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Friday, January 1, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Book News, In Brief
Today's indie bookstore reach-around is brought to you by Edward Nawotka.
David vs. Goliath -- part II! (How much do you wanna bet Goliath wins this time?)
You know those 'bestselling e-books' that Amazon keeps hyping? Over 50% of them are giveaways.
American Book Review asked writers to speculate -- in one sentence or less -- on the future of fiction. Here are the responses.
Director Bryan Singer has offered the first concrete quote as to what the hell the next X-Men film is going to be about, and it sounds like a yoai fanfic writer's dream: Professor Xavier and Magneto's tumultuous relationship as twenty-somethings.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Book News, In Brief
Q: Are Americans are getting fatter because of their recent reading habits? A: Of course not, but the link needed a hook.
It's only slightly less depressing than those 'Local Bookstore to Close' articles: Local Bookstore Taking Painful Steps to Stay Afloat.
The NYTimes asked a handful of authors to explain how they decide which books to throw away and which to keep. Needless to say, the trash talk is as tepid as the praise is rhapsodic.
Local lawmaker hopes to make it tougher for pervs checking out kids checking out books. (Or: Quincy, MA is considering an ordinance that would ban Level 3 sex offenders from libraries.)
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Ouch!
"If Mr. Bezos wanted to do his part to avert layoffs of schoolteachers and firefighters and, yes, professors at state universities, he should start collecting the sales tax."
To read the rest of the NYTimes' assault on Amazon, click here.
Tuesday's Tips for Flailing Writers,
Voilà -- Voltaire! Philip Larkin explains the 'The Process of Poetry' in three simple steps.
Oy vey, the chutzpah! Daily Writing Tips has The 40 Yiddish Words You Should Know.
Plot to Punctuation echoes what I've been telling my probation officer for years: Villains are heroes too.
You tell me. Is CopyBlooger's 'The Eminem Guide to Becoming a Writing and Marketing Machine' the best titled tip of the day or what?
Three different approaches to dealing with writer's block, all from the same source. Swati Nitin Gupta's How to Avoid, How to Cure, and How to Take Advantage of Writer's Block. (Homegirl seems a li'l obsessed, no?)
Monday, December 28, 2009
These Are The Comics I Gave My Kinfolk For Christmas
I'd originally intended to post this pre-X-mas, but on the off chance that one of my family members somehow happened upon this blog (yeah, right!), I figured I'd better wait. Fast forward four days, and now that all of the gifts have been distributed and the fill-in-the-name thank-you cards emailed en masse, I figured it was safe to share. So now, without further intro, a brief list of the comic books I gave to my comics-curious family.
To the 6th grade nephew who likes Bone, Monty Python & The Holy Grail, and monster movies:
The first two Dungeon books by Lewis Trondheim and Joann Sfar.
The Essential Godzilla by Doug Moench, Herb Trimpe, et al.
To the 9th grade niece who likes emo music, shopping at Hot Topic, and the Death Note anime:
The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá.
The first three xxxHOLIC books by Clamp.
To the 11th grade nephew who likes death metal, skinny jeans, and zombie movies:
The first three Detroit Metal City books by Kiminori Wakasugi.
The Walking Dead Omnibus volume 1 by Robert Kirkman, et al.
To the 40-something sister who loves sappy BBC costume melodramas and reads almost as many comics as me:
The first three Emma books by Kaoru Mori.
Future Lovers volume 1 and 2 by Saika Kunieda.
To the 40-something British brother-in-law who likes beer, wine, and looong conversations fueled by beer and wine:
Alec and The King Canute Crowd by Eddie Campbell.
The Disappearance Diary by Hideo Azuma.
What about you? I want to to know what books you got for your friends and family. More importantly, I want to know what books they gave you. Feel free to list, critique and offer public praise for gifts received in our comments section.
Book News, In Brief
"A brilliantly ambitious article, this is, without a doubt, the editorial of the day...and possibly the decade."
Wanna-be writers of limited skill have reason to rejoice: Publishers are now begrudgingly accepting submissions from the merely "insanely great."
Librarians, like everyone else with even an infinitesimal investment in the written word, are nervous about what's gonna happen when Google scans the world.
Inspired by the publishing industry's recent ebook release announcements (and using the film industry's many missteps as a measuring stick), Booksquare has put together A Long, Detailed Look at Distribution Windows.
After initially announcing that they would be closing close to 200 Waldenbooks locations in the first few weeks of January, Borders now promises to save twenty of those stores. Question: Is this the big box bookstore's attempt at spinning themselves some positive PR? Cuz it still sounds grim.
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