Have you ever mistakenly typed just one letter into Google? I know I have.What if you've done it using Google Suggests?Back in 2003 in a random post on his blog Doc Searles mentioned that he accidentally typed just the letter "O" into Google and got the O'Reilly web site.Buster McLeod (aka Eric Benson) picked up on this and in 2004 the first Google Alphabet was born.In 2005 Nathan Dintenfass, a web developer and blogger posted the 2005 edition of the Google Alphabet on ChangeMedia.Now, Brady Forest over at O'Reilly Radar brings us the 2008 edition:A = amazonB = beboC =...
Larry McMurty on Books
"No one claimed book collecting was rational""one of the best aspects of antiquarian book selling is that it is so educational""one reason I've hung on to book selling is that it's progressive--
Bookselling and the Democratic Convention
For a week supposedly devoted to politics, a fair amount of book news has been scattered throughout the coverage of The Democratic National Convention currently taking place in Denver. First, before the convention even got underway, booksellers around the country were up in arms about publisher Chelsea Green's decision to offer their book "Obama's Challenge" to convention-goers via a discount coupon for a copy printed by Amazon's POD service Booksurge. Next came word of Bush/McCain Tijuana Bibles available in Denver; several booksellers quickly expressed their desire to obtain copies. And most recently, it's been nice to see my old employer...
Shelfari Added to the Amazon Mix
Less than a month after acquiring AbeBooks, Amazon has acquired the book social networking site Shelfari.Josh Hug, founder of Shelfari, posted the news last night on Shelfari's blog and the story was quickly picked up by John Cook at the Seattle PI. Amazon has yet to issue a press release on the matter.Amazon invested $1 million in Shelfari back in February of 2007 earning them a seat on the board and a front row seat for Shelfari's now infamous and dubious astroturfing campaign.Of course, the terms of the deal were not disclosed but "sources told the Seattle P-I the financial...
The Stories Behind "50 of the World’s Best-Loved Books"
Did you know that when stacked up the manuscript of Gone With the Wind was taller than its 4' 9 1/2" author Margaret Mitchell?or that Leo Tolstoy's wife copied the manuscript of War and Peace by hand not once, not twice but seven times!It is stories like these that make up Who the Hell is Pansy O'Hara?, a new book by the husband and wife team of Jenny Bond and Chris Sheedy."When you understand the book's history or something about the author or what influenced his or her work, you can't help but have a finer appreciation for the book,...