Pamela Paul

Imagine keeping a record of every book you’ve ever read. What would this reading trajectory say about you? With passion, humor, and insight, the editor of The New York Times Book Review shares the stories that have shaped her life. Pamela Paul has kept a single book by her side for twenty-eight years – carried throughout high school and college, hauled from Paris to London to Thailand, from job to job, safely packed away and then carefully removed from apartment to house to its current perch on a shelf over her desk – reliable if frayed, anonymous-looking yet deeply personal. This book has a name: Bob. Bob is Paul’s Book of Books, a journal that records every book she’s ever read, from Sweet Valley High to Anna Karenina, from Catch-22 to Swimming to Cambodia, a journey in reading that reflects her inner life – her fantasies and hopes, her mistakes and missteps, her dreams and her ideas, both half-baked and wholehearted. Her life, in turn, influences the books she chooses, whether for solace or escape, information or sheer entertainment. But My Life with Bob isn’t really about those books. It’s about the deep and powerful relationship between book and reader. It’s about the way books provide each of us the perspective, courage, companionship, and imperfect self-knowledge to forge our own path. It’s about why we read what we read and how those choices make us who we are. It’s about how we make our own stories.

Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues

My Life with Bob

The acclaimed editor of The New York Times Book Review takes readers on a nostalgic tour of the pre-Internet age, offering powerful insights into both the profound and the seemingly trivial things we've lost. It is hard to think of a single aspect of modern life that hasn't been altered by the Internet. Today we exist, for the most part, in filtered, isolated corners of cyberspace--a place that has slowly subsumed our physical habitats and all at once become our local library, office, bar, movie theater, and concert hall. But as we've gained the ability to gather without leaving our bedrooms or looking another person in the eye, many of the fundamentally human experiences that sustained us have silently disappeared. In 100 short, never-before-published essays, enlivened with illustrations by Nishant Choksi, Pamela Paul presents a record of all the things we long for without realizing that they're gone as well as the things we're all too happy to let slip into the pre-Internet past--from voicemails to punctuation to civility. There are the small losses: postcards, the blessings of an adolescence largely spared of documentation, and the genuine surprises at high school reunions. But there are larger repercussions, too: weaker memories, the inability to entertain oneself, and the utter demolition of privacy. While the Internet has put an entire world at our fingertips, it has also taken much away, quietly creating a new and synthetic experience of being alive. 100 Things We've Lost to the Internet is at once a swan song for a disappearing era and, perhaps, a guide to reclaiming just a little bit more of life IRL.

100 Things We've Lost to the Internet

Maria Russo

An indispensable guide to welcoming children—from babies to teens—to a lifelong love of reading, written by Pamela Paul and Maria Russo, editors of The New York Times Book Review. Do you remember your first visit to where the wild things are? How about curling up for hours on end to discover the secret of the Sorcerer’s Stone? Combining clear, practical advice with inspiration, wisdom, tips, and curated reading lists, How to Raise a Reader shows you how to instill the joy and time-stopping pleasure of reading. Divided into four sections, from baby through teen, and each illustrated by a different artist, this book offers something useful on every page, whether it’s how to develop rituals around reading or build a family library, or ways to engage a reluctant reader. A fifth section, “More Books to Love: By Theme and Reading Level,” is chockful of expert recommendations. Throughout, the authors debunk common myths, assuage parental fears, and deliver invaluable lessons in a positive and easy-to-act-on way.

How to Raise a Reader

Collects 65 top-selected interviews as published in The New York Times Book Review's "By the Book" feature to share literary reflections by such personalities as David Sedaris, Michael Chabon and James Patterson.

Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from The New York Times Book Review

By the Book

Explores the influence of pornography on virtually every aspect of modern society, examining its pervasive impact on the institution of marriage, family life, intimacy, and children's views on sex.

How Pornography Is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families

Pornified

C’era una volta una cosa chiamata noia: una sensazione universale che avvolgeva gli esseri umani ogni volta che si trovavano bloccati in una situazione – in una fila, nel traffico, nella sala d’attesa del medico – senza avere nulla da fare, e dalla quale potevano nascere idee sbalorditive. Era un tempo in cui ci si poteva smarrire con facilità sconcertante in ogni città, perfino nella propria, e in cui non sapere se domani ci sarebbe stato sole o pioggia era del tutto normale: un tempo fatto di numeri di telefono imparati a memoria e appuntamenti al buio, messaggi lasciati in segreteria e rullini di foto sfocate. Poi, un giorno di pochi anni fa, qualcuno ha inventato internet, e da allora tutto ciò che credevamo eterno ha smesso rapidamente di esistere.Pamela Paul ci riporta nel «Preinternettiano», l’epoca in cui nessuno aveva idea di che cosa fosse un sito, uno smartphone o un’app digitale, per farci scoprire che cosa abbiamo perso o stiamo perdendo con l’avvento dell’online. Il suo è un affascinante inventario degli oggetti, delle emozioni e delle consuetudini che, senza che nemmeno ce ne accorgessimo, sono sparite dalle nostre vite, attraverso il quale ritrovare una parte di noi che abbiamo dimenticato: dal telefono in cucina al timore che nessuno si ricordasse il nostro compleanno, dalle lettere scritte a mano alla libertà di non avere i genitori sempre addosso, dalle enciclopedie in volumi allo spostarsi in un luogo ignoto armati solo di una mappa sbrindellata, dall’incubo di perdere un biglietto aereo al fare conversazione con uno sconosciuto su un treno, dopo essersi guardati intensamente negli occhi.100 cose che abbiamo perso per colpa di internet ci mostra con ironia e profondità di analisi come appariva il mondo prima che chiudessimo il nostro sguardo e le nostre emozioni dentro al rettangolo di uno schermo. Un’opera illuminante, che ci invita a ripensare le nostre giornate iperconnesse perché possano tornare a riempirsi di creatività e smarrimento, lentezza ed empatia; di errori imprevedibili capaci di farci riflettere e meravigliosi gesti inutili, fatti con estrema attenzione.Mappe di carta e lettere scritte a mano, foto sfocate e segreterie telefoniche, ma anche la noia e gli sguardi di uno sconosciuto: un affascinante inventario di come appariva il nostro mondo prima di internet e cosa ci può ancora insegnare.

100 cose che abbiamo perso per colpa di internet

Pamela Paul Eileen Stevens

how we are sold on $800 strollers, fetal education, baby sign language, sleeping coaches, toddler couture, and diaper wipe warmers--and what it means for our children

Parenting, Inc.

"A cat figures out how to continue interacting with his boy as he grows older and his reading habits change"--

Rectangle Time

The Starter Marriage and the Future of Matrimony is a pioneering study of first marriages lasting five years or less and ending without children, and of the changing face of matrimony in America. According to the brilliant trend analyst and journalist Pamela Paul, “It’s easy to conclude that the starter marriage trend bodes ill for the state of marriage. After all, we’re getting married, screwing it up, and divorcing—a practice that certainly isn’t strengthening our sense of trust, family, or commitment. But though starter marriages seem like a grim prospect, there is also an upside. For one thing, if people are going to divorce, better to do so after a brief marriage in which no children suffer the consequences.” But are there other consequences of starter marriages? And what causes these marriages to fail in the first place? In today’s matrimania culture, weddings, marriage, and family are clearly goals to which most young Americans aspire. Why are today’s twenty- and thirtysomethings—the first children-of-divorce generation—so eager to get married, and so prone to failure? Are Americans today destined to jump in and out of marriage? At a time when marriage at age twenty-five can mean a sixty-year active commitment, could “serial marriages” be the wave of the future? Drawing on more than sixty interviews with starter marriage veterans and on exhaustive re-search, Pamela Paul explores these questions, putting the issues into social and cultural perspective. She looks at the hopes and motivations of couples marrying today, and examines the conflict between our cultural conception of marriage and the society surrounding it. Most important, this lively and engaging narrative examines what the starter marriage trend means for the future of matrimony in this country—how and why we’ll continue to marry in the twenty-first century.

The Starter Marriage and the Future of Matrimony

An in-depth study of the "starter marriage" phenomenon, involving couples who marry and divorce by the age of thirty, explores the changing face of marriage in America from a social and cultural perspective and discusses the hopes, motivations, and feelings toward the institution of marriage of young couples today. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.

"An entire industry preys on parental anxiety . . . Paul tries to lead us out of the catastrophization of childhood."--The New York Times Book Review Parenting coaches, ergonomic strollers, music classes, sleep consultants, luxury diaper creams, a never-ending rotation of DVDs that will make a baby smarter, socially adept, and bilingual before age three. Time-strapped, anxious parents hoping to provide the best for their baby are the perfect mark for the "parenting" industry. In Parenting, Inc., Pamela Paul investigates the whirligig of marketing hype, peer pressure, and easy consumerism that spins parents into purchasing overpriced products and raising overprotected, overstimulated, and over-provided-for children. Paul shows how the parenting industry has persuaded parents that they cannot trust their children's health, happiness, and success to themselves. She offers a behind-the-scenes look at the baby business so that any parent can decode the claims--and discover shockingly unuseful products and surprisingly effective services. Paul's book leads the way for every parent who wants to escape the spiral of fear, guilt, competition, and consumption that characterizes modern American parenthood.

How the Billion-Dollar Baby Business Has Changed the Way We Raise Our Children

Perfect for story time, New York Times Book Review editor Pamela Paul's funny and charming story about books, pets, and reading together will enchant readers of all ages. This spunky, self-assured cat has always loved Rectangle Time--when the boy and the man he lives with curl up with their rectangle and read aloud from it. The cat knows how helpful he is during Rectangle Time, of course--his presence is vital to the very ritual! But when the rectangle starts to get smaller, the stories start to get quieter, and worst of all, the boy no longer needs the cat's "help," the cat must find a way to reclaim his part in Rectangle Time, even if slightly different from before. In this fun, funny, and ultimately sweet story about growing up, embracing change, and the ways we all can misread social cues, we see the power of stories to bring everyone together--there's always room for everyone at story time. Praise for Rectangle Time: "The story subtly celebrates the pleasures of being read to and of growing toward reading independence. . . . A good option to hand educators needing to teach inference and for lovers of silly cats." --SLJ "A sweet story about falling in love with reading." --Kirkus "Comforting . . . clever." --Publishers Weekly "This readaloud is sure to become a read-along as the listener's own literacy and vocabulary skills increase." --BCCB "Truly delightful . . . kids will giggle over the familiar feline antics." --Booklist

Meeting new girls isn't easy and having the courage to talk to them isn't exactly as simple as it is in the movies. Even then, the shuttering thought of being rejecting is one that most men would try to avoid at all cost. Rejection bounces from left and right and the good ones are usually hard to find. Most men worry about being stuck in the friend zone and other men worry about being straight up rejected without being given a chance to show who they are. In addition, the thought of constantly looking for someone new isn't as pleasing as it sounds, especially when you're too shy to approach them. Though the thought might sound frightening, you have nothing to lose. If you want to know how to attract the woman that you've been interested in then you have to take the first step into talking to her. For the methods that comes afterwards, feel free to look inside this book.

How to Meet Your Perfect Girl and Make Her Beg to Be Your Girlfriend

Secret to Attracting Woman

Secret to Attracting Woman: How to Meet Your Perfect Girl and Make Her Beg to Be Your Girlfriend

Was wir als Kinder lesen, prägt uns ein Leben lang. Wer erinnert sich nicht daran, wie es war, sich mit seinem Lieblingsbuch auf die Couch zu kuscheln und stundenlang in Geschichten zu versinken, gemeinsam mit Atréju auf Fuchurs Rücken gen Elfenbeinturm zu fliegen, mit Ronja Räubertochter über den Höllenschlund zu springen, mit Harry Potter den Zauberstab zu schwingen – Expecto Patronum! Maria Russo und Pamela Paul haben mit LESEN MACHT STARK ein Buch geschrieben, das Eltern, Großeltern, Lehrern und Kindergärtnern dabei zur Seite steht, Kinder und Jugendliche auf dem Weg zum selbstbewussten Leser zu unterstützen. Dieses Buch ist angefüllt mit kreativen Ideen, wie man die Lust am Lesen entfacht, es ermutigt zum Vorlesen, es singt ein Loblied auf die Arbeit der öffentlichen Bibliotheken, die Arbeit von engagierten Buchhändlern und Gemeinden, es hilft dabei, eine Auswahl zu treffen, und in einer Welt voller Ablenkungen Ruhe zu bewahren und darauf zu vertrauen, dass die Liebe zur Literatur dennoch wachsen wird. Es birgt einen unermesslichen Schatz an Erfahrungen und praktischen Tipps, wie wir Kinder und Jugendliche für das Lesen, für Bücher und Geschichten begeistern können: Ergibt es wirklich Sinn, einem Baby etwas vorzulesen (Ja!); Welche Bücher bereiten einem Kleinkind Vergnügen? (Und welche trotzen seinen Zähnchen?); Wie unterstützt man einen angehenden Leser? (Mut zur Ganz-Körper-Lesung!); Und wie hält man die Leselust auch über die bewegten Teenagerjahre hinweg lebendig? (Geduld, Geduld, Geduld!) In vier Kapiteln, die sich den verschiedenen Lesealtern widmen, wartet jede Seite dieses reich illustrierten Buches mit nützlichen Tipps auf, ob es nun darum geht, Leserituale zu erdenken, den ersten Bibliotheksausweis zu beantragen oder eine scheue Lesemaus zu motivieren. Das Buch schließt mit einer Leseliste, die randvoll ist mit thematischen Buchempfehlungen für jedes Alter und von deutschen Kinderbuchexperten zusammengestellt wurde. Ein unverzichtbarer Wegweiser, um Kinder in der Welt des Lesens willkommen zu heißen und ein Muss für jede Familienbibliothek.

Pamela Paul

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