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Posts Tagged ‘books’

Win a copy of the ‘Eleanor & Park’ audiobook.

As an author, it can be extremely frustrating to hear someone else read your words. No matter how great the reader is, they can never match what you hear in your head, and it’s just … irritating.

But I decided to listen to the “Eleanor & Park” audiobook, just for a few minutes, just to get a sense of the production. TWO HOURS LATER, I had to stop because I was getting so emotional.

I LOVED IT. And I got so excited about it, the publisher offered me five copies to give away.

ENTER TO WIN ONE OF THOSE COPIES. HURRY.

Books that still have covers should expect to be judged by them.

Another books column from my newspaper days. This one is about how real paper books have to be beautiful to survive the digital revolution. “If I’m going to buy a book, an actual book — if I’m going to bring it into my house and make space for it — it better be beautiful. It better justify its visual existence.”

Fill your bomb shelters with hardbacks.

This column reads a little newspapery. (My voice always shifted when I was writing my columns, it’s such a wide general audience.) But I still like it. It’s about loving e-books, but feeling like we’ll want paper copies to see us through the Apocalypse.

Reading — whatever doesn’t kill you makes you softer.

I decided to wrangle up some of my old columns about reading. Here’s one about the Dire Effects of Reading on the Body and the Mind. “Everything is better in books. And only a fool would rather live than read. Living is what you promise yourself you’ll do after the next chapter.”

Learn to read, kid, but don’t fall in love. Posted on June 20, 2011