On the Power of Negative Reinforcement →

A Tumblr post from an Algonquin author on the positive power of negative reviews and how to stay true to one’s own writing. Good stuff! 

You Can't Get this Book from Amazon →

“It would have been understandable had booksellers held up their hands and surrendered. But booksellers are made of sterner stuff.”

A great idea from author Alexander McCall Smith on how to help bookshops stay competitive in the online shopping world! 

littlebrownandcompany:

A little lunchtime viewing: Ann Patchett talks about the success of the neighborhood bookstore she opened in Nashville, Parnassus Books, on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday.

“I can’t imagine a world without reading, without books, and I can’t imagine a world without bookstores.”

(Source: oprah.com)

aaknopf:

“My local library branch started doing this “Blind Date with a Book” thing, thought you guys might like it. The shelf was full when we got there, but was like this as we were leaving. The books are wrapped in paper and have different designs on them, and then a few words vaguely describing the subject matter of the book. Things like “Drama”, “Plot Twists”, “espionage”, etc. The only thing exposed on the book is the barcode that you use to scan the book out. I thought it was a pretty cool idea.”

Sometimes marketing is not a bad thing at all. 

‘The Art of Writing’ with the lovely Audrey Hepburn - from the screenplay, “Paris When It Sizzles”

My 6,128 Favorite Books →

A hilarious and insightful look into the life of a book lover by Joe Queenan. 

“I’ve never squandered an opportunity to read. There are only 24 hours in the day, seven of which are spent sleeping, and in my view at least four of the remaining 17 must be devoted to reading. A friend once told me that the real message Bram Stoker sought to convey in “Dracula” is that a human being needs to live hundreds and hundreds of years to get all his reading done; that Count Dracula, basically nothing more than a misunderstood bookworm, was draining blood from the necks of 10,000 hapless virgins not because he was the apotheosis of pure evil but because it was the only way he could live long enough to polish off his extensive reading list. But I have no way of knowing if this is true, as I have not yet found time to read “Dracula.”“

(Source: randomhouse)

Apply now to be a giver for next spring! Hooray for World Book Night!