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Books to Read in 2015
I love to read. More than almost any other decision, the one I made in my early 20’s to become a serious reader and consumer of information (and great works of literature) has proven to be the...
View ArticleZuckerberg’s Year of Reading Copiously
One of my New Year’s resolutions, besides resolving to actually commit to New Year’s resolutions, is to shift more of my media diet toward reading books. Imagine my surprise, then, when social media...
View ArticleInformation is Not Wisdom
What a scholar one might be if one knew well only five or six books. – Gustave Flaubert Hardcore lovers of traditional books complain that ebooks aren’t as aesthetically satisfying, that a book’s...
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Why Parents Aren’t Making Their Kids Read This Summer
All over the country, libraries and towns are rolling out summer reading programs that have a singular objective: encouraging kids to keep reading between late June and September when they won’t be...
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Celebrity False Confessions
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported that Shonda Rhimes, creator of shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, is publishing a book, Year of Yes, which explores a year in her life as a force in...
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You Have More Time Than You Think
Rather than handwringing about “having it all,” Laura Vanderkam encourages women to recognize the balance they already have and consider how much more is possible. Social media and websites dedicated...
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Ditch the Summer Reading List
Writing in 1908, the historian Henry Adams described winter as all about “compulsory learning” and school. Summer, on the other hand, was “tropical license” to do all the things children crave. Summer,...
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Why Libraries Need Focus More than Change
Last week the American Library Association, the world’s oldest library organization, held its annual meeting in California. The theme of the meeting? “Transforming our Libraries. Ourselves.”...
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The Rise of “Aliteracy”
There is a new buzzword reemerging in reading circles—“aliteracy,” which means being able to read but rarely choosing to read. The backstory on aliteracy is the rise of the screen age. We’ve all read...
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What Your Kids Can Learn from Nikola Tesla
During a recent book club meeting with a bunch of third through sixth graders, I asked the girls to write down the three most useful traits if you were attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a...
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Brad Thor and Conservatives in Pop Culture
“Our side has better ideas, but it needs better storytellers.” These are the words of the bestselling conservative author Brad Thor, whose latest thriller, Code of Conduct, has just been released. Thor...
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We Shouldn’t Need Experts to Remind Us to Read to Our Kids
Recently, the New York Times published a story about a bunch of studies just released that pertain to the benefits of reading to children. The article was written by Perri Klass, a pediatrician who...
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The Bitter, Frustrated Whiner Otherwise Known as Ethan Frome
As we get ready to head back to school, Acculturated is reevaluating some of the “classic” books routinely assigned to children to read during the school year. Do they still deserve to be granted the...
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Political Correctness Puts Science Fiction on Trial
John C. Wright did not win a Hugo Award this year. He lost to “No Award.” Wright was up for five Hugos in three categories. The Hugo is one of the major awards given to science fiction literature, and...
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‘The Little Prince’: A Classic Tale of Codependency and Loneliness
As we get ready to head back to school, Acculturated is reevaluating some of the “classic” books routinely assigned to children to read during the school year. Do they still deserve to be granted the...
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Seven Books that Should Be Banned
Every fall the publishing industry—excuse me, the “national books community”—engages in the self-promotional frenzy known as “Banned Books Week.” It comes complete with #BannedBooksWeek hashtags,...
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Why Schools Need Bookshelves, Not iPads
Nancie Atwell, a life-long educator and literacy expert who runs the impressive Center for Teaching and Learning in Maine, wants to fill classrooms with bookcases and volumes of rich and enticing...
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Amazon’s New Seattle Bookstore is All Data, No Heart
In a 2005 interview with Wired magazine, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was asked whether physical bookstores had anything to offer customers that Amazon could not. Bezos replied that bookstores sponsored...
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An Interview with Novelist Thomas Mallon
“I’m willing to stand in line for my freedom,” declares Anders Little in Finale, the newest novel by Thomas Mallon. Little is a mid-level bureaucrat at the National Security Council in this...
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What Happens When Homes Have No Books
Carol Rasco, President of Reading is Fundamental, recently asked, “Can you imagine a childhood without books?” Rasco’s piece noted that two-thirds of the country’s poorest children don’t own a single...
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