BookTV is building a network of local content. Birmingham’s part start airing this past weekend and some of the videos are already online. Very cool! Click through and scroll down the left column to see videos filmed in the Alabama Booksmith and around town, all focused on Birmingham’s “literary scene”. The column on the right is from CSPAN’s History TV with even more videos and interviews from a Birmingham perspective.
Category Archives: Book Talk
Local Author Expo – Birmingham
Mark your calendars for December 3rd, 10:00am-3:00pm. That’s when the sixth annual Local Authors Expo is slated to take place. As always, the event will take place downtown at the Central Library. The expo is always an interesting mix of authors and books. Most of the tables are stacked with books by self-published authors. So authors have a publisher, but most are braving the wilds of literature on their own. Prices and subjects run the gamut, so you’ll want to leave yourself enough time to make the rounds. More than 90 authors have already signed on.
In keeping with the self-published push, they have also invited Liz Reed, of the Birmingham Arts Journal, to lead a 90-minute discussion/orientation for people wanting to get published. The event is called “Every Writer Needs an Editor“. It is free, but they’re asking that you click through that link to reserve a spot, so they can make sure they have enough seats.
Book Review: “The Unit” by Ninni Holmqvist
I just finished The Unit by Ninni Homqvist and published by Other Press. It’s a great read that shines a light on what can happen when society starts looking at the population as numbers and statistics and quits seeing the people behind the numbers.
I picked up this book because I really liked the thought-provoking premise: society’s older members, who have no family or crucial job are taken to a utopian campus where every whim, wish and need are catered too. They get to live out their final years as comfortable as possible. The only catch: they are expected to participate in medical experiments and donate their body parts, for as long as they can… until their “final donation”. This society sees it as humane as it takes their poorest members, gives them the best in art and creature comforts, while maximizing their contributions to society.
It’s absurd. Sure. Crazy. But still, a great premise for this story. It’s an idea I was hoping the book would dive deep into, but it doesn’t. Instead it swirls around on the lives of the “dispensables” that are inside “The Unit” and focuses on the main character, Dorritt. All of the people in the Unit completely understand what is going on and they don’t put up a fight when they have to participate in a psychological exam, drug test, donate a kidney or even donate their lungs and heart. They see it as finally being of value to their community, on the outside.
It doesn’t take you long to accept the rules of this community and start living alongside Dorritt in the dome. The writing in this book is fantastic. It just flows in and out of conversations and offering insights into love, loss, society, ethics, etc. I was truly impressed with the author. The book flies through every emotion you can think of and every type of relationship as these people lean on each other and help each other deal with loosing body parts, going crazy, love, politics, pregnancy…
Towards the end, I knew the clock is ticking and I just wanted to know, does Dorritt escape? Does she die? But also towards the end, I didn’t wasn’t quite ready for it to be over. I enjoyed the many conversations and personalities in The Unit.
This one gets three out five stars and will be recommended often.
Book Collecting 101
I encourage you to check out this post on book collecting over on Exile Bibliophile. I recently discovered that blog while clicking around the discussions over on LibraryThing. Here’s one of my favorite snippets:
“Not everyone who owns a lot of books is a book collector. Granted. I wear pants most days, and own many pairs, yet don’t think of myself as a pants connoisseur. Book collectors are the same way. A book collection has a purpose beyond accumulating, beyond, even, reading. A book collection has a purpose. What should the focus be? That’s the beauty of it.”
I like people who group their books in some logical or at least interesting fashion. I REALLY like people who dive deep into a category or genre or author. Those are always great conversationalists. And indeed. That is the beauty of it.