This has been one of those quiet weeks here at Casa Kittling. Not much action that's noteworthy. (Who wants to know about my trip to the grocery store, although this kitchen-phobe is going to branch out into making quick breads from scratch?) Weather fronts have been moving through, giving us Phoenicians the impression that summer may be over. Gloomy, overcast days with light rain showers. Rare weather here in the land of sunshine-to-spare.
But I've been quietly working behind the scenes here on the blog. I'm trying to get interviews and Scene of the Blog posts scheduled through the end of the year so I have time to focus on other things.
My hard work is paying off: I've got some prime author interviews lined up with folks like Jasper Fforde, Chris Grabenstein, S.J. Bolton, and Ann Cleeves. I've also been working with another crime fiction author, and sometime in the near future you'll be able to learn about therapy dogs and the R.E.A.D. program from a four-legged graduate. I'm really excited about this one, and I'm thinking not only of attaching my second giveaway to it, but something even better, too!
Enough of the sneak peeks-- let's get to those links!
Bookish News & Other Fun Stuff
- The 'Worm' that could bring down the internet.
- Have you read about the New York City bookshop owner who caught the library thief?
- Here's a Google map showing where books have been challenged and banned throughout the United States from 2007 to 2011. (I can either be ecstatic because there's only one pin in the entire state of Arizona, or pessimistic because it probably means hardly any of us Arizonans actually read....)
- Bookstore owners in the United States may think they have it tough. Try conducting business after your bookshop was destroyed by the earthquake in Japan and the subsequent tsunami took care of any remaining books. That's exactly what Mitsuho Chida and his wife are doing.
- James Lee Burke on the importance of reading great stories.
- The dark side of Steve Jobs' dream.
- A case where the comments are just as interesting as the words on the sign: Things We Never Told You. Ode to a Bookstore Death. As someone who worked retail (and sold a few books) for three decades, I can tell you that there's a lot of truth in that poster, whether or not you want to admit it. The professionals never let these behaviors affect how they treated their patrons, but-- trust me, we all needed to vent from time to time.
- Early Christmas shopping... how about a 2012 Men of the Stacks calendar?
Book Furniture
- Giant upholstered book furniture.
- I love these pivoting bookcases!
- Bookshelf, the home of interesting bookshelves.
I ♥ Lists
- 10 of the most beautiful libraries and bookshops to visit on your travels.
- 9 things that happen when you read.
- 10 famous children's authors who also wrote books for adults.
Social Media & Blogging Tips
- What to do when someone steals your blog post.
- How to get the most out of GoodReads.
- Top 5 reasons I prefer GoodReads to Facebook.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) -- 5 things all bloggers should do.
- Blog SEO -- Anchor Text in Links. (I have to admit that one of my pet peeves is the use of the word "here" as anchor text-- the bit that's underlined for a reader to click on to be taken to another page. Google the word. I dare you. There'll be biliions of hits for "here"!)
eBooks
Around the Water Cooler in the Book Blogosphere
- Trish (of Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity) has a very thoughtful-- and thought-provoking-- post about Public Privacy.
New to My Google Reader
- The Literary Lollipop
- Evee's Blog
- Nerfreader
- Book Clutter
- Yes, I am a Book Geek!
- Tales of a Book Addict
That's it for this week! Which ones were your favorites?
Don't forget to stop by next weekend when I'll have a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure!
Good to hear that you guys are getting some rain, Cathy. Us, not so much. We're so parched it is scary. When my daughter and I flew to Florida last week, Texas was brown from the air - all of it that I could see. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI took a look at the link for the banning and of course there were a lot in Texas. I'm not surprised. I remember the one in Round Rock, TX, for the book ttyl. My library workplace was an Austin branch, but located within the Round Rock school district. We couldn't keep the book on our shelves after the banning incident. :-)
And I thought the comments from the Borders employees were all accurate I'm sure. Lots can translate to libraries as well. The people who weighed in on the article saying that sharing this made the employees rude were silly. These were likely things they said to each other, behind the scenes. You don't even want to know what library staff members complain about. Maybe I should write a post about that. LOL
Kay-- We're not getting all that much here either. More like spitting rain than the real thing.
ReplyDeleteI think that library staff complaint post sounds good. I would even post it here if you wished to remain anonymous!
Interesting links, but though I use GoodReads to keep track of my books, I wouldn´t miss Facebook. Probably because most of my friends are not ´the Joneses´ but kind and interesting people ;)
ReplyDeleteDorte-- I've also found that it's the only way I can keep in touch with some of mine!
ReplyDeleteGreat links again this time! I especially liked the one about the authors who crossed over to adult books. The Dr. Seuss book image they had was hilarious.
ReplyDeleteAlyce-- Glad you enjoyed the links!
ReplyDelete