Great Regulars: Men are more likely than women to

avoid picking up a book, with 11% of men and 5% of women surveyed saying they never read for pleasure. A quarter of the UK's adult population--more than 12 million people--had picked up a book to read for enjoyment less than twice in the past six months.

from Alison Flood: The Guardian: Four million UK adults never read books for pleasure

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"If yet more bookshops close and people can only find books online, without public libraries there would be no place for children to physically browse and discover their tastes in reading. And publishers would only be able to publish the most popular titles, so that far more authors would be out of a living."

According to [Julia] Donaldson, there is not an "either/or" between bookshops and libraries.

from Alison Flood: The Guardian: Julia Donaldson defends libraries from Terry Deary's attack

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"Because it's been 150 years, we've got this idea that we've got an entitlement to read books for free, at the expense of authors, publishers and council tax payers. This is not the Victorian age, when we wanted to allow the impoverished access to literature. We pay for compulsory schooling to do that," said [Terry] Deary, who has received hate mail since he first aired his views in the Sunderland Echo yesterday.

from Alison Flood: The Guardian: Libraries 'have had their day', says Horrible Histories author

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Both written and illustrated by [Maurice] Sendak, the book is a "moving homage" to the author's brother [Jack], said publisher HarperCollins, and an "expression of both grief and love" that will "redefine what one would expect from Maurice Sendak". It is also the book that Sendak himself "considered his most important", said HarperCollins.

Out later this month in the UK, My Brother's Book is already drawing glowing reviews in the US.

from Alison Flood: The Guardian: Maurice Sendak's final book due out this month

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[Robert] Bly, who joins former recipients of the medal including Allen Ginsberg and Wallace Stevens, is known for introducing American readers to "the riches of European and Latin American poetry" through his translations, the society said, as well as for his own collections. He has published more than 30 books to date, from The Light Around the Body (1967), winner of the National Book Award, to Talking Into the Ear of a Donkey (2011).

from Alison Flood: The Guardian: Robert Bly to receive Poetry Society of America's Frost Medal

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