Sunday, November 30, 2014
Daily Thoughts 11/30/2014
Daily Thoughts 11/30/2014
I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.
I finished reading Cibola Burn by James S. Corey last night. It had an unexpected ending which united the opposing human factions and made them work together to create a colony. I liked the descriptions of space combat.
I spent some time playing a gamebook which is a combination of game and book. It is a basically a choose your own adventure book with a game built in. This one was called Destinyquest Infinite published by Adventure Cow. http://adventurecow.com/store/stories/630/destinyquest-infinite The difference between this and the older game book is that the only versions are less cumbersome with built in game mechanics. An older example of this is Project Aon with the Lone Wolf series http://www.projectaon.org/en/Main/Home
I have noticed there is renewed interest in choose your own adventure type books. Recently a book called Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography was on the New York Times bestseller list. Because I was interested, I took a look around there are some Kindle Choose Your Own Adventure e-books. http://www.cyoa.com/pages/ebooks
I also see that a number of computer Gamebooks have been released through a company called Tin Man Games in Australia. http://tinmangames.com.au/blog/ What I am seeing is mainly in the United Kingdom and Australia.
I have written about this before when I spent some time reading a Visual Novel from Hanako Games.
Part of why this is interesting is that it shows what you can do with an e-book graphically, with music, and with branching content that is not being done that much by mainstream publishers.
http://www.hanakogames.com/fatal.shtml
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Daily Thoughts 11/29/2014
Daily Thoughts 11/29/2014
I watched a documentary on Irish Writers last night. It was interesting. There was quite a bit about plays. I liked the sections on James Joyce and Oscar Wilde. The documentary was published by Kultur.
On the way to work, I read some more of Cibola Burn by James S. Corey. The corporate colony ship has declared martial law over the existing settlement because some of the settlers blew up their landing pad and killed some of their security people. In the background, there are intimations of a dangerous alien presence.
I checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library.
I put the book The Resurrectionist the Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black by Elmer Holdspeth on hold. It looks rather macabre.
I read a copy of Publishers Weekly. I put the book, Bad Paper Chasing Debt from Wall Street to the Underworld by Jake Halpern on hold.
I spent some more time working with the oversize books. I also spent some time working on programming.
Web Bits
Libraries on Film
https://www.pinterest.com/gmeberhart/libraries-on-film/
TNT Debuts A New Trailer for Their Upcoming Series the
Librarians
Westchester Library System Empowers Communities, #lohudcares
Friday, November 28, 2014
Daily Thoughts 11/28/2014
Daily Thoughts 11/28/2014
I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.
I have started reading James S. Corey, Cibola Burn. It is about space colonization focusing on the story of who controls the process of the push outward. There is a conflict between United Nations colonies supported by corporations and groups of loosely affiliated settlers. The flood gates of the universe have opened when rings were discovered which allowed people to transport spaceships to different solar systems.
Web Bits
A 24 Hour Bookshop Thrives in Asia
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/a-24-hour-bookshore-thrives-in-asia_b94467
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Daily Thoughts 11/27/2014
Daily Thoughts 11/27/2014
Happy Thanksgiving.
I finished reading Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand. Louis Zamperini goes through a bout of alcoholism after returning from the war. Then he finds redemption and eventual forgiveness for his captivity. The last part is worth reading to understand the meaning of forgiveness.
I also checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library.
I read the graphic novel Barbarian Lord by Matt Smith. It is black and white with grey tones and washes to the panels. It looks like a cross between an Icelandic saga and a 1980s barbarian comic book. The saga part includes poetry contests, talking ravens, spirits of nature and magic, and fights over lands and livestock. The barbarian part is the classic sword battles, fights with sea serpents, trolls, and men driven by treachery and berserk rage. It is thoroughly escapist. http://www.barbarianlord.com
Web Bits
Love Letters to Libraries Chris Riddell
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Daily Thoughts 11/26/2014
Daily Thoughts 11/26/2014
I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.
On the way to work, I read some more of Unbroken. Louis Zamperini's plane goes down and he spends 47 days on a rubber raft at sea and then is finally captured by the Japanese and put in a special interrogation camp. It is a description of one harrowing thing after another.
I checked the gifts and the displays this morning. I am clearing one of them for a new display.
I posted a Friends of the Mount Vernon Public Library event. On December 6, 2014 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., there will be an an Estate and Antiques appraiser at the Mount Vernon Public Library in the Grace Greene Baker community room. General admission is $3, or $5 per item with an appraisal.
I spent some time with a colleague working on this months e-book order.
I also did a little bit more work with the oversize books.
The December Bookpage has come in. There is a book by Louis Zamperini the protagonist of Unbroken written with David Rensin, Don't Give Up Don't Give In: Lessons from an Extraordinary Life.
I placed the dvd Brain Games Season 1 published by National Geographic on hold. I also checked out the book Cibola Burn by by James S. Corey which is science fiction and the graphic novel, Barbarian Lord by Matt Smith.
I read some more of Unbroken on the way home. I am reading about Louis Zamperini's time as a prisoner of the Japanese. It describes him being beaten, denied adequate food, and enduring a variety of different cruelties. It is a story of enduring. The descriptions of being liberated with American bombers flying overhead makes the history of World War II much more real.
Web Bits
Library Futures: From Knowledge Keepers to Creators
http://www.wfs.org/futurist/2014-issues-futurist/november-december-2014-vol-48-no-6/library-futures-knowledge-keepers-c?utm_source=LTSA+Newsletter&utm_campaign=f0b14757a7-Library_futures11_26_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3d55aa40df-f0b14757a7-230239377
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