News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, giveaways on this and other blogs, and other cool stuff.
Books & Ebooks in the News:
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| Man Booker 2013 shortlist titles |
- The Man Booker 2013 shortlist was announced on Sept. 10. You can find links to free samples of the shortlisted books at GalleyCat.
- “BiblioTech Digital Library Opens This Week”. The world’s first all-digital public library will open its doors today. (Michael Kozlowski, Good E Reader)
- “Pleasure Reading ‘Significantly’ Improves School Performance” according to a British study. I doubt that comes as much of a surprise to those of us who read a lot! (Jason Boog, GalleyCat)
- “Oyster Offering All-You-Can-Read eBooks for $9.95/Month” In other words, a subscription service like Netflix, for ebooks. At least two major publishers have already signed on, HarperCollins and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Unfortunately, it only works on the iPhone. (Sovan Mandal, Good E Reader)
- “71 % of Travelers Prefer Print Books Over e-books”. I don’t quite get that. I much prefer print books at home (except when I’m knitting — ebooks stay open!), but I can’t fit 600+ books in my luggage when I travel — and I don’t always know what I’ll be in the mood to read. Besides, I need the space for yarn. (Michael Kozlowski, Good E Reader)
- “The Rockstar of Rare Books Goes On Tour”. A rare copy of the Bay Psalm Book, the first book printed in the U.S. (in 1640!) went on tour this week prior to its auction by Sotheby’s. It’s expected to fetch between $15 and $30 million. (Abe Books)
- “Google Submits New Patent for Triggered Sounds in eBooks” (Michael Kozlowski, Good E Reader)
Worth Reading:
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| photo © J Brew (brewbooks), Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0 |
- “Book Browsing: A Lost Art?” (Julie Crisp, Tor.com)
- “It’s the Reader, Stupid” Hugh Howey points out the problems caused when publishers and large chains think of each other as customers, and why indie bookstores, indie authors, and Amazon are doing well by focusing on what the reader wants. (on his website/blog)
- “Opinion: Amazon: The Empire We Love to Hate” (Mercy Pilkington, Good E Reader)
For Writers & Bloggers:
- Is your e-reader overflowing with freebies and review copies? Take the Clean out your E-reader Challenge in November, hosted by Fantasy is More Fun and Because Reading is more fun, and plow through some of those books!
- “No Plot? No Problem! Three Things to Keep in Mind While Brainstorming”. September is NaNoWriMo prep month — time to get that plotline worked out!
- “10 Counterintuitive Tips for Self-Publishers” (post by Porter Anderson, tips by Hugh Howey; Publishing Perspectives)
In Remembrance:
The Library of Congress exhibition, “Witness and Response: September 11 Acquisitions at the Library of Congress, features the collections that the Library has amassed and is still receiving about the tragic events of one year ago.” You can read about the exhibition and see some of the collected materials online.
Book and Movie Announcements:
- Tor.com reports that Patrick Rothfuss has sold “the first in a new fantasy series” to his editor, Betsey Wollheim. The book would presumably be published after The Doors of Stone, book three in the Kingkiller Chronicles. No word as to whether the new series will be set in the same world.
- Maggie Stiefvater announced a standalone book featuring Cole and Isabel from the Shiver series. The book will release in hardcover and ebook in July 2014.
- J. K. Rowling returns to the wizarding world to adapt Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for the big screen. (BBC News) Rowling announced the film on her Facebook page. I’m excited about this! It’s not Harry Potter, but it’s in that world (albeit 70 years earlier), and if it’s done well, it could be a lot of fun.
- Paddington Bear is getting a film, too, and Colin Firth will provide his voice. (BBC News) I can’t wait to see this one, either! I loved the books as a child. The rest of the cast is stellar, as well.
- Emma Watson will star in the film adaptation of Emma Forrest’s Your Voice in My Head. The book is about a bipolar Englishwoman and her psychiatrist. (Variety)
Awesome lists:
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| From Buzzfeed, via literacymattersweekly.blogspot.com |
- 19 Cats Reading Books (Buzzfeed)
- 11 Most Evil Characters in Books (Koren Zailckas, Publishers Weekly)
Really cool:
- Performing Shakespeare’s plays with their original English accent — this video documentary is 10 minutes long, but fascinating and well worth watching if you are a lover of Shakespeare. (22 Words)
Just for fun:
- Give Random House Retreat’s Reading Bingo Challenge a try!
Bookish Quotes:
That’s it for this week!
I’m always on the lookout for interesting articles, lists, and links for News & Notes, so please let me know if you see (or write!) anything that might be good for this feature. You can leave me a comment or send me an email — my address is on the About/Review Policy/Contact page.
Kimberly @ Turning the Pages
I love this feature on your blog! Isn’t it awesome that they’re making a film in the world of Harry Potter? I hope they get the same people who made the film series to work on it because they’ve got some awesome special effects people. I love the video about Shakespeare too, it’s really interesting 🙂
– Kimberly @ Turning the Pages
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
Thank you, Kimberly! I’m… cautiously excited about the Fantastic Beasts film. And the Shakespeare video was fascinating!
Bea
I agree with Kimberly, this is such a great feature!
The news about the travelers surprised me; I expected the percentage for print books to be lower. A digital reader is so convenient and offers so much variety and takes up less space. Ah well, at least they are reading. The article about pleasure reading boosting school performance was no surprise to me. Any teacher knows that’s a no-brainer; it’s painfully obvious.
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
Thank you, Bea! Yes, that surprised me, too. I really thought traveling was where people who are ambivalent about ebooks, or who read both ebooks and print, would come down on the ebooks side, for exactly the reasons you state.
And yes, the link between pleasure reading and school performance seems so obvious, yet many parents seem unaware of it.
Greg
Some good links as always… I especially liked the TOR article by Julie Crisp. I too miss browsing bookstores (especially used bookstores) amd finding a surprise. As much as I love blogging and getting the advanve word on new books, nothing compares to discovering a keeper in a shop. And I miss used bookstores too, there just aren’t as many anymore.
The plot link was a good one too!
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
I miss browsing bookstores, too… but browsing the NetGalley and Edelweiss catalogs helps fill the gap somewhat. I do still browse in the library and in used bookstores, when I get a chance.
Thanks for stopping by!
kimbacaffeinate
Triggered sounds in eBooks? Like when you get to a page or sentence or by choosing to do something? I gotta tell ya, noises scare me like when I visit a blog and music starts..we are talking Heart-a-tack!!!! Awesome informative post as always Lark! Keep up coming 🙂
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
That’s the idea… when you read a scene set next to the ocean, you would hear waves, and so on. It could be startling, until you got used to it. I’m not sure I like the idea; I like ‘hearing’ the sounds in my head.
Thank you for the compliment! 🙂
readerholicnotes
Lots of great links to explore! I also don’t understand a traveler who would rather take a print book instead of an e-reader. I don’t always know what I plan to read either. The bingo game looks interesting. I don’t like the idea of sounds when I’m reading an e-book. I don’t need or want it.
Also did you know a new Foyle’s War series begins tonight on Masterpiece Mystery on PBS? I can’t wait!
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
Ooh, I wish I could watch Foyle’s War tonight, but I’ll have to wait until PBS streams it or it shows up on Netflix. We gave up cable last spring. (We hardly ever watched anything but PBS anyway; we were watching DVDs and Netflix streaming, when we watched stuff at all.)
I’m with you on the sounds; I don’t think I’d like that. I don’t even listen to music when I read; I prefer to be immersed in the story.
kimbacaffeinate
Palace of Spies look like fun and I am so excited for the next book from D.H. I hope it actually comes out in 2014 ..eep!
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
Me too!!!