cread | read & see

A patent-pending reading application included with two new Samsung products streams single words with an optimal recognition point and claims to increase reading speeds dramatically. Spritz was launched at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on February 23 after three years of 'stealth mode' research and development. Using a display called a 'Redicle', Spritz displays a single word at a time, with a red letter marking the optimal recongition point (ORP) and will be particularly useful on wearable technology such as Samsung's Gear 2 but can also be found on the Galaxy S5 smartphone. Spritz's original media release explains the technology and how it speeds up reading by saving the time usually spent by the eye moving to the next word and seeking the ORP:  'Spritz's technology streams individual words inside of a special display called the "Redicle," which helps the eyes to position themselves precisely at the recognition point for

Amazon Publishing today (January 24, 2014) announced the launch of  Waterfall Press , a new Christian imprint that will specialize in faith-based non-fiction and fiction .  An Amazon media release says, 'Waterfall Press  non-fiction will aim to provide spiritual refreshment and inspiration to today's Christian reader, while fiction will include stories in the romance, mystery, and suspense genres. 'Waterfall Press  titles will be published by  Brilliance Publishing , part of the  Amazon.com  group of companies, which currently offers readers self-help and personal growth books under the  Grand Harbor Press  imprint. '"Brilliance has over 12 years of experience serving the Christian market as audiobook publisher of some of the most successful Christian authors writing today," said  Mark Pereira , President and Publisher of  Brilliance Publishing . "We are excited to expand our offering to readers of faith-based material by publishing original Chri

Australia's latest trade data suggests Australians may have curbed their overseas spending on items such as books and toys. According to Business Insider Australia, the Australian Bureau of Statistics' latest trade data shows a narrowing in the deficit on the Balance of Goods and Services to a seasonally adjusted $284 million from $693 million last month. A key to this was a fall in imports including a $40 million or eight per cent reduction in the importation of books, toys and leisure goods. In less encouraging news for books, the ABS seasonally adjusted estimate for book and newspaper retailing fell by -1.4%. Either way, booksellers, publishers and authors will be hoping that the many new titles flooding the market will be met by increased local buying. Business Insider Australia article Retail Trade figures What's your view on Australian's buying less books?

In Luke 19, a rich man climbs a Sycamore tree to get a closer look at Jesus who is passing through the city of Jericho. Inspired to acts of justice after Jesus visits him for lunch, the man, Zaccheus, gives away much of his wealth to those he has previously robbed as a tax collector. In John Grisham's latest legal thriller, Sycamore Row , a rich man climbs a Sycamore tree and hangs himself, and there ensues an almighty court battle over how he has divided his estate. I'll say no more about Zaccheus only that Grisham may well have been inspired by this very gospel story.... Sycamore Row is billed as a sequel to A Time To Kill , being set in the same small southern community of Clanton, Ford County, with same lawyer Jake Brigance in the pivotal legal role. Those who have read A Time to Kill , or seen the movie, will at times find it hard to fit the smouldering performances of Matthew McConaughey and Sandra Bullock, with the somewhat subdued and more nuanced characters

The Christian devotional, Jesus Calling, which is one the best-selling books in the world today, out-selling Fifty Shades of Grey in the first half 2013, has a strong Australian connection. Author Sarah Young, who first released Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence in 2004 , has been a missionary in Australia since 1977 with her husband Stephen and most recently they moved to Perth in 2001 to start a new church for Japanese people. They continue to serve that church, as well as developing other Japanese ministries for the Presbyterian Church of Australia, although it is reported they are planning to return to their home country, the United States, to live in Tennessee. Millions of copies sold After selling 59,000 copies in the first three years, Jesus Calling sold 220,000 in its fourth year and according to Christianity Today , quoting publisher Thomas Nelson, sales of the book have doubled nearly every year since then, with the tally now reaching 9 million copies

Learning from the lives of others is one of the great opportunities we have for personal growth, as we see ourselves reflected in their stories. Just such an opportunity, multiplied 30 times, is presented to readers of Open House - Conversations with Leigh Hatcher launched this week. Open House is the popular Sunday night radio interview program hosted by well-known media personality and journalist Leigh Hatcher and the book is a collection of some of his best and most recent interviews. Although I am somewhat wary of anthologies of this kind, sometimes feeling they are an easy excuse for a book, this one has been thoughtfully and carefully prepared so that it is a fast-moving and fascinating read and you never feel you are getting a re-run of past glory. Instead the interviews are a good length for reading, not too long but enough detail to capture the pathos of people's story-telling - which is where personally I could at times see something of my own life - or a frien

Although Jane Austen may be known as a writer who cut through the veil of manners that surrounded English landed gentry, she was still a woman of her time and is unlikely to have ever imagined a book such as Jo Baker has written. Longbourn covers the same set of events as Pride and Prejudice but from a firmly 'downstairs' perspective - although we should also include the attic where the servants seem to sleep. Mr and Mrs Bennet and their five daughters are still recognisable, as are their balls, dinners and rendezvous with numerous gentlemen or soldiers of slowly determined character. Getting wet and having a fever, being too slow to show your interest in a visiting clergyman, or too feisty to receive his offer, are all unfolded in Longbourn along with occasional glimpses of Mr Bingley, Mr Darcy and more detailed interaction with the constantly menacing - from the servant's perspective - Mr Wickham. But this is much more than a retelling of Pride and Prejudice ,