I’m participating in the Reverse Author Interviews meme sponsored by Book Munchies. It’s the authors’ turn to put us on the spot! Over the next month, a series of authors will pose questions for participating bloggers to answer. Today’s author is Kendare Blake, author of this year’s popular YA… Read more »
Category: Musings

NYT “Notable Children’s Books of 2012” List: A discussion
The New York Times Sunday Book Review has published their list of “Notable Children’s Books of 2012.” Looking through the list, which is broken into YA, MG, and picture books, I find I’ve read (and reviewed) only two of them — though I have put several others on my TBR… Read more »

How fast do you read?
Staples has a short reading-speed test which you may find interesting or perhaps amusing: Source: Staples eReader Department There are only three short passages to read; you read one, answer three questions on it, get your speed report, then see how long it would take you to read various books… Read more »

Tablet and e-Reader Comparison Charts
PaidContent.org has posted a nice table comparing the features and capabilities of a number of tablets and e-readers from Amazon (various Kindles, including the Fire tablet), Barnes and Noble (various Nooks, including the Nook Tablet), Sony (the WiFi reader), and Kobo (Touch and the Vox tablet.) It’s a good place… Read more »

Harry Potter Epitaph (a guest post by Amanda Pekar)
[My 16-year-old daughter, an aspiring writer, wrote this piece about the end — or not — of an era.] Ten years ago, I read a book that changed my life. For ten years, I have read and reread, discussed, speculated about, walked, talked, acted, and dressed Potter. I’ve grown up… Read more »

Finding Free, Bargain, and Best-priced e-Books
Free and bargain-priced e-books are a good way to try a new author, but what if you don’t have time to troll the various e-book retailers looking for the latest available freebies? Likewise, it can be time-consuming to check multiple retailers for the best price on a title you’re interested… Read more »

First DRM e-books on my Sony Reader
I’m very proud of myself! I figured out how to: 1) download Adobe Digital Editions, so I could download ePUB books with DRM from the Borders and Kobo bookstores (both free books and books I buy.) 2) authorize my computer on Digital Editions, so I can actually open DRMed books… Read more »

Dipping a Toe in the e-Book Pond
Well, I finally broke down and bought an eReader. I’ve done a lot of research and a lot of thinking about e-books since the Kindle first came out. I still have reservations, particularly about the cost and ephemeral nature of e-books, but I decided it was time to get my… Read more »

Availablity of e-Books for Children and Young Adults
Apropos of my earlier posting about Cushing Academy’s bookless library and the dubious availability of children’s and YA books in e-book format, I decided to do some further checking. I chose to check Amazon’s Kindle store rather than the Sony e-book store, because there are more titles available overall for… Read more »

Recommended: Baker on the Kindle
Apropos of my earlier post about e-books, I recommend Nicholson Baker’s “A New Page” in The New Yorker‘s Aug. 3, 2009, edition. The article discusses e-books, e-book devices in general, and Amazon’s Kindle in particular. Baker explores the history and marketing of e-paper and the Kindle as well as his… Read more »


































