Friday, December 16, 2011

Daily Thoughts 12/16/2011

Bibliotheksinterieur mit lesender Magd. Öl auf Hartfaseroplatte, signiert, 23 x 18,5 cm, 1915

Daily Thoughts 12/16/2011

This morning I read some more of the Life and Legend of Jay Gould.  Quite a bit of the book is about railroads.  Jay Gould invested heavily in the Union Pacific and the Erie railroads.  It makes for a ruthless story of board room intrigue, union busting, legal chicanery, political lobbying, price manipulation, and business excess.  It is very much about the roots of American capitalism.


This morning, I updated the Twitter and Facebook account.  I also checked the displays and gift books.  I also spent some time reading the latest Forecast from Baker and Taylor, the BWI Titletalk catalog, and the latest copy of the New York Times Bestseller list.  One of our patrons challenged me to read Suicide of A Superpower by Patrick J. Buchanan who I am not fond of.  I plan on doing this.


I also plan on reading Never Would have Made It the Rise of Tyler Perry by Melvin Child.  It is coming out in January.

I showed one of my colleagues the Lynda.com service today.  I also spent some time clearing my desk off because I am going to be off next week from work.

I decided to read the books on the Occupy Educated primer reading list.  http://occupyeducated.org/primer/  I already have read In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan which is about eating organic, unprocessed, locally produced food as well as eating less meat.
I checked out The Shock Doctrine The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein.

On the way home, I read some more of The Life and Legend of Jay Gould.  It has become clear at this point in the biography that Jay Gould's speculations are about more than money.  He is clearly trying to build a lasting business empire which will carry on after he is gone. 

Web Bits

Best Independent Bookstores on Twitter
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/best-bookstores-on-twitter_b44000

Special Merchandise: When Is a Bookstore Not a Bookstore?
http://publishingtrendsetter.com/industryinsight/special-merchandise-bookstore-bookstore/

Occupy UCONN Takes the Library During Finals
http://www.thenation.com/node/165183

HackLibSchool On Occupy Wall Street: Part II
http://hacklibschool.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/hacklibschool-on-occupy-wall-street-part-ii/

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