Pocketbooks

Amazon rumored to be opening bricks and mortar stores

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:56:30 +0000

There are mumblings in the blogosphere that Amazon is to open bricks and mortar stores. Launch.it offers four possible scenarios:

The first scenario: the store could just be a showroom with display units of appliances and “geniuses” running around showing you the top 25 vacuums in action. Or the top 10 juicers actually making juice.

Second, Amazon could keep small items like books, DVDs and electronics on site for instant gratification. If you like the pulp, you could buy a copy of a physical book and get an ebook sent to you.

Third, Amazon could entice you into the space with a physical library.

Fourth, if Amazon is pulling a Walmart and gearing up to make its own products, it would have even more leverage over pricing of top brand products. …What if Amazon only keeps inventory at their stores of its own cheaper stuff, relegating your stuff to being only available for delivery? What’s the consumer going to do: take the Amazon-branded stuff right now at 20% off or wait two days for a better product?
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B&N “declares war” on Amazon, stating that it will not stock Amazon titles in its stores

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:56:29 +0000

Barnes & Noble has decided not to stock books published by Amazon in their physical stores.

According to Jaime Carey, B&N’s Chief Merchandising Officer in an email to Bloomberg Businessweek senior reporter Brad Stone:

“Barnes & Noble has made a decision not to stock Amazon published titles in our store showrooms. Our decision is based on Amazon’s continued push for exclusivity with publishers, agents and the authors they represent. These exclusives have prohibited us from offering certain eBooks to our customers. Their actions have undermined the industry as a whole and have prevented millions of customers from having access to content. It’s clear to us that Amazon has proven they would not be a good publishing partner to Barnes & Noble as they continue to pull content off the market for their own self interest. We don’t get many requests for Amazon titles, but If customers wish to buy Amazon titles from us, we will make them available only online at bn.com.”
Read more on bookbrowse.com

Reader Review: "The Healing"

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:56:03 +0000

by Jeanette (Marietta, GA): I read The Healing in two sittings it is a fascinating story of plantation life at the beginning of the Civil War. Granada, a slave newborn child whom the plantation mistress takes from the slave mother to fill-in her grief over the lost of her own child, is raised in the big house as the mistress pet; then there is Polly, the Healer, whom Master Satterfield has paid quite a bit of money to acquire and heal his sick slaves from a mysterious plague sweeping thru his plantation. When we are introduced to Polly we learn that she has the gift of healing both body and soul, she is the only one who dares stand up to the boss and while she is healing she is also planting ideas of freedom and escape. Polly recognizes “the gift” in Granada and requests her as an apprentice; this begins a battle of wills between Polly and Granada. All the characters are well developed; we feel their pain and their joy and become part of their every day’s life. I loved this book and highly recommend it.

Reader Review: "The Uncommon Reader"

admin — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:42:23 +0000

by Cloggie Downunder (Thirroul NSW Australia): The Uncommon Reader is a novella by novelist and playwright, Alan Bennett. The story starts with the Queen coming across the mobile library van parked near Buckingham Palace, where Norman, a young man from the kitchens, is choosing a book. After making small talk with the driver/librarian and the kitchen hand, she feels duty-bound to borrow a book. Which she, of course, dutifully reads and returns the following week for another. Soon enough, she has Norman transferred from the kitchens to assist her in her new favourite pastime, reading. This delightful dose of British humour speculates on what happens to the royal duties and the royal household as the Queen gives in to her obsession. Full of laugh-out-loud moments, especially the last line.

Audiobooks introduce $25 unlimited monthly subscription.

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:26:47 +0000

Simply Audiobooks launched a new service today offering unlimited audio books for a $25 monthly subscription. The catch is that because the books are streamed rather than downloaded you have to be connected to the internet to listen to them; also the current selection of 11,000 books is considerably more limited than some other audio book providers, notably Audible.com
Read more on bookbrowse.com

Andrew Miller wins Costa Book of the Year with his 6th novel "Pure" set in 1785 Paris

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:26:47 +0000

Novelist Andrew Miller has won the 2011 Costa Book of the Year, his first major literary award, for his sixth novel, Pure, set in pre-revolutionary Paris in 1785.

Pure is published in the UK by Sceptre, the literary imprint of Hodder and Stoughton. It would seem that Pure does not currently have a publisher in North America, but is available online through Amazon, and Chapters Indigo in Canada.
Read more on bookbrowse.com

Reader Review: "The Sense of an Ending"

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:24:10 +0000

by Kim (Massachusetts): I devoured this book in a day. Like another reviewer, I find it difficult to describe this story. Much of it consists of the narrator ruminating over what memory is (or isn’t), which I sometimes found a bit annoying—and yet, his ruminations are the heart and soul of the story. He is searching for what we all search for: truth and meaning in our lives. As he is drawn back in time by by an old letter, he is forced to reconsider his views on memory and the passage of time, history, and happiness. Why did I like this book? It’s a short, compelling read; it is well-written; the characters are powerfully drawn; there is a mystery involved; the end result is rather shocking. The concept, as well as the title of the book, are brilliant. Most of all, I liked it for its honesty in presenting life and our memory of the past as a messy, uncertain business. As the narrator sums it up in the last sentences, "There is accumulation. There is responsibility. And…… there is unrest. There is great unrest."

Dead End in Norvelt wins prestigious Newbery Medal

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:24:10 +0000

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos has won the John Newbery Medal at the American Library Association’s annual youth media awards.
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Tablet and e-book reader ownership nearly double over the holidays

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:24:10 +0000

According to the latest Pew Survey, the share of adults in the United States who own tablet computers nearly doubled from 10% to 19% between mid-December and early January and the same surge in growth also applied to e-book readers, which also jumped from 10% to 19% over the same time period.

The number of Americans owning at least one of these digital reading devices jumped from 18% in December to 29% in January.
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Supreme Court upholds 1994 copyright law granting protection to foreign works, including Tolkien and Orwell

admin — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 21:05:32 +0000

On Wednesday, the USA Supreme Court upheld a 1994 law granting copyright protection to a large number of foreign works that had been freely available in the public domain including books by J.R.R. Tolkien and George Orwell.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Google had hoped that the high court would overturn the law: “Google Inc. was the leading company challenging the law, in an echo of the separate battle in Washington over an Internet piracy bill that pits Google against movie studios. The search company…said in court papers that the restored copyrights could affect more than a million books it has scanned through its Google Books Library Project.”
Read more on bookbrowse.com