Saturday, December 29, 2012

Rounding Up the Links While Enjoying the Holidays




I haven't done much all week except relax, read good books, and enjoy myself. Tomorrow night I have a party to attend, and-- according to my calendar-- next month will be a blur of author signings at The Poisoned Pen followed by our usual birthday and anniversary celebrations. Somewhere in all that, I have to get all these Christmas decorations put away, but I have the storage boxes so organized that takedown isn't a problem. I hope that you have had some time to relax and enjoy yourselves, and if you're feeling like doing a bit of surfing, then here are some links I've found for you!


Bookish News & Other Interesting Stuff
  • One comment that made a lot of difference.
  • One of these days, luck like this is going to head to Phoenix: a man wins the New Hampshire lottery with a ticket that was sold to him in error.
  • Am I supposed to be shocked? --Online retailers often vary their prices based upon a user's location.
  • I just finished reading (and enjoying) the third Gunn Zoo mystery by Betty Webb. Let her tell you the true story behind The Llama of Death.
  • Have you heard of the Little Free Libraries that have sprung up around the world? Meet the Wisconsin man who started it all.
  • Five ways to organize your reading piles.
  • Two wonderful archaeological finds: a 3,000-year-old temple discovered in Israel, and an ancient arts center found in Rome.

Digitally Reading
  • According to Publishers Weekly, eBook reading rises while print reading dips. (I don't have to do my year end post and graphs to know that this holds true for me, even though it's a tiny dip.)
  • Get it quick! One of my best reads this year, Todd Borg's Tahoe Trap is FREE for Kindle through December 29.
  • Ever wonder what happens to authors when their publisher goes bankrupt?
  • Interesting... Amazon seems to be mounting a silent crusade against eBook reviews.

New to My Google Reader

That's it for this week. Don't forget to stop by next weekend when I'll have a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure!

6 comments:

  1. Cathy - Glad you've had a chance to relax and read. We all need that kind of 'down time.' Thanks for these great links!

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    1. I hope you're getting your own down time, Margot!

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  2. I support Amazon's efforts to eliminate phony reviews. Too often I have seen either a new book or very slow selling recent book with 4-5 reviews, all sounding as though they were written by the same person, and all very glowing. I have yet to see a negative review written by a "friend" as the author of the linked commentary suggests. I trust that Amazon will go as far as they can to eradicate such misleading reviews. After all, reader/user reviews are a critical component of their website and Amazon is struggling to maintain its integrity. In its efforts, Amazon has made clear to its user base that we all must be aware of potentially unscrupulous behaviors on the part of some authors and publishers - the message from them clearly is that potential new customers of a product must scan a number of reviews and not rely solely on a rating number that may be inflated. Hats off to Amazon. Ken in McLean Va

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    1. I support their efforts, too. I learned a long time ago to sample a number of reviews instead of relying upon the rating number. I've also visited around the internet and seen an author or two encourage their fans to vote any review that rated their books below four stars as being unhelpful, so that review would be relegated to the bottom of the queue and thus less likely to be read.

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