Sunday, July 31, 2016
Sneak Peak for Tuesday's Authors Hour
Posted by Wayne G. Barber
I am on page 121 chapter 8 and I love Historic Baseball Stories, Author Greg Rubano weaves a great story of statistics and personal information into a Rhode Island Hall of Famer.
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Free Book at Book Barbarian.com
Posted by Wayne G. Barber
 | |||||||
| |||||||
Scituate, Rhode Island Farmers Market has Rhode Island Books !
Posted by Wayne G. Barber
We're heading back to the Scituate Farmers Market this morning with all our Stillwater River Publications books, including our latest titles "Shoreline" from the Association of Rhode Island Authors (ARIA) "Oliver's Journey" by Laura Crisafulli Kennedy and "Mother at Seven" by Veronika Gasparyan.
We'll be there from 9-12. Stop by and buy a book!
We're heading back to the Scituate Farmers Market this morning with all our Stillwater River Publications books, including our latest titles "Shoreline" from the Association of Rhode Island Authors (ARIA) "Oliver's Journey" by Laura Crisafulli Kennedy and "Mother at Seven" by Veronika Gasparyan.
We'll be there from 9-12. Stop by and buy a book!
Thursday, July 28, 2016
New Book: Shoreline
Posted by Wayne G. Barber
Shoreline: selected short fiction, non-fiction, poetry & prose from The Association of Rhode Island Authors Paperback – July 8, 2016
To order, visit: https://www.amazon.com/Shoreline-selected-fiction-non-fi…/…/
For information about wholesale ordering, contact info@stillwaterpress.com.
To order, visit: https://www.amazon.com/Shoreline-selected-fiction-non-fi…/…/
For information about wholesale ordering, contact info@stillwaterpress.com.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Monday, July 25, 2016
Tuesday Line-Up for the Authors Hour
Posted by Wayne G. Barber
New Releases, Book Signings, Publishing Questions and Author Interviews
E-Mail the show at waynewnri@yahoo.com
New Releases, Book Signings, Publishing Questions and Author Interviews
E-Mail the show at waynewnri@yahoo.com
Tentatively Scheduled at 9:05 am Author Christopher Paniccia will discuss his latest book " Gridiron Conspiracy ", Chasing Shadows Book two of a series
Tentatively Scheduled at 9:40am Fish on the Move, with Jeremy Pallai
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Your Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Bargains for July 24, 2016
Posted by Wayne G. Barber
FREE BOOK OF THE DAY | |
 | Of Light and Darknessby Shayne Leighton
Shayne Leighton’s stunning New Adult debut is a fiercely imaginative, multilayered dark fantasy where Alice In Wonderland meets Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire in a story about a girl caught between two societies . . . two magic sides . . . and two loves.
Charlotte is the only mortal in a society of beasts and nightmarish things. By night, she hunts other humans to satiate her Vampire guardian. By day, she struggles to find her place of belonging among the magic and monsters.But when war conflicts her peaceful, however odd little life, she must fight for love and survival the only way she knows how… with her blood.
$0.00 Previously $3.49
Category: Dark Fantasy
|
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Free right now on Book Barbarian
Posted by Wayne G. Barber
Reaper’s Run
by David VanDyke
When US Marine Sergeant Jill Repeth’s blown-off legs begin to regenerate, she thinks it’s a medical miracle. But the breakthrough that heals her war injuries is exactly what the government desperately wants to quash – by any means necessary. Hunted, she must cross an America wracked by strife to try to find a family who may already be dead, searching for the inhuman secret of what started it all.
Reaper’s Run is an origins story and apocalyptic novel, the beginning of one warrior’s journey from tactical cop to freedom fighter and beyond. It leads the reader into the acclaimed Plague Wars futuristic thriller series.
Get the first two books in the series all for Free!
Over 100 Five Star Reviews!
$0.00
Previously $2.99
Previously $2.99
Friday, July 22, 2016
We are Best of RI, Thanks to you!
Posted by Wayne G. Barber
Best Independent Bookstore West Bay
Best Independent Bookstore STATEWIDE
Best New Bookstore Upstate
Best Kids Toy & Gift Store STATEWIDE
BARRINGTON BOOKS,
in Barrington and Cranston, received not one,
not two, but FIVE
BEST OF RI awards at last night's sold-out
RI Monthly Best of RI party at
Providence Performing Arts Center...
Thanks to loyal friends and customers like you!
Best Independent Bookstore East Bay
We are humbled and honored and inspired to live up to these awards!
Thank you!
Barrington Books, know far and wide for its knowledgeable book-loving staff, vast selections of toys and gifts, and lively community events, is now celebrating 30 years as an East Bay destination. Voted Best Independent Bookstore in RI Monthly's "Best of RI" Readers Poll year after year and is 'retelling their story to the rest of the state" with an exciting second location in Garden City Center, Cranston. For more information about Barrington Books, please visit our webiste, Facebook pages and follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
Haven't been to our new store in Garden City Center? Come see what all the buzz is about:
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Riffraff, a Bookstore Bar, to Open in Providence, R.I.
Posted by Wayne G. Barber
In November, Tom Roberge and Emma Ramadan, both of whom have backgrounds in the book world, plan to open Riffraff, a bookstore and bar in Providence, R.I.Riffraff will have 1,500 square feet of space split 60/40 between bookstore and bar, stock 7,000-8,000 titles and offer a selection of specialty drinks that "play with the familiar classics," as Roberge put it. The bookstore's emphasis will be on literary fiction, crime, the social sciences, poetry, art and graphic novels. Riffraff will also have a small children's section.
Roberge and Ramadan have signed a lease on space at 215 Dean Street in the West Side neighborhood of Providence and will begin the buildout in August. Like Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn, N.Y., they are setting up a community lending program to help finance the establishment of the store. On their website, they note that they have raised about 75% of their startup costs but need to raise another $50,000. "We are seeking loans of a thousand dollars and up from those in the Providence community, and beyond, who believe in bringing this kind of space to Providence's West Side, who value the role culture plays in a community, and who understand the importance of independent, locally-owned businesses to the vibrancy of a city." Return rates on the loans will be between 2.5% and 4%, compounded annually, and all lenders will receive a 30% employee discount on books.
Roberge has worked as a bookseller at McNally Jackson bookstore in New York City, managing editor at A Public Space, editor at Penguin Books, publicist and bookstore liaison at New Directions, and deputy director at Albertine Books in New York City.
Ramadan studied comparative literature at Brown University (in Providence), completed a master's degree in translation at the American University of Paris and was a Fulbright Scholar in Morocco, where she translated the late poet Ahmed Bouanani from French into English. Her translations also include the genderless novel Sphinx by Anne Garréta.
 | |
| Tom Roberge and Emma Ramadan | |
Roberge has worked as a bookseller at McNally Jackson bookstore in New York City, managing editor at A Public Space, editor at Penguin Books, publicist and bookstore liaison at New Directions, and deputy director at Albertine Books in New York City.
Ramadan studied comparative literature at Brown University (in Providence), completed a master's degree in translation at the American University of Paris and was a Fulbright Scholar in Morocco, where she translated the late poet Ahmed Bouanani from French into English. Her translations also include the genderless novel Sphinx by Anne Garréta.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
On the Heartbreaking Difficulty of Getting Rid of Books
Posted by Wayne G. Barber
Paring down one’s wardrobe is one thing, but what kind of degenerate only wants to own 30 books (or fewer) at a time on purpose? What sort of psychopath rips out pages from their favorite books and throws away the rest so they can, as my wife Susan puts it, “keep only the words they like?” For those of us for whom even the word “book” sparks joy, this constitutes a serious disconnect. Still, as the weather gets warmer, many readers will tackle their spring cleaning with The Life-Changing Magic in hand.
Following her instructions, I herded all of my books into one room and put them on the floor. There were more than 500, ranging from books I’d been given as a small child to advance review copies of novels I’d received within the last week. Somehow they did not appear as numerous as one would expect. They looked vulnerable and exposed when stacked up in this way, out of context, like when the TSA zips open your suitcase at the airport.
Your socks will feel sad unless you treat them gently and fold them properly, she tells me with emotion, before instructing me to put their cast-off brethren books in a garbage bag and send them to the landfill.
I went through my books one by one. My inner self says you shouldn’t open the books, but I broke that rule—not to read them, but to see what I might have long-ago stashed inside.
There was a surprising amount of stuff between the pages—letters, tickets, photographs, receipts. I found my New Year’s Eve resolutions for 1998; a slip of paper acknowledging my plea of GUILTY to a speeding ticket and instructing me to pay $125 to the town of Albany, New York; a hospital bill for $564; a Xeroxed page from Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself with the stanza circled that begins I have said that the soul is not more than the body; a yellow hall pass from my Burrillville high school.
But to my surprise, I found plenty of books in my possession that did not spark joy either. These included books given to me by relatives toward whom I feel no warmth; paperbacks from my sports addiction with the last 20 pages missing; books that have been more than 10 percent eaten by a former white nose that I trapped; two sad-looking copies of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, although I’m not sure why. All told there were 30 such books, or perhaps 60. I didn’t count them.
All the books I’d read already went back on the shelves. The 32 unread books “to be read right now” were returned to my bedside table. The 28 “work-related” volumes—I’m a writer, after all—both read and unread, went in their own pile.
“A book can wait a thousand years unread until the right reader comes along,” said my English teacher George Ducharme, and that’s true. The good ones are incantations, summoning spells. They are a spark, a balm, a letter from home. They contain demons, gods in a box. They are tiny rectangles with the whole universe packed in. We read books that describe magical portals when really it is the books themselves that are the rabbit hole, the wardrobe, the doorway between worlds. Books, like people, are bigger on the inside. It is by this dimension of imaginative relativity that Hal Borland, John Muir, inspire in me.
It’s not true that when you first receive a book is the only right time to read it. Books can stay with you like a fine wine on a quest, taken out of your cloak, unwrapped and understood only at your darkest hour: A light to you when all other lights go out.
It’s a useful exercise to clear the cobwebs from one’s bookshelves once in a while, but don’t let anyone talk you into getting rid of your books if you don’t want to, read or unread. Ask yourself whether or not each book sparks joy,
WHERE TO DONATE YOUR BOOKS (Should you chose to part with them)
Want to donate your books anyway? General places to donate include local libraries, thrift stores, and homeless shelters. Women’s shelters are especially in need of children’s books. Below is a list of specific organizations across the United States that will happily take your unwanted books and share them with people in need.
NYC Books Through Bars sends free donated books to incarcerated people across the nation.
Operation Paperback sends used books to American soldiers overseas, as well as veterans and military families in the United States.
Big Hearted Books & Clothing has drop-off locations throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
Books for Soldiers: By joining, you can view the books that soldiers’ request, and send what you have.
Books4Cause’s book donations have already created 20 libraries in Africa.
Better World Books allows you to box up your books and print out a shipping label (they pay for the cost of shipping).
Since 1988, Books for Africa has shipped over 35 million books to 49 different countries.
Other donation centers include the Prison Book Program, Chicago’s Open Books, New York’s Housing Works, San Francisco’s Project Night Night, Friends of the San Francisco Public Library’s Book Donation Center, and Washington DC’s Books for America. Source: Summer Brennan
Paring down one’s wardrobe is one thing, but what kind of degenerate only wants to own 30 books (or fewer) at a time on purpose? What sort of psychopath rips out pages from their favorite books and throws away the rest so they can, as my wife Susan puts it, “keep only the words they like?” For those of us for whom even the word “book” sparks joy, this constitutes a serious disconnect. Still, as the weather gets warmer, many readers will tackle their spring cleaning with The Life-Changing Magic in hand.
Following her instructions, I herded all of my books into one room and put them on the floor. There were more than 500, ranging from books I’d been given as a small child to advance review copies of novels I’d received within the last week. Somehow they did not appear as numerous as one would expect. They looked vulnerable and exposed when stacked up in this way, out of context, like when the TSA zips open your suitcase at the airport.
Your socks will feel sad unless you treat them gently and fold them properly, she tells me with emotion, before instructing me to put their cast-off brethren books in a garbage bag and send them to the landfill.
I went through my books one by one. My inner self says you shouldn’t open the books, but I broke that rule—not to read them, but to see what I might have long-ago stashed inside.
There was a surprising amount of stuff between the pages—letters, tickets, photographs, receipts. I found my New Year’s Eve resolutions for 1998; a slip of paper acknowledging my plea of GUILTY to a speeding ticket and instructing me to pay $125 to the town of Albany, New York; a hospital bill for $564; a Xeroxed page from Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself with the stanza circled that begins I have said that the soul is not more than the body; a yellow hall pass from my Burrillville high school.
But to my surprise, I found plenty of books in my possession that did not spark joy either. These included books given to me by relatives toward whom I feel no warmth; paperbacks from my sports addiction with the last 20 pages missing; books that have been more than 10 percent eaten by a former white nose that I trapped; two sad-looking copies of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, although I’m not sure why. All told there were 30 such books, or perhaps 60. I didn’t count them.
All the books I’d read already went back on the shelves. The 32 unread books “to be read right now” were returned to my bedside table. The 28 “work-related” volumes—I’m a writer, after all—both read and unread, went in their own pile.
“A book can wait a thousand years unread until the right reader comes along,” said my English teacher George Ducharme, and that’s true. The good ones are incantations, summoning spells. They are a spark, a balm, a letter from home. They contain demons, gods in a box. They are tiny rectangles with the whole universe packed in. We read books that describe magical portals when really it is the books themselves that are the rabbit hole, the wardrobe, the doorway between worlds. Books, like people, are bigger on the inside. It is by this dimension of imaginative relativity that Hal Borland, John Muir, inspire in me.
It’s not true that when you first receive a book is the only right time to read it. Books can stay with you like a fine wine on a quest, taken out of your cloak, unwrapped and understood only at your darkest hour: A light to you when all other lights go out.
It’s a useful exercise to clear the cobwebs from one’s bookshelves once in a while, but don’t let anyone talk you into getting rid of your books if you don’t want to, read or unread. Ask yourself whether or not each book sparks joy,
WHERE TO DONATE YOUR BOOKS (Should you chose to part with them)
Want to donate your books anyway? General places to donate include local libraries, thrift stores, and homeless shelters. Women’s shelters are especially in need of children’s books. Below is a list of specific organizations across the United States that will happily take your unwanted books and share them with people in need.
NYC Books Through Bars sends free donated books to incarcerated people across the nation.
Operation Paperback sends used books to American soldiers overseas, as well as veterans and military families in the United States.
Big Hearted Books & Clothing has drop-off locations throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
Books for Soldiers: By joining, you can view the books that soldiers’ request, and send what you have.
Books4Cause’s book donations have already created 20 libraries in Africa.
Better World Books allows you to box up your books and print out a shipping label (they pay for the cost of shipping).
Since 1988, Books for Africa has shipped over 35 million books to 49 different countries.
Other donation centers include the Prison Book Program, Chicago’s Open Books, New York’s Housing Works, San Francisco’s Project Night Night, Friends of the San Francisco Public Library’s Book Donation Center, and Washington DC’s Books for America. Source: Summer Brennan
Monday, July 18, 2016
Line-Up for the Authors Hour 7-19-16
Posted by Wayne G. Barber
New Releases, Book Signings, Publishing Questions and we take live E-mail at waynewnri@yahoo.com
Once an educational backwater, Metropolitan University has risen to the top tier of American colleges. But success has come at a price, the institution’s spirit crushed under the thumb of Fortin Shenford, Met’s ambitious president, who effectively quashes all opposition on campus, his sights set on loftier peaks. Against this backdrop, the residents of Sterling Hall’s fourth floor manage to form a lasting bond. A fraternal oasis in a student body known for apathy and lack of cohesion, Sterling 4 is populated by memorable characters: Mike “Wally” Hall, leader of the self-styled Mutants; Dwight, the wheelchair-bound video game wizard; Marcus, the sheltered, socially naive freshman; Chug Allen, student-politician and rascal king; Brandon, the blunt-spoken activist; and tomboyish Rosemary, Marcus’s unspoken crush. Over four years, enduring friendships are born, rules broken, and traditions established as they move from the trials of adolescence to the waiting responsibilities of adulthood. Set in the go-go 1980’s, University is a fun-filled romp through undergraduate life, in an era fondly remembered, yet not far distant from our own time.
And at 9:35 am Author P.R. Lavoie will discuss his latest book, " Hope Amore "
A Philosophy of Sex, Love and Romance
New Releases, Book Signings, Publishing Questions and we take live E-mail at waynewnri@yahoo.com
  |
| At 9:05 am John Williams Grisham will discuss University |
And at 9:35 am Author P.R. Lavoie will discuss his latest book, " Hope Amore "
A Philosophy of Sex, Love and Romance
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Providence Kidlit Storytime July 28 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Posted by Wayne G. Barber
Hear authors Kara LaReau , Anika Denise, Gaia Cornwell and Christina Rodriguez read from their new books for stories and art in the park!
Details
Hear authors Kara LaReau , Anika Denise, Gaia Cornwell and Christina Rodriguez read from their new books for stories and art in the park!
Details
- Date:
- July 28
- Time:
- 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
- Cost:
- FREE
- Event Categories:
- Reading, Storytime
- Event Tags:
- Website:
- https://providenceri.com/ArtCultureTourism/great-happenings-for-the-kids-at-kennedy-plaza
Seatle Postmark Free this Weekend on Kindle
Posted by Wayne G. Barber
Helen is juggling more than most twenty-somethings: single parenthood of the son her ex-husband has all but abandoned, her job as assistant to an office manager who views her rear end as a firm asset in more ways than one, and a health crisis she's struggling to overcome. When high school love Aidan travels cross-country for a visit, is it a second chance at happily-ever after? Or will Helen find herself picking up the pieces of her broken heart once again, while an unlikely hero waits in the wings?
* Intended for adults only. Strong language and sexual situations.
* Intended for adults only. Strong language and sexual situations.
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Monster Bash Book Launch with Anika Denise TONIGHT!
Where:
When:
6:00 - 8:30pm
Readers will delight in this lively read-aloud story with a clever and surprising twist at the end—perfect for Halloween and year round!
Ready, set, go! The monster truck race is on in this frightfully delightful picture book. On a spooky speedway, Monster Trucks moan! Monster Trucks grumble! Monster Trucks groan!
Join Frankentruck, Zombie Truck, Ghost Truck, and more as they race to the finish line. But one of these trucks isn’t quite who you think.
About the author:
Anika Denise is a children's book author and poet. When not writing tales of vroom and doom, she can found zipping around her hometown of Barrington, Rhode Island in her Monster Minivan or reading not-so-scary stories to her kids. Her most recent picture books include Monster Trucks (HarperCollins 2016), illustrated by Nate Wragg; and Baking Day at Grandma's (Philomel 2014), illustrated by her husband Christopher Denise. She has several more coming soon, including Starring Carmen (Abrams 2017), the first in a new picture book series illustrated by Lorena Alvarez; and The Best Part of Middle (Christy Ottaviano Books 2018), illustrated by Chris. Anika and Chris live in a little house near the sea, with their three daughters, overgrown vegetable gardens, pesky squirrels and a slew of imaginary friends. Visit Anika online at anikadenise.com and on Twitter @AnikaDenise.
Friday, July 15, 2016
Shoreline Anthology by ARIA Members now Available
by
We’re proud to announce that “Shoreline: Selected Short Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry & Prose from The Association of Rhode Island Authors” is now available. This book of original, previously
unpublished work features 19 exceptional pieces written exclusively for this volume.
To order, visit: https://www.amazon.com/Shoreline-selected-fiction-non-fi…/…/
For information about wholesale ordering, contact info@stillwaterpress.com.
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Monday, July 11, 2016
Authors Line-Up for Tuesday 7-12-2016
New Releases, Book Signings, Publishing Questions and Author Interviews
E-Mail at waynewnri@yahoo.com
at 9:05 am Author Laura Crisafulli Kennedy will discuss Lolly's Pinic and her brand new release, " Oliver's Journey "
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Preview for Broadcast 7-12-16
Posted by Wayne G. Barber
I am reading this book now for the interview and I cannot put it down ! Tim is quite a character !
The Pie Sisters will follow for this lucky reader.
Making (Air) Waves on WNRI: July 12, 2016, 9:30 a.m.
Tune in to Leigh and Victoria chatting live with Wayne Barber, host of the popular “Author’s Hour” on WNRI-FM, 1380 AM, WNRI.com and Worldwide Live stream. Discover why our novels, The Pie Sisters and Second Chances, are must-adds to your summer reading list!Monday, July 4, 2016
Morning in New England
by Wayne G. Barber
When the early bird sings at four a.m., the only other sound is that dam owl that took up residence in our back yard this year. Somewhere on the Atlantic the sun is already rising, but at our place the sky at that hour is no brighter than tarnished silver, a superior dullness in the eastern windows. The early bird is extremely early, and it seems to have perched on the bedside lamp, so piercing is its call. In the phonetic language birders use to represent birdsong, the early bird says, " Why don't-you get up ?- Why don't you get up ?" But at four a.m. it's all too easy to drift back to sleep. Soon the early bird seems to be saying, in dreamlike fashion, "Guess what-you've just-won ! Guess what- you've just won ! It's worth putting on some clothes and going to find out.
It's forty-nine degrees outside. The grass is wet with dew. Breath hangs in the air almost as quiet
ly as Venus in the southern sky. The early bird, a nesting robin by the sound of it, is stationed in a bough of a pine across the landscaped area. The clarity of the robin's call is a measure of the silence.
It will be a windy day, the trees full of their own noises by afternoon, but for now their stillness enlarges the scale on which this solo bird performs. When the robin pauses for a moment, I can hear everything in the world, because there's nothing to hear.
Winter mornings hinge on just a change in light without much change in sound. But a summer morning when the sky first glows is a cathedral of anticipation. The choirs that Shakespeare had in mind are neither bare nor ruined, only silent, until one by one, and then all in a rush, the birds fill in. It was never quite so clear before this morning's walk on the deck that song is an attribute to light. The birds understand it perfectly. A finch begins to call in a lazy, pulse, the rhythm of an inexpert seamstress on a old fashioned Singer. A cardinal starts to spear the air with his voice. Down at the foot of the raised beds a cowbird suddenly fizzes and pops. The canopy of trees is answered by the understory, and the tall grasses in the farmers field fill with the birdsong too. One by one the birds add depth to the horizon, until at last there's room for the sun to rise.
For some reason the sight of a yearling white tail deer carried me back a couple of years, to a hospice room in Pascoag where my father in law, Abel, whom I'd known for half my life, lay in a coma, dying. All the life support had ceased, and those of us who had gathered around knew that the self within his head had withdrawn for good. But a vigorous breathing continued, one day, then another,another and I can still feel the force of those breaths, the elemental power of the reflex that drove them. The conscious life we live seams so fragile that it comes as a shock to witness the organic thrust toward living that underlies it. I never understood the optimism or the power of that reflex until I watched for hour after hour, the raw persistence of those unthinkable breaths, which finally ceased while my family and I stood over him one night. Our breathing seemed shallow by comparison.
It's forty-nine degrees outside. The grass is wet with dew. Breath hangs in the air almost as quiet
ly as Venus in the southern sky. The early bird, a nesting robin by the sound of it, is stationed in a bough of a pine across the landscaped area. The clarity of the robin's call is a measure of the silence.
It will be a windy day, the trees full of their own noises by afternoon, but for now their stillness enlarges the scale on which this solo bird performs. When the robin pauses for a moment, I can hear everything in the world, because there's nothing to hear.
Winter mornings hinge on just a change in light without much change in sound. But a summer morning when the sky first glows is a cathedral of anticipation. The choirs that Shakespeare had in mind are neither bare nor ruined, only silent, until one by one, and then all in a rush, the birds fill in. It was never quite so clear before this morning's walk on the deck that song is an attribute to light. The birds understand it perfectly. A finch begins to call in a lazy, pulse, the rhythm of an inexpert seamstress on a old fashioned Singer. A cardinal starts to spear the air with his voice. Down at the foot of the raised beds a cowbird suddenly fizzes and pops. The canopy of trees is answered by the understory, and the tall grasses in the farmers field fill with the birdsong too. One by one the birds add depth to the horizon, until at last there's room for the sun to rise.
For some reason the sight of a yearling white tail deer carried me back a couple of years, to a hospice room in Pascoag where my father in law, Abel, whom I'd known for half my life, lay in a coma, dying. All the life support had ceased, and those of us who had gathered around knew that the self within his head had withdrawn for good. But a vigorous breathing continued, one day, then another,another and I can still feel the force of those breaths, the elemental power of the reflex that drove them. The conscious life we live seams so fragile that it comes as a shock to witness the organic thrust toward living that underlies it. I never understood the optimism or the power of that reflex until I watched for hour after hour, the raw persistence of those unthinkable breaths, which finally ceased while my family and I stood over him one night. Our breathing seemed shallow by comparison.
What you read matters more than you might think
Posted by Wayne G. Barber
The difference between deep and light reading
Recent research also revealed that “deep reading”—defined as reading that is slow, immersive, rich in sensory detail and emotional and moral complexity—is distinctive from light reading—little more than the decoding of words. Deep reading occurs when the language is rich in detail, allusion, and metaphor, and taps into the same brain regions that would activate if the reader were experiencing the event. Deep reading is great exercise for the brain, and has been shown to increase empathy, as the reader dives deeper and adds reflection, analysis, and personal subtext to what is being read. It also offers writers a way to appreciate all the qualities that make novels fascinating and meaningful—and to tap into his ability to write on a deeper level.
Light reading is equated to what one might read in online blogs, or “headline news” or “entertainment news” websites, particularly those that breezily rely on lists or punchy headlines, and even occasionally use emojis to communicate. These types of light reading lack a genuine voice, a viewpoint, or the sort of analyses that might stimulate thought. It’s light and breezy reading that you can skim through and will likely forget within minutes.
Deep reading synchronizes your brain
Deep reading activates our brain’s centers for speech, vision, and hearing, all of which work together to help us speak, read, and write. Reading and writing engages Broca’s area, which enables us to perceive rhythm and syntax; Wernicke’s area, which impacts our perception of words and meaning; and the angular gyrus, which is central to perception and use of language. These areas are wired together by a band of fibers, and this interconnectivity likely helps writers mimic and synchronize language and rhythms they encounter while reading. Your reading brain senses a cadence that accompanies more complex writing, which your brain then seeks to emulate when writing.
Read literary fiction
Understanding others’ mental states is a crucial skill that enables the complex social relationships that characterize human societies—and that makes a writer excellent at creating multilayered characters and situations. Not much research has been conducted on the theory of mind (our ability to realize that our minds are different than other people’s minds and that their emotions are different from ours) that fosters this skill, but recent experiments revealed that reading literary fiction led to better performance on tests of affective theory of mind (understanding others’ emotions) and cognitive theory of mind (understanding others’ thinking and state of being) compared with reading nonfiction, popular fiction, or nothing at all. Specifically, these results showed that reading literary fiction temporarily enhances theory of mind, and, more broadly, that theory of mind may be influenced greater by engagement with true works of art. In other words, literary fiction provokes thought, contemplation, expansion, and integration. Reading literary fiction stimulates cognition beyond the brain functions related to reading, say, magazine articles, interviews, or most online nonfiction reporting.
Instead of watching TV, focus on deep reading
Time spent watching television is almost always pointless (your brain powers down almost immediately) no matter how hard you try to justify it, and reading fluff magazines or lightweight fiction may be entertaining, but it doesn’t fire up your writing brain. If you’re serious about becoming a better writer, spend lots of time deep-reading literary fiction and poetry and articles on science or art that feature complex language and that require your lovely brain to think.
Source: Susan Reynolds Contributor, Psychology Today
Source: Susan Reynolds Contributor, Psychology Today
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)