30.08.05
Cellular
comic books serious business
Tokyo - Sony Pictures Entertainment will
almost triple the number of comic books it formats for viewing on cellphones in
a move that will make it the No. 1 provider of popular Japanese "manga" comics
for cellphones, a company official said...more
Add a comment Amazon's
vital statistics show how books stack up
For all those folks who like
to talk about books without actually reading them, some exciting news! Amazon.com,
the pack-leading online superstore, has figured out an innovative, and some would
say insidious, way to talk about books. Text Stats...more
Add a comment A
guide to dating Jews earns author 'Nazi' tag
Kristina Grish has been described
as a 'Nazi' and little better than a prostitute. Her crime: writing a light-hearted,
non-Jewish women's guide to understanding Jewish men...more
Add a comment Amazing
discovery unlocks Scots writer's past
I will never forget one particular
autumn afternoon at New York University's Fales Library, where I had gone to see
a handful of letters and short literary manuscripts by James Hogg, the Ettrick
Shepherd (1770-1835). A pencil note on one of the two, slim folders mentioned
Hogg's Border romance, The Three Perils of Man, with the cryptic reference "See
bottom shelf"...more
Add a comment
27.08.05
UK
Bank Holiday
It's the last Bank Holiday of the summer here in the UK, but
TheBookGuide and the news will return on August 30th.
Save
the world...read a book
A campaign has been launched to encourage children
to read more - and save the planet at the same time. Friends of the Earth (FoE)
Scotland and ScottishPower want youngsters to switch off their TVs and computer
games and pick up a good book instead...more
Add a comment Book
market grows this year in USA
Newly released numbers from Nielsen Entertainment
present a mixed picture for books: a robust year, so far, with the industry doing
significantly better numbers than it posted at this time last year. However, the
piece of the entertainment pie represented by books continues to shrink...more
Add a comment Rankin
novels fail to detect high bidders
A first edition of Ian Rankin's debut
Rebus novel sold for £300 at auction yesterday - almost £200 less than it was
expected to fetch...more
Add a comment
26.08.05
John
Thaw book fraudster jailed
A convicted fraudster who tried to cash in
on the death of acting legend John Thaw has been jailed for 15 months...more
Add a comment F.B.I.demands
library's records
Using its expanded power under the antiterrorism law
known as the USA Patriot Act, the F.B.I. is demanding library records from a Connecticut
institution as part of an intelligence investigation, the American Civil Liberties
Union said Thursday...more
Add a comment Museum
finds its rare book for sale in market
The Institute of Ethiopian Studies
of Addis Ababa University recently discovered that a rare and unique pictorial
book was missing from its archives, after it was tipped off that the book was
seen for sale in Merkato -- the country's largest open market...more
Add a comment A
loss of 'Common Sense'
ew Rochelle - Former members of the Thomas Paine
National Historic Association are furious over the sale of some of Paine's works
- including a first edition of "Common Sense" that some say helped sway New York
state to join the American Revolution - to pay for museum repairs and to set up
an interest-bearing fund...more
Add a comment
25.08.05
Making
news after 300 years
The first edition of a 300-year-old Edinburgh newspaper
has appeared for sale on an internet auction site. The Edinburgh Courant, which
was published in February 1705, was one of the first newspapers in Britain and
the Capital's main source of local information. The rare first copy is being sold
by an Australian collector on eBay, and experts say it could fetch more than £400...more
Add a comment Beano
characters support library
Beano characters from the past and present
have been brought together in a unique piece of art which will be auctioned in
aid of the National Library for the Blind (NLB)...more
Add a comment Silver
Spring Books
Selling used books is difficult, both here, and in the USA.
Dealers enter their profession through love of books, not love of money. Perhaps
economic necessity explains why Silver Spring Books operates as a cooperative...more
Add a comment
Hitler
cartoons sold at auction
A book of cartoons lampooning Adolf Hitler which
were commended by the dictator have sold at auction for more than £200. Meanwhile,
a lock of hair belonging to the Duke of Wellington along with a picture of him
sold for £1,380 in a telephone bid from a private collector...more
Add a comment £16m
grant to restore splendour of library
The historic Picton Reading Room
in Liverpool library is to be restored after winning a £16m government grant.
Once completed, rare books and the seven miles of archives, including letters
from Queen Victoria, Disraeli and Florence Nightingale, will go on display to
the public...more
Add a comment
23.08.05
Amazon.com
offers book lovers 'Digital Shorts'
Online retailer Amazon.com is offering
short-form literature in digital format from new and established authors. The
Seattle-based company is selling Amazon Shorts for 49 cents each. The works include
samples from new authors, or alternate chapters and scenes to well-known stories,
one-act plays, classic short stories and personal memoirs from writers that cover
everything from food poisoning to contact lenses...more
Add a comment Wanna
buy books by weight?
An ongoing promotional activity at the Hymart-Hymall
supermarket chain in China allows locals to buy books according to weight has
failed to spark a buying frenzy, though it has raised some eyebrows...more
Add a comment Attempt
to smuggle old manuscripts foiled
Egyptian airport security Monday aborted
an attempt by a British tourist to smuggle old Islamic transcripts out of the
country...more
Add a comment Book
for sale, page at a time
Retired bookstore owner Helen Schlie can see a
higher purpose in her decision to sell her 1830 first-edition Book of Mormon one
page at a time...more
Add a comment
22.08.05
One
last Gonzo blast from Thompson
Hunter S. Thompson, the journalist who became
poet laureate of a drug-fueled American counterculture, bid a noisy farewell to
his friends and his farm Saturday night as his cremated ashes were blasted into
a cloudy Colorado sky amid a massive fireworks display...more
Add a comment A
book emergency? No problem
Parisian book-lovers desirous of a dose of Dumas
in the dead of night or some Stendhal on a Sunday can turn to a new development
in automated distribution - the book vending machine. Five bright yellow Livre
à toute heure machines, stocking 25 contemporary and classic titles, have been
installed around the city over the past six weeks...more
Add a comment Elsie's
red book given to charity
The famous red This Is Your Life book given to
Coronation Street actress Pat Phoenix has been donated to a charity shop in Greater
Manchester...more
Add a comment 'The
bootho will be bigger than the euro'
Richard Booth, the second-hand book
retailer and self-appointed King of Hay-on-Wye is planning to launch a new international
currency, "the bootho", which he claims will be more widely used than the euro.
Last week, Booth held talks with a London-based specialist
derivatives dealer about setting up an international currency exchange on which
boothos can be bought and sold. The move is part of a plan by the eccentric Oxford-educated
retailer to create a global barter economy based around books...more
Add a comment
20.08.05
Kerouac's
classic finally gets the Hollywood treatment
At last, 48 years after a
new talent blazed into flame in American literature, Francis Ford Coppola is to
film Jack Kerouac's seminal road novel that spoke for so many...more
Add a comment Disney
books tagged with sweatshop label
That was the charge an activist group
made yesterday from outside the Disney Store on Fifth Ave. The protesters said
most of Disney's children's books are made in two Chinese factories where workers
put in up to 100 hours a week for pennies an hour...more
Add a comment Arizona
school issues laptops to replace books
Students at Arizona’s Empire High
School won’t have to carry books anymore. Instead, they will use iBooks laptop
computers, issued by the school to each of its 340 students, becoming one of the
first U.S. public schools to do away with textbooks...more
Add a comment The
Ministry of Reshelving
The current Ministry initiative focuses on relocating
a total of one thousand nine hundred and eighty four copies, across all 50 United
States, of George Orwell's _1984_ from "fiction" or "literature" to more suitable
sections, like "Current Affairs", "US Politics", "True Crime", or "New Non-Fiction."
You are invited to join us in our reshelving efforts...more
Add a comment
19.08.05
Book
publishers can't buck the web
Opinion: Google Print may or may not be the
answer, but resisting the Web on the grounds of copyright won't help the publishing
industry thrive...more
Add a comment Book
of Hitler cartoons to go under the hammer
A book containing a collection
of newspaper and magazine cartoons lampooning Adolf Hitler is to go under the
hammer later this month. Published in Germany in 1933, it is expected to attract
significant interest because it was officially commended by Hitler himself...more
Add a comment Self-styled
king of Hay sells up
The self-proclaimed king of the second-hand book capital
Hay-on-Wye has decided to sell his famous shop at the town's old fire station...more
Add a comment
"King
Richard's famous book shop is not at the town's old fire station,it's at 44 Lion
Street.The old fire station is the very first shop he had, and where it all started
from." Denise at Hay Castle, Servant to his Majesty. UK
children's books centre opens
A £6.5m national centre for children's books
will be opened on today by children's laureate Jacqueline Wilson. Seven Stories
in Newcastle will be home to prestigious collections of work by children's authors
and illustrators...more
Add a comment
No
News today...
TheBookGuide is away for a few days, but he and the news
will return on August 19th. However, desperate news junkies can find links to
1,000's of book related stories and articles in our archives.
12.08.05
Brought
to book
Midlands Co-op supermarket in Atherstone is taking up the 'book
town' theme in the town by introducing a charity second-hand bookstall in its
store...more
(Thanks to Clive Keeble for the link) Add a comment TS
Eliot letters to be auctioned
A series of letters written by the poet TS
Eliot to his godson are to be sold at auction next month. The collection of nearly
50 letters to Tom Faber will be sold by the Faber publishing family...more
Add a comment Good
Book price for eBay bible
A 400-year-old bible which is one of the rarest
of its kind in Scotland has been put up for sale on an internet auction site.
The bible, printed in Edinburgh in 1610, has been listed on auction site eBay
with a starting bid of £500 and has already attracted 16 bids...more
Add a comment Historic
Americana auction
C. Wesley Cowan didn’t tout it, but his company celebrated
its tenth anniversary with a "Historic Americana" auction in Montgomery, Ohio,
June 8-10. More than 1400 lots were offered, grossing $1.6 million...more
Add a comment
11.08.05
Coaxed
down the rabbit hole
"Lunar Park" begins with a coy, teasing fan dance
performed by the author. Now you see him, now you don't: is this the real Bret
Easton Ellis, baring his soul and revealing what it was like to be "insanely famous,"
to pose for sunglasses ads, to go on a three-day heroin binge in a four-star hotel?
...more Add
a comment The
literary Olympics: Brought to book
The judges of the Man Booker now know
the 17 novels they have to choose from after the prize's long-list was announced
yesterday. But, if previous years are anything to go by, the selection process
will contain as much drama and intrigue as the books themselves...more Add
a comment More
maps missing
Officials at the Boston Public Library determined yesterday
that a total of 10 valuable maps are missing, as a respected rare-maps dealer
who used the missing materials appeared in a Connecticut courtroom to answer charges
of stealing maps from Yale University...more Add
a comment The
human factor
Don McCullin would be the first to admit that at the heart
of war photography - sometimes also called, notes Susan Sontag in her introduction
to his collected work, "the photography of conscience" - is great moral ambiguity...more Add
a comment
10.08.05
Map
dealer pleads not guilty to Yale theft
A renowned dealer in antique maps
whose arrest sent librarians scurrying to review the world’s rarest map collections
pleaded not guilty Tuesday to looting Yale University of three centuries-old maps...more Add
a comment Molecular
biology collection makes "several million dollars"
The Jeremy Norman collection,
as the papers are known, was put together before the materials had any clear market
value. Mr. Norman and Al Seckel, two private collectors in California, started
gathering the papers at a time when some scientists were discarding their archives,
and many institutions had no interest in them...more Add
a comment Harry
Potter grips al-Qa'eda suspects at Guantanamo Bay
The Harry Potter craze
has reached the cells of Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay. The ripping tales of the
boy wizard are said to be top of the request list for the prison's 520 al-Qa'eda
and Taliban suspects...more Add
a comment A
handy guide to chuggers in pelmets
On your way into work today you may
have been stopped by a chugger. It is possible you made several calls on your
handy and passed many greige buildings and people wearing pelmets. Confused? These
are some of the new words and phrases to appear in the revised second edition
of the Oxford Dictionary of English, the press's biggest single-volume dictionary
of current English...more Add
a comment
09.08.05
Bad
books are welcome here
Titles such as "How to Cook a Peacock" and "Ten
Crochet Dude Dishcloths" have, against all the odds, been published, and read,
via an American Web site, www.Lulu.com, which was introduced in Britain last week.
Lulu enables writers to load their work onto the Web site at no cost, and the
books are printed individually in paperback each time an order is placed...more Add
a comment
Though
I wrote a protest to the editor of the Telegraph as soon as this article appeared,
little did I know it would propagate across the world. In a nutshell, I didn't
say the incredibly damaging words which - as a quote from me - have fed such headlines
as this. The Telegraph's reporter, in interviewing me about several books (mainly
my translation of a medieval cookbook and my monologue books) asked briefly about
two photography books I'd put up as an experiment. I idly said they were just
my own travel photos, not professional photographs. Somehow that became "They're
not very good". Not quite the same at all, eh? (My photographs have won at least
one prize and been published elsewhere as well.) - It really takes so little to
do so much damage. Jim Chevallier.
As
Bob Young, the publisher of the website states in the article: "There is no question
that there is an awful lot of [expletive] on the site", perhaps you should address
your comments to him. TBG. Coffee
drinkers to get taste of Scottish poetry
Coffee drinkers can turn into
culture vultures when they visit a poetry-themed coffee shop set to open on the
Canongate. The new branch of Starbucks is to offer customers the chance to browse
Scottish poetry books in store, as well as read Robert Burns verses inscribed
on the walls...more Add
a comment
New
York Rare book store to close
Twenty years ago, former teacher Martha
Kelly bought Gutenberg Books on Monroe Avenue, Rochester. It had been a dream
of hers to own the store known for having a good selection of old and rare books.
Kelly died earlier this year and now the store must close...more Add
a comment
Map
theft Dealer in court
Seven rare and valuable maps are missing from five
books at the Boston Public Library, and curators are searching for more holes
in the collection, as a respected rare maps dealer who used the missing materials
appears in court today on theft charges...more Add
a comment
08.08.05
Dalmellington
- the Book Town with no books
Some
of you might remember an article I wrote a while ago about Dalmellington
- the Book Town with no books. What it did have was lots of misleading road signs,
which from far and wide, boldly proclaimed ‘Dalmellington Book Town’.
I'm
pleased to be able to report that these signs have now been erased, largely as
a result of the many complaints that readers took the trouble to send to the council.
Rushdie calls
for Islamic Reformation
"What is needed now is a move beyond tradition
-- nothing less than a reform movement to bring the core concepts of Islam into
the modern age, a Muslim Reformation to combat not only the jihadist ideologues
but also the dusty, stifling seminaries of the traditionalists, throwing open
the windows to let in much-needed fresh air," he said...more Add
a comment Keeping
Dostoyevsky safe from the surf
While it might be useful on a beach when
the tide comes in, the creator of the waterproof book says his target is U.S.
middle-aged women who read in the tub...more Add
a comment Pott
of gold
A rare copy of a Harry Potter book is to be auctioned to raise
money to help victims of the Niger famine. The first edition of JK Rowling's Harry
Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was found among novels donated to an Oxfam bookshop
in Edinburgh. It is estimated the book could be worth at least £2,500...more Add
a comment
06.08.05
McMurtry
shelves the idea of closing
Larry McMurtry, the irascible author of 60
books and screenplays - including "Lonesome Dove" and "Terms of Endearment" -
has reversed course and decided not to close his peculiar and beloved bookshop
that represents the hub of the economy in the dusty Texas outpost of Archer City...more Add
a comment Escaping
the net
As libraries increasingly make room for computers, Marina Warner
argues that only books - and the sensory access of the real - can unleash imagination...more Add
a comment Mold
forces library closure
The two-year-old Rice Street Library in St. Paul
will be closed for as long as a week while environmental crews assess and clean
up a mold problem discovered earlier this week in the heating and air conditioning
system...more Add
a comment Book
haven plans party
After 70 years Bell's Books in Palo Alto is a place
of pilgrimage for book lovers -- a landmark shop which right from the start was
a place where books of quality, mostly old but some new, could be found, eclectic
reading advice given and like-minded friends made...more Add
a comment
05.08.05
Festival
trip is a closed book for prisoners
Twelve prisoners who won a competition
to find Britain's best reading group were unable to accept their prize - an all-expenses-paid
trip to a book festival...more Add
a comment For
the love of books
"Used bookstores stay open these days because of the
owners' love of books," said Rochester Institute of Technology media professor
Frank Romano. Most owners don't rely on sales from the shelves. Many have other
income sources: They own the store's property or they rent at a really low rate...more Add
a comment Internet
threatens old-fashioned sales venues
With online commerce through sites
like eBay expected to reach $79 billion this year, traditional flea markets and
kitschy garage-sales can’t keep up...more Add
a comment
04.08.05
Jacko
tell-all books
Two jurors who acquitted Michael Jackson of child molestation
charges now say they think the US pop star was guilty - and they are penning tell-all
books about the jury's deliberations...more Add
a comment Oldest
known Bible to go online
A manuscript containing the oldest known Biblical
New Testament in the world is set to enter the digital age and become accessible
online...more Add
a comment Idyllic
world of books
Neal and Ailsa Hawes have owned and managed the Idle Hour
Book Inn in Rotorua, New Zealand, for the last 12 years - an idyllic form of making
a living, they say, not least because they have the option of being able to lose
themselves in a good novel whenever customers are not in the store...more Add
a comment
03.08.05
"Avant
Garde Graphics 1918-1934"
The exhibition, at Kettle's Yard Gallery, University
of Cambridge, is a rare opportunity to see posters, prints, book designs and political
and commercial ephemera, together with original layouts and photomontages, produced
by some of the most important artists working at that time...more Add
a comment Plath's
Sketch of Ted Hughes for sale
Sylvia Plath, best remembered for writing
angry poems about men, such as "Daddy", did a drawing of Ted Hughes in the early
days of their marriage. The sketch of her poet-husband may raise as much as £20,000
at a London auction on October 3, said Bonhams...more Add
a comment New
atlas offers insights into !Xoop
In a world where globalisation leads to
the death of one language every fortnight, it is hoped that the World Atlas of
Language Structures will help to revive a wilting interest in linguistics...more Add
a comment Bookstores
feel pinch of Internet
It used to be that Monterey had a cluster of thriving
used bookstores. Many are still in business, though with different owners or names...more Add
a comment
02.08.05
Child
suicide-bomber book bestseller
A children's novel with a storyline about
a mixed-race teenage girl being groomed to become a suicide bomber by the leader
of a white terrorist group had become a bestseller during the past month, a leading
book store said today...more Add
a comment Long-lost
medical book discovered
A rare 400-year-old medical book has been found
beneath the floorboards of a lawyer's home in Edinburgh. The illustrated English-language
copy of the Ten Books of Surgery is one of only 22 in known existence...more Add
a comment Government
to pay authors for library lending
The Irish government has finally bowed
to pressure from the European Commission to pay authors for books borrowed in
public libraries, it emerged today. It means that authors will now be paid royalties
every time their books are borrowed from libraries, rather than just for one single
copy...more Add
a comment
01.08.05
Finders,
readers
Bookcrossing is a literary treasure hunt that starts and finishes
online. Someone leaves a book they love for others to find and see whether they
love it too. And its top 50 reveals some surprise choices...more Add
a comment A
brand new rediscovery of grand old Delhi
Sniffing out history through narrow
by-lanes and broad tree-lined avenues of Delhi these days are a bunch of enthusiastic
treasure hunters hot on the trail of the Capital's written legacy. Covering obscure
temples, tiny mosques and even the odd slum cluster, the search for manuscripts
launched by the National Mission for Manuscripts here this past week has led to
some exciting discoveries in totally unexpected quarters...more Add
a comment Endangered
collections
Thousands of tiny, unwanted visitors live on the shelves of
Montgomery's main library, and they have claimed the lives of 15 rare books...more Add
a comment
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