Saturday Miscellany — 9/20/2014 (corrected)

Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

Read Slowly to Benefit Your Brain and Cut Stress — huh. Very interesting. (ht: Harry Connolly)
How Long Does It Take to Read Popular Books? — fun infographic Updated the link to point to the creator of the infographic
Studies Find That Reading Harry Potter Can Make You A Better Human Being — There are problems with some of the premises this is built on, but interesting reading nonetheless
A Ghostwriter Steps Out of the Shadows — I’ve always been curious about ghostwriters, I find this fascinating
Book Publishing, Not Fact-Checking — Important to remember
I Don’t Care About Accuracy In Book Adaptations — I’m not sure I agree with Peter Damien here, but I can see his point — good to remember especially as This Is Where I Leave You was released yesterday.
Three Authors Who Kept Their Visions By Adapting Their Books to Screen — Speaking of adaptations . . .
When Should I Quit a Book I Don’t Like? — I need to do better at this. Maybe.
The Rumpus Interview with Lev Grossman — great interview.
Go Forth and Re-Read Your Favorite Books From Childhood: A Dare — I need to do this more, too. I re-read The Westing Game a couple of months ago, the first time since . . .well, the 1980s, I guess. Loved it (need to find the time to review it), was so much fun spending a couple of hours with these old friends.

Clockwork Dagger by Beth Cato — great premise, lots of good buzz, I’m in as soon as I find the time.
The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey — the sequel to The 5^th Wave, one of the best books I read last year.
Black Water by Faith Hunter — Jane Yellowrock shorts. Cool.
Gideon Smith and the Brass Dragon by David Barnett — this Steampunk/Alt-History sounds like a fun ride. His Big Idea post

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2014/09/16/the-big-idea-david-barnett/

Broadchurch: The Novel by Erin Kelly — Watched the series twice, can’t wait for the second series — heck, I’m almost looking forward to Gracepoint. So a novelization, with more details, and a hint about what’s to come? Yes, yes, and yes!!