March 19th, 2010
March Madness reading list: 10 best books about college basketball / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com:
If you’d rather read about basketball than spend hours watching in, Marjorie Kehe offers her list of the 10 best reads.
I can’t help but notice, though, that, although the title of this article is “10 Best Books about College Basketball,” what you really have here is a list of books about men’s college basketball. College women also play basketball–and very well, I might add. They also have an NCAA championship tournament, complete with brackets and a Final Four extravaganza (to be held this year in San Antonio, Texas, the same weekend–though on alternate nights–as the men’s championship showdown). Where are the books about their game? Any writers out there searching for the next big project?
Posted in Book Recommendations, Writing | No Comments »
March 17th, 2010
Book Review: Three new novels extend the beloved stories of Jane Austen – washingtonpost.com:
Fifteen years ago the name Jane Austen resonated mainly with earnest high school students and any of their elders who remembered the 1940 black-and-white ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ adapted by Aldous Huxley and starring Laurence Olivier. Then the literary tectonic plates shifted. Suddenly, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant, dressed in very tight britches and ruffled shirts, were pursuing Elizabeth Bennet (Jennifer Ehle) and Elinor Dashwood (Emma Thompson). The movies did more than please viewers; they inspired novelists to pursue the lead characters beyond the farewell kiss. Since that Jane hit the screen, dozens of sequels, prequels and alternative plots have been written for fans who could not bear to lose sight of Austen’s characters.
The shift continues. Novelists are now focusing on the effect that Jane has on readers and writers in the 21st century.
Brigitte Weeks discusses modern takes on the characters of Jane Austen in the Washington Post.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
March 17th, 2010
Book review: ‘This Book Is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All,’ by Marilyn Johnson – washingtonpost.com:
In researching her previous book, ‘The Dead Beat,’ which celebrates the pleasures of obituaries, Marilyn Johnson discovered that, with few exceptions, ‘the most engaging obit subjects were librarians.’ Motivated by ‘the idea that libraries were where it was happening — wide-open territory for innovators, activists, and pioneers,’ Johnson has now turned her attention to librarians, whom she refers to variously as ‘natural intelligence operatives’ and ‘enablers,’ with the good ones possessing ‘all of the skills and characteristics required for that work: curiosity, wide-ranging knowledge, good memories, organizational and analytical aptitude, and discretion.’
Each of the 12 chapters in ‘This Book Is Overdue’ highlights some dimension of contemporary librarianship in an information-overloaded world, including libraries on the digital frontier, library-related blogs, the riches of the New York Public Library and archivists working to preserve ‘what’s worth saving.’
From the Washington Post, a review of a book that will surely intrigue us all.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
March 9th, 2010
The books that took the Oscars / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com:
They may not have been clutching golden statuettes last night – or anywhere near Hollywood, for that matter – but there is a another set of Oscar winners this morning and they have as much reason to celebrate as do the stars you saw on the stage. They are the authors whose books – ‘Crazy Heart,’ ‘Push,’ ‘The Blind Side,’ and ‘La pregunta de sus ojos’ – inspired four of last night’s winning films.
Marjorie Kehe tells the story behind the adaptation of each book into film.
Posted in Film | No Comments »
March 8th, 2010
International Women’s Day:
International Women’s Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. In some places like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, IWD is a national holiday. The first IWD was run in 1911. Next year is IWD Global Centenary 1911-2011.
Check this site for more on the history of International Women’s Day and on the current plight of women around the world.
Posted in Personal | No Comments »
March 6th, 2010
Books | ‘Benny and Penny’ tops 2010 Geisel awards list of best books for beginners | Seattle Times Newspaper:
A list of recipients of the Geisel Award for beginning readers: “The award, presented annually by the American Library Association, is named for the man better known as Dr. Seuss.”
Posted in Awards & Prizes, Book Recommendations | No Comments »
March 5th, 2010
Making the Case for iPad E-Book Prices – NYTimes.com:
For those of us whose heads are still spinning from trying to understand all the hoopla, both philosophical and financial, over pricing and distribution of ebooks, this article gets to the dollars and sense of the matter.
For example, on a hardcover book priced at $26, “the publisher is left with $4.05, out of which it must pay overhead for editors, cover art designers, office space and electricity before taking a profit.” For a $12.99 ebook, the publisher is left “with something ranging from $4.56 to $5.54, before paying overhead costs or writing off unearned advances.”
In fact, the industry is based on the understanding that as much as 70 percent of the books published will make little or no money at all for the publisher once costs are paid.
Some of these books are by writers who are experimenting with form or genre, or those who just do not have recognizable names. “You’re less apt to take a chance on an important first novel if you don’t have the profit margin on the volume of the big books,” said Lindy Hess, director of the Columbia Publishing Course, a program that trains young aspirants for jobs in the publishing industry. “The truth about this business is that, with rare exceptions, nobody makes a great deal of money.”
All of this explains, if nothing else, why publishers are no longer spending the money for copy editors to clean up all those annoying little errors that have become so prevalent in printed books.
Posted in Ebooks, Publishing | No Comments »
March 3rd, 2010
Barry Hannah, Darkly Comic Writer, Dies at 67 – Obituary (Obit) – NYTimes.com:
Barry Hannah, a writer who found wide acclaim with wild, darkly comic short stories and novels set in a phantasmagoric South moving at warp speed, died on Monday at his home in Oxford, Miss. He was 67.
Posted in Obituaries | No Comments »
February 26th, 2010
After a long courtship, Angelina Jolie will play Kay Scarpetta / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com:
In a follow-up matter to my previous post, Christian Science Monitor book blogger Marjorie Kehe is reporting that many people, like me, are not impressed by the choice of Angelina Jolie to play Kay Scarpetta:
Not everyone is happy. Leaning on both references in the novels and Cornwell’s own appearance, many Scarpetta fans picture the pathologist as more like a 40-something blond with a short haircut. Others insist that Scarpetta more closely resembles Jodie Foster (who is said to have turned the role down), Glenn Close, Demi Moore, and/or Kristin Scott Thomas.
Posted in Film | No Comments »
February 26th, 2010
Looking Glass for the Mind: 350 Years of Books for Children
http://content.lib.washington.edu/childrensweb/exhibit.html
The University of Washington Digital Collection of children’s books starts off with a wonderful piece that touches on the beloved memories children’s books bring back for so many, but also on the reasons why a university library would collect children’s books. Several of the reasons given regard what children’s books can teach us: printing and book illustration history, the “study of the gradual changes in familiar tales to reflect changes in societal acceptance and sensibilities,” social and ethnic history, the historical role of women, and shifting views on education. After the homepage is the index to the exhibit with an introduction, a brief history of the first children’s book publishers. To the left is the “Index” of topics that the books cover. Visitors will find a multitude, including “Fables”, “Grammar, Spelling, Elocution & Rhetoric”, “Math & Money”, “Activity Books”, and “Prejudice & Bigotry”. Under the topic “Fables”, visitors should check out The Baby’s Own Aesop, illustrated by Walter Crane, who began an illustrating apprenticeship at the age of fourteen.
>From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2010. http://scout.wisc.edu/
Posted in Literary History | No Comments »