Category Archives: On the Web

Birmingham, library, New Releases, On the Web

Newest Books at the Library

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Here is a great link for folks in the Birmingham-area to bookmark. It’s a handy collection of lists showing you the most recent books, dvd’s, eBooks, audiobooks, etc. available for check out from local libraries. The lists are maintained by the Birmingham Central Library, Hoover Library, Vestavia Library and the Botanical Garden branch.

For the most part they are updated about twice a month. So it’s a good place to check on the 1st and 16th of each month to see if there is something new you’d like to read. Of course, being in the JCLC system, if you see something you like you can always have it requested and shipped to the closest library branch to you.

Book Column, Digital Publishing, E-Books, On the Web, Publishing Industry News, Technology

Free eBook – John Carter Barsoom Series

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A few weeks ago I decided I wanted to see what all of the John Carter fuss was about. So I went looking for the first book in the series. Which, after a few Google searches, told me was A Princess of Mars. The problem was I didn’t know if I’d like it, so I didn’t want a new copy. I checked two local used-book spots and struck out. There is also a waiting list to get one of the library copies, so I turned to eBooks. I didn’t originally start here as I like old vintage sci-fi artwork and I was hoping to get something along those lines (still am).

I knew that Edgar Rice Burroughs penned the Barsoom series books a long time ago and that they would be in the public domain, so I went to Project Gutenberg first. And there it was. In eight different formats. So I grabbed a .prc file and loaded it on my device, via email. I have to say that it’s great fun so far. If you like Golden Age-styled science fiction you should check it out.

Here are links and screenshots of the various online services. It’s interesting to see them all side-by-side so you can note the similarities and differences between them.

Project Gutenberg

Kindle

Nook

Google Play




Since the book is public domain all of the platforms should have copies. I have no idea if these files differ, but Kindle, Nook and Google all have free e-book versions. In fact, Kindle, Google and Project Gutenberg all allow onine in-browser reading. Something that the nook service lacks. Plus, the Kindle, Nook and Google platforms all have syncing. So if you are on page 52 on your kindle and then run an errand, you can pull out your phone app and it will sync to the right place.

I’m waiting to see how this book ends before deciding if I’m going to complete the series. Have any of you read through the series?

 

 

Birmingham, Bookstores, On the Web

New Books Blog in Bham

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Carrie Rollwagen (twitter), who owns Church Street Coffee & Books, is set to launch a new site Monday called PostScript Blog. Rollwagen is a proponent of shopping small and great book stores. Two things I like too. In a recent post on her Shop Small Blog she said the new site will:

“…I think books are so important, and because I think the battle of independents versus Amazon is such a great Small Shop case study, my new blog, PostScript Blog, will focus on books — kind of.

I say “kind of,” because it will really be about more that books. There will be book reviews, and I’ll talk about publishing (and Amazon) sometimes. But mostly, it’ll just be about interesting stuff — movies, music, shopping, community — and the way books intersect with those parts of our lives.”

She also says that Church Street Coffee & Books will ship and distribute all books and ebooks purchased through the new site. That’s a great step that all bookstore owners should take. A reader’s choice in format is not necessarily an “either/or” proposition, but “with”. I think that smart shop owners and their customers will be better served if they figure out how to live with both.

I hope Birmingham continues to gain book-friendly voices in 2012.

On the Web, Technology

Great Gatsby Videogame

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Earlier this year, someone says they paid 50 cents for an old Nintendo cartridge that had some Japanese bootleg version of a Great Gatsby game. And thanks to the world of emulators you can play this 8-bit wonder right in your web browser.

You start off dodging butlers and tipsy partiers as Nick Carraway. Your goal is to simply “find Gatsby”. I admit that I have not played very much of the game and have no idea where it goes with the story or characters. I just thought its was neat that even way back when NES was the coolest, someone thought it worth while to make a game out of a book.