Category Archives: Book Talk

Birmingham, Book Sale, Book Talk, Events, library

Book Sales in the Birmingham Area

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There are two annual book sales coming up. Both are coordinated by local library friends’ groups and have been worth attending in the past. They are usually a solid mix of used-library books as well as fantastic copies and hardbacks donated by neighborhood folks. Hard to pass up on a sale where good clean hardbacks are only a buck or two, isn’t it?

I know the weather is supposed to warm up and there is some big race in town this weekend, but the annual Book Sale at the Emmet O’Neal Library kicks off tonight. The official date/times are:

*Thursday, February 19th from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Friday, February 20th from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 21st from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 22nd from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

On Sunday only, all the books, in the upstairs area of the sale, will be half-price and all the books in the downstairs area can be included in a $10 “stuff a bag full of books” deal.

*note that the Thursday evening event is for Friends of the Library members only. You can join for $25 online.

Two weeks later, the annual Friends of the Hoover Public Library Blowout Book Sale takes place. I don’t have any pricing specifics on this sale yet, but in previous sales you were hard pressed to find a book over $4. The date/times are:

Saturday, March 7th from 10:00 a.m.- 5:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 8th from 2:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Also, for more information you can call the Used-Book Store at the Hoover Library at 205-444-7774.

 

 

Book Column, Book Talk, New Releases, Recommendations, Upcoming Titles

Five Upcoming Books I’m Excited About

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The upcoming year is proving to be chock full of good books. Below is my short list of five upcoming books I can’t wait to read and it begins with a bit of breaking news. . .

Just last night, on his blog, author Nicholas Carr revealed Utopia is Creepy:

UtopiaIsCreepy

Nothing else is given or known, but it’s one I can’t wait to read. His last book The Glass Cage was fantastic and I highly recommend it to every adult with a functioning brain. Carr has written other best sellers, but Glass Cage really makes you think and reconsider the technology that is about to infect your world. I can only anticipate more of the same. Utopia Is Creepy by Nicholas Carr is out sometime in 2016.

LostTimeAccidentsThe Lost Time Accidents: A Novel by John Wray
Release date: February 9, 2016

Coming in at 512 pages, Wray’s upcoming book won’t be the fastest read of the year, but read the first paragraph of the promo copy:

“In his ambitious and fiercely inventive new novel, The Lost Time Accidents, John Wray takes us from turn-of-the-century Viennese salons buzzing with rumors about Einstein’s radical new theory to the death camps of World War Two, from the golden age of postwar pulp science fiction to a startling discovery in a Manhattan apartment packed to the ceiling with artifacts of modern life.”

How can that not be a fun book? I hear the story spans three generations and all the war, old-school mysteries and love affairs that three lifetimes demand.The Lost Time Accidents by John Wray hits bookstore shelves on February 9, 2016.

BadAssLibrariansThe Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts by Joshua Hammer
Release date: April 19, 2016

This one wins for best title and for the fact that it’s a true story! It tells the tale of some super-brave librarians in 2012 Timbuktu who hid ancient manuscripts from Al Qaeda as the terrorists were ransacking museums and libraries. The Bad-Ass Librarians hit the streets on April 19, 2016.

HourOfLandThe Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks by Terry Tempest Williams
Release date: June 7, 2016

Here is the other non-fiction on my short list of awesome upcoming books. The U.S. National Park System turns 100 this year. The Hour of Land contains 12 stories showing us why the parks and the great outdoors are important today in this increasingly facebook-centered world. You can pick it up from your local book shop on June 7, 2016.

TimeSiegeTime Siege by Wesley Chu
Release date: July 12, 2016

This is the second book in Chu’s newest series. The first book Time Salvager came out last year and wound up being one of my favorite sci-fi books of 2015. If you like time travel tales, this series is a good one so far. The Chronomen are back in business July 12, 2016.

Book Column, Book Talk, Events

National Science Fiction Day

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Happy New Year and happy National Science Fiction Day! Today’s sci-fi focus is due to the grand poo-bah of all things sci-fi Isaac Asimov being born today back in 1920. Asimov’s sideburns run wide and his influence runs deep through all sci-fi books these days as his books remain some of the best of the genre.

isaac_asmiovIf Asimov is new to you, check him out over on LibraryThing to get a better sense of his books. I think it’s great how science fiction is no longer just the domain of the geeks and such. It’s all pretty much gone mainstream. Niffenegger’s The Time Traveller’s Wife was the first book I remember realizing had jumped to the mainstream (back in 2004) and wasn’t considered science fiction, even though the entire story would not have been possible if time travel wasn’t allowed. Now the books are numerous and run across all genres. I think it’s great.

So, in honor of National Science Fiction Day 2015, here are three things worth checking out. It doesn’t matter if you’re a die-hard nerfherder who groks hard sci-fi over breakfast or if you are new and feel like it’s all so alien, it’s all a lot of fun and plenty to think about:

Tor.com – sign up for their newsletter. These guys are great and they totally get what makes the science fiction community tick. Even though their roots are in sci-fi books, they talk TV, movies, games and music. It’s all very fun. It’s a great site, but be sure to sign-up for their newsletter. I always look forward to it.

Singularity & Co. – these guys are on a mission. They find old pulp out-of-print science fiction books, secure the rights and then re-issue them (usually as ebooks). Plus, they now have a physical shop in Brooklyn where you can buy some of the coolest covers from eons past.

Different Engines – this one is a book. It’s a book about the history of science fiction and is very well researched. I share this book as often as I can. It’s amazing how closely tied science fiction and actual science are. If you’re into sci-fi, you probably should have this one on your shelf.

different engines cover

 

Authors, Birmingham, Book Column, Book Talk, Events, New Releases

The Localist – Birmingham Book Launch

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Mark your calendars for this Saturday (November 29th) for the book launch of local author and business owner Carrie Rollwagen’s newest project The Localist: Think Independent, Buy Local and Reclaim the American Dream. Things kick off at 10 a.m. at Church Street Coffee & Books.

The Localist is a book that is near and dear to just about everything Rollwagen espouses. It’s a book. It’s local. It’s a way of life. I have yet to get my hands on a copy, but the premise sounds like the kind of book that inspires people to be aware of what is going on around them and could even save our sense of community.

The_Localist_01

Part memoir and part “how-to” guide for shopping local, readers will:

. . . follow Carrie on her localist adventure as she embraces slow food, small business, the locavore movement, and many quirky indie shopkeepers and unique independent shops along the way.

The Localist promises to not be anti-big-box store, just very very pro-local-indie shop, while offering tips on how to save money buying local and how to interact with the community. It’s a theme Rollwagen (@crollwagen) weaves into her writing whenever pen is put to paper or she sits at a keyboard. She blogs about buying local Alabama goods, she blogs at her local shop and she blogs about her writing.

If you’re not sold yet, then take a moment and read through a couple of excerpts:

So check out The Localist event at Church Street Coffee & Books this Saturday at 10 a.m. There are also more upcoming events listed if you’d like to meet Carrie and check out the book some other time. I have no doubts this book is worth reading no matter where you live or where you shop.