A Monday Round-Up
We came across a variety of book news this weekend that we simply have to share with Okie Reads visitors…
Now this is a book!! John James Audubon’s Birds of America sold at auction in London earlier this month for $11.5 million, making it the world’s most expensive monograph. The book is more than three feet tall and two feet wide and has 435 illustrations by the master naturalist. Wow!
Judging a Book by it’s Cover. CBS Sunday Morning ran a great piece on the importance of cover art in marketing books. Read more and watch the video.
Google’s amazing and not-so-amazing Ngram Viewer. Google has digitized more than 5 million books since 2004. This new product from Google Labs lets you trace the usage of a word or phrase during the past five centuries. But, before you get too excited I’ll share an experience with you. I typed in the word “Email” and saw that it had been used as early as the mid 1800′s. Say what?! Clicking on the time period, I received a link to an actual page that included the 
word “email.” Except it wasn’t the word “email.” It was the word “small.” (Looks like human sentience beat stupid software robot this time.) Actually, we think Ngram Viewer has a great future and will provide some wonderful research assistance in the future; especially if the software giant employs actual thinking beings to check the scans.
DADT Comic Book?! The repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was all over the news this weekend, but this article was a real find. Seems a department of the U.S. Army published a comic book to explain the policy to our men and women in uniform. You can read the whole comic by clicking here. (Bet our U.S. Government Information librarians knew about this strange little document all along!)
A Monday Round-Up
I came across a bit of news from the world of books and reading this weekend. Here are the goodies that I thought deserved a pass-along…
The Google ebookstore is officially open. An earlier news report mentioned that Google ebooks could be read on Amazon’s Kindle. I thought that was odd, and turns out, it was. Kindle is not mentioned in the list of supported devices. But the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, the Sonny e-reader, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, and Android devices are. There’s even a web reader so you can read “on the cloud.” (Reading on a cloud sounds like a great kids fantasy, but, of course, we’re talking about a computer cloud.) Google says it has the largest selection of books, now. Plus, they’re partnering with independent booksellers, which could be a very good thing. Now it’s time to sit back and watch the e-book war among Google, Amazon and a few other players.
Another site launches today, one that’s geared for the literary teen set: Figment.com.This New York Times article describes it as a social network for young-adult fiction. It’s a place for teens to read, write and discover new content. (It’s also a place for publishers to see what teens want to read.) Wonder what S.E. Hinton would have made of this if Figment had exsisted back when she was a teenager?
‘Tis the Season for Cookbooks! OK, I don’t even cook, but I have a sister who loves to try out new recipies. So, in searching for some possible gift ideas, I discovered hese top ten cookbook lists!
The Washington Post’s Top Cookbooks of 2010
bon appetit’s Favorite Cookbooks of 2010
2010′s Best Cookbooks, courtesy of NPR.
Finally, will Barnes & Noble buy Borders? If the big box bookstores start closing, it’s another reason to make sure your Independent Bookseller survives.
Hope everyone has a very happy week of December 6!
A Friday Round-Up
A number of interesting literary items to report as we enter the homestretch to the weekend.
Zombies vs. Unicorns and more Zombies!
First up: A podcast from three Oklahoma young adult librarians that’s just perfect for Halloween. Adrienne, Emily and Karl review the Zombies vs. Unicorns anthology edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalesiter. We like the quote from the Booklist review on the Amazon.com site:
Can the chatter of the YA nerdosphere launch a successful book? This imaginative collection answers with a resounding yes. Beginning in February 2007, editors Black and Larbalestier debated zombies’ and unicorns’ strengths and weaknesses on Larbalestier’s blog, and the resulting interest roped in stories from a number of impressive authors…”
Only young adult authors and librarians could come up with this kind of stuff, and you have to admit that it’s pretty much beyond kewl!
Speaking of Zombies, AMC launches it’s new series The Walking Dead this Sunday. It’s based on Robert Kirkman‘s monthly comic book series, which is also beyond kewl! Go here for an Interview with Kirkman on the adaptation of his work to the small screen.
Festival of Books for Young People
The Oklahoma Library Association held their biennial Mildred Laughlin Festival of Books for Young People yesterday in Midwest City. More than 100 Oklahoma youth librarians attended the event at the Tom Steed Center at Rose State College. Special guests were children’s author and illustrator Laura Vaccaro Seeger, chilidren’s author Stephen Krensky, and Tamora Pierce, author of fantasy literature for young adults. I have to tell you, I was completely blown away by Seeger’s talent, and I’m going to be getting her Lemons are not Red and One Boy books for my grandniece, Brooklyn. Also loved Krensky’s What Do You See? and I picked up a copy of that. Pierce is a big, popular talent with young people, and two of her teenage fans trekked from southeastern Oklahoma to meet their favorite author. ‘Twas a good day!
Finally…
…we leave you with a slide show from The Huffington Post Blog on Nine Non-Writers Who Influenced Literary History. Who knew? You do now.
