Category Archives: Book Column

Book Column, Book Reviews, Book Talk

Book Review: The Information Diet

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The Information Diet Book CoverClay Johnson’s The Information Diet (published by O’Reilly) is one of those books that I want everyone to read. It is very short. So it won’t take long. But it does get you thinking (and hopefully talking) about some very important points that many of us have not yet thought about.

In order for our country and culture to remain stable we must be well informed. Johnson does a good job of quickly outlining how and why we are becoming less informed these days. To be honest, half of the stuff he mentions – you probably already know, but you just haven’t thought about the implications. The “diet” metaphor isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. Mainly because it’s not so much ‘counting calories’ but thinking about the quality of what you are consuming and where it comes from (hint: local is better in food and information.)

Things like ‘what’s the difference in getting your news via Facebook rather than straight from a new source’ or ‘just how much do CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Washington Post, NY Times alter a story/headline to make it “more compelling”‘ and so on. This is one of those books that you will read and then will find yourself bringing it up in conversations for the next two weeks. It helps that the author is so up front with his political leanings so that we know where things are coming from. It allows the reader to follow him honestly and listen to the causes of much of what is changing in the media landscape.

The book not only does a good job of quickly showing how our news sources alter and filter information for us, but it also begins to explain why. Which starts us down the path of trying to fix the problems. The last bit of the book does contain some concrete “how to”‘ information and a pretty strong call to action, with a companion website.

My only complaint is that this wake up call/manifesto is as short as it is. The call to action and tool set offered at the end would have been a little more compelling if backed by some deeper discussion. But then the book would have been longer… and thus, not as approachable. This is one I wish everyone would take an afternoon to read. It’s a solid 4 out of 5 for me.

(In the spirit of full disclosure I did receive this book as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program.)

Book Column, Book Reviews

Book Review – Arctic Rising

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I picked up Tobias Buckell’s book after seeing two different people on Twitter mention it. I thought the setting of Buckell’s Arctic Rising (published by Tor) was fantastic. The book takes place in a future where, thanks to the almost-completely-melted North Pole,  there has been enough of a climate shift that shorelines, shipping routes and political boundaries have changed.

Over the course of a couple of decades, the land uninhabited in our 2012 world near the polar circle becomes the “new” temperate zone, allowing cities to pop up and all of the minerals and once-unreachable natural resources have now made folks north of the U.S. very important and wealthy.

It does not take long for the story to crank up as a global security patrol is shot out of the sky. The rest of the story follows the security pilot as she tries to stay alive, avenge her dead partner and figure out the conspiracy behind it all. A Google-ish type company, with all the “do no evil”, political pull and society-building, plays a major role in all of it as extremists try and use good technology for bad.

The setting, political backdrop and future technology made the book worthwhile for me, even if the plot and story telling were lacking a little. Don’t get me wrong, it is written to keep you turning pages, but it’s not exactly a “I can’t imagine how this ends” story. The stereotypical ending runs its course as it should and might feel like a political statement to some. But it certainly doesn’t get in the way of the fun ride along the way.

As a side note: the publisher places it in a newly named sub-genre called Spi-Fi, which I kind of like. I would look for more books under this moniker. Here’s to hoping Spi-Fi shelf-talkers start showing up alongside Sci-Fi.

I think Arctic Rising would be a great Summer read as it clips along fast and is set up in the arctic, which may help you cool off some while out on the beach. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Book Collecting, Book Column, Book Talk, library, News, On the TV

Rare Print Discovered in Library Book

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I love stories like this… The NY Times published the recent account of a Brown University archivist finding, what is believed to be one of only five copies of a print done by revolutionary heavyweight Paul Revere himself. No doubt the chance of this happening increases if your job is handling books from the 1700’s. But it’s still pretty cool to think that such a unique rarity was just stuck in the back of a book on physics. Revere was quite the engraver and printer, flooding the colonies with pamphlets and political information. He’s certainly not known for any kind of iconic or religious art, which ups the “cool factor” of the find. Be sure to click through to read the article on the library archivist and see the photos.

If nifty old archives of historical significance interest you then you should tune into Book TV (on CSPAN2) this weekend. At noon, on Saturday, they will be touring old bookstores and the Nichols Collection at the University of Oklahoma. They have books going back as far as the 15th century! They also have a History of Science Collection with papers and books from Galileo, Copernicus and other famous people in white lab coats. I think it’ll be fun to watch.

Authors, Book Collecting, Book Column, Books About Books, Upcoming Titles

New Basbanes Book in 2013

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Nicholas Basbanes is world’s leading expert on “books about books”. In 2009, during a BookTV interview (and tour of his home library), he teased his next book about the history of paper. It looks as if that new book, titles Common Bond, will finally get finished and printed. Basbanes is slated to speak at a University of Missouri dinner next week. An interview in the school’s library newsletter (PDF download) has Basbanes talking about the book briefly, saying:

“…I am loosely describing as a cultural history of paper and papermaking. It is a story that covers two thousand years but, consistent with the way I do things, is pretty much an exercise in storytelling. I go where the good stories are.”

The book has traces paper’s invention, use and future from the earliest pulp recipes in China through the current artisan and preservation efforts of today. The folks over at the FineBooks blog (the blog where I picked up on this and one you should be reading) said that Knopf is the publisher. I checked the Knopf Fall 2012 and didn’t see it listed, so it looks like it will be a Spring 2013 title at the earliest.