RIASS stuff:
Narrative scope and insularity and Laura Powell's Burn Mark
Book Review: Ever by Gail Carson Levine'Rating: 
'A YA hero's journey set in a quasi Ancient Mesopotamia.
Other bookish stuff:
Flavorpill gives us a list of books for book nerds (see also RIASSs list of books about books)
Howard Jacobson in praise of bad boys books'Jacobson talks about redemption in fiction and asks when it became a metric by which to measure quality literatureafter all, so few of the classics display it. He goes on to look at the purpose of fiction, and whether it should contain a social function, or whether it should stand on its own. He looks too at whether we should expect likeable characters, a well-balanced and fair narrative, and none of the ills that we find in real life.
How are the reading habits of Republicans and Democrats different?'Republicans apparently have a thing for Ayn Rand.
Do nonfiction titles appeal more to our emotions than to our intellect?'The author talks about the emotion-intellect spectrum, and places a number of books along it. Successful books often reach out to all kinds of readers, so this is not to say that each of these books does not appeal to both the emotional and intellectual reader, but rather that this is how I see their primary appeal.
An interview with George RR Martin:'I love his thoughts on predictabilityparticularly after my issues with Laura Powells Burn Mark yesterday. As a reader, what I seek is a book that delights and surprises me. I want to not know what is gonna happen. For me, that's the essence of storytelling and for this reason I want my readers to turn the pages with increasing fever: to know what happens next. There are a lot of expectations, mainly in the fantasy genre, which you have the hero and he is the chosen one, and he is always protected by his destiny. I didn't want it for my books.
Natalie Whipple on writing standalones'Whipple says that it can be a scary place to be in kidlit, which is very series heavy, but though she likes the fact that readers always want more from her, she also likes the fact that they cant be disappointed by what might be a poor or unnecessary sequel.
The book artists on the beauty of books as objects and the recent rise of book art'Since books and content are becoming more and more electronic, there seems to be a great interest in the book as an object and as an object of beauty,' says Nava Atlas.
Infographic: how ebooks are changing publishing
Keith Gray on censorship in childrens books'Gray points out that its the gatekeepers authors are concerned about: after all, theyre the ones who buy (or dont buy) books for children. By getting a gatekeeper offside, you can prevent your book from getting to readers. And theres plenty that can do so: foul language, sex, drugs, and so on. Gray calls this a stealthy and silent censorship, and notes that its disturbing that where authors of books for adults may be labelled offensive, authors of books for children can be described as corrupting their readers.
RL Stein on the difference between writing for kids and adults'You have to change everything. When I write for kids, I have to make sure they know what cant happen. They have to know its a fantasy. But when I write for adults, they have to think its real. Every detail has to be real or they wont buy it.
The Paris Review: theres an app for that
Gender Balance in YA Award Winners'Interestingly, despite the women are dominating YA!!! bizzo, the awards breakdowns show the opposite. Even though stories by men and for men are apparently so rare, its those that show up in the awards shortlists. The authors ask whether its because these books are privileged because theyre perceived as being rarer, or whether theres the traditional perception of men as being more competent coming into play here. Even those awards won by women are likely to involve male protagonists.
15 sharp-witted reading cartoons from an Iranian comic contest
Lena Dunham has reportedly signed a $3.7m deal for a proposal for a book about being a young woman.'And on a similar note:'a roundup of some of the highest advances ever paid to authors'(contains enormous, giant picturesand enormous, giant advances).
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