Long Reads #6

This week was all about books! As a way to celebrate my newfound reading time (I love long vacations!) I decided to read all the articles I'd saved about reading/books. It's a really long list, but I hope you have read/will feel like reading some of them:

Why Wattpad Works by Margaret Atwood - Margaret Atwood is a really famous writer. Personally, I haven't read any of her works (I got scared off by my complete lack of understanding of The Blind Assassin), but it's so cool to see a writer support a site like Wattpad. I'm on Wattpad too, but I find that all the stories are starting to sound the same (so many werewolf/vampire love stories....) although I'm trying to take it as a sign that I need to search harder. And if you're curious about what I write, you can find me here and I'll really appreciate any comments!.

Great, Wondrous by Marie-Helene Bertino - The only fiction work I read and the article I didn't like at all. I really couldn't understand what it was about and I was very confused by the end of the whole story. What was the point of it?

Ten Rules for Writing Fiction by Geoff Dyer, Anne Enright, Neil Gaimen, David Hare, AL Kenedy - It's not so much of an article but a collection of tips on how to write. Some are fun, some don't sound applicable to me and some make so much sense you have to try them.

Listening to Books by Maggie Gram - I haven't had any experience with audio books, but after this, I do wanna try an audio book at least once. I personally have nothing against them, so as soon as I can get my hands on one, I'll give it a try.

The End of Borders and the Future of Books by Ben Austen - I loved the Borders in Singapore (Wheelock Place) and I was really sad when it closed down (darn you bankruptcy!) But after that, I discovered Indie bookshops and I haven't looked back (and here in Japan, I'm at BookOff, a second-hand bookstore- all the time)

Thank you for killing my novel by Paterick Somerville - Or, how an author handles a bad (and factually-incorrect) review. It was really entertaining(: But I liked how he handled it with lots of humour and acheived some form of compensation.

Sherlock Holmes in Fairyland by Miles Klee - I'm not sure why I even read this... The link between Holmes and Fairytales was kinda interesting (although the article was more about Doyle), but I wasn't sure what the point was. Sigh, maybe it was just a bit too short for me....

My Life As A Bibliophile by Julian Barnes - As a proud bibliophile, I had to read this article. This actually warned me against my greatest weakness - buying too many books. But it gives me hope that Bibliophiles can have a happy life. And since it's about books, it also talks a bit of book collecting, and it's unscrupulous side.

I'm getting a bit ennui now, so I'll be really really brief.

Some Books Are More Equal Than Others by Claire Needell Hollander - It's about summer reading, and just confirmed what I knew, some books make you smarter than others. Haha.

C. S. Lewis on Reading Old Books by Benjamine Domenech - I love C.S. Lewis. And he always makes sense so go read this.

Why Gatsby Is So Great by Jay McInerney - I haven't read Gatsby but this article makes me want to go and find a copy and read it.

The Amazon Effect by Steve Wasserman - It takes a look Amazon and how it has influence (and will continue to influence) the book industry. Personally, I use Amazon when I know what book I want to buy, but bookstores are where I discover new titles (I don't think I've ever bought from Amazon's recommended list...). And yes, I do support bookstores through my impulse purchases.

Who Says Print is Dead? by Mark Hooper - Of course it's not.

What have you read this week?