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Some academics cringe while other see readers’ direction of plots as the future of reading

What if Romeo and Juliet lived happily ever after, or Van Helsing decided Dracula wasn’t worth the trouble? In a high-tech twist on Choose Your Own Adventure, “active fiction” imbues readers with precisely that kind of power.

Launching this month in Amazon’s Kindle Store, Coliloquy e-books are peppered with “choice points” that allow readers to take the story in the direction most appealing to them — whether it’s experiencing a critical moment through another character’s eyes, setting the protagonist on a new path, or seeing what a

It’s time to come up with new words for what we’re creating. “Ebooks” just doesn’t cut it anymore.

The past week pretty much covered the gamut of what’s going on in our industry for me. Tuesday I heard a wonderful, impassioned speech about physical books. And then on Thursday… well, perhaps you’ve heard that Apple made an announcement or two.

On Tuesday night, Kevin Spall (CEO of Thomson-Shore, Inc.) gave a speech at the Book Industry Guild of New York meeting. Kevin spoke, not only of his background, but spent some time reminding us what a wonderful thing the printed/bound book is. The history, of course, is rich. I confess that I did not realize that codex binding (basically the same thing we do today) has been around for over 1,700 years. Of course, some will describe that history as “rich” and others as “ancient” (and not in a good way).

At the end of last year, Longreads, one of the curators of lengthy, magazine-y stories that has sprung up to help fans of long-form journalism find great stuff online, released a list highlighting the top ten longreads of 2011.

The list included such savor-worthy pieces as Maria Bustillos' examination of David Foster Wallace's private self-help library, for The Awl; Jeff Wise's investigation into the crash of Air France 447, for Popular Mechanics; and Amy Harmon's exploration of adult autism, for The New York Times. The list was, in other words, fantastic.

Steve Jobs’ legacy is that of an innovator, risk taker, visionary, and to some a genius, and to others a ruthless corporate pirate.

Carolyn McCosh says she has loved "real books, the printed-on-paper kind," ever since she got her St. Louis Public Library card in first grade. The 45-year-old had little interest in e-books — until Christmas.

Along with millions of others, she unwrapped a Kindle Fire, a gift from her boyfriend and "a huge defining moment for me." Since then, she has bought $100 worth of e-books — from histories to mysteries — and wonders, "Am I a traitor to printed books?"

/The Old Farmer’s Almanac/ now has a new way for readers to enjoy North America’s oldest continuously published periodical: as a Kindle e-book!

In a surprise development, Amazon ( NSDQ: AMZN ) has quietly resolved a lawsuit that alleges its Kindle Fire violates four patents related to touchscreen technology. In court papers filed in Texas this week, Amazon and Smartphone Technologies said they have resolved all differences and asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit which was filed in October, shortly after the Amazon Kindle’s release. Smartphone Technologies is a subsidiary of Acacia Research Corp , a publicly traded company that is one of a growing number of firms that amass patents and then sue technology companies that

Barnes & Noble’s Nook family of tablets experienced record sales during the nine-week holiday period at the end of 2011, the company announced. Color tablets Nook Color and Nook Tablet sold especially well, while the black and white Nook Simple Touch underperformed, Barnes & Noble says. The company expects the digital content sales for 2012 to be around $450 million, with the annualized forecast between $700 million and $750 million. Overall, the device and content sales were so good that the company is considering spinning off the Nook business

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced plans to once again recognize January as “No Name-Calling Month” in its stores and online at Barnes & Noble.com. Now in its second year, the month-long campaign is aimed at bringing attention to the national problem of name-calling and bullying of all kinds. Barnes & Noble stores across the country will bring awareness to “No Name-Calling Month” by placing “No Name-Calling” signage in various locations, and hosting a national Storytime event and other activities. Barnes & Noble.com will feature exclusive video

One of the obvious advantages of Web marketing over the traditional kind (print, TV, radio, etc.) is that nearly everything anyone does online is trackable and measurable. Each post on Facebook, each tweet fired off at the end of the day, every newsletter sent, and even every inch scrolled down a Web page can be parsed, segmented and measured.