Category: publishing

“In their announcement of the award, the judges wrote that Mullen’s work is ‘brilliant and enigmatic, familiar and subversive.'” Mullen, a UCLA professor, is “[c]onsidered an innovative, experimental poet.”

“The added money means that the respective Canadian and international winners will each receive $75,000, while the two Canadian and three international runners-up will all get cheques for $10,000.”

Another option is to shutter four branches, while a third “would keep all 27 locations open but dramatically slash hours across the board, leaving 18 branches open two or three days a week.” The library, which is facing a $3.6 million budget shortfall, may cut up to 94 jobs.

“The book-review blog is a family affair. All four Lateiners — Dave, 33; Mara, 34; Lauryn, 11; and Sami, 9 — contribute. … ‘We figured it would motivate the kids to read more,’ said Ms. Lateiner, a stay-at-home mother and a former preschool teacher. ‘Now the blog has turned into the family’s hobby.'”

Images of libraries and reading by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa et al in a Magnum Photos slideshow.

“[T]here are three AAA-rated independent bookstores left in our reading area: the Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, the New England Mobile Book Fair in Newton, and Brookline Booksmith in Coolidge Corner. … The future of Brookline Booksmith is up in the air,” even though “Barnes & Noble finally abandoned its cynical attempt to put [its owner] out of business.”

“Just like their blood-sucking supernatural cousins, angels are half-human visitors who can both fly and usefully suggest the mysterious adult world of sexuality that lies beyond. It is a thought that appears to have simultaneously occurred to authors and publishers searching for a new cult reading trend.”

Laura Miller: “I know that my laptop can do just about everything the iPad can, but it’s not designed to be curled up with at the end of [a] long day; it’s the long day’s main battleground. … The iPad may not be ideal for what the tech industry calls ‘productivity,’ but it’s well-suited for the purpose I had in mind: absorption.”

Why had he said yes? I think he chose me because I didn’t chase him. I had left him alone for eight years after receiving his letter; I wasn’t pushy in the commercial way he found offensive.

“People want to interact with all content now – books included. They want additional material and they want to be able to share material they like with friends. It’s our job as publishers to use the technology available and make this as easy and innovative as possible – while devising clever pricing models.