LibWorm.com provides a librarian RSS filtering service. Over 1500 RSS librarian sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest headlines from journals and sites in the Audiobooks interest group. http://www.libworm.com/rss/librarianqueries.php Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:54:30 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/ZdUypXL0x4g/ Audible is now available in the Android Market. It features chapter navigation, bookmarking, sleep mode and button free mode. It will support wireless transfer from My Library to your android phone. More info here. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:03:52 +0100 868675 http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/60243 The monthly lists of the most requested eBooks and Audiobooks, August, 2010) are now available from OverDrive. Below is the number one title in each category The complete list provide the Top 10 titles in each of the eight categories. Most Downloaded Audiobook from the Library - Adult Fiction 1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, [...] (Source: ResourceShelf) Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:24:41 +0100 868316 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BPLDNews/~3/Yamim-wyfZE/show-us-your-library-card-buena-park.html September is National Library Card Sign-up Month, and the Buena Park Library District wants to make sure that you and your child carry the most valuable card of all – a library card.In honor of National Library Card Sign-Up Month, some local businesses are offering discounts and other perks if you show your library card during the month of September. “This is a great way to promote library card sign-up month and give local businesses an opportunity to partner with us to show their support for reading,” said Library Director, Patti Hanley. Visit the Buena Park Library or the Library website for a list of the discounts or special offers you will receive from the following businesses:Auntie Anne's PretzelsAvonBags & BlingBenny the DJBella Dia Salon & Day SpaBuena Park Library Volunteer Guild BookstoreGolden Spoon Frozen YogurtGranny's FlowersQuiznosTutti Frutti Frozen YogurtThere’s a lot happening at the Buena Park Library for everyone in our community, and the best part is that in these tough economic times, it’s all free with a library card. The Buena Park Library has books, magazines, DVDs, CDs, Audiobooks, computers, and a variety of helpful, informative databases that can be accessed using your Buena Park Library card. The Library also offers several free programs for all ages to stimulate the joy of reading. Librarians are available to help recommend material suitable for various ages and interests.Getting a library card is easy. For information on how you can sign up for your library card, visit the Buena Park Library at 7150 La Palma Avenue, call 714-826-4100 or see the library’s Web site at www.buenaparklibrary.org. Library hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sign-up for your free Buena Park Library Card today and then Show us Your Library Card, Buena Park! (Source: Buena Park Library District News) Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:04:00 +0100 867959 http://collectionsnews.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-librivox-acoustical-liberation-of.html Free audiobooks. Books in the public domain recorded by volunteers into digital audio (eg. mp3), making audio files available to the world, for free.Some titles Persuasion, From the Earth to the Moon, Hamlet... (Source: University of Calgary Library Collections News) Mon, 30 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 868528 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/08/29/sacramento-public-library-another-new-mobile-app-from-boopsie/ Yes, another California public library has gone mobile with the help of Boopsie. This it’s the Sacramento Public Library. Visiting Saclib.Boopsie.com (in a non-mobile browser) will take you to an info page. Entering the same URL into your mobile browser will direct you to the proper site or page to access the native app or web app. iPhone users can also go to this page in the iTunes Store where the app is available for download. Free. Note: We tried accessing the iPhone app by using the boopsie.com URL listed above but instead of redirecting us to the iTunes store to download the app, we were redirected to a “mobile app” version. We will look into this ASAP. Some of the Features the Sacramento Public Library App includes: + A Library Locator (Uses GPS if Available) + New Books, New DVD’s, New Audiobooks, New Downloadables (e-Books) and Other Categories + Contact Info (Including Text a Librarian) + Access to the Library Catalog (Note the “Smart Prefix” Feature, Results Change as You Type) You can also use Smart Prefix to type with fewer letters. For example, Lib o cong will return Library of Congress material. + Access to Social Media from the SPL Including: YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook This has sure been a busy time for Boopsie. In the past week or so along with the Sacramento launch, we’ve also see new services for the: + San Jose Public Library (iPhone App) + Los Angeles Public Library + Central Rappahannock Regional Library (Virginia) (Source: ResourceShelf) Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:49:24 +0100 867198 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/aug/28/doris-lessing-rose-tremain-audiobooks The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing, The Colour by Rose Tremain and Body Surfing by Anita ShreveThe Golden Notebook, by Doris Lessing, read by Juliet Stevenson (30hrs unabridged, Naxos, £65)This feminist classic, which features on every serious Must Read Book list, is the one novel I consistently failed to finish in the days when I could still read print. Maybe calling it a novel didn't help. Lessing is on my personal Top 100 Novelists list because of The Grass Is Singing, The Fifth Child and The Good Terrorist, books with stories that grip you from start to finish. The Golden Notebook, published in 1962 when she was 43, is a thinly disguised version of her life from around 1940 to 1955. Anna Wulf, the narrator, is typing the contents of the four notebooks – black, red, yellow and blue – she has been keeping into one big, all-encompassing golden notebook. The black one describes Rhodesia, where she grew up, the red her Communist party associations, the blue is her personal journal and the yellow is a novel in progress about all of her other lives. It's complex and non-chronological; events overlap; characters you think are dead suddenly reappear; and the novel, written in the third person about the fictitious writer Anna, her first book, her friends, their shared lovers, husbands and children, if you know anything about Lessing's own life is, given the necessary name changes, pretty much all true. So why make it so tricksy? Why not just write it as a narrative starting with the handsome trainee RAF pilots and European refugees she socialised and slept with in Rhodesia during the war, the drinking and dancing, the political meetings in small hotels and then London, where, like all free-thinking, independent women, she had radical views about Stalinism, the nuclear threat, the cold war, sex? Enter the golden Juliet Stevenson, whose cool, intelligent voice can make sense of anything. ... Fri, 27 Aug 2010 23:05:31 +0100 866295 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/7_FbFmvv56I/ I didn’t notice this David Pogue article from August 12th until Techdirt and Slashdot pointed it out just the other day. Though most of the article is about other cool features offered by iOS 4 (unified contacts, Facetime tricks), in the last section Pogue talks about the VoiceOver “spoken books” feature on the iPad and wonders why the Authors Guild and publishers hasn’t freaked out about it. I previously looked at the matter back in March; you’d think they would have had time to speak up by now. Yes, this is exactly the feature that debuted in the Amazon Kindle and was then removed when publishers screamed bloody murder. But somehow, so far, Apple has gotten away with it, maybe because nobody’s even realized this feature is in there. Why is it all right for the iPad to read books aloud, but not the Kindle? Because it’s more obviously part of an overall accessibility system for the blind, whereas the Kindle’s was meant for the convenience of the sighted (and indeed, the rest of it proved to be so inaccessible to the blind that colleges were prohibited from adopting it for textbooks), perhaps? Or is the Authors Guild more willing to give Apple a pass since it helped them stand up to the “man” on the matter of e-book pricing? Since Pogue explained how to do it, I went ahead and gave it a try myself. It read a little fast to be understandable on the default setting, though that is adjustable by slider. The odd emphases and pauses also didn’t help understandability, and I didn’t really like the way it changed the device’s default gestures. It’s not going to replace a talented audiobook actor any time soon. Still, I did like how loud and fairly easy to understand the individual words were, and it’s good to have the capability available even if it’s not one I would ordinarily choose to use. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:15:00 +0100 866105 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=15554 Web Developer (Computer Systems Analyst) (Great River Regional Library, St. Cloud, Minnesota) Great River Regional Library (GRRL) is one library in 32 locations across 6 central Minnesota counties serving nearly 450,000 residents. To meet our patrons’ needs, GRRL provides nearly 1 million books, CDs, DVDs, downloadable audiobooks and e-books as well as subscription databases, 268 public computers and free wireless internet. For more information, please visit griver.org. Description: The Web Developer (Computer Systems Analyst) exists to assist in the provision of information technology services to staff and public users at all locations and across the region through the use of web technologies. ... Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:15:01 +0100 865555 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/u1oUhd7sbdQ/playaways-books-for-your-ears.html We have purchased a growing number of Playaways for the teen and J sections this year, but you may not even know what they are! Playaways are audio books that come pre-loaded on mp3 players. You just plug in your headphones and go! They are way more portable than books on tape or CD. Some libraries charge to borrow Playaways, but the Upper Darby Libraries do not. You can borrow them for three weeks and renew them twice, just like books.Here are the Playaways that we own in the teen section:The Six Rules of Maybe by Deb CalettiAl Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer CholdenkoCatching Fire by Suzanne CollinsThe Hunger Games by Suzanne CollinsMockingjay by Suzanne Collins (NEW!)The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (NEW!)Walk Two Moons by Sharon CreechBeautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret StohlAn Abundance of Katherines by John Green (NEW!)The Outsiders by S. E. HintonThe Giver by Lois LowryDunk by David LubarSleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David LubarBloody Jack by L. A. Meyer (NEW!)Flocabulary: The Hip-Hop Approach to SAT-Level Vocabulary Building by Blake Harrison (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:59:53 +0100 865524 http://santafelibrary.blogspot.com/2010/08/southside-fall-book-sale.html Southside Library6599 Jaguar Dr.September 25 & 26Friends Only Hours:Saturday: 10 am - 1 pmMemberships will be available at the door:Individual: $10 / / Household: $15Open to public:Saturday: 1 pm - 4 pmSunday: 1 pm - 4 pmCommunity Room:Standard priced itemsBag Day Sunday: Community Room : only $3.00 per bag!Hardcover books - $1.00 ea.Paperback books - $0.50 ea. or 3 for $1.00Children's books - $0.25 ea.DVDs, CDs and Audiobooks also available!Sale will feature Gift books individually priced & discount books.Sponsored by the Friends of the Santa Fe Public Library. All proceeds from the sale of these donated books are used to purchase new books for the Library. (Source: ICARUS... the Santa Fe Public Library Blog) Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 864775 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/Ip7D21vKB7k/ I’ve been learning a lot in my new job as a tech support representative so far. It’s kind of funny—before I took this job, I thought I “knew” what tech support was, from my limited exposure to humorous tech support stories, and my work supporting a small web hosting company. But exposure to everyday people with common computer problems has given me a whole new perspective—or at least the start of one. The biggest thing I’m sure of is that I’ve still got a lot left to learn. It’s surprising, though perhaps it shouldn’t be, just how many people have exactly the same problems. A large percentage of calls I take relates to inability to set up wireless routers. These complicated, cantankerous devices, and the convoluted way in which they relate to people’s computers, cause a lot of trouble and misunderstandings, not to mention frustration. Small wonder that some companies can charge as much as $100 simply to have someone come out and set up a home network. There have been some times when even I’ve felt like it might be worth it to pay someone that much. Another frequent stumper is the way Microsoft now bundles a trial version of Microsoft Office with every installation of Windows 7. Except it isn’t really a “trial” version so much as it is a “Schroedinger’s version”—when presented with a product key, it’s the real deal; if not, it’s a trial. It looks exactly the same either way when you start it up; the only difference is that some computers have a card with a serial number bundled with them. ... Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:15:00 +0100 864768 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/snus_v0LFK8/ From Project Gutenberg News: One of our newest projects is to solicit suggestions as to where Project Gutenberg should be in it’s 50th year. The current suggestions are: 1. Make it more obvious that PG wants error messages–how to write them, where to send them, etc. 2. Make it more obvious that PG will send DVD’s so the people who have to pay by the megabyte can use PG. 3. An extensive library of human read audiobooks. 4. Please make it more obvious how to do PG eBooks for Kindle, Sony, nook, and other eReaders. 5. More current books under Creative Commons licenses. More apps for cellphones. A model to encourage new writers to share their work in the same spirit. Showcase how people who used to be on the bad sides of various digital divides enjoyed and benefitted. 6. Please add more bookshelves, particularly one to do eBooks from each country and make sure each one has at least one eBook to show how it can be done. 7. Proofread the Top 100 or so downloaded books to the point where we they approach perfection. As part of the last point above, we are right now looking for volunteers to fine tooth comb the PG eBooks of Alice In Wonderland, Through Looking-Glass & Hunting Of The Snark for errors. So we need as many volunteers as possible to let us know if you would like like to proofread Top Tens. If you have a project you would like to work on then why not send us a note and we’ll see if we can get a team of volunteers to help. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:57:15 +0100 864771 http://blogaboutmurphy.blogspot.com/2010/08/downloadable-library-materials-focus-of.html Join us in the Library Classroom on the first floor of the library for a series of workshops highlighting downloadable library resources, online audio books and e-books. The workshops will be 20 minutes and include hands-on practice. Find the dates and times below. Online Audio Books 10 a.m. Wednesday, August 252 p.m. Thursday, August 2610 a.m., Monday, August 304 p.m., Monday, August 302 p.m., Tuesday, August 31E-Books 2 p.m. Wednesday, August 254 p.m., Wednesday, August 2510 a.m. Thursday, August 264 p.m., Thursday, August 262 p.m., Monday, August 3010 a.m. Tuesday, August 314 p.m. Tuesday, August 31 (Source: BlogAbout Murphy Library) Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 866260 http://www.comarmsblog.com/2010/08/friday-fun-need-some-free-fun-this.html Looking for some free fun? Check out our new DVDs and audio books! Stop in, or look at our catalog HERE. (Source: CARL Book Beacon) Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:01:00 +0100 865262 http://ricklibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/08/hunger-games-by-suzanne-collins.html Our copies have been out all summer. The requests keep coming. One of the local schools assigned The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins for summer reading. Some of the young readers have even liked it well enough to ask for the sequel Catching Fire. I felt that I should read the teen novel, too, to learn what it was all about. So I got the audiobook and listened while doing yard work and household chores.Within the first half hour, the caution flag was waving high. I sensed Lord of the Flies in the background. I was wondering whether I should continue. Brave reader that I am, knowing that all those teens were having to read it, I did. The results of my decision are mixed.The Hunger Games is a pretty well told story. With fifty years of reading behind me, I was able to predict the outcome of each characters' roles, but some of the details of the story were surprisingly clever. (I almost typed "cleaver" which would fit this gruesome story, too.) The mixing of action and thought worked well, and I wanted to know what came next.But I was unhappy at the end. Nothing was resolved. Some characters had temporarily escaped peril with their lives, but the unexplained evil that brought about the games was still in place. The stage was just set for sequels that I do not want to read.I am not opposed to sequels, but there has to be some glimmer of hope at the end of the first book. We are given no reward for making it to the end. There is just a promise of more dreariness.Still, I would rather continue The Hunger Games than The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I suspect both will be popular for years to come, but I'd prefer to read something less dismal.Maybe the schools can free their students from assigned readings next summer.Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. Scholastic Press, 2008. ISBN 9780439023481 (Source: ricklibrarian) Wed, 18 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 865192 http://lovetheliberry.blogspot.com/2010/08/refgrunt-sunday-sunday-sunday.html Guy calls wanting a car manual we don’t haveDo we have a landline for public use? No.They want to download audiobooks to their ZuneGuy with purple hat, plaid shirt and giant beard wants books on yogaDo we have a trade journal for lawyers? He wants to hire an expert witness.Lady brings her shiny new red laptop up to the desk—can I help her connect to the wireless? Yep. [Why don’t they make shiny red MacBooks??]Guy says: When I requested those books from another branch, the status changed and now they’re showing as belonging to your branch! That must be the floating process you were talking about! (Yes!) Wow, you guys really were right about that after all! (Yep)Do you have any of the old-fashioned machines where you put money in and you can Xerox?Sharp-dressed man wants a library card“I got a question for ya. Where do you keep the books on investing? Like, investing money.”Sharp-dressed man wants to know where the DVDs areHow do you use the microfilm machine?Man with very long hair and very long beard points to catalog: “is this where I go to look up books?”Nice older gentleman wants a book about Gordon of Khartoum. He tells me the battle he was in was the last charge by mounted horsemen against regulars with repeating rifles. Not one horseman made it across.Sequel to Wicked by Gregory MaguireWants the Lucy & Desi book, but doesn’t want to request it. Will check back, even though I tell her it probably won’t be here unless she requests it.Money origami: everything is checked out and she needs it by Wednesday for her mom’s b-day present so we print out something from this site. ... Sun, 15 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 867583 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BPLDNews/~3/P6ag6UyTEzQ/buena-park-library-district-offers-free.html The Buena Park Library District will be offering a bilingual beginning computer class (computación para principiantes) on Saturday, September 11, 2010, from 10 am to 11:30 am in the Library’s Boardroom. This class is designed for those who have little or no experience with computers. Attendees will learn basic mouse and keyboard skills. Participants are asked to call the Information/Reference Desk at 714.826.4100 x125 to sign up since space is limited.The Buena Park Library District is located at 7150 La Palma Ave., Buena Park, CA. The Library has over 5,000 visitors per week and lends out 500,000 books, DVDs, audiobooks and music CDs per year. For more information, please call the library at 714.826.4100 x125, or visit our virtual branch at www.buenaparklibrary.org. The Buena Park Library is open Tuesday through Thursday, 10:00 am – 8:00 pm and Friday and Saturday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm..Check it out … we connect you to the world of knowledge. (Source: Buena Park Library District News) Sat, 14 Aug 2010 16:05:52 +0100 867962 http://hplbookhunt.blogspot.com/2010/08/reader-reviews_13.html Little Bee by Chris CleaveMoving book. Gives a lot to think about illegal immigrants and the trials and tribulations people will go through to live in a free society. Hits many topics such as what a human will do for another human, would you save someone's life if it may cost you yours, the immigration systems & how they work or don't in democratic societies and human relationships.- Elizabeth P. Handbook for Radicals by Saul AlinskyA primer for organizing pressure groups to effect change in existing political/social structures. Written by the “father of American radicalism”, it is chillingly direct and revealing.- Mike E. The Historian by Elizabeth KostovaFar fetched, entertaining story about the search for the "real" dracula. Too long. Would have been a good read if it was about 150 to 200 pages shorter.- Elizabeth P. Prince of Fire by Daniel SilvaA novel of murder and intrigue between Israeli forces and Palestinian terrorists. The historical nature of this conflict is summarized in a dialogue between principle characters. Good reading.- JME The Nobodies Album by Carolyn ParkhurstI liked it. Good summer read. Relationship between a mother and son trying to deal with several serious family issues. I would recommend it.- Elizabeth P. The Space Between Us by Thrity UmrigaThe author is superb in describing emotional turmoil and then verbal reactions to a situation. It is an expose of the space between socially divided people that can rarely be breached. The setting is Bombay, India and the story is wonderful.- JMECountdown in Cairo by Noel Hynd3rd book in the series about a female Federal Agent. I didn't read 1st 2 books but was able to follow the story easily. Cross between female James Bond and Jason Bourne. Good summer read.- Elizabeth P. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks World War Z is a must read or listen if you are as crazed about zombies as myself. ... Fri, 13 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 865115 http://ricklibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/08/reading-lolita-in-tehran-by-azar-nafisi.html Iran has been a hot topic in American news publications and broadcasts for over three decades. The Islamic Revolution, a hostage crisis, the execution of intellectuals, an ayatollah calling for the death of Salman Rushie, women losing their rights to work and dress as they please, a war with Iraq, reform movements, reform movements backtracking, the development of nuclear weapons, the expulsion of diplomats, the stoning of adulteresses, and on and on. Never a warm and friendly story as a headline from Iran. From a distance, it might seem that there are no friends of the West left in Iran.In Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi testifies that there is and has always been opposition to the Islamic rule that has dominated for thirty years. Many people may have supported the overthrow of the Shah in the late 1970s, but they wanted an end to tyranny and corruption. What they got was more of the same but worse. Nafisi was one of the demonstrators against the Shah longing for justice. She quickly became disillusioned as she saw how women suffered from laws that reversed decades of liberalization. As an intellectual and professor of English literature in a country claiming that all things Western are evil, she was always close to censure and arrest. Only a fairly low profile kept her from danger.Nafisi lost her position at the University of Tehran after breaking too many rules - mostly concerning the use of her scarf. She quit before being fired, but the expulsion was coming. In response, she invited some of her best students to come to her apartment for a highly illegal class about Western novels, including Lolita, The Great Gatsby, Daisy Miller, and Pride and Prejudice. For two years, seven young women came one morning a week, removed their burqas, reveal their jeans and dangerously painted fingernails, and debated the merits of characters and ideas in books that had disappeared from Tehran bookstores. ... Wed, 04 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0100 864566 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/08/02/overdrive-the-most-download-ebooks-and-audiobooks-from-the-library-july-2010/ Update: Learn More About OverDrive in this New InfoToday NewsBreak by Paula Hane: “Digital Lending Goes into OverDrive” The monthly list of the most requested eBooks and Audiobooks (July, 2010) is now available from OverDrive. The Top 10 titles in each category are listed on the actual document. Here is the number title in each category. Most Downloaded Audiobooks from the Library – Adult Fiction 1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson (3rd Consecutive Month), (Books on Tape) Download Audiobooks – Adult Nonfiction 1. Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert (Books on Tape) Download Audiobooks – Juvenile Fiction 1. (New) Breaking Dawn Stephenie Meyer (Listening Library) Download Audiobooks – Juvenile Nonfiction 1. (New) Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson (Penguin Group (USA), Inc.) Most Downloaded eBooks from the Library – Adult Fiction 1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2nd Month at Number One), (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) Download eBooks – Adult Nonfiction 1. Sh*t My Dad Says, by Justin Halpern (HarperCollins) Download eBooks – Juvenile Fiction 1. (New) Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) Download eBooks – Juvenile Nonfiction 1. Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson (Penguin USA, Inc.) Note: This title is also on Audiobooks – Adult Nonfiction and the Audiobooks – Juvenile Nonfiction lists. The complete list will provide you with the Top 10 in each category. Note: At the bottom of the rankings page you’ll now see now a “cloud” of popular search terms that were used on OverDrive in July. The ‘Most Downloaded Books from the Library’ lists are organized by subject and format, and compiled based on activity at more than 11,000 libraries in the OverDrive global network. ... Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:13:38 +0100 864135 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/WQj57DvNAgo/ FROM THE USER’S GUIDE New unheralded aspects are in BOLDface. PDFS: NEW FEATURES No-fee delivery of personal documents direct to Kindle “For Kindle models that include 3G, you can avoid 3G delivery fees for the personal document service by addressing the e-mail so that the second part of your Kindle e-mail address is @free.kindle.com.  The document will be delivered to your Kindle when your Kindle is connected via Wi-Fi and it will also be e-mailed to your Amazon e-mail address.  If Wi-Fi is not available, you can transfer the personal document to your Kindle’s documents folder by connecting your Kindle to your computer. “ Adjust the contrast! “While reading a PDF document, you can zoom in or adjust the contrast to make the document easier to read.” “Pressing the Text key [Aa-key] will let you choose zoom and contrast options for a PDF page.” The options are “lightest lighter default darker darkest.” However, into each life, some rain must fall: “table of contents — this option is NOT available for PDF documents” Place Cursor in Page “Press up or down on the 5-way controller to display the cursor.  If you are zoomed into a PDF page, you can also press Menu and choose ‘Place Cursor in Page’ to display the cursor. — displays a blinking cursor on the page.  Use this option when you are zoomed in to a PDF page and you want to create a note or highlight, or use the dictionary lookup.” My note here: We were never able to access the words before.  Highlighted passages can now be forwarded to Facebook and Twitter, if social networking is enabled where you are. WEB PAGES Zooming into Web Pages “You can zoom in to any web page to magnify the page. ... Sun, 01 Aug 2010 18:11:19 +0100 863891 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/31/venice-india-america-travel-audiobooks Sue Arnold's audiobook choiceVenice, by Jan Morris, read by Sebastian Comberti (13hrs unabridged, Naxos, £35)"I was in my 20s when I wrote this," says Morris in the introduction to her best known travel book, "and I like to think that its faults are the heady faults of youth." What faults? Fifty years on, it is still the best all-round guide to a city that, despite the ever-present hordes of tourists, remains the most magical destination on earth. Listening to this equally magical audio made me long to go back and check out all those less touristy bits that so enthralled young Morris – the alley too narrow for Browning to open his umbrella, the crypt allegedly containing Mary Magdalen's finger, the fish market "laden with sleek wriggling eels, still pugnaciously alive, beautiful little red fish packed in boxes like shampoos, heads upwards . . . soft bulbous octopus furiously injecting ink . . . a multitude of sea matter . . . sliding, sinuous, shimmering, flabby, spongy, crisp, all lying aghast upon their fresh green biers dead, doomed or panting like a grove of brilliant foliage among the tundra of Venetian stone." Yes, the descriptions do go on a bit, but that's part of the charm. It was written, says Morris, "in a rush of enthusiasm like the splurge of a love affair". The enthusiasm is infectious. Venetian history, culture, religion, food – she relishes them all, from the glory years between the 12th and 15th centuries when La Serenissima controlled the trade routes between east and west, to the nuns at one of the more fashionable convents claiming their right to supply a mistress for the new papal nuncio, to the notice on the Grand Canal: "It is forbidden to spit on the swimmers." Don't go to Venice without it.The Story of India, by Michael Wood, read by Sam Dastor (10hrs unabridged, BBC, £26. ... Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:06:04 +0100 863514 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/4onxW8eQfqY/ Never one to pass up a chance to poke fun at an easy target, Internet humorist Lore Sjöberg has written a hilarious “Alt Text” column for Wired on “Library of Congress Rulings That Could Have Been”. Other rulings give users the right to copy videogames for the purpose of researching the quality and type of security measures embedded therein — obviously the main reason people copy videogames — and the right to turn your electronic book into an electronic audio book, assuming there isn’t a legal audio book version already on the market. I’m very excited about that last one, because at long last I can have A Million Random Digits With 100,000 Normal Deviates read to me to sleep at night. Don’t miss his list of “rulings that the Library of Congress refused to make, on the grounds that nobody actually proposed them.” Perhaps Sjöberg could propose some of these himself next time around. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:15:00 +0100 863403 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BPLDNews/~3/d5RX1Isa3z0/buena-park-library-volunteer-guild-book.html A large BOGO sale of ALL items will be held on Saturday, August 7, 2010, from noon to 4:30 pm in the Volunteer Guild of the Buena Park Library’s Bookstore, located on the 2nd floor of the Buena Park Library District, 7150 La Palma Ave., between Knott and Western Avenues. You will be able to “buy one at regular price, get one free of equal or lesser value.” Items may be mixed. This is a great time to stock up on all your summer and leisure reading. Stop by on August 7 for a really great selection of books, videos, DVDs, audiobooks and much more!All Guild proceeds are used to generously fund and support Library programs and collections. The Guild Bookstore hours are Tuesday thru Wednesday from noon to 6 PM, Thursdays from noon to 7:30 PM, Fridays from noon to 3 PM, and Saturdays from noon to 4:30 PM. The Bookstore is elevator-accessible. For further information about other upcoming sales, please call the Guild Bookstore at 714-826-4100 ext. 123. (Source: Buena Park Library District News) Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:00:01 +0100 864510 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/WEo0a7Fz-7I/ Here we go again: Andrew Wylie plans to expand Amazon backlist publishing effort by Chris Meadows Kindle 3 vs Kindle 2 in size plus hands-on report by PC World’s Perenson – photos also by Andrys Basten iBook buyers beware – no refund or exchange even if your book has been updated! iPad e-book app review: DiceBook by Chris Meadows What is the real platform for ereading? Probably smartphones Disintermediation Happens – Agents and the new reality by Eoin Purcell Authors Guild on the economics of the Wylie/Amazon agreement – a 300% increase in author income?; may give Amazon too much power LibriVox – free audiobooks in the public domain A secret weapon for authors by Joanna Wired Gadget Lab on the iPad sheet music page turner foot switch Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:54:14 +0100 863406 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/07/29/ebooks-and-audiobooks-stats-about-overdrive-users-company-publishes-some-survey-findings/ From a Blog Post In June, we concluded a survey, linked on 10 of our highest traffic websites, with more than 5,000 responses from patrons around urban and rural America. The survey included questions regarding demographics, computer/device usage, borrowing habits, general feedback on user experience, and suggestions for collection development. [Snip] Here Are a Few Findings: + 74% of users are female, between the ages of 30-59. + Nearly 70% have a college and/or postgraduate degree. + 60% learned about the download service from the library’s website (if our past blog posts and training sessions weren’t enough to get you to promote on your website, hopefully this is!) + 87% listen to audiobooks on an MP3 player, 44% of which are iPod users. + 33% of users own an eBook reader (e.g., Sony Reader, Barnes & Noble nook) + For those who don’t own an eBook reader, 90% stated that compatibility of eBooks from the library is an important factor. The blog post concludes with contact info about how OverDrive customers can access additional stats from the ContentReserve.com (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:53:05 +0100 863155 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/jul/29/book-depository-map A website that aims to rival Amazon has produced a feature that is mesmerising for those who, like me, obsess about what other people are readingI think it was Sarah Crown who first set me off. "Is it just me?" she asked (while accepting the cliche of that opening phrase), "is it just me, or are the contents of other people's bookshelves/bedside tables/desks/whatever ALWAYS more interesting than your own?"Well, is it just me, or … look, does anyone else have an unhealthy obsession not just with what people have on their bookshelves but what they're actually reading right there and then? Does anyone else stare unashamedly at the paperback that is tucked under someone's arm while they sort through their purse for change in the queue at Boots? Does anyone else have a better memory for the novel poking out of a new acquaintance's pocket than that person's face or name?And is anyone else facing up to the prospect of summer with a slight feeling of nameless dread, because they know they'll be walking through a park or by a pool or along a beach with their head at an angle, craning to see the spine or cover of whatever the nearest person is reading?Ah well, perhaps it just is me, then. But if there are others like me, they'll understand why summer can be problematic. Have you ever tried to explain to someone in a pair of Speedos or a tiny bikini that, no, actually, you were looking at the book they had balanced on their tummy? Me neither. But that day will surely come.I don't limit my book voyeurism to places where I'm likely to get punched. I'm an inveterate snoop in bookshops and libraries – I've sometimes caught myself following someone to the till in Waterstone's because I couldn't see what they were buying. Chain bookstores are particularly nightmarish territory, with tables piled high with three-for-two offers. ... Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:57:41 +0100 863077 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2010/07/27/a-few-important-news-stories One problem with busy days like yesterday is that I am focused just on what’s in front of me, and miss out on what’s happening elsewhere. After work yesterday I was catching up on news and blogs, and found a few stories I thought were significant and wanted to share (you know, besides that whole leak thing): Libraries Loan More Movies than Netflix - I occasionally still hear of public libraries that don’t circulate DVDs, and it really astounds me. I know we do a ton of them, but I didn’t think we out-paced Netflix et. al. - yay libraries (via LibraryStuff.net) Federal judge says you can break DRM if you’re not doing so to infringe copyright - This was totally unexpected, but is finally some copyright/DRM news moving in the right direction (ie, a people-friendly logical way, counter to ACTA’s direction). It’ll affect us when it comes to downloadable audiobooks and ebooks, and it reminded me how much traffic my website gets from searches like “overdrive hacks“ Al Franken’s Warning On Net Neutrality - Net Neutrality is another issue I’ve been watching, because it impacts information access and intellectual freedom. I am grateful to have people in the government on our side, and that Al Franken sees this as a serious issue: “Net neutrality is the First Amendment issue of our time.” (via Slashdot) An odd conflux of issues yesterday. (Source: herzogbr.net blog) Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:18:24 +0100 862599 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/uczQT68U-_w/ The subhead under the LibriVox title is “acoustical liberation of books in the public domain”. According to their site: LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain, and then we release the audio files back onto the net for free. All our audio is in the public domain, so you may use it for whatever purpose you wish. Their catalog says that they have 3,136 books currently available. Go take a look. Via bookofjoe Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:50:04 +0100 862412 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/07/25/tacoma-news-tribune-sh-h-h-h-h-forget-it-at-south-sound-libraries/ Yes, an article about libraries with Sh-h-h-h-h and it’s even in the title. Actually, this is a very positive article about the goings on at the Tacoma Public Library even during a time of funding cuts. From the Article: There’s simply so much to do at the library these days. Besides maintaining their traditional role as the public’s key provider of books and information, libraries today serve as: + Job centers, where throngs of unemployed workers update résumés, learn interview skills and hunt through online job listings. + Tech centers, where patrons can update their Facebook pages on library computers or plug in personal laptops and connect to free WiFi. At home, library card-holders can log on to library websites to read magazines, get real-time homework help from tutors, and download audio books. + Education centers, sponsoring classes on computer skills and crafts, and talks running the gamut from genealogy to green household cleaners to creating publications called zines. + Entertainment and cultural centers, sponsoring movie showings, live performances and art exhibits – all free of charge. [Clip] People have really turned into themselves and are very solitary. They’re communicating on blogs and Facebook, but they don’t see people face to face. They don’t even go to work on a regular basis; they telecommunicate,” said Pierce County Library System spokeswoman Mary Getchell. “People are yearning for this community center.” The theme emerged while the 17-branch library system surveyed patrons last year to develop its 2030 facilities plan. “We heard, ‘Where better to have this community center than the library?’ ” Getchell recalls. “ ‘You’re already open.’ ” [Clip] Yet at the same time people need libraries the most, libraries are facing challenges of their own. The Pierce County Library System eliminated 24 positions this year to help cover a $1.5 million shortfall in a $28. ... Sun, 25 Jul 2010 22:25:13 +0100 862256 http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2010/jul/25/guide-to-august-events School's out, so let our guest experts help you make the most of the British summer. Here's what to watch, what to listen to, what to read, how to picnic to perfection, and how to find the best beachesHow to spot a good beach by Hugh GrahamThe editor of Time Out's Seaside Guide suggests 10 ways to know you've found the perfect beach: 1) Crashing wavesThe appropriately named Hell's Mouth in north Wales puts on quite a show, as do Freshwater West (Pembrokeshire) and Sennen Cove (Cornwall).2) Great viewsThe views above Rhossili Bay, a sublime Welsh strand on the Gower, rival the world's great coastal vistas.3) Caribbean feelIn the sunshine, the turquoise seas and talcum-powder sand at Luskentyre, on the Hebridean island of Harris, are almost Bahamian.4) Crag actionI love a bit of cragginess. Bedruthan Steps in north Cornwall takes rugged good looks to extremes.5) Sand dunesMerthyr Mawr in south Wales boasts the Big Dipper, the second-highest sand dune in Europe at 250m.6) Hollywood and rock star glamourDorset's Durdle Door was the backdrop for Tears for Fears's "Shout"; Gwyneth Paltrow roamed the vast sands of Holkham (Norfolk) in Shakespeare in Love.7) No peopleWild and remote Sandwood Bay, near Cape Wrath on Scotland's northwestern tip, offers splendid isolation.8) Naked peopleDorset's Studland has an ethereal beauty that is conducive to baring all.9) Beach cafesI like waterfront shacks that serve fish, as in the Crab House Café, overlooking Dorset's Chesil Beach.10) You can swimFor water that's fit for a dip look for a blue flag to signify clean, safe beaches. My favourites are at West Wittering, West Sussex, and Botany Bay, near Broadstairs, Kent.Theatre outdoors by Dominic DromgooleDominic Dromgoole is artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe theatre, London. ... Sat, 24 Jul 2010 23:05:00 +0100 862023 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/24/sue-arnold-audiobook-choice-review Sue Arnold's audiobook choiceNever Cry Wolf, by Farley Mowat, read by Adam Simms (5hrs unabridged, Naxos, £16.99)In 1948 Mowat was commissioned by the Canadian Wildlife Service to investigate declining caribou numbers in the sub-Arctic wastes of northern Manitoba. Mowat's brief was to prove that wolves were to blame for their disappearance and not, as a previous researcher had suggested, the ever-increasing numbers of trophy-bagging deer hunters. After a year in the wilderness monitoring various wolf packs, Mowat reached the astonishing conclusion that the staple diet of wolves (in Manitoba in 1948, at any rate) was not deer, but mice. But wolves eat 30lbs of red meat a day. How can they carry enough mice back to their dens to feed their cubs? They eat them and then regurgitate them, that's how. Never Cry Wolf, published in 1963, did much to change the popular perception of wolves as savage, gratuitous killers. Forget White Fang and shots of slavering packs creating carnage on fleeing caribou in David Attenborough documentaries. One day Mowat sees three wolves loping along the crest of a crag and follows them to grasslands full of grazing deer, through which they pad leisurely. "The scene was all wrong," he writes. They pass within feet of cud-chewing bucks, who turn their heads but keep on munching. Until they see Mowat, who had been skinny-dipping and hadn't had time to get dressed. Then the terrified herd stampeded.Walden, by Henry David Thoreau, read by Rupert Degas (12hrs unabridged, Naxos, £35)Like Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Women, Walden is one of those seriously important books I feel I must have read and, if I haven't, I should, because seriously important people – Tolstoy, Marx, Gandhi – said that it changed their lives. Thoreau, philosopher, abolitionist, environmentalist, is America's most famous dropout. ... Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:05:59 +0100 861765 http://www.teleread.com/2010/07/23/qbooks-interactive-reading-app/ This is being shown at the Hong Kong Book Fair. According to Eamonn Fitzgerald: Kiwa Media, a New Zealand company, is displaying its QBook, an iPad application that converts children’s print books into multilingual, interactive digital versions. Readers can point at a word and the app will pronounce it. They can also use their fingers to colour in the books’ illustrations. Tap the screen and a pull-down menu offering English, Mandarin, Spanish, German and other languages appears. The text is automatically translated. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:22:30 +0100 861874 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/mbmYekczIr8/ This is being shown at the Hong Kong Book Fair. According to Eamonn Fitzgerald: Kiwa Media, a New Zealand company, is displaying its QBook, an iPad application that converts children’s print books into multilingual, interactive digital versions. Readers can point at a word and the app will pronounce it. They can also use their fingers to colour in the books’ illustrations. Tap the screen and a pull-down menu offering English, Mandarin, Spanish, German and other languages appears. The text is automatically translated. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:22:30 +0100 861674 http://michaelgolrick.blogspot.com/2010/07/read-and-listened-to-january-june-2010.html OK, I am lazy this time. The list is in reverse chronological order. And it is first books, then audiobooks.....Books read, January - June 2010In the Sanctuary of the Outcasts by Neil White for the East Baton Rouge One Book/One Community The world that made New Orleans : from Spanish silver to Congo Square by Ned SubletteHungry Town: A Culinary History of New Orleans: The City Where Food Is Almost Everything by Tom FitzmorrisThelonious Monk: the life and times of an American original by Robin D. G. KelleyJulie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie PowellNadirs = (Niederungen) by Herta Müllertranslated and with an afterword by Sieglinde LugCorporate Diversity: Swiss Graphic Design and Advertising by Geigy, 1940 - 1970 by Andres Janser, Barbara Junod, Karin Gimmi, R. Roger Remington, Yvonne ZimmermanI did not actually read the whole book, merely browsed and sampled. There are some great, classic graphic designs featured.The passport by Herta Müller translated by Martin ChalmersFabulous New Orleans by Lyle Saxon[A 1988 reprint by Pelican Press of the 1950 reprint of the 1928 original. Christmas gift.]Letter to My Daughter: A Novel by George BishopAdvance Reader's EditionListened to:There's a (slight) chance I might be going to Hell: [a novel of sewer pipes, pageant queens, and big trouble] by Laurie Notaro, read by Susan DenakerThe Traveler: [a novel] by John Twelve Hawks, read by Scott BrickThe Associate by John Grisham, read by Erik SingerNo way to treat a First Lady by Christopher Buckley, read by Grover GardnerSearching for paradise in Parker, PA by Kris Radish, read by Barbara McCullohInside Drucker's brain byJeffrey A. ... Fri, 23 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0100 862320 http://blog.njla.org/archives/2010/07/#000900 http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com By THOMAS BARLAS, Staff Writer | Posted: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 | The Margate City Public Library is much more these days than a place to take out a book. Library officials say the facility is continually changing into something more like a community center, where people meet regularly, make friends and discuss a variety of topics. The situation didn't happen by chance: Library Director Jim Cahill said there has been a steady push by staff to make the library more than people expect. So far, he said, it is working: Everything from the children's story hour to meetings by self-help groups are stretching the building's capacity, and making more people want to use the library. "We're a community center," Cahill said. "We're a social meeting place. This is an area where people come for community involvement." Cahill calls his library "the great equalizer," where people from diverse backgrounds are rediscovering what a library has to offer. "There was a feeling at some point, as people had computers at home, there would be little use for libraries," he said. "But what we're finding is that people are looking for human contact." And the Internet has not sounded the death knell for libraries - it has given people greater access to libraries than ever before, and people are taking advantage of that around the clock. "If it wasn't for computers in the library, we wouldn't see the increase," Cahill said. The library has also put extensive work into its website. Not only does it provide information about the library, but it has links city government and city activities. Sometimes, that has unintended consequences - such as the library being a place people turn to when they have a problem that needs to be solved by city government. "I can't tell you how many calls we get about what department they should call," librarian Gwen Meade said. ... Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0100 861860 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/6p8AzjqNi4w/ Allen has recorded his anthologies “Getting Even,” “Without Feathers,” “Mere Anarchy” and “Side Effects” — including his short story “The Kugelmass Episode” — can be purchased from Audible.com and iTunes; ClearMetrics said it had also created a homepage for Mr. Allen at woodyallen.com, having wrested the domain name from two Icelandic college students. There’s an interview about this with him in the NY Times. You can find it here. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:34:18 +0100 861291 http://centeredlibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/07/1000-free-audio-books.html More than 1000 free audio books ready for download, categorized by genre and fully searchable. The site is a bit dated, but the content is excellent. (Source: The Centered Librarian) Tue, 20 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0100 861106 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/b1cjDXWKJus/ From the OverDrive Digital Distribution Blog: Most importantly, we set the record straight: Do library catalogs cannibalize eBook sales? The answer is a resounding no. Research presented in the White Paper shows that most library visitors use eBook catalogs for research and discovery. In 2009 alone, visitors to OverDrive download library websites viewed more than 401 million pages. Among unique visitors to these download library pages, 80 percent did not check out a digital title, yet still visited 13 pages on average. We also found through a library patron survey that 43 percent of patrons would consider purchasing an eBook or audiobook if the title they sought were unavailable at their library branch. More info at the blog and you can access the full white paper here. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:52:42 +0100 860668 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/Tb_7MyS7OoY/ Here’s an interesting new company. A Story Before Bed has 125 children’s books that one can record and then the books can be viewed and the child can hear them read in the reader’s voice. This would be neat for kids who have a parent who travels, or for grandparents, or for members of the armed forces. The parent, grandparent, etc. appears in a small window on the upper right hand side of the book. Flash is required, as is a computer with a webcam so the audio/video can be recorded. They have a demo on the site of how this works. Books are $6.99 and there are free coupon codes for members of the armed forces. This is one example, though, of how a bad website may restrict what seems to be a good idea. There is no clear explanation of how this all works up front and even the price is hidden in a FAQ. You really have to poke around to find out what is going on. I wonder how many people get turned off and confused before they really get started. Even someone like me found the site confusing. Plough through it anyway, it could bring a huge smile to a kid’s face! Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:43:13 +0100 860669 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/17/sue-arnold-audiobook-choice The Glass Room, At Home and SissinghurstThe Glass Room, by Simon Mawer, read by Jefferson Mays (15hrs unabridged, Whole Story Audio, £24.99)Manderley, Brideshead, Cold Comfort Farm – houses that feature as the central character in novels have their own distinctive place in literature. The Landauer House, built in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s, has a vast, glass-walled living area suspended above the garden from a steel frame that represents space, freedom, purity of line, the thrill of emptiness, the future. Its Viennese architect, Rainer von Abt, envisaged the steel being as translucent as water, the light as solid as walls and the walls as transparent as air – a house that would be both of nature and aside from nature. But Viktor Landauer, its mega-rich owner, is a Jew, and by 1938 he knows that, for his family at least, the house has no future. The Landauers are lucky – they can afford to escape to America. Most cannot. Under Nazi occupation the Landauer House becomes a laboratory for ethnic and genetic research. Under Soviet rule, its shimmering glass long since destroyed by Red Army bombers, it is converted into an exercise centre for children with polio. Only in Dubcek's all-too-brief Prague spring is the architectural importance of the Landauer House recognised and plans hatched to restore it as a national treasure. Moving in and out of its all-purpose space, Mawer's characters, as meticulously drawn as von Abt's plans, are totally convincing. You feel their terror, fury, shame, despair as their lives crumble around them. You understand why they behave as they do. The Glass Room is much, much more than a historical novel – it's a brilliantly plotted, beautifully told story about love, cruelty, betrayal, survival and, above all, the complexity and power of sex. Mays's cool, understated reading is perfectly pitched.At Home: A Short History of Private Life, written and read by Bill Bryson (16½hrs unabridged, BBC, £25. ... Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:04:19 +0100 860188 http://blog.booklistonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/p-185-henry-sleeman-age-9.mp3 …along with 299 other people. (Cory Doctorow, thanks for lending your celebrity to this blog post!) As anyone who read “Do-It-Yourself Audiobooks” knows, I’m in love with the sound of my own voice. (The problem is finding other people who love that sound, too.) Give me a microphone and a script, and I’ll narrate anything. Heck, I’ll narrate the back of a box of breakfast cereal. I’m worse than Morgan Freeman. Before I headed off to Washington, D.C. for ALA’s Annual Conference, Mary Burkey, who calls herself an audiobook addict but is really an audiobook pusher, suggested that I stop by OverDrive’s Digital Bookmobile and check out the “Lend Your Voice” promotion. Random House Audio, in partnership with OverDrive, was recording a “community-sourced” audiobook of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz using the vocal talents of everyday people. Given that they parked opposite the convention center, the everyday people who stopped by to lend their voices included a fair number of librarians — and famous authors, too. Sure, it’s a nice opportunity for the sponsors to reap some free publicity (there’s a charity angle, too), but the crowd-sourcing angle seemed fun. And then there was the lure of the microphone . . . . After getting a quick tour of the digitalaudiobookmobile from a nice, technically oriented young man, I got the lowdown on the recording process from Katherine Fleming, a publicist at Random House & Listening Library. My heart leapt in anticipation as she pulled out my page of the script — would I get a chance to voice the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, or the Cowardly Lion? Would I be required to cackle on behalf of the Wicked Witch of the West? — and then sank when I saw it. One paragraph. Three sentences. Eighty-eight words. ... Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:59:01 +0100 860350 http://www.teleread.com/2010/07/16/quick-note-how-many-ebooks-does-your-library-have/ Interesting thread over at MobileRead on this topic. It starts off with a posting about the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library 1,699 ePub & PDF 388 MP3 audiobooks 2,941 WMA audiobooks Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:49:48 +0100 860376 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/OsHs2CjfiCk/ Interesting thread over at MobileRead on this topic. It starts off with a posting about the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library 1,699 ePub & PDF 388 MP3 audiobooks 2,941 WMA audiobooks Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:49:48 +0100 860093 http://bhplnjbookgroup.blogspot.com/2010/07/american-on-purpose-by-craig-ferguson.html Listening to the audiobook American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson in your car is kind of like having the late-night show host as a passenger, telling you funny stories. It isn't all comedic though, because it's his autobiography. Ferguson grew up in the Glasgow suburb of Cumbernauld, "the second worst place to live in the UK," where as a teenager he had to tread carefully to avoid violence between Protestants and Catholics. And then there's the fact that he was a drug addict and an alcoholic. He's so cheerful about it though, joking about the "killer ducks" that he believed were after him during one LSD trip. The early parts of the book are the most interesting, like the time Ferguson had a hit one-man show during the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh yet had to sleep in a photobooth at the train station. The end of the book is unexpectedly meaningful, when Ferguson reflects on becoming an American and knowing his American son won't grow up around sectarian conflict like he did.Ferguson's USO tour (Source: Berkeley Heights Public Library Book Blog and Buzz) Fri, 16 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0100 860147 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/TMM4AjS_azg/ Macworld has an article on how to do this today. Sorting by Categories can be more confusing. Book genres—or categories, in Apple-speak—are relatively inconsistent in the iBookstore. In my library, for example, one of the categories is Audiobooks; while these are organized by author when you sort by Author, iTunes doesn’t reflect categories (or genres) in this view. Second, three books display with the words Unknown Genre (why not Unknown Category?). As above, for Unknown Artist, you can change this by pressing Command-I and entering something in the Genre field for each of the books. You can choose any genre you want, either one that already exists, or you can make up your own. I’ll stay with the Kindle, though, at least I can read Kindle books on any platform I want. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:45:49 +0100 859810 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/07/15/audiobooks-audible-releases-iphonetouch-app-android-app-coming-soon-bbc-worldwide-sells-85-of-audiobook-sold/ Two audiobook notes today. Even though you and your library might not use audiobook services from Audible (owned by Amazon.com), some of your users might. A note to let you know that in the past few days Audible has released an app for iPhone (free). An app for Android* is “coming soon” and a Blackberry app has been available for some time. All of the apps are free. Details and links here. iPhone App Features Include: + Multitasking Support + Button Free Mode, Chapter Navigation, Annotated Bookmarks + Share What You’re Listening To With Friends and on Social Nets + Earn Stats and Badges + Entire Audible Library Available for Wi-Fi Download (Titles Over 20K) + Sleep Timer + News and New Titles + iPhone FAQ * According to the Globe and Mail, if your an Audible member you can access a beta version of Audible for Android. 2) BBC Worldwide Sells 85% of BBC Audiobooks (via The Guardian) BBC Worldwide has sold an 85% stake in BBC Audiobooks, which publishes titles including Richard Burton’s Under Milk Wood, Winnie the Pooh and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, in a deal understood to be worth at least 10 million pounds. It is being acquired by AudioGo, a company set up by a former senior executive at Polygram, Michael Kuhn, and six partners. BBC Audiobooks, which publishes products on CD and downloadable digital formats, employs 140 staff, with the majority – 104 – in Bath and the rest in Rhode Island, New York. [Clip] The company will trade as AudioGo but continue to publish BBC-sourced content under the BBC Audiobooks brand. About 20% of audio content produced by BBC Audiobooks is from the corporation’s content. In 2006, BBC Worldwide sold 85% of BBC Books to Random House where it was merged into the Ebury Publishing division. Access the Complete Article Source: The Guardian (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:30:29 +0100 859839 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/y-8XzKVtUSE/ According to an article in The Guardian, the new purchaser of BBC Audiobooks pledged a multi-million pound investment and said that new titles will be coming including those by celebrities and sports stars. “We want to move beyond BBC [content] and well-known novels,” he said. “We are now in a digital era, a whole new era. Look at some of the bestsellers, [they use] ghost writers for memoirs, we can have someone sit down and tell a story over a week.” Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:14:00 +0100 859818 http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jul/15/bbc-audiobooks-buyer-investment-celebrity Former Polygram chief Michael Kuhn says operation is 'good old-fashioned business' needing to adapt for digital ageThe new owners of BBC Audiobooks, publisher of titles including Under Milk Wood, has pledged a multi-million-pound investment and new titles including stories by celebrities and sports stars to win over a young, web-savvy generation.Michael Kuhn, the former Polygram executive and leader of a group of investors that yesterday acquired BBC Audiobooks, said that the operation held huge potential but had to adapt it business and content model for the digital age."What interested us about this deal is that it is a good old-fashioned business that has good cash flow that is in transition digitally," he said, speaking to MediaGuardian.co.uk. "As [the audiobook market] becomes more digital the audience is becoming different from [the traditional] middle-aged demographic."Kuhn added that AudioGo, the vehicle which yesterday acquired a 85% stake in BBC Audiobooks for in excess of £10m, intended to launch new titles in areas including comedy, celebrity stories and comic books, as well as trying to get sports stars to launch audio versions of their traditional print memoirs."We want to move beyond BBC [content] and well-known novels," he said. "We are now in a digital era, a whole new era. Look at some of the bestsellers, [they use] ghost writers for memoirs, we can have someone sit down and tell a story over a week."Kuhn added that the business, which BBC Worldwide said was profitable despite "challenging" conditions last year, was "doing remarkably well considering it has been for sale for the last year".He said reinventing the audiobook business would not require the "tens or hundreds of millions of dollars" required in film-making, an area where he has extensive experience. But he added that a multi-million-pound investment programme was on the cards. ... Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:13:52 +0100 859618 http://146.74.224.231/archives/2010/07/looking_forward.html Ramona and Beezus are the creations of Beverly Cleary. Find more stories about them and their friend Henry at your library! Begin your search with our Beverly Cleary booklist. Do you like listening to books? Try one of our downloadable audiobooks! Here is one featuring Beverly Cleary's Ramona Quimby: Ramona's World, read by Stockard Channing. Click here for the link to download the entire book from our catalog! Never downloaded books before? Take the Digital Media Guided Tour now! Find book recommendations serving many interests on our Booklists for Kids web page! And, enjoy the film! (Source: Santa Clara County Library - The Latest SCCoop) Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:14:41 +0100 859580 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/zEipWpb_5mk/ The Audible iPhone app is now available and it’s free. It’s a native iOS 4 app so it can multitask. It includes WiFi delivery of audiobooks, listening stats and other features. You can find it at the App Store. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:45:08 +0100 859537 http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jul/14/bbc-worldwide-audiobook-business BBC Worldwide sells 85% of its audiobook division to AudioGo, company set up by former Polygram executiveBBC Worldwide has sold an 85% stake in BBC Audiobooks, which publishes titles including Richard Burton's Under Milk Wood, Winnie the Pooh and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in a deal understood to be worth at least £10m.It is being acquired by AudioGo, a company set up by a former senior executive at Polygram, Michael Kuhn, and six partners. BBC Audiobooks, which publishes products on CD and downloadable digital formats, employs 140 staff, with the majority – 104 – in Bath and the rest in Rhode Island, New York.The deal is likely to be the first of several disposals of assets considered non-core by BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm. The sale of a stake in BBC Magazines, which publishes titles including the Radio Times and Top Gear, is expected to form part of this process.A spokesman for BBC Worldwide said that the deal "secures the future of the business and its predominantly Bath-based staff".BBC Worldwide declined to reveal the value of the deal, although it is understood to be in the region of £10m to £15m.Specific revenues figures for the audiobooks business are not available, although BBC Worldwide said that it was profitable in the 12 months to the end of March.In the same period, the audio and music division, which includes BBC Audiobooks, had revenues slip from £27.2m to £25.9m and profits fall by 43% year on year."I'm pleased to announce the successful conclusion of the sale process we initiated last year," said John Smith, chief executive of BBC Worldwide. "Sale proceeds will be reinvested in our international businesses, supporting future returns to the BBC, and therefore benefiting the licence fee payer."The company will trade as AudioGo but continue to publish BBC-sourced content under the BBC Audiobooks brand. ... Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:23:02 +0100 859462 http://marincountyfreelibrary.blogspot.com/2010_07_01_archive.html#3314652886484307118 Marin County Free Library is pleased to announce the release of our new OverDrive digital collection. Browse, check out and download audiobooks and ebooks using your library card.Enjoy on a Windows® or Mac® computer. Transfer to devices like the Apple® iPod and Sony® Reader™. Screen reader compatibility and keyboard shortcuts available for audio/video. Large print options for ebooks.Visit our eBranch to learn more and start downloading!http://ebranch.marinlibrary.org (Source: Marin County Free Library Blog) Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0100 860235 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogs/distlib/~3/c4bUekavlY4/my-summer-vacation.html Hey, it's the rare and elusive Personal-type post!  Yes, my Summer vacation has already come and gone; just got back from a two-week road trip with the family, and thought I'd share some product highlights I you might enjoy. We rented a fully-loaded Ford Taurus Limited rather than take one of our smaller family trucksters.  Nice car! (keep in mind I'm used to driving a 17-year old Honda Civic). There were no instruction on the Ford Sync system, but I was able to get some of it running and it'd probably be nice to have full time :-) The multicolored ambient lighting was a big hit with the kids (and me), and the backup camera embedded in the mirror was a big help - it's a pretty big car, and one of the minor drawbacks was the small rear window.  The only other thing I didn't like was the placement of the cruise control off switch, which I inadvertently hit a few times. I'd consider buying one if I had the money.  Paul's score: A- The car came with SiriusXM satellite radio, and the best station I found by far was the 80's station on channel 8, satellite 1.  Score: A+ \m/ :-) We were really winging this trip, with only a few actual appointments with family and an event along the way, so being able to make hotel reservations along the way was necessary, and Priceline.com was wonderful for this.  At all but one spot I was able to save at least $50 per night, and actually was able to narrow my bid criteria enough to get the specific hotel I'd wanted (Priceline lets you specify rough location and number of stars, but not the specific hotel).  Score: A I had upgraded to iOS4 on my iPhone shortly before leaving, and didn't realize until under way that my audio books hadn't synced, so I went looking for new podcasts to explore.  Best find by far is the new CBC show, This is That.  Damn funny stuff! Score: A Best iPhone / iPod Touch app for those down times: Slay. ... Sat, 10 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0100 858437 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/10/sue-arnold-audiobooks-afghanistan Afghanistan in a Nutshell, by Tim Albone and Mark Hudson, read by Benjamin Soames (79mins, Naxos, £8.99)It took Alexander the Great six months to conquer Persia and three years to subdue Afghanistan, "a land of leonine and brave people", he wrote to his mother, where "every foot of ground is like a wall of steel". Two millennia on, it was Britain's turn to take on the legendary warrior horsemen. In January 1842, three years after the start of the first Anglo-Afghan war (we're now on the fourth), the beleaguered British garrison in Kabul, escorting 1,500 civilians, began the desperate retreat to Jalalabad. As they crossed the snows of the Hindu Kush, they were massacred by Pashtun tribesmen, leaving a single British survivor to tell the story. In 1979, 30,000 Soviet troops were dispatched to help Kabul's new liberal government fight the Islamist mujahideen guerrillas, in whose ranks a youthful Osama bin Laden was already making a name. They retreated 10 years later with a butcher's bill of 15,000 dead and 65,000 wounded, leaving behind a million dead Afghans. No country as ethnically, politically and religiously fragmented as Afghanistan, with its warlords, honour codes, Taliban fanatics, suicide bombers and a single illegal source of revenue – opium poppies – could expect an easy ride, but since the Soviet occupation it has not had a single year of peace. If only all guides to complex subjects were as clear, compact and impartial.The Junior Officers' Reading Club, written and read by Patrick Hennessey (9hrs unabridged, Audible.co.uk download, £7.99)Hennessey is good at writing and fighting – his book about his five years in the army (2004-09) after graduating from Oxford with an English degree was a bestseller, and he came back from Afghanistan with a medal. If only he were as adept at making himself more likeable. But then you'd hardly expect a newly commissioned 22-year-old Grenadier Guards officer to be diffident. ... Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:05:16 +0100 858297 http://blog.booklistonline.com/2010/07/09/weeklings-i-mean-monthlings-from-first-editions-to-e-readers-to-fox-news-chicago/ It’s been so long since I wrote a Weeklings that this is really a Monthlings–and that’s being charitable. Here are a few of the things I’ve read recently that have lodged in my brain…due to the length of this post, I have introduced subject headings. First Editions Much as I covet first editions, I only own a few of them, none of them particularly valuable. So I can really appreciate Christopher Howse when he writes that “Collecting First Editions Is a Kind of Madness” (Telegraph): That is another symptom of book madness: valuable copies are the ones nobody has read. It is like taking your shoes off when it rains. Nothing spoils a book like reading it. Ralph Gardner Jr., however, sees little harm in “Reaching for That First-Edition High” (Wall Street Journal): If I took the same interest in controlled substances that I do in books, I’d probably be in some 12-step program. Fortunately, while books are habit-forming they remain legal and there’s no evidence, no matter how musty, that they’re bad for the health. The iPad and Other E-Readers I read far too many stories about the iPad and so I must include a few here. But first, a brief article about my very favorite technological medium, the LP. Seems “a very brave or very stupid young man” is releasing audiobooks on vinyl (”Books on Vinyl Records: Alive to the Pleasures of Rabbiting On,” by Sukhdev Sandhu, Telegraph). Says the young man: “The MP3 has an alien digital gloss. It’s streamlined, corporate, like a mainline train station. Listening to a short story on vinyl is the purest antidote to that. It’s more immersive. It heightens engagement.”   All right, on to the iPad. A poorly headlined article reports that, according to a recent study, “Reading on tablet is slower vs. printed book” (MSNBC.com). ... Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:45:16 +0100 858661 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/GiKyWMv2cDw/ When we were young, our mums would force us to read, not just mums but teachers too and who would have thought there would come a day where reading would be electronic, as in reading can be done in an electronic way. Sadly, when this day happened we are no longer kids to enjoy the fun but we surely are old enough to purchase, what is now called, an E-Reader for ourselves. What’s it called? During the beginning of this invention, experts were contemplating on what should the device be called? Should it be known as an electronic reader (an e-reader), an e-book device, or an e-book reader? Let’s just say that the device that we now use to electronically read our favorite books can be referred as all of the above mentioned names. For us, e-reader sounds good. Characterizing Now that we’ve got the name-thing settled, let’s move onto why do we need this device? What’s its importance? Well, if you were not born twenty years earlier then you probably think it’s idiotic to ask such a thing when technology is moving at such a fast pace. If you were born forty years earlier, you are most likely to think that e-readers will make the kids of today even lazier than they already are. Come to think of it, it is true in many ways but the most important thing is the kids ARE reading. And those who were born sixty years earlier would go “I had rather read a real paper book than spoil my eyes reading on a ‘whatever that thing is called’!” Buzz & Fuss What makes an e-reader so interesting? It’s hard analyzing this one and coming to one point as there are so many reasons behind this innovative device. One thing for sure, the BUZZ! The buzz and fuss surrounding e-readers are what make us curious to know more and get a personal feel of the device. If the buzz and fuss don’t work for you then there’s the publicity. ... Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:43:40 +0100 857907 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/E3MbgNF2YCM/ From the press release: While some publishers are delaying eBook releases until after the hardcover is already in stores, Cemetery Dance Publications has announced a free eBook edition of “The Painted Darkness” by Brian James Freeman will be available immediately to all readers, almost four months before the book’s hardcover edition will be published. The free eBook, which contains the complete text of this haunting new novella, can be downloaded at DownloadTheDarkness.com for a limited time only. “The Painted Darkness” eBook edition also contains exclusive bonus content including a new interview with Ray Bradbury entitled “We Have Too Many Inventions!” and a special feature where bestselling authors such as Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, William Peter Blatty, Jodi Picoult, Carolyn Parkhurst, Anne Perry, Jane Green, M.J. Rose, Douglas Clegg, J.A. Konrath, Seth Godin, Michael Marshall Smith, Scott Adams, and many others share their thoughts on the future of eBooks and the publishing business. The-EBook-Reader has an article about this that you should check out. The author wants to find out if the release of the ebook will attract new readers to his works and also wants to see if sales of the book are increased because of word of mouth. The book is available as an ebook and as an audiobook. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Wed, 07 Jul 2010 14:42:59 +0100 857674 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/07/06/oped-by-marilyn-johnson-u-s-public-libraries-we-lose-them-at-our-peril/ Once again writer and someone were proud to call a ResourceShelf pal, Marilyn Johnson, has done yet another important and wonderful job for the entire library community in an op/ed in today’s Los Angeles Times. As many of know, Marilyn is the author of the book, “This Book is Overdue,” a title we posted about often when if was first released in February/March of this year. We’ll post a couple of links to reviews and other materials below. Today’s Op/Ed is titled, “U.S. Public libraries: We Lose them At Our Peril.” Here’s a Blurb: The people who welcome us to the library are idealists, who believe that accurate information leads to good decisions and that exposure to the intellectual riches of civilization leads to a better world. The next Abraham Lincoln could be sitting in their library, teaching himself all he needs to know to save the country. While they help us get online, employed and informed, librarians don’t try to sell us anything. Nor do they turn around and broadcast our problems, send us spam or keep a record of our interests and needs, because no matter how savvy this profession is at navigating the online world, it clings to that old-fashioned value, privacy. (A profession dedicated to privacy in charge of our public computers? That’s brilliant.) They represent the best civic value out there, an army of resourceful workers that can help us compete in the world. Source: Los Angeles Times See Also: In this ResourceShelf post from March 15, 2010 we have reviews of and comments about “This Book is Overdue” From: + The New York Times + NPR + USA Today + Salon.com + Interview From the Newark Star-Ledger The audiobook of “This Book is Overdue” is available as a free download from some libraries via OverDrive. You find out if your library has it using this page for the WMA Version or this page for the MP3 version. ... Tue, 06 Jul 2010 23:06:22 +0100 857548 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/04/reading-aloud-therapy-health-books Listening to the spoken word provides important health benefits, as the hundreds of 'read aloud' groups springing up across the country may demonstrateOne paradox of literary culture is that, although speech precedes literacy, and the mother tongue the alphabet, it is usually the written, not the spoken, word that attracts the most attention. So, for at least 1,000 years, English literature lived on the lips and in the memory of Everyman, handed down in folk culture. Then along came Caxton and his Westminster printing press. We have been eating paper and drinking printer's ink ever since.The spoken word, however, retains its ancient magic. The market for the audiobook has defied the recession. Poets draw full houses. Last week, in Norwich, I heard JM Coetzee give a memorable reading to a sold-out audience in the Playhouse as part of a lively and popular literary programme. Coetzee's dry, understated performance, mirroring his prose, was a vivid reminder that the spoken word rarely fails to entertain or console.None of this would have surprised the Greeks. Apollo was God of poetry and healing. Literature does not have to be private and meditative, though that's what is often celebrated about the book. As a communal and collaborative experience, reading can be therapeutic. Increasingly, teachers and health professionals are coming round to the view, expressed by DH Lawrence, that "one sheds one's sickness in books".The Reader Organisation, a national charity launched in 1997, has promoted its "reading revolution" to firefighters, psychiatrists and schoolteachers, in prisons, rehab centres, hospitals and schools. It's a mission that began in Liverpool after a reading by Doris Lessing. Today, the organisation champions the curative power of reading aloud. According to its director, Jane Davis, research has begun to uncover what most writers would willingly concede: the extraordinary connection between writing, reading and good health. ... Sat, 03 Jul 2010 23:04:43 +0100 856931 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/03/good-soldier-lolita-agatha-christie The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha ChristieThe Good Soldier, by Ford Madox Ford, read by Kerry Shale (8hrs unabridged, Naxos, £19.99)"This is the saddest story I have ever heard" has to be the best opening sentence of any novel ever written, doubly so when you discover that it is also totally misleading. Confusion, said VS Pritchett, was the mainspring of Ford's art as a novelist, and nothing, surely, confuses more than having your story told by an unreliable storyteller. John Dowell, The Good Soldier's narrator, makes Tristram Shandy sound like a beacon of clarity. Ford's greatest novel, set in 1904, follows the nine-year acquaintance of two couples, the American Dowells and the oh-so-English Ashburnhams, who meet every summer at a fashionable German spa frequented by transatlantic millionaires and Edwardian Eurotrash. Mrs Dowell and Captain Ashburnham have heart conditions – the medical sort – but it soon becomes apparent that, beneath their conventional formality, all four of them have heart problems: the kind associated with passion, jealousy, infidelity, treachery and, in this instance, the violent deaths of two of the protagonists. Far from being a detached observer as that first sentence implies, Dowell is at the very centre of the drama. Here's where a good reader (and Kerry Shale is one of the best) gives audio the edge over print. His characterisation of Dowell is breathtakingly subtle: the cultured, only just discernible American accent (Dowell comes from Pennsylvania, where "there are more old English families than you would find in any six English counties taken together"), his disarming confidentiality (which in truth is nothing of the sort), and above all his laugh. Never was a laugh less careless, more calculated to deceive. Listen, and I guarantee you'll be as dazzled by Shale's performance as I was. ... Fri, 02 Jul 2010 23:05:45 +0100 856683 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2010/jul/02/publishing-fiction Following the announcement that Beryl Bainbridge has died at the age of 75, we delve into the Guardian book club archives to find her on fine form last year, talking about her transformation from an the author of autobiographical stories into a chronicler of historical catastrophe. Bainbridge was famously loyal to the independent publisher Duckworth, which never paid her more than £2,000 for a novel and never printed more than 3,000 copies. We set off on the trail of the new generation of indie publishers and find them in rude health and ganging up together. Stephen Page, boss of Faber, explains why he became involved in setting up the Independent Alliance of Publishers, a partnership of 10 small firms, which is five years old this month. Critic and commentator Alex Clark looks at some of the Alliance's successes, ranging from the 4m sales of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy, to this week's Samuel Johnson prize-winner, Nothing to Envy, by Barbara Demick. We also talk to the Australian novelist Christos Tsiolkas about his summer hit The Slap.Reading listEvery Man for Himself, by Beryl Bainbridge (Abacus)Nothing to Envy, by Barbara Demick (Granta)The Slap, by Christos Tsiolkas (Tusker Rock)The Death of Bunny Munro, by Nick Cave, paperback and audiobook, with original soundtrack by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (Canongate)Beryl BainbridgeClaire ArmitsteadAlex ClarkScott Cawley (Source: Guardian Unlimited Books) Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:45:22 +0100 856517 http://www.libraries.wright.edu/noshelfrequired/potash.mp3 During ALA, Sue Polanka from No Shelf Required had a chance to chat with the CEO of OverDrive, Steve Potash. The Cleveland based provider of ebooks and audiobooks to libraries has sure made a lot of news of late. Two recent OverDrive posts are listed below. + The Most Download eBooks and Audiobooks from the Library (via OverDrive, June, 2010) + Virtually Borrow Books from Several Sources Directly from the Internet Archive/Open Library OverDrive is involved. + Coming Soon: Libraries Will Be Able to Offer Access to Disney Digital Books What’s worth noting here is not only the new content but also the fact that this is OverDrive’s first web-based offering. Nothing to download. (Source: ResourceShelf) Fri, 02 Jul 2010 06:59:28 +0100 856406 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BPLDNews/~3/GDL-wbIEoSE/bogo-sale-at-volunteer-guild-bookstore.html A large BOGO sale of ALL items will be held on Saturday, July 10, 2010, from noon to 4:30 pm in the Volunteer Guild of the Buena Park Library’s Bookstore, located on the 2nd floor of the Buena Park Library District, 7150 La Palma Ave., between Knott and Western Avenues. You will be able to “buy one at regular price, get one free of equal or lesser value.” Items may be mixed. This is a great time to stock up on all your summer and leisure reading. Stop by on July 10 for a really great selection of books, videos, DVDs, audiobooks and much more!All Guild proceeds are used to generously fund and support Library programs and collections. The Guild Bookstore hours are Tuesday thru Wednesday from noon to 6 PM, Thursdays from noon to 7:30 PM, Fridays from noon to 3 PM, and Saturdays from noon to 4:30 PM. The Bookstore is elevator-accessible. For further information about membership and other upcoming sales, please call the Guild Bookstore at 714-826-4100 ext. 123. (Source: Buena Park Library District News) Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:44:37 +0100 857125 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/07/01/the-most-download-ebooks-and-audiobooks-from-the-library-via-overdrive-june-2010/ The monthly list of the most requested eBooks and Audiobooks (June, 2010) is now available from OverDrive. The Top 10 in each category are listed on the actual document. Here, we only list the title in the number one title in each category. And away we go. Most Downloaded Audiobooks from the Library – Adult Fiction 1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson (2nd Consecutive Month), (Books on Tape) Download Audiobooks – Adult Nonfiction 1. Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert (Books on Tape) Download Audiobooks – Juvenile Fiction 1. Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer (Listening Library) Download Audiobooks – Juvenile Nonfiction 1. Night, by Elie Wiesel (Audio Bookshelf,LLC) Most Downloaded eBooks from the Library – Adult Fiction 1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (1st Month at Number One), (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) Download eBooks – Adult Nonfiction 1. Sh*t My Dad Says, by Justin Halpern (HarperCollins) Download eBooks – Juvenile Fiction 1. Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) Download eBooks – Juvenile Nonfiction 1. Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson (Penguin USA, Inc.) Note: This title is also on Audiobooks – Adult Nonfiction and the Audiobooks – Juvenile Nonfiction lists. The complete list will provide you with the Top 10 in each category. Note: At the bottom of the rankings page you’ll now see now a “cloud” of popular search terms that were used on OverDrive in June. The ‘Most Downloaded Books from the Library’ lists are organized by subject and format, and compiled based on activity at more than 11,000 libraries in the OverDrive global network. Source: OverDrive (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:30:43 +0100 856311 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/P0OzzkrWRzY/ SYNC is an online community that seeks to build the audience for audiobooks among readers 13 and up. Each week, SYNC will give away 2 FREE downloads–a popular Young Adult title paired with a Classic title that appears on Summer Reading lists–starting July 1 through September 1, 2010. The first two titles being given away are “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley and “The Angel Experiment” by James Patterson. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:06:55 +0100 856292 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/cZx6qVj7k1w/ From the press release: LibreDigital, Inc., a leading provider of digital marketing and distribution technology for publishers, today announced that it has acquired the Symtio e-commerce platform from Zondervan, a HarperCollins company. Launched as a division of Zondervan in 2008, Symtio is a multi-channel digital media platform that enables customers to purchase and access digital media – including eBooks, audiobooks music, and video – online or through an in-store retail card program. As part of the acquisition LibreDigital is adding the Symtio e-commerce technology, existing e-commerce contracts and applications, and key e-commerce staff. LibreDigital is not acquiring Symtio’s retail card business, which Zondervan is in negotiations to sell separately. Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:04:52 +0100 855683 http://santafelibrary.blogspot.com/2010/06/slim-pickens-day.html As much as librarians rely on facts and figures to provide you with the best possible answers to your many questions, many of us also have a fanciful side. For example, we often consult Chase's Calendar of Events to help develop programs and displays, such as Audiobook Month in June. However, we can't always go "by the book" for certain things. So in the spirit of whimsy, we declare today Slim Pickens Day.That's right, we're taking June 29, his birthday, to pay homage to a quintessentially American actor. He's portrayed memorable characters in some of our favorite films, everything from Dr. Strangelove to Blazing Saddles to Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. With over a hundred film and TV credits and five decades of work, Mr. Pickens was also in some, well, doozies. Thankfully, even as a bit player, he tends to enliven any scene he's in.So take a moment today to think of Slim Pickens, ruminate on Slim Pickens, and if you're brave, imitate a bit of Slim Pickens. You don't need to go so far as to ride an atom bomb to the world's destruction, but a bit of twang, a bit of swagger, a bit of gee whiz or Yeeee Haaaaaa!!!!, and I can bet you'll be having a very good day. (Source: ICARUS... the Santa Fe Public Library Blog) Tue, 29 Jun 2010 04:00:00 +0100 855690 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/06/28/coming-soon-libraries-will-be-able-to-offer-access-to-disney-digital-books/ OverDrive has announced that a preliminary agreement with Disney Digital Books has been signed and libraries will soon be able to offer (assuming the library has the Disney content as part of their OverDrive package) users unlimited access to the more than 600 Disney digital titles featuring the many new (Buzz and Woody) and classic (Mickey and Donald) Disney characters in stories that utilize both text and multimedia. What’s perhaps most interesting and different about the announcement is that the Disney service will be browser-based. In other words, no downloading will be necessary. A couple of weeks ago a Librarian in Black post discussed about the “frustrating” process of downloading ebooks and audiobooks. We also shared a few opinions on the topic. A browser-based service from will very likely end the frustration of downloading (at least for one specific OverDrive service) since it’s simply not possible what about portability? Will a browser-based service work on any browser at any location (with web access) regardless if it’s on the families desktop, the laptop in the kitchen, or a smartphone/pad/tablet that could looked at as the family does Saturday morning errands? We’ve reached out and sent along several questions to OverDrive and expect to hear back sometime on Tuesday. (Source: ResourceShelf) Tue, 29 Jun 2010 03:13:20 +0100 855541 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/06/28/report-audiobook-sales-statistics-2009-sales-up-revenue-down/ From the Audio Publishers Association Report (5 pages; PDF): The Audio Publishers Association (APA) released the results of the Survey of 2009 Sales, conducted to evaluate trends and measure the growth of the audiobook industry. The independent research firm, Lewis & Clark, surveyed audiobook publishers and analyzed sales data from 2009, comparing current statistics against the previous years’ findings. It was another strong year for audiobooks with a 4.7 percent unit sales increase, though like much of the publishing industry, the audio sector experienced a drop in revenue. Audiobook publishers met the recession by selectively reducing prices on audiobooks in 2009, which contributed to the 12 percent decline in revenues. But consumers rewarded this by purchasing more and sales increased to nearly 20 million units in 2009. Revenue reported by 29 member companies for 2009 is $291 million. The APA estimates that the total size of the audiobook industry, based on the dollars spent by consumers and libraries, is approximately $900 million. Access the Complete Article See Also: Audio Has Mixed 2009 (via Publishers Weekly) (Source: ResourceShelf) Tue, 29 Jun 2010 02:05:42 +0100 855542 http://ricklibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/06/time-machine-by-h-g-wells.html Thomas Ford Memorial Library is featuring science fiction and fantasy in its summer reading program for grownups this year. We have made lists of classic science fiction, magical realism, science fiction for the reluctant, high fantasy, and science fact behind the fiction to help readers choose titles. From those lists, I chose to read a pioneering title, The Time Machine by H. G. Wells.Readers get a double treat when reading Wells. Some of his scientific ideas still hold a lot of sway in science fiction genre and media. Moving about in time is utilized by many authors in stories, ranging from the stories of Andre Norton and Robert Silverberg to episodes of Doctor Who and Star Trek. In addition to science ideas, readers get a peak at the past. When Wells wrote science was just emerging from the era of amateur scientists, often gentlemen who belonged to academic societies. The central character in The Time Machine, called simply the Time Traveler, invites prominent Londerers, including doctors and newspaper editors, to witness experiments in a lab of his Victorian home. The time machine itself is built of a mixture common and rare materials, all known in the late nineteenth century. The gentlemen express the idea that the result of science investigation is undoubtedly world improvement. Wells, however, uses his story to question the assumption that a better world will be made and maintained.I listened to The Time Machine read by British actor Simon Prebble, who sounds just like a gentleman scientist who puts his life on the line for science aught to sound. At four hours (one on each of four compact discs), the story may be heard in an afternoon of driving or gardening. I enjoyed the book and may try other Wells stories available as audiobooks as part of my revisiting science fiction this summer.Hells, H. G. The Time Machine. Standard Publications, 2008. ISBN 97816059788714 Compact Discs. Recorded Books, 1996. ISBN 9781402549776. (Source: ricklibrarian) Mon, 28 Jun 2010 04:00:00 +0100 855536 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/8P252WmYDp8/ Here are my favorite stories for the past week. This is purely a subjective judgement: EU to ensure that digital devices don’t lock consumers into proprietary tech The iPad and Velcro Do ebooks make brick-and-mortar bookstore uninteresting? by Rich Adin Comprehensive review of ereader apps for the iPad – great resource for newcomers Dad vs. Kobo, round 2: Happy Father’s Day! by Joanna Audiobook of Winston Churchill speeches for the iPad Paramount Home Entertainment gets it: windowing doesn’t help John Johnson Collection: an archive of printed ephemera – now online I am a frustrated ebook (non) user, says Librarian in Black Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:59:09 +0100 854830 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/vIh60qssz_U/ Received the following email from Jonathan Korzen of the Audio Publishers Association: … I think your readers will enjoy knowing about the free audiobooks, audio short stories, audio dramas, excerpts, poetry, and new fiction being given away as MP3s at AudiobookCommunity.com, the first social network for audiobook fans. In support of “June Is Audiobook Month” publishers are offering downloads (or streams) of great audio throughout the month – works by Hemingway, Milne, Twain, Jennifer Eggers, Sarah Vowell, Martin Amis and the voices of Jim Dale, Michael Madsen, Frank McCourt; classic Sherlock Holmes radio drama and more. Today we’ve added short, poignant audio clips from the “This I Believe” series, which you just have to hear to appreciate. There is no need to register or join to listen to the shorter works, so anyone can visit AudiobookCommunity and click to stream or download captivating storytelling. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:13:23 +0100 854290 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/-rWljmtrppM/ According to the Bookseller, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has said that VAT will not be applied to books and other printed materials. However, the top VAT rate will increase in 2011 from 17.5% to 20% and that means that the price of ebooks and audiobooks could increase. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:20:36 +0100 854159 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/lansinglibraryteen/podcast/~3/BVpOnduq66A/book-survivor.html Every summer, ten books make it onto the coveted Book Survivor List. Every week, you have a chance to vote for your top three books on the Book Survivor list. Here are the ten books struggling to survive the summer by your votes alone.Airhead by Meg CabotSixteen-year-old Emerson Watts, an advanced placement student with a disdain for fashion, is the recipient of a "whole body transplant" and finds herself transformed into one of the world's most famous teen supermodels.Downriver by Will HobbsFifteen-year-old Jessie and the other rebellious teen members of a wilderness survival school team abandon their adult leader, hijack his boats, and try to run the dangerous white water at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer For thirteen years, Vlad, aided by his aunt and his best friend, has kept secret that he is a half-vampire, but when his missing teacher is replaced by a sinister substitute, he learns that there is more to being a vampire, and to his parents' death, than he could have guessed.Good Neighbors Book 1: Kin by Holly BlackSixteen-year-old Rue Silver, whose mother disappeared weeks ago, believes she is going crazy until she learns that the strange things she has been seeing are real, and that she is one of the faerie creatures, or Good Neighbors, that mortals cannot see.Hidden Talents by David LubarWhen thirteen-year-old Martin arrives at an alternative school for misfits and problem students, he falls in with a group of boys with psychic powers and discovers something surprising about himself.The Luxe by Anna GodbersenIn Manhattan in 1899, five teens of different social classes lead dangerously scandalous lives, despite the strict rules of society and the best-laid plans of their parents and others. ... Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:17:44 +0100 854228 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/fZl7BXGF-XI/ The older I get the more I’m intrigued by history. The Churchill Speeches Audiobook for iPad app recently caught my eye and the 99-cent price was irresistible. The app is what it sounds like: a collection of audio recordings from many of Winston Churchill’s speeches during World War II. There’s nothing remarkable about this as an iPad app though. In fact, I’m kind of surprised the developers didn’t first release it as an iPhone app and just make it available for use on the iPad. They went the opposite route though as this one is only available as an iPad app. Odd. So what do you do when your app is really about audio and you have that nice, large iPad app screen at your disposal? You offer some totally unrelated, cheesey background images. Listeners can opt for one of five different backgrounds including my personal favorite, the video loop of someone’s fireplace. Don’t let the goofy video chase you away from this one though. I’ve only listened to a few of the speeches so far and I love it, although I do wish I could use it on my iPhone. I’d also like to see them release similar apps with the amazing speeches from people like FDR, JFK and Martin Luther King, Jr., for example. Editor’s Note: this is reprinted, with permission, from Joe Wikert’s iPad Hound Blog. I’m a life member of The Churchill Centre and have spent a fair amount of time collecting all of his works. I have all his speeches on cassette and I strongly recommend that you take advantage of this app. Churchill’s ability to marshall the English language is almost unrivaled and I can promise you will be mesmerized by what you hear. PB Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:11:17 +0100 853840 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/ezFR/~3/dTBu8TjGpO8/ From the press release: Electric Literature is the first literary magazine to release an iPad edition, ElectricLit FREE, available now in the iTunes store. The app, featuring enhanced video playback, a built-in audiobook, live readings by EL authors, full-color images, exquisite large-screen design, and interactive graphics, has been designed and developed from scratch by the publisher, who’s mission is to use new media and innovative distribution to keep literature vital in the digital age. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:34:23 +0100 853842 http://santafelibrary.blogspot.com/2010/06/summer-book-sale.html Main Library145 Washington Ave.July 10 & 11Friends Only Hours:Saturday: 10 am - 1 pmMemberships will be available at the door:Individual: $10 / / Household: $15Open to public:Saturday: 1 pm - 4 pmSunday: 1 pm - 4 pmSouthwest Room:Quality Items individually pricedCommunity Room:Standard priced itemsBag Day Sunday: Community Room : only $3.00 per bag!Hardcover books - $1.00 ea.Paperback books - $0.50 ea. or 3 for $1.00Children's books - $0.25 ea.DVDs, CDs and Audiobooks also available! Sponsored by the Friends of the Santa Fe Public Library. All proceeds from the sale of these donated books are used to purchase new books for the Library. (Source: ICARUS... the Santa Fe Public Library Blog) Mon, 21 Jun 2010 04:00:00 +0100 853710 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jun/20/prince-of-mist-zafon-audiobook Orion AudiobooksPublished in Spain as a novel for young adults in 1993, eight years before Ruiz Zafón's The Shadow of the Wind, this story clearly foreshadows that novel's mesmerising, chilling quality.In 1943 a Jewish family escape their city to an old house by the sea. But greater dangers lurk in the sinister and nebulous figure of the Prince of Mist, who wreaks revenge for old grievances through Max, his sisters and his new-found friend.With present and past entangled with the real and the unreal, it makes astonishingly cinematic listening, its sophisticated mystery heightened by the narration.AudiobooksScience fiction, fantasy and horrorChildren and teenagersFictionRachel Redfordguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (Source: Guardian Unlimited Books) Sat, 19 Jun 2010 23:04:04 +0100 853506 http://liszen.com/trends/story.php?title=Rediscover_Your_Public_Library_%AB_Special_2_me Books: Librarians are happy to make recommendations and most public libraries have a special section just for children's books. Audiobooks: Listened (Source: pligg - all) Sat, 19 Jun 2010 07:00:17 +0100 853372 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jun/19/sue-arnold-audiobook-choice Sye Arnold's audiobook choiceAmerican Wife, by Curtis Sittenfeld, read by Katherine Kellgren (21½hrs unabridged, Whole Story Audio, £29.99)When George W Bush was first elected president, did Mrs Bush really insist on making her own bed? That's the trouble with novels based on real people: you keep wanting to check exactly which bits are true – unless they're called The Ghost, in which case you believe every word. The difference is that Robert Harris never admitted that he was writing about the Blairs, whereas the American Wife blurb comes clean immediately. Alice Blackwell, the eponymous wife, who starts out as a lowly school librarian and ends up as First Lady, is, we're told, based on Laura Bush. It's public knowledge that at high school, Laura was involved in a car crash that killed another pupil. Sittenfeld's version has 17-year-old Alice driving the car that wipes out the love of her life, becoming so traumatised that she ends up sleeping with his elder brother, getting pregnant and having an abortion carried out by the woman doctor with whom her grandmother is having a lesbian relationship. Given the litigious inclination of folk these days (especially Americans), I can see why it's easier to change names and places when you're set on being as flagrantly economical with the truth as this. Here, Wisconsin, not Texas, is Charlie Blackwell's home state, and the family fortune comes from meat, not oil. Alice, painstakingly making papier-mâché models of storybook characters for her pupils, is a saint – beautiful, sensitive, sexy, intelligent. So how come she ends up with a retard like Bush, sorry Blackwell, whose favourite joke is "What would you get if you merged General Electric with Alitalia?" Well, that's the story, and Sittenfeld tells it beautifully. As for the reader, Katherine Kellgren, imagine Jackie Collins reading Jane Eyre and you're close.The Chosen One, by Sam Bourne, read by Aoife McMahon (6hrs abridged, Harper, £14. ... Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:05:54 +0100 853272 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/06/18/opinion-from-librarian-in-black-i-am-a-frustrated-ebook-non-user/ The Librarian in Black (aka Sarah Houghton-Jan) has an excellent (as always) essay about eBooks and eBook readers. We think the title says it all, “I Am a Frustrated eBook (Non) User.” She writes: I strongly feel that eBooks & AudioBooks are only used on the margins of our library communities. Not because people don’t have the technology–they do. And not because they don’t want eBooks–they do. But because using library eBooks is such a horrible pain, sometimes impossible, due to the restrictions that DRM places on us (which affects the subsequent issues of licensing & copyright). We think this is an excellent point but ResourceShelf would add that another reason that people don’t use library eBooks is because they don’t know that these services exist in the first place, are available 24×7, and are available at no charge. In the past week I mentioned this service to a friend and to a family member this week (both frequent library users) who had no idea that these services are available. On the other hand, it’s very scary if a potential library eBook user (someone who is motivated enough to try downloading) gets ready to download and ends with nothing but frustration and wasted time. Not only is that a bad experience but it also reinforces the myth that all libraries and library resources are difficult to use. It will now be an even larger challenge to get the person to try again. After an excellent explanation of what happened when she (Librarian in Black) tried to download a book, Sarah is told the following from a customer service person at OverDrive. Not very encouraging words from a representative of a major provider of eBooks and other materials to libraries. I asked Overdrive for help, and was told “Yeah, sometimes that happens and we don’t know why. It seems to happen a lot with Android. ... Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:44:29 +0100 853165 http://bhplnjbookgroup.blogspot.com/2010/06/on-madeleines-books.html At the beginning of The Remembrance of Things Past, a madeleine cake dipped in tea floods Marcel Proust with memories. For some reason it's books, not cakes, that trigger in me what Proust called involuntary memory. I read The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger on my lunch break my first week at work at BHPL, and the one will forever remind me of the other. (Note to all BHPL staff: I was very excited to be here and did *not* at any point feel like I was on a fishing boat that was about to capsize.) I also have this lovely memory of listening to a Sue Grafton audiobook with my car windows down on a beautiful summer day, and whenever I listen to another one I get to remember that.As if there weren't enough sadness in A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, I read it with coverage of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack playing all day on TV in the background.A library science professor of mine used to say that Pat the Bunny was an awful book, but most people love it because we remember reading it on our mothers' laps.What memories do certain books trigger in you? Does it make you like or dislike that book more? (Source: Berkeley Heights Public Library Book Blog and Buzz) Fri, 18 Jun 2010 04:00:00 +0100 853199 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/06/17/fast-facts-seattle-public-library-mobile-app-cost-to-produce-no-of-downloads-spl-will-close-for-a-week-at-end-of-august/ 1) We haven’t come across these types of stats elsewhere. Specifically, number of downloads and cost of a mobile app numbers. So, we thought the following was worth a mention. According to a community web site (CHS: Capitol Hill Seattle) we’ve learned that the Seattle Public Library (SPL) Mobile App (for smartphones) has been downloaded about 3,000+ times (as of the beginning of June) since it became available in late-April. The app was built by boopsie and cost SPL about $7,000 in subscription fees. Development and installation fees were waived. The article does not say if the $7,000 were a one-time fees or if they will have to be paid every xx number of months. Here’s the first ResourceShelf post about the SPL mobile site from March 29, 2010. More News The entire Seattle Public Library system will close from Aug. 30 through Sept. 6. because of budget issues. Most services will be unavailable including access to info pros. However, many databases that can be accessed remotely along with eBook and audiobook downloads will continue to be available online during the closure. The systemwide closure is one of a number of measures the Library is implementing to achieve $3 million in cuts for 2010. The closure will save approximately $650,000. The closure will mean salary reductions for nearly 650 employees who will not be paid during that week. The remaining savings is being met through cuts to branch hours, management and administration, the budget for books and materials, staff computers and staff training. Finally, the Seattle Public Library also experienced a one-week shutdown during 2009. Source: SPL; Capitol Hill Seattle Hat Tip: Peter B. (Source: ResourceShelf) Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:56:59 +0100 853001 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/06/16/new-u-s-sales-numbers-books-including-e-books-and-audio-books-during-april-2010/ New April, 2010 sales numbers from the Association of American Publishers (AAP). From the Report: Book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month of April increased by 24.8% percent in April to $629.8 million and were up by 11.8 percent for the year through April. The Adult Hardcover category was up 49.2% percent in April compared to last year with sales of $142.9 million; sales through April are up by 16.2% percent. Adult Paperback sales increased 19.6 percent for the month ($128.2 million) and increased by 19.4 percent for the year. Adult Mass Market sales decreased 17.7 percent for April with sales totaling $49.1 million; sales were down by 6.3 percent through April. Hardcover Children’s/YA sales declined 11.2 percent for the month with sales of $40.5 million; sales through April are down by 30.2 percent. Children’s/YA Paperback sales decreased 0.8 percent in April with sales totaling $39.9 million; sales fell 6.1 percent through April. Audio Book sales posted an increase of 18.6 percent in April with sales totaling $11.7 million; sales through April are up by 15.6 percent. Downloaded Audio Books increased 32.1 percent at sales of $6 million; the category was also up 30.8 percent through April. E-book sales jumped up 127.4 percent for the month ($27.4 million), reflecting an increase of 217.3 percent for the year-to-date. See Also: Analysis: E-Book Sales Grew in April, But More Slowly (via Publishers Weekly) E-book sales in April rose 127.9%, to $27.4 million, at the 13 publishers who supply results to the AAP’s monthly sales report. The increase was the slowest in the year, but for the four month period e-book sales from reporting publishers were up 217.3% to $117.8 million compared to the same period in 2010. Any industry members expecting e-book sales to grow on a month-by-month basis have been disappointed so far this year. ... Thu, 17 Jun 2010 03:17:28 +0100 852705 http://www.oplin.org/4cast/index.php/?p=1138 Here are some links to help your patrons find their (portable) summer reads, whether they be audiobooks or ebooks. 30+ Best Websites to Download Free E-books Sync: Free audiobooks all summer! There are all kinds of categories, including one for teen reads. At Audiobook Community, you can join genre groups, look for authors, discover upcoming titles and get all of the industry buzz. The OverDrive Audiobook app for iPhone is now available.  It’s also available for the Blackberry. Bonus link: June is National Audiobook Month.  Check the site for resources and events. Thanks to Janet Ingraham Dwyer for the helpful links! (Source: The OPLIN 4cast) Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:00:07 +0100 853896 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/zixs0C10BG8/summer-2010-schedule.html TEEN SUMMER READINGRead for school, read for fun, read whatever! From June 14 to August 21, fill out a sheet for every five age-appropriate fiction or nonfiction books, magazines, audiobooks, or graphic novels you read. They can be from the library or from your collection. Get a book and a free food coupon every time you turn in a slip, and get entered to win bigger prizes in our weekly drawings. You can also keep track of your reading online. Go to http://www.delcolibraries.org after June 1 and join the online teen summer reading club. For every review you write on the website, you will be entered to win great prizes sponsored by the Delaware County Library System. You can participate both ways for twice the prizes! Just make sure you stop by Sellers to pick up your prizes for every five books throughout the summer.SPECIAL EVENTSRock Band Jam SessionWednesday, June 16, 3:00 to 5:00Enjoy free play on all of our Rock Band games! Come by yourself or with your band members. Register now.Luau PartyFriday, June 18, 6:30 to 8:30 pmMake Waves at our teen luau! Kick off the summer with games, sand art, a limbo contest, and more. Attendees will receive special summer reading sheets that, when returned, will enter you to win two tickets to Dorney Park. Register now.Book Swap and Back to the Future Movies (PG)Saturday, June 26, 10:00 am to 4:00 pmTrade in your old books and watch all three Back to the Future movies. Stop in just to swap, or come and hang out. Snacks and drinks will be provided, but please bring a lunch if you are staying for the whole day. Swap books should be intermediate or young adult fiction in good condition. Register now.Nintendo NightFriday, July 9, 6:30 to 8:30 pmEnter a Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament on the big screen, bring your DS and a Pokémon game for a mini-tournament, enjoy Rock Band, play games on an original NES, and more. Players provide their own gaming materials. Permission slip required. ... Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:56:08 +0100 852630 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jun/16/ulysses-graphic-novel-apple-ipad Apple admits censorship mistake and gives go-head to graphic novel of James Joyce's masterpiece - just in time for BloomsdayAlmost 80 years after a judge ruled that James Joyce's Ulysses was not obscene, allowing it to be sold in the US, the publisher of a comic book version of the seminal novel has won its own small battle against suppression.Just in time for Bloomsday – today's worldwide celebration of all things Joyce and Ulysses – Apple has decided to allow the nude pictures in Throwaway Horse's graphic novel version of the book to be shown on the iPad. It had previously asked the publisher to edit its free iPad application of the comic, Ulysses Seen, to remove any depictions of nudity.Throwaway Horse cropped the image of a naked woman to focus on her face, and edited a scene featuring a nude Buck Mulligan. "Apple's policy had been that app developers should not be permitted to use nudity in any of their images, even if it's pixellated or covered by 'fig leaves'. Our comic has a mature rating (no one under 17 understands Joyce's book anyway), but we were still not allowed to show frank nudity," said illustrator Robert Berry.The team at Throwaway Horse were "shocked" by the request, he said. "I know all the famous stories regarding this novel's battles against censorship, and certainly there are later chapters of the book that intentionally push the boundaries of social decorum, but nothing like that was in my first chapter of the adaptation" – as far as they have currently got with their ongoing project. "I don't think the Apple representative that I first spoke with even knew what Ulysses was," added the publisher's business manager, Chad Rutkowski.Because they still wanted the comic to be available on the iPad, Throwaway Horse agreed to Apple's request. "We believed that our method for showing and annotating the novel was completely unique to the iPad experience and wanted to be a part of that. ... Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:03:49 +0100 852655 http://obpl.blogspot.com/2010/06/old-bridge-public-library-offers.html The Old Bridge Public Library offers a regular calendar of programming for senior citizens. Each Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. the Library offers a Senior Friday program such as a movie, lecture or an arts program. These programs are all free and open to the public and no registration is required. The Library also offers three reading groups for adults and seniors that engage in regular monthly book discussions. Other Library groups of interest include the Library’s Craft Club and the Ladies Night Out Book Discussion group. The Library also has a large selection of large print and audio-books that are available for borrowing, and an optical reader in the Senior Spaces section of the Library to enlarge text of books for easier viewing and reading. For more information on Senior events and programs at the Library, please contact Senior Spaces Librarian Timothy Horras at (732) 721-5600 ext. 5033 or e-mail him. (Source: Old Bridge Library Weblog) Wed, 16 Jun 2010 04:00:00 +0100 852929 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/davidleeking/~3/NW5uO4cCXKc/ First – go read this – I am a frustrated eBook (non) user, by Sarah Houghton-Jan (you do read her blog, right? It rocks). Then come back, and let’s discuss. I have to admit, I had a VERY similar experience with the iPhone Overdrive app. I spent a goodly chunk of time trying to figure it out, and gave up (planning to get back to it eventually). Instructions on use? There are some, but they didn’t make sense to me. I’m sure this one’s my fault, since I don’t usually listen to audiobooks … but still. I was finally able to “successfully” check something out. But I guess it was already “checked out,” so I didn’t immediately get the book. Nope. I had to wait for 3 days, then received an email saying my download was ready. I was busy, so missed my window of opportunity to download the book… so now, I need to start over again! My questions - Why is Overdrive that hard to use? If Sarah and I can’t easily figure this thing out, our patrons won’t be able to, either. They’ll try once, then go use something else. Thinking of my library here – normal books? Easy to check out. Videos in our Mediabank DVD dispenser? Easy as RedBox or an ATM machine to use. Overdrive? Hard enough to use that we set up a special PC right by our Reference desk so we can help patrons figure the thing out. Check out the pic to the right – it’s the iPhone app. Help is prominently featured, front and center, right over the iPhone’s Home button) . At the least, that sends the wrong message. Why can’t there be something like “3 easy steps to downloading?” when you turn on the app for the first time, then have Help go under a secondary menu? If you really need Help on the main page, you probably need to redesign. ... Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:14:01 +0100 852446 http://bhplnjbookgroup.blogspot.com/2010/06/reference-question-roundup.html Reader comments would indicate that the posts listing quirky reference questions  is a popular feature on this blog. But many reference questions are pretty routine and old-fashioned: does the library have a certain book and/or where is it? If it's checked out, can I put a hold on it? If it's not owned by BHPL, how can I get it? The answers are rarely routine or old-fashioned though because computers are involved at every turn. For example, recently, there has been increasing interest in the free downloadable e-books available from ListenNJ, because more and more people are getting e-book readers.  Downloading e- and audiobooks inevitably leads to lots of technical difficulties. So for every advance in library computer technology like online catalogs, online books, research databases, online patron accounts, online holds and email overdue notices etc;  the convenience is always balanced out by the confusion of the new technology. As most of us have realized, the computer revolution, like the washing machine and other modern conveniences, really hasn't saved us any time or made things more efficient. There is probably lots of "scholarly" blathering on this topic, but what I picture as an illustration to this conundrum is a hamster on an exercise wheel. The more he runs, the faster he goes and, well, that's about it really. So when people ask if the internet and computers have replaced librarians, I'd have to say, no, we just can help you get off that hamster wheel or troubleshoot it for you. Maybe that does not clarify the situation. Let me put it this way, if you need help finding material, or doing research in the World Wide Waste, just ask a librarian. That's what we do. We'll separate the wheat from the chaff and, mixing metaphors madly here, get you off that wheel of doom. ... Tue, 15 Jun 2010 04:00:00 +0100 853201 http://blog.njla.org/archives/2010/06/#000859 Letter to the Editor nj.com Gloucester County Times June 15, 2010 To the Editor: The libraries in Gloucester County have been sharing services and resources since GOLD (Gloucester Online Library Database) was established in 1988, and since 2004 through the formation of LOGIN (Libraries of Gloucester/Salem Information Network). Share This unique and very successful partnership consisting of 20 members including municipal libraries, the county library system, two community colleges and the Gloucester County Institute of Technology, is proof that libraries of all types can work together while keeping their autonomy. LOGIN offers customers what they want — a shared catalog of more than 700,000 items and the opportunity to visit any library in the county and receive quality library services. The governor’s proposed statewide library budget cuts of 74 percent of state aid will definitely impact and may eliminate some of these services. Since we are in the business of providing information, we felt it was our duty to inform our communities of our pending financial constraints. Now more than ever, libraries are crucial to our communities because residents rely on them for free Internet service, free programs and free computer classes. Libraries also offer best-selling books, nonfiction materials, DVDs, music CDs, audiobooks, and newspapers and magazines. Libraries provide assistance to job seekers, students of all ages, educators, parents, seniors, business people and other visitors. Libraries are essential to their communities and the libraries of LOGIN have taken a monumental step in promoting and sharing resources by maximizing taxpayer dollars. Indeed, from July 2009 through April 2010, LOGIN libraries circulated over 1.2 million items. At an approximate cost of $30 per item (if each borrower purchased the items individually), that translates to more than $30 million we saved citizens. ... Tue, 15 Jun 2010 04:00:00 +0100 853161 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Librarianinblack/~3/E2xrn7kZ4kc/ebooks-2.html I participated last week in an online chat via Twitter about eBooks put on by Follow the Reader.  Something I wrote then, and thought bore repeating is as follows, succinctly summarized in one Tweet: I think w/o new ebook DRM, licensing, & copyright, library ebooks will continue to exist only in our communities’ margins. I strongly feel that eBooks & eAudioBooks are only used on the margins of our library communities.  Not because people don’t have the technology–they do.  And not because they don’t want eBooks–they do.  But because using library eBooks is such a horrible pain, sometimes impossible, due to the restrictions that DRM places on us (which affects the subsequent issues of licensing & copyright). The publishers need to realize that DRM doesn’t stop the real pirates.  All it does is frustrate normal folks trying to read an eBook on their Blackberry.  What it ultimately does is prevent people from accessing the very content that the publishers are trying so hard to promote!  Why?  When will they wake up and realize that these issues prevent normal readers from reading their authors’ content?  How many people need to make this argument, how many frustrated customers do they need as proof? I chime in as a frustrated customer. I recently purchased an Android HTC Eris smart phone.  I have a Mac at home, and a PC at work.  This means that I have three separate “groupings” of library eBook content that I can access, depending on what device I’m using at the time.  My library subscribes to several eBook collections: Overdrive, MyiLibrary, NetLibrary, TumbleBooks, Safari Tech Books, and Learning Express eBooks.  What I can access on each depends heavily on my device.  Why?  Digital Rights Management. I have tried downloading our several downloadable collections onto my Android phone. ... Tue, 15 Jun 2010 01:23:58 +0100 853772 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jun/13/troubles-jg-farrell-sean-barrett CSA WordIt's 1919 and Major Archer has returned from war to the fiancée he barely knows, and finds himself in her father Edward's once-splendid Hotel Majestic on the Irish coast. The now-crumbling building and the anxious elderly guests echo the country's disintegration. Farrell is the master of detail: when Edward finds his beloved pigs hacked to death their blood oozes through the eyelets of his shoes. A superb narration of one of the finest novels of the 20th century.AudiobooksFirst world warRachel Redfordguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (Source: Guardian Unlimited Books) Sat, 12 Jun 2010 23:04:38 +0100 851822 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jun/12/martin-amis-money-lanchester-whoops Sue Arnold reviews Whoops! by John Lanchester and Money by Martin AmisWhoops!, by John Lanchester, read by Jonathan Aris (7hrs unabridged, Whole Story Audio, £17.99)Well-meaning friends with financial savvy have tried explaining what leveraged buy-outs are, and securitisation, or why AIG was basically screwed by CDSs on CDOs and had to be bailed out by the Bush administration for $160bn, but it's no good. I can't get my head round those sorts of numbers. What does a billion dollars actually look like? Would it fit into one of those attaché cases the Lavender Hill mob used to ship their loot? What immediately endeared me to Lanchester's hugely informative and entertaining book about the causes of the global financial meltdown that everyone but Goldman Sachs employees is going through at the moment is his demystification of all that monetary bafflegab. OK, he says, try this. First, how long do you think a million seconds is – just a quick guess, don't work it out – and then a billion seconds. The answer (no, you won't have got it) is just under 12 days and almost 32 years. Now apply that to pounds, dollars and euros, and you start to understand the seriousness of the credit crunch (and to get the size of bankers' bonuses – Lanchester has got it in for bankers – into perspective).Whoops! is a wonderful mix of history, facts, anecdotes and opinion. Everything has its defining moment, he says. Dance had The Rite of Spring, poetry had The Waste Land. The defining moment for finance came in 1973, when Fischer Black and Myron Scholes published a paper in the Journal of Political Economy called, not very poetically, "The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities", aka risk management. It opened a Pandora's box of financial WMDs, hedge funds, Enron, sub-prime mortgages and other horrors described as financial services. ... Fri, 11 Jun 2010 23:05:43 +0100 851516 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2010/06/11/nela-its-workshop-on-ebooks I’m at the Portland (ME) Public Library today, for the ebook workshop from the New England Library Association’s IT Section. I’ll be live-blogging, so check back for updates, and also follow others with #nela on Twitter. Notes from Elizabeth Thomson Idea for using ereaders in libraries: buy one for the ILL department, for them to download public domain books to and loan, instead of the patron waiting weeks to request all those out-of-print books from far-away libraries. Idea for doing ebook collection development: buy the trash romance or how-to sex manuals that someone would by too embarrassed to buy or check out or be seen reading on the subway “The Kindle is about reading, not the device.” It seems to me the iPad is the opposite - it needs to dazzle people with movement and flashy colors, which either enhances the text, or terminally distracts from it, depending on your point of view. Ebooks needs a business models - publishers, bookstores, libraries need their own. People buying print books because they feel guilty or don’t want bookstores/libraries to die out is not a business model. People will do what’s most convenient in the end, regardless of how they feel. ... Fri, 11 Jun 2010 19:19:54 +0100 851457 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/6j7rYBDWtgg/ In the vein of the Authors Guild warnings I posted about yesterday, The Bookseller reports on agents in the UK warning about “rights grabs” tied to potentially-confusing language relating to digital books in the contracts publishers—particularly American publishers—offer to writers. Clare Alexander of Aitken Alexander warned over the use of terms such as “derivative works” in contracts, which could affect film, TV, games and merchandising rights. “Publishers are understandably looking to protect their rights—especially where they create material for things like enhanced e-books or phone apps—but it creates a copyright grey area,” she said. “What the good publishers are doing is sitting down with agents and discussing, case by case, how to come up with language that is appropriate.” This has been going on for quite some time, apparently, and not just over digital books. Charlie Stross wrote a blog post breaking down one of his old contracts with an American publisher, and at one point noted how his agent defended him from this very kind of thing: There’s also a struck-out-by-agent land grab for audio book rights, motion picture and TV rights, games, and stuffed toys. This is the other good reason why smart authors employ agents; a draft publishing contract is inevitably full of little whoopee cushions inserted by the publisher’s lawyers and intended to separate the author from control over the fruits of their labour. Interesting stuff, and something anyone who writes print or e-books should pay attention to. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:15:00 +0100 851436 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/teleread/KHnj/~3/a7y7jSk6-EY/ OverDrive’s new search engine now does full-text searching which makes keyword searches easy. Here are some of the other features: Data from WorldCat is included, you can search for audiobooks, ebooks, music, video, local libraries and OverDrive-powered retail websites. More info here. Thanks to Resource Shelf for the heads up. Digg us. Slashdot us. Facebook us. Twitter us. Share the news. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:32:06 +0100 851440 http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/06/10/overdrive-introduces-new-and-improved-search-engine/ From a OverDrive Announcement: Last week, we launched the new OverDrive Search website, which makes it easier for users to discover digital content from your library’s download website. How, you ask? Well, here are some of the improvements that users will encounter 1. Keyword Searches The new search function provides users with full-text searching, which means a search for specific content is smarter and more accurate than before. I did a quick search for “recipes” in the new search box and BAM!—relevant search results. (The user can also sort by “Title,” “Publisher” or “Creator” on the “Results” page.) Once a user finds a title they want to checkout, he or she can click on the “Find at a library” button, type in a zip code, and find the closest library that offers the digital title. Data from WorldCat is included in the database as is an advanced interface. Search For + Audiobooks + ebooks + Music + Video + Local Libraries + Bookstores 2. Local Library Listings In the zip code search results, library users will now see the name of the library that they are most familiar with. 3. Top Audiobooks & eBooks The most popular digital books in the OverDrive catalog are now listed on the OverDrive Search homepage. The “Top Audiobooks” and “Top eBooks” slider allows users to browse the most popular titles, listen to samples of audiobooks, and then click-through to the “Title” page. There’s also a link the “Most Downloaded Books from the Library” lists, which power the “Top Audiobooks” and “Top eBooks” slider. The lists are updated on the first of every month. 4. Find a Bookstore Some titles are not available at a local library but are available at OverDrive-powered retail websites. With the new search, users can find and purchase digital content by clicking on “Find at a bookstore.” This will provide listings of OverDrive retail partners that offer the eBook or audiobook. ... Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:31:12 +0100 851312 http://blog.njla.org/archives/2010/06/#000854 nj.com Published: Sunday, June 06, 2010 Letters to the Editor/Gloucester County ... To the Editor: Concerning the devastating cuts to library services under the state budget proposed by Gov. Chris Christie: My family has started using our library, the Gloucester County Library System Logan Branch, for everything. My husband gets audio books, which makes his hour-long commute go much faster. My children get movies regularly to take on vacation and also to watch at home. Their preferences change almost every month, so I am able to save money by not purchasing the books or DVDs. I am an avid reader, and I request books and utilize the books-by-mail service frequently. I request materials from all of the member libraries. I also stopped going to video stores — which saves money — mostly because all the movies I want are at the library. The library offers phenomenal programs for me and my children. Multiple workshops and children’s events make our days at the library well spent. We are buying fewer things than we used to. Why buy things when you can “take them out” as a loaner from the library? Less waste, less clutter, less money out of pocket. It is a win-win. My family would be devastated if we were to lose any of the services as a result of Christie’s budget. Heather Scheckner Woolwich Township (Source: NJLA Blog -- The Official Weblog of the New Jersey Library Association) Thu, 10 Jun 2010 04:00:00 +0100 851419