The Queen worries about ebooks

The Queen of England told author Joanne Harris that she fears children are choosing computer games and e-books over traditional reading, The Daily Mail reported.
Queenjoanne harris                                                                 Joanne Harris
Although it is highly unusual for the monarch to openly express an opinion on such issues, as a mother, grandmother and now great-grandmother, it is clearly a problem close to her heart,
The monarch commented as she presented author Joanne Harris with an MBE for services to literature at Buckingham Palace yesterday.
BTW, I once had tea with Joanne Harris to thank her for giving me a blurb for “The Secrets of Jin-shei.” I’m now one degree of separation from the Queen.

The Queen and ebooks
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7 Unconventional Reasons Why You Absolutely Should Be Reading Books
Laura Schocker reports at The Huffington Post:    
Reading books can be more than entertainment (or a high school English assignment). In fact, a study released earlier this month suggests that enjoying literature might help strengthen your “mind-reading” abilities. The research showed that reading literary works cultivates a skill known as “theory of mind,” the “ability to ‘read’ the thoughts and feelings of others.
Reading can chill you out.
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One in 10 people will publish a book in Iceland
Iceland is experiencing a book boom, Rosie Goldsmith reports for BBC News.
IcelandThis island nation of just over 300,000 people has more writers, more books published and more books read, per head, than anywhere else in the world.
It is hard to avoid writers in Reykjavik. There is a phrase in Icelandic, “ad ganga med bok I maganum”, everyone gives birth to a book. Literally, everyone “has a book in their stomach”. One in 10 Icelanders will publish one.”

Iceland writers
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Abandoned: Mark Twain Branch Detroit Public Library
Gather round, now, gather round. This is what the death of civilisation looks like. This is the apocalypse. This is the end.
We value so many of the wrong things in this life. Seeing a library crucified and bleeding, abandoned books on shelves patiently waiting for ghostly readers who will never come again, makes me want to put my head in my hands and just weep for the waste of it all.
Some day we will remember and regret. Some day will be way too late.
Treasure your libraries NOW.
Abandoned library
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They shut down the stars
For a moment I forgot the ridiculous ‘government shutdown’ and went to the NASA site to do some research into Lunar topology…
and got this:
“Due to the lapse in federal government funding, this website is not available. We sincerely regret this inconvenience.”
The Congressional morons shut down the STARS? They shut down the *STARS*!
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Alma Alexander
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