November 29, 2011
There’s a persistent stereotype that comics and graphic novels are written only by and about young, usually white men. Yet as the marvelous blog Madame Noire reminds us, “Black Women Love Comics Too!” Any doubters should take a peek at the Ormes Society website. Named for Jackie Ormes, the first African American female cartoonist, the […]
November 27, 2011
Facets Multimedia is hosting Chicago native Sara Paretsky Dec. 4 to discuss a showing of Hitchcock’s classic film Vertigo. She will be joined by psychoanalyst James Anderson. A month later she will be in Naperville at Anderson’s Bookshop on Jan. 3, 2012, to promote Breakdown, a V.I. Warshawski novel. Shira S.
November 25, 2011
Anne McCaffrey has passed away of a stroke at the age of 85 in Ireland. The author was the first woman science fiction writer to make the NYTimes bestseller list in the 1970’s. EPL has many of her books. Shira S.
November 21, 2011
Today’s New York Times points out that most plugged in, etext-only adults still prefer physical print books for their children. (For Their Children, Many E-book Fans Insist on Paper) The reasons vary: ebooks and ereaders are expensive, offer poorer selections, can’t convey illustrations well. There’s also a great deal of affection for the tactile, physical […]
November 21, 2011
Every genre and age is well-represented in Publishers Weekly‘s collection of recommended reads for 2011. Eugenides and Patchett rose to the top of the 10 best count. Were you expecting Tina Fey to join them? I wasn’t. Skim the results and see if you agree with their choices. Shira S.
November 17, 2011
The November 8th NY Times reported that Little, Brown & Company is pulling Assassin of Secrets by Q. R. Markham, because passages of the book were found to have been taken from a number of contemporary and classic works by such authors as Ian Fleming, Robert Ludlum, and Charles McCarry. A patron browsing our new titles […]
November 17, 2011
Late last night the National Book Awards were announced. Jesmyn Ward (right in photo) took top fiction honors for “Salvage the Bones,” about a Mississippi family’s struggle during Hurricane Katrina. The nonfiction prize went to Stephen Greenblatt (left) for his work “The Swerve: How the World Became Modern,” which analyzes the effects of certain influential […]
November 17, 2011
A brief article in today’s Chicago Trib reports that starting next January patrons in Des Plaines will pay 10c more for overdue fines on books and CDs, from 15c a day to 25c. The fine on DVDs, however, will be lowered by half–from $1.00 to 50c. The library hopes to generate $10,000 more in revenue with the […]
November 16, 2011
Samuel French, the largest publisher of plays andmusicals in the world, has decided to market its materials for $8.99 apiece. Yesterday they began with 100 plays and by the end of December approximately 1,000 should be available through the Apple iBookstore. A few of the playwrights mentioned in the article: (and EPL items of theirs) […]
November 16, 2011
“I don’t know if I’m opening an ice shop in the age of Frigidaire, but I can’t live in a city that doesn’t have a bookstore.” – Ann Patchett On the heels of the sad news that Bookman’s Alley will soon be closing, it may be of some comfort to hear about Parnassus Books, which is opening […]
