Reading

Dusting Off The Classics: Why You Should Revisit Your High School Reading List

Virginia Prescott — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:45:07 +0000

Kevin Smokler is setting out to resurrect America’s long-ago encounters. Works such as The Great Gatsby, Fahrenheit 451 and Bartleby: The Scrivener, skimmed and discarded by 15 year-old high school hands in days of yore, are being taken off the shelf, dusted off, and re-explored by the same pair of older, more experienced eyes. By compiling a list of fifty high school “classics”, Kevin spent ten months re-reading the stories that have become distant, unquestionable deities in the eyes of many middle-aged Americans. What he found was profound; and in some ways, unexpected. Kevin, now 39, amassed his thoughts and findings in his new book Practical Classics: Fifty Reasons to Reread Fifty Books You Haven’t Touched Since High School.

The e-Text Revolution

Sam Evans-Brown — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:37:44 +0000

With E-book sales outpacing print books, the days of the heavyweight backpack are numbered. In New Hampshire, thirty-three public schools banded together to purchase E-books instead of textbooks. Producer Sam Evans-Brown finds out why public schools are making the switch now, and why the long wait.

Read and Listen to Sam's story here.

Once Upon A Midnight Dreary...

Sean Hurley and Edgar Allan Poe — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Here is Sean Hurley's unabridged reading of "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe. Enjoy!

The Best Books Hot off Indie Presses

Virginia Prescott and Michele Filgate — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:16:53 +0000

Three literary experts spill the beans on this summer's hottest indie reads.

Tina Brown's Must-Reads: The Reporter's Role

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:50:00 +0000

Tina Brown, editor of The Daily Beast and Newsweek, tells us what she's been reading in a feature that Morning Edition likes to call "Word of Mouth." This month, Brown has been thinking about the contributions of journalists to global culture.

The Rise Of Hitler, As Seen By Americans Abroad

Brown's first pick is Andrew Nagorski's Hitlerland, a book about the rise of the Nazi regime told from the perspective of Americans, including foreign correspondents and diplomats, who lived in Berlin during the 1930s and early 1940s.

"What

Schools Get Tough With Third-Graders: Read Or Flunk

Tovia Smith — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 19:02:00 +0000

There's little dispute among educators that kids are not reading as well as they should be, but there's endless debate over what to do about it.

Books to get you through 'til Sunday

Virginia Prescott — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:54:43 +0000

A bookseller muses on titles that might satisfy Downton addicts between episodes.