My copy of Grace Bonney’s new book, Design*Sponge at Home, arrived yesterday. Gorgeous!!!
Archive for the ‘Books & Reading’ Category
Design*Sponge at Home
Saturday, September 10th, 2011Fall Books Preview
Sunday, August 28th, 2011New releases from three popular authors.
Lisa Patton Yankee Doodle Dixie September 13
The further adventures of Leelee Satterfield, Patton’s perky heroine from her first novel, Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’easter.
Patton is speaking at the University Club in Nashville on Thursday, Oct 27th from 6-7 PM as part of the “Evening with an Author” series. The evening is free and open to the public. Please send an email to eveningwithanauthor@yahoo.com to reserve your spot.
Michael Lewis Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World October 3
Lewis’s new book promises to be another informative but highly readable book on what could be a mind-numbing subject –cheap credit and how it created a worldwide financial bubble.
Jeffrey Eugenides The Marriage Plot October 11
The author of Middlesex (winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize) and The Virgin Suicides is back with the story of three recent college graduates in the early 1980s. Per Amazon review, “a delicious novel about modern love.”
Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover
Thursday, August 4th, 2011Covers sell books. A good review, a friend’s recommendation, and previous experience with the author also influence my selection, but an appealing front cover is an attraction.
But I don’t buy a book based solely on the cover art. I read a few chapters before making my final decision.
As with books so it is with houses. You have to visit the house to see if it’s right for you. “Covers”can be deceptive.
Case in point –4045 Vailwood. A traditional exterior promises a traditional interior, or does it?
Come experience this Green Hills knockout for yourself. Sunday, August 7th 2:00 to 4:00 PM
$749,000
Who Else Wants a Book Recommendation That Isn’t Computer Generated?!
Monday, April 25th, 2011
A few of my favorite books
No Bookstores-Now What?!
With the extreme shortage of bookstores in West Nashville and worldwide, sharing reading recommendations with our friends is the new browsing! So let’s help each other out -WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK?
Offer one or many suggestions in the comments section below. Favorite Book of all Time? Children’s Book? Recent Read? Non-Fiction? Remember, Summer Reading Season is just around the corner!
Surely we can create a more inspiring list than one created by a computer algorithm! (Really, where on earth does Amazon get the idea that I am interested in Italian cuisine?!)
Do Books Have a Future?
Sunday, April 17th, 2011In a recent post, Seth Godin referenced a blog from The Technium entitled, “What Books Will Become,” which is one of the best discussions of the future of books (and the corresponding question, what is a book) that I have read.
At least for readers, the future of books is exciting!
Books a Minute
Friday, April 1st, 2011
How cool is this?! A machine that is small enough to fit in a bookstore can print a quality paperback with a full-color cover in just a few minutes. According to the company behind the Espresso Book Machine, On Demand Books, about 4 million public domain and in-copyright titles may be accessed through the company data base. This number doesn’t include the course workbooks, family recipe collections, student dissertations, user manuals and other self published endeavors which can be printed as well. The cost for a book–about $15-$20.
On Demand Books was started in 2003 by Jason Epstein, former editorial director at Random House. For an old publishing hand, Mr. Epstein has embraced the changes in his business with pragmatic enthusiasm. His comments to the 2009 O’Reilly Tools of Change For Publishing Conference ( a/k/a “What Gutenberg Unleashed” ) are entertaining and insightful.
EBM machines are located worldwide, including the Harvard Bookstore, Blackwell Bookshop in London, and the Library of Alexandria (Egypt, not UVA!) One is also perched in McNally Jackson Books in NYC. I look forward to meeting a representative of On Demand Books there next month for an on-site demonstration! More information to follow!
Can I print something for you?
Speed Dating at the Public Library
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011It’s not what you wear, but what you read!
Kindle (1) Evelyn Wood (0)
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011Watch out Evelyn Wood! The Kindle may put bookstores out of business, but Evelyn Wood should be looking over her shoulder too. Why? I read more quickly on my Kindle. I don’t know what it is, but I just zip through books on this device. Full disclosure-I only read escape fiction on my Kindle– no footnotes, indexes, or heavy thinking—but still.
I read 3 1/2 books while on 5 day vacation recently, and this was a “doing” vacation and not “sit by the pool” vacation.
Has anyone else noticed this?
(FYI, for those of you with a weakness for mysteries and chick lit, here is what I read on holiday)
The Professional by Robert Parker
Miss Julia Renews Her Vows by Ann B. Ross
Body Work by Sara Paretsky
The Weed That Strings the Hangman by Alan Bradley (the ½)
NEA’s Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss’s birthday!
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011The National Education Association’s (NEA) Read Across America is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on March 2, the birthday of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss.
Did someone read to you as a child? My mom read almost all of the Oz books to me and my brother. ( No small commitment as The Wonderful Wizard of OZ is merely the first of 26 Oz books!) Share your love of reading with a child, and check out the NEA website for more activities and information about this initiative.
Book Events in Nashville
Saturday, February 26th, 2011Salon @615 is a new series of book events hosted by the Nashville Public Library and Humanities Tennessee.
Events will be held in the Main Library Downtown. Reception at 6:15/Program at 6:45
April 2 HAMPTON SIDES: Hellhound on His Trail http://www.hamptonsides.com/
April 13 JEAN AUEL: The Land of Painted Caves http://www.jeanauel.com/
May 10 ERIK LARSON: In the Garden of Beats: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Berlin http://eriklarsonbooks.com/
June 28 ANN PATCHETT: Bel Canto, The Patron Saint of Liars, State of Wonder (June 2011) http://www.annpatchett.com/
July 1 ROY BLOUNT: Hail, Hail, Euphoria!: Presenting the Marx Brothers in Duck Soup, the Greatest War Movie Ever http://www.royblountjr.com/
July 5 ADAM ROSS: Mr. Peanut http://adam-ross.com/
July 7 MEG CABOT: Insatiable http://www.megcabot.com/
See you there!
