Rewind. Recap.

Some of you may remember that long ago we used to share links to the posts we were sharing with our friends on Twitter. We stopped that for a bit, but we hope to start the practice again ( a new year resolution of sorts :)). 

Here’s a look at what we were sharing in the first ten days of the new year :

What is your new year resolution, dear reader? Oh, the books you will read and the places you will go – Here’s to a year of amazing books! Will you be hungry for some of your old books and be rereading any? Will you rise to the challenge journalist Ann Morgan put to herself – reading a book from every country? We hope you discover cool bookshops like this one. The Hindu has put up a list of books to look out for this year. This is definitely a problem you are going to face year after year – the problems of being a book lover.

Here’s a good way to keep track of your reading habits this year – by ordering the Pratham Books calendar! Catch a sneak peek of the calendar if you haven’t ordered it yet.

Something that made us very very very happy recently was to see these pictures of our Library-in-a-classroom kits being used by the kids at Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya. 

We think our author friends may be amused by these novelist error messages. These playful book sculptures transform their environment. We constantly learn new things – like the word librocubicularist? 

So many events are happening in January and February. The Jaipur Literature Festival line-up is online. Are you heading there? There is also a platform for publishing professionals at Jaipur Literature Festival. Albert Camus’ Le Malentendu is now available in Tamil. Literary critic and scholar, the late G.S. Shivarudrappa made ancient Kannada literature available in a new perspective to the modern generation of writers. The folks at Comic Con India are looking for volunteers. Participating in the biggest cosplay contest by Comic Con India may also help you win a trip to the New York Comic Con! Happy to see Tulika Books join the club and upload some of their audiobooks too (oh, the Pratham Books audiobooks are available on Soundcloud). Blaft Publications is always up to fun things – like this book launch at a fish market!

The Lucknow Literary Festival is running contests for your little ones till 15th January. The Young Sparks Students Mentoring Program is where talented kids can learn from professional writers/illustrators. Math teachers and homeschoolers – this Maths Carnival may be of interest. We’ve submitted our Happy Maths series for the Carnival (you can read and download the books by clicking on the link).

Interesting to know the type of debate that was happening before the current paper vs screen debate? And the ultiimate showdown : Books Vs Films.

Counter to cliché, French translations sell better than ever. Russia is now the world’s third largest ebook market. Doctors in Britain are prescribing books to see if you read your way to psychological health. Destination Italy gives tax rebates to book buyers in hopes of boosting Italian culture. 

Have you heard these 2013 TED Presentations from writers? Many of the organizations we know/work with are on this list of 14 organizations that are changing the world through education. This is how you read books buried 2000 years ago. Life after Amazon – a publisher shares his journey after cutting ties with the online retailer. The first 3D-printed book cover is a beautiful sign of an experimenting industry (also on sale). And while we are on the topic of 3D-printing, read this article about a children’s book that turns readers into 3D-printing artists. If you were missing the smell and feel of books, fret not! Someone is experimenting with metal ink to make e-books feel like traditional paperbacks! How will digital publishing evolve in 2014? Discoverability, not discovery, is going to be publishing’s next big challenge. Is it high time bookstores start stocking self-published titles? 

We come across several projects that parents do with their kids and this one caught our attention this week : a 4 year old that draws herself to sleep. Also, take a look at Stephen Hawking’s charming children’s book about time-travel, co-written with his daughter. We were also admiring these cleverly illustrated book quotes. 

A new thing we’ve started on Twitter is to share bookish illlustrations – to remain inspired by books and amazing artists. Click on all the links to see the gorgeous work we’ve been viewing : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

And we end this update on this note : Some books leave us free and some books make us free.