Evidently it will require some sort of spring thaw for substantive posting to resume. Hence:
- The National Book Critics Circle awards were announced. Among the winners were The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz in fiction and Medical Apartheid by Harriet Washington in general nonfiction. As I previously noted, they weren’t on my reading or nomination list.
- The LA Times gives a nice synopsis of written
hoaxeslies. (Via.) - While I find they tend to dissuade me (fear of commitment?), SF Signal asks whether SF book series are a barrier to new readership.
- Cory Doctorow sayeth: Put Not Your Faith In Ebook Readers.
- Locus announces its 2007 recommended reading list from its editors and reviewers while the SF Site provides its editors’ choice for the 10 best books of 2007. (I’ve read seven of the SF novels on the former and only two of the latter, although those two finished first and second.)
- The top five authors of books stolen from stores (at least from one Seattle independent bookseller). (Via.)
- The new LibraryThing Local appears to be a wonderful tool for people like me who search online for bookstores before visiting a city. It lists (and maps) bookstores and libraries and also provides a list of local LibraryThing members with links to their profiles.
A wonderful thing about a book, in contrast to a computer screen, is that you can take it to bed with you.
Daniel J. Boorstin
