reading

“How can 5 judges decide the best book of the year without reading every book of the year? While some lucky authors can enter the contest, others may never get the chance to do so due to the tough nomination and selection processes. And how can the judges’ decision be right when we know that...

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jun/17/booksmaxxing-how-reading-became-sexy

Here is a really interesting post about writing that reads like a camera or TV show, and how this is increasingly prevalent among writers who don't read. https://open.substack.com/pub/countercraft/p/what-not-reading-does-to-your-writing?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=27owpo

I tutor kids like this, too. There’s just this blank panic, like my question opened a drawer in their minds, but there's nothing inside but a tangled slinky and two broken pencils. It is salvageable...in small groups stuffed with kids who are not like this, with friendly interactions enforced...

Imagine reading a book, and there is no way to go back to the previous pages. How careful will you read it? That's Life. Anonymous

Reading is an exercise in empathy; an exercise in walking in someone else's shoes for a while. Malorie Blackman

As I'm continuing to work on my various projects, I keep coming across comparables that I didn't enjoy reading. Is this an issue? I'm not supposed to critique them, am I? A zillion years ago, I was taught that the comparables section should praise every book mentioned, is this still the case...

I was listening to this and found it fascinating. Esp in light that my SFF is 'for men' lol...and I do take the time to explain some theories and concepts which might put off women. But really what it made me think about is the claim, and @AgentPete can maybe confirm or not: Most books in the...

The to-read pile is more than just a physical stack of books: it's a tower of ambitions failed, hopes unrealised, good intentions unfulfilled. Worse still, it's a cold hard reminder of mortality. Already, I have intentions to read more books than I can hope to manage in a normal lifetime. How...

When is it worth it to title chapters? Currently, my SFF thriller project does not have chapter titles. I'm not opposed to adding them, but am unsure if it will make any difference in the hunt for publishing or the reading experience.

New blog post by AgentPete The Joys of a Book Table About a year ago I was visiting at a friend’s house and noticed they had a book table. It’s literally what it says – a table of any size you happen to have, on which you throw a random assortment of ancient dog-eared friends, shiny new...

“It seems incredible, the ease with which we sink through books quite out of sight, pass clamorous pages into soundless dreams.” William H. Gass

New blog post by AgentPete Welcome to Publishing Year Zero “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” wrote authors’ rights activist Charles Dickens as A Tale of Two Cities began its epic unfolding. He could easily have been...

New blog post by Rachel McCarron My Resolution (Or a List of Books) As the old year comes to a close, I think about things I am grateful for and about fostering good habits for the new year ahead. Which is ridiculous, I know. Why should the day after the thirty-first of December have any...

New blog post by Laura Rikono – discussions in this thread, please --- Ten minutes before I left the house, my boss called. “The science class is cancelled today. Take Jisoo and Jennie instead. They need adjective practice.” (By the way, this happens a lot. I once opened the classroom door to...

We read in bed because reading is halfway between life and dreaming, our own consciousness in someone else's mind. Anna Quindlen

Reading aloud with children is known to be the single most important activity for building the knowledge and skills they will eventually require for learning to read. Marilyn Jager Adams

“Be curious. Read widely. Try new things. What people call intelligence just boils down to curiosity.” Aaron Swartz Aaron Swartz - Wikipedia

All the books we own, both read and unread, are the fullest expression of self we have at our disposal. ... But with each passing year, and with each whimsical purchase, our libraries become more and more able to articulate who we are, whether we read the books or not. Nick Hornby

“Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.” Voltaire