January 29, 2013
National Public Radio aired a fascinating story yesterday about the user-data generated by e-reading devices. It’s not hard for publishers (and authors) to track whether you finish a book–and even, if you didn’t, how many pages you read before you quit. This kind of information is clearly useful, and “misuseful.” Will our literature become as […]
January 29, 2013
This NYTimes article discusses the pros and cons of a major overhaul planned for the New York Public library building on 42d St. One goal is to modernize the facility and save money by shutting two smaller branches, the Mid-Manhattan branch across the street and the Science, Business, and Industry Library. After meeting with the […]
January 29, 2013
The John Newbery Medal for this year’s outstanding contribution to children’s literature was awarded to The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate. It was inspired by the real-life story of a gorilla in Tacoma, Washington named Ivan who “became a celebrity after being placed with a large group of gorillas in the Atlanta zoo, […]
January 29, 2013
Yesterday, January 28th, marked the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen’s most famous novel, Pride and Prejudice. Why not spend a little time reading it? As one might expect on such an occasion, attention must paid to this fine author, perhaps one of the best and most loved worldwide. On Monday’s “Fresh Air,” […]
January 23, 2013
Playwright and actress Anna Deavere Smith received this year’s Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize. Now in its 19th year, the $300,000 arts award was established by actress Lillian Gish’s will and given “to a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding […]
January 22, 2013
Author Dennis Lehane is offering two rewards for anyone finding his lost pooch, Tessa, who’s been missing for several weeks. After the beagle left Lehane’s Brookline, MA, backyard minus her tags, the author said he would name a character after her rescuer. A die-hard fan might just make the effort to travel to Boston for […]
January 22, 2013
In light of Lance Armstrong’s recent public apology (sort of) on Oprah’s talk show last week, it appears that some prankster felt so strongly about the admission of performance enhancing drug use that he or she deemed everything Armstrong purported to do a fiction. Said prankster announced on a sign taped to the library shelves […]
January 21, 2013
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic and the third woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court, will be in Chicago Wednesday, January 30 on the book tour for her new memoir, My Beloved World. In it, she recounts her life journey from a Bronx housing project to the federal bench, and how books mentored her […]
January 17, 2013
Advice columnist Pauline Phillips died in Minneapolis Wednesday at age 94. Her “Dear Abby” column began in 1956 and appeared in hundreds of newspapers around the world, covering a wide variety of personal topics. The column, still in print and with its own website, was taken over by Mrs. Phillips’s daughter Jeanne Phillips in 2000. […]
January 17, 2013
The other day at North Branch my colleague and I and a patron were having a lively mini-book discussion on good Nordic mystery authors. Jo Nesbø, creator of the brilliant but problematic detective Harry Hole, had been highly recommended by her friend. The problem, said the patron, was the conflicting advice on what title to read […]
