Sometime last year, I made the decision to try to read more “new” books. (To be clear, by “new” I mean a book I haven’t read before. When things are stressful — and sometimes when they’re not — I tend to reread old friends. I think I’ve mentioned this before.) … Read more »
Great Winter Books for Children
We’re almost a week into December and nearing the official start of winter in the northern hemisphere. Whether you’re eagerly awaiting the first snowfall or already up to your knees in it, here are some of my favorite books about winter and snow for children of all ages: Picture books:In… 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 »
Recommended: Recent Articles
There have been several interesting articles on the future of publishing, e-books, and tablet computers recently. Over at CNN, Amy Gahran writes about the potential market for smaller tablets, looking primarily at the Kindle Fire, Nook Color, and forthcoming Kobo Vox. At PBS’s MediaShift, Jenny Shank gives 5 Reasons E-Books… Read more »
Are Publishers on the Verge of Obsolescence?
Simon Owens at MediaShift has an article about SF/Fantasy novelist Tim (T. A.) Pratt’s creativity in financing his writing after Random House failed to renew his contract. Rather than leave his fans in the lurch partway through a series, Pratt asked them to subsidize an online serial publication of the… Read more »
Book Collectorz cataloging program
A year or two ago (probably closer to two), I received Book Collector, a book cataloging program from Collectorz, as a gift. I had researched a number of options for cataloging my books, from online catalogs like LibraryThing to shareware programs. Book Collector looked like the best bet, largely because… Read more »
Book-A-Minute
Book-A-Minute purports to offer “ultra-condensed” versions of the classics you know you should have read, along with an extensive selection of SF/Fantasy and children’s books, so that you can read them in considerably less time than the full-length version would require. In fact, this is a humor site, strictly for… Read more »
Bloodstained Bookshelf: A List of Forthcoming Mystery Titles
If you love mysteries and can hardly wait for your favorite author’s next book, you’ve probably spent hours trolling Amazon, publisher, and author websites trying to figure out when that book will be available. (I certainly have!) Thanks to Ashley McConnell, you won’t have to waste a lot of time… Read more »
Replacing My Print Library?
Joe Konrath, successful thriller author and promoter of self-publishing, recently blogged about getting rid of some of his [paper] books. According to Konrath, he has replaced a number of them with e-books, and plans to replace many of the remaining books. Judging by the 150-plus comments he’s gotten, he struck… Read more »
And the Earth Shook…
You don’t expect earthquakes in Virginia. It’s true that central Virginia is slightly more likely to have seismic activity than a lot of the rest of the East Coast, but that’s not saying much. There is a fault line running through Virginia, part of what was once a tectonic plate… Read more »
Follow Me
Recent Reviews
Currently Reading
