Book Chase

The Turk Who Loved Apples

2013-05-20T13:44:00.000-05:00

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Blood Drama

2013-05-17T13:42:00.000-05:00

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Book Trailer of the Week: As Nora Jo Fades Away

2013-04-24T19:24:00.000-05:00

I was contacted today about reviewing a book called As Nora Jo Fades Away. It is Lisa Cerasoli's account of being the fulltime caretaker of her grandmother who suffered from Alzheimer's and was slowly "fading away." This is not a topic I would have wanted to read about just a few years ago, but because we are watching my mother-in-law go through the same process right now, I find comfort in

The Highs and Lows of World Book Night 2013

2013-04-23T21:03:00.001-05:00

Pre-Set-Up Picture of Mall Common This year, figuring there was no better place to find a bunch of reluctant readers, I carried my case of books to a local shopping mall where I set up shop. Within a few minutes, I was ready to go and the first curious shoppers were trying to figure out what the catch was. This reminder of the cynicism that is so much a part of today's world was the first

The Burgess Boys

2013-04-22T13:41:00.000-05:00

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Stephen King's Carrie - 2013 Version

2013-04-20T16:21:00.002-05:00

Carrie is the novel that introduced Stephen King to the world (although I did not really discover him myself until I picked up a paperback copy of The Shining a while later). Co-incidentally, the 1975 Hollywood version of Carrie is largely responsible for making Sissy Spacek a household name despite the fact that she already had been around for about five years. Obviously, the bullied teen's

Lost in the Stacks

2013-04-19T16:39:00.003-05:00

I'm rather honored that Danielle over at A Work in Progress added my bookshelves to her "Lost in the Stacks: Home Edition" feature today. Danielle's post includes multiple pictures of my books and shelves along with my answers to her questions regarding the shelves and how I handle my book collection. If you're interested, here is the direct link to A Work in Progress. I've followed her "

Life After Life

2013-04-17T13:53:00.002-05:00

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The Last Bookshop

2013-04-16T13:21:00.003-05:00

The video shown below was created in the UK by BakeryTV and is very well done. It is a depiction of where the world could be headed if shopping trends and technology changes continue in the direction they are headed today. The film is a rather satirical look at the worst-case scenario but it makes a couple of legitimate points about the future of books. The Last Bookshop video is a bit over 20

World Book Night 2013 Fast Approaching

2013-04-15T10:08:00.001-05:00

World Book Night 2013 (April 23) is fast approaching. I, in fact, expect an email in the next day or so authorizing me to pick up a case of 20 copies of Michael Perry's Population:485 from a near-by Barnes & Noble for distribution that evening. Now it is time for me to finalize a spot to give the books away - and that is not quite as easy as it sounds. The primary goal of World Book Night is

For the First Time Since 1947, a Bay Psalm Book Will Change Hands

2013-04-14T21:00:00.001-05:00

One of the eleven remaining copies of the very first American book produced in America is for sale. And for a mere $30 million you can just about guarantee that it will be yours - just register with Sotheby's for the Bay Psalm Book auction scheduled for November 26, 2013 in New York. The last copy of the Bay Psalm Book to change hands was purchased way back in 1947 by Yale University for a

Driving Mr. Yogi

2013-04-13T16:48:00.001-05:00

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Bad Books, Vicious Libs, and Baseball Dopes Like Pedro Strop

2013-04-12T11:20:00.000-05:00

I seem to be in the middle (I hope it's at least the middle) of a frustrating period during which I can't find a book that doesn't leave me feeling as if I'm wasting precious reading-time on it. The last few books I've started are either so poorly written (dominated by convoluted sentences, or even worse, by poor grammar and sentence fragments) or they are so utterly boring that I toss them

The Cat

2013-04-10T12:59:00.000-05:00

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Christopher Meeks and Libby Fischer Hellman On Writing

2013-04-09T13:23:00.000-05:00

I am by temperament a traditionalist. For some reason, I have always appreciated and been fascinated by the past - especially what happened during my life when I was still too young to understand what I was living through. Heck, I've been that way since I was six years old and started pestering my father with questions about World War II (which ended three years before I was born). But I do

A Chance to Win

2013-04-08T13:45:00.002-05:00

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Z: A Novel About Zelda Fitzgerald

2013-04-07T16:03:00.000-05:00

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The Spark: A Mother's Story of Nurturing Genius

2013-04-05T08:44:00.000-06:00

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There Are Reasons Noah Packed No Clothes

2013-04-04T10:00:00.000-06:00

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Reconstructing Amelia

2013-04-02T13:37:00.000-06:00

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Amazon Set to Close Deal on GoodReads

2013-04-02T11:59:00.000-06:00

The Deal as Seen by Forbes.com Well, I see that Amazon has made another strategic move in the company's quest to control the world of publishing and book selling. Although it doesn't seem to have generated a whole lot of talk, Amazon (relatively quietly) announced yesterday that it had acquired GoodReads, the popular social network for readers, authors, and publishers. Terms of the deal

Notable Nonfiction: First Quarter 2013

2013-03-30T17:57:00.002-06:00

I don't have ten nonfiction titles that I feel good about recommending as the first quarter of 2013 ends, but these five, I think, are worth your consideration: 1. The Spark - Kristine Barnett (Story of an autistic little boy whose IQ is higher than Einstein's) 2. Mr. Lincoln's Battle with God - Stephen Mansfield (This is not your father's Abe Lincoln) 3. Butterfly in the

Fiction Top Ten - First Quarter 2013

2013-03-29T17:26:00.000-06:00

Hard as it is to believe, we are already one-quarter of the way through 2013, meaning that it's time for my first Top Ten update of the year. Even though my choices are limited to books published between October 1, 2012 and today, this first list is filled with great reads. Fiction Top Ten First Quarter 2013 1. The Dinner - Herman Koch (Dutch novel proving that boys will be boys -

Yankee Miracles

2013-03-27T12:14:00.001-06:00

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Saturday Night in South Louisiana

2013-03-26T21:49:00.001-06:00

Gino Delafose Just time tonight to post a video I shot over the weekend in Louisiana at the Crawfish Etouffee Cook-Off. This one features one of the better known bands in that region right now, Gino Delafose and French Rockin' Boogie. Gino, at 41 years of age, is one of the newer generation of Zydeco and Cajun music performers in the state. The weekend was a successful one, with (