Saturday, April 6, 2013

Daily Thoughts 04/06/2013

Alfred Stevens, Pleasant Letter, between 1860 and 1867
Daily Thoughts 04/06/2013

This morning, I finished reading The Double Death of Quincas Water-Bray by Jorge Amado.  It is about a civil servant who gives up his old life as an upstanding citizen to become an inveterate drunk.  The story is set at Quincas Water Bray's funeral with his upstanding family on one side and the people who he hangs out with on the other.  There is an element of dark comedy where his pals take his body for one last night of revelry and Quincas Water-Bray gets his last wish to be disposed of at sea.  The story is a quick read.

I also finished reading The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers.  It made me want to read the previous book, The City of Dreaming Books.  The fantastic elements in this story were wonderful, especially the descriptions of puppets of all sizes and shapes.  This went well with the described philosophy of puppetism.  It added to the philosophy of biblionism.  The book has the feel of Ambrose Bierce, H.P. Lovecraft, Norton Juster, and Lewis Carroll all mixed together in a blender.  It is dark, humorous, obsessive, and entertaining.


This morning, I checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library.  I also checked the displays and the gift books.  There were a few young adult books to add, including a book by Gary Soto.

The book, The Fight is For Democracy, Winning the War of Ideas in America and the World New Liberal Unorthodoxies, edited by George Packer came in for me to read.

I spent a little time weeding in the large print collection.  I also checked the collection management sheet for patron requests.  There were a few nonfiction books.  I also did a bit of desk cleaning.  I spent a bit more time checking the online bestseller list for Publishers Weekly.

Web Bits

The Financial Times has a Secret Weapon, Data
http://mashable.com/2013/04/02/financial-times-john-ridding-strategy/

Press: The National Digital Public Library of America is Launched
http://dp.la/2013/04/02/press-the-national-digital-public-library-is-launched/

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