From NPR, this may be one of the greatest "learning to love to read" stories I've ever read.

Olly Neal grew up in Arkansas during the 1950s. He didn't care much for high school. One day during his senior year, he cut class — and wandered into the school library.

 

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ALA's Top 10 list of "challenged" books of 2008 (AP) - AP - Here is the American Library Association's list of top 10 most frequently challenged books of 2008, their author and the cited reasons: [Yahoo! Books and Publishing News]

I was floored to discover Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark among the titles on the American Library Association's 2008 Banned/Challenged Books list. The book was the first in a folklore series first published in 1981. I happened to purchase it and its sequel, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, at a library fund-raising book sale a month ago. According to Wikipedia, Scary Stories is a frequent addition to the list. 

Authors, banned books part of 1st Amendment salute (AP) -

AP - "The Grapes of Wrath" was labeled vulgar and pornographic, a dangerous depiction of class hatred. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" was removed from school classrooms and library shelves after its 1969 publication, deemed inappropriate for its depiction of author Maya Angelou's rape as an 8-year-old girl

Discovered via Victoria Strauss:

Even Dan Brown can't break the e-book 5% rule

When Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" was released on Sept. 15, Amazon's rankings revealed that Kindle sales outstripped sales of the hardcover. This led some ebook enthusiasts to herald the dawning of a new era. FastCompany asked, "Could Dan Brown's new book be heralding the e-book age?" CNet wrote: "The possibility that the Kindle version of 'The Lost Symbol' -- which follows Brown's wildly popular 'Da Vinci Code' and 'Angels & Demons' -- is outselling hard copies on Amazon could be a monumental moment in the e-book industry."

Rick Edmonds at Poynter.org says the surge in coupon clippers brought about by the current economic crisis has been good for the inserts side of newspaper advertising.

The New York Times was the latest to note the trend in a feature Monday. I especially liked the photo of "coupon queen" Susan Samtur sorting her clippings into an accordion file case. The picture suggests that there is a tactile appeal to clip-and-save, plus a sense of planning and control, quite different from being the passive recipient of a random barrage of online ad messages.

 

Indeed, the Times article, like one in the Wall Street Journal and a Biz Blog post of mine in February, suggests that online start-ups are trying to grab a piece of the action but make up only a tiny half a percent share of redemptions, so far.

Marian Schembari at Publishing Trends details how she landed a job in publishing, but not by sending out resumes and cover letters.

Of course, advertising yourself to get a job is a little weird, I have to admit. It’s one of those stories you hear about people wearing their resume on a T-shirt or taking cookies to an interview. No one wants to be that person.

Lyons: "Instead of giving newspapers bailouts, we should be hastening their demise" - Newsweek.com
"The weak papers need to die," writes Daniel Lyons. "The strong newspapers need to go into bankruptcy and restructure their businesses with smaller staffs and lower cost structures. Yes, it will be painful. But journalists will find jobs -- and they'll be working in a better, faster medium."
[Poynter Romenesko]

Two Peas Publishing is proud to announce the release of Santa Delivers Presents in the Big City, by Kelly Fischer.

Santa Delivers Presents in the Big City is Fischer's fourth children's book. Teamed once again with Memphis illustrator Michelle Duckworth, Fischer brings to life in vivid detail Santa's trip through the Big City, as well as his struggle to get all the presents delivered to the children there in spite of a lead reindeer who isn't feeling well.

Fischer is a Montessori teacher in Bern Switzerland, where she ran her own school for 17 years. Her previous books include: Polly Poplar Plays Dress Up, The Moon Throws a Birthday Party, and The Most Beautiful Color of All, which was a finalist in the Children's Picture Book category for the 2009 Indie Book Awards. Her website is ktf-writer-studio.ch.

Duckworth is a graduate of the Memphis College of Art. Her blog is online at whatisaduckworth.blogspot.com.

Santa Delivers Presents in the Big City is published by Two Peas Publishing and is available for retail purchase online through Amazon.com. It is also currently available for purchase by booksellers at twopeaspublishing.com.

Sept. 26-Oct. 3 is Banned Book Week, which celebrates the First Amendment and freedom of expression while highlighting the harm in censorship. From the American Library Association's post on the subject:

The books featured during Banned Books Week have been targets of attempted bannings.  Fortunately, while some books were banned or restricted, in a majority of cases the books were not banned, all thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, booksellers, and members of the community to retain the books in the library collections.  Imagine how many more books might be challenged—and possibly banned or restricted—if librarians, teachers, and booksellers across the country did not use Banned Books Week each year to teach the importance of our First Amendment rights and the power of literature, and to draw attention to the danger that exists when restraints are imposed on the availability of information in a free society.

Along those lines, BookDads posts about one children's book that has managed to make the Banned Books list three years in a row.

Kassia Krozser at Booksquare ruminates on the age-old problem of readability in the layout and design of books. Her solution? Read the work in ebook format instead.

With print books, there are definite limitations to what you can do to make the actual reading easier. It is amazing how hard people will work to read, despite the challenges. Ebooks are different. Here is how it works in ebooks. I’m going to mess up your book. After you spend all that time on formatting and typesetting and getting the kerning just right, I’m going to mess with it. Not out of malice, of course, but there you have it.