I think this bookshelf/table by Lema is awesome. It stores books, keeps them close, on display and still keeps the space a useful one. It’s a win, win, win, win. This creative bookshelf is called the Booken and it is being shown at an international furniture Show in Cologne. So no price yet. I could use three of these.
Game of Books has been fully funded via their Kickstarter campaign! Basically, it’s home library/book cataloging system where you earn points/skills/etc. based on the books you read… think Dungeons & Dragons meets LibraryThing. This could be a lot of fun.
You start off as an Apprentice and then level up as your reading progresses:
Character Titles:
Apprentice Reader = Level 0+
Journeyman Reader = Level 25+
Craftsman Reader = Level 50+
Master Reader = Level 75+
GrandMaster Reader = Level 100+
At the bottom of their site, there is also a “concept demo” that shows off what your Reader/Character card would look like. Some folks might think it’s hokey (which it may be, we’ll have to see) but many like all of their virtual badges and fake pats on the back for “leveling up” across hundreds of check-in apps. And I think competition can be fun. What I am anxious to see is how well this resonates with the two budding readers in my house… this seems to be the kind of thing that my son would dig.
What do you think? Would you give Game of Books a try?
I buy 100% of my non-fiction as paper books and about half of my fiction as ebooks. This is because, when it comes to non-fiction, device makers have yet to consistently deliver a reading experience that comes close to paper when reading charts, graphs, maps, highlighting, writing in margins, etc.
I wanted to share this 16-second video as an example. I took it at a B&N while checking out the largest most expensive nook HD they had on display. So here I am flipping through their sample ebook of The Hobbit, viewing an inline graphic:
Do you know how frustrating that is? The screen actually goes black. . . every. . . time. Imagine what it’d be like trying to view a business book (logging 15 seconds just to see an image) with a gazillion charts or a travel guide with detailed neighborhood maps!? I know everyone is moving at a break neck speed and trying to keep up with formats, devices, standards, unlocking content, etc. but we’re all killing the book if we’re not openly honest about on which devices ebooks fail and where they work.
I bet publishers never thought they’d see themselves in the “customer service” field. But I know they’re getting more and more calls/emails from upset customers because their “book doesn’t look right”. Trust me when I say that reading a travel guide, a Kindle Fire customer will have a totally different experience from a Kindle Paperwhite customer. But the book gets a bad review all the same, even when it’s the device’s limitations. Someone should have helped that customer understand what they were getting when they bought the device as well as when they bought the book.
I hope publishers, device makers and device sellers will be more honest and open about what the eReaders and eBooks are good for and when a pound of paper yields the better user experience. No one wins when the reader is frustrated.
One of my favorite groups on LibraryThing is “Name That Book“. It falls squarely in the realm of “useful tools for readers”. Basically, they help you find books that you remember reading, but can’t remember the title, author, etc. The discussions are filled with hazy plots, fuzzy cover descriptions, names “that sounds like…”, etc. as people try and zero in on the elusive book title.
It’s amazing how fun the conversations can get when everyone is Googling, searching their shelves and racking their brains to help find the answer to a missing book query. Sort of like a bookish party game with 1,000 people playing.
So if you ever find yourself looking for a book from the mid-80’s about a time-travelling Congressional Page and his dog, give the helpful folks in the LT Name That Book group a chance. Many times the group-think carries the day and if you’re lucky you’ll bump into more books that you might enjoy.
If you’re not up for the discussions and want to cast a larger net, the Library of Congress also has a site set up to help people in their quest for Lost Novels. The page has links to many sites and groups all organized to help reconnect readers with forgotten books. Some of the sites are better than others, but the tips they offer are pretty universal and are worth reading no matter where you look for help.
