My collection of links was growing pretty long, so I figured it was time to post them. I hope you enjoy…
- In my last post full of links I lamented the fact that one of the articles wasn’t about the smell of books. And lo and behold, shortly thereafter, the National Book Foundation posted this nifty infographic on the chemistry of old and new book smells (via Compound Interest).
- I couldn’t agree more… why people who read are all kinds of awesome.
- What do your bookshelves say about you? (I’m a little bit librarian, a little bit conquerer!)
- Ah, the age-old print vs. e-book debate. Uh, well, maybe it’s only a few years old. Still, it may well be one of the defining issues of our time (exaggerate much?), and Buzzfeed tackles it with this discussion between Team Paper Books and Team E-Books. I’m solidly on the side of the print readers, though I do concede there are a couple of benefits to e-reading. No doubt when the apocalypse comes and you all can’t charge your Kobos anymore, you’ll be lining up to borrow my books. As for me, I’ll still have new reading material, because I’m sure by then my to-read pile will number into the many hundreds.
- I’m thinking of taking the plunge and joining the Amazon boycott that seems to be growing in popularity (as evidenced here and here and here and here). (I haven’t bought a book from Amazon in months, thanks to the moratorium. (Emergencies only!) So now’s probably a good time to start.) I feel like I need to join the growing movement. All the cool kids are doing it, including Stephen Colbert. Sure, I love paying around $15 for a book when bookstores charge $30 or $40, and that is what makes Amazon so addictive. But is that money in my pocket worth supporting Amazon’s evil behaviours (among them, strong arming of publishers and poor treatment of employees)? Thankfully, Esquire published some tips on how to quit Amazon and shop in a real bookstore to ease my transition. Or, I could always shop for books in France. But will the boycott make a difference?
- Colouring is not just for kids anymore… apparently. So here are colouring pages of Margaret Atwood and Joseph Boyden to get you started on your re-discovered hobby.
- Ever wanted to know the etymology of the word “book”? Or different words for books over the centuries?
- Are the interwebs killing the literary novel?
- This one’s for you, Jane Austen fans – a collection of some critiques of her works from her family and friends.
- I am always agonizing over what rating to give a book once I’ve finished reading it, so I appreciated this column on a convoluted calculus of ratings.
- We live in a world of bookish angst, that’s for sure, so here are five new words to suit it. (I have been on the receiving end of genreshaming, and am sad to say, probably on the giving end once or twice.)
- A couple of these book dedications are kinda funny.
- What happens when Stephen King publishes a novel with the same name as your book? This.
- Should oaths taken on e-books count?
- Who doesn’t love Lego? Especially Lego book scenes and Lego libraries and bookstores?
- I keep hearing about all these speed-reading apps. And I keep avoiding them. I’m sure, like with every other technology that has come along in my lifetime, that I will cave and adopt it. Here’s an interesting piece about test-driving one of these apps.
- Are errors in books a bad thing? This history of typos compares the early days of publishing to our current Internet age.
- Seems I’ve got work to do… I’ve only read 36 of these 100 Novels That Make You Proud to be Canadian.
- I think I’m going to spend the entirety of my next trip to NYC riding the subway while conspicuously reading a book, to see if I can get caught for a Subway Book Review.
- Is it time for a new book? Obey this flow chart!
- And, let’s end it with a grammar lesson from Weird Al Yankovic. I hope he tackles manners next.
Fantastic list of “links”. Unfortunately I am not able to access all of them.
On a happy note though, I have read 28 of the 100 books listed and have several others just waiting to be read. I loved reading so many of them it gave me pleasure just to see the titles on an important list.
Mops