News from around the web

As previously reported, Harlequin is giving away e-book versions of sixteen titles. Freebies always sound romantic.

China Melville, a popular sci-fi author has a new book due out in June 2009. It's called The City & The City. Sounds duplicitous.

While my knowledge of Jane Austen's world is limited to keeping Little Women* in the freezer, Laurie Viera Rigler has added a twist. She will regale us with her sophomoric visit to the world of Austen in June 2009 with Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict. *Yes, I know Austen didn't write Little Women.

My favorite football team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, may be courting book deals after their recent SuperBowl win. This isn't terribly surprising. After all, they are the only franchise to win six SuperBowl titles.

The National Museum of the American Indian has begun to put their collection online. Simply go to their main page and click on "Search" to access their collection. They're reportedly planning on putting the entire collection online over the next four years.

President Obama saw a slight jump in sales of his books in January. Dreams of My Father doubled sales during inauguration week by clearing 48,000 units. Just a slight increase.

We've been getting a lot of buzz recently about e-books, but we now have video books. I'm thinking (and hoping) this movement will fail. Utterly.

Reader's Digest applies the theory of less is more to its workforce. They're cutting 8% (under 300 people). And heads roll at Borders as well. Maybe the new CEO can get the ship afloat again.
And for those from Canada that don't already know, the BookExpo Canada has been shut down. This is something that's been brewing for weeks now. But on the flip side, Reed Exhibitions, the company behind it (and the New York Comic Con), is launching a Chicago Comic Con.

In much sadder news, illustrator Blair Lent passed away. I remember him for Tikki Tikki Tembo.

Back to e-books for a minute. Adobe, the king of all things PDF, has kicked Follett to the curb. And Sony will be releasing it's reader in Germany in March.

Then we have the President reading to some second-graders. But take note of the library in the background.


And the best library news of late? Captain Chelsey "Sully" Sullenberger, pilot of the plane that crashed in the Hudson River, appears to have lost his library book in the crash. The library is waiving the fees and replacing the book. The book, reportedly on professional ethics, has not been identified yet. While it appears the title won't be released anytime soon, I'd guess it will eventually be leaked and there will be a jump in sales.