5 Magical Books That Will Make You Question Everything You Thought You Knew. Great books have the power to reconfigure and manipulate our entire understanding of reality – and our place within it.
Whether you’re looking for guidance or are in need of deep contemplative reflection, these top five mind-altering and consciousness-raising books will undoubtedly fulfill your expectations. In no particular order… The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge. Novels: On Location - 635 Novels/783 Locations. 8 Rejuvenating Books To Read In The Spring. After a long, blizzard-filled winter, spring finally seems to be here—an unpredictable March climate notwithstanding.
Spring is a time of new beginnings and clean slates, when the last filthy vestiges of winter snow melt away and the trees burst out with fresh green buds. There’s just something about this season that makes us feel rejuvenated, purified, and ready to let go of the past. Whether that means finally cutting ties with a bad-news ex, donating the 68 percent of your clothing you never wear anymore, or cracking open a brand new book, spring is a perfect time to shake off your winter funk and try something new. What better to read, during this season of renewal, than great books about the bittersweet joys of starting over?
We’ve collected 8 books ideal for reading this season, with the lush spring settings and inspiring themes that make us feel refreshed and energized. Here are 8 perfect books to read in the spring: A Room With a View by E.M. Smart Reads For Teens. Originally posted on Kirkus Who are we kidding?
There may be more adults reading the recently published books on this week’s list than teens. These books wrestle with all the big questions: identity, race, sexuality, war. The Bone Marrow Queen by Melissa Difatta. 30 Books You NEED To Read In 2014. Another year, another several dozen captivating books to add to your ever-growing reading list.
You may still be conquering the mountain of titles you were gifted during the holidays, or the pile of award-winners you picked up at the end of last year, so anticipating 2014's heavy hitters may seem overwhelming. Which is exactly why we've parsed out a manageable list of what we believe will be the most rewarding reads. Take a look.: Family Life by Akhil Sharma The heartbreaking story of a boy whose brother suffers brain damage after diving into a swimming pool is told in spare, deliberate language. Leaving the Sea by Ben Marcus Marcus's acclaimed The Flame Alphabet showcased his ability to write fascinating experimental fiction, and we expect this short story collection to be no different. Perfect by Rachel Joyce Joyce's novel is both a coming-of-age story about a boy who becomes concerned when the British government adds two seconds to the year, and the tale of a man with OCD.
Why Reading Is Important. The following is an excerpt from Wendy Lesser's Why I Read [Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $25.00]: It’s not a question I can completely answer.
There are abundant reasons, some of them worse than others and many of them mutually contradictory. To pass the time. To savor the existence of time. To escape from myself into someone else’s world. In any case, when I ask myself why I read literature, I am not really asking about motivation. Reading Changes Brain's Connectivity, Study Suggests. It's no secret that reading is good for your brain.
But what actually happens inside your brain when you read a great novel? “Stories shape our lives and in some cases help define a person,” Dr. Gregory S. Berns, director of Emory University's Center for Neuropolicy in Atlanta, said in a written statement. “We want to understand how stories get into your brain, and what they do to it.” Now we may have a better idea, thanks to new research by Berns and his research team. The researchers took fMRI scans of the brains of 21 undergraduate students while they rested. The scans revealed heightened connectivity within the students' brains on the mornings following the assignments, and the changes persisted for the five days after the students had finished the novel.
"The anterior (front) bank of the sulcus contains neurons that control movement of parts of the body," Berns told The Huffington Post in an email. How long do the brain changes persist? Norway Is Digitizing All Its Books. Norway is going digital.
In a plan to scan all of its publications to the cloud, the National Library of Norway is digitalizing its books, and it and plans to make them all freely available to users with a Norwegian IP address. The library plans to have the project completed in about 15 to 20 years. The initiative was first launched in 2006. Under the program, the institution will digitize its entire collection. It requires, by law, that all published content and media be submitted to the National Library, according to reports. By 2012, the Norway Library had digitized 350,000 newspaper editions, 235,000 books and 240,000 pages of handwritten manuscripts, among other forms of media including radio broadcasts and TV programs, the Scandinavian Library Quarterly reports.