News & Notes – 2/14/15

February 14, 2015 News & Notes 6

News & Notes

News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, and other cool stuff

Book News

 

Worth Reading/Watching

  • How Spelling Keeps Kids From Learning  (The Atlantic)  A few thoughts on this one: 1) Unspell sounds like a simplified version of the current phonetic alphabet. 2) Is it really helpful to start kids off in one system and switch them to another? 3) If we were to simplify spelling, where does that leave the ability to distinguish between words that sound the same but are spelled differently? (answer: context, I guess, just as we do when the words are spoken.) 4) There’s a lot of potential for confusion and error due to pronunciation differences and regional accents. 5) Do this, and reading old documents becomes even harder and more of a specialist’s job.
  • Roald Dahl’s moving 1988 letter in support of vaccination. (Electric Lit) One of Dahl’s daughters died of complications of measles. His letter, written years after her death, has new relevance today.
  • Jonathan Franzen Says Young Adult Lit Equals “Moral Simplicity” and It’s a Tired Insult (Caitlin White, Bustle)
  • A book cover than can judge you has been invented by Thijs Biersteker. If you look skeptical, the book is locked. Approach it with a neutral face, and it unlocks.
  • Severus Snape’s important scenes from the movies, in chronological order (by YouTube user kcawesome13) clarifies Snape’s story and motivations… and intensifies the feels.

 

For Writers & Bloggers

 

Book & Movie Announcements

 

Awesome Lists

 

Really Cool / Just for Fun

Bookish Quote

 

That’s it for this week!

6 Responses to “News & Notes – 2/14/15”

  1. Bea @Bea's Book Nook

    I’m not sure that ‘simplifying’ spelling would actually work for pretty much the reasons you outlined.

    Little Free Libraries do sometimes run into legal troubles which is unfortunate. They’re such a good idea.
    Bea @Bea’s Book Nook recently posted…Sunday Book Share #128My Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I agree on the Little Free Libraries; it’s not the first I’ve heard of people being told they must take theirs down. (I’m pretty sure my POA wouldn’t allow them in our division, so I’ve never put one up.) And it is too bad; they are a lovely idea.

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      Thanks, Stephanie! Yes, I’ve been there, too… but less so now that I’ve found some other bloggers who share my tastes. And my daughter and I share a bunch of fandoms. 🙂

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I felt positively embarrassed listening to her – I use accents when I read aloud, but other than RP, none of my British accents are very accurate. (I think my RP is all right. I hope.) Re the post shout-out – absolutely; it’s a great post!