7500 Books

Recommendations of recent books (San Francisco Chronicle)

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:20:00 +0000

Recommendations of recent books from the staffs of a rotating list of Bay Area independent bookstores. This week's list is from Diesel, A Bookstore, 5433 College Ave., Oakland. (510) 653-9965. www.dieselbookstore.com. Nonfiction The Pleasures and Sorrows of...

Get Married Magazine

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:07:00 +0000

Get Married

by Tanya Irwin , Friday, November 13, 2009
Condé Nast recently shuttered Elegant Bride and Modern Bride. How can a new bridal magazine possibly survive in these trying times? Get Married is hoping to carve out a niche by focusing on being "the new shopping and trend guide for the savvy bride."

One forward-thinking aspect to the magazine is the Microsoft Tags, which offer the ability to instantly shop for the wedding products featured on its pages. Via the Tags, brides can connect instantly to Web sites, videos, images and information directly on Web-enabled mobile devices. Note to advertisers: The Tags enable the ability to track campaign success via impressions.

Even without the tags, the magazine has partnered with many of the biggest brands in the bridal business. Nearly 80% of the magazine products are available in its online wedding shop (shop.getmarried.com). The cover includes a blurb for a 10% off coupon for the shop.

The magazine includes editorial features on real brides, wedding professionals and experts, plus an array of trend roundups and product profiles. The "What's Hot" section acknowledges that brides have individual tastes and doesn't try to push a cookie-cutter, "one style fits all" wedding theme. Each page showcases a style, including the "Jackie O," "urban cowgirl," "beachy clean," "pink princess" and "preppy grey and yellow." There are a lot of clever and whimsical items for each theme, such as invitations, guest favors, cakes and dresses.

Although the magazine specifically defines itself as being aimed at budget-conscious brides, there's also a fair number of do-it-yourself projects that will appeal to anyone who would welcome some cost-cutting for their big day. The cover photo of the inaugural issue is of a place setting with an ornately decorated guest favor that brides can make themselves. A DIY wedding story shows two tables with items that brides can put together without the help of a party planner or interior designer.

A four-page spread on invitation styles provides lots of eye candy with "fanciful and vibrant"' examples. These are a far cry from the boring and bland invites that were standard fare 14 years ago when I got married. Rebel that I am, I made my own invites. Nowadays I'd be perfectly happy to pick any one of these. Hmmm, I wonder if a 15-year commitment ceremony might be in my future.

In "Real Weddings," couples who have already tied the knot are featured each month.This issue focused on one of the contestants in NBC's "The Biggest Loser" as well as several non-celebrity couples. The stories are sweet, focusing not only on the weddings but how the couples met and how the husband-to-be popped the question.

One standing feature, "Destination Hotspot," spotlights locations that could be considered for a wedding or honeymoon. Of course, this is a great place in the magazine to sell lots of travel-related ads. Hmmm, maybe this magazine will be around a while.

MAG STATS

Published by: Get Married Media

Frequency: Quarterly

Web site: www.getmarried.com

Post your response to the public Magazine Rack blog.

See what others are saying on the Magazine Rack blog.
Irwin can be reached at tanya@mediapost.com.

Magazine Rack for Friday, November 13, 2009:
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=117392

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Reference books entertain while informing (Middletown Journal)

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:20:00 +0000

You say you want a revolution? Well, when it comes to reference books there seems to be the faintest hint that there could be one afoot.

King favors real books (New York Post)

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:20:00 +0000

Stephen King trumpeted real books over electronic ones at an appearance the other night to promote his latest, "Under the Dome," reports The Post's Frank Scheck. Holding up the massive tome, he asked the audience, "Wouldn't you want this? It's nice ....

Kids will eat up these books with messages about healthy eating, manners (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:20:00 +0000

With the holiday season just around the corner, it is a great time to talk to kids about the importance of flourishing eating and proper table manners. The following books are great jumping-off points for important conversations about how we treat food and why it is an important part of our family celebrations.

Deadline extended for Google Books deal negotiations (Computer Weekly)

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:20:00 +0000

Google and the Association of American Publishers have unsuccessful to meet the deadline to renegotiate the controversial $125m Google Books settlement.

Petron offers books to DOE, DOJ for scrutiny (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:20:00 +0000

Oil industry leader Petron Corp. urged the joint task force of the Departments of Energy and Justice, on Sunday, to examine its books to determine, once and for all, whether the company has been overpricing its fuel products.

Books: 'Woodrow Wilson: A Biography;' 'High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly' (The Star-Ledger)

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:20:00 +0000

Woodrow Wilson ws a man of principles. Grace Kelly probably didn't have that affair wit Clark Gable, according new biographies. Plus, four books about murder and one about wildfires.

Skinners Auction of Fine Books amp; Manuscripts November 15th in Boston (PitchEngine)

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:20:00 +0000

Skinner, Inc., one of the worlds leading auction houses for antiques and fine art, will host its annual auction of Fine Books and Manuscripts on November 15th in its Boston gallery, located at 63 Park Plaza. The auction will offer first editions, botanical illustrations, maps and important documents. Among the most interesting aspects of the auction is a varied offering of materials surrounding...

Publisher delays books by guru in sweat lodge case (Rocky Mount Telegram)

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:20:00 +0000

PHOENIX â€" The release of two books by author and motivational speaker James Arthur Ray has bee...

Trenton libraries offering digital audio books (The Trentonian)

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:20:00 +0000

TRENTON â€" Real reading could become a thing of the past if everyone switches to the audio recordings of books introduced yesterday at the Trenton Free Public Library.

Target joins price war on books (Lawrence Journal-World)

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:20:00 +0000

Target Corp. has thrown itself into a heated online price war on books.

Readers, writers bond at Books by the Banks (The Cincinnati Enquirer)

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:20:00 +0000

Paging all lovers of literature: Saturday brings the third annual Books by the Banks: Cincinnati USA Book Festival. This year's event is stacked with more than 90 regional and national authors.

Harvard to digitize rare Chinese books (Independent Online)

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:20:00 +0000

One of the most extensive collections of thin Chinese books outside China will be freely available as Harvard University has agreed to digitize the titles.

Rare books given to Lakefield College School (The Peterborough Examiner)

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:20:00 +0000

Students at Lakefield College School received a welcome and rare addition to their library yesterday. Dr. John Speakman donated first-edition copies of books written by Susanna Moodie, Catherine Parr Traill, G.[...]

Jennifer Aniston thinks self-help books are 'wonderful and important' (New Kerala)

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:20:00 +0000

Washington, Oct 6 : Jennifer Aniston has confessed that she turns to self-help books in tough times and has even called them 'wonderful and important'.

More Vampire Books

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 10:20:00 +0000

Meyer Vampire Books (Handbag.com)
Quick question: you know the book Twilight with the vampire and the human? Is there three books or are there four? I think there's only three but my friend thinks there's a fourth on the same characters.

Bookmarks Magazine

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:55:00 +0000

Bookmarks

by William J. McGee , Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wow, even the letters are interesting in Bookmarks. That tagline -- "For Everyone Who Hasn't Read Everything" -- seems to attract the best and the brightest. A previous column on "Books I Didn't Finish" generates a whole page of responses in the September-October issue (admittedly, I have to add myself to the list for "Love in the Time of Cholera.") And one reader even expands the dialogue to include "Books I Finished but Wish I Hadn't."

In an age of quick reads, Bookmarks is for those who take reading seriously. The bulk of the book is devoted to summaries of published reviews, gathered and synopsized into neat bundles. Thinking of buying "Pygmy," the newest from Chuck Palahniuk? Well, here on page 38 is a brief plot outline, excerpts of six reviews ranging from the U.K.'s Guardian to The New York Times, and -- most useful of all -- a "Critical Summary" that slices and dices and aggregates the best of the informed opinions.

Just as Orbitz pulls together 10 hotel deals onto a single screen, so Bookmarks amasses and catalogues current literary criticism. It's a niche that many readers clearly believe needs to be filled. In fact, no less a fan than the late Kurt Vonnegut is quoted on the magazine's Web site, gushing in part, "nowhere else have I found such thoughtful and literate reporting on the state of the American soul."

There are rules to this scheme. Bookmarks pledges not to give away crucial plot points, and goes to great lengths to explain its editorial reluctance in providing a collective rating system for new books. But there's a caveat: "There is no substitute for reading the book yourself and forming your own opinion."

Up in the front of the book is a cool section dubbed "Have You Read?," in which subscribers send in their own reading lists and mini-reviews. Yet can it really be coincidence that the two readers selected for this issue -- from San Pedro, Calif. and Corydon, Ind. -- are both retired librarians? Similarly, "Book Group" provides in-depth profiles, in this case of the Smarty Pants Book Club, so named because its members actually get together and discuss, you know, the book at hand.

But Bookmarks isn't all bite-sized and anecdotal. The four-page feature on Jorge Luis Borges, definitively and aptly described as "the master of the postmodern short story," is a compelling read in which Andrew Benedict Nelson makes a convincing case that postmodernism itself is best expressed in the shorter form -- what he terms "a powerful intellectual kick at 20 pages." Readers of Bookmarks no doubt will find added metaphorical meaning in reading about "Library of Babel," a Borges story "where the sheer quantity of books has deprived them of all meaning." Indeed.

The "Contemporary Authors" feature in this issue focuses on the novelist Lisa See, and provides detailed summaries and reviews of her collected works, as well as a Q&A about her latest, "Shanghai Girls." A similar but shorter profile focuses on Martin Clancy, the Canadian author of the debut novel "How to Sell."

So is there any reason to find fault with Bookmarks? Well, yes. The big names and the big books get plenty of ink, from Alice Hoffman to John Updike to Anita Brookner. But what Bookmarks does so well it should do more often: namely, exposing lesser-known authors to a wider audience. Many writers complain the major book reviews and chain bookstores have something of a stranglehold on the industry, and funnel a relatively select few works through the distribution chain. To its credit, Bookmarks offers insights into books that otherwise might remain below the radar -- but bumping up the ratio of pages devoted to unknown authors would give readers something they won't find in any other magazine.

And therein lies the rub. Ultimately Bookmarks induces its own sort of ennui. Ironically, you come to realize there are so many books. Heck, there are so many magazines. And you've got absolutely nothing saved for retirement, so you'll finally have the time to read them all.

MAG STATS

Published by: Bookmarks Publishing, LLC

Frequency: 6 times per year

Web site: www.bookmarksmagazine.com

This commentary is insightful. I recommend it to others. Post your response to the public Magazine Rack blog. See what others are saying on the Magazine Rack blog. William J. McGee is a freelance journalist who writes a monthly travel column for USAToday.com.

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Magazine Rack for Thursday, September 24, 2009:
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=114244

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Library to offer portable audio books

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:20:00 +0000

Starting this week, the Kitsap Regional Library will be offering patrons a new way to listen to audio books â€" pre-loaded onto a portable listening device.

Banned Books Week

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:20:00 +0000

Banned Books Week (The Nation via Yahoo! News)
The Nation -- I wasn't surprised to read that the American Library Association (ALA) reported at least 513 actual and attempted book bannings in the US in 2008. Here's the list of the ten most frequently challenged books of last year.

Books help children explore emotional issues

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 10:20:00 +0000

Books help children explore emotional issues of immigration (Daily Local News)
books to borrow ... books to buy Some people choose to immigrate. Some, under duress of war or persecution, have no choice. Immigration can be intimidating and difficult, especially for children. Exploring such issues with children who've never experienced those traumas helps to broaden their perspective and instill a compassionate, empathetic point of view.

Google Offers Scanned Books

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:20:00 +0000

Google Offers Scanned Books To Rival Stores (Slashdot)
eldavojohn writes "Yesterday we covered Microsoft's jabs at the Google book deal, but today Reuters is reporting that the scanned books will be available to Google's rivals. Google said in a surprising statement, 'Google will host the digital (out-of-print) books online, and retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your local bookstore will be able to sell access to users on any Internet ...

Audio Books Sought

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:20:00 +0000

Seeking audio books (Logan Herald-Observer & Woodbine Twiner)
The Auxiliary of Community Memorial Hospital is accepting donations of audio books for use in the hospital. Audio books will allow patients to enjoy information, musicals or novels while they are healing or recuperating within the hospital. Only clean, undamaged discs will be accepted. Please contact Mike Baker at the groundwork office with questions regarding your donation, or contact 712-642 ...

Google gives ground in digital books dispute

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:20:00 +0000

Google gives ground in digital books dispute (Financial Times)
Google is to make concessions to European publishers and authors in an effort to stem a rising tide of anger over its landmark digital books settlement in the US.

Books for back-to-school reading

noreply@blogger.com ((hris) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:20:00 +0000

Books for back-to-school reading (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
Summer won't end officially until Sept. 22. But for students, three words - back to school - mark the beginning of the end. So here are four recommended books for kids, starting at the age of 3, to be reading and/or looking at as they head back to the classrooms.