RIASS stuff:
Book Review: The Scent of Lemon Leaves by Clara Sanchez'Rating: 
Book Review: A Series of Unfortunate Events ' The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket'Rating:
Back to the books giveaway hop: Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles'(open to all)
Other bookish stuff:
Tara Altebrando on melodrama'Altebrando talks about how dark, gothic books like'Rebecca called to her as a young teenuntil she had a real life brush with that darkness. Since then, she says, she no longer seeks out gloomy melodrama, but happy endings instead. I wonder whether this is why teens (and teen books) are so into darkness: because its the unknown and the exotic.
Do men and women really prefer male protagonists?'A recent study involved presenting readers with a passage that differed only in its use of the gender of the protagonist. Apparently more readers identified with and wanted to read more about those passages written from the male perspective. My thoughts? The male perspective remains the dominant paradigm and unmarked gender in our culture, and its still afforded more status than that of the female perspective. Not to mention that without reading the passages in question its difficult to tell whether the switching of gender affected the veracity or feel of the story in a way that made a reader more or less likely to identify with it. Honestly, I dont at all think that this is a case of we all love to read about men!. Its more that gender equality still has a long road ahead.
Gifts of condolence presented to Mrs Stevenson on the death of her husband Robert Louis.
The secret dreamworld of an aspiring author by Anna Bell: losing the safety net'Bell has just quit her day job in order to write full time, and shes finding the experience daunting in some ways. Without her day job around which to structure her writing, she wonders Will I have the same drive to write in a frenzy, now that I don't have so much pressure on my time?
Does writing long sentences make you a bad writer?'Apparently not! Phew, theres hope for me yet.
Weird and wonderful libraries around the world
Bookseller Confessions: characters wed probably punch if given the chance
Nina DAleo on writing female characters in science fiction'When I sat down to write these characters, I didn't consciously consider what stereotypes and socially created concepts may be influencing my work ' I just wrote ' and it wasn't until the subsequent re-drafting that I really started to think about it, and question it.
Simon & Schuster Art Director Laurent Linn on creating book covers as both mirror and window'Linn says that important that a diverse audience be able to see something representative of themselves in a book cover. The challenge, he says, is to be able to create a cover that says to readers that the book is about'them, while also saying to readers that its about someone whos not them.
Diane Shipley on Helene Hanff, author of'84 Charing Cross'This intriguing overview of Hanffs life includes snippets such as how the author (who did indeed live at 83 Charing Cross) would head downstairs to chat to readers to stopped by for a visit; and yet lived an intensely private, solitary life. Interestingly, Hanff was never a fan of fiction, feeling that real life was far more interesting.
Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss redrew the world of kid literature'This husband and wife duo created over 75 books between them, with Johnsons illustrations resonating with young readers and Krausss writing style opening up a new way of writing for childrens authorsone that incorporated young peoples voices. They also owe some of their success to editor Ursula Nordstrom, says the author of the article.
Anne Franks diary has been transformed into an immersive app'This looks like a wonderful resource for readers and teachers alike.
Advice on writing a novel from'Mario Vargas Llosa'There are some wonderful snippets in here, but I think my favourite is this one: The story in a novel may be incoherent, but the language that describes it must be coherent for the story's incoherence to successfully fake being genuine and have life.
And just because this is a beautiful book: Graphic Design before Graphic Design
And how about a laser-cut font scarf?
The Edinburgh Festival edition of the Granta Podcast (Im saving this one for my walk home tonight)
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Im with you on the male/female protagonist. Indeed my reading habits lean toward female protagonist, which I do on purpose because I want to support series that have wonderful, intelligent women in them.
Also, I really liked Diane Keaton's library. I want to sit in there and read today as the storm rolls through the city.
I prefer to read about female protagonists, too, and well as write from a female perspective. There are enough male voices out there!
Oh, how I would love a library like that. :)