Books on First Blog

The Backwards Evolution of a Book

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Fri, 11 May 2012 07:30:00 +0000

This has happened before but I have not yet heard of such a dramatic incident of what can be called "backwards evolution of a book."

The hottest (in nearly all the figurative definitions of "hot") printed bound books selling right now are the Fifty Shades trilogy. You just have to hear author E L James's talk with Jian Ghomeshi of Q Radio. This whole story starts when James sees Twilight: The Movie which she loved loved loved. She asked her husband for the printed bound books for Christmas. She finished them in five days, inspired to write a novel. The Twilight Series has been described to us by customers as "the most erotic reading with no sex involved." Recall that these are young adult books and no sex in the writing is a good thing. Being able to say that they are erotic reads is an incredible thing. And, to be able to say that it inspired someone to write erotica (or an adult romance) is way cool.

The most fascinating facet of the whole situation is how the "books" evolved. They started out being free downloads in a fan website. The popularity stemmed from word-of-mouth (or text) individual promotion. Then, there were two bidding wars, one for film rights and one to publish PRINTED BOUND COPIES of the books. More than one person saw the value in printing and binding the books. The fact that they are now bestsellers means that readers saw the value in having printed, bound books. What does this mean? No, it does not mean that we can have 50 million poorly written, unedited books flood the internet and still be able to keep from extinction that delicate creature called a bricks-n-mortar bookstore. But, it's a thought.

Larry and I are waiting for the calfskin-bound, India-Ink-inscribed-by-monks-on-vellum set.

Celebrating the Work of Maurice Sendak

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Wed, 09 May 2012 02:30:00 +0000

Many, many people are remembering Maurice Sendak, today dead at the age of 83 from complications due to a stroke. I did not know the controversy regarding In the Night Kitchen. Before we opened the bookstore, I saw it on a sale rack and felt scandalized that a book by the great Maurice Sendak was being sold at a discounted price, like an unwanted, unheralded amateur's effort. I immediately bought it and have it still. Larry read it and didn't see anything special about it. It is a whimsical story and the controversy was about showing a little boy's penis!

The first book Sendak published in 30 years was Bumble-Ardy, a allegory for the European Jewish Holocaust. Another of his later and very personal works is "Pincus and the Pig." Radio Q remembered Sendak by interviewing Glenn Dickson, part of The Shirim Klezmer Orchestra, on the "Pincus and the Pig" project.

Staircase as Bookcase? Much More Fun(ctional) Than a Tablet

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Mon, 07 May 2012 21:20:00 +0000

Now that's a ~~stair~~bookcase! People would say that keeping titles in the cloud is so much neater, but you have to organize in any case, so that's not really a time saver. And, if you're not really organized or if you remember Susan Susanka's book under "Susan" or "Little" or "Big," how do you find it again without browsing and isn't browsing real books so much more fun?
Moreover, guests to your home can't browse and see what you all have in common. And, with a printed bound book, you not only have access to the book, you have the book. You can lend it out, donate it, will it, gift it and more! Best of all, to achieve this cool book/staircase, you don't need to buy a jobber's box of fusty old books like they do when displaying furniture for sale.

Where Were You on the Day Osama Bin Laden Died?

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Wed, 02 May 2012 00:27:00 +0000

We were in sunny Spain, bustling Barcelona. Overnight, at breakfast, there was a distinct buzz. Some people in the tour group came down to the dining room late; some hurried through their food and rushed back upstairs to watch CNN or SkyNews. "Osama bin Laden is dead." We all prepared for the long drive south to Valencia. It was an overcast day, even rainy in some parts. It was if a myth had been killed. It was as if all the world could barely believe it, nearly ten years coming.

Put a Poem in Your Pocket - 26 April

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:19:00 +0000

A popular Chicago Tribune writer once called Billy Collins our very own stand-up poet. Indeed, many of Collins's poems prod the reader or listener into reflection through humor. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I have to say, I'm a fan.

Celebrate April is Poetry Month by putting a poem in your pocket to share with others. 26 April 2012 has been declared Poem in Your Pocket Day.

The Fish

As soon as the elderly waiter
placed before me the fish I had ordered,
it began to stare up at me
with its one flat, iridescent eye.

I feel sorry for you, it seemed to say,
eating alone in this awful restaurant
bathed in such unkindly light
and surrounded by those dreadful murals of Sicily.

And I feel sorry for you, too--
yanked from the sea and now lying dead
next to some boiled potatoes in Pittsburgh--
I said back to the fish as I raised my fork.

And thus my dinner in an unfamiliar city
with its rivers and lighted bridges
was graced not only with chilled wine
and lemon slices but with compassion and sorrow

even after the waiter had removed my plate
with the head of the fish still staring
and the barrel vault of its delicate bones
terribly exposed, save for a shroud of parsley.

-Billy Collins from Ballistics

Celebrate the Land with Mark Bittman and Wendell Berry

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:02:00 +0000

I want to share a lovely piece by Mark Bittman on Wendell Berry which echoes the peaceful tone that Wendell Berry's work has always done.

Most of Wendell's work which we have is under the Philosophy and Religion section of Books on First, as are those titles still in print of Henry David Thoreau. We must all stop and think about what philosophy guides our lives and then, whether that's the philosophy we want guiding our lives. Berry and Thoreau are certainly wonderful starting points (or midway or end).

Jules Feiffer and Political Cartoons Feted

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 05:02:00 +0000

I am so excited as I got to meet one of my heroes, Jules Feiffer, tonight, at the Awards Reception for the 30th Annual John Fischetti Political Cartoon Competition, hosted by Columbia College Chicago's Journalism Department.

Jules Feiffer was honored with the Second Annual John Fischetti Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to him by last year's inaugural winner, Dick Locher. Locher and Feiffer are from an old school of cartoonists who were versatile artists. Locher is known not only for editorial cartooning at Chicago Tribune, but also for working with Chester Gould on the syndicated strip Dick Tracy. Locher introduced Feiffer as such an all-around creative person, having had his own strip in Village Voice as well as written plays and illustrated children's books, among exploits, that he wouldn't be surprised to see a Jules Feiffer Channel coming soon.

This year is the 50th Anniversary of Feiffer's seminal illustration with Norman Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth, one of my favorite books, said to be a children's book, but I discovered it when my younger sister gave it to me for my 15th birthday and the humor and wordplay can be appreciated at any age. The illustrations followed and enhanced the text.

Mr Feiffer was very gracious and has a smiling face in repose which was contagious. The reception not only honored him, but also, the Competition winner Nick Anderson of The Houston Chronicle, and Honorable Mentions Chip Bok of Akron Beacon Journal and Mike Keefe, lately of Denver Post, and was a fundraiser for the Fischetti Scholarship Fund. All the winning works were sold in a live auction.

Mr Feiffer donated a piece featuring his Comic Strip Dancer celebrating Spring to the silent auction, which featured donations from many, many talented editorial cartoonists. He will be having a talk on Saturday, 7 April, at 12:30pm, at the Jean Albano Gallery on Superior in Chicago which exhibits his work.

To benefit the Fischetti Scholarship Foundation, the online auction continues through 10 April. Most minimum bids start at $50, so everything is very affordable (unless the bidding has simply skyrocketed already). Check it out: http://bit.ly/huieA1 http://www.charityauctionstoday.com/store.php?username=crichert

NPR and Speed Poetry

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 21:57:00 +0000

NPR's All Things Considered has been inviting a different poet each month to come in, observe its behind-the-scenes news gathering and then, come up with a poem. That's actually pretty amazing that poets agree to do that, but in reflection, I admit it would be a challenge as well as being pretty good promotion. Last month, guest poet Craig M Teicher come in. He summed up the speed poetry composition as such, "Normally, I wouldn't have even shown this to my wife yet," which would have been my sentiments exactly (if I had a wife). Impressively, he wrote a villanelle, which reveals his academic background, as that's one of those standard poetic styles which are taught in poetry writing seminars. In March, it was Kevin Young's turn, who is also known for his editing of poetry anthologies and being bi-polar. His sense of wordplay in the use of "cleave," a "self-antonym." Needless to say, I am in awe of these graceful results under pressure, and look forward to this month April, which is Poetry Month.

We will be celebrating with Open Mic Poetry Night on Friday, 6 April. Continuing on a popular movement, we again have Poetry in Your Pocket Day, 26 April 2012.

We Real Cool
The Pool Players.
Seven at the Golden Shovel.

We real cool. We
Left school. We

Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We
Die soon.

-Gwendolyn Brooks from Jazz Poems, selected & edited by Kevin Young

"Women Are Poems"

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 18:11:00 +0000

But, so are trees, oceans, war, lovers, the breakfast table, God and other concepts. However, some women can write poetry, so they are of even greater value.

We honor Adrienne Rich, who died on 29 March, at aged 82, just before Poetry Month.

Celebrate April is Poetry Month with Books on First, on 6 April (Good Friday) at 7pm, when we will gather to read, recite, perform and most of all, listen to poetry.

Second Sight
1

Tonight I could write many verses
beginning Let this not happen
for a woman leaning over a thirtieth story railing
in hot July worn webbed-plastic
chairs aglare on the nickel-colored balcony
foreseeing in tracked patterns
of a project landscape
the hammer brought
down by one child upon another's skull

Not moved yet she and hers
her child inside gazing
at a screen
and she a reader once now a woman foreseeing

elbows sore with the weight
she has placed them
a woman on a balcony with a child inside
gazing at a screen

A woman neither architect nor engineer construes the
dustmotes
of a space primed for neglect
Indoor, outdoor exhausted air

Paths that have failed as paths trees
that have failed as trees

Practiced in urban literacy she
traverses and assesses streets and bridges
tilting the cumbrous ornamental sewer lids ajar
in search of reasons underground
which there why this must be

-Adrienne Rich 1999-2000 from fox: Poems 1998-2000

At Least It Eats Healthy Foods

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 02:08:00 +0000

Last week, we celebrate Very Hungry Caterpillar Day. Don't ask me why 20 March is Very Hungry Caterpillar Day, The Very Hungry Caterpillar being one of Eric Carle's most beloved books and characters, introducing children to a whole host of healthy foods as it eats its way through them. This has been a great way to get children to eat fruits and vegetables.

And with broccoli becoming the by-word of healthy but avoidable consumable items again (remember the former President George H.W. Bush's aversion to it?) through its use by advocates and Supreme Court Justices in the current health care reform act case, we can well use a hungry caterpillar to show everyone just how good and good for you broccoli is! To compare having to pay for health insurance the same as having to buy broccoli is like comparing apples to oranges (yum!).

Say It Ain't So, JK!

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 22:38:00 +0000

We were all so happy for JK Rowling's pottermore website, "we" being everyone who have always held the belief that whatever captures the imagination and desire to read is a good thing. As printed bound books go the way of the dodo bird, pottermore promised to be the next Harry Potter fan's passion -- interaction, social media and eventually, digital download of the books.

And, now, that day has arrived. Fans can download the Harry Potter books and carry them around on their Sony Reader, Nook or Kindle. As a deal had not been struck with Apple to sell through the iStore, "Apple device owners will be able to access the books through other retailer apps," says one report. Hmm, what's missing? Say it isn't, so, Ms Rohling, that you have left independent booksellers in the dust! What happened to championing that little independent cafe around the corner where you sat (probably with one cup of tea) writing the first Harry Potter book?

And, what happened to IndieCommerce who have not been marketing our value? Even if not as a Google e-book (but why not as a Google e-book?), we indies could have linked to pottermore as affiliates. What will it take for people to think that we are able to sell ebooks? Pass the word, will you, to anyone who will listen, but especially to authors like your favorites.

The Agile Brain Leaps Among the Evocative Words

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 04:20:00 +0000

In a recent New York Times piece, Annie Murphy Paul, author of Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives, writes of a wonderful confirmation of why people should read, but not (in my mind) only fiction, but also, poetry or true crime or history - anything by a good wordsmith. Brains crave stimulation, and now we can see what readers have always intuitively known, that hearing words like, "lavender" and "coffee" is almost as good as smelling the real thing, that reading "velvety voice" or "leathery hands" is almost as good as hearing or seeing and reading "kick" and "leap" on a page is about as good as watching the action and maybe even thinking about doing such activities.

Verbal and written language are important. Words -- the building blocks of a vast communications network -- are important. Descriptive words, the stuff of poetry, fiction and more, allow us readers to experience something more than the moment, whether the evocation of a memory, empathy with the narrator, entertainment alongside or at the expense of the characters, enlightenment, escape, and more (whether it starts with an "e" or not). In a piece in the same NY Times section this weekend, Jhumpa Lahiri, author of such best-selling titles as The Namesake (a 2011 World Book Night choice) and Interpreter of Maladies, shares how certain written language had affected her and continue to transport her far from the present moment.

Thank you for such exquisite insight on writing, also, Miss Lahiri. I love the imagery in your description of not being able to leave well (or not) enough alone;

Years later, I can always reach out to smooth a stray hair.

I agree writing is not static. I leave my pieces to "pickle," returning to scrap whole lines, not knowing whether I have demolished the an essential I-beam of the foundation along with gingerbread that sounded good one day, but not anymore. Years later, I am still doing so. Sometimes, the re-writing is so paralyzing, I can't go forward, continuing to re-work the same pages again and again and not remembering where the piece was headed. I cannot say whether this afflicts every writer and while I can't put myself anywhere near in the same class of talent as Jhumpa Lahiri, I feel affirmed that I am not the only one so determined to present the perfectly polished jewel of a word, a sentence, a paragraph, a thought, a moment, for you the reader.

Nearly One Hundred Years in the Making

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 03:01:00 +0000

This year we celebrate the 101st anniversary of the beginning of Edgar Rice Burroughs's writing career and the 95th anniversary of the (serial) publication of what is now known as A Princess of Mars, the first part of the Barsoom series featuring the heroic John Carter.

Apparently, it took almost as long to be able to produce a full-length feature film, culminating in this year's John Carter, directed by Andrew Stanton & starring Taylor Kitsch in the title role. Kitsch tells Radio Q of meeting with Stanton to make the film, how Stanton waxed on about his dream to make this film of this series and how he Kitsch had never heard of it, hurrying afterwards to a bookstore to buy a volume with the first three stories, just like this one here.

U.S. May Sue Apple, Publishers on e-Book Pricing

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 07:59:00 +0000

Latest on the Justice Department and agency pricing of e-books reminds me of all the times weak debaters (like myself) can get side-tracked off-topic.

For independent booksellers, I recall Confederates who said, "We should have freed the slaves ourselves," so that the discussion would stay on-topic -- state's rights to pass the laws of its people's will, not whether slavery is wrong. We are fighting for publisher's rights to determine the value (including perceived)of its products, not whether price-fixing is wrong. Publishers should have thought about what outcome they wanted to see when they started down the path of e-books, first with amazon.com and then, with Apple. They naively thought, we just want to sell more books. However, they forgot that amazon.com's marketing is like a teenager cutting himself. It's attention-getting, self-destructive, inconsiderate to relatives, fascinating to others and after a while, very addictive. Of course, amazon.com is going to pursue the route of "Membership Has Privileges" with some low-priced items, free freight, lots of cuddly content and alerts, etc. amazon.com is just playing publishers like a violin. It will sit back watching, probably filing Friend of the Court briefs and savoring the potential bloodbath like a war god, envisioning a glorious aftermath in which only amazon.com remains standing. And, it probably doesn't really want to sell all its e-books at $9.99, only those with which to draw people in. For the non-sellers, the prices would and should be lower and for the very expensive great books which took an author nine years to research and write along with paying for assistance, travel and other out-of-pocket, would-be buyers would probably want to have a hard copy.

IndieCommerce just ends up in the backwash of all of this upheaval, still attempting after five years to figure out what we can offer our customers and survive doing so.

First Cut for Independent Foreign Fiction (Translated into English) Prize 2012 Out

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 19:13:00 +0000

From Beattie's Book Blog of New Zealand comes the whole "Long List" plus commentary. In most if not all situations, the choice of translator is almost as crucial as the book written in its original language. So often we must rely on these translations to see what the author wants us to read, experience and understand. If you have ever tried to translate something from one language into another, you would understand the difficulty of achieving just the right tone and meaning, and the pride of accomplishment when you think you've "got" it. A childhood friend of mine from West Babylon, NY, now living in Austin, TX, who studied many languages and works as a translator, has translated for opera, which I think is amazing. We are talking not simply capturing the cadence of an author/lyricist but also, the rhythm and flow of the composer's music. Translators of poetry also have a special responsibility. Hats off to all the authors and the translators thus far honored.

Books on First has several of these available (I believe the hardcover $30.50 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami and principally translated by Jay Rubin, Harvard Professor of Japanese Literature, contains the entire story published in three parts in Japan) will soon have others, like Dream of Ding Village and the trade paperback version of Please Look After of Mom (of course, in the slacker USA, it's "Mom" instead of "Mother.").

More on the Value of Printed Bound (Edited Before Published) Books

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 01:42:00 +0000

SmartMoney online article today tells again of the hazards of mixing books with technology. There was a similar article somewhere a long time ago that talked about not having to redecorate with a new bookshelf (although you might want to do so) each time you moved and took your printed bound books with you. The analogy is effective. The concept of "the cloud" continues to be a difficult one for most people. Books, music, videos, anything... if people pay money for something, they believe they own it. But, web retailers want readers to view their purchases not as physical things they now own, but access, time in a bottle. Like going to the movies or a concert or a lecture, just because you paid money to read that ebook doesn't mean you own it, even if you've downloaded it. In fact, it's better than going to a poetry reading, because you can open that ebook over and over again without additional charge (as long as you have the right device).

And, while many extol the "democracy" of the internet, allowing all writers to get equal exposure to readers and allowing readers, not stodgy or stuck-up editors in New York City, to decide what constitutes a good book and thus, could be published, many others admit that a gatekeeper is useful sometimes. There are a lot of poorly written self-published bodies of words out there. In the printed bound book part of the self-publishing world, at least cost of the enterprise has all but the very passionate or rich writers thinking twice before "publishing." On the internet, publishing is not only easy, it is very cheap.

Publishers as gatekeepers is part of the real and perceived value that readers and buyers of e-books need to see and understand.

Ahh, To Be Young Adult, Full of Self-Doubt, Excessive Modesty and Self-Absorption

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 04:26:00 +0000

I rarely recommend a title which has just debuted in hardcover, mainly because they are okay, not fantastic, not "keepers." Yet, I recommend Jesse Andrews's Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, because I can't wait to tell you about it. You can wait for the paperback edition. For young adults, instead of paying $17 for the hardback, you can pay $9 for a trade paperback. Oh, excuse me, you could pay $8.99 instead of $16.95.

No, I did not include the previous paragraph with my submission to IndieNext Picks (but I still didn't get quoted).

The publisher's promotional natter has the author "debuting," instead of his book, but I bet he has never called himself an "aspiring" writer. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl so pretentiously lacks pretension that I forgive its pretensions. Narrator (and "author of this inane book") Greg Gaines preempts the reader's expectations by telling us how horrible a book he has written. We get the impression that Greg has written this book as a purging. It is like a hairshirt or a self-flagellation. Yet, as painful as he depicts high school, I see the sadness. Greg begins with a long explanation of how he has survived until senior year of high school by not befriending anyone, not standing out, not being in any group so that he cannot be shunned by any. And then, his well-ordered life, everything he has worked towards, is toppled when his mother forces him to spend time with a childhood acquaintance who has been diagnosed with leukemia.

I understand his false sense of security, of a world that seems orderly but fragile in its balancing act. Greg knows how shallow and selfish this world is which he has constructed. He sees it and he cannot believe he is so fake. He cringes at how little he is, and I cringe with him. Moreover, I laughed at the strangest moments -- not the laughter of Rachel Kushner's honking, but a silent, almost doubling over which was probably good for my muffin top ("engaging the core," I think the online video trainers would say). The painful, cringing parts are self-evident, but I cannot even explain the funny parts. As I read, I wonder whether my grandson and filmmaker Jack Dunphy would enjoy reading the book, or is he beyond these pretensions? Andrews dedicates the book to Schenley, "which is not Benson," although it quite clearly was the model for Benson High School, an inner-Pittsburgh public school nestled between "affluent Squirrel Hill and non-affluent Homewood." An online search reveals the following quote:

Schenley has to be one of the most diverse schools in the Pittsburgh area.

Sadly, it graduated its last class in the spring of 2011, closed its doors and has the historic landmark building up for sale. This must be kind of a second death for alumnus Andrews.

And Earl, I love Earl. Who is the inspiration for Earl in Jesse Andrews's life? Earl comes from a situation I have never known yet could see so clearly through Mr Andrews/Greg Gaines's eyes and pen. Earl is a man-boy who knows his world and knows how he and how his relationship with Greg fit into that world. He is the most real person in the book -- or, at least the most real-sounding, and the most mature. Earl delivers the "feel good" lecture of the book, about how whiny Greg is and while Greg is so hung up about how others perceive him, he cannot see how genuine Rachel is and Rachel is dying. In retrospect, Greg sees and knows that even Earl's (almost literal) beating of him did not make him fully realize the extent of Rachel's friendship or of her illness. And then, after her death, when the reader wants a "feel good" ending, Earl comes to forefront again, telling Greg that he cannot do things for others; he has to do them for himself. Unlike "the better person" Earl, Greg sees this as license to break his promise to Rachel about applying to film schools and continue to founder aimlessly, even flunking out of freshman semester at University of Pittsburgh -- the "bigger, dumber sibling of Carnegie Mellon," because it is easier. And, in finishing this book as the explanation of all that has come to pass, Greg merely reveals his continued immaturity, like how the nice girl with the big boobs is going out with one of the most unlikely classmates and not a Pittsburgh Steeler as he thought. "So I guess there's a chance I could have gotten with her that whole time, if I spent more time working it in the cafeteria..." But then, there are those glimpses of self-doubt, excessive modesty and slight maturity: "Although on second thought, there's no way that's true."

The Future Is Now

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 14:20:00 +0000

Culminating in the street date appearance of Michael Grant's BZRK, we have been hearing a lot of science fiction stuff happening NOW. I especially liked hearing (however incidentally) about Jen-Hsun Huang's work on graphics and how the ultimate test is the human eye. I was also tickled to hear more about nano technology right about the same time - making transistors from a single atom.

The future was predicted so many times so many years ago, like by E.M. Forster in The Machine Stops, William Gibson's titles, like Idoru, which talk smoothly about cyberspace, avatars and nanotechnology, and even Eric Flint & KD Wentworth's The Course of Empire, which among other items talked of personal comm boards.

There is something especially fascinating and horrifying about little, tiny things, smaller than can be seen by the naked eye.

Ten years ago, Michael Crichton introduced us to micro-robots with Prey., and, even after death, Michael Crichton is able to entertain, enlighten and engender fear and horror with Micro which was subsequently finished after Crichton's death by Richard Preston, a best-seller science fiction and non-fiction writer in his own right (the only non-physician to win The Centers for Disease Control Champion of Prevention Award). In Micro, the little, tiny things are miniaturized humans, battling the terrors of giant ants and other creatures to say nothing of the obstacles of mere giant dirt particles.

In Michael Grant's BRZK, the world of gaming meets the world of nano science, where "nano" means the being in and on the giant world of the human body while "macro" means the real world in which humans live in full-size. The little "'bots" must navigate around cilia waving around like giant trees and watch out for the waterfall of eyedrops administered by wearers of contact lenses. There are so many opposite forces, like yin and yang, good and evil, we have miniature machines run by humans versus biological extensions of humans run by their flesh and blood creators' mind, those who are fighting for a greater good and those who are doing it for the thrill of victory. It's hard to say that this is simply a Young Adult book, except that most of the main characters are between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five. Like most science fiction, there's action, incidental human relationships explored and a bit of futuristic technology to titillate. It's a good read. And who's to say if this future is not happening right now?

Our Society Has Bigger Chinks

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:28:00 +0000

I have often been accused of being politico-culturally unaware of the umbrage I should take for slurs against my roots, my heritage, my group, for the discrimination, racism and violence -- malicious, thoughtless or otherwise -- against Chinese-Americans, Asian-Americans, Chinese or Asian women, women, CPAs, New Yorkers, Vassarites, et al.

I am not being flippant. I am part of many groups and one of those groups is the wide one called Citizens of the United States of America. I have experienced discrimination as well as outright personality conflicts throughout my life. Is it racism for 5th grade girls to call a fellow 5th grade girl "Ching Chong?" Or, is it just bullying? Is it racism for ESPN's Anthony Frederico to ask about a "chink in the armor" with some reference to current phenom Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks (the real headline which I cannot quote, because I can no longer find it)? Or, is it a writer in the fast-paced, competitive and high exposure environment of sports reporting looking narrowly at bringing the most colorful, mind-grabbing words he can to spice up a story, the wider implications of the politically correct world not considered? The answer is YES. I know, I know. I usually hate it, too, when you get a yes/no answer to an either/or question, but in this case, I am deliberately saying there cannot be an either/or answer.

People are complex. We are Americans. Even if it is not the reality that we are inclusive of all of our diversity, we like to believe that it is the bedrock of our founding. Our forefathers fled death and lack of opportunity due to differences in class, ethnicity, race (in that small Europe context), religion, income, political or military affiliation, and other ideas of oppression to a new and promising place where one does not get killed for not wanting to fight (imagine that), and people are not driven off their land because geographically, they lived under the protection of a defeated noble.

No, I have nothing against those who rise up in outcry against the reference to Jeremy Lin as a "Chink in the Armor." Yes, it was thoughtless. Maybe, it is a reflection of the underlying, unconscious racism of this country. No, I don't believe it was malicious. Yes, I think the unfortunate Anthony Fredrico has learned something from this brouhaha. Maybe others have learned something, too. While we cannot learn and grow with being open to differences in thought, speech and result such as this one, we also cannot become and remain narrow-minded, politically correct and socially stunted or else we will (guess what?) not grow. Let the adnascentia of a large vocabulary thrive.

Embrace the differences. Embrace the freedom not only to vilify for any insult -- real and imagined, but also to forgive. Lin forgave. I forgive. I hope we can all forgive, but not forget -- ever -- that we much be always vigilant for underlying stereotypes in our thinking and delightful wordplay in our speech.

Is a Blind Person Illiterate If He Can't Read Braille?

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 04:17:00 +0000

NPR's "All Things Considered recently reported on the decline in the number of blind people who can read. That's right. They don't read in Braille, maybe out of practice or maybe never learned, so in essence, they can't read. Does that make a blind person illiterate if he can't read in Braille? With voice-activation, voice-recognition, voice-command and voice-converting technology as well as audiobooks, RSS feeds, and apps with GPS to tell people -- sighted and blind -- where to go and what's going on, what's to read? Sigh! Yet another example of printed bound books (and magazines and other reading material) going into the antiquity category.

There are apps that will convert text messages into read messages (someone's reading them, but not the recipient of the text message). There are apps that will convert voiced words into text messages to be sent. I think there was a joke about that on another program. One person spoke in awe about this new technology. His companion said, "Isn't that called a telephone?" (It is and it isn't, as text messages are more popular than ever, enabling people to keep in touch while one or the other is sitting in a meeting, at the dinner table or even in a church service. I think this blog post might morph into a question of whether a texter is rude if he can't devote full attention to his physical presence.)

In any case, I am sure the first reaction that one has to the notion that a blind person who cannot read Braille cannot read and therefore, is, by definition, illiterate, would be denial, repulsion and horror. Illiteracy through the ages has come to infer low intelligence, akin to saying a person is stupid to his face. That's too rude for our politically correct society.

I have tutored adults who have wanted to learn to read. A question one always asks is why. This is to find the motivation within, the reason for beginning and continuing on a big challenge. One man, who had a slight disability, had wanted to become independent and move out of his home -- open a checking account, sign a lease on an apartment, do many of the things that most of us take for granted. During the time I tutored him, he came once to a session empty-handed, without the dozens of index cards we had made as flashcards for his home study. He said his brother had thrown them out, saying that he was getting too uppity and didn't have to learn how to read. Now, that's a way to keep a man down. Another person I had tutored -- an elderly Filipina -- had wanted to read to her grandchildren, wanted to read when everyone else was reading after dinner or on a Sunday morning, and wanted to be able to shop in a big American grocery store without her son out to accompany her. It was truly a struggle for her and I felt that I was too often impatient with her and not at all a good teacher. I still felt bad even when her son and daughter-in-law thanked me, telling me she had learned a lot and that they would continue to help her learn as they moved the family out of Chicago to the suburbs.

So on one hand, we have adults desperately seeking redress for illiteracy, either because of English being a second language or childhood learning disabilities or family circumstances. On the other, we have adults going blind and saying, why learn to read when there are all these other options, as if learning to read -- whether in written English or in Braille -- is an exercise for children. We are not faced with lower i.q.; we're faced with laziness. Sorry to say, I think the answer is yes, if you can't read, you are illiterate.

Charles Dickens at 200!

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:04:00 +0000

Some people love his work, some people could leave it. In fact, people usually are familiar with one or two of three things about Charles Dickens:

A Christmas Carol with Scrooge, Tiny Tim and Marley's Ghosts;
The quote: "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." (which is the first line of Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, used incessantly by pundits to describe all times); and/or
Oliver Twist as lead character in Oliver! the Musical from which we get such memorable tunes as "Food, Glorious Food," "Consider Yourself," "You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two" and "Where Is Love?" (or even, "I'm Reviewing the Situation").

Actually, A Christmas Carol by far is the most well-known of Dickens's work, but the story of Pip in Great Expectations has been known to be . There's a great NPR item on Dickens jumping off from an exhibit at the Morgan Library in NYC (a wonderful little museum), with little known facts with which to dazzle one's friends. He managed to save his reputation as well as his mistress and his manuscript from a train wreck? Pshaw! I can't see that everyone didn't know (in contemporaneous times) that heady with celebrity, he also did things outside propriety. Only through the lens of history and forced high school reading has the reputation of Dickens as a proper, hard-working and boring person come. And, now, there is a novel by Gaynor Arnold, Girl in a Blue Dress, based on his letters and other British Museum documents which tells a fictionalized heartbreaking story of his abandoned wife Catherine.

Who among our writers today has such celebrity? And, one wonders in 200 (or 150 or so) years from now, who among our popular writers will be so honored. James Patterson? Nicholas Sparks? Nora Roberts? That one doubts any of these or anyone else would be so popular today and read tomorrow must be the real indicator of the decline of published writers and books as a society's source for enlightenment and entertainment.

Book Lovers Wanted - Date for Registration Extended!

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:42:00 +0000

To All of Our (unshy) Book Lovers --

Now you can pass along your passion for a book, literally!

On Monday, 23 April 2012, join thousands across the USA, UK, Ireland and Germany in giving away millions of copies of books to non- and light-readers. Here in the USA, there are thirty titles from which to choose (3 choices) and here in Sauk Valley, there are so many places you can choose to give them away -- at a sports event, at the hospital, at the Y, outside a gathering place just hopping with people not thinking about books (at that moment).

And, now, the deadline for registering has been extended to tomorrow, Monday, 6 February. With 30 titles (see list at the website (www.us.worldbooknight.org) from which to choose, the problem will be figuring out which ones you feel most passionately about. Or, if you are passionate about reading and have not yet read the English version of Jodi Piccoult's My Sister's Keeper or the Spanish version of Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (also available for passing along), make the commitment and then, come in to buy the book. We will give you a discount of 20%.

Douglas is excited about reading and passing along Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games to children at KSB. Won't you join him with Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn Dixie? Someone you know may be standing outside County Market that Monday, passing along Jeannette Walls's The Glass Castle. Won't you join her, maybe with copies of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner?

Join all of us today!

-Books on First, the Premier Bookseller/Coffeehouse in Sauk Valley 202 W First Street in the Heart of Downtown Dixon, IL 61021 815.285.BOOK (2665) www.booksonfirst.com

World Book Night - Think Globally. Act Locally.

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:03:00 +0000

Calling All (unshy) Book Lovers!
Only two more days to sign up as a Book Giver for this year's World Book Night on 23 April 2012. Do it!

http://www.us.worldbooknight.org/

Out of the thirty chosen titles for this inaugural USA event, there must be one that you would like to pass along. If you have yet to read that special book you're giving away, come in to Books on First with your commitment and we will give you 20% off to get you started and ready by Monday, 23 April.

And here's start this year's event with a bang -- a wonderful short from UK's last year World Book Night: When I saw it at the American Booksellers Association's Winter Institute 7 in New Orleans where Julia Kingsford (?), head of the World Book Night organization in the UK, presented it to us, I was moved beyond words. I love the editing, especially the finish with Stanley Tucci and Hayley Atwell's recitation of the lyrics of Cole Porter's "Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)." What a kick-off for book lovers:

Traveling with a Printed Bound Book

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:31:00 +0000

Traveling has many benefits, as well as complaints. Along the way, we discover that printed bound books trump electronic devices when it comes to traveling facetime. Our great proprietor-manager could read (if he were not busy lamenting our losing the war to terrorists) his printed bound book while standing in the very long security check line. He could hold it open with one hand. He could stuff it in his carry-on bag when he needed to remove his shoes.

On board, he does not have to turn off his printed bound book while the plane taxies towards the proper runway and takes off. And, at O'Hare, "taxiing to the runway" is a good ten-minute ride, time enough to finish a few pages. When the plane begins its descent, along with tray tables up and seat backs returned to their original position, all electronic devices must be turned off. Someone with a printed bound book can continue to read until until the flight attendants prepare for "de-planing," a good twenty-five minutes later.

Booksellers gather in one of our favorite cities, New Orleans. The weather has been great although a cab driver from Chechnya says it's too humid and dreams of moving to San Diego. There are great restaurants patronized by locals and visitors alike, like Herbsainte on St Charles and Arnaud's in the French Quarter.

Beignets and chicory coffee at Cafe du Monde is all about the atmosphere which makes the hot fried dough and 1/2 lb of confectioner's sugar washed down with equally hot purplish-black coffee taste better than ever, even as you feel your arteries clogging.

Ann Patchett gives a keynote speech on the first morning on how she became a bookseller and she charms us all, even me, who has been unwilling to admit her into the ranks of hardworking, long-suffering booksellers. For all the books Larry has read, he has not read one of the thirty titles chosen for the USA's inaugural World Book Night, on 23 April 2012 (hurry and sign up to be a Book Giver). I am very surprised. "Not even Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried?" I ask in wonderment. He has chosen to read Ann Patchett's Bel Canto, enjoying it, of course.

Jeremy Davenport, a cousin of a good customer here in Dixon, does his thing on weekend nights at his eponymous lounge in the Ritz Carlton. We go to his 5:30pm Thursday show. He plays a little trumpet, sings a little, urges on Aaron, his alto saxophonist. We buy his CD which the waitress gets signed -- the cover, not the CD itself, to Ruby, our granddaughter. We are disappointed to find that there is not alto sax on the CD. Aaron's mother sits by us, celebrating her birthday. We mistaken her for his sister or his girlfriend until Jeremy introduces her. Let's just say she does not look her age which is somewhere between your truly's and Proprietor-Manager's.

We hear about snowstorms all over the north: Seattle, Iowa, Pennsylvania, all moving east. We debate about leaving the booksellers' educational conference early. New Orleans on Friday is a beautiful 75 degrees Fahrenheit. We come down on the wrong side and find out our flight is cancelled and we are re-routed to Miami. No worries. We enjoy grilled oysters on a half-shell at Acme Oyster Bar at the airport, and arrive home to Walton, IL in Lee County at 3:30am.

I am really unprepared for what I should be learning at "WI7," as this conference is called -- everything I can about ebooks -- "NTA" (Nook to Android) cards, Adobe Digital Reader Edition,...My head whirls. We still have kinks in the selling of gift cards online. We WILL get this ebook selling down. Kindle remains off limits, but who cares? Still people talk about traveling with a dozen books tucked inside an 8lb mobile device, and yet how can one beat a printed bound book which doesn't need to be switched off in the landing approach? And, if a slightly bumpy patch results in a little OJ spilled on the cover? Who cares? Remember, you can't short-circuit wood pulp.

Hail to the New Ambassador for Youth Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Carolyn) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:15:00 +0000

Walter Dean Myers is best known for his harsh, urban grit writing for young adults, touching on the pressure of gangs, the plight of broken families, the grimness of poverty and lack of legitimate opportunity, the horror of prison, and the loneliness of being different. He will be our next Ambassador for Young People's Literature, a position which was created in 2008 and is chosen by a committee formed by two groups: the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and Every Child a Reader, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Children’s Book Council, a trade association for children’s book publishers. It was first held -- and thus defined and pioneered by Jon Scieszka, a young children's author best known for Trucktown and then, by Katherine Paterson, best known for Bridge to Terabithia. He is championing early reading advocacy by parents and other family members, citing his mother's love of true romance magazines. As a baby, he listened and watched his mother with finger on the page, slowly but surely reading aloud to him. By four, says Myers, he could read to her as she ironed clothes. Sigh! What a story.

Growing up in my household, my older sister and I were obsessed with reading, to the detriment of doing more useful tasks, like setting and clearing the dining table. To be able to go to the Village of Babylon Public Library was a treat. I loved visiting my maternal grandparents' apartment, because my three aunts (some fourteen to sixteen years younger than my mother and thus, only a decade or so older than I) had left books galore on the shelves, including Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls, from which I learned at a tender age all about show business, pill popping, sex, mental retardation which does not preclude a singing career or need for sex and breast cancer, and Edith Hamilton's Mythology, from which I gained major knowledge about the Greek and Roman gods. From the West Babylon High School library, I signed out anything and everything, discovering the OSS, Wendell Willkie and Phillip K Dick. I also translated what I saw on screen to sought-after reading material. Just like today's movie goer looking to read Harry Potter or Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games, I wanted to know where my favorite movie (which I saw on television) Guys and Dolls came from, which is how I discovered Damon Runyon.

My world has narrowed somewhat as I am not as patient with writers or unhappy endings as I once was. Anyone can take credit for my love of Georgette Heyer, especially my first -- Frederica, since I can't seem to remember when I first happened upon this great English Regency-era writer, from whom all of today's romance writers owe much. All in all, I applaud the appointment of Myers (as I applaud the position of "Ambassador for Young Adult Literature") and wish him every good fortune in continuing the work of getting more people to read.