A sign that I ought to get around to James Meek's The People's Act of Love without further delay:
"The Guardian writer James Meek has been awarded his second £10,000 prize of the year for his novel set during the Russian civil war, The People's Act of Love. At a sell-out event during the Edinburgh book festival, he was presented with the Scottish Arts Council book of the year award." (Michelle Pauli, The Guardian)
Read anything, Nick Hornby tells us, as long as you can't wait to pick it up again:
If reading books is to survive as a leisure activity - and there are statistics that show that this is by no means assured - then we have to promote the joys of reading, rather than the (dubious) benefits.
I would never attempt to dissuade anyone from reading a book. But please, if you're reading a book that's killing you, put it down and read something else, just as you would reach for the remote if you weren't enjoying a television programme.
Not many people are reading literary fiction:
"In a modern climate that seems to value speed, convenience and prepackaged thrills over mental meandering, perhaps it's not surprising that reality more easily trumps make-believe." (Kristin Tillotson, Star Tribune)
And a link to the professional military reading lists at the National Defense University.
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Very interesting, thank you for the links. I like Hornby's quote.
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