Trends: Reading Books gets a rise!

Yep, yep. All those trips to the library are paying off -- claims a new report that says fiction reading is -- “on the Rise: A New Chapter in American Literacy,” (NY Times).

“In a cultural moment when we are hearing nothing but bad news, we have reassuring evidence that the dumbing down of our culture is not inevitable,” says Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

The readership boost is being credited to -- "literary reading to community-based programs like the “Big Read,” Oprah Winfrey’s book club, the huge popularity of book series like “Harry Potter” and Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight,” as well as the individual efforts of teachers, librarians, parents and civic leaders to create “a buzz around literature that’s getting people to read more in whatever medium.”

Sounds all good to me -- hey, if ya feeling bookish...

I'm just starting Westerfeld's Midnighters (pictured here).

Here's the blurb: "Fifteen-year-old Jessica Day, her younger sister Beth and her parents move from Chicago to Bixby, Oklahoma. Soon after her arrival, Jessica notices something strange. At midnight time freezes and the "blue time" starts -- an extra unknown hour of the day that it seems only she is aware of. But she is wrong. Strange, threatening creatures called darklings wander around in the blue time, and the town's only defence is a group of young people known as Midnighters." (grab a copy and get reading)

If you don't know who Scott Westerfeld (Uglies, Pretties and Specials) is here's a video primer: