News of the week

We start off this week with the upcoming Virginia Festival of the Book from March 18-22 in Charlottesville, Virginia. With four pages of just fiction authors, I think this is one of those events only a true bibliophile would attend. Check the link to get a better idea of who will be there.

Then we have some belated news from the February 11th edition of The Journal. The weekly craft during Storytime was dream catchers. As we can see here, the kids had fun.

Neal Wyatt of Library Journal spells his name wrong but lists his top fantasy novels. Hmmm. Nothing I've read yet. Maybe he spelled the titles wrong too.

Then we have a book on the black history of schools in Cleveland County, North Carolina. The book has done so well, it's already sold out of its first printing.

And while I used to live in Shelby and miss it dearly, I think I'm more likely to follow the 2009 Audies. The finalist list has been released but I'm ashamed to admit I've only read three books on the list (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, and The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry). Does it help that Nation by Terry Pratchett is on my short list at the library?

Jim C. Hines mentioned that one of his books (The Stepsister Scheme) had shown up on a pirate site. While I know peer-to-peer (aka P2P) networks are alive and running well, I honestly had not thought of e-books showing up there. Could this be the proof the industry needs that e-books are the wave of the future? After all, if there's a black market for an item, then somebody out there must want it bad enough to break the law to get it. Well publishers, here's further proof e-books are coming. Galley Cat reports that galleys are now showing up on P2P sites. While the ripples may be small now I think this shows a clear increase in e-book readers (meaning both those people that read e-books and the technology that reads e-books).

*And in late-breaking news, Galley Cat is reporting that publisher O'Reilly saw jumps in their sales of pirated books. Could this be the an e-book echo? (I call dibs on that phrase!) We've already heard from authors like Hines and many others that free e-books can boost sales. Could pirated books do the same thing? Isn't this the same thing we're seeing with all those free IHOP pancakes and Quizno's subs? Publishers, I'm willing to accept your free books now (e-book and printed versions are accepted).

Even though my commute has gone from seven and a half hours a week to seven and a half seconds a day, I still enjoy audio books. Which brings us to this link that shows some of the top audio book downloads from libraries.

And while Borders makes more cuts to their workforce, I get more nervous about the gift cards I have. Will they turn out like Circuit City and become worthless? Or will Barnes & Noble accept them? Or am I still crazy for thinking merger?

I've never been a fan of Tolkien, but I can appreciate the impact he’s made on the industry. Even now, well after his death, he’s still making ripples. And no, I won't even go into the whole Richard Morgan debate. At least not now.

As previously reported, Anderson News asked for more money. Now they’re laying people off. But it looks like there is more to the magazine industry that the readers don’t know about.

And yet again, e-books are back in the news. It looks like Danielle Steel is joining the ranks of other mainstream authors like John Grisham and Tom Clancy in doing e-books. Welcome to the next century old-farts.

Think your library stinks? Not as much as this one. Do you hate those smelly patrons at the library? If you do, best leave before you make comments that land you in jail.

And in more somber news, Matthew Reidsma (reidsrow) recently reported the death of his grandfather and posted the eulogy. While I know none of the family on any personal level, I can certainly relate to the feelings. For me it is utterly regretting not spending more time with my other grandmother. I'm not sure what brings me to tears more, the thought of not seeing them again or my own stupidity.