Category: On Reading

Book Thieves

Okay, I’m still trying to wrap my head around this NYTimes article about the rise in book theft.   Could it be that people are finally waking up the value of books? Naw . . . that would be too…

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A Bookstore on Every Corner

Anyone who doubts the vitality of the written word or the viability of independent bookstores should take a trip to Ireland.  I just got back and while I saw my share of ruined castles and crumbling monasteries, what really hit…

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When You Can’t Say No

Stephen King does a fabulous review of a new Raymond Carver biography and volume of Carver’s stores, restored after being eviscerated by Esquire‘s then-editor, Gordon Lish. (This isn’t the first time this issue has come up either; the NYT has…

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E-books and covers

Yet another nice post by Steve York on ebooks and the lack of covers, which reiterates something I’ve been saying for months to just about anyone who will listen: the fact that ebooks do not have physical covers creates just…

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Smack-Down

The Green Apple Bookstore in San Francisco has begun a very funny, yet somehow strangely on-the-mark video blog featuring a “title” match between The Book and The Kindle.   The first two installments may be found here.  (Thank heavens, I don’t have a…

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Blocks of Wood

Very nice post by writer Steve York on who exactly owns what when it comes to books.  While I’m not in 100% agreement with how much better off students might be with paper-less textbooks (I don’t they will be, at…

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No, I’m not a Luddite

A great article by Nicholson Baker for The New Yorker and not just his observations on using the Kindle, either.  Pay attention to what happened when he went up to Maine.  He walked into a REAL bookstore with a knowledgeable…

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B&N’s Big Yawn

Actually, more about ereaders: A very nice point-by-point rebuttal of why the B&N announcement ain’t much on Booksquare. Like I said, I’ve written ebooks, and I’m certainly not slamming them.  I think I’m more disgusted by the marketplace. For the…

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13 Best

Roger Sutton has a fine comment on an editorial by Nicholas Kristof in this past Sunday’s New York Times.  I agree that any list of the BEST BOOKS OF ALL TIME is pointless.  Tastes change.  I know that the books…

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