to the dogs

wanna read the next Spencer Quinn (aka Peter Abrahams) mystery, “Thereby Hangs a Tail?”  be the first Sno-Isle Libraries employee to comment and the arc is yours.  scheduled release is 1/05/10.

posting by marin (who really just wanted an excuse to post a photo of bob)

bureaucracy is alive and well across the pond

big name British authors and illustrators plan to boycott school visits this upcoming academic year with the implementation of a database registering those who work at and/or visit schools for screening purposes.  Philip Pullman, Anne Fine, and Anthony Horowitz are among those protesting the registration.

Pullman, author of the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials, described the Home Office policy as “corrosive and poisonous to every kind of healthy social interaction”. He said: “I’ve been going into schools as an author for 20 years, and on no occasion have I ever been alone with a child. The idea that I have become more of a threat and I need to be vetted is both ludicrous and insulting. Children have never been in any danger from visiting authors or illustrators, and the idea that they should be is preposterous.

those who register are then charged a fee of approximately $105.

(via PW Children’s Bookshelf)

posting by marin

pointing a finger at who’s to blame

Lawrence McDonald author of  A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers, said this morning on NPR that the blame for the fiasco at LB can be laid at the feet of those in charge.

Check out the NPR interview, to hear just how out of touch these guys were.

Common Sense is in the catalog with an on order status.

posting by jim