January 2011
39 posts
2 tags
2 tags
Come, and take choice of all my library;
And so beguile thy sorrow.
Titus Andronicus, iv. 1.
#books #publishing Is it really so hard to run a good independent bookstore? Can’t indie booksellers learn anything from Borders’ idiotic marketing failures? Adding coffee, toys, gifts and other garbage does not make a good bookstore. Newsflash—what makes a good bookstore is an intelligently curated collection and a well-managed relationship with the local literary community....
“So many worlds, so much to do, so little done, such things to be.”
– Lord Alfred Tennyson (via libraryland)
“To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring...”
– Herman Melville (via libraryland)
Herman Melville Likes Your Beard
towirr:
Or as he calls them, in order, in two chapters of White Jacket:
beards
the crop
suburbs of the chin
homeward-bounders
fly-brushes
long, trailing moss hanging from the bough of some aged oak
love-curls
Winnebago locks
carroty bunches
rebellious bristles
redundant mops
yellow bamboos
long whiskers
thrice-noble beards
plantations of hair
whiskerandoes
nodding harvests
viny...
“Books are not luxuries. They are meat and drink for the mind.”
– Andrew Taylor, The Anatomy of Ghosts (via givemesomethinganything)
“I do think that there is this central, groundbreaking veracity in literature,...”
– Julian Barnes (birthday today)
Robert F. Kennedy's speech the day after Dr.... →
kateoplis:
“This is a time of shame and sorrow. It is not a day for politics. I have saved this one opportunity, my only event of today, to speak briefly to you about the mindless menace of violence in America which again stains our land and every one of our lives. …
Whenever any American’s life is taken by another American unnecessarily - whether it is done in the name of the law or in the...
New issue of Common Review just published →
Essays and reviews, including Andrei Codrescu’s new essay, “The Poetry Lesson”.
Lorrie Moore Offers a Brilliant Solution to the... →
5 tags
Authors see e-books as escape from normal...
This is how ebooks will start killing off publishers.Amplify’d from www.timesleader.com LOS ANGELES — Joe Konrath can’t wait for his books to go out of print. When that happens, the 40-year-old crime novelist plans to reclaim the copyrights from his publisher, Hyperion Books, and self-publish them on Amazon.com, Apple Inc.’s iBooks and other online outlets. That way he’ll be able to collect 70...
Great Reasons to love Tumblr! →
“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.”
– Lemony Snicket (via libraryland)
Ok, office bag check! Who’s carrying an iPod (or iPad) instead of a book? I need to know how much tar and feathers to buy.
(via aaknopf)
5 tags
Winter's Philosphers: some thoughts on Winter by...
Amplify’d from www.nybooks.comIf only Plato and Socrates had to scrape the ice off their windshields and deal with dead car batteries, I was going to add, when the horrifying realization struck me that, despite our interminable New Hampshire winters and our supposedly heightened state of intelligence, we’ve never of late up here produced one philosopher that anyone would care to remember. So, this...
5 tags
Tumblr helping generate some new content...
Amplify’d from techcrunch.comCertainly, you might think the company would have other priorities: like solving its persistent up-time problems – an issue that affects far more than the twenty lucky Tumblrs who will “receive complimentary flights, accommodation, and will be whisked off to lunches, dinners, and cocktails with a roster of to-be-confirmed brands and designers”. At the same time,...
5 tags
How to Operate the New Paper Book you Received for...
It’s easier than you thought—anyone can do it!Amplify’d from gutenberggirls.squarespace.com
How to Operate the New Paper Book You Received for Christmas
Post, firmly tongue-in-cheek, by Melissa. Laura would never associate herself with...
5 tags
Great response to the NYT collection Why Criticism...
But maybe a little too harsh— I thought Elif Batuman’s remarks were very thoughtful and right on target.Amplify’d from www.openlettersmonthly.comIs it just me or do the six “accomplished critics” writing on this topic for the New York Times go on and on without saying much of interest or substance? Most of the offerings exemplify the dangers of generalizing–whether about criticism,...
5 tags
Beautiful printed books from independent...
What printed books will always be able to do, that ebooks cannot.Amplify’d from www.latimes.comAt a garage studio in Eagle Rock, Lisa Pearson is publishing books with the skill of a craftsman, framing the printed word as a work of art. One volume, “Torture of Women,” features a red cloth cover with an embossed title resembling scar tissue. Inside, images of the female body are...
It's just not that hard to find a use for Tumblr!... →
Nick Bilton at the New York Times is trying again to find a great use for Tumblr, with some help from the comments on his article. Take a look, and post why you use Tumblr! For me, it’s a great way to connect with other readers and book lovers. There’s an active literary community on Tumblr that’s getting bigger every day.