The Borders Trilogy: Reward the Loyal Less, Kill the Speciality, Withdraw From Parts of the World March 29, 2007

The Border’s Trilogy. Sponsored by the Oprah Book Club who’s latest pick The Road by Cormac McCarthy… We won’t get into the possible psychological motives for such a choice but let’s just say that I can’t understand half of what McCarthy writes, he is a bit reclusive and has given one interview in the last 40 years and he is going to Oprahland! As surprising as this pick is for Oprah is how unsurprising the…

The Powell’s Surprise March 15, 2007

It was great to see an article on a book scout get coverage in the blogosphere and in the papers, GalleyCat covered it and the Seattle times picked up the AP story as well. The article, “Rare Finds Make Stacks of Cash for Book Scouts” was written for the AP by Kevin Sampsell. The problem is that the article is more of a commercial for Powell’s than an appreciation of book scouts. Why:The article was…

When a University Bookstore Sells Out: The Battle at Sonoma State February 23, 2007

This one has all the makings of a David and Goliath biblio thriller. Corporate giant infiltrates university campus. Book spies, stolen textbook lists, divided communities and tons of money at stake. In one corner is North Light Books & Cafe and Coppefield’s, two independent bookstores, in the other the Barnes & Noble run Sonoma State University Bookstore. When the University was looking for new manager for the bookstore they sent out an RFP (request for…

At the Library: Books on the Chopping Block January 2, 2007

Much like independent bookstores, public libraries are struggling to come up with a strategy that will help them stay relevant in todays shifting landscape. I recently blogged about the changes taking place at the college library level but the public libraries are also undergoing a transformation. John Morrison has a post at the Guardian that talks about some of the changes happening to the libraries of Great Britian. On of the most striking tidbits is…

Book Design, Bibles and Some Projections December 20, 2006

The Book Design Review blog picks his favorite cover designs of 2006 The current issue of the New Yorker has an article on the best selling book of the year, wait make that every year- Here is a snippet: The Bible is the best-selling book of the year, every year. Calculating how many Bibles are sold in the United States is a virtually impossible task, but a conservative estimate is that in 2005 Americans purchased…