Reading about the reading life, June 15, 2011

Here are the items about the reading life for this week that I have found interesting. I hope maybe my four readers will find some of them interesting as well. I will note that I am featuring some items in Spanish this week. In the end, it's all good.

•  Book Riot reviews the site Underground New York Public Library. The site in question is a Tumblr blog that looks at what people read on their commute. How often do you find yourself trying to find out what is that one book that guy is reading sitting across from you in a subway, bus, etc.? I know I have done it. I will be adding it to my own Tumblr blog to follow. 
• Via the Arabic Literature (in English) blog, here is a piece on book censorship in Kuwait. In a curious way, this is kind of like a "day in the life" kind of writing where you get to see a bit of how the book censor actually thinks. I think it is worth a look. I also feel that some of that censor's attitudes are alive and well in the U.S., even if we do not have "official" censors (on the other hand, we have plenty of unofficial ones).
• From the PBS Newshour, a Q&A conversation with Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa. The writer speaks on the importance of literature. Video and transcript are available. I always enjoy listening to writers speak about their craft. Vargas Llosa is certainly one of the authors I wish I could meet during a dinner, or at least over coffee. My reading experience of Vargas Llosa has been mixed; I have enjoyed some of Vargas Llosa's works such as Pantaleón y las visitadoras and La fiesta del chivo. But I just could not get into such as La ciudad y los perros and Los cuadernos de don Rigoberto. By the way, while I do read his works in Spanish, the works I have mentioned are available in English translation. As my mother once told me, even great writers get a miss once in a while. However, he does remain a writer I am willing to read and explore. A hat tip to the Literary Saloon.

And finally, some items from the Papeles Perdidos blog, out of El Pais (Spain) newspaper: 

• "Leer es viajar." (To read is to travel). From the Madrid Book Fair, some annotated suggestions of books to read from various parts of the world.
• Here is part two of the journey in "Viaje a Latinoamerica."
• And a bookseller from Madrid speaks on the future of bookstores and answers questions from readers in "Lopez-Vega: 'Hay futuro, pero con un librero nuevo.'" ("We have a future, but with a new kind of bookseller").