Tag Archives: books

Book Talk, On the Web, Site News

Bookish Types who Twitter

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I discovered Twitter some time ago and have been hooked ever since. So I am maintaining a list of all the “bookish types” who, I follow, on Twitter. The list isn’t very organized, yet. But it’s brimming with publishers,book designers, book media folks, publicists, bookshops and peppered with an author here and there. If you know of anybody else, in the publishing/book world, that I should be following, please let me know. Also, please let me know of any other online rosters of this type. I haven’t found one, which is the impetus in developing my own.

I’ve had some great conversations online because of it and am looking for more. Some of the tweeters do a great job of using the medium. Others, like myself, are still a bit newbie and it shows. But we’re learning and following!

Book Talk, On the Web

DIY Author Expo

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Ann, over at Books on the Nightstand, has produced a post that capitalizes on what I think is one of the coolest ideas floating around right now… build your own virtual book conference. Basically, she came up with a theme (books she likes right now) and she put together a collection of online videos with the authors, readings and other notes. So now you can click your way through her conference, titled Pixelated, at your own pace.

I want to do this. This could be really fun and you could tie in all kinds of content from various social media. All I need is a theme and some free time… hmmmm.

Authors, Book Talk

Looking Forward to Peter Vansittart

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I’ve never read anything by Peter Vansittart, but after reading his obit in the New York Times, I think I’m going to have to look him up (The Guardian‘s is good too). Nothing overly fancy, just sounds like good solid historical fiction writing. I mean, being compared to Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a good thing, I think.  It’s a shame that I only picked up on him due to his passing.

Book Talk, Events, News

Buy a Friend a Banned Book

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Buy a Friend a Book Week

It’s Buy a Friend a Book Week! This week is one of the four per year weeks where bookish types around the globe target a friend and plot which book to buy for them. bwahahaha! (that’s my October/Halloween laugh.) You can click on over and see what all the hub-bub is about (even on Twitter) and slap some BAFAB week icons on your site. But most importantly… pick someone… and buy them a book.

Banned book Week buttonThis week is also Banned Book Week as organzied by the American Library Association. Lots of libraries having events this week and the ALA has gone all social media with their Facebook and MySpace pages.

But WOW let me tell you how shocked I was at some titles included on page Amazon coughed up listing all the books that have been “banned or challenged in 2008”. Now, not having The Joy of Sex in a high school library, I get. And thinking that middle school library goers shouldn’t be digesting Sebold’s Lovely Bones, I grant you.

But banning Huck Finn? The Giver? Of Mice and Men? from high school or community libraries? For real? I’ve seen Hardee’s commercials that violate more social mores, in 18 seconds, than all three of those classics combined. Oh well. That’s reason enough to read a banned book (or explore one on Google’s Banned Books page)!