Category Archives: On the Web

New online bookservice

There’s a new book “lending” service in town… PaperSpine.com

It’s just like Netflix, except for books. That’s right. The monthly plans start at $9.95, you click which books you want to read, they mail them to you, you read and return, then they mail you the next one on your list.

It’s sounds a lot like a library, except this one you pay for. I guess there are some places in the country that have limited access to books, but I find it hard to believe that this new business will actually make any money. It just seems like a really bad idea. Some of this discussion has already crept up on PaperSpine’s blog.

Libraries, local bookstores, Amazon, chain bookstores, etc. they have a pretty good track record for getting books, cheaply into people’s hands. I just don’t see the “it worked for Netflix and movies, so it’ll work here” argument holding any water.

{via GalleyCat}

I’m over there too

For the month of December, I’ll also be posting over at The Bham Terminal. It’s a hyper-local site that’s gaining steam here in Birmingham, AL and across the Southeastern U.S.

It looks like my bookish banter will fall in the Timetable section. I haven’t decided if I’ll cross-post or what. We’ll just have to see how it goes.

So check it out, before I do something wrong and cause that cool site to crash (though I’ll try not too)! There’s a lot of good info to crawl through for folks who live around these here parts.

Paper & prose for the nose

smell.jpgHere’s one for the Gift List this season. It’s a scent from CB Experience called “In the Library”.

Here is the description of the fragrance, from the manufacturer’s site:

“English Novel taken from a Signed First Edition of one of my very favorite novels, Russian & Moroccan leather bindings, worn cloth and a hint of wood polish”

What’s really cool is that we all know exactly what they are talking about. If you’ve spent anytime in a used bookstore, you know that nice comforting aged paper smell they are referring to. I sure do wish there was a way to sample the goods over the internet.

Now, if they can just get the smell of a fresh batch of bluelines or color print proofs in a bottle… but maybe that’s just me.

(via Books, Inq.)