Mystery Lovers Bookshop for sale

Interested in owning a book store?  A mystery lover's bookstore?  Here's your opportunity to take over an existing, well-known store:  Mystery Lovers Bookshop.

"Since it opened to big fanfare on Halloween of 1990 Mystery Lovers Bookshop has put Western Pennsylvania on the book world’s map as the target destination for book tours with hundreds of imaginative and packed author events.

The store has sponsored the area’s only Book Festival now in its 17th year with 45 authors and 400 readers attending. For over 15 years, Mystery Lovers has been a reporting store to the New York Times bestseller lists."

If I lived in Western Pennsylvania, I just might really think about it.  But, sadly, I don't.

Goodreads and Amazon parting ways

Effective January 30, Goodreads and Amazon will no longer be partners.  paid.Content.org has a pretty good explanation of the split.

"Book-centered social networking site Goodreads, which allows users to keep records of the books they read and share the information with others, has long sourced most of its basic book data from Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN). Now, saying Amazon’s API terms have become “more and more restrictive,” Goodreads is switching data providers and entering an agreement with book wholesaler Ingram—alarming some users who fear their reading records will be lost.


The changes take place January 30. Goodreads’ new data source is book wholesaler Ingram. Goodreads will pay to license data from Ingram, and will supplement it with book records from the Library of Congress and other sources."


Click here for the entire article.

10 most expensive books in the world

Flavorwire posted an article on the 10 Most Expensive Books in the World.   One of the books was auctioned at Christie's on January 20th.

"It could be a record-breaking afternoon in the book world. Today, Christie’s New York will auction off a copy of John James Audubon’s Birds of America, which already holds the title of most valuable printed book in the world, having sold for about $11.5 million in 2010. In fact, according to The Economist, a true list of the ten most valuable single books ever sold would have to include five copies of The Birds of America. Though Christie’s is playing their cards close to the vest and estimating a $7 to $10 million sale, today could see a new record for the book. After all, the copy that sold for $11.5 million was estimated at less than the copy on auction today."

The book sold for $7.9 million!!  The Huffington Report gave some details of the book:  "The 3 1/2-foot-tall books feature hand-colored prints of all the species known to Audubon in early 19th-century North America. Audubon insisted on the book's large format – printed on the largest handmade sheets available at the time – because of his desire to portray the birds in their actual size and natural habitat."

Thriller Novels from 2011

I love seeing what authors recommend to their readers.  Michael Palmer talks about   A Few Memorable Thriller Novels from 2011 on his Facebook page.

And I have read a couple of the books -- Joseph Finder is one my favorites (Buried Secrets is his latest) and Karin Slaughter (Blindsighted).

Today's Washington Post has a very interesting article  'As demand for e-books soars, libraries struggle to stock their virtual shelves.'

"Kindles, Nooks and iPads can do many amazing things, but they can’t bump you ahead in line at the Reston Regional Library. In fact, if you want to borrow a book, it may be quicker to put down your sleek new device and head into the stacks."

The Joy of Books

The video, The Joy of Books,  has been circling the web all week  (1,768,606 views so far).  In case you missed it, do watch the video -- you will love it.

"After organizing our bookshelf almost a year ago (http://youtu.be/zhRT-PM7vpA), my wife and I (Sean Ohlenkamp) decided to take it to the next level. We spent many sleepless nights moving, stacking, and animating books at Type bookstore in Toronto (883 Queen Street West, (416) 366-8973)."

Which E-Books Are Most Borrowed From Libraries, And Why?

Which E-Books Are Most Borrowed From Libraries, And Why?     

An article on paidContent.org covers ebooks borrowed from libraries:

'OverDrive released its lists of the most-downloaded e-books from libraries in December 2011. These lists look pretty different from the current New York Times e-book bestseller lists."

Also, included in the article is some information on Penguin restoring libraries to lend ebooks -- but no new ebooks.  hmmm.

Good e-Reader announced a few days ago that Apple plans to launch a new Self-Publishing Program later this month:

"Apple is going to be holding an exclusive event in New York city later this month to possibly launch a new program for their iBooks and Publishing platform. Sources close to the matter have told us that they intend on launching a new digital self-publishing platform to get peoples content into the iBookstore. This is a huge step forward for Apple to compete with Amazon (DTP) and Barnes and Noble (Pubit)."

Self-publishing is getting stronger every day making the ebook world a more interesting place every day, too!

Love it!

Books to Movies 2012

BuzzSugar posted a list of twenty books being made into movies in the next year.  Below are the book covers.  How many of these books have you read?

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Science Fiction and Fantasy books

Last January I posted a list of science fiction books recommended on i09.  Recently i09 posted their list of The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2011.


The first book on the list is also on my 'to read' list, Reamde by Neal Stephenson.   "Neal Stephenson's new novel Reamde seems like it could never work: it's an epic-length thriller packed with infodumps about obscure ideas and 200-page gun fights. But the book is fantastic. Stephenson stages a crazy narrative collision between Chinese virus-writing gamers, a millionaire videogame entrepreneur, Russian mafia, rural American anti-government "wack jobs," and a murderous Welsh terrorist. With those kinds of characters in play, and a lot of dry humor, Stephenson absolutely hits it out of the park. Not only is Reamde a terrific high tech thriller, but it's also a profoundly interesting take on what it means to be American in the twenty-first century."

Another Book Christmas Tree

This tree is all green!!

Gift Guide

I like this gift list from abduzeedo.  It is not a list of the best sellers or the most popular, but a list of really interesting books that would make great gifts:  posters, graphics, brand theory, design and more.

Example:  Art of the Modern Movie Poster:  International Postwar Style and Design

"Critically authoritative, visually stunning, and physically massive, Art of the Modern Movie Poster is the first and last word on post-WWII film poster design. Showcasing fascinating examples from 15 nations, this collection of more than 1,500 exemplary designs is a must-have for film buffs, design and poster aficionados alike. The posters are organized by country of origin, offering an intriguing glimpse into each region's unique visual sensibility and sometimes unexpected takes on familiar films. Gathered from the renowned collection of the Posteritati Gallery in New Yorkone of the largest holdings of international film posters in the worldthis volume is the definitive survey of both film and popular graphic art in the modern era."

Another list of gift suggestions

Now, this list is from The American Spectator:  "WHAT IS A Washington Christmas without receiving a few policy books as stocking stuffers?"   Every family has someone interested in politics, international affairs or history.  I can think of two people in my family -- we live in the DC area, too!

'Our annual list of holiday gift suggestions from distinguishedreaders and writers."

Book Christmas Tree

Ha! or Ho! Ho! Ho!

Cookbook gift ideas

The Washington Post has lots of good ideas for cookbook gifts in the Food section.  One suggestion is

“Baking Style: Art, Craft, Recipes ,” by Lisa Yockelson (Wiley, $45). A shockingly pink cover holds the keys to well-crafted recipes plus remembrances of what motivates this Washington author to preheat the oven.
Recipes to try: Cinnamon Breakfast Popovers, Cornmeal and Cranberry Drop Biscuits, Whole-Wheat Soda Bread.

Gift the National Book Awards 2011 this year

The National Book Awards for 2011:

Fiction --  Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones
Nonfiction -- Stephen Greenblatt, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
Poetry -- Nikky Finney, Head Off & Split
Young People's Literature --  Thanhha Lai, Inside Out & Back Again

10 Best Books of 2011

And then the New York Times reduced their list of 100 best books down to the 10 Best Books of 2011.  I don't know how they did it.  I tried to make a list of my favorite 100 songs  and ended up with more than 150 songs on the list.

Taylor Swift Donation

Taylor Swift donated 6,000 books to her hometown library.    "Taylor Swift may not be in her Wyomissing, Pa., hometown this week, but that didn’t stop her from giving back to the residents there. Swift partnered with Scholastic Inc. to donate 6,000 librarian-chosen books to the public library of Reading, Pa., a city close to her hometown that has been hard hit by the economy."

Two things I love about this donation:  the first is the books were 'librarian-chosen'  -- donations are great, but the best donations are those which the libraries/librarians have the opportunity to chose what is needed and best for their community.   And secondly, according to School Library Journal, the average cost of a children's book in 2011 is $21.55 (hardback) and $11.25 (paperback).  Donating 6,000 books  even at wholesale prices is quite a contribution.  Thank you Taylor Swift for thinking of your hometown and libraries.

Curating

Curating seems to be the latest trend for digital readers.  This is new to me, but Scoop it has the scoop on curating.

You can be the 'curator of your favorite topic. 
Create your topic-centric media by collecting gems among relevant
streams Publish it to your favorite social media or to your blog.'

International Thriller Writers

I may have mentioned this site before, but I really like it.  Mysteries and thrillers are my favorites, so I love hearing news and forthcoming titles.  Checkout the International Thriller Writers site and the Big Thrill webzine.