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Links I Like

My Summer was so busy that I didn’t have time to browse the Internet and so it has been a while since I last had enough links to produce a round-up of my favourites. This means that a few of the links below aren’t as hot-off-the press as usual, but hopefully you’ll still find them interesting.

Books in the news

Desperate science fiction author offers cash for readers

Forget Ads In Books, Lit-Lovers Face An Even More Hideous Prospect

Quaint Brits Cling to Paper

Do you know the difference between mass-market and trade paperbacks?

Just for Fun

If you have a bit of spare time then I highly recommend browsing Today I Found Out. It contains the sort of bizarre facts and explanations that I love.

Amazing art made from pencils thanks to Dolce Bellezza

I loved this Steig Larsson parody.

Did you know that sheep influenced the size of our books?

In the past I have voiced an objection to cat videos on book blogs, but I’ve mellowed a bit now 🙂

An older article explaining how our language has developed. It explains why most of the people in the world could care less.

Is it sweet to tweet or it Twitter twaddle?

A cheap way to take fantastic photos of books

A radical solution to a house overflowing with books thanks to Pink Sheep Cafe

Happy browsing!

27 replies on “Links I Like”

Thanks for this interesting set of links. The sentence that most caught my attention in the article about the self-publishing sci-fi writer was this one: “I know this may sound odd, but I feel western society needs this book.” The piece about advertising in books was also unsettling, but it is well-worth reading to the end because it does become more reassuring.

In addition to the IKEA cat advert, that Simon (Stuck in a Book) also highlighted yesterday, have you seen the other feline flick that’s been circulating this week? Prince Charles and a bunch of celebs (see how many you can spot) reduced to years of laughter by Henry Dagg’s Cat-astrophone:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/royalfamilyvideo/7996398/Cat-organ-causes-Prince-Charles-to-crack-up-at-garden-party.html

You can’t actually hear the cats very well on that video, but they can be heard in all their glory about 35 minutes in on this morning’s BH programme from Radio 4. Scroll down this page for a close up view of this strange musical instrument
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnj3

David,
“I know this may sound odd, but I feel western society needs this book.” I’d be interested to see if real readers think it is that important. Some how I doubt it!

The IKEA cat video was everywhere on Twitter on Friday, so it was impossible to know who to credit for it. Amazing how many people enjoy watching cats 🙂

I hadn’t seen the Prince Chrales clip before though, so thanks for bringing it to my attention – I wish they’d shown the cats at some point in the clip.

I live with five cats (and a guinea pig) so that video was like a segment from my life! I never tire of cat anything. The parody on Stieg Larsson made me sad and edgy…I’m probably too sensitive, I realize! I love his books and nobody can make me stop!

Sandy, Sorry that you didn’t like the Larsson parody 🙁 I don’t want you to stop loving his books, but I did see a lot of truth in the criticisms. I’ll avoid posting more Larsson parodies on my blog in the future.

I liked the post about taking good book pictures, although I would probably cut off a finger if I took an Exacto knife to my cardboard boxes.

The article about ads with e-books was interesting too. Not that I want ads while I’m reading, particularly since I expect they would slow down the page-turning, but I’m intrigued by the practical considerations that would go into putting ads in e-books.

Awesome list of links. I love the one about the house-turned-library. Wouldn’t I do something like that if I had the money! And I’ve bookmarked the one about making your own lightbox for future reference; maybe I’ll try and make one myself. The article about the sheep was so fascinating. The pencil art mind-boggling, how in the world does he work so small? Incredible! And I’m horrified at the idea of ads in books, although I find the ones in vintage paperbacks amusing sometimes. At least so far it looks like this will only hit e-books. Another reason for me to stick to printed paper books only.

Jeane, If I had the money I’m not sure I’d want to buy the house next door – I’d have to walk outside in the rain to reach my books. I’d much prefer to buy a bigger house with its own library 🙂 I guess if you love your street and don’t want to move….

Ugh! Advertising and product placement in books?! Double ugh! I enjoyed Stieg Larsson’s trilogy, but hated the product placement part of it. Even in a couple of books on the Booker longlist (2010), I noticed name-dropping and was horrified. It just doesn’t work in literature. Literature’s meant to be timeless. Product placement surely isn’t!

Have you ever seen the tv show, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip? There’s one episode that talks about product placement, and I think they’ve tackled in incredibly well.

anothercookiecrumbles, I didn’t notice product placement in any of the Bookers – perhaps I’m already used to it?

I’ve never seen Studio 60 (haven’t even heard of it) What channel is it on?

Think February was the one I was thinking of, although there was one other book that was talking about iPods and the like…. sorry, suffering from short term memory loss! Might’ve been The Slap?

Studio 60’s a show done by the same guys who did The West Wing. It’s not a political show though (although I did love West Wing). Basically, it revolves about two guys who are the executive producers of a late night TV comedy show, and one of them’s the head writer. Probably one of the best things I’ve ever seen on TV – talks about internal politics, importance of ratings & numbers & budgets (that’s where product placement comes in), got the obvious romance tossed in, but it’s really intelligent and the wit is actually not slapstick but thought-provoking!

Thanks for the links. I was interested in the mass market vs trade article cos I will often see the mass market ones on the counter, but I dont like actually owning these. Now I know why, they’re mass produced for people who dont actually have time or interest in thinking about the books they read – mass market publishing seems to raise a whole new conversation for me – do we like it because it makes books more accessible or dont like it because it seems to not value the book for it’s literatary contributions??? Thanks.

Interesting links, Jackie, thanks.
I had often wondered about the difference between trade and mass market paperbacks when I have been browsing the second hand book sites and had suspected that this might be the case, but it is good to have it confirmed. I have to confess to a sneaky fondness for the feel of American trade paperbacks, they seem so much less stiff and more reader friendly than some of their British counterparts!
I am currently reading Peyton Place and wish I had a US version of that as I am having a bit of a struggle with my Virago edition: I hate bending books back so the spine is damaged and it is really quite stiff! It’s not helping that I have strained a tendon in my left hand (taking the lid off a container of milk believe it or not!) and can’t hold it in that hand!

I had been toying with the idea of getting an e-reader of some kind, but having read the article about backward Brits preferring paper – I am sorely tempted to abandon the idea out of sheer Yorkshire cussedness!

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