internet enabled television … big whoop.

Have you ever connected your computer to your television?

Don’t worry, I’m not going to call you and ask for help about which cable and what port, and so forth.  Over Thanksgiving a friend mentioned that he watches hulu through his tv all the time, and that he loves it, and might even drop his cable because it’s working so well for him.  This morning NPR featured a story about new internet enabled televisions that allow you to ’surf’ the web using your remote control.  All this has me rubbing my chin, and saying…hmmmmm, I wonder if….

I’m not at all interested in surfing the web using my remote control especially since the content is pretty limited.  Basically your intenet tv comes installed with a series of widgets, (youtube, facebook, flickr,  twitter) that you click on to access via your set.  

Twitter on my television, really?  Are they serious?  What could be more boring than reading my twitter feed on my television, and not being able to click on the link, reply to a friend, or send a tweet.  Besides the fact that no one needs a 42 inch HDTV to read something like this. 

But I am interested in full access to the web via my tv to surf for tv content I can’t get elsewhere, like say that football game that is blacked out in my local area, but that is available in another market.  I may just have to try this out, and report back to you.

In the meantime, do any of you connect to the web via your television.  How, and why?

 

like lightening

in an attempt to placate critics, Harlequin Horizons quickly morphed into DellArte Press late last week with the new site making no mention of Harlequin.

smart move, Harlequin.  said critics have yet to react.

(via PW)

posting by marin

Good-bye Elliott Bay Books??

Will Seattle be losing a bookstore landmark?

The Los Angeles Times published The plot thickens for legendary bookstore yesterday stating that Elliott Bay Book Co. may have to shut its doors when the lease ends on January 31st.

The Seattle Times wrote on October 18th:  Financial woes prompt Elliott Bay Book owner to consider move. October 18th: Elliott Bay Books looking to move? October 21st: Possible loss of Elliott Bay Book Co. from Pioneer Square has neighborhood worried. 

Bailey/Coy Books on Capitol Hill is closing: Hard times force closure of Bailey/Coy Books on Capitol Hill.

Seattle tied for first place (with Minneapolis, MN) in America’s Most Literate Cities in 2008 (and has been either in first or second place every year since these rankings were started in 2004).  This study focuses on six key indicators of literacy: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment, and Internet resources.

If our bookstores keep closing, where will we be in 2010?

via Shelf Awareness

posting by Lorraine

New York Times graphic novel bestseller

New York Times

Graphic Books

Published: November 26, 2009

PAPERBACK GRAPHIC BOOKS
This Week		Weeks on List
1	LOGICOMIX – AN EPIC SEARCH FOR TRUTH, by Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos H. Papadimitriou, Alecos Papadatos and Annie Di Donna. (Bloomsbury USA, $22.95.) The life of the philosopher and logician Bertrand Russell, and his passion for mathematics, is recounted in this graphic novel.	8
2	THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE: RECORDED ATTACKS, by Max Brooks. (Three Rivers Press, $17.00.) If you want to survive a zombie attack, there may be no better way than to see how past cultures have done it.	7
3	WATCHMEN, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. (DC Comics, $19.99.) This epic tale from 1986 signaled a new maturity in comic books.	39
4	BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON 8, VOL. 5, by various. (Dark Horse, $15.95.) Will things ever get better for Buffy? Now she has to deal with “Harmony Bites,” a reality show starring a former-classmate-and-current-vampire. Plus: more from the mysterious Twilight.	7
5	V FOR VENDETTA, by Alan Moore, K. C. Carlson and David Lloyd. (DC Comics, $19.99.) In a dystopian future, an anarchist sets out to topple the oppressive and totalitarian government of the United Kingdom.	34
6	THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY: DALLAS, by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba. (Dark Horse Comics, $17.95.) The strange team is in shambles. What better time for them to go up against a group of maniacal assassins and, thanks to time travel, a plot to assassinate John F. Kennedy.	5
7	THE WALKING DEAD, VOL. 10, by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard. (Image Comics, $14.99.) Rick and his, and a new band of refugees, make their way to Washington, D.C. Will they survive? And if they do, will the new location be any better for them?	14
8	BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM, by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean. (DC Comics, $17.99.) In this critically-acclaimed paint graphic novel, Batman finds himself facing off against his major villains at a home for criminally insane.	14
9	BATMAN: HUSH, by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee. (DC Comics, $24.99.) A threat from Batman’s past comes back to haunt him. Making matters worse: the villain, Hush, has recruited most of the Dark Knight’s rogues gallery to assist him.	13
10	SUPERMAN/BATMAN: SEARCH FOR KRYPTONITE, by Michael Green, Mike Johnson and Shane Davis. (DC Comics, $12.99.) Superman and Batman team-up to rid the world of Kryptonite, but not everyone wants to cooperate, including Aquaman

For the rest of the graphic novel bestseller lists, go to http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/books/bestseller/bestgraphicbooks.html?ref=bestseller

Zombies are big in graphic novels now. 

 

DC continues to be hot with its Batman comic as well as Alan Moore’s Watchmen and V for Vendetta. DC has also doing very well with their Green Lantern Blackest Night series.  We now have a whole rainbow of Green Lantern books. The Final Crisis in DC land also continues to be popular.

 

Posted by Becky

NPR names ten best cookbooks of 2009

The 10 Best Cookbooks Of 2009

by T. Susan Chang

NPR, November 30, 2009

Michael Pollan famously lamented, earlier this year, that cooking has become a spectator sport. Not if this year’s cookbooks have anything to do with it! Traditional cuisines get broken down and re-introduced, ingredients that have become familiar only recently get recombined as casually as speed-daters. Meanwhile, the bakers outdid themselves this year, clarifying flavors and streamlining their methods until they fit snugly in anybody’s kitchen. This year’s cookbook instructions are detailed and sure-handed, so you’ll feel confident even taking on those fiddly little jobs you usually leave to your good friend Joe, the Trader.

If you’re the kind of person who’s believed all along that a book can teach you to do anything, congratulations! You were right. With these books you can, if you want, make your own bread, your own pasta, even your own dumplings. If, on the other hand, you thought you were the kind of person who could never produce a picture-perfect mushroom tart, guess again. That competent soul is only a few well-described pages away.

To see the list go to http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120683356

Sno-Isle owns of the titles but Mastering the art of Chinese cooking which I am ordering.  All of the titles are popular so get your name on the holds list.  The list highlights two trends.  Cookbooks are becoming expensive coffeetable books.  Baking is back.

Posted by Becky

the Harlequin hubbub

last week, Harlequin announced a new venture into self-publishing called, oddly enough,  Harlequin Horizons.  from the press release

“Harlequin Horizons expands upon Harlequin’s tradition of providing wonderful opportunities for fresh voices in women’s fiction,” said Donna Hayes, Publisher and CEO of Harlequin Enterprises. “Partnering with Author Solutions, Inc., the recognized world leader in self-publishing, is an innovative and original approach to discovering new authors to add to our traditional publishing programs.”

Through this strategic alliance; all sales, marketing, publishing, distribution, and book-selling services will be fulfilled by ASI; but Harlequin Horizons will exist as a division of Harlequin Enterprises Limited. Harlequin will monitor sales of books published through the self-publisher for possible pickup by its traditional imprints.

almost immediately, criticism emerged.  a Harlequin rep tried to reassure readers and authors by explaining that it wasn’t a case of brand dilution, that it would be very clear to customers that these self-published titles are not in any way associated with Harlequin.  said Malle Vallik, Harlequin’s Digital Director, on Dear Author

Harlequin put its name on the Harlequin Horizons site to clearly indicate this is a romance self-publishing site. The books published through Harlequin Horizons will not carry traditional Harlequin branding. The self-published author will be the brand and the Horizon double H logo will appear on the spine of the book. Harlequin is the gold standard in romance and that will not be compromised. Readers will not confuse Horizons books with traditional Harlequin books.

clarifications did nothing to stop the outcry.  on one hand, over at the All about Romance blog, the point was raised that Harlequin Horizons isn’t really self-publishing in that it requires a good sum of money to get published by Author Solutions (including a percentage of royalties) and that in the end, the author doesn’t even own the ISBN.

then some questioned the continued value of Harlequin’s name to their published authors, worried that all those rewrites and edits are worth naught when readers and others in the industry can no longer take Harlequin seriously.  of course, the requisite snotty commentary followed from The New Yorker blog, but that’s to be expected (do those of us who read in the genres, especially romance, need to be reminded how much smarter the literary reader is ?!).

up next was the protest by 3 major writing organizations to withdraw support from Harlequin in various ways.  both the Mystery Writers of America and the Science Fiction Writers of America removed Harlequin from their list of approved publishers which is a big deal on several levels (explained very clearly by the previous link).

the biggest blow came with the Romance Writers of America statement:

With the launch of Harlequin Horizons, Harlequin Enterprises no longer meets the requirements to be eligible for RWA-provided conference resources.

oops, back pedal, back pedal, back pedal.  apparently, Harlequin officials were very surprised at this move and stated that they will remove all references to Harlequin from the HH imprint.

there is a nice summary and links to other commentary over at Jane Friedman’s Writer’s Digest (via Dear Author).  Friedman’s philosophical musings get to the heart of the matter:  the publishing model is changing and Harlequin is an innovative company that is trying to secure a future.

Harlequin is clearly at an advanced stage of considering how it will evolve—or devolve, considering on your perspective. But most writers and writers organizations (and publishers) have NOT grappled with these questions yet. Publishing has often been slowest to change and adapt of all industries.

Some argue Harlequin should’ve been better prepared and planned more strategically to respond to the criticisms that would arise. But when you’ve already moved on, like Harlequin—and are seeking solutions—it’s tough to backtrack to the mindset of those people who are stunned, angry, and indignant, and can’t even conceive of adaptation.

now, if you’ve actually read this far, you might be wondering why this all matters.  the future of publishing and the continued prominence of vanity press (aka self-publishing) has a huge impact on libraries.  last year, titles published by print-on-demand and the like (often vanity titles) outnumbered books published through traditional outlets.  every day we get requests for vanity press titles that we don’t purchase because there is often no editing process, the bindings and formats aren’t reliable and/or standard, and there are no reviews to verify the accuracy and/or quality of the content.  adding Harlequin Horizon to the field muddies the waters.

posting by marin (who is doing her best to understand all the nuances of this complicated business)

why johnny can read but, can’t track a wolverine

Johnny can’t track the dog that poops in your yard; the deer that eat your apples, let alone a wolverine because the part of his brain used for tracking critters has been co-opted so that he can read.

I would like to feed your fingertips to the wolverines

CultureLab a science news blog : how our brains learned to read.

Today we are readers. Evidence suggests that reading – which depends on an alphabet, writing materials, papyrus and such – is only about 5000 years old. The brain in its modern form is about 200,000 years old, yet brain imaging shows reading taking place in the same way and in the same place in all brains. To within a few millimetres, human brains share a reading hotspot – what Stanislas Dehaene calls the “letterbox” – on the bottom of the left hemisphere.

Dehaene builds his clear and interesting book around this “reading paradox,” which is really more puzzle than paradox. It is standard procedure in cognitive neuroscience to assume that a brain area dedicated to a particular function – especially when it is universal – is an adaptation that evolved to serve a function related to reproductive success. The letterbox, however, cannot be an adaptation because reading is an utterly recent invention, unlike neurological abilities for language and socialising that were around long enough to have evolved. What’s more, the letterbox does not ride on top of areas used for speech. Instead, it must be an “exaptation”: a brain area that evolved to do one thing but has been co-opted to do another.

More…..

posting by jim

not a great sales pitch

Let’s hope this was listed in the FREE category of craigslist otherwise…

Great, like new condition (nothing torn, ripped, etc. – book was looked at once.)  North Arlington off Spout Run (Arlington, VA)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

emphasis mine, posting by jim

file under the regrets category

to celebrate the blockbuster opening of “New Moon” this week-end, raking in a record-breaking $140.7 million, i bring you a tattoo quoting Edward to Bella in “New Moon“

i hear laser surgery removal of tattoos really, really hurts.

(via Perez Hilton)

posting by marin

‘nother Best of the Year list…

this time from Library Journal.  in introducing their titles, the reviewers explain:

So many books, so many best books lists. What makes ours special, and how do we make our choices? It’s an especially interesting question in light of the controversy stirred by PW’s top-ten, all-male list. For the record, about a third of the authors on our main list are women—and a bunch of titles are by and/or about people of color. Are we consciously striving for a balanced list? In fact, it’s more complicated than that.

When LJ’s book review editors sit down with our best books candidates, we’re obviously looking for the strongest writing on key topics—books that will last. But we aren’t just thinking in terms of Big Books: we’ve found that unimpeachably big books are often unimpeachably dull. So we look for a little edginess, a little risk that sets a book apart and makes us sit up and see things anew even when the narrative isn’t perfect.

new to LJ’s list of genre bests is the inclusion of “Street Lit” as a category.  other genres are “Mystery,” “SF & Fantasy,” “Romance,” “Christian Fiction,” and “Thrillers.”  missing from the “Romance” list is Sherry Thomas’ “Not Quite a Husband” which Lorraine and I (veteran romance readers) both thought highly of and received a very positive LJ review.  and i don’t agree with including Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ “What I Did for Love,” which, while enjoyable, did not bring any originality to the contemporary romance field.  ahhh, the subjective nature of “Best of” lists.

what are your best books of 2009?

posting by marin