Collection Reflection

Happy New Year's Eve!  End 2012 with some links. 18 Predictions for the year 2013 from SF stories . The Giver movie?  Apparently, yes . Ebook downloads from libraries hit records on Christmas Day.   How digital is changing our reading habits . (Is it?) Libraries see opening as bookstores close .  (Yay, Gretchen!) Infographic!   Goodreads 2012 by the numbers. Flavorwire's best literary heroines of 2012 .   In response on NPR's best heroines of 2012 One list of "suspiciously similar" book covers . There could have been dozens of lists like this. Famous authors playing in the snow . (how about famous authors SHOVELING snow?) Who doesn't love silly photos of serious writers ? Get your fight on: Literary feuds of 2012 NPR presents: Audiobooks for every taste .(no SF/F though....) The Minneapolis Star has "Essential Reading after Newtown" Just for fun: Batman bookshelves!   (cute, but not really practical...

Your abbreviated links!  Happy Friday! SciFiNow runs down the top 5 comics & graphic novels of 2012 Librarian bait: The top 100 most searched for Out of Print books Jack Reacher not reaching the fans . Best photography books of 2012 according to The Guardian I'm not a juvenile lit aficionado, but this NPR interview with Rick Riordan made me fee like I was missing out! Just for fun: 38 End of the World movies in 3 minutes!  Ready, Set, GO! 

A message "To Macmillan Trade Authors, Illustrators, and Agents" (and the world) from John Sargent   (some of news of interest to libraries towards the end)  And, a reaction to John Sargent's letter.  NuOverdrive is now live at 22 librarie s. (does YOUR library have it yet?) In more Books ----> Movie news:  Angelina Jolie slated to direct Hillenbrand's Unbroken . Grimm's Fairy Tales turns 200. Just for fun: T he best astronomy images of 2012 (wow) A new trailer for The Great Gatsby . Happy Thursday!

Good Morning, Collection Reflectors! Have some news. Five Famous Authors Who Became Infamous . Ebooks can Unify the Backlist for Prominent Authors . 3M and Polaris announce industry's first fully integrated ebook library catalog .  Audioboo goes for a redesign . But, they kept the name. On the subject of strong women in SF/F . Game of Thrones gets its own official beer . Literature provides today's Mayan Apocalypse survival tips . James Patterson will be on Rock Center with Brian Williams . (link provides preview) EarlyWord rounds up the Best Cookbooks of 2012 . Have you been to the Bookateria ? Settled: Penguin & the DOJ . NPR rounds up 2012's Best Mysteries . Erotic fiction for teens ? Hey, I wonder what books Bill Gates loved in 2012 ... Just for fun: One thing not going on a diet for the new year?  Game of Thrones episodes.  When Star Trek: Into Darkness met Toy Story Happy Wednesday!

Happy Tuesday! Have some news: Brilliance Audio (digital not available in libraries) enters print and ebook market with new imprint . The 2012 "I Love My Librarian" Winners ! Congrats! Baker & Taylor expands its collection management team . Ebrary adds more foreign language content, publishers . Don't Hide Your Harlequins: In Defense of Romance . NPR talks Best Romances of 2012 .  Everything is bigger in...Seattle? Their 25 top books of 2012 ! The snark is great, but there is news here too: Simon & Schuster agrees to sell ONE ebook title to libraries . Just for fun: 72 years of the Batman Logo  (fascinating!) Why IS there a "b" in the word doubt ? And before you see The Hobbit, some theaters showing a commercial for Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time . Pretty good marketing, that.

For Best Covers part 1, click here . It has been a pretty darn good year for covers. Let's get to the rest of the list! It takes all the conventions from the urban fantasy book cover playbook (broody, pouting heroine plus weapon, plus posing) and elevates them. The background is outstanding. Looking at her sword arm, I was hoping she was part cyborg. Maybe she is. I need to read it to find out. I love everything about this cover (except maybe the overabundance of words on it.) It is gorgeously drawn. It is gorgeously colored. The details are perfect. You get a sense of her walking through the forest, with the movement of the leaves and her positioning. The lantern even looks like it might mid-swing. My favorite cover that looks like a movie poster. In fact, I am already in line to see this movie because it looks awesome. The detail on that cover is pretty impressive. Funniest cover: Every time I see this cover, it makes me laugh. Every single time. I hate zo...

After a year's worth of cover goodness (and badness), these are the ones that seem just as beautiful now as they did when I first saw them. When I looked back on the covers from this year, a lot that I had marked as wonderful had really lost a step or two when taking a second look. Maybe that is because taste can change over the course of a year, or maybe they shine less bright when compared to an entire year's worth of competition. As usual, these are only the things that caught MY eye this year, and I would love to hear your opinions on these, or any other covers that caught YOUR eye in 2012. When I saw this one, I could not stop staring at it. It is one of the most realistic post-apocalyptic scenes I've seen on a cover, and it works. If you look at it too long, it starts to look like the clouds are moving...that's your cue to go to the next book. I normally ignore reprints, because we often already have the book. That saves some time in my life. But, t...

From Oliver Sacks, " Reading the Fine Print ": "Writing should be accessible in as many formats as possible." The books that made the most "Best of 2012" book lists . (I love statistics!--Helga) Cleveland Plain Dealer picks the Best Nonfiction of 2012 .  According to USA Today , the Holidays are the "Heartbeat" of Print Book Sales . People are using ereaders to (gasp!) read more books ! Karin Slaughter's Will Trent series is coming to the movies . And possibly TV. Chase Novak's (or Scott Spencer, whichever name you prefer) novel  Breed  will also be adapted for film . The world really needed a Hunger Games -style reality TV series , right? Literary Death Match also, possibly, coming to a tv near you .  LeVar Burton reboots Reading Rainbow  (In my next life, I'd like to be an app!) Found: A new Hans Christian Andersen story ! John Ringo, David Weber, and Lois McMaster Bujold now available at Amazon in ebook format...

Greetings!  Here is what I'm looking at around the web this morning. Breakup letters from famous authors . Curious about rap lyrics?  Check the encyclopedia    (this may be my new favorite thing today) Medium Rare and Back Again: A Tolkien cookbook Lit Ragger brings Literary Journals to iPads and phones. Hans Christian Andersen's first fairy tale found . Ownshelf helps readers share their digital libraries with friends .    (curious.....) Teleread's 2013 E-Book Market Predictions Just for fun: A little bit of fun with Warm Bodies movie posters.  The movie comes out on February 1, 2013.  Interest in the book is heating up again.  Happy Thursday!

Morning, lovelies! Have some links: The Wrong War over Ebooks . Buy a Nook, and B&N will donate a book to First Book . Where the streets have no name no longer!  Intersection near LA library named for Ray Bradbury . Seriously, you think people have never heard of these books ? So who IS this Ayana Mathis anyway ? The NYT tells you. Is the Media obsessed with e-books ? Tea Party condemns children's book on  . . . okay, I stopped listening. Game Change authors will pen book about 2012 election . (GC2: the change remained the same!) National Federation of the Blind to Take Protest to Amazon, Denouncing School Kindle Use as Discriminatory to Blind Students .  Either “New Adult” fiction is trending on Goodreads , or more people are tagging things with “New Adult.” Or maybe both.  Preview the comic book selections for Free Comic Book Day 2013 .  Tips on how to speed read for Reader's Advisory .  How to make your own infograph...

In "we can hate everyone" news, Salon says to "Stop giving war-veteran novelists a free pass" . I heard about Acoustik at ALA . I guess I thought it was already a reality. Recorded Books Hopes to Change e-book conversation with new sales and management platform . (Yeah, ok) TC defends his ability to be Jack Reacher . (It's NOT ABOUT THE HEIGHT, TOM!) 10 Eye-Catching reads for the book lover on your list . Mini Harry Potter film being secretly filmed  (to be watched through a view master ?) The EU identifies six ways to modernize copyright . Just for fun: All the Firefly moments on Castle . Writing genius? I think so. The Man of Steel full length trailer?  Absolutely. Over at her blog, Anna reviews romance novel titles from the past year . With charts! Happy Tuesday!

Some more highly anticipated SF/F books for 2013 . WSJ talks about why women writers still take men's names . ( hint : "For a new author, we want to avoid anything that might cause a reader to put a book down and decide, 'not for me,' " Ms. Sowards says.") Nightmare Magazine's Top 100 Horror books  (a bit of Reader's Advisory I'm so happy to see!) Wanna know how to check out ebooks from your library?  Ask the New York Times, of course ! NPR talks Elektra, one of my favorite all time characters . (I remember the first time I read this book.) Baen inks deal with Amazon, makes major changes to Webscriptions and Free Library . And your Audiobook Grammy nominees are ... Speaking of audiobooks, AudioGals talks Christmas gifts for the audiobook lover . Dollar e-books under siege . Battle of the celeb memoirs : UK version.  Four design featurettes for Les Miserables . Just for fun:  The best literary quotes ever tattooed ! C...

Philip Pullman talks Grimm Tales (podcast via The Guardian) A Brit Audiobook of the year, The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year , has funny outtakes. Slate Top 10 of 2012 NPR talks the year's best SF/F Our Never-ending Obsession with the Apocalypse . Really, Bret Easton Ellis? Open Road and Ingram partner in a digital distribution service . The trailer for Midnight's Children based on the book by Salman Rushdie. (Looks amazing!) E-book providers may be sharing user information without your consent. 15 sexiest book covers?  No. But some of them are pretty hilarious. Flavorwire's Guide to Stereotyping you by your Favorite book of 2012  (at least the disdain seems to be across the board?) Scholarly Kitchen talks the theory of the E-book . MORE Dean Koontz What are the Top 10 "must read" titles in SF/F/H for January ? Just for fun: For the Hobbit fans, GeekTyrant helps you out with a link to a 13-minute TV special.  Enjoy! Happy F...

Happy Thursday! An interesting article about sexism in historical fantasy. Bedbugs in Libraries . (I wish I hadn't clicked that...) Kirkus talks best bets in SF/F for December . 10 Ways to Kill Your Bookclub . (I particularly like #1.) Heads up on the new Oprah book -- if you ordered it already, the ISBNs have changed ... Can a "Spotify for books" work ? Is Lonely Planet about to be set adrift ? (forgive me!) Alan Moore's Neonomicon too graphic (ha!) for SC library . (I can't believe this made the UK news!) Cuban publishers eager to embrace E-books, Open US Market . In advance of Pearl Harbor Day ...  NYT Bestseller lists changes   ( new for pm ) Lion Hudson launches Christian Fiction imprin t. ( new for pm ) It's not a crime: Reading and Analyzing Translated Thrillers .  ( new for pm ) Just for fun: 7 SF remakes with vastly improved special effects . 

Time's Top 10 titles (and everything else) of 2012. And the NEW Oprah book club pick is..... The Twelve Tribes of Hattie . Cosmo and Harlequin team up to make red-hot ebook babies . And the Bad Sex award goes to... After huge reno, the Charles Dickens museum re-opens . (road trip!!) Hachette has dropped agency pricing on ebooks (and their library pricing went up recently). Galleycat serves up the most overlooked books of 2012 .  Just for fun: My new favorite thing: Honest Trailers.  This is the one for The Dark Knight Rises . It is honest(ly) hilarious. And accurate. Happy Wednesday!

Vice President Cheney working on book about heart treatment  (now if that doesn't get the blood pumping....) A digital discussion -- which brings up a host of issues about libraries, digital divides and poverty . A good read. A Casual Vacancy will be a mini-series . A brilliant article about Small Demons . Goodreads Readers (via EW ) pick their best books of the year . Three authors talk about growing up with Judy Blume books . AAP sales mixed for August . Carry on, Tuesday.  Carry On.

Good Morning, and Happy December to you! Our friend @librarymary40 talks about Baby Steps of Collection Analysis: Using Excel with Collection Data . 25 Notable books unfairly overlooked by the NYT . (Really? It was UNFAIR? Come on.) Hatchet Job of the year? Zoe Heller vs. Salman Rushdie in the NYTRB . (This should be interesting.) David Oliver Relin, co-author of Three Cups of Tea, dies at 49 . From the Mac Observer:  Everything about Ebooks & Ereaders....pt. 1 . Ken Burns' The Dust Bowl documentary spurs new interest in an old title . Are you an intelligent person on the planet?  If so, Neil deGrasse Tyson thinks you should read (or have already read) these books . What were the most popular songs of 2012?  (so tempted to check the circ on these CDs to see if the numbers reflect that popularity.) 10 new "must reads" for December . An online retirement party?  36 Famous Writers on Philip Roth's retirement Should books be a part of emergency...

So, last day of November, what say ye? Smartphone reading is on the rise (I'm in awe of those who can do this. It's just too small for me) Eating in? It's the new eating out!  Best Brit "cookery" books of 2012 . American Gods on HBO?   Possibly..... Confirmed: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell for tv miniseries.   LJ talks to us about Holiday Fiction  Just for fun: Into my "What the hell?!" file -- U.S. had plans to nuke the moon . And just because I can't stop laughing at this commercial ---  really, zombie clowns should be outlawed.  Also, if you don't dig zombies, you might want to take a pass on this. Happy Friday!

( new! ) It's based on a book?   Early Word links Cogan's Trade and Brad Pitt's Killing Them Softly   You just know (or hope) this will look BEAUTIFUL on iPad  --  George R.R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire for iPhone and iPad . It's that time of year, folks...... NYT talks the 100 Notable books of 2012 . Kirkus talks about the  BEST fiction of 2012 . Kirkus ALSO talks about the best SF/F of 2012 . Kirkus on the best Thrillers of 2012 . Kirkus on the best Mysteries of 2012 . Kirkus on the best Historical Fiction of 2012 . Kirkus on the best "Fiction about Love and Sex" of 2012 . (ummmm, can we not call it Romance anymore?) Kirkus on the best Short Story Collections of 2012 .   The Reader's Bill of Rights, Illustrated . (I love this!) Random House the latest to announce digital-only imprint . The Richard Burton diaries . (next on Lifetime?) Just for fun: ( new! ) Goodreads presents: the Hipster Lit Flow Char t....

The 2012 Utopiales Awards announced . I confess, I hadn't heard of these awards before, but hey, more awards! The Encyclopedia of Fantasy is now online . Enjoy it! Barnes & Noble Decides that purchased ebooks are only yours until your credit card expires  (Alternatively titled: what in the ever loving hell?!) Happy Wednesday!

Does your library carry books in foreign languages? Not just language learning, but actual text in different languages? Many libraries do and yet, people are often surprised to find books in German, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, etc. on the shelves. We carry books in a variety of languages, from the very popular (Spanish) to the more obscure (Urdu). We have 18 titles in Urdu text, all of which have circulated more than once. We have 247 Korean language books in the collection, many of them new titles, with varying circulation stats. Some have gone out multiple times, some not at all. Because we have a floating collection, we do not have to assign books to certain branches around the city. This is a great thing for foreign language books because we haven't found any good ways to find out, in branch service areas, what languages are most popular. There is anecdata about this part of town being heavy with Russian speakers, and that part of town having lots of Chinese speakers. Spanis...

An interview with Simon Tolkien . Salon asks an interesting question:  Has the Apocalypse Gone the Way of Vampires ? Flavorwire talks 10 TV Shows better than the books they were based on . This should be interesting... Attention copyright nerds: Another fair use victory for libraries . Harpercollins launches digital-only YA imprint . The Guardian asks: Which books could lure a 13 year old boy from his Xbox ? (what about a 31 year old boy? I'm asking for a friend...) Filed under Very Cool: From the archive, Mary Shelley on the origins of Frankenstein . Futurebook interviews Charlie Redmayne, CEO of Pottermore . The Digital Reader talks about " The Merger Apocalypse ." And, just for fun: I am APPALLED that the Game of Thrones/Seinfeld mashup made me laugh my fool head off. But, it did. Happy Monday!

Cold Days will be released next week.  But YOU can have a Jim Butcher interview right now  (aren't you lucky!) The All-TIME 100 Video Games . Do I really trust Time Magazine on something this important? I love infographics!  Check out the best-selling SF books of all time . November 20th is the Africa in Science Fiction Symposium in London. Penguin expands library ebook lending with B&T . Yes, library patrons really DO buy ebooks: 3.2/month . E-reading isn't reading ! And the wonderful response . How readers discovered a debut novel: A case study . File this under: Of COURSE they are.  "Ebooks are tracking your reading habits ." And, in case you missed it, the " All About Romance Audio" chat from Tantor Audiobooks .  I'm talker #2.  And just because it made me laugh: The top 10 evil monkeys in Geekdom .  Happy Monday.

Flipboard (one of my favorite apps) adds a Books section . Anyone can give you a list of National Book Award winners . But,  check out the cool timeline of the event from the Daily News . Avid library ebook borrowers claim it doesn't affect their book buying.  As an avid library ebook borrower, print book borrower, and ebook and print book buyer, I claim this is the truth. Gillian Flynn signs on for two more books . (I think the hold lists at my library have already started!) Utah district sued for segregating children's book about lesbian moms . Happy 80th Birthday, Babar ! Sir Terry Pratchett wants to leave fate of Discworld up to his daughter . Happy Thursday!

Simpler: the future of government   I don't think this book is a fairy tale.... When I told everyone that T.S. Eliot's wife died on Monday, the confused looks were priceless .  It was his second wife, and there was a 40 year difference in their ages. Hear the 2012 National Book Award nominees . I'm disappointed this wasn't called "Wanna be Starting Something", but this MJ bio looks like it will garner huge interest. Rum is actually one of my favorite words.  Thanks, Dennis Lehane! Nobody puts Pippa in the bargain bin!   Retirement?  Not hardly!  Herman Wouk pubs new book at age 97 . From Page to Screen: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk EW has the first look at Cassandra Clare's "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones"  (wheee!) The Babysitter's Club is coming to ebook......but probably not to your library's ebook collection . Mother Jones interviews Philip Pullman  The ABC's of Game of Thrones deaths .  (how ...

Following up on Publishers Weekly's recent announcement of their best books of 2012 (top 10 and various genres), Amazon weighs in with its top 10 books of 2012 . No real surprises, although I'm sure the John Green fans will be happy. Barack Obama and Elie Wiesel will collaborate on a book "of two friends ." Is Horror a genre " doomed to literary hell? " How about adding a soundtrack to your reading experience ? Starz will be developing Diana Gabaldon's Outlander  series for television . There's a new Bridget Jones novel in the works from Helen Fielding. Two Ray Bradbury pieces coming this fall . Travel through the United States with a Young Adult book for every state! The United States of YA . A question you probably weren't worried about: Why do we take books on vacation ? People of the Bookshelf : Pulitzer-prize winner Geraldine Brooks on a shelving obsession. Just for fun: Every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in ...