RIASS stuff:
Book Review: Looking for Alaska by John Green'Rating: 
(am I the only one who didnt quite connect with the characters in this?)
Book Review: Lily's Ghosts by Laura Ruby'Rating: (lovely to see a mother/daughter relationship play such a strong role in fiction for young readers)
An interview with author Maggie Dana, who wants to know where all the middle-aged women in fiction are'There are some wonderful points in here about women, invisibility, and cultural expectations. (part 2 of the interview coming up shortly!)
Giveaway: The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer'(open to all)
Other bookish stuff:
Apparently there was a book river in Melbourne in June. Oops, missed it
Five bad habits of good writers'This include thinking that you have nothing left to learn, making business relationships personal, and forgetting that its all about the reader. All very thought-provoking points, and all traps that are very easy to fall intothe last one in particular, I think, given the focus on getting an agent, finding a publisher etc, meaning that your target reader ends up being one or two people, rather than an audience.
What will happen to your iTunes and ebook libraries when you die?'Not much, apparently. Did you know that its technically a federal offense to access an online account with someone elses password, even if that person gave you permission? Technically, shared mail accounts are a no-no. In the same way, accessing the iTunes or Amazon Store account of your deceased relative also is illegal.
Equine word eytmologies part 2!'This one looks at the phrase the carrot and the stick and how its changed over time.
Charlie Higson: why would children read books if their parents never do?'Higson says that the best way to encourage kids to read is to model reading in front of kids. Parents should not only make reading a part of their lives, but should also make it a'visible part of their lives, he says. Reading in the lounge room rather than in the bedroom late at night can help kids'see the act of reading. He also says that parents should be mindful of the kind of material that theyre encouraging their kids to read. Classics are valuable and all, but they can seem very much like work to kids who are used to zoning out in front of the TV.
And on a similar note, is technology sapping kids imaginations?'Can turning to screens as a quick fix to challenging scenarios hamper childrens development and prevent them from developing the skills to engage with and deal with new problems? The author says that before turning to a screen, parents should ask themselves, What is the potential of this activity for fostering imaginative play and creative problem solving? Is there a more beneficial, more fully engaging, direct experience available for my child right now?'
and with that in mind, how important is reading fiction?'A bookseller recounts a story about a customer who came into the shop asking for non-fiction for kids. The reason? A teacher had told her that children shouldnt read fiction, as theres nothing that can be learnt from it. I suspect that a few of us might beg to differ
Whats the go with the new adult label?''My (admittedly meager) understanding of what's meant by 'new adult' is that it's an audience description (I've seen 14-35, and that is preposterous)'something akin to a TV demographic. This is a great way to sell advertising (I guess), but I think it's a s***** way to make art.
A literary agent has been assaulted by an author she rejected'A very sobering story, and also a reminder that we should be very careful when using Facebook, Twitter and FourSquare to share our present location.
Behind every great writer a painfully true comic strip!
A Q&A with author Jaclyn Moriarty'Jaclyn comes from a family of storytellersher sisters Nicola and Liane are novelists, too, so I enjoyed this quote: Both of our parents are enthusiastic story tellers. We are always saying to Mum, 'Give us the short version', and Dad is always advising, 'Never spoil a good story with the facts'. We had shelves full of books to read when we were kids. Also, instead of giving us pocket money, Dad would commission us to write stories. So I guess we grew up thinking it was the only way to make money.
Stephen King goes to the movies his best and worst film cameos
Gene Deitch on adapting Maurice Sendaks Where the Wild Things Are for animation'(video)
JRR Tolkien reads a poem in Elvish:
In reference to you Looking for Alaska question; Yes :P
I know, I know, Im old and grumpy. :)
Oooh, wouldve been cool to be there for the book river!
Sooo we spent all that money on ebooks and we cant even leave them to our kids?! What rot :p
Btw, have you seen that Hobbits Second Breakfast is happening this coming Friday? We got 2 bottles of Honeymead yesterday *smacks lips* Cant wait!
Everyone I know missed the book river! It obviously wasnt very well advertised!
Ugh, I know what you mean about the ebooks thing. You can bet Im going to pass on my Kindle and collections to my poor kiddos. I hope they end up being bookish types!
Havent heard of the Hobbits Second Breakfast thing, but Im checking it out now. Thanks for the heads up!
Well, I am certainly planning to leave my passwords to my beloved ones to do with as they please. But then, I live in a different country, maybe its allowed here.
Say, if I BUY ebooks and music, arent they just part of my inheritance?
Im not sure what the legality of it is here in Australiaor whether were simply agreeing to US law by making purchases online. I guess one of the big problems is that were not buying physical copies of things, but a licence to us something, which I guess isnt as final. Personally, it bothers me to no end that I cant use a digital copy of something in the same way as a physical copy, even though Ive paid for it.
I didnt hear about the book river either!
Thanks for the link to my Q and A with Jaclyn Moriarty.
From what Ive seen, no one did! It was a mystic river, perhaps :)