Glinda Reads

"[T]he importance of libraries in general is a very good story that is being very badly told."

Mon, 13 May 2013 16:10:52 -0500

“[T]he importance of libraries in general is a very good story that is being very badly told.”

- Michael Rosenblum (down the comment thread)

So in a way this whole ordeal sort of begs the all important question: how do we effectively demonstrate the library’s value to demographics that do not necessarily need the library, i.e. rich white dudes? This case is even more complicated, as he seems to be a wealthy white man with a truly skewed view of poverty and access. I’m not sure we care whether or not this person ever steps foot in a library (I certainly do not), but I don’t think it serves us to alienate those folks with cash and a national audience.

(via thelifeguardlibrarian)

libraryjournal: therumpus: DEAR WIKIPEDIA EDITORS, BY AMY...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:00:48 -0500

libraryjournal:

therumpus:

DEAR WIKIPEDIA EDITORS,

BY AMY LETTER AND BRIAN SPEARS

April 24th, 2013

Not all of you, just the ones who decided that it was a good idea to start removing women from the category “American Novelists” and putting them into a new category: “American Women Novelists.” You guys.

What the hell, man? What’s wrong with you?

It would have been bad enough had you decided to replace the one category with two separate categories, one for American Men and one for American Women novelists, since that division would have suggested that the gender of the writer is the most important distinction (as opposed to, oh, genre or era) and since it would leave out genderqueer novelists completely.

But you didn’t even do that. The dudes are going to get the default category “American Novelists,” while women get shunted off into a cozy little ghetto, the easier to ignore, which is pretty much been the case for most of human history. Men are the normal, everyone else is the other. Hey, good news for sexist readers: this way, a person searching for American Novelists on wikipedia won’t accidentally end up reading a woman’s writing. No, no. Now that can only happen if the person is searching specifically for women novelists. What a relief.

But here’s the thing that confuses us. It’s not like you haven’t been called out for sexism before or anything. You’ve had a problem with this for a while, and despite your claims that you want to change the culture among the editors, you really haven’t done much about it. Instead, you do this. You once again diminish women.

And you’re doing this at a time when we’re more conscious than ever, thanks to groups like VIDA, of the huge disparities in attention that books by men receive in terms of reviews in big publications over books by women, as well as the disparities in space that men receive to write reviews as opposed to women reviewers. We’re talking about massive inequalities here, and you’re aiding and abetting that. As Amanda Filipacchi said in the piece linked above, “People who go to Wikipedia to get ideas for whom to hire, or honor, or read, and look at that list of “American Novelists” for inspiration, might not even notice that the first page of it includes far more men than women. They might simply use that list without thinking twice about it. It’s probably small, easily fixable things like this that make it harder and slower for women to gain equality in the literary world.”

So Wikipedia Editors who thought this was a good idea, do us a favor here. Even if there’s something in your brogrammer code that refuses to allow you to undo this, at least stay out of the way of the editors who are cleaning up the mess you made.

Seconded.

teresafrohock: Spectacular libraries in Europe.

Thu, 31 May 2012 07:30:43 -0500

Trinity College Library, Ireland

Bibliothéque Nationale de France, France

The Library of El Escorial, Spain

Biblioteca Geral, University of Coimbra,

Handelingenkamer, Netherlands

Abbey Library of St. Gallen, Switzerland

Admont Abbey Library, Austria

Melk Monastery Library, Austria

Strahov Monastery Library, Czech Rep.

Clementinum National Library, Czech Rep.

teresafrohock:

Spectacular libraries in Europe.

For my love....

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:33:35 -0600

I’m waiting

for you!

Make gif stories easily: That’s So True.com!

indocilis: Writer Dragons

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:29:45 -0600

indocilis:

Writer Dragons

indocilis: Writer Dragons

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:42:08 -0600

indocilis:

Writer Dragons

And ebook readers aren't serious?

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:03:21 -0600

I think this quote from Johnthan Frazen is a bit much:

I think, for serious readers, a sense of permanence has always been part of the experience.

So if you read ebooks, you are not a serious reader?

Please, give me a break…. If you prefer not to read ebooks, fine. But don’t denigrate my choice to use an ereader!

leapetra: YOU WILL REPOST!!

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:29:21 -0600

leapetra:

YOU WILL REPOST!!

Top 100 Books

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 22:02:33 -0500

How many from this list of the top 100 books have you read?

leapetra: Yeah I know they are rats, but they are cute.

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:08:45 -0500

leapetra:

Yeah I know they are rats, but they are cute.

Free Georgette Heyer eBook!

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:43:00 -0500

Wow! The Kindle version of Cotillion by Georgette Heyer is free today on Amazon. I think I read this one years ago. I don’t read too much romance anymore, but even I can’t pass this one up!

motherjones: Yes, this. Exactly.

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:27:57 -0500

motherjones:

Yes, this. Exactly.

lightning + lightning bugs: Win an autographed copy of MISERERE: AN AUTUMN TALE!

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:43:36 -0500

lightning + lightning bugs: Win an autographed copy of MISERERE: AN AUTUMN TALE!:

lightningandlightningbugs:

You might have noticed me mention often MISERERE: AN AUTUMN TALE by Teresa Frohock, which debuts one month from today, thanks to the team at Night Shade Books.

If you click the link above, you can read the full blurb.

For now: this is a dark, character-driven fantasy; it is the story of…

Great image, kind of a la Ghostbusters! ebookporn: Photo: Aaron...

Sun, 08 May 2011 15:58:37 -0500

Great image, kind of a la Ghostbusters!

ebookporn:

Photo: Aaron Nace

Excuse me, but that's a 20 year-old book!

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 20:24:33 -0500

Free Press just announced the ebook version of Daniel Yergin’s The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power. And at 800 pages, it really needs to be in an ebook version! However, even though the Pulitzer Prize winning work is considered a classic, charging $14.99 for a twenty year-old book is positively outrageous. Especially when the paperback is selling on Amazon for only $12.94!

The book was a huge bestseller twenty years ago - so its not like the book hasn’t made money. This kind of pricing is what upsets consumers and just makes publishers look extremely greedy.

*Free Press is an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

For more, follow me on Twitter and on my blog, Glinda Says.
I also blog on ebooks at the eBook Evangelist.

Photo

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 14:52:39 -0500

motherjones: Our copy editor just died a little inside.

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 19:57:17 -0500

motherjones:

Our copy editor just died a little inside.

A Library in a Phone Booth?

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:30:13 -0500

Britain’s tiniest library in a traditional red phone booth. What a shame it’s not like Dr. Who’s TARDIS, bigger on the inside than it is on the outside!

And this isn't reading...?

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:44:00 -0600

I just discovered an article on Lifehacker.com from January. You know the kind of “New Year, New You” stuff I’m talking about: “This year, make sure you ________.” This one is called “Five Things You Should Make Time for This Year.”

Now, normally, I am okay with this kind of self-improvement fluff. But this one? My issue with the article is this little gem:

If you’re all about the paperless, less-stuff life, you can read a Kindle or PDF ebook on pretty much any screen you own. But commit a little time each week to actually reading—books, long magazine articles, journals related to your fields, anything. [Emphasis added]

Huh? Reading on a Kindle isn’t “actually reading?” Really? That one is so out there, I don’t think that I can even summon up an articulate response….

For reviews and more, visit my personal blog, Glinda Says!

How important is the publisher when choosing a book?

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 19:01:00 -0600

Goodreads had a featured poll today asking people how important who publishes a book is to their readers. The possible resopnses ranged from “I almost never notice” to ” Very important. I know if [my favorite publisher] published it, it will be a great read!”

What I want to know is, why isn’t there a response that says “Very important. I am boycotting [the publisher] because of [fill in the blank with agency pricing, eBook price and policies, windowing, geographical restrictions, all of the above, etc.].

Hm. Or maybe that’s just the answer I’d give….

For reviews and more, visit my personal blog, Glinda Says!