Bookish news and other goodies #6

Hello and welcome to a new chatty post about bookish news, cool projects and other cultural stuff. Today we’ll talk about a Romanian bookish start-up, the history of American public libraries, and writing in the digital age. Here we go!

§ Romanian book-related start-up featured on BBC.com

Few days ago, BBC published an article about How to cultivate a daily reading habit. The article is very interesting, but what really made me tell you about it is that it features a Romanian book-related start-up – The CEO Library!

The CEO Library aims to gather in a single place all books that influenced the people we look up to. It’s a huge database of books (fiction, self-development, engineering, and others) recommended by famous and/or important people. I definitely recommend checking out their website and subscribing to their newsletter 🙂

§ A visual history of the American public libraries

If you’re interested in visualizations and books, this article is something you will like for sure! CityLab’s visual storyteller Ariel Aberg-Riger presents the (hidden) history of America’s public libraries in a very charming way.

Did you know that one of the first social libraries in America was created in 1731 because Benjamin Franklin wanted the members of his debating society to be able to share and trade books?

§ Do We Write Differently on a Screen?

The novelist and essayist Tim Parks wrote an article in the New Yorker about the differences between the old times, when he used to write using a typewriter, and the current times, when computers and Internet changed the way authors write and interact with their publishers and audience.

It’s a thought-provoking reflection on how much people’s behaviours changed and whether’s it’s in a good way … “Or should you step back? Time to leave your computer and phone in one room, perhaps, and go and work silently on paper in another.”