“Reading a poem is a real thing, a worthy thing. So to be there right with the reader at that moment is part of the effect of a title like "Poem for" something or other. Matt Rohrer does this a lot in his titles, and I think I might have gotten some of the idea to do this, or at least been reminded of how it can work, from his recent amazing books.” ThinkingDoeBookIdeasRealMomentsMightReadingEffectsReaderWorthyTitlesThat MomentReal ThingsAmazing BookWorthy Things Author:Matthew Zapruder
“Writing blog posts is totally freeing in a whole new way for me. I'm not writing it for any editor, and I'm not being paid, so I can say whatever I want. I don't have to justify the cost of a book to readers; they get it for free, so expectations are naturally low. (And no one-star reviews!)” WayWantWritingI CanBookWholeStarsReaderCostLowsExpectationsPaidPostsJustifyEditorsReviewsNew WaysBlogs Author:Kate Christensen
“Fiction is more dangerous than nonfiction because it can seduce better. I think we all know this, know that deeper truths can be approached in fiction than in fact. There are risks for the reader, because after reading certain books you find you have changed irreversibly. There are risks for writers: in China, now, and Ethiopia and other countries right now, writers face real persecution.” ThinkingKnowsBookRealCountryFactsFacesCertainReadingFictionRiskDangerousChangedReaderRight NowChinaDeeperNonfictionOther CountriesPersecutionSeducingEthiopiaYou Have Changed Author:Chris Abani
“Unlike other books or TV shows or sometimes life, my narrative worlds are stripped of implicit moral centers. There is only what you bring. That makes the characters risky in every way and the narrative, a journey of change for the reader. But I make the journey as fun as I can.” WorldWayI CanBookSometimesCharacterShowsFunMoralJourneyTvsReaderNarrativeTv ShowsImplicitSometimes In Life Author:Chris Abani
“Very often, or perhaps more often, and even in very good collections - even in some of the best collections ever written, I would argue - it's because our "voicier" writers hew so closely to one given set of dictional tics that we as readers can't read the books all the way through in a single sitting, because if we did, the stories and their narrators would all start to bleed together.” IfsWayBookStoriesTogetherGivenWrittenReaderSittingVery GoodArguingCollectionsNarratorsTics Author:Roy Kesey
“I was never a big reader as a kid. My imagination wasn't captured by books very often. It was captured more often by boys and partying and riding horses.” BookBigsKidsImaginationPartyBoysReaderHorseRidingMy ImaginationCaptured Author:Bonnie Jo Campbell
“I don't come from a family of readers - in fact, my parents are unable to read the books in English.” BookFactsParentReader Author:Christopher Castellani
“As a publisher what you are trying to build is a long life for a book, to help it find its readers in many different ways, whether or not it made this list or got that review, etc. I'm sure some of that thinking has been useful to me as a writer as well.” ThinkingWayTryingWellsLongHas BeensMadeBookDifferentHelpingReaderListsDifferent WaysEtcReviewsPublishersLong Life Author:Danielle Dutton
“As my editor had no desire to frighten readers with the Romanian pages, he had them translated and published the whole thing in French in 1984. It was only years later, in Romania, that I was able to publish the book as I wrote it.” YearsBookWholeAbleDesireReaderPagesEditorsPublishRomania Author:Dumitru Tepeneag
“I read a lot; I tried to understand the mechanisms that made the books I liked successful, and I went that route. So, as for readers - when I think about them I like to think they read the same books I do.” ThinkingMadeBookSuccessfulReaderMechanismRoutes Author:Kevin Keck
“Most writers are lazy intellectuals, and it's a goddamn shame because a writer with an audience has a moral responsibility to make readers think about the world in a different way than what they're used to. Why else would you pick up a book if not to inhabit another realm of existence for a while?” IfsThinkingWorldWayBookDifferentUsedExistenceResponsibilityMoralAudienceReaderPicksShameDifferent WaysRealmsLazyMoral Responsibility Author:Kevin Keck
“I take pleasure as a reader in books that tease with a kind of urgency of the real, even if it's only a manufactured effect.” IfsKindBookRealPleasureEffectsReaderUrgencyTease Author:Garth Greenwell
“I've been a faithful reader of the great classical documents of economics, or tried to be. The first book in the field that I ever read was Principles of Economics by Alfred Marshall. I suppose subsequently I would have to pick out Keynes, Adam Smith, Marx.” FirstsBookPrinciplesFieldsReaderPicksEconomicsFaithfulAdamDocumentsKeynes Author:John Kenneth Galbraith
“I intend Deaths in Venice to contribute both to literary criticism and to philosophy. But it's not "strict philosophy" in the sense of arguing for specific theses. As I remark, there's a style of philosophy - present in writers from Plato to Rawls - that invites readers to consider a certain class of phenomena in a new way. In the book, I associate this, in particular, with my good friend, the eminent philosopher of science, Nancy Cartwright, who practices it extremely skilfully.” WayBookPhilosophyCertainClassPracticeStyleParticularReaderCriticismPhilosopherArguingInvitesNew WaysGood FriendStrictAssociatesPlatoRemarksVeniceThesisNancyLiterary CriticismDeath In Venice Author:Philip Kitcher
“One of the things I love most about second person is that it reminds the reader that they are reading a text. It doesn't allow them to drift into the story and not notice that they are reading a book - a book that has an author.” PersonsBookStoriesReadingReaderThings I Love Author:Rob Roberge
“I can tell that I shaped the book very deliberately, after a great deal of thought, and that I insisted this piece function as a prologue, but I find the word "intention," confusing ("trust the art," as D.H. Lawrence said, "not the artist"). These speculations are perhaps better responded to by text and reader, rather than author.” ArtSaidI CanBookArtistDealsPiecesReaderFunctionIntentionConfusingSpeculationPrologue Author:Laura Mullen
“I could always write in a wide variety. My moods change same as reader's moods change. I really do love writing the historicals, however, but if that's all I did I would go crazy, same with any of the other kinds of books. I need variety.” IfsNeedsWritingKindBookCrazyReaderWideMoodVarietyMood Changes Author:Joe R. Lansdale
“I'm not entirely sure what a historical novel absolutely has to be, but you don't want a reader who loves a very traditional historical novel to go in with the expectation that this is going to deliver the same kind of reading experience. I think what's contemporary about my book has something to do with how condensed things are.” ThinkingWantKindBookReadingNovelReaderExpectationsHistoricalContemporaryTraditionalHistorical NovelsReading Experience Author:Danielle Dutton
“I think in terms of educating a group of readers, MFA programs are very good. I just think the model of MFA programs in which a young poet goes through the program, publishes a series of books, gets teaching jobs, that's a bit at risk.” ThinkingBookJobsYoungBitsTermRiskGroupsTeachingPoetReaderModelsProgramSeriesVery GoodPublish Author:Edward Hirsch
“There's a huge and hungry market for the books on style and fashion in Russia, though the books should be done in Russian, not English since there are few readers who've master foreign languages well enough to buy foreign editions.” ShouldWellsBookDoneEnoughLanguageFashionStyleMastersHugeReaderRussiaHungryForeign LanguageFashion And Style Author:Alexander Vassiliev
“Through Heaven's Gate and Back speaks to all of us that have been abused as children. Lee Thornton's descriptions of the aftereffects of repeated trauma and a profound Near-Death Experience (NDE) are not only true but explained in a way that the reader can take in. It is rare to find a book so well written that it has both sexual abuse and an NDE under one cover. We definitely will be recommending this book to our patients.” WayWellsChildrenHas BeensBookSpeakHeavenWrittenReaderAbuseProfoundPatientTraumaDescriptionGatesWell WrittenNear DeathNear Death Experience Author:Charles L. Whitfield
“Books never pall on me. They discourse with us, they take counsel with us, and are united to us by a certain living chatty familiarity. And not only does each book inspire the sense that it belongs to its readers, but it also suggests the name of others, and one begets the desire of the other.” LifeDoeBookDesireCertainNamesUnitedInspireReaderDiscourseFamiliarityBegets Author:Petrarch
“But as I wrote the book [Louis D. Brandeis: American Prophet], I tried to write it as clearly and directly and passionately as possible just thinking of communicating to readers who might want to learn about this great thinker and be inspired by him as I was.” ThinkingWantWritingBookMightReaderInspiredCommunicateProphetThinkerBe InspiredGreat Thinkers Author:Jeffrey Rosen
“I always want readers to lose themselves completely in a story and feel something, whatever the book invites them to feel. That experience is the best takeaway any book can offer.” WantFeelsBookStoriesLosesReaderOffersInvitesTakeaways Author:Julie Berry
“The 250-page outline for American Tabloid. The books are so dense. They're so complex, you cannot write like I write off the top of your head. It's the combination of that meticulousness and the power of the prose and, I think, the depth of the characterizations and the risks that I've taken with language that give the books their clout. And that's where I get pissed off at a lot of my younger readers.” ThinkingGivingWritingBookLanguageTakenRiskReaderPagesComplexesDepthCombinationProseOutlinesDenseTabloidsPissed OffCharacterizationClout Author:James Ellroy
“It's important to realize that the series actually grows with the reader. "March: Book One" is a great introduction for kids as young as eight or nine years old. But then they grow with the reader. Book Two is bigger, Book Three is even bigger. And they grow more violent and more confrontational.” YearsTwoImportantBookKidsYoungThreeGrowsRealizingReaderBiggerSeriesEightNineViolentMarchIntroductionNine YearsBook Readers Author:Andrew Aydin
“My favorite reader is one that revisits books and gets something new out of them each time.” BookReaderMy FavoriteSomething New Author:Jacqueline Woodson
“It's actually not very hard to re-set between the adult novels and the ones for younger readers. The narrative voices are very similar, the smartass attitude, the environmental battles. Kids love books that are irreverent and challenge authority, when authority is arbitrary, greedy or foolish. They also love it when you make fun of grownups, and I've spent my whole life as a writer doing that.” BookHardWholeKidsFunVoiceChallengesAttitudeNovelReaderBattleAuthorityAdultsEnvironmentalWhole LifeFoolishNarrativeGreedyArbitraryGrownupsKids LoveIrreverentSmartassNarrative Voice Author:Carl Hiaasen
“In Lords of Rainbow I start out by taking away color from the world, and in the process show color's vital place in our lives. At least I hope that by the end of the book it's a portion of what the reader comes away with - a sense of how much color perception enriches our lives and how its lack can make our sensory experience incomplete.” WorldBookEndsShowsProcessLordOur LivesColorReaderPerceptionPortionsRainbowIncompleteSensory Author:Vera Nazarian
“A good writer preserves an air of freedom in his prose, so that the reader won't know how a story will end - even if he's reading a history book.” IfsKnowsBookEndsStoriesReadingKnow HowAirReaderPreservesProseGood WritersHistory Books Author:Thornton Wilder
“In a way, I'm glad I'm first because I won't have to panic about following anybody other than industry legend John Romita Jr. And he drew Daredevil: The Man Without Fear, which is one of the books that had a massive effect on me as a reader and an artist. It has been intimidating, scary, exciting, and incredibly satisfying.” MenWayFirstsHas BeensBookArtistEffectsHe ManIndustryReaderExcitingFollowingScaryGladMassiveSatisfyingLegendsPanicIntimidatingDaredevil Author:Declan Shalvey
“I would not want to forget the first time I read The Lord of the Rings. I would never want to forget that! That was so magical to me, and that was a real eye-opening experience. I was probably 11 when I read that and already a reader, but I think that book really showed me how you can be transported and how your imagination can take you to a whole other place.” ThinkingWantFirstsBookRealWholeEyeImaginationForgetLordReaderFirst TimeRingsOpeningEye OpeningReal Eyes Author:Sharon Cameron
“If you put a pink cover on something, critics make a certain set of assumptions and may not even read the book. But my readers are happy with it.” IfsMayBookCertainReaderCriticsAssumption Author:Jennifer Weiner
“First-book novelists and storywriters haven't yet failed and so it's easier to publish them - you can gamble on a success. Whereas someone who has written four books that are highly literary and demanding and require you as a reader. They may not be republished.” FirstsMayBookFourWrittenHavensReaderEasierNovelistsPublishGamble Author:Frederick Busch
“I thought if I was open and honest, it would help the reader to get open and honest, and they also would realize sometimes when you write a book, people think you're an expert and that's not always true.” PeopleIfsThinkingWritingBookSometimesHelpingRealizingHonestReaderExperts Author:John C. Maxwell
“I want to engage the reader. I'm an emotional writer, in the sense that I would be happy if you re-read a book for the intellectual or the mental part of it, but, the first time, I just like to reach out and grab you, pull you in.” IfsWantFirstsBookWould BeEmotionalReaderIntellectualFirst TimeReach Out Author:Stephen King
“I think the best writers are voracious readers who pick up the cadences and the feel of narration through a number of different books. And you begin by maybe copying the style of writers that really knocked you out.” ThinkingFeelsBookDifferentNumbersStyleReaderPicksCopyingCadenceNarrationDifferent Books Author:Stephen King
“I love his Word and I hope when readers discover how God communicates his love for them through each book of the Bible, they'll fall deeper in love with his Word too.” BookFallReaderCommunicateDeeperHis Love Author:Jennifer Rothschild
“If readers like The Thorn and the Blossom, which I would call literary fantasy, I think they would like books such as Elizabeth Hand's Mortal Love, Catherynne Valente's The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, and Kelly Link's Stranger Things Happen.” IfsThinkingBookHandsHappensGirlFantasyReaderStrangerThings HappenShipsMortalsLinks Author:Theodora Goss
“I make jewelry occasionally. I'm not a hobbyist. I'm a reader, I'm a lover of books, I like to watch movies, but mostly a lot of nothing. I'm quite content doing very little.” LittlesBookWatchesReaderLoversJewelryWatch Movie Author:Janeane Garofalo
“I may be the person who put "dieselpunk" into the conversation. I have always been a reader who reads in a really broad way. I read genre writers and I read literary fiction and I read books by dead people.” PeopleWayMayPersonsBookFictionReaderConversationGenreBroadsDead People Author:Emily Barton
“I am not mature enough as a reader to enjoy a book in which I hate all the people.” PeopleBookEnoughHateEnjoyReaderI HateMature Author:Ann Patchett
“A book can just be a description of a stick being snapped in half. If the reader is brought to feel the plight of the stick, well, you can imagine what that would be like.” IfsFeelsWellsBookWould BeHalfImagineReaderSticksDescriptionPlight Author:Jesse Ball
“Ever read any [Friedrich] Hayek? He's great. The Road To Serfdom is like... I'm not a big political-science reader, but I actually dog-eared my copy. I ended up going back through it and writing a précis, I was so impressed by this book. It's all about what happens when government tries to make everything right.” WritingTryingBookBigsGovernmentHappensPoliticalDogReaderCopiesImpressedPolitical ScienceHayekRoad To SerfdomFriedrich Hayek Author:P. J. O'Rourke
“Really, the greatest compliments about a book [One Thousand Gifts] are never about the book, or the author of the book, but about the reader and God and how the pages helped them connect at a deeper level.” BookLevelsReaderThousandPagesDeeperComplimentOne Thousand Gifts Author:Ann Voskamp
“That's what I want as a reader - I want to be confident that the book will do its job.” WantBookJobsReaderBe Confident Author:Patrick Ness
“It seems like every ten years there's a book that says that poetry used to be popular, and now it's not, but we really have no way of knowing, in terms of relative size of audience and other things, exactly who readers were.” WayYearsBookSeemsUsedTermAudienceKnowingReaderTenSizeUsed To BeRelative Author:Robert Hass
“Children's books have great potential to reveal new possibilities to readers, because the intended audience is at an age of genuine learning.” ChildrenBookAgeAudiencePossibilityReaderGenuineChildren's BooksNew Possibilities Author:Vivek Shraya
“Ultimately, I think that the growth and sustainability of the e-book movement depends on authors and end-users (readers).” ThinkingBookEndsGrowthMovementDependsReaderSustainabilityUsers Author:Tom Peters
“As a reader, I do not like to have everything handed to me. Because after a while it gets formulaic and I'm thinking, "If this is so thought through, then why do I need to read it. It's done!" It becomes a beach book at a certain point.” IfsThinkingNeedsBookDoneCertainReaderBeach Author:John Edgar Wideman