Provides info about UK books groups, including five suggested titles, useful tips on making the group work, a Bookgroup of the month and so on. www.bookgroup.info/
On the Booktrust site is the BookmatesOn the Booktrust site is the Bookmates project, which includes the excellent guide to setting up a reading group which was originally developed in association with the Orange Prize. www.booktrust.org.uk/readinggroups/rgroups.htm project, which includes the excellent guide to setting up a reading group which was originally developed in association with the Orange Prize. www.booktrust.org.uk/readinggroups/rgroups.htm
Useful Arts and Books page about books in the news. The site includes past, present and future book recommendations, advice on setting up and running a book group, and a message board to help readers contribute to the debate and get involved. www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/bookclub/
Extremely useful new website with a lot of practical information on how to set up and run a reading group and tips for different reading genres. 50 articles, with more being added each month. www.thereadingclub.co.uk
'I like David Foster Wallace's notion that writer's block is always a function of the writer having set a too-high bar for herself. You know: you type a line, it fails to meet the "masterpiece standard," you delete it in shame, type another line, delete it - soon the hours have flown by and you are a failure sitting in front of a blank screen.
'I like David Foster Wallace's notion that writer's block is always a function of the writer having set a too-high bar for herself. You know: you type a line, it fails to meet the "masterpiece standard," you delete it in shame, type another line, delete it - soon the hours have flown by and you are a failure sitting in front of a blank screen. Read more
'Writing isn't like math; in math, two plus two always equals four no matter what your mood is like. With writing, the way you feel changes everything.'
"Our species is the only creative species, and it has only one creative instrument: the individual mind and spirit of man," writes John Steinbeck in East of Eden. "Nothing was ever created by two men. There are no good collaborations, whether in music, in art, in poetry, in mathematics, in philosophy."
UK literary festival organisers face an uncertain future after losing the funding provided by investment group Baillie Gifford, with many paying tribute to the group's "commitment to the industry" pointing to the security the money offered to smaller book events.
Diana Urban is the author of several YA thrillers, including All Your Twisted Secrets and the upcoming Paris catacombs survival story, Under the Surface (Putnam, Aug. 13). In this essay, Urban reflects on why young readers are so enthralled by murder-centric stories, making mysteries and thrillers such hot genres in YA publishing today.
Children in the UK and Ireland are reading fewer books than they did last year, according to a new report, as post-Covid absences from school and a lack of dedicated reading time contribute to lower reading abilities.
If you ever want to feel a sense of awe, try standing near an erupting volcano. The late author Michael Crichton was fascinated with volcanoes for most of his life. And even now, 16 years after his death, among the countless books and papers at his office in Santa Monica you'll find stacks of volcano research.
The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) has called on the next government to "enshrine protections for writers" in its manifesto recommendations ahead of the forthcoming general election.
The trade union representing writers wants the next government to implement its recommendations around fair pay, fair treatment, sustainability, and copyright and AI.
'Writing is of you, but it's not YOU'
'I like David Foster Wallace's notion that writer's block is always a function of the writer having set a too-high bar for herself. You know: you type a line, it fails to meet the "masterpiece standard," you delete it in shame, type another line, delete it - soon the hours have flown by and you are a failure sitting in front of a blank screen. Read more