. (Amy Einhorn/Putnam, $24.95.) A young white woman and two black maids in 1960s Mississippi.
Last Week 4 Weeks on List 34
6 THE WRECKER, by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott. (Putnam, $27.95.) In 1907, a detective tracks a mysterious saboteur all over the West.
Last Week Weeks on List 1
7 TRUE BLUE, by David Baldacci. (Grand Central, $27.99.) An ex-cop in Washington struggles to clear her name.
Last Week 7 Weeks on List 4
8* THE LACUNA, by Barbara Kingsolver. (Harper/HarperCollins, $26.99.) A young American growing up in Mexico becomes friends with artists and radicals; later, in the United States, he is menaced by McCarthyism.
Last Week 5 Weeks on List 3
9 THE GATHERING STORM, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. (Tor/Tom Doherty, $29.99.) Book 12 of the Wheel of Time fantasy series.
Last Week 6 Weeks on List 4
10 PURSUIT OF HONOR, by Vince Flynn. (Atria, $27.99.) The counterterrorism operative Mitch Rapp must teach politicians about national security following a new Qaeda attack.
Last Week 10 Weeks on List 6
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Andres N. - Fahrenheit 451
Andres found a quote from the novel Fahrenheit 451. Here it is:
"Let’s imagine there’s an earthquake tomorrow in the average university town. If only two buildings remained in town at the end of the earthquake, what would they have to be to rebuild everything that had been lost? Number one would be the medical building, because you need to help people survive, to heal injuries and sickness. The other building would be the library. All the other buildings are contained in that one. People could go into the library and get all the books they needed in literature or social economics or politics or engineering and take the books out on the law and sit down and read. Reading is the center of our lives. The library is our brain. Without the library, you have no civilization. "
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451--the temperature at which book paper catches fire, and burns ... New York: Ballantine Books, 1988
"Let’s imagine there’s an earthquake tomorrow in the average university town. If only two buildings remained in town at the end of the earthquake, what would they have to be to rebuild everything that had been lost? Number one would be the medical building, because you need to help people survive, to heal injuries and sickness. The other building would be the library. All the other buildings are contained in that one. People could go into the library and get all the books they needed in literature or social economics or politics or engineering and take the books out on the law and sit down and read. Reading is the center of our lives. The library is our brain. Without the library, you have no civilization. "
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451--the temperature at which book paper catches fire, and burns ... New York: Ballantine Books, 1988
Jonathan S. - Sparknotes
Sparknotes: Bad reputation among students and teachers caused by misuse
By Veronica Polivanaya
Published on October 20, 2008 in Volume 45, Issue 2
On a scale of legitimacy, many would place SparkNotes at the lower end of the spectrum, maybe next to Urban Dictionary. The word “SparkNotes” itself is considered taboo by many students and teachers alike, as if it were a crime against humanity rather than a mere study tool designed to help those with good intentions. The bad reputation SparkNotes has accumulated over the years stems from popular dissent and falsely-made accusations by those who simply have not given it a chance. SparkNotes is actually a clear, legitimate tool—if used the right way.
Upon hearing the term “Spark Notes,” the first word that typically comes to mind is “plagiarism.” It is commonly believed that students turn to SparkNotes simply to get out of reading assignments. Most—if not all—students have stooped to that level at least once in their lifetimes, whether it was due to lethargy or simply a lack of time. After all, spending 10 minutes reading curtailed chapters sounds like a much better alternative to pulling an all-nighter sifting through seemingly endless pages. Although it may seem like a good idea at the time, SparkNotes will get you nowhere in the long run if simply used as a replacement for the reading. It provides a sufficient amount of detail for the reader to be able to grasp the meaning of the chapter but not enough to prepare you for, say, a reading quiz. Students who pick SparkNotes over reading the book itself are simply cheating themselves out of a good education, and the blame cannot be placed solely upon SparkNotes for their misused conduct.
Because SparkNotes has been associated with other information-providing Web sites like Wikipedia, there exists a common misconception that entries can simply be provided by users and, in turn, be filled with fabrications and fraudulent chapter summaries. That cannot be farther from the truth: entries are written by top students or recent graduates who specialize in the subjects they cover. The Web site was launched in 1999 as a dating service by four Harvard students. Most of the Web site’s hits came from high school and college students, so it launched literature study guides in an attempt to galvanize users. In 2001, bookseller Barnes&Noble purchased the Web site for $3.55 million, which in turn initiated the release of printed literature guides. SparkNotes is much more legitimate than many deem it to be. For one, the entries are written by students who write based on their fields of expertise, and cannot be modified by a random user with a SparkNotes account. Secondly, the site is run by Barnes&Noble, a corporation that would not be selling the literature guides had it not classified the products as appropriate.
We are generally influenced by those around us and may cave in to peer pressure at times, whether we realize it or not. The fact that SparkNotes is frowned upon in our school community leads to a universal and unwarranted disapproval of the Web site. It’s time to brush away the misconceptions and go purchase AP practice exams for your iPod from SparkNotes—just use them wisely.
https://www1.amschool.edu.sv/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://gunn.pausd.org/oracle/web/articles/917
By Veronica Polivanaya
Published on October 20, 2008 in Volume 45, Issue 2
On a scale of legitimacy, many would place SparkNotes at the lower end of the spectrum, maybe next to Urban Dictionary. The word “SparkNotes” itself is considered taboo by many students and teachers alike, as if it were a crime against humanity rather than a mere study tool designed to help those with good intentions. The bad reputation SparkNotes has accumulated over the years stems from popular dissent and falsely-made accusations by those who simply have not given it a chance. SparkNotes is actually a clear, legitimate tool—if used the right way.
Upon hearing the term “Spark Notes,” the first word that typically comes to mind is “plagiarism.” It is commonly believed that students turn to SparkNotes simply to get out of reading assignments. Most—if not all—students have stooped to that level at least once in their lifetimes, whether it was due to lethargy or simply a lack of time. After all, spending 10 minutes reading curtailed chapters sounds like a much better alternative to pulling an all-nighter sifting through seemingly endless pages. Although it may seem like a good idea at the time, SparkNotes will get you nowhere in the long run if simply used as a replacement for the reading. It provides a sufficient amount of detail for the reader to be able to grasp the meaning of the chapter but not enough to prepare you for, say, a reading quiz. Students who pick SparkNotes over reading the book itself are simply cheating themselves out of a good education, and the blame cannot be placed solely upon SparkNotes for their misused conduct.
Because SparkNotes has been associated with other information-providing Web sites like Wikipedia, there exists a common misconception that entries can simply be provided by users and, in turn, be filled with fabrications and fraudulent chapter summaries. That cannot be farther from the truth: entries are written by top students or recent graduates who specialize in the subjects they cover. The Web site was launched in 1999 as a dating service by four Harvard students. Most of the Web site’s hits came from high school and college students, so it launched literature study guides in an attempt to galvanize users. In 2001, bookseller Barnes&Noble purchased the Web site for $3.55 million, which in turn initiated the release of printed literature guides. SparkNotes is much more legitimate than many deem it to be. For one, the entries are written by students who write based on their fields of expertise, and cannot be modified by a random user with a SparkNotes account. Secondly, the site is run by Barnes&Noble, a corporation that would not be selling the literature guides had it not classified the products as appropriate.
We are generally influenced by those around us and may cave in to peer pressure at times, whether we realize it or not. The fact that SparkNotes is frowned upon in our school community leads to a universal and unwarranted disapproval of the Web site. It’s time to brush away the misconceptions and go purchase AP practice exams for your iPod from SparkNotes—just use them wisely.
https://www1.amschool.edu.sv/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://gunn.pausd.org/oracle/web/articles/917
Adela C. - Graphic Novels
From Spider-Man to Ayn Rand
By DOUGLAS WOLK
Published: August 15, 2008
When an anonymous donor recently gave the Library of Congress Steve Ditko’s original artwork from the 1962 comic book “Amazing Fantasy #15,” the issue in which he created Spider-Man with the writer Stan Lee, barely anyone took notice. One of American comics’ great visual stylists, Ditko also had a hand in the development of both Iron Man and the Hulk, but his characters’ subsequent mass-media careers have made him neither rich nor particularly famous. He drew his greatest work for a flat page rate; Lee, his collaborator, was the grinning public face of Marvel Comics, while Ditko has refused all interviews and public appearances for decades.
He split with Lee and Marvel in 1966. By then, he’d fallen under the spell of Ayn Rand and Objectivism, and started producing an endless string of ham-fisted comics about how A is A and there is no gray area between good and evil and so on. “The Hawk and the Dove,” for instance, concerns two superhero brothers who … oh, you’ve already figured it out. Ditko could still devise brilliantly disturbing visuals — the Question, one of his many Objectivist mouthpieces, is a man in a jacket, tie and hat, with a blank expanse of flesh for a face — and his drawing style kept evolving, even as his stories tediously parroted “Atlas Shrugged” and “The Fountainhead” at the expense of character, plot and ultimately bearability. By the ’70s he was regarded as a slightly old-fashioned oddball; by the ’80s he was a commercial has-been, picking up wretched work-for-hire gigs. Bell suggests that, following the example of Rand’s John Galt, Ditko hacked out moneymaking work, saving his care for the crabbed Objectivist screeds he published with tiny presses. And boy, could Ditko hack: seeing samples of his Transformers coloring book and his Big Boy comic is like hearing Orson Welles sell frozen peas.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/books/review/Wolk-t.html
By DOUGLAS WOLK
Published: August 15, 2008
When an anonymous donor recently gave the Library of Congress Steve Ditko’s original artwork from the 1962 comic book “Amazing Fantasy #15,” the issue in which he created Spider-Man with the writer Stan Lee, barely anyone took notice. One of American comics’ great visual stylists, Ditko also had a hand in the development of both Iron Man and the Hulk, but his characters’ subsequent mass-media careers have made him neither rich nor particularly famous. He drew his greatest work for a flat page rate; Lee, his collaborator, was the grinning public face of Marvel Comics, while Ditko has refused all interviews and public appearances for decades.
He split with Lee and Marvel in 1966. By then, he’d fallen under the spell of Ayn Rand and Objectivism, and started producing an endless string of ham-fisted comics about how A is A and there is no gray area between good and evil and so on. “The Hawk and the Dove,” for instance, concerns two superhero brothers who … oh, you’ve already figured it out. Ditko could still devise brilliantly disturbing visuals — the Question, one of his many Objectivist mouthpieces, is a man in a jacket, tie and hat, with a blank expanse of flesh for a face — and his drawing style kept evolving, even as his stories tediously parroted “Atlas Shrugged” and “The Fountainhead” at the expense of character, plot and ultimately bearability. By the ’70s he was regarded as a slightly old-fashioned oddball; by the ’80s he was a commercial has-been, picking up wretched work-for-hire gigs. Bell suggests that, following the example of Rand’s John Galt, Ditko hacked out moneymaking work, saving his care for the crabbed Objectivist screeds he published with tiny presses. And boy, could Ditko hack: seeing samples of his Transformers coloring book and his Big Boy comic is like hearing Orson Welles sell frozen peas.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/books/review/Wolk-t.html
Alvaro R. - Kindle
Resisting the Kindle by Sven Birkerts
Why, then, am I so uneasy about the page-to-screen transfer—a skeptic if not a downright resister? Perhaps it is because I see in the turning of literal pages—pages bound in literal books—a compelling larger value, and perceive in the move away from the book a move away from a certain kind of cultural understanding, one that I’m not confident that we are replacing, never mind improving upon. I’m not blind to the unwieldiness of the book, or to the cumbersome systems we must maintain to accommodate it—the vast libraries and complicated filing systems. But these structures evolved over centuries in ways that map our collective endeavor to understand and express our world. The book is part of a system. And that system stands for the labor and taxonomy of human understanding, and to touch a book is to touch that system, however lightly.
The electronic book, on the other hand, represents—and furthers—a circuitry of instant access, which giveth (information) as it taketh away (the great clarifying context, the order). This will not be an instant revolution. Paradigm shifts take time. Right now the Kindle still lives within the context of print. But what would happen if, through growing market share and broad generational adoption, the Kindle were to supplant the bound book? For me the significance of this is not whether people end up reading more or less, or even a matter of what they read. At issue is the deep-structure of the activity. My fear is that as Wikipedia is to information, so will the Kindle become to literature and the humanities: a one-stop outlet, a speedy and irresistibly efficient leveler of context.
Literature—our great archive of human expression—is deeply contextual and historicized. We all know this—we learned it in school. This essential view of literature and the humanities has been—and continues to be—reinforced by our libraries and bookstores, by the obvious physical adjacency of certain texts, the fact of which telegraphs the cumulative time-bound nature of the enterprise. We get this reflexively.
I concede, this view is apocalyptic. The Kindle is just a device and the Kindle experience is still mainly about text and reader (and convenience and cost-savings)—I know that. But we should not forget that the sum of reader-text encounters creates our cultural landscape. So if it happens that in a few decades—maybe less—we move wholesale into a world where information and texts are called onto the screen by the touch of a button, and libraries survive as information centers rather than as repositories of printed books, we will not simply have replaced one delivery system with another. We will also have modified our imagination of history, our understanding of the causal and associative relationships of ideas and their creators. We may gain an extraordinary dots-per-square-inch level of access to detail, but in the process we will lose much of our sense of the woven narrative consistency of the story. That is the trade-off. Access versus context. As for Pride and Prejudice—Austen’s words will reach the reader’s eye in the same sequence they always have. What will change is the receiving sensibility, the background understanding of what this text was – how it emerged and took its place in the context of other texts—and how it moved through the culture.
The Kindle is not the Devil’s calling card—it makes all kinds of sense as a technology. And it won’t by itself undo centuries-old ways of doing things, or precipitate anything that isn’t already poised to happen. But we misjudge it if we construe it as just another useful new tool.
https://www1.amschool.edu.sv/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200903u/amazon-kindle
Why, then, am I so uneasy about the page-to-screen transfer—a skeptic if not a downright resister? Perhaps it is because I see in the turning of literal pages—pages bound in literal books—a compelling larger value, and perceive in the move away from the book a move away from a certain kind of cultural understanding, one that I’m not confident that we are replacing, never mind improving upon. I’m not blind to the unwieldiness of the book, or to the cumbersome systems we must maintain to accommodate it—the vast libraries and complicated filing systems. But these structures evolved over centuries in ways that map our collective endeavor to understand and express our world. The book is part of a system. And that system stands for the labor and taxonomy of human understanding, and to touch a book is to touch that system, however lightly.
The electronic book, on the other hand, represents—and furthers—a circuitry of instant access, which giveth (information) as it taketh away (the great clarifying context, the order). This will not be an instant revolution. Paradigm shifts take time. Right now the Kindle still lives within the context of print. But what would happen if, through growing market share and broad generational adoption, the Kindle were to supplant the bound book? For me the significance of this is not whether people end up reading more or less, or even a matter of what they read. At issue is the deep-structure of the activity. My fear is that as Wikipedia is to information, so will the Kindle become to literature and the humanities: a one-stop outlet, a speedy and irresistibly efficient leveler of context.
Literature—our great archive of human expression—is deeply contextual and historicized. We all know this—we learned it in school. This essential view of literature and the humanities has been—and continues to be—reinforced by our libraries and bookstores, by the obvious physical adjacency of certain texts, the fact of which telegraphs the cumulative time-bound nature of the enterprise. We get this reflexively.
I concede, this view is apocalyptic. The Kindle is just a device and the Kindle experience is still mainly about text and reader (and convenience and cost-savings)—I know that. But we should not forget that the sum of reader-text encounters creates our cultural landscape. So if it happens that in a few decades—maybe less—we move wholesale into a world where information and texts are called onto the screen by the touch of a button, and libraries survive as information centers rather than as repositories of printed books, we will not simply have replaced one delivery system with another. We will also have modified our imagination of history, our understanding of the causal and associative relationships of ideas and their creators. We may gain an extraordinary dots-per-square-inch level of access to detail, but in the process we will lose much of our sense of the woven narrative consistency of the story. That is the trade-off. Access versus context. As for Pride and Prejudice—Austen’s words will reach the reader’s eye in the same sequence they always have. What will change is the receiving sensibility, the background understanding of what this text was – how it emerged and took its place in the context of other texts—and how it moved through the culture.
The Kindle is not the Devil’s calling card—it makes all kinds of sense as a technology. And it won’t by itself undo centuries-old ways of doing things, or precipitate anything that isn’t already poised to happen. But we misjudge it if we construe it as just another useful new tool.
https://www1.amschool.edu.sv/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200903u/amazon-kindle
Michaela R. - Kindle
10 reasons not to buy a Kindle 2
1. It’s bad for research. I’m working on a book right now and I wanted to use the Kindle for all of my research. Sadly, this is almost impossible. The book is a physical object – you can move through it, skimming for notes and important points – and there is something in our education that gives us a sense of space inside a book. I don’t quite know how to explain it, but you know how you can pick up a book and show someone what you’re looking for in a few page turns? You know it was halfway through, maybe a third of the way down the page, and it was near another set of words. The Kindle is not conducive to that kind of mental map-making… yet.
2. It’s horrible for reference. Don’t buy a Kindle of you just read programming manuals. Programming manuals offer something different. While it seems counterintuitive that a document you can search programatically wouldn’t be good as reference material, you’re better off looking up function calls on a website and using the physical book as a guide to building your programs. This is a corallary of point 1, above, so this could change.
3. The Kindle is flimsy. You’ll go through your day thinking you will break your Kindle. You don’t fit that much screen on a thin device that is meant to be thrown into a bag without a care and not risk cracking it. There will come a day when you open your bag and see that your Kindle is dead, even in its case. It’s not your fault. Say it with me: it’s not your fault.
4. It’s not ready for students. Add points 1, 2, and 3 together and you come to the conclusion that this is not ready for students. This may be a good device for English classes requiring lots of long novel reading, but as an education tool it isn’t quite there.
5. The net connection doesn’t work internationally. For some reason last year I was convinced the Kindle had Wi-Fi built-in. I was trying to get on the Internet in Warsaw, Poland and I kept looking for that Wi-Fi button. Then I remembered – no Wi-Fi. And I cried. How I cried, my friends. Then I downloaded the Kindle book onto my desktop and dragged it over via the USB cable. So that’s, in essence, your international solution.
6. No SD slot. While the Kindle can easily hold 1,500 books, what if you’re the kind of person who likes to keep everything in its right place? Maybe you want to make a book playlist? Maybe you have 1,501 books? I don’t know. Sadly, the Kindle doesn’t allow for memory expansion. Not a big deal, but to some it’s a bad thing.
7. Flight attendants will tell you to turn it off on take off and landing. You can’t explain that it’s epaper and uses no current. You just can’t. It’s like explaining heaven to bears.
8. It contains a battery. Remember, Reader, the Kindle is mortal. It will die on you when you don’t have your charger.
9. It’s bottom heavy. The internal battery makes the device want to plop face down on your chest. I read it last night when I was sleepy and it kept getting ready to fall on me.
10. There’s just something about a dead tree book, isn’t there? It’s nice to pop into the airport news stand and pick up a novel. It just is. I’m sorry.
http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/02/25/10-reasons-to-buy-a-kindle-2-and-10-reasons-not-to/.
1. It’s bad for research. I’m working on a book right now and I wanted to use the Kindle for all of my research. Sadly, this is almost impossible. The book is a physical object – you can move through it, skimming for notes and important points – and there is something in our education that gives us a sense of space inside a book. I don’t quite know how to explain it, but you know how you can pick up a book and show someone what you’re looking for in a few page turns? You know it was halfway through, maybe a third of the way down the page, and it was near another set of words. The Kindle is not conducive to that kind of mental map-making… yet.
2. It’s horrible for reference. Don’t buy a Kindle of you just read programming manuals. Programming manuals offer something different. While it seems counterintuitive that a document you can search programatically wouldn’t be good as reference material, you’re better off looking up function calls on a website and using the physical book as a guide to building your programs. This is a corallary of point 1, above, so this could change.
3. The Kindle is flimsy. You’ll go through your day thinking you will break your Kindle. You don’t fit that much screen on a thin device that is meant to be thrown into a bag without a care and not risk cracking it. There will come a day when you open your bag and see that your Kindle is dead, even in its case. It’s not your fault. Say it with me: it’s not your fault.
4. It’s not ready for students. Add points 1, 2, and 3 together and you come to the conclusion that this is not ready for students. This may be a good device for English classes requiring lots of long novel reading, but as an education tool it isn’t quite there.
5. The net connection doesn’t work internationally. For some reason last year I was convinced the Kindle had Wi-Fi built-in. I was trying to get on the Internet in Warsaw, Poland and I kept looking for that Wi-Fi button. Then I remembered – no Wi-Fi. And I cried. How I cried, my friends. Then I downloaded the Kindle book onto my desktop and dragged it over via the USB cable. So that’s, in essence, your international solution.
6. No SD slot. While the Kindle can easily hold 1,500 books, what if you’re the kind of person who likes to keep everything in its right place? Maybe you want to make a book playlist? Maybe you have 1,501 books? I don’t know. Sadly, the Kindle doesn’t allow for memory expansion. Not a big deal, but to some it’s a bad thing.
7. Flight attendants will tell you to turn it off on take off and landing. You can’t explain that it’s epaper and uses no current. You just can’t. It’s like explaining heaven to bears.
8. It contains a battery. Remember, Reader, the Kindle is mortal. It will die on you when you don’t have your charger.
9. It’s bottom heavy. The internal battery makes the device want to plop face down on your chest. I read it last night when I was sleepy and it kept getting ready to fall on me.
10. There’s just something about a dead tree book, isn’t there? It’s nice to pop into the airport news stand and pick up a novel. It just is. I’m sorry.
http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/02/25/10-reasons-to-buy-a-kindle-2-and-10-reasons-not-to/.
Emilie - A. - Hypertext
TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home. 25 Mar. 2009.
By Rita Toews
The RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization that provides analysis and solutions for the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world, has done an interesting study of e-books entitled: Innovation and the Future of e-Books. The author of the study was John W. Warren.
According to Mr. Warren, the future of e-books may include enhanced e-books. This concept could prove interesting to authors interested in experimenting with hypertext novels. A hypertext novel would include links in the text that take a reader to various locations either within, or without, the novel itself.
In 2002 when my co-author and I were writing our novel Prometheus, the idea of including hypertext was considered. The novel, set in Nepal, seemed to lend itself to the inclusion of both photos of the area and links to more information on the culture and traditions of the society the reader was about to enter. We felt the inclusion of these elements took full advantage of the capabilities of e-books. In the end the idea was set aside.
The concept of hypertext novels in print format is not new. According to the RAND study, novels that play with the hypertext form include Fernando Pessoa’s The Book of Disquiet (posthumous 1991), Julio Cortazar’s Rayuela [Hopscotch, 1963], or Norman Mailer’s Advertisements for Myself. Hopscotch invited the reader to choose various paths through the novel; Mailer’s work proposed three different readings; and Pessoa’s invites browsing through the series of thoughts and fragments. Although cumbersome in print form, the idea seems particularly suited to an e-book format.
Hypertext offers a unique way for the reader to actually participate in the story, or even add to the text if freedom is given to join in as an author. One challenge, on the surface, would be unique writing styles that could interfere with the readability of the story line. This could be overcome by having individual authors participate as specific characters in the plot. The result would be each character having a unique “voice”, thereby eliminating one frustration authors often struggle with.
By Rita Toews
The RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization that provides analysis and solutions for the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world, has done an interesting study of e-books entitled: Innovation and the Future of e-Books. The author of the study was John W. Warren.
According to Mr. Warren, the future of e-books may include enhanced e-books. This concept could prove interesting to authors interested in experimenting with hypertext novels. A hypertext novel would include links in the text that take a reader to various locations either within, or without, the novel itself.
In 2002 when my co-author and I were writing our novel Prometheus, the idea of including hypertext was considered. The novel, set in Nepal, seemed to lend itself to the inclusion of both photos of the area and links to more information on the culture and traditions of the society the reader was about to enter. We felt the inclusion of these elements took full advantage of the capabilities of e-books. In the end the idea was set aside.
The concept of hypertext novels in print format is not new. According to the RAND study, novels that play with the hypertext form include Fernando Pessoa’s The Book of Disquiet (posthumous 1991), Julio Cortazar’s Rayuela [Hopscotch, 1963], or Norman Mailer’s Advertisements for Myself. Hopscotch invited the reader to choose various paths through the novel; Mailer’s work proposed three different readings; and Pessoa’s invites browsing through the series of thoughts and fragments. Although cumbersome in print form, the idea seems particularly suited to an e-book format.
Hypertext offers a unique way for the reader to actually participate in the story, or even add to the text if freedom is given to join in as an author. One challenge, on the surface, would be unique writing styles that could interfere with the readability of the story line. This could be overcome by having individual authors participate as specific characters in the plot. The result would be each character having a unique “voice”, thereby eliminating one frustration authors often struggle with.
Chris E. - Graphic Novels
English department: Give graphic novels a chance
By Cody Bozarth Issue date: 9/24/08
The Western Illinois University English department needs a class to study graphic novels. I'm not referring to those thin, monthly superhero comic books that birthed the medium decades ago. These are books that have stories that have a beginning, middle and end. These things are mature and provoke thought, a far cry from mindless, over-muscular supermen or scantily clad, over-endowed superwomen.
Completely unbeknownst to many people studying English and literature, a whole movement of autobiographical memoirs and original fiction has risen, though they are often overlooked for their "inherently juvenile" visual storytelling. Even now, books like Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis" and Alison Bechel's "Fun Home" are being studied at Western, and this is a good step. But what we really need is a dedicated class.
Little distinguishes textual fiction from the graphic novel or memoir. The stories are just as well-crafted and just as insightful as any modern work of fiction, yet overdone tomes of words receive more attention from so-called literary critics than do graphic novels. Books such as "Bottomless Belly Button," "Black Hole," or "Blankets" are lengthy and succinct. Dialogue and facial expressions are easier to picture and little details don't require several pages to describe, just one panel. You can sense emotion without being told. Graphic novels are beautifully deeper than their words.
Part of what makes college necessary for specialized professions is to show students the people who got it right and help us emulate them. This graphic novel class could be an English class, but it could also be an art class. There are artists at Western who are fully capable of telling stories, but these stories are unique because of the medium. We, as an institution of higher education, need to show budding artists an avenue of creativity that they may have not considered.
http://media.www.westerncourier.com/media/storage/paper650/news/2008/09/24/Opinion/English.Department.Give.Graphic.Novels.A.Chance-3448198.shtml
By Cody Bozarth Issue date: 9/24/08
The Western Illinois University English department needs a class to study graphic novels. I'm not referring to those thin, monthly superhero comic books that birthed the medium decades ago. These are books that have stories that have a beginning, middle and end. These things are mature and provoke thought, a far cry from mindless, over-muscular supermen or scantily clad, over-endowed superwomen.
Completely unbeknownst to many people studying English and literature, a whole movement of autobiographical memoirs and original fiction has risen, though they are often overlooked for their "inherently juvenile" visual storytelling. Even now, books like Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis" and Alison Bechel's "Fun Home" are being studied at Western, and this is a good step. But what we really need is a dedicated class.
Little distinguishes textual fiction from the graphic novel or memoir. The stories are just as well-crafted and just as insightful as any modern work of fiction, yet overdone tomes of words receive more attention from so-called literary critics than do graphic novels. Books such as "Bottomless Belly Button," "Black Hole," or "Blankets" are lengthy and succinct. Dialogue and facial expressions are easier to picture and little details don't require several pages to describe, just one panel. You can sense emotion without being told. Graphic novels are beautifully deeper than their words.
Part of what makes college necessary for specialized professions is to show students the people who got it right and help us emulate them. This graphic novel class could be an English class, but it could also be an art class. There are artists at Western who are fully capable of telling stories, but these stories are unique because of the medium. We, as an institution of higher education, need to show budding artists an avenue of creativity that they may have not considered.
http://media.www.westerncourier.com/media/storage/paper650/news/2008/09/24/Opinion/English.Department.Give.Graphic.Novels.A.Chance-3448198.shtml
Raul Z. - Project Gutenberg
Gutenberg:Project Gutenberg Mission Statement by Michael Hart
From Project Gutenberg, the first producer of free electronic books (ebooks).
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Project Gutenberg is not in the business of establishing standards. If we were, we would have gladly accepted the request to convert an exemplary portion of our eBooks into HTML when World Wide Web was a brand new idea in 1993; we are happy to bring eBooks to our readers in as many formats as our volunteers wish to make.
In addition, we do not provide standards of accuracy above those as recommended by institutions such as the U.S. Library of Congress at the level of 99.95%.
While most of our eBooks exceed these standards and are presented in the most common formats, this is not a requirement; people are still encouraged to send us eBooks in any format and at any accuracy level and we will ask for volunteers to convert them to other formats, and to incrementally correct errors as times goes on.
Many of our most popular eBooks started out with huge error levels--only later did they come to the more polished levels seen today. In fact, many of our eBooks were done totally without any supervision--by people who had never heard of Project Gutenberg--and only sent to us after the fact.
We want to continue to encourage everyone to send us eBooks, even if they have already created some without any knowledge of who we were, what we were doing, or how we were doing it.
Everyone is welcome to contribute to Project Gutenberg.
Thus, there are no dues, no membership requirements: and still only the most general guidelines to making eBooks for Project Gutenberg.
We want to provide as many eBooks in as many formats as possible for the entire world to read in as many languages as possible.
Thus, we are continually seeking new volunteers, whether to make one single favorite book available or to make one new language available or to help us with book after book.
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Written by Michael S. Hart June 20, 2004.
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Project_Gutenberg_Mission_Statement_by_Michael_Hart
From Project Gutenberg, the first producer of free electronic books (ebooks).
The mission of Project Gutenberg is simple:
To encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks. This mission is, as much as possible, to encourage all those who are interested in making eBooks and helping to give them away.
In fact, Project Gutenberg approves about 99% of all requests from those who would like to make our eBooks and give them away, within their various local copyright limitations.
Project Gutenberg is powered by ideas, ideals, and by idealism. Project Gutenberg is not powered by financial or political power. Therefore Project Gutenberg is powered totally by volunteers.
Because we are totally powered by volunteers we are hesitant to be very bossy about what our volunteers should do, or how to do it. We offer as many freedoms to our volunteers as possible, in choices of what books to do, what formats to do them in, or any other ideas they may have concerning "the creation and distribution of eBooks."
Project Gutenberg is not in the business of establishing standards. If we were, we would have gladly accepted the request to convert an exemplary portion of our eBooks into HTML when World Wide Web was a brand new idea in 1993; we are happy to bring eBooks to our readers in as many formats as our volunteers wish to make.
In addition, we do not provide standards of accuracy above those as recommended by institutions such as the U.S. Library of Congress at the level of 99.95%.
While most of our eBooks exceed these standards and are presented in the most common formats, this is not a requirement; people are still encouraged to send us eBooks in any format and at any accuracy level and we will ask for volunteers to convert them to other formats, and to incrementally correct errors as times goes on.
Many of our most popular eBooks started out with huge error levels--only later did they come to the more polished levels seen today. In fact, many of our eBooks were done totally without any supervision--by people who had never heard of Project Gutenberg--and only sent to us after the fact.
We want to continue to encourage everyone to send us eBooks, even if they have already created some without any knowledge of who we were, what we were doing, or how we were doing it.
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Written by Michael S. Hart June 20, 2004.
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Project_Gutenberg_Mission_Statement_by_Michael_Hart
Hyeji K. - Oprah's Book Club
"Tolstoy's Translators Experience Oprah's Effect."
By EDWARD WYATT
Ms. Winfrey's selection of ''Anna Karenina'' was notable in several ways, not least because she has not read the book, which is about a woman who abandons her husband for a lover and is set in 19th-century Russia.
''I've never, ever chosen a novel that I had not personally read,'' she said on her show last week, introducing the selection. ''It's been on my list for years, but I didn't do it because I was scared.'' Now, she said, ''I am going to team up with all of you and read it together.''
Ms. Winfrey has chosen translated novels before, including most recently ''One Hundred Years of Solitude'' by Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez, the Colombian who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982. But that book, like nearly all of the other selections Ms. Winfrey has made since 1996, was still under copyright, with one English translation.
In contrast, at least a half-dozen translations of ''Anna Karenina'' are in print in North America. Because Oprah's Book Club uses online readers' guides and other materials specific to the book, Ms. Winfrey recognized the importance of having everyone on the same page.
''First of all, get this edition,'' she told viewers. ''You see the one with the little flowers on the cover, and it'll have the little banner? Look for the Oprah's Book Club little sticker there because there's lots of different editions. This is an award-winning translation, so you're really going to get scared if it's not translated well, O.K.?'' Ms. Winfrey revived her book club last June after a hiatus of more than a year. The club had been discontinued in 2002 when she decided she could not keep up with the reading required to find contemporary books that she enjoyed.
With 46 recommendations in six years, Ms. Winfrey had championed a diverse group of modern authors -- Toni Morrison, Wally Lamb and Mary McGarry Morris among them -- whose members saw sales of their books grow exponentially, as hundreds of thousands of loyal viewers rushed out in search of the latest selection, often sending it zooming up best-seller lists.
When Ms. Winfrey revived the club, she do so with a twist. Now she would recommend only classics, ''great books that have stood the test of time,'' as she put it, with three to five selections a year. The first pick, ''East of Eden'' by John Steinbeck, spent seven weeks at the top of the New York Times list of paperback best sellers, a feat unheard of for a 51-year-old novel.
Last week the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation of ''Anna Karenina'' also shot to the top of Amazon's online best-seller list, and it has been at or near the top of Barnes & Noble's online list. Penguin has by now returned to press twice to print 900,000 copies since being notified of the pending selection -- under a veil of secrecy -- on May 5, compared with about 60,000 copies since the book's American release in 2001.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/07/books/tolstoy-s-translators-experience-oprah-s-effect.html
By EDWARD WYATT
Ms. Winfrey's selection of ''Anna Karenina'' was notable in several ways, not least because she has not read the book, which is about a woman who abandons her husband for a lover and is set in 19th-century Russia.
''I've never, ever chosen a novel that I had not personally read,'' she said on her show last week, introducing the selection. ''It's been on my list for years, but I didn't do it because I was scared.'' Now, she said, ''I am going to team up with all of you and read it together.''
Ms. Winfrey has chosen translated novels before, including most recently ''One Hundred Years of Solitude'' by Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez, the Colombian who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982. But that book, like nearly all of the other selections Ms. Winfrey has made since 1996, was still under copyright, with one English translation.
In contrast, at least a half-dozen translations of ''Anna Karenina'' are in print in North America. Because Oprah's Book Club uses online readers' guides and other materials specific to the book, Ms. Winfrey recognized the importance of having everyone on the same page.
''First of all, get this edition,'' she told viewers. ''You see the one with the little flowers on the cover, and it'll have the little banner? Look for the Oprah's Book Club little sticker there because there's lots of different editions. This is an award-winning translation, so you're really going to get scared if it's not translated well, O.K.?'' Ms. Winfrey revived her book club last June after a hiatus of more than a year. The club had been discontinued in 2002 when she decided she could not keep up with the reading required to find contemporary books that she enjoyed.
With 46 recommendations in six years, Ms. Winfrey had championed a diverse group of modern authors -- Toni Morrison, Wally Lamb and Mary McGarry Morris among them -- whose members saw sales of their books grow exponentially, as hundreds of thousands of loyal viewers rushed out in search of the latest selection, often sending it zooming up best-seller lists.
When Ms. Winfrey revived the club, she do so with a twist. Now she would recommend only classics, ''great books that have stood the test of time,'' as she put it, with three to five selections a year. The first pick, ''East of Eden'' by John Steinbeck, spent seven weeks at the top of the New York Times list of paperback best sellers, a feat unheard of for a 51-year-old novel.
Last week the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation of ''Anna Karenina'' also shot to the top of Amazon's online best-seller list, and it has been at or near the top of Barnes & Noble's online list. Penguin has by now returned to press twice to print 900,000 copies since being notified of the pending selection -- under a veil of secrecy -- on May 5, compared with about 60,000 copies since the book's American release in 2001.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/07/books/tolstoy-s-translators-experience-oprah-s-effect.html
Cristina G. - Sparknotes
The whole issue of Sparknotes is very interesting to me. Never really having used Sparknotes, I am in some way ‘out of the loop.’ I do agree with your point that when a teacher introduces a novel by saying, “here - read this, test next Thursday,” it is more than a little disheartening to the student (especially one who, from the get go, wasn’t excited about English class). If students want to use Sparknotes as a companion to the reading, I have no problem with that; I actually think it is a very good idea. However, if it a substitute for the work then that is wrong.
I think one way of discouraging kids to substitute Sparknotes for the novel would be to introduce the novel and say, “We are going to be reading MacBeth and you are more than welcome to use Sparknotes to help you get through it if need be; however, don’t count on Sparknotes to get you through, or even an A on the test. The test will consist of more than what Sparknotes can offer you.” Then, back that up by making a test with several open-ended yet pointed questions. I really think you could make a test that would separate those who actually did the work from those who just used Sparknotes. I wouldn’t call Sparknotes cheating, because the students aren’t plagiarizing nor are they copying another student’s work; however, I would call it laziness. I really think, as you mention, it is about the student’s drive to do the work, but I also think it has a lot to do with the teacher and how they present the piece of literature. Perhaps it is a 60/40 relationship.
- Written by an English teacher on a blog about Sparknotes
I think one way of discouraging kids to substitute Sparknotes for the novel would be to introduce the novel and say, “We are going to be reading MacBeth and you are more than welcome to use Sparknotes to help you get through it if need be; however, don’t count on Sparknotes to get you through, or even an A on the test. The test will consist of more than what Sparknotes can offer you.” Then, back that up by making a test with several open-ended yet pointed questions. I really think you could make a test that would separate those who actually did the work from those who just used Sparknotes. I wouldn’t call Sparknotes cheating, because the students aren’t plagiarizing nor are they copying another student’s work; however, I would call it laziness. I really think, as you mention, it is about the student’s drive to do the work, but I also think it has a lot to do with the teacher and how they present the piece of literature. Perhaps it is a 60/40 relationship.
- Written by an English teacher on a blog about Sparknotes
Rene V. - Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg was started by Michael Hart in 1971. Hart, a student at the University of Illinois, obtained access to a Xerox Sigma V mainframe computer in the university's Materials Research Lab. Through friendly operators, he received an account with a virtually unlimited amount of computer time; it has been valued between $100,000 and $100,000,000. Hart has said he wanted to "give back" this gift by doing something that could be considered to be of great value. Hart believed that computers would one day be accessible to the general public and decided to make works of literature available in electronic form for free.
He named the project for Johannes Gutenberg, the fifteenth-century German printer who propelled the movable-type printing press revolution and since he happened to have a copy of the United States Declaration of Independence in his backpack, this became the first Project Gutenberg e-text. The project has grown since and in August 2006 Project Gutenberg claimed to have over 19,000 items in its collection, with an average of over fifty new eBooks being added each week. Project Gutenberg consists primarily of literature from the Western cultural tradition, in addition to literature such as novels, poetry, short stories, and drama. It also has cookbooks, reference works and issues of periodicals. The collection also includes a few non-text items such as audio files and music notation files. In August 2006 the non-English languages most represented were (in order): French, German, Finnish, Dutch, and Spanish.
Michael Hart said in 2004: "The mission of Project Gutenberg is simple: 'To encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks'" and his motivation and slogan for the project was to "break down the bars of ignorance and illiteracy". The Project Gutenberg collection is intended to preserve items for the long term.
Project Gutenberg has been criticized for lack of scholarly rigor in its e-texts: for example, in inadequate detailing of editions used and in the omission of original published prefaces and critical apparatus like the preservation of edition information and prefaces.
http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Project_Gutenberg
He named the project for Johannes Gutenberg, the fifteenth-century German printer who propelled the movable-type printing press revolution and since he happened to have a copy of the United States Declaration of Independence in his backpack, this became the first Project Gutenberg e-text. The project has grown since and in August 2006 Project Gutenberg claimed to have over 19,000 items in its collection, with an average of over fifty new eBooks being added each week. Project Gutenberg consists primarily of literature from the Western cultural tradition, in addition to literature such as novels, poetry, short stories, and drama. It also has cookbooks, reference works and issues of periodicals. The collection also includes a few non-text items such as audio files and music notation files. In August 2006 the non-English languages most represented were (in order): French, German, Finnish, Dutch, and Spanish.
Michael Hart said in 2004: "The mission of Project Gutenberg is simple: 'To encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks'" and his motivation and slogan for the project was to "break down the bars of ignorance and illiteracy". The Project Gutenberg collection is intended to preserve items for the long term.
Project Gutenberg has been criticized for lack of scholarly rigor in its e-texts: for example, in inadequate detailing of editions used and in the omission of original published prefaces and critical apparatus like the preservation of edition information and prefaces.
http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Project_Gutenberg
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Beatriz C. - Book burning
Anti-fascist organizations, American Jewish groups, and numerous writers, scholars, and journalists recognized the ominous intent of the Nazi “culture war” that made blood and race the source of inspiration. The American Jewish Congress hoped to broaden the coalition of anti-Nazi Americans by using the May 10 book burnings as a unifying cause. It urged mass street demonstrations to take place that same day. As the German literary blacklists circulated in the press, American authors published declarations of solidarity with their condemned brethren. Throughout the 1930s, as the flood of German émigré writers rose, American literary organizations provided aid where they could in response to the crisis.
On May 10, 1933, the same day as the book burnings in Germany, massive street demonstrations took place in dozens of American cities. Skillfully organized by the American Jewish Congress, the demonstrators protested the relentless Nazi attacks upon Jews: the continued harassment, police raids, arrests, and beatings, as well as the destruction of Jewish property and the boycott of Jewish businesses. In the largest demonstration in New York City history up to that date, 100,000 people marched for more than six hours to protest events in Germany and the burning of books. Other mass demonstrations by a variety of American groups took place in cities across the country, including Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Chicago.
American newspapers nationwide reported both the Nazi bonfires and the American protests. Editorial opinion was nearly unanimous in its condemnation but uneven in its rhetoric. Some newspapers called the German student actions “silly,” “ineffective,” “senseless,” or “infantile.” The New Yorker made light of the “extra-curricular activities” of Nazi students.” Essayist E. B. White joked, “We never burn books except to keep them out of the hands of the grand jury.” But others, such as Ludwig Lewisohn of The Nation, forecast the dawning of a “dark age,” an “insane” assault “against the life of the mind, intellectual values, and the rights of the human spirit.”
Blind and deaf since infancy, by 1933 Helen Keller was a revered symbol of victory over incredible adversity. Dispatches from Berlin about the burning of books—her own among them—left Keller “deeply hurt over the whole matter,” according to her companion, Polly Thompson. Moved to write an open letter to German students, Keller affirmed the enduring power of ideas against tyranny. The letter appeared on the front page of the New York Times and in hundreds of other American newspapers. Stung by the publicity surrounding Helen Keller’s letter, the Nazi propaganda ministry questioned whether her books had been blacklisted, then dismissed the bonfires as unofficial, “spontaneous acts by the German Students Association.” In 1937, she ordered all her books dropped from German sales lists, expressing dismay over “Germany’s antisemitic atrocities, fear-clamping state control over lives and home, [and] imprisonment of thousands without trial.” Hitler’s suppression of “fundamental liberties without which a nation’s soul is dead” had made Germany a place of “chattel slavery, idolatry, and infringement upon Christian consciences.”
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/bookburning/response.php
On May 10, 1933, the same day as the book burnings in Germany, massive street demonstrations took place in dozens of American cities. Skillfully organized by the American Jewish Congress, the demonstrators protested the relentless Nazi attacks upon Jews: the continued harassment, police raids, arrests, and beatings, as well as the destruction of Jewish property and the boycott of Jewish businesses. In the largest demonstration in New York City history up to that date, 100,000 people marched for more than six hours to protest events in Germany and the burning of books. Other mass demonstrations by a variety of American groups took place in cities across the country, including Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Chicago.
American newspapers nationwide reported both the Nazi bonfires and the American protests. Editorial opinion was nearly unanimous in its condemnation but uneven in its rhetoric. Some newspapers called the German student actions “silly,” “ineffective,” “senseless,” or “infantile.” The New Yorker made light of the “extra-curricular activities” of Nazi students.” Essayist E. B. White joked, “We never burn books except to keep them out of the hands of the grand jury.” But others, such as Ludwig Lewisohn of The Nation, forecast the dawning of a “dark age,” an “insane” assault “against the life of the mind, intellectual values, and the rights of the human spirit.”
Blind and deaf since infancy, by 1933 Helen Keller was a revered symbol of victory over incredible adversity. Dispatches from Berlin about the burning of books—her own among them—left Keller “deeply hurt over the whole matter,” according to her companion, Polly Thompson. Moved to write an open letter to German students, Keller affirmed the enduring power of ideas against tyranny. The letter appeared on the front page of the New York Times and in hundreds of other American newspapers. Stung by the publicity surrounding Helen Keller’s letter, the Nazi propaganda ministry questioned whether her books had been blacklisted, then dismissed the bonfires as unofficial, “spontaneous acts by the German Students Association.” In 1937, she ordered all her books dropped from German sales lists, expressing dismay over “Germany’s antisemitic atrocities, fear-clamping state control over lives and home, [and] imprisonment of thousands without trial.” Hitler’s suppression of “fundamental liberties without which a nation’s soul is dead” had made Germany a place of “chattel slavery, idolatry, and infringement upon Christian consciences.”
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/bookburning/response.php
Patrick M. - Kindle Lawsuit
Amazon redacts Orwell on Kindle like it’s ‘1984’
Another big book blunder reveals dystopian reality of bad customer service
By Helen A.S. Popkin - msnbc.com
"There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork," George Orwell wrote in his 1949 tale of a totalitarian regime “Nineteen Eighty-Four.”
On the bright side, we've now identified the system. It’s Amazon!
Last week, flummoxed Kindle owners came upon the group realization that Amazon went and deleted their downloads of George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and “Animal Farm” … and the story just keeps being funny. Seriously. Of all the downloaded books in all the InterWebs, how can it be that these two dystopian classics are the ones that are mysteriously removed.
“I've received e-mails today notifying me of refunds for $.99 for 'Animal Farm' and '1984,' and both have disappeared from my Kindle archived items,” Caffeine Queen reported Thursday, July 16 on the Amazon discussion boards. “I didn't request refunds, and I also don't remember purchasing the titles.”
Spooky! According to the blanket press release posted after the fact, “These books were added to our catalog using our self-service platform by a third-party who did not have the rights to the books.” Therefore, what choice did Amazon have but to crank its “Whispernet” download highway into reverse, thus removing any circulated copies? Why ever should anyone complain?
“I liken it to a (Barnes & Noble) clerk coming to my house when I'm not home, taking a book I bought from them from my bookshelf and leaving cash in its place,” wrote Sunny Lady, invoking the Internet Age-old argument about digital rights management (DRM) technology that limits use of content and devices. “It's a violation of my property and this is a perfect example of why people (rightly) hate DRM.”
“I was annoyed that the e-mail announcing the refund gave no explanation or indication that the books were being deleted,” Caffeine Queen pointed out later in the discussion.” “It's the same e-mail they send if the buyer initiates a refund.”
Soon after the Orwellian George Orwell recall went public, Amazon issued a statement claiming that, “We are changing our systems so that in the future we will not remove books from customers’ devices in these circumstances.” Still, it’s hard to trust a two-time loser that fails to see the irony in its own Orwellian FAIL.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32014285
Another big book blunder reveals dystopian reality of bad customer service
By Helen A.S. Popkin - msnbc.com
"There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork," George Orwell wrote in his 1949 tale of a totalitarian regime “Nineteen Eighty-Four.”
On the bright side, we've now identified the system. It’s Amazon!
Last week, flummoxed Kindle owners came upon the group realization that Amazon went and deleted their downloads of George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and “Animal Farm” … and the story just keeps being funny. Seriously. Of all the downloaded books in all the InterWebs, how can it be that these two dystopian classics are the ones that are mysteriously removed.
“I've received e-mails today notifying me of refunds for $.99 for 'Animal Farm' and '1984,' and both have disappeared from my Kindle archived items,” Caffeine Queen reported Thursday, July 16 on the Amazon discussion boards. “I didn't request refunds, and I also don't remember purchasing the titles.”
Spooky! According to the blanket press release posted after the fact, “These books were added to our catalog using our self-service platform by a third-party who did not have the rights to the books.” Therefore, what choice did Amazon have but to crank its “Whispernet” download highway into reverse, thus removing any circulated copies? Why ever should anyone complain?
“I liken it to a (Barnes & Noble) clerk coming to my house when I'm not home, taking a book I bought from them from my bookshelf and leaving cash in its place,” wrote Sunny Lady, invoking the Internet Age-old argument about digital rights management (DRM) technology that limits use of content and devices. “It's a violation of my property and this is a perfect example of why people (rightly) hate DRM.”
“I was annoyed that the e-mail announcing the refund gave no explanation or indication that the books were being deleted,” Caffeine Queen pointed out later in the discussion.” “It's the same e-mail they send if the buyer initiates a refund.”
Soon after the Orwellian George Orwell recall went public, Amazon issued a statement claiming that, “We are changing our systems so that in the future we will not remove books from customers’ devices in these circumstances.” Still, it’s hard to trust a two-time loser that fails to see the irony in its own Orwellian FAIL.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32014285
Mariana H. - Vooks
Do readers really want video-book hybrids?
Meet the "vook," the latest "book of the future"
BY LAURA MILLER
The unfortunately named vooks consist of text and video clips produced in concert to form integrated works. You can read/watch them with a Web browser, but they're primarily intended for mobile devices like the iPhone and meant to win over those people you see on the subway or in airports frantically pounding their thumbs through endless rounds of Frogger instead of reading a David Baldacci novel. The spectacle of people not reading in public has become a motivating trauma for many publishing executives of late. Brian Tart, publisher of Dutton Books, told the Times' Motoko Rich, "You see people watching these three-minute YouTube videos and using social networks, and there is an opportunity here to bring in more people who might have thought they were into the new media world."
The comments thread fills up with semi-hysterical fogies moaning, "Don't take my good old-fashioned books away! I love the way they smell!" And, finally, the geek punditocracy steps in to sniffily announce that although printed books are indeed doomed, this particular alternative is hopelessly lame, created by clueless print-oriented geezers who can't see that the real future lies in some yet-to-be-imagined, fantastically entertaining fusion of emerging media that our poor, reeling, post-adolescent brains can't hope to conceptualize.
The most significant problem in the vook model: For $7.99 I can buy a paperback romance novel and in my mind's eye cast Clive Owen as the lead, while a vook is only able to deliver a struggling unknown from the dinner-theater circuit. It costs real money to shoot merely decent location and dramatic scenes; most of the video material in these vooks resembles establishing shots and B-roll from sub-Hollywood TV programs. By contrast, a writer can crank out dozens of formulaic romances describing all kinds of lavish hotness and folderol for a relative pittance.
There have been more creative recent efforts to soup up print books, such as the "The Amanda Project," a high school mystery about a missing girl in the form of an eight-book series and Web site, both of which will incorporate reader contributions. "The Amanda Project" is intended for "ages 13 & up," and, who knows, perhaps it will take off -- that is, if the intended readership can tear itself away from the Twilight Saga long enough to read the first installment.
https://www1.amschool.edu.sv/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2009/10/06/vooks/index.html
Meet the "vook," the latest "book of the future"
BY LAURA MILLER
The unfortunately named vooks consist of text and video clips produced in concert to form integrated works. You can read/watch them with a Web browser, but they're primarily intended for mobile devices like the iPhone and meant to win over those people you see on the subway or in airports frantically pounding their thumbs through endless rounds of Frogger instead of reading a David Baldacci novel. The spectacle of people not reading in public has become a motivating trauma for many publishing executives of late. Brian Tart, publisher of Dutton Books, told the Times' Motoko Rich, "You see people watching these three-minute YouTube videos and using social networks, and there is an opportunity here to bring in more people who might have thought they were into the new media world."
The comments thread fills up with semi-hysterical fogies moaning, "Don't take my good old-fashioned books away! I love the way they smell!" And, finally, the geek punditocracy steps in to sniffily announce that although printed books are indeed doomed, this particular alternative is hopelessly lame, created by clueless print-oriented geezers who can't see that the real future lies in some yet-to-be-imagined, fantastically entertaining fusion of emerging media that our poor, reeling, post-adolescent brains can't hope to conceptualize.
The most significant problem in the vook model: For $7.99 I can buy a paperback romance novel and in my mind's eye cast Clive Owen as the lead, while a vook is only able to deliver a struggling unknown from the dinner-theater circuit. It costs real money to shoot merely decent location and dramatic scenes; most of the video material in these vooks resembles establishing shots and B-roll from sub-Hollywood TV programs. By contrast, a writer can crank out dozens of formulaic romances describing all kinds of lavish hotness and folderol for a relative pittance.
There have been more creative recent efforts to soup up print books, such as the "The Amanda Project," a high school mystery about a missing girl in the form of an eight-book series and Web site, both of which will incorporate reader contributions. "The Amanda Project" is intended for "ages 13 & up," and, who knows, perhaps it will take off -- that is, if the intended readership can tear itself away from the Twilight Saga long enough to read the first installment.
https://www1.amschool.edu.sv/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2009/10/06/vooks/index.html
Luis O. - Audio Books
5 Reasons Why Audio Books Are Better Than Paper Books
By Nick Moseley
Audio books have gone crazy in popularity in the last couple of years. The technology involved, number of titles published added to the realization of the benefits that audio books can offer have combined to bring them very much into the mainstream as a genuine alternatives to paper back or hard back books. Indeed in many situations they offer much more than a traditional book could, for example, you can't learn a language from a paper book while walking the dog can you? Of course not, but with an audio book you can!
So it's no surprise that people are going mad for audio books. Here are just a few of the advantages that audio books have over normal hardcover or paperback books:
1) You can make incredibly constructive use of dead time. Time that would be otherwise impossible to fill with a normal book. For example, listen to a section of a hyper motivational audiobook while on the way to work.
You'll not only learn but also save the time spent reading such a book. More than that though, a book is a passive device that you have to draw information out of.
An audio book by contrast pushes it at you. In the example of motivational audio books that's a massive advantage as you can get the worlds best motivators giving you a pre work pep talk every day. That will, I absolutely guarantee you, energize you for the day ahead.
http://ezinearticles.com/?5-Reasons-Why-Audio-Books-Are-Better-Than-Paper-Books&id=1169504
By Nick Moseley
Audio books have gone crazy in popularity in the last couple of years. The technology involved, number of titles published added to the realization of the benefits that audio books can offer have combined to bring them very much into the mainstream as a genuine alternatives to paper back or hard back books. Indeed in many situations they offer much more than a traditional book could, for example, you can't learn a language from a paper book while walking the dog can you? Of course not, but with an audio book you can!
So it's no surprise that people are going mad for audio books. Here are just a few of the advantages that audio books have over normal hardcover or paperback books:
1) You can make incredibly constructive use of dead time. Time that would be otherwise impossible to fill with a normal book. For example, listen to a section of a hyper motivational audiobook while on the way to work.
You'll not only learn but also save the time spent reading such a book. More than that though, a book is a passive device that you have to draw information out of.
An audio book by contrast pushes it at you. In the example of motivational audio books that's a massive advantage as you can get the worlds best motivators giving you a pre work pep talk every day. That will, I absolutely guarantee you, energize you for the day ahead.
http://ezinearticles.com/?5-Reasons-Why-Audio-Books-Are-Better-Than-Paper-Books&id=1169504
Rafa - Book burning
Is book burning the answer?
by Keith Redfern
If book burning is the answer, what on earth is the question?
The burning of books has strong overtones of Nazi intolerance in pre-war Germany. Destroying what is not acceptable by the powers that be, as if that ever made any difference.
It is incredibly naive to consider that burning someone's book will have any effect at all on the message the book might contain. If anything it is more likely to engender curiosity, like banning something. Yet there have been many occasions on which books have been burned by oppressive regimes.
Perhaps this topic is aimed at the decrease in book reading by a public which increasingly wishes to obtain information from the internet, or listen to spoken books while driving. In this case it is useful to recall that current trends are not always continued into the foreseeable future.
When televisions first became a common feature of every living room, the film industry sensed a falling off of audiences and this was certainly the case in the short term. But as time went on cinema audiences began to return and new and bigger cinemas were required to replace those which had been closed and demolished by those believing the movie industry was becoming a thing of the past.
The same could be said of books. It may be that in some countries book sales are decreasing at the moment, but that does not mean they will continue to fall. Furthermore, in some countries, like France for example, book sales are healthy and there is no perceived problem at all.
If there is a large number of unsellable books in some parts of the world, it is to be hoped that publishers and book sellers will think hard before they take action. It could well be that the books will become sellable in the future. Perhaps book sellers should scale down their orders in the immediate future as a precautionary measure.
As far as the publishers are concerned, modern methods of book production, as practised by E-publishers for example, mean that long print runs can be a thing of the past and that books can be printed as and when required. The advantage is obvious. Publishers do not print more books than are needed, book stores do not stock more books than they can sell, and yet whenever someone wishes to purchase a copy of a book, it can be printed and made available in days.
There is always more than one way to solve a problem. Those of my generation were brought up to believe that books are special, and the amount of tremendous pleasure given by books over the years, and which continues to be given despite the hours spent online each day, suggests that burning books is a terrible thing to do.
Burning something means it can never be recovered. Store it, box it, shelve it, keep it in any way you want. But for goodness sake don't burn books, whatever the reason might be.
http://www.helium.com/items/1660401-burning-books-publishers-book-stores
by Keith Redfern
If book burning is the answer, what on earth is the question?
The burning of books has strong overtones of Nazi intolerance in pre-war Germany. Destroying what is not acceptable by the powers that be, as if that ever made any difference.
It is incredibly naive to consider that burning someone's book will have any effect at all on the message the book might contain. If anything it is more likely to engender curiosity, like banning something. Yet there have been many occasions on which books have been burned by oppressive regimes.
Perhaps this topic is aimed at the decrease in book reading by a public which increasingly wishes to obtain information from the internet, or listen to spoken books while driving. In this case it is useful to recall that current trends are not always continued into the foreseeable future.
When televisions first became a common feature of every living room, the film industry sensed a falling off of audiences and this was certainly the case in the short term. But as time went on cinema audiences began to return and new and bigger cinemas were required to replace those which had been closed and demolished by those believing the movie industry was becoming a thing of the past.
The same could be said of books. It may be that in some countries book sales are decreasing at the moment, but that does not mean they will continue to fall. Furthermore, in some countries, like France for example, book sales are healthy and there is no perceived problem at all.
If there is a large number of unsellable books in some parts of the world, it is to be hoped that publishers and book sellers will think hard before they take action. It could well be that the books will become sellable in the future. Perhaps book sellers should scale down their orders in the immediate future as a precautionary measure.
As far as the publishers are concerned, modern methods of book production, as practised by E-publishers for example, mean that long print runs can be a thing of the past and that books can be printed as and when required. The advantage is obvious. Publishers do not print more books than are needed, book stores do not stock more books than they can sell, and yet whenever someone wishes to purchase a copy of a book, it can be printed and made available in days.
There is always more than one way to solve a problem. Those of my generation were brought up to believe that books are special, and the amount of tremendous pleasure given by books over the years, and which continues to be given despite the hours spent online each day, suggests that burning books is a terrible thing to do.
Burning something means it can never be recovered. Store it, box it, shelve it, keep it in any way you want. But for goodness sake don't burn books, whatever the reason might be.
http://www.helium.com/items/1660401-burning-books-publishers-book-stores
Oprah - Katy C.
Oprah's Book Club enters new chapter by cutting back
April 5, 2002 Posted: 4:31 PM EST (2131 GMT)
(CNN) -- Oprah's Book Club will stop being a monthly feature and Oprah Winfrey will only promote a book when it gains her "heartfelt recommendation," according to a statement by the talk show host.
"It has become harder and harder to find books on a monthly basis that I feel absolutely compelled to share," Winfrey said in the statement. "I will continue featuring books on the 'Oprah Winfrey Show' when I feel they merit my heartfelt recommendation."
Books will continue to be a regular feature on the show, however, a spokeswoman for Winfrey's show told CNN.
"She feels very strongly she can only recommend books when she's compelled to share them, as she said," the spokeswoman said. "She'll continue to read books, and she'll continue to feature books."
Winfrey's show often showcases books not connected with her book club. Recent books mentioned include Phil McGraw's "Self Matters," Joan Anderson's "An Unfinished Marriage," and health and diet books by Dr. Dean Ornish.
In its six-year history, Oprah's Book Club has become a national phenomenon. Books she recommended become automatic bestsellers; she has made unknown authors national names and introduced well-known authors to whole new audiences. A recommendation by Winfrey can be worth hundreds of thousands of copies in sales.
The book club is credited with inspiring publishers to include "book club guides" in many books, believed to appeal to book club readers, whether the works have been chosen by Oprah or not.
In fact, the impact of the book club has become so pronounced -- and the "Oprah's Book Club" logo so familiar -- that, for some in the publishing industry, the subject makes them uncomfortable.
Author Jonathan Franzen caused a minor tempest last fall when his book "The Corrections" was made a selection. In interviews, Franzen worried about his place in the "high-art literary tradition" and complained the Oprah logo on his book cover amounted to a "corporate" endorsement.
Winfrey then withdrew the offer, saying she regretted if Franzen was uncomfortable with the selection, and canceled the traditional dinner party given to the author, where he or she usually talks to guests about his or her work.
But publishers, not surprisingly, remain supportive of Winfrey's interest in books.
"I have no doubt that Oprah will remain committed to bringing life-expanding novels -- their themes and their authors -- to the attention of the huge audience that she inspires. It seems the frequency and format of her book recommendations will now change but not Oprah's underlying mission of getting people to read to enrich themselves and to better understand others," said Anne Messitte, publisher of Vintage Books and Anchor Books, two Random House imprints. Ten Vintage and Anchor books have been Oprah selections.
"Oprah has done a great service on behalf of books and readers; the publishing industry should be grateful for her vision and commitment to reading, and for the sales windfall that's been a part of it," Messitte added.
http://edition.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/books/04/05/oprah.book.club/index.html
April 5, 2002 Posted: 4:31 PM EST (2131 GMT)
(CNN) -- Oprah's Book Club will stop being a monthly feature and Oprah Winfrey will only promote a book when it gains her "heartfelt recommendation," according to a statement by the talk show host.
"It has become harder and harder to find books on a monthly basis that I feel absolutely compelled to share," Winfrey said in the statement. "I will continue featuring books on the 'Oprah Winfrey Show' when I feel they merit my heartfelt recommendation."
Books will continue to be a regular feature on the show, however, a spokeswoman for Winfrey's show told CNN.
"She feels very strongly she can only recommend books when she's compelled to share them, as she said," the spokeswoman said. "She'll continue to read books, and she'll continue to feature books."
Winfrey's show often showcases books not connected with her book club. Recent books mentioned include Phil McGraw's "Self Matters," Joan Anderson's "An Unfinished Marriage," and health and diet books by Dr. Dean Ornish.
In its six-year history, Oprah's Book Club has become a national phenomenon. Books she recommended become automatic bestsellers; she has made unknown authors national names and introduced well-known authors to whole new audiences. A recommendation by Winfrey can be worth hundreds of thousands of copies in sales.
The book club is credited with inspiring publishers to include "book club guides" in many books, believed to appeal to book club readers, whether the works have been chosen by Oprah or not.
In fact, the impact of the book club has become so pronounced -- and the "Oprah's Book Club" logo so familiar -- that, for some in the publishing industry, the subject makes them uncomfortable.
Author Jonathan Franzen caused a minor tempest last fall when his book "The Corrections" was made a selection. In interviews, Franzen worried about his place in the "high-art literary tradition" and complained the Oprah logo on his book cover amounted to a "corporate" endorsement.
Winfrey then withdrew the offer, saying she regretted if Franzen was uncomfortable with the selection, and canceled the traditional dinner party given to the author, where he or she usually talks to guests about his or her work.
But publishers, not surprisingly, remain supportive of Winfrey's interest in books.
"I have no doubt that Oprah will remain committed to bringing life-expanding novels -- their themes and their authors -- to the attention of the huge audience that she inspires. It seems the frequency and format of her book recommendations will now change but not Oprah's underlying mission of getting people to read to enrich themselves and to better understand others," said Anne Messitte, publisher of Vintage Books and Anchor Books, two Random House imprints. Ten Vintage and Anchor books have been Oprah selections.
"Oprah has done a great service on behalf of books and readers; the publishing industry should be grateful for her vision and commitment to reading, and for the sales windfall that's been a part of it," Messitte added.
http://edition.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/books/04/05/oprah.book.club/index.html
Vooks - Maggie D.
October 1, 2009
Curling Up With Hybrid Books, Videos Included
By MOTOKO RICH
For more than 500 years the book has been a remarkably stable entity: a coherent string of connected words, printed on paper and bound between covers.
But in the age of the iPhone, Kindle and YouTube, the notion of the book is becoming increasingly elastic as publishers mash together text, video and Web features in a scramble to keep readers interested in an archaic form of entertainment.
On Thursday, for instance, Simon & Schuster, the publisher of Ernest Hemingway and Stephen King, is working with a multimedia partner to release four “vooks,” which intersperse videos throughout electronic text that can be read — and viewed — online or on an iPhone or iPod Touch.
Some authors scoff at the idea of mixing the two mediums. “As a novelist I would never ever” allow videos to substitute for prose, said Walter Mosley, the author of “Devil in a Blue Dress” and other novels.
“Reading is one of the few experiences we have outside of relationships in which our cognitive abilities grow,” Mr. Mosley said. “And our cognitive abilities actually go backwards when we’re watching television or doing stuff on computers.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/books/01book.html
Curling Up With Hybrid Books, Videos Included
By MOTOKO RICH
For more than 500 years the book has been a remarkably stable entity: a coherent string of connected words, printed on paper and bound between covers.
But in the age of the iPhone, Kindle and YouTube, the notion of the book is becoming increasingly elastic as publishers mash together text, video and Web features in a scramble to keep readers interested in an archaic form of entertainment.
On Thursday, for instance, Simon & Schuster, the publisher of Ernest Hemingway and Stephen King, is working with a multimedia partner to release four “vooks,” which intersperse videos throughout electronic text that can be read — and viewed — online or on an iPhone or iPod Touch.
Some authors scoff at the idea of mixing the two mediums. “As a novelist I would never ever” allow videos to substitute for prose, said Walter Mosley, the author of “Devil in a Blue Dress” and other novels.
“Reading is one of the few experiences we have outside of relationships in which our cognitive abilities grow,” Mr. Mosley said. “And our cognitive abilities actually go backwards when we’re watching television or doing stuff on computers.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/books/01book.html
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Exam Synthesis Essay
It's time to put together our own synthesis essay. For this assignment, you will email me your document, along with the link. I will assign you your topic. Here is the document that the essay will definitely include. Remember that you must comment on at least two of the documents here, and I will choose eight documents total for the synthesis question.
"The Biggest Losers "
Kenney, Brian, Editor
School Library Journal; Oct2009, Vol. 55 Issue 10, p9-9, 1p
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ulh&AN=44598575&site=ehost-live
"The Biggest Losers - Going bookless is sure to shortchange your children"
Dear Cushing Academy Parents:
Soon, your child will have access to one of the most innovative secondary school libraries in the country. Over half-a-million dollars are being invested to transform your library into an interactive learning center with monitors providing news feeds, state-of-the-art computing, a cyber-cafe (with a $12,000 cappuccino machine!), and much more. To make room for these new additions--the brainchild of headmaster James Tracy--the school is getting rid of its 20,000 book collection and replacing it with 18 digital readers, such as the Kindle. Tracy explained to SLJ that bookshelves wasted precious room that could be put to better use.
This model of 21st-century learning is exactly what today's students need: collaborative work spaces, enough technology to navigate the digital world, and instruction on how to evaluate online sources. Only there's one big problem: the headmaster didn't do his homework. By tossing out the print collection, Tracy has put expediency ahead of reality. And the ones who will suffer are your kids.
Maybe you think I'm biased because I edit a library magazine. But I have no special love for the physical book. Libraries need to continuously evolve, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a print-free library in my lifetime. Just not next year. Why?
Libraries aren't just about instructing students in finding and assessing information. Librarians also work to develop a love of reading in students that leads to increased literacy skills. We do this by encouraging free or voluntary reading--reading because you want to. But don't take my word for it. According to education researchers like Stephen Krashen, kids need books that they find so compelling, they don't want to stop reading them. Browsing YouTube, reading snippets on CNN.com, and updating their MySpace pages aren't enough. We need to make it easy for kids to get their hands on books, lots and lots of them, carefully selected with students in mind.
Tracy says the library isn't going bookless, just paperless. He's wrong. I don't know where the millions of books he claims your children can access will come from. Yes, you can assemble a limited collection of ebooks, mainly nonfiction, which will support the curriculum. But the books freely available on the Internet--like those scanned through the Google Books Library Project--are largely classics or they're old, obscure, and scholarly tomes.
Want to encourage reading? Then take advantage of the 86 titles on the 2009 Best Books for Young Adults list created by the Young Adult Library Services Association. Too bad your children will only have access to a handful of them--since most aren't available digitally. And even if they were, according to a recent study of more than 3,000 teens by Teenreads.com, young adults prefer print (look for the full study in the October 26 issue of Publishers Weekly).
What else has gotten lost? Books that brilliantly marry print and text, like Barry Denenberg's Lincoln Shot: A President's Life Remembered, which engage readers (often reluctant ones) in different ways. And don't forget graphic novels, which most school libraries can't keep on their shelves. I could go on and on.
Wherever your children go after Cushing, they'll need 21st-century skills to succeed. These include the ability to read fearlessly and the capacity to navigate information-dense worlds. Drop Headmaster Tracy a line. Congratulate him on having the courage to innovate. Then suggest that he stop placing his theories ahead of his students' needs and let the books back into the library.
"The Biggest Losers "
Kenney, Brian, Editor
School Library Journal; Oct2009, Vol. 55 Issue 10, p9-9, 1p
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ulh&AN=44598575&site=ehost-live
"The Biggest Losers - Going bookless is sure to shortchange your children"
Dear Cushing Academy Parents:
Soon, your child will have access to one of the most innovative secondary school libraries in the country. Over half-a-million dollars are being invested to transform your library into an interactive learning center with monitors providing news feeds, state-of-the-art computing, a cyber-cafe (with a $12,000 cappuccino machine!), and much more. To make room for these new additions--the brainchild of headmaster James Tracy--the school is getting rid of its 20,000 book collection and replacing it with 18 digital readers, such as the Kindle. Tracy explained to SLJ that bookshelves wasted precious room that could be put to better use.
This model of 21st-century learning is exactly what today's students need: collaborative work spaces, enough technology to navigate the digital world, and instruction on how to evaluate online sources. Only there's one big problem: the headmaster didn't do his homework. By tossing out the print collection, Tracy has put expediency ahead of reality. And the ones who will suffer are your kids.
Maybe you think I'm biased because I edit a library magazine. But I have no special love for the physical book. Libraries need to continuously evolve, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a print-free library in my lifetime. Just not next year. Why?
Libraries aren't just about instructing students in finding and assessing information. Librarians also work to develop a love of reading in students that leads to increased literacy skills. We do this by encouraging free or voluntary reading--reading because you want to. But don't take my word for it. According to education researchers like Stephen Krashen, kids need books that they find so compelling, they don't want to stop reading them. Browsing YouTube, reading snippets on CNN.com, and updating their MySpace pages aren't enough. We need to make it easy for kids to get their hands on books, lots and lots of them, carefully selected with students in mind.
Tracy says the library isn't going bookless, just paperless. He's wrong. I don't know where the millions of books he claims your children can access will come from. Yes, you can assemble a limited collection of ebooks, mainly nonfiction, which will support the curriculum. But the books freely available on the Internet--like those scanned through the Google Books Library Project--are largely classics or they're old, obscure, and scholarly tomes.
Want to encourage reading? Then take advantage of the 86 titles on the 2009 Best Books for Young Adults list created by the Young Adult Library Services Association. Too bad your children will only have access to a handful of them--since most aren't available digitally. And even if they were, according to a recent study of more than 3,000 teens by Teenreads.com, young adults prefer print (look for the full study in the October 26 issue of Publishers Weekly).
What else has gotten lost? Books that brilliantly marry print and text, like Barry Denenberg's Lincoln Shot: A President's Life Remembered, which engage readers (often reluctant ones) in different ways. And don't forget graphic novels, which most school libraries can't keep on their shelves. I could go on and on.
Wherever your children go after Cushing, they'll need 21st-century skills to succeed. These include the ability to read fearlessly and the capacity to navigate information-dense worlds. Drop Headmaster Tracy a line. Congratulate him on having the courage to innovate. Then suggest that he stop placing his theories ahead of his students' needs and let the books back into the library.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Summer Updates
So much for using the newspaper assignment for two AP classes. Looks like you are just reviewing the articles for me. If you are having trouble finding articles that interest you, try the Education section of the New York Times. I enjoy reading about what's going on in high schools and colleges around the world - maybe you will as well.
Hopefully everyone has chosen their summer reading. Remember if you don't like your books, come get some more. Don't read a book you don't enjoy - there's plenty of time for that during the school year! I'm about half way through Passage to India. I'm fascinated with what Forster is saying, but sometimes I'm frustrated with the way he says it. But for me, this book is better than To the Lighthouse - I could not get into that one at all. The most popular choice seems to be A Farewell to Arms. There are plenty of extra copies if you want to pick one up.
I think I should have pushed more of you to try Invisible Man. It is unlike any book I have ever read. Email me if you'd like to get a copy out of my bodega. I am here until July 1. I won't be back in the country until August 9 - so last minute questions will not be answered promptly. Start now and ask questions now - that's my best advice.
I have a fascinating year planned and I am very excited to get started. Happy reading and writing! Mrs. D.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Summer Assignments
AP English Language and Composition Summer Reading and Assignments
Welcome to AP Language and Composition, where we study the art and power of language. By registering for an Advanced Placement class, you have indicated your willingness to engage in scholarly activity. True scholars have a curiosity about their world that drives them to challenge their own beliefs, strengthen their own skills, and develop an awareness of current issues. Because reading is essential to scholarly behavior, I expect that AP students will read regularly throughout the summer. To support and encourage this habit, I have instituted the following project.
1. “IN THE NEWS” JOURNALS
One goal of the course is to help you become an informed citizen. In other words, you will gain a better understanding of current events and how writers help to shape and reflect them. To get a head start on this, you must read six news articles published throughout the summer and write about them. These news articles may come from newspapers (e.g., The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, USA Today), or news magazines (e.g., Time, Newsweek, and US News and World Report). Please note that articles should reflect various publication dates from throughout the summer. While you may skip a week here and there, you should not have six articles from the month of August.
Please attach the article to your journal. Journals should be typed, double spaced, and one page long. Please use 12 pt, Times New Roman font, and one inch margins.
Your journal response to the story should respond to the content of the article, but not summarize it. You should discuss the following:
• Your personal response to the story…what did you learn? What questions do you have about the issue? Did anything in the story bother or intrigue you?
• What techniques did the author use to present the story? Stories? Testimonials? Interesting word choice? Quotes? Statistics? How effective were these techniques in educating/informing you?
• Does the article appear to have a bias (meaning it presents information from one main point of view)? Why do you/why don’t you think so?
• How effective was the news article overall in informing or persuading you about the issue?
2. READING REQUIREMENTS
As AP scholars, you should consider that students who read more, score significantly higher on standardized tests such as AP Exams, ACTs, and SATs. In addition, reading helps to develop your vocabulary and your ability to connect ideas. Finally, reading will help to avoid the summer “mush” that our brains tend to become when we do not exercise them. In addition to the articles you read for the “In the News” requirement, you must read and think analytically about the two books you have chosen, one fiction and one non-fiction.
Fiction Choice – READ ONLY
The fiction choices are based on the following criteria:
1) I have multiple copies.
2) You do not read this book in any other class.
3) This book has appeared on the AP Literature exam.
It is up to you to research and choose the novel you think you will like best. If you change your mind over the summer, and you have access to another book on the list, you may switch your choice. Here they are:
To the Lighthouse – Virginia Woolfe
Passage to India – E.M. Forster
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway
The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
Invisible Man – Ralph Waldo Ellison
Light in August – William Faulkner
All the Pretty Horses – Cormac McCarthy
The Jungle – Upton Sinclair
Cry, the Beloved Country – Alan Patton
Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
You need to complete the book over the summer so you will be ready for the assigned project on the first day of school. The project is substantial, so do not wait until school begins to read your novel.
NON- FICTION CHOICE – Read and Write.
The non-fiction choice comes from the approved list. If you have a special request for another book that you would like to read, please clear it with me before you begin. This switch must be done in June – as I will not be near daily email in July and August. I have a number of these books personally which you may borrow, or you can purchase one for yourself or check it out from the library. I have not read all the books on this list, but some of my all-time favorites are here.
With this book, I want you to keep a response journal. However, I want you to focus on quotations that are significant to you. Keep a journal of these quotes as you read the book, then type up your explanation, describing what the selected quote means in the story, and what the quote means to you personally (a generous paragraph for each quote). You need to choose at least five quotes for this paper and turn in approximately two typed pages total.
While the only required readings over the summer are the two books and the news articles, I would be remiss if I did not offer you a warning about the course based on what I have seen from past students. AP Language and Composition requires that you read and analyze several important major works. Many of you may be saying to yourself, “No worries. I have been able to get by without reading the work in the past by watching the movie and reading online notes. I’ll be fine.” Others may be saying, “It’s the summer. I’ll worry about reading when we get back next year.” Either way, I have bad news for you. I cannot guarantee that you will be able to get by. I have seen student after student who has delayed reading or attempted to rely on the “non-reading” method who fails to achieve the level of academic success (that is, good grades and a good AP score) to which they have been accustomed.
All that being said, I hope you choose books you enjoy reading. That’s what reading is to me – pure pleasure. Have a wonderful summer!
Mrs. Susan Dunlap
dunlap.susan@amschool.edu.sv
willisdunlap@gmail.com
or befriend me on facebook…
Welcome to AP Language and Composition, where we study the art and power of language. By registering for an Advanced Placement class, you have indicated your willingness to engage in scholarly activity. True scholars have a curiosity about their world that drives them to challenge their own beliefs, strengthen their own skills, and develop an awareness of current issues. Because reading is essential to scholarly behavior, I expect that AP students will read regularly throughout the summer. To support and encourage this habit, I have instituted the following project.
1. “IN THE NEWS” JOURNALS
One goal of the course is to help you become an informed citizen. In other words, you will gain a better understanding of current events and how writers help to shape and reflect them. To get a head start on this, you must read six news articles published throughout the summer and write about them. These news articles may come from newspapers (e.g., The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, USA Today), or news magazines (e.g., Time, Newsweek, and US News and World Report). Please note that articles should reflect various publication dates from throughout the summer. While you may skip a week here and there, you should not have six articles from the month of August.
Please attach the article to your journal. Journals should be typed, double spaced, and one page long. Please use 12 pt, Times New Roman font, and one inch margins.
Your journal response to the story should respond to the content of the article, but not summarize it. You should discuss the following:
• Your personal response to the story…what did you learn? What questions do you have about the issue? Did anything in the story bother or intrigue you?
• What techniques did the author use to present the story? Stories? Testimonials? Interesting word choice? Quotes? Statistics? How effective were these techniques in educating/informing you?
• Does the article appear to have a bias (meaning it presents information from one main point of view)? Why do you/why don’t you think so?
• How effective was the news article overall in informing or persuading you about the issue?
2. READING REQUIREMENTS
As AP scholars, you should consider that students who read more, score significantly higher on standardized tests such as AP Exams, ACTs, and SATs. In addition, reading helps to develop your vocabulary and your ability to connect ideas. Finally, reading will help to avoid the summer “mush” that our brains tend to become when we do not exercise them. In addition to the articles you read for the “In the News” requirement, you must read and think analytically about the two books you have chosen, one fiction and one non-fiction.
Fiction Choice – READ ONLY
The fiction choices are based on the following criteria:
1) I have multiple copies.
2) You do not read this book in any other class.
3) This book has appeared on the AP Literature exam.
It is up to you to research and choose the novel you think you will like best. If you change your mind over the summer, and you have access to another book on the list, you may switch your choice. Here they are:
To the Lighthouse – Virginia Woolfe
Passage to India – E.M. Forster
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway
The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
Invisible Man – Ralph Waldo Ellison
Light in August – William Faulkner
All the Pretty Horses – Cormac McCarthy
The Jungle – Upton Sinclair
Cry, the Beloved Country – Alan Patton
Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
You need to complete the book over the summer so you will be ready for the assigned project on the first day of school. The project is substantial, so do not wait until school begins to read your novel.
NON- FICTION CHOICE – Read and Write.
The non-fiction choice comes from the approved list. If you have a special request for another book that you would like to read, please clear it with me before you begin. This switch must be done in June – as I will not be near daily email in July and August. I have a number of these books personally which you may borrow, or you can purchase one for yourself or check it out from the library. I have not read all the books on this list, but some of my all-time favorites are here.
With this book, I want you to keep a response journal. However, I want you to focus on quotations that are significant to you. Keep a journal of these quotes as you read the book, then type up your explanation, describing what the selected quote means in the story, and what the quote means to you personally (a generous paragraph for each quote). You need to choose at least five quotes for this paper and turn in approximately two typed pages total.
While the only required readings over the summer are the two books and the news articles, I would be remiss if I did not offer you a warning about the course based on what I have seen from past students. AP Language and Composition requires that you read and analyze several important major works. Many of you may be saying to yourself, “No worries. I have been able to get by without reading the work in the past by watching the movie and reading online notes. I’ll be fine.” Others may be saying, “It’s the summer. I’ll worry about reading when we get back next year.” Either way, I have bad news for you. I cannot guarantee that you will be able to get by. I have seen student after student who has delayed reading or attempted to rely on the “non-reading” method who fails to achieve the level of academic success (that is, good grades and a good AP score) to which they have been accustomed.
All that being said, I hope you choose books you enjoy reading. That’s what reading is to me – pure pleasure. Have a wonderful summer!
Mrs. Susan Dunlap
dunlap.susan@amschool.edu.sv
willisdunlap@gmail.com
or befriend me on facebook…
Non-fiction Book Choices
AP English Language Summer Reading Assignment - 2009
Non-fiction book choices
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer: A non-fiction account of a disaster that occurs when a team of climbers attempt to climb Mt. Everest. Intriguing and good for adventurous types. Please do not read Into the Wild by the same author, as we will be reading this together as a class.
The Color of Water by James McBride: A non-fiction story written by a bi-racial man in dedication to his white mother. Details the adversity of growing up both black and white. A beautiful, touching story about family and race.
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt: A non-fiction story of growing up poor and Irish, told with a sense of humor. McCourt was an Irish Immigrant to America, and details the tragedies and triumphs of his life with a very unique voice.
Black Boy by Richard Wright: This autobiography of famous black writer Wright is more than a story about a black boy growing up in the South. It is his coming of age story, and a story about being a kid who no one, not even his family, can understand.
Augusta, Gone by Mary Todd Dudman: Mature in content, this is the personal story of a mother who experiences a crisis when her daughters rebel against her, spin out of control, use drugs and run away. Very powerful and well-written.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley: The very compelling story of controversial civil-rights leader Malcolm X, who inspired many as an uneducated black man who during imprisonment finds enlightenment. A must read portrait of American History.
The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger: The true story on which the movie is based, about an unusually powerful storm that takes the lives of a group of fishermen. Great choice for adventure lovers, but also looks at the science behind storm formation. I have a high school friend who got caught in this storm and his boat was sunk.
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi: This choice for sophisticated readers is one woman’s look at the oppression of the arts and literature in Iran during the cultural revolution. Nafisi rebelled by having secret book groups to discuss banned literature, such as The Great Gatsby and Lolita, with other Iranian women.
Seabiscuit by Laura Hellenbrand: The now famous sports-biography on which the movie is based about the horse that became a champion. Critically acclaimed book.
Don’t Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller: This memoir is the story of a white girl growing up in war-torn Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and learning about living in a difficult part of the world as an outsider.
Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen: The memoir on which the movie is based about a teenage girl’s breakdown and admittance to a mental institution in 1967. Written like a diary, it explores the author’s intimate feeling about her experience.
Train Go Sorry by Leah Hager Cohen: This is a book of journalism and part memoir, written by a woman who, although not deaf herself, grew up amongst deaf people because her father was a superintendent at a school for the deaf. A very compassionate look at being deaf in the modern world.
On Writing by Stephen King: This memoir by famous horror writer King reveals the other side of his personality, his memories of growing up and childhood, along with advice for aspiring writers.
It’s Not About the Bike by Lance Armstrong: This sports memoir has been given critical recognition. The story of Tour de France winner Armstrong, his struggle through testicular cancer and his role as a man, father and champion. Do not read his second book. This one is the best.
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nat Philbrick: This award winning book, as described on Amazon examines “the 19th-century Pacific whaling industry through the arc of the sinking of the whaleship Essex by a boisterous sperm whale. The story that inspired Herman Melville's classic Moby-Dick has a lot going for it--derring-do, cannibalism, rescue--and Philbrick proves an amiable and well-informed narrator, providing both context and detail.”
Rocket Boys by Homer Hickham: The story on which the film October Sky is based, this is Hickham’s memoir about growing up with a difficult father in a small coal-mining town in Virginia during the first days of space exploration. Hickham dreams of becoming an astronaut and in this inspiring story recalls how he becomes a NASA engineer.
The Green Hills of Africa by Ernest Hemingway: As described on Amazon, this is the great American writer’s “lyrical journal of a month on safari in the great game country of East Africa...In examining the poetic grace of the chase, and the ferocity of the kill, Hemingway also looks inward, seeking to explain the lure of the hunt and the primal undercurrent that comes alive on the plains of Africa.”
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway: Unlike Africa, this looks at Hemingway’s other love, Paris in the 1920’s , where he lived in the arts community so vibrant there at the time. Good for literature lovers who want a feeling for this very special time and place.
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin: This story reads like a good piece of journalism. A white man undergoes a dangerous experiment in the 1950’s by posing as a black man in the American South. He learns what it really felt like to be black during a time of incredible discrimination, risking his own life by doing so.
Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez: A well-known memoir, Amazon describes this as “the story of Mexican-American Richard Rodriguez, who begins his schooling in Sacramento, California, knowing just 50 words of English, and concludes his university studies in the stately quiet of the reading room of the British Museum. Here is the poignant journey of a “minority student” who pays the cost of his social assimilation and academic success with a painful alienation — from his past, his parents, his culture…”
Counting Coup by Larry Colton: The writer set out to write a book about a boy’s basketball team in the Crow Indian territory of the United States. When he met a young, athletic female player, he became more interested in her life, her talent and her struggles off the court as a teenage girl growing up in the problem rid Indian reservations of the U.S. dealing with abuse, alcoholism and racism.
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey: Abbey is a well-known nature writer and this book accounts his living in Utah in the desert as a park ranger for two summers. He is very defensive against the modern world and protective of nature, and many similar people find this to be a life-changing book about natural history.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: Written by a journalist, this book might be a little mature in some of its content. Later turned into a movie directed by Clint Eastwood, it paints a picture of Savannah, Georgia and its very unique, eccentric Southern characters, from a murdering socialite to a famous drag queen. Involves the story of the murder trial and other portraits of the people of this Southern city.
When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago : As described by Library School Journal, “Esmerelda and her seven siblings live in a corrugated metal shack in Puerto Rico. She is uprooted as a result of poverty and her parents' quarreling and suffers blows to her ego from their expectations of her. The girl goes to New York, and must rely on her intelligence and talents to help her survive in an alien world in which being Puerto Rican is not advantageous.”
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Not as bloody as it sounds. Capote creates a new genre here – the non-fiction novel. Based on a true story of the murder of a family of four. Great for CSI fans. Watch one of the Capote movies as well.
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. I added this book so that the list would have some humor. Based on the story of two friends who decide to hike part of the Appalachian Trail in the U.S. Amazon said “Don't read this book while you're trying to eat. Or where people might look at you funny if you start to laugh out loud. Because this is a very funny book.”
A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar. For the math fans in our class. This is an amazing story that really explains the game theory and why John Nash won the Nobel Prize. A much better book than that lousy movie.
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This is the story of a nearly homeless family who struggles through life, traveling across the U.S. The opening of the book gives you an idea of how unexpected this woman’s life story is. Not as depressing as I thought it would be, as Walls mother said “being homeless is an adventure.”
The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer. This one is not in the library but well worth trying to track down. It’s a memoir by an author who had no father and basically grew up in a bar. This book also has a great deal of humor in it – a real guy book.
My Losing Season by Pat Conroy. I had to have a Southern writer on this list. This is a great sports book that the SAT actually quoted on its May exam. A great book if you are playing a varsity sport.
Endurance by Alfred Lansing. I have a well-loved and well-worn paperback. This is one of the most exciting stories I have ever read about Sir Ernest Shackelton’s Antarctic adventure. Read this one at the beach because the descriptions make you very cold.
Three Cups of Tea. By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. The book that changed the way people think about changing the world: Peace Through Education. The subtitle is One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time.
Non-fiction book choices
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer: A non-fiction account of a disaster that occurs when a team of climbers attempt to climb Mt. Everest. Intriguing and good for adventurous types. Please do not read Into the Wild by the same author, as we will be reading this together as a class.
The Color of Water by James McBride: A non-fiction story written by a bi-racial man in dedication to his white mother. Details the adversity of growing up both black and white. A beautiful, touching story about family and race.
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt: A non-fiction story of growing up poor and Irish, told with a sense of humor. McCourt was an Irish Immigrant to America, and details the tragedies and triumphs of his life with a very unique voice.
Black Boy by Richard Wright: This autobiography of famous black writer Wright is more than a story about a black boy growing up in the South. It is his coming of age story, and a story about being a kid who no one, not even his family, can understand.
Augusta, Gone by Mary Todd Dudman: Mature in content, this is the personal story of a mother who experiences a crisis when her daughters rebel against her, spin out of control, use drugs and run away. Very powerful and well-written.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley: The very compelling story of controversial civil-rights leader Malcolm X, who inspired many as an uneducated black man who during imprisonment finds enlightenment. A must read portrait of American History.
The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger: The true story on which the movie is based, about an unusually powerful storm that takes the lives of a group of fishermen. Great choice for adventure lovers, but also looks at the science behind storm formation. I have a high school friend who got caught in this storm and his boat was sunk.
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi: This choice for sophisticated readers is one woman’s look at the oppression of the arts and literature in Iran during the cultural revolution. Nafisi rebelled by having secret book groups to discuss banned literature, such as The Great Gatsby and Lolita, with other Iranian women.
Seabiscuit by Laura Hellenbrand: The now famous sports-biography on which the movie is based about the horse that became a champion. Critically acclaimed book.
Don’t Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller: This memoir is the story of a white girl growing up in war-torn Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and learning about living in a difficult part of the world as an outsider.
Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen: The memoir on which the movie is based about a teenage girl’s breakdown and admittance to a mental institution in 1967. Written like a diary, it explores the author’s intimate feeling about her experience.
Train Go Sorry by Leah Hager Cohen: This is a book of journalism and part memoir, written by a woman who, although not deaf herself, grew up amongst deaf people because her father was a superintendent at a school for the deaf. A very compassionate look at being deaf in the modern world.
On Writing by Stephen King: This memoir by famous horror writer King reveals the other side of his personality, his memories of growing up and childhood, along with advice for aspiring writers.
It’s Not About the Bike by Lance Armstrong: This sports memoir has been given critical recognition. The story of Tour de France winner Armstrong, his struggle through testicular cancer and his role as a man, father and champion. Do not read his second book. This one is the best.
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nat Philbrick: This award winning book, as described on Amazon examines “the 19th-century Pacific whaling industry through the arc of the sinking of the whaleship Essex by a boisterous sperm whale. The story that inspired Herman Melville's classic Moby-Dick has a lot going for it--derring-do, cannibalism, rescue--and Philbrick proves an amiable and well-informed narrator, providing both context and detail.”
Rocket Boys by Homer Hickham: The story on which the film October Sky is based, this is Hickham’s memoir about growing up with a difficult father in a small coal-mining town in Virginia during the first days of space exploration. Hickham dreams of becoming an astronaut and in this inspiring story recalls how he becomes a NASA engineer.
The Green Hills of Africa by Ernest Hemingway: As described on Amazon, this is the great American writer’s “lyrical journal of a month on safari in the great game country of East Africa...In examining the poetic grace of the chase, and the ferocity of the kill, Hemingway also looks inward, seeking to explain the lure of the hunt and the primal undercurrent that comes alive on the plains of Africa.”
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway: Unlike Africa, this looks at Hemingway’s other love, Paris in the 1920’s , where he lived in the arts community so vibrant there at the time. Good for literature lovers who want a feeling for this very special time and place.
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin: This story reads like a good piece of journalism. A white man undergoes a dangerous experiment in the 1950’s by posing as a black man in the American South. He learns what it really felt like to be black during a time of incredible discrimination, risking his own life by doing so.
Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez: A well-known memoir, Amazon describes this as “the story of Mexican-American Richard Rodriguez, who begins his schooling in Sacramento, California, knowing just 50 words of English, and concludes his university studies in the stately quiet of the reading room of the British Museum. Here is the poignant journey of a “minority student” who pays the cost of his social assimilation and academic success with a painful alienation — from his past, his parents, his culture…”
Counting Coup by Larry Colton: The writer set out to write a book about a boy’s basketball team in the Crow Indian territory of the United States. When he met a young, athletic female player, he became more interested in her life, her talent and her struggles off the court as a teenage girl growing up in the problem rid Indian reservations of the U.S. dealing with abuse, alcoholism and racism.
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey: Abbey is a well-known nature writer and this book accounts his living in Utah in the desert as a park ranger for two summers. He is very defensive against the modern world and protective of nature, and many similar people find this to be a life-changing book about natural history.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: Written by a journalist, this book might be a little mature in some of its content. Later turned into a movie directed by Clint Eastwood, it paints a picture of Savannah, Georgia and its very unique, eccentric Southern characters, from a murdering socialite to a famous drag queen. Involves the story of the murder trial and other portraits of the people of this Southern city.
When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago : As described by Library School Journal, “Esmerelda and her seven siblings live in a corrugated metal shack in Puerto Rico. She is uprooted as a result of poverty and her parents' quarreling and suffers blows to her ego from their expectations of her. The girl goes to New York, and must rely on her intelligence and talents to help her survive in an alien world in which being Puerto Rican is not advantageous.”
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Not as bloody as it sounds. Capote creates a new genre here – the non-fiction novel. Based on a true story of the murder of a family of four. Great for CSI fans. Watch one of the Capote movies as well.
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. I added this book so that the list would have some humor. Based on the story of two friends who decide to hike part of the Appalachian Trail in the U.S. Amazon said “Don't read this book while you're trying to eat. Or where people might look at you funny if you start to laugh out loud. Because this is a very funny book.”
A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar. For the math fans in our class. This is an amazing story that really explains the game theory and why John Nash won the Nobel Prize. A much better book than that lousy movie.
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This is the story of a nearly homeless family who struggles through life, traveling across the U.S. The opening of the book gives you an idea of how unexpected this woman’s life story is. Not as depressing as I thought it would be, as Walls mother said “being homeless is an adventure.”
The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer. This one is not in the library but well worth trying to track down. It’s a memoir by an author who had no father and basically grew up in a bar. This book also has a great deal of humor in it – a real guy book.
My Losing Season by Pat Conroy. I had to have a Southern writer on this list. This is a great sports book that the SAT actually quoted on its May exam. A great book if you are playing a varsity sport.
Endurance by Alfred Lansing. I have a well-loved and well-worn paperback. This is one of the most exciting stories I have ever read about Sir Ernest Shackelton’s Antarctic adventure. Read this one at the beach because the descriptions make you very cold.
Three Cups of Tea. By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. The book that changed the way people think about changing the world: Peace Through Education. The subtitle is One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time.
Welcome!
Welcome to AP English Language for 2009-2010. Here is where you can post questions or find the handouts for the summer assignments. Start reading and have fun!
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