Category Archives: Book Talk

Birmingham, Book Talk, Digital Publishing, E-Books, New Releases, On the Web, Publishing Industry News, Technology

Free eBooks from Birmingham-Area Libraries

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It is 11pm and I just checked out a book from my local library.

This week the JCLC system turned on its Overdrive-powered eBook network. So far it’s very very cool. The only complaints I have are tied to the CRAZY complicated hoops Adobe Digital Editions (which you will have to download) has in place. But that’s no fault of the library system and is required by most publishers anyway. But once you get the Adobe Digital Editions set up right, it’s great.

Via my JCLC account, I have “checked out” an eBook and am reading it on both my laptop and on my desktop. I have not tried to put it on my Sony eReader yet, as it needs a new battery and won’t hold a charge (yeah yeah, I know. That’s not a problem people reading print books have, but hey… did I mention, I just checked out a book at 11pm!) Anyway….

Here is the one tip I can offer: Once you download your eBook file (it has a .acm extension), “right click” (or ctrl-click) and choose “Open With…” and navigate to Adobe Digital Editions. The permission drm-wrapped file that is downloaded is not a straight up ePub and this seems to work better than opening Adobe Digital Editions and trying to import the .acm file into the library.

Cool factoids of the new system:

  • You get to choose your “check out period”. You elect 7 days, 14 days or 21 days at checkout.
  • You can checkout up to 5 titles at a time
  • Every digital file has icons showing which platforms/devices that book can be read on
  • So far there are 477 fiction books and 435 non-fiction books listed

The eBooks are not Kindle-friendly nor iDevice-friendly, but here is a list of all compatible devices. I’m going to take a look at checking out books to the Sony Reader and various iDevices.

Kudos to the JCLC System in bringing another great service to us. You guys really are something Birmingham can brag about.

Book Design, Book Talk, Digital Publishing, E-Books, Groups, On the Web, Publishing Industry News

Four Publishing Conversations Worth Following

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There is a TON of information online about books and the ever-shifting landscape of publishing. It just takes so long to sift through everything to find something of worth, that you could actually use. But there are four conversations I always check in on, via Twitter. Sometimes I look back through the conversations, days after it’s over to see what I miss and often learn tons I didn’t know. If you are interested in publishing, fire up search.twitter.com and plug-in these hashtags:

#dbw – Digital Book World – this is one GREAT conversation by folks involved in helping change the landscape of publishing. Digital Book World is a new annual conference (the one I wish I had gone to), that focuses more on the how-to and strategy rather than the crystal-ball gazing and the “where will we be in 10 years” like some conferences. It’s well worth your time to follow this hashtag daily. It’s maintained through @DigiBookWorld and @glecharles feeds. (BTW, Guy Charles has a personal blog worth checking out, too.)

#followreader – Follow the Reader – this is a weekly chat covering a specific topic each week. I’m constantly surprised by the quality and depth of the topics. Not too mention the techincal knowledge of the folks who chime in. This hashtag and site are sponsored by NetGalley and maintained by @charabbott and @katmeyer.

#ISBNHour – ISBN Hour – @ljndawson runs this weekly chat, every Friday at noon Eastern. It’s worth checking in on during the week to see if the slant of the current chat is of interest. This is one of the more open threads, as the conversation is really built on sussing out ideas and possible solutions for future problems. Lots of good talk of ISBN, categories, libraries and indexes here. Smart people trying to solve the issues facing the publishing industry before they become crippling problems.

#ePrdctn – eProduction – this is a recent add for me, but is the only one of these four that has earned a permanent column in TweetDeck. If you follow this hashtag you’ll find people chiming in and helping each other from all over the eBook production workflow. Full of solid advice and help regarding Adobe products, indexes and lots of  “has anyone dealt with this before” kind of camaraderie. This is an ongoing conversation by lots of people actually doing the production work that so many in the industry and media try to analyze. There have been some weekly topic-focused chats organized by @crych.

Think of those as four separate cocktail parties attended by just publishing-industry folks and we can walk from party to party listening in on conversations from publishing insiders in New York City, Los Angeles and maybe even Birmingham, AL. Yes, they can get a tad technical (which is sorely needed) and we could think of these as four different publishing workshops, but I promise you this will be a lot more fun if you read through all the conversations with a cocktail in hand.

I know that there are lots more conversations out there. Please, plug your favorite in the comments so I can check it out, if I’m not already.

Book Talk, Bookshelf, Bookstores, On the Web

The Shelf-Help Section

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Books truly are the foundation for. . .  Props to the shop. . .  Look at how resourceful. . .

A photo is worth a thousand puns. I have been in many shops that this very same structural support could have been in. They always are the fun ones.

shelfhelpbooks

This came via email from the thereifixedit.com site. You can waste an entire day clicking through that site. You have been warned!

Book Reviews, Book Talk, E-Books

Book Review: The Glass Room

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I bought The Glass Room by Simon Mawer solely on the recommendation of Anne Kingman in the “Books on the Nightstand” podcast. Too be honest. I never… never… would have picked up this book at the bookstore. It’s just not my usual area. But this one, set in the dawning of WWII in the smaller border countries of Europe, really is well done. And I highly recommend it.

Yes, it is a bit of a romance book, but there is enough geo-political, nationalistic thought that it all kind of makes sense. Even though this one is a bit more heavy in the, ahem, ‘relations’ area than I’m used to, that really didn’t get in the way either. All of the passions really make sense. Whether for other people, their country, their social status or their house.

Ah, the house. It is central to the story. It is the anchor of the story. Some have said it becomes it’s own character and while I won’t go that far I certainly appreciated the role it plays. The descriptions of such a modern architectural home were fantastic. The story follows a well-to-do couple in Europe in between WWI and WWII. They elect to build a modern house with glass walls all of the way around. The family and house are received about as well as you can imagine in such a traditional part of the world back in the early to mid-1900’s. Much of the story revolves around the relationships of a core group of friends and society types. There is love, affairs, work, travel, etc. and then was looms. And all of the fantasy and such goes out the window when it comes time for them to answer: jew or not jew? Do we stay or do we run?

I’m told that if you read a lot of literary romance fiction, this one might feel cliche at times, but I never felt that way.

I did read this on my phone via the Kobo reader app and really enjoyed it. I only noticed 6 errors, which is waaaaay less than any Kindle book I have ever bought. This is one I will look for though and buy as a paper book so that it can sit on my shelf for me to loan and talk about.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.