The most popular books are by far James Patterson’s novels, so popular in fact that we have to lock them up after book service because they tend to disappear.
— From a New York Public Library’s blog post about running the Rikers Island book cart.
bits
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2010-05-06
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2010-04-29
The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.
— Written by J.R.R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings. Found while perusing Amazon’s listing of highlighted passages in Kindle books. (via)
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2010-04-23
Here is how it works: On one side of the machine, which is two-thirds the length of a football field and encircled by a conveyor belt, staff members place each book face-down on a separate panel of the belt. The book passes under a laser scanner, which reads the bar code on the back cover, and the sorter communicates with the library’s central computer system to determine where the book should be headed. Then, as the conveyor belt moves along, it drops the book into one of 132 bins, each associated with a branch library. It’s sort of like a baggage carousel that knows which bag is yours and deposits it at your feet.
You can also watch a video of this amazing beast in action on the New York Times website. (via)
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2010-04-20
Good Show Sir catalogs bad sci-fi and fantasy book covers. May I suggest West of January as a good example? (via)
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2010-04-17
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2010-03-10
Bookshelves, no more.
“So we lose forever the pleasure known to humanity for 500 years of taking a stroll up and down the aisles of someone else’s brain by perusing their bookshelves.” Bookshelves, a casualty of the coming e-book explosion.
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2010-02-26
Book discovery.
Tyler Cowen checks the non-fiction return carts at the library to see what other people have been reading. Same here, but the fiction cart. It’s a great way to find your next read. /via
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2010-02-25
Luchadores loco.
Lucha Loco is a photo book about the photo the Luchadores of Mexico City. You can take a look at some of the wrestlers featured in the book. I would like to see a tag team match that features Las Momias vs. Super Porky and Alushe. /via
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2010-02-19
The Hobbit as illustrated by Sam Bosma for the Picture Book Report. Bosma describes the scene from the beginning of the book:
Here we are, right at the beginning of the story, where Gandalf and the dwarves peer pressure Bilbo into joining their crusade against Smaug the dragon. This particular scene is towards the end of their meeting, when Bilbo gets a little carried away and embarrasses himself.
The Hobbit is my favorite book. When I was young, a family member had a copy of the book that was illustrated with scenes from the animated film. Every time I would visit their house I would pull this book out and pour over the pictures of goblins, trolls, and other dangerous creatures. I eventually got a couple copies of the book for myself (an old paperback from a used book store and another illustrated version), but have been unable to find the film version.
I love Bosma’s take on the book in the illustration above. The colors, his interpretation of the characters, the animated feel. It reminds me of that old book from my youth. Lucky for me, he’s doing even more on his blog. I shall follow along.
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2010-02-18
You can’t give it away or leave it somewhere for someone else or even easily lend it to someone. The whole idea of passing on knowledge through text – something we’ve spent centuries perfecting – could very suddenly take a huge backward step in the name of profit.
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2010-02-08
abe lincoln, vampire slayer
After discovering that his mother was slain by a vampire, the young Abraham Lincoln swears vengeance against the undead, using an axe to begin a campaign of vampire eradication that eventually has him becoming the most skilled and successful vampire hunter in America.
From Wired’s review of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. This and I just saw a dancing Abe Lincoln shilling for a furniture store. Abe is quickly becoming my favorite fictional character.
