3 . What makes a certain piece of writing great? Well, it depends on whom you ask. There are, in my mind, three different readers: casual readers, lit critics, creative writers. They would say the following about Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre:

Casual reader: Jane’s story is very relatable, especially to women who survived their teenage years. The story’s elements of romance, mystery, and coming-of-age make it enjoyable to read.

Literary critic: Jane Eyre pulls inspiration from the Gothic and romantic literary traditions. The atmospheric setting mirrors Jane’s inner world and serves as a character itself.

Creative writer: Jane has an appealing character and her pursuit of a fulfilling life is timeless. While Jane’s emotions are often verbose (冗长的), each word still feels necessary in most passages.

All of these responses are reasonable interpretations of the great literary work Jane Eyre. What’s the difference between these three? The casual reader is primarily interested in the story’s relatability and entertainment value; the literary critic, who knows how to read literature like a professor, looks for ways to situate this work in its broader literary context.

The creative writer must do both: the job of the casual reader and the job of the critic. He/she engages with the work on a personal level while also researching what makes a work successful. This is Reading Like a Writer (RLW), which means being impacted by a piece of literature while investigating how the writer did it. Successful works of writing succeed for different reasons-a distinctive voice, moving storytelling, an empowering message, etc. Writers don’t make the achievement randomly: they earn it by crafting every plot point and character, every line break, with care and precision. It’s up to you to pay attention to these craft elements, the choices the writer makes and how they contribute to the work as a whole.

Yes, reading like a writer is extra work. But it’s necessary work to the writing practice. By observing the strategies writers employ to tell convincing stories or write engaging arguments, you equip yourself with the knowledge to perform these strategies yourself.

Should Writers Be Paid for Their E-books Lent by Libraries?

When libraries lend books to the public, authors and publishers receive remuneration from the Government under the Lending Rights schemes.     1     Is this fair?

This year, the government has distributed almost a $ 22 million under these Public Lending Rights and Educational Lending Rights Schemes. For each book in public library collections creators receive $2.11 and publishers receive $0.52.

The amount that each claimant receives is often not very significant, with the majority of authors receiving between S100-500 annually, Still, a previous study has revealed that this remuneration constitutes the second most important source of income for creators from their creative work.

E-books, however, are not covered by these Lending Rights schemes.     2     But e-book lending is increasing and, according to the Australian Library and Information Association, e-books are likely to reach 20% of library holdings by 2020. Also, most, if not all, self-published titles are done so in digital format only. Such self-published titles, if lent by libraries ,would not qualify for any remuneration.

    3    Although the Book Industry Collaborative Council made such proposal already in a report of 2013 , nothing has happened of yet.

One of the main reasons why e-books are not covered is that e-book lending is quite different from print book lending. In case of print books, authors and publishers are arguably losing on customers and revenues when libraries loan their books for free.Creators only receive $2.11 and publishers receive $0.52 for each book in public library collections.

At present, in the case of e-books, many publishers chose not to sell these books to libraries.     4    

While publishers charge libraries high prices for e-books, writers complain that these amounts do not reach them. Publishing contracts often don't specify whether and how much authors receive for e-books sales or for e-lending.

8 . While more and more scientists are working on nonfiction science books for the general reader, I think we also need a change.

The typical expert-voiced monologues (独白) that scientists write are a wonderful component of the engagement effort, but the form is limited. Such books are largely ready people already willing to pick up a science book, or who are open to the authoritative academic’s voice telling them how to think. There are plenty of people who can engage with science but who find those kinds of books a sometimes unwelcome reminder of the classroom.

Following from my belief that science is for everyone, I suggest that publishers need to work with scientists to expand the kinds of books on offer, assured that there is an audience for them. Progress is possible. Many years ago, I realized it is hard to find books on the nonfiction science shelf that let readers see themselves as part of the conversation about science. So I thought about an entire book of conversations about science taking place between ordinary people. While “overhearing” those conversations, readers learn some science ideas. It’s a resurrection of the dialogue form, known to the ancient Greeks, and to Galileo, as a device for exchanging ideas, but with contemporary settings: cafes, restaurants, trains and so on.

I decided it would be engaging for the reader to actually see who’s having those conversations, and where, instead of describing them in words. This led me to realize that I was thinking about a powerful form of visual storytelling: Graphic novels for adults have matured and exploded in popularity in recent years. Spiegelman’s “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale” and Bechdel’s “Fun Home” are just two well-known examples.

But the storytelling tools of the graphic book have been little used to convey nonfiction science ideas to a general adult audience. The vast majority of contemporary graphic books with a science focus are presented instead as “explainer/adventure comics” for younger audiences. This is an important genre, but graphic books about science should not be limited to that.

And while there are several excellent graphic books for adults that include science, they typically focus instead on the lives of famous scientists, with discussion of the science itself as a secondary goal. Some excellent recent examples that balance the two aspects well include Ottaviani arid Myrick’s “Feyrunan” and Doxiadis and Papadimitriou’s “Logicomix”. The scarcity of science-focused non-biographical (非自传体的) graphic books for adults is especially true in my field of physics. So I decided that here was an opportunity to broaden the kinds of nonfiction science book available to engage the public.

9 . What’s UP? Here, let’s take a look at some excellent book reviews for this month.

	Dead Good Detectives Jenny McLachlan This is the story of a 12-year-old girl called Sid who loves playing horror games with her friends. But when she accidentally releases the ancient ghost pirate, Bones, Sid is launched into an adventure! However, there is someone hiding in the shadows, intended to send Bones back into the mysterious inn that he came from. This is a funny, exciting book that l would recommend to people who love lots of laughs.
	Totty Shirley Galligan To find his home, Totty the turtle goes on an impressive adventure with the help of his friends, and has different obstacles to overcome. He wakes up with a plastic bag stuck around his neck, swims through an oil spill and gets caught in a fishing net. My favourite part was when his friend, the whale, helped him out of the garbage mountain, and he was rescued by the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre. If you like sea animals and care for the environment then this is a good book for you!
	Fact Book of The Month: Aliens Joalda Morancy Ever wondered what incredible creatures might live beyond our planet? This mind-blowing book teaches you everything about the search for alien lifeforms in our solar system and beyond. Meet the robots sent to Mars to look for Martians, find out how to spot an advanced alien civilization and discover what really goes on at Area 51! Do aliens exist? And is it only a matter of time before we find them?!

10 . I was always a reader.

As a kid, I walked to the library several times a week and checked out so many books and returned them so quickly that the librarian once snapped,“Don’t take home so many books if you’re not going to read them all!”

“But I did read them all,” I said.

But I had stopped reading gradually. I joined book clubs that I never attended. I requested a library book everyone was reading, only to return it a week late, unread, with fines.

Then I met David. When I asked him about his last book, his face lit up and his fingers danced.

David read much more than I did, about a book or two a week. He preferred history and nonfiction, while I loved fiction writers.

On our seventh date, David and I visited the library.

“I have a game,” he said, pulling two pens and Post-its out of his bag. “Let’s find books we’ve read and leave reviews in them for the next person.”

“We wandered in the library for an hour. In the end, we sat on the floor among the poetry, and I read him some. He listened, then asked,“What is it you like about that one?”

That summer, as we picnicked outside, I said, “If I tell you something, will you not judge me?” David paused and raised his eyebrows.

“I’ve only read one book this year,” I said.

“But it’s June,” he said.

“I know.”

“Well, read a book!”

The next time I visited a bookstore, his charge to “read a book” echoed in my head. I picked up a book solely for its poetic title.

I had a hard time getting into it. The narrator was an old man. Whenever I was tempted to give up on it, I thought of David. I pushed through the first two chapters and discovered a new narrator in the third. I loved the alternating points of view. I carried the book to work. I read at lunch and on my walk home.

“How’s your day?” David texted.

“Good. A little tired,” I replied. “I stayed up late and finished my book.”

I tried to make it sound casual, but I was proud of myself. It was not a competition, but I felt him pushing me to be more of the person I used to be and more of who I wanted to be.

I asked David once what he liked about me.

He paused, then said. “I see the world as a more wonder-filled place with you.”

By the end of that year, David suggested we visit the library again. He asked if I remembered the game we played on our first visit.

“I remember,” I said.

He pulled a book from the shelf, dropped to one knee, and opened it. Inside, his   Post-it read: “Karla, it has always been you. Will you marry me?”

His proposal had rested between the pages of The Rebel Princess for over a year.

“Yes,” I said.