Sometimes the word is the thing. The bridge. Sometimes we only know what we feel once it's been said. Words may be the daughters of the earth instead of heaven. but they're not dim. And even in the faintest shimmer, there is light. - Anana Johnson Alena Graedon's debut novel is a powerful harbinger of the dangers of turning too much of our lives over to technology and the barons who control it. Called "a dystopian novel for the digital age," the book grapples with the immense toll technology is taking on our language, our thoughts and our ability to communicate. Set...
The Life and Times of the Dust Jacket
Noun. dust jacket - a paper jacket for a book; a jacket on which promotional information is usually printed. Also called book jacket, dust cover, dust wrapperMost books printed since the late nineteenth and early twentieth century have them. Unfortunately, there are many books that once had them that now don't. For the collector of these modern books the dust jacket represents the Holy Grail of value.One of the most noted examples is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Published in 1925 by Charles Scribner's and Sons, the book is considered by many to be one of the great...
American Junkie
If you’ve ever stood in front of the mirror and knew you'd be a better rock star than anyone ever dreamed, and later that night made it ever more true by getting drunk and higher than Jesus, then you'll like this book. If you've ever lined up coke or heroin but didn't have the guts to shoot it straight to your blood, you'll love this book. If you’ve ever wondered why people do drugs even when it’s killing them and they know it, this book will help you understand. And if you think that all junkies are nothing but degenerates,...
Bear Love: A Collector Opens His Den
Jon Henri McCracken is not your ordinary arctophile. He has been collecting bear memorabilia for most of his life and in his new book, The Bears in My Life, McCracken takes us on a captivating visual tour of his amazing collection.From the dust jacket:Bears have captured human imagination for tens of thousands of years, simply by being bears. Mysterious, powerful and nurturing of their young, the natural characteristics of bears -- and the many, colorful, human beliefs associated with them -- have inspired creation of bear images in wood, stone, ink, glass, bronze and more. 'The Bears in My Life'...
Bridget McNulty’s "Strange Nervous Laughter"
To coincide with the release of the American edition of her first novel Strange Nervous Laughter author Bridget McNulty has embarked on a blog tour. Book Patrol is pleased to be a part of the event and has invited McNulty to share an excerpt and her thoughts and hopes for the book."Set against a sweltering South African summer, McNulty’s heady debut twines her characters’ unusual circumstances as they construct and destruct the joy and displeasure of love’s erratic consequences" - from the review in Booklist, the magazine of the ALA.The book is also as much a testament to place as...