Just finished…

Posted by trav in Book Reviews, Book Talk      1 comment

Sep
29

Juan Williams’ Enough. I picked up this book after a great post by one of Birmingham’s more prominant bloggers.

I thought this critical look at racial divides in our country was very logical and clearcut, which (as I understand it) is one of the reasons Williams has come under attack for his statements. Too much cold logic and not enough emotion and historical perspective.

As always I posted my thoughts over on LibraryThing.

My advice: Read the book and decide for yourself.

Just two more days…

Posted by trav in Book Talk, Events, News      No comments

Sep
29

until it’s officially Buy A Friend A Book Week. We’ve already got our target recipient picked out, but have to wait to buy the book. It is the end of the month right now, you know?

Don’t forget…

Posted by trav in Events, On the TV      No comments

Sep
29

to check this weekend’s BookTV schedule. This weekend is the National Book Festival in D.C. It looks like there’s a big chunk on Saturday devoted to it and you can be they’ll pepper crowd shots and author interviews the rest of the weekend.

Books by bytes

Posted by trav in Book Talk, On the Web      No comments

Sep
28

Sony released their new e-reader yesterday. They say the new non-backlit technology “rivals the printed page”. At $350 a pop, it better surpass it.

read more

Do blog-books bomb?

Posted by trav in Book Talk, News      No comments

Sep
27

Gawker has compiled a pretty exaustive list of blogger book deals. It’s pretty interesting. Even with “less than stellar sales”, it’s amazing how many publishers keep coming back to the trough. They must just have money to burn.

I’m a huge fan of blogs and books. But I tend to think that blogs fill a niche need for readers and that these readers are satisfied with that, so they don’t buy the book. Plus, I think publishers let their eyes glaze over when their marketing people tell them how many hits a blog gets and they think that number translates directly into potential sales. So they do a sub-par job with the book “to get it out while it’s still relevant” and put a less than stellar book on the market.

Just my two cents.

Oh yeah, happy Banned Book Week! And here’s Google’s Banned Book initiative.

Reading about reading

Posted by trav in Book Talk      No comments

Sep
22

NY Times‘ William Grimes posts an article about reading and crafting stories.

Don’t forget…

Posted by trav in Book Talk, On the TV      No comments

Sep
22

This weekend’s Book TV schedule is up.

I see that Sunday at Noon (EST) Chomsky (who is not dead) will be on talking about his 2003 Hegemony or Survival book that rocketed from obscurity to No.3 on Amazon after being mentioned at a United Nations meeting. Now you can see what all the hub-bub is about.

Selling stories via video

Posted by trav in Book Talk, Media      No comments

Sep
22

So Many Books is the reason I took to the whole blogging idea. I’ve been lurking there forever. It’s great reading, neat folks and I may have even learned something here and there.

Here’s a link to a post that introduces us to “video ads for books”. They’re fun to watch and yes, a tad addictive.

What a fun read!

Posted by trav in Book Reviews, Book Talk      No comments

Sep
15

I just finished Jack Butler’s Jujitsu for Christ.

It was FANTASTIC! Just a well crafted southern tale dealing with some serious issues. The whole book takes place over a few years in 1950′s-1960′s Mississippi. Great characters and great writing. The dialect and depictions of southern concerns will have your side splitting at times.

Highly recommended for folks looking for an easy entertaining read.

Don’t forget…

Posted by trav in On the TV      No comments

Sep
15

to check out this weekend’s Book TV schedule.