It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.
--C. S. Lewis
"Hatch or go bad" is my new motto. We all change -- all the time -- and since January is particularly a time for reflection and moving ahead, this month's issue of RA News takes a look at what's new and what's changing to kick off 2015.
Carol Jackson's selection of great new books by new immigrants to the United States gives library staff a simple and quick display idea. Tara Bannon Williamson's article about New Year's resolutions will encourage readers to seek out the new, whether through a new activity or a shift in perspective. Finally, Fred Lerner highlights some trends in Science Fiction that point the way to new reading ideas for your patrons (and maybe you too).
Here's to a bold new year, in which you hatch your best ideas ever!
In This Issue
New Fiction from New Immigrants
Around the Web
Featured NoveList Content
Keeping Up...
Trends in Science Fiction
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New Fiction from New Immigrants
by Carol Jackson
Novels about immigrants have long been a valuable part of literature. Willa Cather’s My Antonia and Giants in the Earth by O.E. Rolvaag gave insight into the issues and emotions facing immigrants to the United States. In recent years, literature has seen a welcome explosion in…Continue Reading
Around the Web with Jessica Zellers
Each month Jessica Zellers adds a few items to your web-surfing itinerary. Take a look at these lists, articles, reviews, and the best of new RA materials and advice.
"May you live in interesting times," goes the curse, and these are interesting times indeed for the book industry. Let's start with the elephant in the room: Amazon is behind a lot of the current turmoil. "Amazon's Monopsony Is Not O.K.", writes New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. He's not the first person…Continue Reading
Don't Miss: Keeping Up... Seasonal Inspiration
You never know when inspiration will strike. And, often, good preparation means that you have to work on planning summer reading…in January. Sound familiar? The newest Keeping Up... page in NoveList features of handy chart of all our seasonal content to help you plan for the whole year. Check it out!
For a Year I...
by Tara Bannon Williamson
Looking to make the New Year unlike any other year you've ever had? Try reading one of the following true accounts of people who have embarked on a new adventure or experiment for one year. Whether you are looking for the courage to…Continue Reading
Trends in Science Fiction
by Fred Lerner
Once a niche market, science fiction has grown into a lucrative part of the entertainment industry. Before 1950 it was relegated to the all-fiction "pulp" magazines that once dominated America's newsstands. Today science fiction is everywhere: in movies, on television, and on the printed page, and it forms…Continue Reading
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