Archive for the ‘Books’ Category

What Is a Sony Portable Reader, and How Does It Work?

April 18th, 2013 |

What is a Sony Portable Reader, and how does it work?

Portable Reader is the result of Sony tossing their hat into the eBook reader ring. The full name is the Sony PRS-500 Portable Reader, but most people drop the nerdy “PRS-500″ label when discussing the device.

The price of Sony’s reader is equivalent to similar devices from Amazon and Barnes and Noble–around $300, though it must be said that Amazon’s Kindle averages about $40 cheaper. The big knock on Sony’s eBook reader is the slightly higher cost compared to the features offered by the device. You’d think if you’re going to pay an extra $50 that you’d get something that the Kindle doesn’t offer. Well you do–if that “something” is sluggish performance, page-turn delays, difficult controls and interface, and a host of other complaints.

The Bad News

My personal pet peeve with the Portable Reader is the library. For starters, the unit I played with had a lot of difficulty connecting to the online bookstore — when I finally connected I was shocked to find that the selection of titles was extremely limited. Turns out that eBooks downloaded to the Portable Reader aren’t compatible with any other devices, leading me to believe that the overall library selection would be extremely small and I was right.

The Portable Reader uses “E Ink” just like the other devices we’ve reviewed so far. E Ink is meant to make print on an eBook look more, well, print-like, and the Portable Reader’s display does not disappoint. The text is crisp and easy to read. Unfortunately, you don’t have as many text resizing options with the Sony device as you do with the Kindle or even the Nook–just three sizes are available, the ubiquitous “Small, Medium, and Large”.

Worth Buying?

Would I purchase the Portable Reader? If I were a Sony-phile or wanted to stand out in a crowd of other eBook readers (the Kindle and even the Nook are everywhere these days) then maybe I would. The thing that would keep me from buying the Portable Reader is the cost of the books. What’s the point of an eBook reader that charges the same for its eBooks as the bookstore charges for paper books? Another nagging problem–most of the people I know use Macs. The Sony device is simply not compatible with a Mac lifestyle. Also–why no support for Audible.com’s audio books? That seems like a silly oversight.

The Good News

Let’s end this review on a good note. There are some things that Sony did right here. The unit is very slim and easy to carry–I tried to compare the size with the Kindle and found that the Kindle may still be a bit smaller, but still–any device that can hang in with the small size of a new generation Kindle is “small” in my book. The screen is also a success for Sony–requiring no backlight as with other devices, and I’d say the screen is overall one of the best on any eBook reader I’ve used. Another high point for Sony–users can adjust the font size with the push of a single button rather than messing around in a menu.

Sure, the Sony PRS-500 Portable Reader System is a solid platform for reading eBooks and other electronic documents, but I have to wonder if the higher price and lack of availability of compatible books makes this a bit of Sony technology worth passing on.

This is one post in a series of posts we’ve made about various eBook readers. The other posts include:

What Is the Nobel Prize for Literature?

April 8th, 2013 |

The Nobel Prize is without a doubt one of the most important and significant awards in the world. It is mostly known for recognizing individuals who campaign for world peace but there are other catergories for the medal. Since its creation in 1901, the Nobel Prize has recognized men and women for their excellent works in physics, chemistry, medicine, and literature.

The Nobel Prize for Literature is an annual award given out to an author from any country for their contributions to the field of literature. The contributions can be for individual works or a collected body of works. The Nobel Prize for Literature is administered by the Nobel Foundation and is awarded by a committee selected by the Swedish Academy. The prize is not necessarily given every year but only to those that the Swedish Academy feels is deserving of the award.

History of Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize was founded in 1895 by Alfred Nobel, an entrepreneur and pacifist, who stated in his last will the foundations to set up the prize. He donated much of his fortune to the establishment of the prize named after him. The first Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded in 1901 and over the years, it has recognized authors of various countries. Some of the recipients have been well-known literary figures while others have been relative unknowns.

The medal for the Nobel Prize for Literature was designed by Erik Lindberg. It depicts a young man sitting under a laurel tree who is listening to a Muse and is writing down his inspirations. The inscription on the medal reads “Inventas vitam juvat excoluisse per artes” which loosely translated states “And they who bettered life on earth by their newly found mastery.” The words are taken from Vergilius Aeneid, the 6th song, verse 663. The winner’s name is engraved on the medal underneath the image and the text “ACAD. SUEC.” stands for the the Swedish Academy.

Winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature are called Laureates. Each laureate of the prize gets three things when they win. They receive a diploma, the medal, and a document confirming the amount of the prize money. The prize money is given out in Swedish kronor (or SEK) and in 2008, the total amount translated into approx. $1.4 million in U.S. dollars.

There has been criticism over the awarding of the Nobel Prize over the years. Many claim that some well-known writers deserve the medal while other’s who have won it were not deserving. Much of the criticism centers on international politics and behind-doors maneuvering for international recognition. Such criticisms have stirred up highly debated controversies that has marred the yearly award.

Rules and Requirements for Nobel Prize

Each year the Swedish Academy sends out thousands or requests for nominations. These requests are sent to members of the Swedish Academy, professors of literature, literary societies, former Nobel literature laureates, and chairholders of several writer’s organizations. Authors my be nominated by others but they may not nominate themselves.

The proposals that are returned are examined by the Nobel Committee who then narrow it down from the hundreds of returned proposals to just five names. In October of that year the members of the Swedish Academy vote and the nominee that receives more than half of the total votes is named the the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. It is the responsibility of the Academy to decide if any nominee is to win the prize that year. Some years have been skipped for various reasons, one being that a nominee could not be decided on. The winner is presented the award at a ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, which is the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.

Nobel Prize For Literature Winners

Since its creation back in 1901, The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to 105 international authors. Here is a list of all the laureates since 1901:

2008 – Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio (France)
2007 – Doris Lessing (UK)
2006 – Orhan Pamuk (Turkey)
2005 – Harold Pinter (UK)
2004 – Elfriede Jelinek (Austria)
2003 – J. M. Coetzee (South Africa)
2002 – Imre Kertész (Hungary)
2001 – V. S. Naipaul (UK)
2000 – Gao Xingjian (France)
1999 – Günter Grass (Germany)
1998 – José Saramago (Portugal)
1997 – Dario Fo (Italy)
1996 – Wislawa Szymborska (Poland)
1995 – Seamus Heaney (Ireland)
1994 – Kenzaburo Oe (Japan)
1993 – Toni Morrison (US)
1992 – Derek Walcott (Saint Lucia)
1991 – Nadine Gordimer (South Africa)
1990 – Octavio Paz (Mexico)
1989 – Camilo José Cela (Spain)
1988 – Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt)
1987 – Joseph Brodsky (US)
1986 – Wole Soyinka (Nigeria)
1985 – Claude Simon (France)
1984 – Jaroslav Seifert (Czechoslovakia)
1983 – William Golding (UK)
1982 – Gabriel García Márquez (Columbia)
1981 – Elias Canetti (UK)
1980 – Czeslaw Milosz (Poland)
1979 – Odysseus Elytis (Greece)
1978 – Isaac Bashevis Singer (US)
1977 – Vicente Aleixandre (Spain)
1976 – Saul Bellow (US)
1975 – Eugenio Montale (Italy)
1974 – Eyvind Johnson, Harry Martinson (both from Sweden)
1973 – Patrick White (Australia)
1972 – Heinrich Böll (West Germany)
1971 – Pablo Neruda (Chile)
1970 – Alexandr Solzhenitsyn (Soviet Union)
1969 – Samuel Beckett (Ireland)
1968 – Yasunari Kawabata (Japan)
1967 – Miguel Angel Asturias (Guatemala)
1966 – Shmuel Agnon, Nelly Sachs (Israel, Sweden)
1965 – Mikhail Sholokhov (Soviet Union)
1964 – Jean-Paul Sartre (France)
1963 – Giorgos Seferis (Greece)
1962 – John Steinbeck (US)
1961 – Ivo Andric (Yugoslavia)
1960 – Saint-John Perse (France)
1959 – Salvatore Quasimodo (Italy)
1958 – Boris Pasternak (Soviet Union)
1957 – Albert Camus (France)
1956 – Juan Ramón Jiménez (Spain)
1955 – Halldór Laxness (Iceland)
1954 – Ernest Hemingway (US)
1953 – Winston Churchill (UK)
1952 – François Mauriac (France)
1951 – Pär Lagerkvist (Sweden)
1950 – Bertrand Russell (UK)
1949 – William Faulkner (US)
1948 – T.S. Eliot (UK)
1947 – André Gide (France)
1946 – Hermann Hesse (Switzerland)
1945 – Gabriela Mistral (Chile)
1944 – Johannes V. Jensen (Denmark)
1943 – No Award.
1942 – No Award.
1941 – No Award.
1940 – No Award.
1939 – Frans Eemil Sillanpää (Finland)
1938 – Pearl Buck (US)
1937 – Roger Martin du Gard (France)
1936 – Eugene O’Neill (US)
1935 – No Award.
1934 – Luigi Pirandello (Italy)
1933 – Ivan Bunin (France)
1932 – John Galsworthy (UK)
1931 – Erik Axel Karlfeldt (Sweden)
1930 – Sinclair Lewis (US)
1929 – Thomas Mann (Germany)
1928 – Sigrid Undset (Norway)
1927 – Henri Bergson (France)
1926 – Grazia Deledda (Italy)
1925 – George Bernard Shaw (Ireland)
1924 – Wladyslaw Reymont (Poland)
1923 – William Butler Yeats (Ireland)
1922 – Jacinto Benavente (Spain)
1921 – Anatole France (France)
1920 – Knut Hamsun (Norway)
1919 – Carl Spitteler (Switzerland)
1918 – No Award.
1917 – Karl Gjellerup, Henrik Pontoppidan (both from Denmark)
1916 – Verner von Heidenstam (Sweden)
1915 – Romain Rolland (France)
1914 – No Award.
1913 – Rabindranath Tagore (India)
1912 – Gerhart Hauptmann (Germany)
1911 – Maurice Maeterlinck (Belgium)
1910 – Paul Heyse (Germany)
1909 – Selma Lagerlöf (Sweden)
1908 – Rudolf Eucken (Germany)
1907 – Rudyard Kipling (UK)
1906 – Giosuè Carducci (Italy)
1905 – Henryk Sienkiewicz (Poland)
1904 – Frédéric Mistral, José Echegaray (France, Spain)
1903 – Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (Norway)
1902 – Theodor Mommsen (Germany)
1901 – Sully Prudhomme (France)

Good Books Available on the Kindle

March 29th, 2013 |

Good Books Available on the Kindle

Amazon’s Kindle eBook reader transforms the experience of reading. Imagine carrying your entire library in a device as slender as a ballpoint pen and lighter than your average paperback.

The Kindle can download titles in less than a minute. Books on the Kindle cost anywhere from a few cents to a few dollars depending on the title.

The Kindle is a great device, but even the best eBook reader in the world is useless if there aren’t good titles available to read. Which good books are available on the Kindle?

Not only is the Kindle library hefty (hundreds of thousands of titles available and more added every day) but there are many titles where the portable, lightweight, and easily searchable Kindle is the ideal format

Here are a few good books available on the Kindle right now.

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, Barack Obama

One of the great things about the Kindle is that you can discreetly read a book without those around you knowing about it. Dreams from My Father (written by Barack Obama before he was President) is an honest memoir about the realities of growing up with mixed racial heritage.

Good Books Available on the Kindle

Reading a book written by the President could open any of several cans of worms (political and personal differences aside, you’d hate to look like a patriotic nerd), but with the Kindle, you can revel in Obama’s eloquent prose in public without drawing the angry stares of any Glenn Beck fans who might be sitting across from you.

We, Yevgeny Zamyatin

One thing about the Kindle that has proved controversial is Amazon’s ability to remotely remove content from the individual user’s device. When the publishers of George Orwell’s 1984 withdrew Amazon’s eBook rights to this title, the online bookselling giant was forced to remove the book from countless user’s Kindles without their consent. This caused a lot of outcry about the ironically Orwellian capabilities for censorship the Kindle represented.

If you want to read a dystopian story of oppressive government, avoid the Orwell drama and read the far superior book that directly inspired Orwell’s classic. Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We is that book. This is the tale of a man living in a future gone mad where an all-powerful government spies on and controls the actions of its citizens.

Zamyatin, in a move prescient of the coming terror of Stalinism, wrote We several years after the beginning of the Soviet revolution. We is therefore more immediate and believable than 1984, written by someone who experienced Big Brother first hand.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

The typical Complete Works is over a thousand pages long and weighs about ten pounds. The cover price ($40-$60) hurts more than the heft.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare costs 99 cents on the Kindle and exists only as a file on your Kindle device. The device itself weighs less than a paperback. Add to this the searchability features of texts on the Kindle, and the advantages of getting this book for the Kindle are obvious. I hear some Shakespeare festivals are now using Kindles for directors who don’t want to lug around the heavy text on stage.

There are many Complete Works of Shakespeare available on the Kindle and they’re all very cheap or even free. For literature majors or those just looking to expand their horizons, these texts are a must-own. You’ll never need to lug around those dusty old editions of the Bard ever again.

A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson

Like a textbook for a class about the universe, Bryson’s book is a layman’s guide to any branch of scientific knowledge you might have a question about.

Written in Bryson’s affable, self-depreciating style A Short History of Nearly Everything is a fun read that will grant you the ability to one-up the smartest guy in the room at your next cocktail party.

This is the perfect book for the Kindle, transforming a lengthy tome into a searchable database. Bryson writes like your slightly baffled dad trying to explain a museum exhibit just at the edge of his understanding. He manages to make things make sense while leaving room for further exploration. This is an excellent book for everyone from a teenager showing a blossoming interest in science to an older person seeking a pleasurable read.

Walden, Henry David Thoreau

“Simplify, simplify, simplify” was Thoreau’s call. There’s something ironic about reading Walden on a Kindle, but it makes sense. On the Kindle you can read Thoreau’s philosophical memoir about time living simply in a small cabin in the woods, then stick the thing in your backpack and go for a hike. Thoreau may not have liked it, but he would have had to appreciate the Kindle’s ability to get up and go.

Think of it this way: after your hike, you can access the Kindle’s search function to find that inspirational excerpt you bookmarked, then learn more about Thoreau on Wikipedia, all on the Kindle’s glare-free screen. The sun’s pretty bright out in nature.

Several versions of Walden are available for the Kindle, ranging in price from $9.99 to free. Also, if the promise of eBooks is to be realized fully, the need for paper to produce physical books, newspapers, and magazines will be reduced, leading to a reduction in logging and the preservation of the types of forests in which Thoreau sought refuge.

Now that’s simplifying.

If you’re sold on the Kindle, but it via our Amazon link. (We get a tiny commission, but it has nothing to do with our recommendation.)

This is part of a series of posts about Amazon’s Kindle. The other posts in this series include:

What Are Some Kindle Alternatives?

March 23rd, 2013 |

What are some Kindle alternatives?

The two Amazon Kindle devices are the best known eBook readers on the market, but the two Kindles aren’t the only fish in the eBook reader sea. As with any major tech purchase, you should shop around before plunking down hundreds of books on a Kindle.

What are some Kindle alternatives? Listed here are five options to consider if you’re looking for an eBook reader but aren’t sure the Kindle is right for you.

Kindle App for PC / iPhone / iPod Touch

What if you’ve already got one fancy gadget you use on a daily basis and aren’t really in the market for another one? If you’re a diehard iPhone fanatic you can still enjoy the Kindle experience.

The Kindle App for iPhone / iPod Touch and Kindle for PC offer the Kindle’s software for devices you already own. Using these apps, you can access the Kindle store featuring the same hundreds of thousands of titles for cheap.

Not only can you use all the features of Kindle without purchasing the hardware, but Amazon’s Whispersync automatically synchronizes your last page read between devices. If you want the eBook reader experience without investing in another device, the Kindle apps for PC and iPhone are your best alternative.

Barnes & Noble Nook

The Amazon Kindle

The Nook is Barnes & Noble’s attempt to compete with Amazon’s Kindle. The nook offers the same basic tech as the Kindle. Main differences? It runs off the Android software platform, best known as the OS behind the T-Mobile MyTouch and Motorola Droid cell phones.

The Nook’s screen uses the same electronic paper display as the Kindle, but instead of a keyboard the Nook features a color touch screen. The nook has an expandable flash memory card slot and a user-replaceable battery, two things the Kindle lacks. The Nook also features “LendMe,” which allows some e-books to be lent out to other nook users for a period of time.

While the Nook’s hardware is fancier than the Kindle, the software has earned lukewarm reviews. Early users have complained about the device’s sluggish performance when compared with the Kindle. These are issues shared by the first generation Kindle that were corrected with the release of Kindle 2.

The Nook is still in its “beta release”, and future software updates are likely to correct the speed and usability issues.

The Sony Portable Reader

The Sony family of eBook readers is another Kindle alternative worth mentioning. It uses the same E Ink brand of electronic paper display as the Kindle and Nook, and the newest models feature the same ultra-crisp 16-level grayscale resolution. The most recent PRS-900 model has specifications similar to the Kindle, although it is priced a bit higher and has less onboard memory.

The PRS-900 features a touch screen and the ability to view two pages side-by-side, similar to a printed book. These are both capabilities the Kindle lacks, but some users have reported the touch screen creates additional glare problems most electronic paper displays don’t have.

Sony portable readers are also excellent at handling PDF files, so if you’re going to be using your reader for commercial or scholastic purposes you may want to consider a Sony reader over a Kindle. Physically, the Sony readers are sleeker and more attractive than the Kindle — they come in a variety of colors, are slimmer and weigh slightly less.

iRex iLiad

The iRex iLiad is a Linux-based e-book reader, offering advanced features to the tech savvy user who is unimpressed by the Kindle. (Read a full post about iRex digital readers here.)

The iRex is excellent for business or educational use, as it handles PDF files even better than the Sony reader family. The screen is extra large–a little over eight inches–and offers the crispest and easiest viewing experience.

The iLiad also uses the same electronic paper display as all the other eBook readers profiled here with 16-level grayscale graphics that don’t cause eyestrain.

The iLida has the capability of using a stylus to write notes and control the reader’s functions. One downside here? Be careful with your stylus–if you lose it you can’t just use your fingers to control the device like with an iPhone (or the Nook).

The iLiad uses the Mobipocket format of e-books, which is actually also owned by Amazon. The Mobipocket store has access to over 50,000 titles, far fewer than on the Kindle (which can also access Mobipocket). The iLiad also has an expansion slot for a Compact Flash memory card to increase the device’s memory, and it can connect to your Mac or PC with a USB cable.

Entourage Systems eDGe

Although the eDGe isn’t due to arrive in stores until February of 2010 (the company is already taking pre-orders), it looks like a promising alternative to the Kindle. Manufactured by Entourage Systems, the eDGe seeks to combine two of the most popular electronic devices of recent years, the eBook reader and the netbook.

The eDGe is a dual-screen device, featuring a 9.7 inch E Ink electronic paper display on one side for reading e-books or PDFs. Like the iLiad, users can use a stylus to draw diagrams or take notes. The iLida boasts a 10.1 inch LCD screen on the other side of the device where users can surf the web and check email. The two screens are hinged together so that the device can be folded closed, opened like a book, or completely flipped around so that the E Ink screen is on one side and the LCD is on the other.

If you decide to skip the Kindle alternatives and just go ahead and buy the Kindle at Amazon, we’ll get a tiny commission from them if you use our link.

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about the Kindle. The other posts in this series include:

What Is Amazon?

March 17th, 2013 |

What Is Amazon?

The dictionary definition for Amazon goes something like this — Amazon is a multinational electronic commerce corporation. That’s a little too dry for us here at AskDeb. We like to think of Amazon as a giant bookstore on the Internet. Sure, you can buy lots of stuff other than books, but most people are familiar with Amazon first and foremost as a retailer of books.

Though they operate multinationally, Amazon.com is based in America. In fact, Amazon.com is still America’s largest and most successful online retailer. Amazon is such a hugely successful entity that it does at least three times as much business as the next online American retailer, Staples. Amazon (operating at the URL Amazon.com) sells everything from books and music to movies, eBook readers, clothes, furniture, toys, food . . . the list goes on and on.

Amazon: A Brief History

What Is Amazon?

Businessman Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994, in the early days of the Internet. Of course, when he created the company it was called Cadabra — as in the latter part of the magic phrase Abra-cadabra — but when Bezos realized that people thought he was saying “cadaver” (another word for “dead body”) he quickly changed it to Amazon.

Why did he pick “Amazon?”

Multiple reasons. For starters, Amazon starts with “A”, placing it near the beginning of alphabetical lists. This is an old phone book trick used by companies to make sure they are at the head of the yellow pages list. It is common to see store names like AAA Bicycle Repair or AAAA Ice Cream Shop. Another reason Bezos chose “Amazon” is because the Amazon river is the largest in the world, giving his business a very “big” feeling name.

What began as a smallish online bookstore was quickly diversified to include music downloads, eBooks, and eventually the wide range of products you find at Amazon.com today.

Amazon now operates all over the world, with companion websites all over Europe and Asia. Amazon is now the most popular music and book retailer in the UK, and ranks third in Asia as well.

Amazon Profits

For a company founded out of frustration with Bezos’ missing out on the Internet stock boom, Amazon has done very well for itself. Bezos knew that most book stores could store maybe 200,000 titles, if they had a huge inventory and warehouse. He knew he could do better selling online, without the need for a brick-and-mortar retail space. Since its founding in the mid-90s, Amazon’s stock has split four times, and for a company that didn’t plan to turn a profit for “four or five years”, turning around hundreds of millions of dollars in profit a year is decent.

Even though Amazon didn’t start making money until 2001 (much longer than the four or five years initially predicted by Bezos), they are regularly earning a profit, even in an economic downtime.

Companies Absorbed by Amazon

Like many other online companies, Amazon is in the business of swallowing up smaller competitors to diversify their business. Here’s a list of entities that Amazon bowled over on its way to the top:

Bookpages.co.uk
Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
PlanetAll
Junglee.com
Alexa Internet
Accept.com
Exchange.com
CD Now
Joyo.com
BookSurge
Mobipocket.com
CustomFlix
Shopbop
dpreview.com
Brilliance Audio
Audible.com
Fabric.com
Box Office Mojo
AbeBooks
Shelfari
Bookfinder.com
Gojaba.com
Reflexive Entertainment
Zappos
Touchco
Woot

Amazon Coupons

One of the best things about buying from Amazon is the huge number of coupons available. Even though Amazon’s prices are competitive, using any of the massive number of Amazon coupons to be found on the Web.

You can almost always find a free shipping coupon or discount code. Our favorite spots to find Amazon coupons are at TechBargains.com and the venerable RetailMeNot.com. Right now at TechBargains, there’s nearly two dozen different coupons for Amazon.com including free “super saver” shipping (on orders over $25) and big “percent off” deals on select purchaes. RetailMeNot has more specialized Amazon coupons, like discounts on specific items or brands.

There are so many places to find Amazon.com coupons there’s no reason to pay full price.

According to their website, Amazon’s vision is “to be earth’s most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online..” As they increase their holdings and continue to diversify their retail offerings, they are coming closer and closer to fulfilling that goal.

See Also:

How to Copyright a Book

February 12th, 2013 |

How to Copyright a Book

The best news for new authors is that your book or other literary work is copyrighted as soon as you put the words on paper. The Copyright Amendment Act of 1989 states that even unofficially copyrighted creative works have a built-in “copyright” affect allowing the author to claim their originality without all the red tape. So your book or other written document is automatically copyrighted as soon as you write it.

The easy way to claim your creative rights to your work (allowed under the 1989 amendment) is simply to put the symbol (c) on the work followed by the year it was written and the name of the author. This symbol shows that your work is original and you own it.

If you want something a little more official, a copyright from the US government is not all that difficult to get. There are basically only two steps to copyrighting your document.

1. Complete Form TX

To file an official copyright, stating officially that your work is your original property, there is a little bit of paperwork that must be filed with the U.S. Copyright Office in Washington, D.C. When you file that form, you’ll also be required to pay a small registration fee. A simple way to get hold of that form is to visit the US copyright website to download the form for free. Form TX contains all the instructions you need to fill out the paperwork and send it in to the proper authorities.

How to Copyright a Book Be aware that Form TX isn’t the proper copyright form for everything that can be copyrighted. Form TX covers books of all kinds, including novels, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, textbooks, directories, reference books, catalogs, some software programs, advertising copy, and some forms of music. The full details on exactly what can be copyrighted using Form TX are at the website given above.

Other types of writing require other forms. For example, if you plan on publishing your work in serial form (or as a periodical publication) you’ll need to use Form SE.

2. File the paperwork at the right time

The good news is that the “right time” is pretty much whatever time you decide. If you choose to file your paperwork before your writing is published, you can do so, but be aware that you’ll have to refile for copyright if you want to protect a published version. In the case of an unpublished manuscript, you’ll only need to send in one copy of the unpublished writing along with your completed paperwork and your fee.

If you want to save money, and plan to publish your writing, just wait to file the copyright paperwork until after you publish. That’ll save you at least one copyright fee.

If you are copyrighting a published document, you’ll need to send two copies of your book or manuscript to the copyright office along with your completed paperwork and fee. When copyrighting a published piece, you must send in professionally bound copies, as published, and not photocopies of the original.

Tips About Copyright

Interestingly enough, you are not allowed to copyright a book’s title. The title of the book is not considered part of the creative work, considering most titles are only a few words long and don’t really constitute a unique creative decision. Think of the trouble it would cause authors if titles of copyrighted works could not be re-used. The copyright only applies to the information or writing contained in the piece you’re copyrighting — in other words, you copyright the specific words you use, the order you use them in, and the way you use them (your style).

Basically, when you copyright a document, you’re protecting how the information is written down, not the information contained in the book.

The Dangers of Not Securing a Copyright

If you write a creative work and you do not file proper copyright registration with the appropriate copyright office, the main penalty is the limitation to the amount of damages you can sue for in the case of copyright infringement. Yes, your work is automatically protected as soon as you create it, but the damages you can seek will be extremely limited. There have been civil cases for copyright infringement valued at $30,000 per infringing act (each printed version of a copyright infringement earns the original author a cool thirty grand) or as much as $150,000 per each willful act of copyright infringement, which is usually limited to a single act of copyrighting. The only way to have access to these highest level of financial rewards is by copyrighting with the proper authorities.

How Long Does My Copyright Last?

All works created after 1978 can be copyrighted for the author’s lifetime plus an additional 70 years. After that time elapses, the copyright is up for bidding, though in most cases (with big name books) the author’s estate will continue to control copyright for years after the original expiration. This is another great reason to secure a copyright — you want to create long lasting evidence of your creation, and assuming a simple copyright without filing for it can only last as long as you’re alive. As an added bonus, U.S. Copyright law is recognized in seventy different countries around the world — we even allow people from any country in the world to file for a U.S. copyright protection with the Copyright Office at the Library of Congress. United States copyright law is far reaching.

How to Give Proper Credit

Be aware that under certain circumstances, you may have to give partial credit for your copyrighted work to an employer or higher up, especially if you’re publishing work that was part of a school curriculum or was work you researched for your job. This really applies to teachers for the most part — but anyone who wants to publish something that was first developed in a work situation, you’ll need to give your employer or other administrator a notice of credit in your publication. Work that is covered under these circumstances is called “work for hire”, and could be considered property of your employer.

Many times, teachers or professors end up publishing material that they first covered in a class setting, such as part of a lesson plan. The school they work for technically owns that lesson plan, so partial credit must be made to that school. Don’t worry, you can still copyright your work even if it is “work for hire”. If the work you’re copyrighting was ever within the scope of your job, you must give proper credit. Luckily, there’s a section on the various copyright forms that is designed for this function.

For new authors just getting started in their literary and creative careers, getting an official copyright is an important rite of passage. Authors usually do this after finishing their first long piece of creative work, or to mark their first big publication. Whatever your reason for getting a copyright on your book, securing official rights to your document is a painless process of paperwork and filing.

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Books Questions & Answers

January 28th, 2013 |

This section is dedicaed to the discussion of litterary works and books. We hope to grow this section into a large collection of books questions & answers that will be insightful and captivating.

If you’re looking for book advice for an old classic or a new favorite simply send your question to questions [at] askdeb.com.

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Are you looking for book tips? Need help deciphering the meaning of a story or poem? Interested in learning more about a particular author? If you can’t find your answers here then please send in your questions to email address above.

Book Answers and Book Advice

Featured Books Articles

Here are some of our more interesting articles about books:

What Is a Kindle and How Does It Work?

How to Make the Kindle Read Aloud Function Work

What Is an eBook Reader and How Does It Work?

Latest Book Posts from the AskDeb.com Blog

More About Books

Tom Clancy Books -
Techno Thrillers

Tom Clancy was one of the most popular writers of the 1980′s, and the
shelves are still filled with techno thrillers from Clancy and other
authors. We take a look at some of the best Tom Clancy techno thrillers
here and provide five suggestions of Tom Clancy books you might enjoy
reading.

Can You Find School Yearbooks Online?

Everyone is nostalgic for the past. The increasing popularity of retro fashions, music from decades ago, and movies based on old television shows speaks to this truism. Perhaps the best way of revisiting the halcyon days of your youth is paging through a treasured old copy of your high school or middle school yearbook.

What Are Chapter Books?

Reading is an important part of everyone’s childhood. Not only is reading fun, in that it opens up exciting new worlds you can explore in your mind, but it helps you develop important language comprehension skills. Reading a lot helps your brain to grow and actually makes you smarter!

What Are Audio Books?

Which Old Comic Books Are Valuable Comic Books?

It’s true that just because something is old, doesn’t mean that anybody wants it. Valuable comic books have value because people want to buy them, not because they’re old.

The Best Geology Books

The best geology books aren’t just textbooks — rock hounds and people interested in the science of Geology are more common than you might think. Geology, after all, is the study of the history of our very planet, and many other sciences require an understanding of Geology.

How to Choose the Best Self Help Books

How to Find the Best Interior Design Books

Finding the best interior design books out of the piles and piles of books out there can be a real chose. Whether you’re a student of interior design or just a layperson preparing to redecorate and design your home, the best interior design books act both as a resource for interior design and reference tool for decorating.

How to Find the Best Acupuncture Books

What Are Some Traditional Holiday Books for Kids?

Traditional holiday books work on a number of levels. One the one hand, they instruct. I remember learning about the true meaning of Christmas by leafing through an old copy of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and to this day my holiday season feels incomplete without a recitation of this classic.

How to Store Comic Books

How Can You Learn to Bind Books?

How to Buy School Textbooks Online?

As anyone who’s been through it knows, college is ridiculously expensive. By the time you’ve paid for tuition, room and board, meal plans at the cafeteria, and the various school fees that go along with most classes you’ll probably have little to spend on textbooks.

What is a Choose Your Own Adventure Book?

Choose Your Own Adventure books are a series of super popular book titles meant for kids. They were originally published between 1979 and 1998, but are enjoying a comeback in online versions as well as reprinted editions of the original texts.

How to Buy Discount Textbooks

Believe it or not, learning how to buy discount textbooks is simple. College costs are high enough as it is without the addition of several hundred or even thousands of dollars worth of textbook costs added in.

What are the Top Selling Books of all Time?

It is a well known cliche — the “top selling book of all time” is the Christian Bible. While no one can authoritatively deny that, the Bible is not the only massively popular text, and some estimates of the Bible’s ‘sales’ include free copies given away at motels, for instance, or at charity events.

How to Buy Secondhand Books

Where Can I Get Discount Christian Books?

There are many venues available for the Christian book enthusiast looking to save a little cash. Whether you’re searching out the perfect Bible for a relative’s birthday or Christmas present…

How Can I Get Free Magazines?

You already write the language pretty well: better than many Americans, I’m afraid. That being said, if you want free magazines, there are a number of ways to get them. Some companies don’t ship as readily outside the continental U.S. as others, so I’m not sure what manner of problems you’ll have finding the type of magazine you want.

What Is The Newbery Medal?

What Are The Locus Awards?

What Is The Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal?

What Is The British Book Award?

What Is The Bram Stoker Award?

Bram Stoker wrote one of the greatest horror stories of our time and gave birth to one of the most iconic horror characters ever, Dracula.

What Is The National Book Award?

What Is The Nobel Prize For Literature?

What Is The Pulitzer Prize?

What Is The Caldecott Medal?

What Is The Man Booker Prize For Fiction?

What Are The Hugo Awards?

What Are the Top Selling Books of All Time?

January 28th, 2013 |

It is a well known cliche — the “top selling book of all time” is the Christian Bible. While no one can authoritatively deny that, the Bible is not the only massively popular text, and some estimates of the Bible’s ‘sales’ include free copies given away at motels, for instance, or at charity events. So what are the top selling books? Based on sales numbers alone, the answers might surprise you.

Ten Top Selling Books of All Time

Bible (2.5 – 6 billion copies) – The only “billion seller” in the world is also one of the most controversial texts, both inside and outside the world of Christianity. Since there are multiple “versions” of the Bible, it is almost unfair to place this sacred text on this list. Between King James’ Version and new “hip” editions for children, it is no wonder that so many billions of copies exist.
Quotations from Chairman Mao (800 – 900 million copies) – In what would seem like an attempt to rival the Bible in terms of sales, 6-7 billion copies of this “most printed book of the 20th century” were printed, though only a fraction were actually sold or distributed. This is a text put together by the Communist government of China in the 60s and 70s.
The Qur’an (Koran) (800 million copies) – This sacred text of Islam holds a special place in the homes of billions of people around the world. Notice that this book sold more than double the number of copies than the next book on the list. This is one of the world’s top selling books because Islam is one of the world’s two biggest religions. Sacred texts and political documents are always going to have a leg up on fiction or other books in that they are considered “essential” to a certain way of life.
Xinhua Dictionary (400 million copies) – This Chinese dictionary is one of the top selling books of all time due to the huge population in China and the great need among the population there for a book that collects the nearly 12,000 unique Chinese characters into one edition.
Chairman Mao’s Poems (400 million copies)
Selected Articles of Mao Zedong (252.5 million copies)
A Tale of Two Cities (200 million copies)
Scouting for Boys: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Leadership (150 million copies)
The Lord of the Rings (150 million copies)
Book of Mormon (150 million copies)

Top Selling Business and Self Help Books of All Time

Books about business and self-help books are a huge market, and they often overlap. This is especially true for the top selling books in both genres, where you find so much overlap these books may as well have their own category.

How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie

It seems like everyone has read this book — Carnegie’s 1937 text is a must-own both for business people and those interested in self improvement. Millions of copies of this text have been sold, and there’s probably a copy in your home right now. The most memorable moment in this text is when Carnegie suggest that success if only “15 % professional ability”, with the other 85% made up of the abilities to “express ideas, assume leadership, and arouse enthusiasm among co-workers”.

In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies, Peters and Waterman

This 1982 text came during a time of much uncertainty in the Western business world. Forty-three “excellent” companies are profiled, and eight common threads are found among these companies that lead to their “excellence”.

The One Minute Manager, Blanchard and Johnson

If you know a manager who works for a Fortune 500 company, they are guaranteed to be familiar with this text. Written simply, much like one of the parables of Jesus, The One Minute Manager is a hands-off guide to becoming an effective leader. There’s science to back up the “one minute goals” and “one minute reprimands” taught in this book — examples from the worlds of science and medicine to explain why the principles eschewed here will work for you.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey

Endlessly knocked off (by titles like The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Christians, etc), Covey’s landmark 1989 book does something the other books on this list don’t dare to do — rather than promise you a quick fix with instant results, Covey recommends a “paradigm shift” in order to improve your life. Interesting side note, Covey studied characters from literature to form his theses. If you haven’t read this book and are interested in improving yourself, grab a copy as soon as possible.

The Practice of Management, Peter Drucker

Peter Drucker is considered the foremost business mind of the 20th century, and this nearly sixty year old book is as popular today as it was in the 50s and 60s. According to Drucker, the concept of “management” is one of the great innovations of the last 200 years. This book is the origin of the “three classic business questions” — what is our business, who is our customer, what does our customer consider valuable?

The top selling books in the world are on that list because they are sacred, valuable, or necessary to functioning in today’s world. From religious guidebooks like the Bible or the Book of Mormon to more contemporary self-help guides like How to Win Friends and Influence People, the top selling books on Earth teach us something about the nature of being human, namely that people want to gain an edge against other people, and that they’re usually more than willing to plunk down $20 to gain that end.

Though you can’t find the secrets to happiness or the fountain of youth between the cardboard covers of a book, you can learn how to be a better person, how to behave in a business setting, how to serve your God and earn eternal happiness and peace in the afterlife, how to tie a slip knot, or how to write “hot dog” in Chinese. In a sense, learning things like this from a book is the key to happiness on Earth, and all for a low price printed on the back cover.

Tom Clancy Books – Techno Thrillers

January 28th, 2013 |

These days, you can find Tom Clancy books at bookstores of all sizes,
from airports and thrift stores to giant chain book retailers. But
before his huge success sprouted in the 1980s,
Tom Clancy was your
typical American Everyman — insurance broker by day, amateur historian
by night. Clancy’s taste for all things naval led directly to the
publication of his first novel in 1984. The Hunt for Red October was
an instant bestseller, earning the man who dreamed of writing a novel in
college high praise from President Ronald Reagan, who said Clancy’s book
was “a perfect yarn” and “not-put-downable.”

We don’t know much about Tom Clancy besides the fact that he was born
in 1947, majored in English at Loyola College, and spent his days
selling insurance for a small Maryland company. Humble beginnings for a
man whose books would one day be turned into blockbuster movies. Since
the publication of Red October, Clancy has become known as a master of
realistic storytelling, and a current events maven who works hard to
stay a step ahead of the world stage.

Tom Clancy may be best known for “techno thrillers” — along with
Michael Crichton, Clancy’s books in the 1980s defined the genre. So what
is a techno thriller?

Techno Thrillers

Books in the techno thriller genre are a strange combination of spy
novels and speculative fiction. The word “techno” refers to the large
amount of technical detail and “hard science” contained in these books,
generally technical details of military equipment and procedure. The
only genre that stuffs as much hard science and tech into its pages is
“hard sci-fi”. Techno thrillers highlight the details and inner workings
of complex systems, like politics and espionage, but still have time to
include plot.

Though Crichton and Clancy are the godfathers of the techno thriller,
they are hardly its only proponents. A partial list of other techno
thriller authors would include:

Joe Buff
Larry Bond
Patrick Robinson
Stephen Coonts
Dan Brown
Cory Doctorow

The techno thriller is a particularly easy book to transform into a
film. Clancy and Crichton were the first to prove this, as both The
Hunt for Red October and The Andromeda Strain (Crichton’s
breakthrough book) were successful at the box office. Other techno
thrillers by Clancy that did time in Hollywood — Patriot Games and
Clear and Present Danger.

Tom Clancy books are notoriously well researched and Clancy’s prose
style, while not particularly artistic or well-wrought, is good enough
that any new Tom Clancy book is an instant bestseller.

Here’s a look at five great Tom Clancy books — techno thrillers that
will keep you turning pages until the very end.

The Hunt for Red October

Originally published by the U.S. Navy on their Naval Institute Press
label, The Hunt for Red October was inspired by real events. In 1975,
Valery Sablin attempted a mutiny on board the Storozhevoy, a Russian
anti-submarine frigate. In the novel, a Lithuanian-born Soviet Naval
officer named Marko Alexandrovich Ramius, attempts to defect to the
United States along with his crew and his experimental submarine, the
Red October. Fearing the impact that the sub may have on world affairs,
and further disturbed by the death of his wife and the Soviet regime as
a whole, Ramius and his crew must survive a heavy assault by most of the
Russian navy.

The coolest techno thriller aspect of Clancy’s first novel is the
insight you gain into American-Soviet relations during the Cold War.
Sure, the details about the experimental submarine (that runs on a
“Caterpillar drive”) are interesting, but they are not tackled with the
ferocity that Clancy would show in later tech-inspired books.

Patriot Games

This follow-up to Red October is technically a prequel, since the
events take place just before Red October and just after Clancy’s
later novel Without Remorse. This novel is more action-oriented even
than Red October, starting off as it does with a foiled assassination
attempt and an attack on Clancy character Jack Ryan’s family. In
Patriot Games, a fictional Irish terrorist group (the ULA) attempts
various crimes against Ryan and his family, as well as against members
of the Royal Family. Their purpose is to destabilize the government of
Ireland.

This may be one of the least “techno” of Clancy’s novels, focusing as
it does on international relations and the personal life of Clancy’s
most famous character, Jack Ryan. Those interested in issues like
domestic terrorism would love this book, though technophiles may find it
lacking in the tech department.

The Cardinal of the Kremlin

This novel is the true sequel to Red October, full of intrigue,
espionage, and diplomacy. In this novel, Jack Ryan is part of an
American delegation to the Soviet Union just after the events of Red
October. The plot is complex, involving the Strategic Defense
Initiative (known popularly as the “Star Wars” program), Mujahideen
warriors in Tajikistan, and the KGB and the FBI. If Clancy readers were
disappointed by the lack of tech in Patriot Games, they got a treat
with The Cardinal of the Kremlin. This is where Clancy’s penchant for
detailing military and political machinations became evident.

Little known fact — a film of this book was proposed, starring
Harrison Ford and
William Shatner. Though that sounds completely
amazing, the project was scrapped and will probably never be made.

The Sum of All Fears

Made into a successful film in 2002 starring Ben Affleck and Morgan
Freeman, The Sum of All Fears was a groundbreaking work in the Clancy
catalog. The novel focuses on Russian politics after the destruction of
the Berlin Wall, as well as American and Soviet nuclear policy. What
made this book particularly amazing is that within a week of its
release, the 1991 Moscow Uprising took place, effectively dissolving the
Soviet Union. Clancy is often seen as something of a prophet, perhaps
because he writes about topics happening in the real world right now.

During this book, Jack Ryan will get involved with the Vatican,
Palestinian rebels, and fleets of Baltimore dockworkers, all while
attempting to prevent a nuclear strike on the Super Bowl that will lead
the world into nuclear war. Chock full of techno thriller goodness,
The
Sum of All Fears is often listed at the top of Clancy’s best books
lists.

Rainbow Six

Made into a

hugely popular video game series, Rainbow Six is an
oddity in the world of Tom Clancy books in that it does not focus on
Jack Ryan. The plot focuses on a fictional counter terrorist unit with
the codename Rainbow. International. Intrigue abounds, with less of a
focus on American politics and more of a concentration of the tactics of
terrorist groups around the world.

This novel has everything that techno thriller readers love — spy
games, killer viruses, secret gold stashes, and details on the
inner-workings of black ops government agencies.

The popularity of Tom Clancy books does not need to be restated. Tom
Clancy’s techno thrillers have sold millions of copies, including Clear
and Present Danger, which sold more hardcover copies than any other book
in the 1980s. Something about the techno thriller genre appeals to
people across all boundaries — is it the political intrigue? the
technical details? the explosions and gun play? Whatever it is, Tom
Clancy is a living master at it. His latest book, 2010′s Dead or
Alive, hasn’t even been published yet, but odds are that it will join
the ranks of Clancy’s other techno thriller books on the bestseller
lists.

What Is the Bram Stoker Award?

January 28th, 2013 |

Bram Stoker wrote one of the greatest horror stories of our time and gave birth to one of the most iconic horror characters ever, Dracula.

As a founding author of the genre, the award for excellence in horror literature is named in his honor. The Bram Stoker Award is an annual award given out by the Horror Writers Association (or HWA) to honor the year’s biggest achievements in horror writing. The awards have been held since 1988 (for work from the previous year) when the organization was first founded. The idea behind the awards and the HWA has never been one of competition among the writers but of encouragement and support. The Bram Stoker Award, also known as the Stoker Award or just ‘The Stoker”, is not necessarily given the best work for the previous year but to the work that has done the most achievement for horror literature.

The Horror Writers Association

The Bram Stoker Awards are an important ceremony to the Horror Writers Association. The HWA got its start back in the early 1980’s when horror author Robert R. McCammon expressed interest in an organization specifically for his genre. His reasoning was that every genre had its own organization except for horror. With the assistance of author Jon R. Lansdale and his wife Karen, they formed the then fledgling association known as the Horror and Occult Writers League, or HOWL. The group’s early by-laws stated that the goal of Howl was that it was “a non-profit organization of professional writers of fiction and non-fiction pertaining to or inspired by the traditions, legends, development, and history of horror and occult. Its members are together for their mutual benefit in an earnest effort to further a more widespread publicity, promotion, distribution, readership and appreciation of the literature of horror and occult.”

The first full meeting of the HWA happened at the World Fantasy Convention in Tucson, Arizona on November 3, 1985. The name HOWL was changed to the Horror Writers or America for reasons of a better public image and to be taken seriously by writers and fellow organizations. Later in 1993, the name was altered again to the Horror Writers Association to better include international members. Eventually, a board of trustees was set up to oversee the organization’s operations. Then group president, horror writer Dean R. Koontz, suggested an annual award for superior achievement and excellence in the horror field. The first annual Bram Stoker Award and Banquet was then held in New York in 1988. The HWA since has approximately 500 active members from around the globe and consists of both professional and amateur writers in the horror field.

Rules and Requirements for the Bram Stoker Award

The Bram Stoker Award, Also known as The Stoker Award or just ‘The Stokers’, is non-juried. To be eligible for the award, the nominated work must first have been published in English. Any HWA member can nominate a work for consideration. All active members then vote and put selected works onto a preliminary ballot. After that there are two rounds of voting by Active members determine the finalists and then finally the winners. The Bram Stoker winners are announced and presented their awards at the annual HWA conference and banquet held every June.

The Bram Stoker Awards are currently divided into nine separate categories: Novel, First Novel, Long Fiction, Short Fiction, Fiction Collection, Anthology, Non-Fiction, Poetry, and Lifetime Achievement. The award itself is a small replica of a haunted house. It was designed by Harlan Ellison and sculpted by Steven Kirk. Inside the house is a brass plague which is revealed when you open the house’s front door. The name of the author and their winning work is engraved inside.

Bram Stoker Award Winners

Here are the winners of the Bram Stoker Awards since the first annual ceremony in 1987:

1987 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: Misery by Stephen King and Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon (tie)

First Novel: The Manse by Lisa Cantrell

Novelette: “The Pear-Shaped Man” by George R.R. Martin and “The Boy Who Came Back From the Dead” by Alan Rodgers (tie)

Short Story: “The Deep End” by Robert R. McCammon

Collection: The Essential Ellison by Harlan Ellison

Non-Fiction: Mary Shelley by Muriel Spark

Life Achievement: Fritz Leiber, Frank Belknap Long, Clifford D. Simak

1988 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

First Novel: The Suiting by Kelley Wilde

Novelette: “Orange is for Anguish, Blue for Insanity” by David Morrell

Short Story: “Night They Missed the Horror Show” by Joe R. Lansdale

Collection: Charles Beaumont: Selected Stories by Charles Beaumont

Life Achievement: Ray Bradbury, Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes

1989 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons

First Novel: Sunglasses After Dark by Nancy A. Collins

Novelette: “On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert With Dead Folks” by Joe R. Lansdale

Short Story: “Eat Me” by Robert R. McCammon

Collection: Richard Matheson: Collected Stories by Richard Matheson

Non-Fiction: Harlan Ellison’s Watching by Harlan Ellison and Horror: The 100 Best Books Stephen Jones & Kim Newman (tie)

1990 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: Mine by Robert R. McCammon

First Novel: The Revelation by Bentley Little

Novelette: “Stephen” by Elizabeth Massie

Short Story: “The Calling” by David B. Silva

Collection: Four Past Midnight by Stephen King

Non-Fiction: Dark Dreamers by Stanley Wiater

Life Achievement: Hugh B. Cave, Richard Matheson

1991 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: Boy’s Life by Robert R. McCammon

First Novel: The Cipher by Kathe Koja and Prodigal by Melanie Tem (tie)

Novelette: “The Beautiful Uncut Hair of Graves” by David Morrell

Short Story: “Lady Madonna” by Nancy Holder

Collection: Prayers to Broken Stones by Dan Simmons

Non-Fiction: Clive Barker’s Shadows in Eden by Stephen Jones

Life Achievement: Gahan Wilson

1992 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: Blood of the Lamb by Thomas F. Monteleone

First Novel: Sineater by Elizabeth Massie

Novelette: “Aliens: Tribes” by Stephen Bissette and “The Events Concerning a Nude Fold-Out Found in a Harlequin Romance” by Joe R. Lansdale (tie)

Short Story: “This Year’s Class Picture” by Dan Simmons

Collection: Mr Fox and Other Feral Tales by Norman Partridge

Non-Fiction: Cut! Horror Writers on Horror Film by Christopher Golden

Life Achievement: Ray Russell

1993 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: The Throat by Peter Straub

First Novel: The Thread that Binds the Bones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

Novella: “The Night We Buried Road Dog” by Jack Cady and “Mefisto in Onyx” by Harlan Ellison (tie)

Novelette: “Death in Bangkok” by Dan Simmons

Short Story: “I Hear the Mermaids Singing” by Nancy Holder

Collection: Alone With The Horrors by Ramsey Campbell

Non-Fiction: Once Around the Bloch by Robert Bloch

Other Media: Jonah Hex: Two Gun Mojo by Joe R. Lansdale

Life Achievement: Joyce Carol Oates

Special Trustees Award: Vincent Price

1994 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: Dead in the Water by Nancy Holder

First Novel: Grave Markings by Michael Arnzen

Novelette: “The Scent of Vinegar” Robert Bloch

Short Story: “The Box” by Jack Ketchum and “Cafe Endless: Spring Rain” by Nancy Holder (tie)

Collection: The Early Fears by Robert Bloch

Life Achievement: Christopher Lee

1995 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates

First Novel: The Safety of Unknown Cities by Lucy Taylor

Novelette: “Lunch at the Gotham Cafe” by Stephen King

Short Story: “Chatting With Anubis” by Harlan Ellison

Collection: The Panic Hand by Jonathan Carroll

Nonfiction: The Supernatural Index by Michael Ashley & William Contento

Life Achievement: Harlan Ellison

1996 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: The Green Mile by Stephen King (Signet)

First Novel: Crota by Owl Goingback (Donald Fine)

Novelette: “The Red Tower” by Thomas Ligotti (The Nightmare Factory)

Short Story: “metalica” by P.D. Cacek (Hot Blood: Fear the Fever)

Collection: The Nightmare Factory by Thomas Ligotti (Carroll & Graf)

Nonfiction: H.P. Lovecraft: A Life by S.T. Joshi (Necronomicon Press)

Life Achievement: Ira Levin, Forrey Ackerman.

1997 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: Children of the Dusk by Janet Berliner & George Guthrdge

First Novel: Lives of the Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis

Novelette: “The Big Blow” by Joe R.Lansdale

Short Story: “Rat Food” by Edo van Belkom & David Nickle

Collection: Exorcisms and Ecstasies by Karl Edward Wagner, ed Stephen Jones

Nonfiction: Dark Thoughts: On Writing by Stanley Wiater

Life Achievement: William Peter Blatty, Jack Williamson

1998 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: Bag of Bones by Stephen King (Scribner)

First Novel: Dawn Song by Michael Marano (Tor Books)

Long Fiction: “Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff” by Peter Straub (Murder for Revenge, Delacorte Press)

Short Fiction: “The Dead Boy at Your Window” by Bruce Holland Rogers (The North American Review, Nov/Dec 98)

Fiction Collection: Black Butterflies by John Shirley (Mark V. Ziesing)

Anthology: Horrors! 365 Scary Stories edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz, Martin H. Greenberg & Robert Weinberg (Barnes & Noble Books)

Nonfiction: DarkEcho Newsletter Vol. 5, #1-50, edited by Paula Guran (DarkEcho)

Comic Book, Graphic Novel, or Other Illustrative Narrative: No Award

Screenplay: Gods and Monsters written by Bill Condon (Lion’s Gate Films) and Dark City written by Alex Proyas (New Line Cinema)

Work for Young Readers: “Bigger than Death” by Nancy Etchemendy (Cricket Magazine, March 98)

1999 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: Mr. X by Peter Straub

First Novel: Wither by J.G. Passarella

Long Fiction: “Five Days in April” by Brian A. Hopkins; “Mad Dog Summer” by Joe R. Lansdale

Short Fiction: “Aftershock” by F. Paul Wilson

Fiction Collection: The Nightmare Chronicles by Douglas Clegg

Anthology: 999: New Stories of Horror and Suspense edited by Al Sarrantonio

Nonfiction: DarkEcho Newsletter written and edited by Paula Guran

Comic Book, Graphic Novel, or Other Illustrative Narrative: Sandman: The Dream Hunters by Neil Gaiman

Screenplay: Sixth Sense written by M. Night Shyamalan

Work for Young Readers: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling

Other Media: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream (audio) by Harlan Ellison

Lifetime Achievement Award: Edward Gorey and Charles L. Grant

2000 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: The Traveling Vampire Show by Richard Laymon

First Novel: The Licking Valley Coon Hunters Club by Brian A. Hopkins

Long Fiction: The Man on the Ceiling by Melanie and Steve Rasnic Tem

Short Fiction: “Gone,” by Jack Ketchum Fiction

Collection: Magic Terror by Peter Straub

Anthology: The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror, 13th Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Nonfiction: On Writing by Stephen King

Illustrated Narrative: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (miniseries), by Alan Moore

Screenplay: Shadow of the Vampire by Steven Katz

Work for Young Readers: The Power of Un by Nancy Etchemendy

Poetry Collection: A Student of Hell, by Tom Piccirilli

Other Media: Chiaroscuro edited by Patricia Lee Macomber, Steve Eller, Sandra Kasturi, and Brett A. Savory

Lifetime Achievement Award: Nigel Kneale

Trustees’ Award for Specialty Press Excellence: Subterranean Press, William K. Schafer

2001 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: American Gods by Neil Gaiman

First Novel: Deadliest of the Species by Michael Oliveri

Long Fiction: In These Final Days of Sales by Steve Rasnic Tem

Short Fiction: “Reconstructing Amy” by Tim Lebbon

Collection: The Man with the Barbed-Wire Fists by Norman Partridge

Anthology: Extremes 2: Fantasy and Horror from the Ends of the Earth edited by Brian A. Hopkins

Nonfiction: Jobs in Hell

Screenplay: Memento by Christopher & Jonathan Nolan

Work for Young Readers: The Willo Files 2 by Yvonne Navarro

Poetry Collection: Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes by Linda Addison

Other Media: Dark Dreamers: Facing the Masters of Fear by Beth Gwinn & Stanley Wiater

Lifetime Achievement Award: John Farris

2002 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: The Night Class by Tom Piccirilli

First Novel: The Lovely Bones by Alice Seybold

Long Fiction: “El Dia de Los Muertos” by Brian A. Hopkins;
‘”My Work Is Not Yet Done”‘ by Thomas Ligotti

Short Fiction: “The Misfit Child Grows Fat on Despair” by Tom Piccirilli

Collection: One More for the Road by Ray Bradbury

Anthology: The Darker Side edited by John Pelan

Nonfiction: Ramsey Campbell, Probably by Ramsey Campbell

Illustrated Narrative: Nightside (issues 104) by Robert Weinberg

Screenplay: Frailty by Brent Hanley

Work for Young Readers: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Poetry Collection: The Gossamer Eye by Mark McLaughlin, Rain Graves and David Niall Wilson

Alternative Forms: Imagination Box (multimedia CD) by Steve and Melanie Tem

Lifetime Achievement Award: Stephen King and Jerry Williamson

2003 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: lost boy lost girl by Peter Straub

First Novel: The Rising by Brian Keene

Long Fiction: “Closing Time” by Jack Ketchum

Short Fiction: “Duty” by Gary A. Braunbeck

Fiction Collection: Peaceable Kingdom by Jack Ketchum

Anthology: Borderlands 5 edited by Elizabeth and Thomas Monteleone

Nonfiction: The Mothers and Fathers Italian Association by Thomas F. Monteleone

Illustrated Narrative: The Sandman: Endless Nights (collection) by Neil Gaiman

Screenplay: Bubba Ho-Tep by Don Coscarelli

Work for Young Readers: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K Rowling

Poetry Collection: Pitchblende by Bruce Boston

Alternative Forms: The Goreletter (E-mail newsletter) by Michael Arnzen

Lifetime Achievement Award: Martin H. Greenberg, Anne Rice

2004 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: In the Night Room by Peter Straub

First Novel: (tie) Covenant by John Everson and Stained by Lee Thomas

Long Fiction: “The Turtle Boy” by Kealan-Patrick Burke

Short Fiction: “Nimitseahpah” by Nancy Etchemendy

Fiction Collection: Fearful Symmetries by Thomas F. Monteleone

Anthology: The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, 17th Annual edited by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin Grant

Nonfiction: Hellnotes edited by Judi Rohrig

Illustrated Narrative: Heaven’s Devils by Jai Nitz

Screenplay: (tie) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind by Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry and Pierre Bismuth Winner and Shaun of the Dead by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright Winner (Tie)

Work for Young Readers: (tie) Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War by Clive Barker Winner and Oddest Yet by Steve Burt Winner

Poetry Collection: The Women at the Funeral by Corrine De Winter

Alternative Forms: The Devil’s Wine edited by Tom Piccirilli

Lifetime Achievement Award: Michael Moorcock

2005 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: (tie) Creepers by David Morrell and Dread in the Beast by Charlee Jacob

First Novel: Scarecrow Gods by Weston Ochse

Long Fiction: “Best New Horror” by Joe Hill

Short Fiction: “We Now Pause for Station Identification” by Gary Braunbeck

Fiction Collection: Twentieth Century Ghosts by Joe Hill

Anthology: Dark Delicacies edited by Jeff Gelb and Del Howison

Nonfiction: Horror: Another 100 Best Books by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman

Poetry Collection: (tie) Freakcidents by Michael A. Arnzen and Sineater by Charlee Jacob

Speciality Press Award: Necessary Evil Press

Richard Laymon (President’s Award): Lisa Morton

Lifetime Achievement Award: Peter Straub

2006 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: Lisey’s Story by Stephen King

First Novel: Ghost Road Blues by Jonathan Maberry

Long Fiction: “Dark Harvest” by Norman Partridge

Short Fiction: “Tested” by Lisa Morton

Fiction Collection: Destinations Unknown by Gary Braunbeck

Anthology: (tie) Retro Pulp Tales edited by Joe Lansdale and Mondo Zombie edited by John Skipp

Nonfiction: (tie) Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die by Michael Largo and Gospel of the Living Dead: George Romero’s Visions of Hell on Earth by Kim Paffenroth

Poetry Collection: Shades Fantastic by Bruce Boston

Speciality Press Award: PS Publishing

Lifetime Achievement Award: Thomas Harris

2007 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: The Missing by Sarah Langan

First Novel: Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Long Fiction: “Afterward, There Will Be A Hallway” by Gary Braunbeck

Short Fiction: “The Gentle Brush of Wings” by David Niall Wilson

Fiction Collection: (Tie) Proverbs for Monsters by Michael A. Arnzen; 5 Stories by Peter Straub

Anthology: Five Strokes to Midnight edited by Gary Braunbeck and Hank Schwaeble

Nonfiction: THE CRYPTOPEDIA: A Dictionary of the Weird, Strange & Downright Bizarre by Jonathan Maberry & David F. Kramer

Poetry Collection: (Tie) Being Full of Light, Insubstantial by Linda Addison and VECTORS: A Week in the Death of a Planet by Charlee Jacob & Marge Simon

Lifetime Achievement Award: John Carpenter, Robert Weinberg Richard Laymon

President’s Award: Mark Worthen, Stephen Dorato, Christopher Fulbright

2008 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: Duma Key by Stephen King

First Novel: The Gentling Box by Lisa Mannetti

Long Fiction: “MIRANDA” by John R. Little

Short Fiction: “The Lost” by Sarah Langan

Anthology: Unspeakable Horror edited by Vince A. Liaguno and Chad Helder

Collection: Just After Sunset by Stephen King

Nonfiction: A Halloween Anthology by Lisa Morton

Poetry: The Nightmare Collection by Bruce Boston

Lifetime Achievement Award: F. Paul Wilson and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Specialty Press Award: Bloodletting Press

How to Choose the Best Self Help Books

January 28th, 2013 |

Far be it from me to tell you how to choose the best self help books — a good self help book is any book that helps you. Having said that, a list of the best selling self help books will get you started on your way to self improvement. There are multiple categories of top self help books, from books that are meant for women, for men, for Christians, teens, etc — there’s bound to be a self help book that is right up your alley.

Self Help Books for Teens

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff for Teens, Richard Carlson

The super popular “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” series is adapted for teenagers in this text by famous self help author Richard Carlson. Inside, you can find 100 short chapters focusing on helping teenagers improve their selves, from love life to work to school.

Success Principles for Teens, Jack Canfield

Written by one of the creators of the popular Chicken Soup for the Soul series has designed a fun to read guide full of timeless information and inspiration that acts as a road map for the principles of self help.

Dealing With the Stuff that Makes Life Tough, Jill Zimmerman Rutledge

An easy to read ten-step guide to self help for teens uses historical and anecdotal stories about teens to instruct teenagers in how to improve their lives.

Self Help Books for Men

Get Out of Your Own Way: Overcoming Self Defeating Behavior, Dr. Mark Goulston

Problems with procrastination, envy, anger, self-pity, and compulsion are covered in this popular self help book for men by famous author Dr. Mark Goulston. This book acts as an antidote for these common problems, both explaining the reasons that men get in their own way and sharing ideas for self help that have helped thousands of Dr. Goulston’s male patients improve their lives. Full of humor as well as insight, this is an easy read for even the most inexperienced student of self help.

The Ultimate Self Help Guide for Men, Joe Novella

Though everyone wants “short cuts to happiness”, Novella explains a few practical answers to men’s biggest self help questions without offering a “quick fix”. Topics covered include avoiding guilt, dealing with your sexual partner’s difficulties, staying fit and healthy in a fast food world, and overcoming self-loathing. Written by a bartender (who better to give advice to men about self help?) this book provides a unique perspective on the problems men face. Consider this a “one stop shop” for overcoming the problems that plague men.

Being the Strong Man a Woman Wants: Timeless Wisdon on Being a Man, Elliot Katz

An interesting text that challenges contemporary notions of what it means to “be a man”, this book promises to give you “timeless secrets” to being the man your partner wants you to be.Attempting to explain why most relationships these days just aren’t working, Katz wants to help you figure out how to be a better man, and offers advice on things you can do right now to make things better in your relationship.

Self Help Books for Women

Five Simple Steps to Emotional Healing: The Last Self-Help Book You Will Ever Need, Gloria Arenson

A guidebook to what is known as “Meridian therapy”, this is the perfect self help book for women who are otherwise scared to read one of the millions of self help books aimed at women. Gloria Arenson, a new age philosopher and psychologist who specializes in something called “power therapies” teaches women five easy to follow steps to their emotional healing. Meridian therapy, a tactic that works with both Chinese medicine like acupuncture and acupressure and Western stress relief tactics, focuses on eight power points on the female body that help to get rid of anxiety, emotional turmoil from different traumas, and ways to heal difficulties in interpersonal relationships.

The Courage to be Yourself: A Woman’s Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem, Sue Patton Thoele

This famous women’s self help author offers her readers the chance to improve their self-esteem and “tap into their core emotional strength”. This self help book is aimed at women who who want to meet the high demands of the other people in her lives, namely men. This book promises women the ability to learn the tools necessary to change their crippling fears into courageous actions that lead to a better expression of self. As a bonus, a new edition of this book offers hundreds of new pages of material aimed at today’s women.

Learning to Love Yourself: Finding Your Self-Worth, Sharon Wegseider-Cruse

It can be difficult for a woman to understand her self worth — as the author points out, dictionaries don’t even include definitions of words like “self worth”. The author works as the director of a clinic that specializes in treating drug addiction and problems, Wegscheider-Cruse gears this guide specifically to adult children of alcoholics but claims it is a good text for anyone “suffering from low self-esteem”. This book suggest that women re imagine their negative past experiences in order to form new behaviors that will lead to stronger emotional growth.

Self Help Books for Christians

The Power of Faithful Focus: A Practical Christian Guide to Spiritual and Personal Abundance, Les Hewitt

Written in cooperation with famous preacher and Christian theologian Charles Self, Les Hewitt discusses strategies for bettering your life and forming a balance between self-help and service to God.

Building Self Esteem: The Christian Dimension, Anselm Gruen

This text by little-known self help author and Christian Anselm Gruen promises to teach you long lasting “self-help” tactics that are Biblically-centered and explore how the Christian tradition can help people improve their lives. Christians will be comfortable with the Christ-centered advice for self help, without feeling like they’re missing out on the basic psychology of self help.

Self help books abound on today’s market. It seems that there’s a self help book for just about any category of person. Finding the top self help books is a matter of trail-and-error. Hopefully one of the self help books in the above lists will work for you.

How to Buy Secondhand Books

January 28th, 2013 |

In the age of the Internet, eBooks, and Kindles, it’s easy to forget the pleasures found in paging through a well-worn, dusty old tome. Good, old-fashioned books haven’t changed much since Gutenberg invented the printing press, and it would be difficult to improve on them. There’s something tangible about holding a real book in your hands with which electronic media can’t compete. These are just some of the reasons why we feel it’s important to know how to buy secondhand books.

When you’re holding a real book in your hands, it’s that much more exciting when the words on the page start to disappear and images form in your mind, causing you to lose yourself in the story. Having a good used copy of a book only magnifies this feeling.

Like a friendly older dog who comes into your life after having previous owners, there’s something more comfortable about reading a book with a spine already cracked at the most exciting chapter and the pages already dog-eared. Moreover, if you’re into collecting rare books, the sense of owning something few others have access to also excites.

This is all before mentioning the happy effects buying second-hand books can have on keeping cash in your wallet (especially if you want to buy textbooks for school)! So, what’s the best approach to take when you want to buy secondhand books? Just keep these things in mind.

Find Used Bookstores
Buy Used Textbooks
Contact Rare Book Dealers
Do Your Shopping Online
Finding Used Bookstores

Although large chain bookstores seem to have driven most mom-and-pop bookstores out of business in the past few decades, independent used book dealers are actually enjoying a bit of a resurgence. The recent economic downturn made Middle America tighten its purse strings, and suddenly that splashy new hardcover from Borders or Barnes & Noble feels to many like an unaffordable luxury.

According to the Census Bureau, independent, used bookstores were doing as well January 2009 as they were January 2008, something that could not be said for their larger competition. For example, Borders recently had one of the company’s worst quarters in recent memory. If you’ve been thinking about ditching the big chains and want to buy secondhand books instead, you’re not alone.

Smaller stores that focus on used books can afford to adapt to changing market realities quicker than their Titanic-sized chain competitors. What this means for you is that there’s a good chance a cozy used bookshop is thriving somewhere in your town. Look for them close to colleges or other schools, or use a Google search.

Buying Used Textbooks

Sometimes, buying used textbooks is necessary. School is expensive enough without paying more than you need to for textbooks. While there’s a certain joy to cracking open a brand-new textbook, and being the first to lay your yellow highlighter on virgin pages, new school textbooks can be prohibitively expensive.

Most every college bookstore will offer used copies of their textbooks on the shelves right next to the new ones. Usually these copies will have some sort of brightly colored tape or sticker a long the spine indicating their used status. Buying these will give you a significant price discount.

However, if a new edition of the book has come out that year the bookstore won’t have any used copies to offer. If this is the situation you’re in you’ll want to check used bookstores, although often they do no carry textbooks. If you’re unable to find a used textbook store, check the classifieds of your school paper. You’re bound to find an enterprising fellow student selling their older editions.

Visiting Rare Book Dealers

If your interest in wanting to buy secondhand books goes beyond wanting to save money on your romance novel addiction or wanting to keep from blowing your ramen noodle budget on school books, then you’re probably a more serious collector.

Chances are, your favorite used bookstore also has a section of rare or antiquarian books. Antique books, first editions, or autographed books all make fine collector’s pieces or even gifts for that special someone.

To make sure you’re getting the best deal and that the items you’re purchasing are sold to you in an ethical manner, stick to rare book dealers that are members of the Antiquarian Bookseller’s Association of America, or ABAA. Members of the ABAA must abide by a code of ethics and must meet specific qualifications proving they are knowledgeable and financially stable.

Shopping Online

All of these tips are great, but if there’s no local bookstores in your area, or if they’re otherwise not accessible to you, then they’re of no help. Luckily, there’s the Internet. Shopping online has been commonplace for at least a decade or so. If you’re looking for secondhand books, the Internet has countless options from which to choose.

Major chains: The best-known major bookseller is Amazon.com, and it exists only on the Internet. Other brick-and-mortar chains such as Borders and Barnes & Noble also operate online, and all three provide links to used copies of books on each book’s product page
Independent book dealers: If you’re looking to avoid forking money over to mega-corporations, not to worry. There are countless independent book dealers with a strong online presence as well. Websites such as Alibris.com or Biblios.com provide searchable databases of books sold by a wide array of independent booksellers from which you can shop, knowing that your money is helping a small business to thrive.
ABAA Online: The Antiquarian Bookseller’s Association of America also maintains an online database of its members.. If you’re looking for a specific book, you can search by title, author, or keyword. Alternately, you can browse their selection of featured rare books, documents, and manuscripts. Every dealer listed is a member of the ABAA and ascribes to their code of ethics, so you’ll know when you buy books on this website you’re getting your money’s worth.

Buying secondhand books, in this disposable, electronic age, is not only a great way to save money but also to connect with history. Whether you’re reading the pages of an inexpensive sci-fi paperback or lovingly preserving antique 17th century manuscripts, shopping for secondhand books is the kind of adventure you can’t find with shiny new bestsellers.

How to Buy School Textbooks Online?

January 28th, 2013 |

On top of that, once you get to the school bookstore, you have to fight crowds of your fellow students, deal with professors who’ve mistakenly ordered the wrong books, and surly bookstore employees making minimum wage. No one has the time and energy for hassles of this magnitude. A great way to avoid it all is to buy your school textbooks online.

It’s easier than you’d think to buy your textbooks over the Internet. There are several ways to get your textbooks delivered directly to your door, whether you’re buying books new, going cheap and buying used, or renting books. Just follow these tips on how to buy school textbooks online and you’ll be free to focus on your classes in no time.

Here are a few tips to consider:

Buy on the Internet
Find used textbooks
Buy earlier editions
Consider renting
Buying on the Internet

If you want to avoid reading through other people’s highlighter marks and margin notes, buy school textbooks online that are brand new (and really, you can’t beat that new book smell). Most people are familiar with shopping online these days, and online booksellers are some of the most-used shopping sites on the Internet.

Perhaps the best known is Amazon.com, which has an extensive textbook section, including science and medical textbooks. Other brick-and-mortar bookseller chains also have online stores, such as Barnes and Noble and Borders.

Both of those stores have a limited textbook selection compared to Amazon, but if you’re looking, for example, for a cheap copy of Jane Eyre for your English class, these sites are a viable option. All three of these online booksellers accept all major credit cards and offer free shipping deals in certain situations.

Buying school textbooks online from any of these sources is a good way to avoid the crowds (and inevitable stocking issues) at your school’s bookstore. Buy school textbooks online and instead of searching the shelves and waiting hours in line with your fellow students, you’ll get your books delivered straight to your door.

Finding Used Textbooks

Of course, buying new textbooks isn’t for everyone. You can save a considerable amount of money when you buy school textbooks online by purchasing used books instead. Used books are readily available on the Internet. All three online booksellers mentioned above offer used copies of almost all of their books. Look on the product page for a link that lists the amount of used copies available and you’ll be on your way.

Keep in mind that when you buy school textbooks online in this manner you’re not buying from Amazon or Barnes and Noble directly but from something called an “authorized bookseller” or “authorized dealer.” It’s rather like buying something on eBay, and as with eBay the individual reliability of each bookseller might be mixed. Look for sellers that have a high customer rating.

Another excellent resource for used textbooks is the website www.alibris.com. Alibris sells only used books, and gives a detailed description of each book’s edition and physical condition, so you know exactly what to expect when the book arrives. This is also an excellent site if you’re the type who prefers not to do business with huge, soulless corporations.

Wherever you order your used textbooks, always keep in mind that when buying used shipping speeds might be slower, so you may want to consider ordering your textbooks well ahead of time. That way you can make sure you’re not waiting for your books to arrive while everyone else in class already has them.

Buy Earlier Editions

It’s a well-known secret that textbook publishers release new editions every few years as a way of undercutting the used textbook market. Once a publisher releases a new edition, the value of used copies of previous editions plummet. Often these “new” editions change little from previous versions, other than re-ordering the book’s chapters or updating graphs and pictures.

If you’ve been in school for a while already, then you’re familiar with the so-broke-you-eat-nothing-but-ramen-noodles lifestyle of the average college student. If you’re willing to deal with minor annoyances like having different page numbers than your class syllabus or looking at stock photos of people with outdated clothes and hairstyles, then you can save a significant amount of money by purchasing an earlier edition of your textbook.

To give a personal example, I once purchased an older edition of an Anthropology 101 textbook online for three dollars that cost eighty-nine dollars new in my college’s bookstore. The only difference between the new edition and my older one was the picture on the book’s cover. That kind of savings buys an entire semester’s worth of ramen noodles!

This strategy works best for lower-level classes where the basic nature of the subject hasn’t changed much in recent years (think science classes like geology or anthropology). Ask your professor about the usability of earlier editions before buying (if they’ve been teaching the class for a while, they’re probably familiar with any changes between editions). Also, check your edition against a classmate’s early in the semester to make sure it’s not too radically different.

As with any used book purchase, order well ahead of time, so that the book has plenty of time to get there. You’ll also want the time to be able to get a different copy if you find the earlier edition is too outdated to work for you.

Consider Renting

One easy alternative to trying to buy school textbooks online is to consider renting them instead. Renting textbooks is a great choice if you’re leery of hunting for used copies or don’t want to bet on the usability of earlier editions.

You’ll have to return your rental books when you’re done with them, of course, so it won’t work for you if hanging on to textbooks for later reference is important to you. However, for required classes or low-level classes whose textbooks you were probably going to sell at the end of the semester anyway, rental is an excellent option.

A simple Google search turns up such examples as Bookrenter.com, Campusbookrentals.com, and Collegebookrenter.com. These all offer rental textbooks at prices that will save you a huge amount of money over buying new.

Renting textbooks offers all the convenience of buying used books online (home delivery, avoiding the hassle of store crowds, huge monetary savings) with none of the hassles (marked-up, damaged books and the risk of unusably outdated editions). It’s an excellent option for the modern college student looking to save some cash.

Buying School Textbooks Online

Life’s too short for the stresses of relying on the school bookstore. Following these suggestions for buying school textbooks online will give any college student more cash in their pocket and less pain in their neck. Whether buying used, new, hunting down earlier editions, or renting current ones, if you buy school textbooks online you’re taking control of a key aspect of your education. Get started!

Can You Find School Yearbooks Online?

January 28th, 2013 |

However, life can bring unexpected twists. If a house fire, flood, theft, or any other of the type of property damaging tragedies that can befall anyone has robbed you of your old yearbooks, what can you do? Don’t worry too much. Can you find school yearbooks online? Chances are, you can.

The Internet is the ultimate resource. Use it wisely, and you’ll be back to pouring over those old photos of you and your friends preserved at your teenaged best in no time. You can replace your old high school yearbooks online. Here’s how.

Contact your school
Find Digital copies
Buy used copies from individuals
Buy used copies from websites
Contact your school

Most high schools (and even some middle schools) these days maintain an online presence these days. Chances are, your school has a website. Do a Google search for the name of your school to see if you can find it. Once you do, look for a way to contact the school’s alumni association or the school’s library and request a copy of your yearbook.

If they don’t have copies for sale, ask if there are copies for loan in the school library. Then, you should be able to copy, scan, or even just take some digital photographs of the pages most important to you.

If you live in a different city or state than your high school, you may need to make arrangements to have the old yearbook shipped to you. Whether or not they will have the capabilities to do this probably depends on the resources available to your school, so you may want to have an old hometown friend pick up your copy.

Regardless of how you have it shipped to you, finding your school’s website is a quick and easy way to find old and current copies of school yearbooks online. It’s also a fun opportunity to see how your school has changed over the years. Take a moment to click around, look for your favorite teachers, and see if the cafeteria has a new paint job.

Find Digital Copies

Many schools will even offer scanned PDF copies of old yearbooks, if you’re just interested in having the photos and don’t really care so much about the physical book. Plus, this would be a great way of getting access to your old school yearbooks online for free (or, to backup your existing copy in case of future disasters).

If you’re an avid user of social networking sites such as Facebook, you may want to look for an alumni group for your school. Check the photos section of the group page to see if anyone has scanned in old yearbook pages or photos for your class. This is another great way to replace your old school yearbooks online.

Some class reunion websites, such as Alumniclass.com or Classmates.com, will have digital copies of old yearbooks as well, but these sites usually require you to register your email address with them. And, as anyone who has ever registered their email address anywhere knows, this means you’ll be getting an influx of spam email. If you don’t mind receiving some extra junk mail in your inbox, this is also something you may want to try.

Buy school yearbooks from individuals

Whenever you’re looking for something for sale that isn’t mass-produced, it’s always a good idea to check for used copies on auction websites such as eBay. These sites allow individuals to put objects up for sale. If you’ve never used eBay before, think of it as the world’s largest online yard sale.

Depending on the size of your class, there may be copies of your yearbook available there. I was able to find several copies from my high school, from the 1960s to the 1990s, all priced at around 50 dollars, with some as low at 10 dollars.

EBay is an auction site, so you’ll have to place a bid on the book you want to buy. Sometimes, however, sellers on eBay will also list a “buy it now” price. Look for those and you won’t have to worry about the hassle of bidding.

Another way to find school yearbooks online from individuals is to again check social networking sites such as Facebook. There are many alumni groups on Facebook, and if there are no digital copies of your yearbook posted there, ask group members themselves if they have an old copy they’d be willing to part with.

Buy Used Copies From Websites

There are a few websites that specialize in the sale of used school yearbooks. For instance, the website Old-yearbooks.com allows you to browse by state and school. The selection here is slightly limited, but it’s definitely worth a shot.

Old-yearbooks.com also has high school class rosters, alumni lists, photographs, and graduation programs dating back to the early part of the 20th century. If you’re not just looking for school yearbooks online but doing genealogical or biographical research, then this might be a good resource for you.

The popular genealogy website Ancestry.com also maintains a database of scanned yearbooks, with more being added every day. Ancestry.com is a members-only site, but does offer a free 14-day trial membership. So, you can sign up for the trial to see if the yearbook you’re looking for is available.

High School Yearbooks Online

Finding high school yearbooks online can be tricky, and might require some degree of sleuthing on your part. However, don’t give up, as it can be done. Check with your school, check eBay and Facebook, and check genealogy websites. Eventually, you should be able to find your old school yearbook online, and hang on to those treasured memories of your school days.

What Is the Pulitzer Prize?

January 28th, 2013 |

The Pulitzer Prize is to journalists and writers what The Academy Awards are to actors and directors. The Pulitzer is a yearly U.S. award that is given out to outstanding journalism, literature, and musical composition. The ceremony is held every April and is awarded by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York. Every aspiring journalist and writer hopes and dreams of one day being awarded a Pulitzer Prize. It signifies the years best in U.S. literature and brings with it a substantial amount of publishing clout. But how did the Pulitzer get started? What does it take to get nominated? What are some famous Pulitzer winners? If you are thinking about a career in literature, this is the ultimate recognition.

History of the Pulitzer Prize

The Pulitzer Prize was started by the famous newspaper publisher of the 19th century, Joseph Pulitzer. Joseph Pulitzer was a brilliant at marketing newspapers and was a crusader against corruption in government. He always knew how to create a good story for print. His two newspapers that set an example for other printed material were the New York World and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He was a fierce competitor with other famed newspaper mogul, William Randall Hearst.

Pulitzer helped to found many of today’s journalistic traditions. He was the first person to suggest training for journalists in colleges. At his death in 1911, he willed a portion of funds to Columbia University to start their first journalism school. But his greatest contribution was the founding of a set of awards that were later named the Pulitzer Prizes. The Pulitzer Prizes were originally supposed to be incentives for excellence in the field. The original Pulitzers gave awards for journalism, letters and drama, one award for education, and four traveling scholarships. But Joseph Pulitzer also saw changes in the industry so he created an advisory board for the awards. It would be their task to make changes as needed to accommodate the evolving industry. Sic years after his death, the first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded in 1917 and since then have grown to 21 different categories.

How To Get Nominated

The advisory board for the Pulitzer Prize does not automaticvally choose material from the past year. All entires must be submitted along with an entry fee of $50 per entry. Each entry must fit within the specific Pulitzer categories. Otherwise, they will not be accepted, even if they are considered to have literary merit. Applicants can enter each work in up to two different categories but no more.

When an applicant submits material for consideration, the material is called an ‘entry’. The advisory board then reviews all entries and chooses the finalists. These are known as the ‘nominees’ and the title Pulitzer Prize nominee may be used by the authors for their credentials. There are usually several nominees in each category.

The Pulitzer Prize Medal

The Pulitzer Prize gold medal is given out to the winning American newspaper in the category of Public Service. Throughout the years, the Pulitzer medal has become a symbol of the awards program, even though it is not given out for any other catergory. The medal was designed by sculptor Daniel Chester French and his partner Henry Augustus Lukeman in 1918. French is the same sculptor who, years later, designe dand sculpted the famous statue of Lincoln Seated at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

The medal is crafted in silver and covered in 24 carat gold plate. One side of the medal displays the profile of Benjamin Franklin and the other side shows an early printer working at his printing press. The words “For the most disinterested and meritorious public service rendered by an American newspaper during the year….” wrap around the image of the printer.

The name of the winning newspaper is Engraved on the Franklin side of the medal is the name of the winning newspaper. On the opposite side is the year the award was received.

Famous Pulitzer Prize Winners

There have been many famous Pulitzer Prize winners since the inception of the awards. Some of them include Ernest Hemingway, Eudora Welty, Saul Bellow, William Faulkner, and Margaret Mitchell for Fiction. President John F. Kennedy won a Pulitzer for Biography. Robert Frost received a Pulitzer for Poetry and Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Stephen Sondheim have won for Drama.

Some winners have received more than one Pulitzer Prize. David McCullough won two Pulitzers for Biography; Robert Frost has won four times for Poetry; Margaret Leech has won twice for History; and William Faulkner, Norman Mailer, John Updike, and Booth Tarkington all have won twice for Fiction

Controversies

As prestigious as the Pulitzer is, it has seen its share of controversy over the years. One of the most common complaints is by critics who argue that some material should or should not have won. Most of that criticism centers on the Pultizer’s advisory board who sometimes make decisions that are the opposite from what a selection of juries advises. The reason for most of these arguments is that the most notable literary works are not always on the best-sellers list or popular by public standards. Many works are only appreciated by members of the literary or theatrical field.

The Pulitzer Prizes in journalism usually are awarded to the major newspapers in the country like The New York Times and The Washington Post. However, the advisory board has also recognized smaller newspapers for their works and contributions to the field. Some of the smaller newspapers that have been recognized have been The Virgin Islands Daily News which won the Public Service award for its reporting on the area’s rising crime rate and how it was linked to a corrupted local criminal justice system. The newspaper Willamette Week in Oregan won the award for Investigative Reporting in 2005 for its coverage of a former governor’s sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old girl.

Despite the controversies and criticisms, the board remains firm in its decisions that it has made over the years. The Pulitzer Prize is still the highest prestigious award in the United States and its Pulitzer Prize winners are widely recognized for their successful work in the areas of journalism, fiction, drama, history, and music. Just being nominated is a high recognition for one’s craft and is an incentive for the pursuit of better and more challenging literary and journalistic works.

What Is the Newbery Medal?

January 28th, 2013 |

Children’s literature is an important curriculum for a child as it informs, educates, and entertains. The more a child reads, the more their reading skills improve. There is a wide and diverse amount of literature out there that is suitable for children and one of the top awards for such literature is the Newbery Medal. The Newbery Medal is given out every year by the Association of Library Services for Children (or ALSC) which is a division of the American Library Association. The Newbery Medal is awarded to authors as recognition for their contributions to children’s literature. The Newbery Medal is reserved for novels, not illustrated picture books (that is another award entirely). When considering which books are eligible for the Newbery Medal, there is a list of criteria that the books must meet.

History of the Newbery Medal

The Newbery Medal is named after John Newbery, a publisher of juvenile literature during the 1700’s. The first award was actually given out in 1922. The medal itself was designed by Rene Paul Chambellan and was sculpted by Frederic G. Melcher the year before the first award was handed out. Melcher went before the American Library Association’s meeting of their children’s division on June 22, 1921 and proposed the award. The proposal met with all-around approval by the division’s librarians and was finally accepted by the ALA in 1922. The original proposal for the medal stated that the purpose was “To encourage original creative work in the field of books for children. To emphasize to the public that contributions to the literature for children deserve similar recognition to poetry, plays, or novels. To give those librarians, who make it their life work to serve children’s reading interests, an opportunity to encourage good writing in this field.” Thus the Newbery Medal became the first children’s literature award in the world.

One side of the bronze medal depicts an author giving or showing his book to a boy and girl while the opposite side has an open book with the words “For The Most Distinguished Contribution To American Literature For Children” engraved on it. The winner’s name and the date the award was given are also engraved on it.

Criteria For The Newbery Medal

There are some specific requirements for books to be considered for the Newbery Medal. To begin with, the book in question should have been published in the United States the previous year and in English. The book’s author must also be a U.S. citizen. Committee members must consider the book’s theme, plot, characters, and overall presentation. The style and subject matter must be appropriate for children. Also, it must be agreed that the book makes a contribution to literature and it must be able to stand on its own and not as part of a multi-media project (such as audio or video accompaniment). Many of these qualities are subject to a book’s content or specific idea and may vary. Thus, not every quality that is considered is going to be viewed at the same level. Instead, the Newberry Medal committee looks for overall excellence in a book’s material.

Newbery Medal nominees can be in works of fiction, non-fiction, or poetry. To submit a work, the author or publisher sends two copies; one to the ALSC office and the other copy to the award committee chairman. All nominees are judged by the ALA.

Past Winners of The Newbery Medal

Here is a list of all of the Newbery Medal winners since the awards first started in 1922.

2009: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

2008: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz

2007: The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

2006: Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins

2005: Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

2004: The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo

2003: Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi

2002: A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

2001: A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck

2000: Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

1999: Holes by Louis Sachar

1998: Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

1997: The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg

1996: The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman

1995: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

1994: The Giver by Lois Lowry

1993: Missing May by Cynthia Rylant

1992: Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

1991: Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

1990: Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

1989: Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman

1988: Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman

1987: The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman

1986: Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

1985: The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley

1984: Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

1983: Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voigt

1982: A Visit to William Blake’s Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers by Nancy Willard

1981: Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson

1980: A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl’s Journal, 1830-1832 by Joan W. Blos

1979: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

1978: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

1977: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

1976: The Grey King by Susan Cooper

1975: M. C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton

1974: The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox

1973: Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

1972: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien

1971: Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars

1970: Sounder by William H. Armstrong

1969: The High King by Lloyd Alexander

1968: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

1967: Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt

1966: I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino

1965: Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska

1964: It’s Like This, Cat by Emily Neville

1963: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

1962: The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare

1961: Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell

1960: Onion John by Joseph Krumgold

1959: The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

1958: Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith

1957: Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen

1956: Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham

1955: The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong

1954: …And Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold

1953: Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark

1952: Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes

1951: Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates

1950: The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli

1949: King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry

1948: The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois

1947: Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey

1946: Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski

1945: Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson

1944: Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

1943: Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray

1942: The Matchlock Gun by Walter Edmonds

1941: Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry

1940: Daniel Boone by James Daugherty

1939: Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright

1938: The White Stag by Kate Seredy

1937: Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer

1936: Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink

1935: Dobry by Monica Shannon

1934: Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women by Cornelia Meigs

1933: Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Lewis

1932: Waterless Mountain by Laura Adams Armer

1931: The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth

1930: Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field

1929: The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly

1928: Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji

1927: Smoky, the Cowhorse by Will James

1926: Shen of the Sea by Arthur Bowie Chrisman

1925: Tales from Silver Lands by Charles Finger

1924: The Dark Frigate by Charles Hawes

1923: The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting

1922: The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem van Loon

There have been a total of five children’s book authors that have won the Newbery Medal more than once. The authors E.L. Konigsburg, Joseph Krumgold, Lois Lowry, Katherine Paterson, and Elizabeth George Speare have all won two Newbery Medals each.

Besides the annual winner, there are also Honorary Newbery winners. Since the Newbery Medal awards first started, the award committee has recognized other books as having literary merit. These books were originally called “Runner-Ups” but in 1971 the ALSC changed that term to “Honor Books”. They term was even made retroactive so all former runner-ups from the past years were now referred to as Honor Books.

The significance of a Newbery Medal winner plays a heavy part in book sales and distribution. There are sections in bookstores and some libraries for Newbery winners. Once the winner is announced, bookstores sell out of all copies of that book and both public and school libraries order additional copies. The winning book is often implemented by teachers in their lesson plans. Since this is one of the biggest awards in children literature, it brings quite a degree of notoriety to the winning author.

Newbery Medal Controversies

Despite the honor of being nominated or even winning a Newbery Medal, the award has also drawn its share of criticism, which is to be expected from a judged awards program that is subjective. Many criticise the judges choices, claiming some books are better than others. For example, in October 2008, a children’s literary expert named Anita Silvey published an article in the School Library Journal that criticized the Newbery committee for choosing books that she claimed were too difficult for most children. Silvey even had support in the form of Lucy Calkins of the Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University’s Teachers College who agreed with Silvey. A study by associate professor John Beach at St. John’s University in New York showed that the books that adults choose for children are not necessarily the same that children would choose for themselves. Yet despite these criticisms, it cannot be denied that the winners of the Newbery are still relevent literature and worth recognition for their material.

What Is the National Book Award?

January 28th, 2013 |

One of the most prominent literary awards in the United States is the The National Book Awards. They were founded in 1950 by a group of publishers with the intention of bringing public awareness to American authors. Publishers wanted to increase readership and give incentive for improving America’s cultural writing. They also wanted to bring national recognition to their peers. The awards are selected by writers for writers and are presented annually for literature written by an American author and published in the prior year. The National Book Awards are administered by the National Book Foundation which oversees the selection process and yearly activities leading up to the awards. The National Book Award has several categories as well as two separate lifetime achievement awards. If you are a U.S. author with works of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, this is one of the ultimate awards you can receive.

History of the National Book Awards

The first annual National Book Awards were held on March 16, 1950, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. The American Book Publisher’s Council, The Book Manufacturers’ Institute, and The American Booksellers’ Association had all sponsored and set up the Awards. A large group that consisted of publishers, writers, and critics had gathered to witness the first of what was to become a major national award. The idea was for the award to be given to writers for their excellence in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

Over the next couple of decades, other categories were added, including Science, Philosophy, Biography, Religion, Autobiography, History, Arts and Letters, First Novel, Translation, Contemporary Thought, Original Paperback, and Children’s Book. Then in 1980, the National Book Awards went through a major change when several publishers decided to add even more categories. They wanted to increase awareness by recognizing even more American authors. The name of the National Book Awards was changed to the American Book Awards which now consisted of a total of 16 categories and 28 separate prizes. Winners were now chosen by a committee that included publishers, librarians, critics, and writers. But instead of improving the awards, many felt that they had lost their merit and that the awards no longer carried the significance that they once had. The name and category change lasted until 1986 when the current board of directors reduced the number of categories down to three and changed the name back to the National Book Awards. Also, the awards were now chosen by writers for other writers. Then in 1988, the National Book Foundation was created to oversee the guidance of the awards and make sure that all the rules and regulations were correctly followed.

Criteria for the National Book Awards

The current rules for the National Book Awards have been in effect since 1996. Winners are nominated in four categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature. Entries for the annual National Book Awards are nominated by publishers, however, board members can ask for a publisher to nominate a specific book. Only books written by American authors between December 1 of the previous year and November 30 of the following year are eligible.

Each category is judged by a panel of five writers who have written and published works in that category. The judges are nominated by previous National Book Award Winners, Finalists, and judges. The final panels are then selected by the Foundation’s Executive Director along with the Board of Directors. The panels change every year so rarely do judges serve back-to-back on panels. When going over the nominees, judges review literally hundreds of books in each category. When the panels deliberate, all of their discussions are held separate and independent from the Foundation. The members of the National Book Foundation only determine a submission’s eligibility. Serving as a judge is completely voluntary but as compensation, each judge receives $2,500 while the panel chairs receive $3,000 for their efforts.

During the The National Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner which is held each year in November, the chair from each panel announces the runners-up and winners. On the day of the National Book Awards Ceremony the judges meet to select the National Book Award winners. The rpize for each winner is $10,000 and a bronze sculpture. Finalists also receive a prize of $1,000, a medal, and a citation.

National Book Award Winners

The winners of the National Book Award from 1950 to present are as follows:

2008

Fiction: Peter Matthiessen, Shadow Country

NonFiction: Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family

Poetry: Mark Doty, Fire to Fire: New and Collected Poems

Young People’s Literature: Judy Blundell, What I Saw and How I Lied

2007

Fiction: Denis Johnson, Tree of Smoke

NonFiction: Tim Weiner, Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA

Poetry: Robert Hass, Time and Materials

Young People’s Literature: Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

2006

Fiction: The Echo Maker by Richard Powers

NonFiction: The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan

Poetry: Splay Anthem by Nathaniel Mackey

Young People’s Literature: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson

2005

Fiction: Europe Central by William T. Vollmann

NonFiction: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Poetry: Migration: New and Selected Poems by W.S. Merwin

Young People’s Literature: The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall

2004

Fiction: Lily Tuck, The News from Paraguay

NonFiction: Kevin Boyle, Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age

Poetry: Jean Valentine, Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965-2003

Young People’s Literature: Pete Hautman, The Godless

2003

Fiction: Shirley Hazzard, The Great Fire

NonFiction: Carlos Eire, Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy

Poetry: C.K. Williams, The Singing

Young People’s Literature: Polly Horvath, The Canning Season

2002

Fiction: Julia Glass, Three Junes

NonFiction: Robert A. Caro, Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson

Poetry: Ruth Stone, In the Next Galaxy

Young People’s Literature: Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion

2001

Fiction: Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections

NonFiction: Andrew Solomon, The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression

Poetry: Alan Dugan, Poems Seven: New and Complete Poetry

Young People’s Literature: Virginia Euwer Wolff, True Believer

2000

Fiction: Susan Sontag, In America

NonFiction: Nathaniel Philbrick, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex

Poetry: Lucille Clifton, Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000

Young People’s Literature: Gloria Whelan, Homeless Bird

1999

Fiction: Ha Jin, Waiting

NonFiction: John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II

Poetry: Ai, Vice: New and Selected Poems

Young People’s Literature: Kimberly Willis Holt, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town

1998

Fiction: Alice McDermott, Charming Billy

NonFiction: Edward Ball, Slaves in the Family

Poetry: Gerald Stern, This Time: New and Selected Poems

Young People’s Literature: Louis Sachar, Holes

1997

Fiction: Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain

NonFiction: Joseph J. Ellis, American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson

Poetry: William Meredith, Effort at Speech: New & Selected Poems

Young People’s Literature: Han Nolan, Dancing on the Edge

1996

Fiction: Andrea Barrett, Ship Fever and Other Stories

NonFiction: James Carroll, An American Requiem: God, My Father, and the War That Came Between Us

Poetry: Hayden Carruth, Scrambled Eggs & Whiskey

Young People’s Literature: Victor Martinez, Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida

1995

Fiction: Philip Roth, Sabbath’s Theater

NonFiction: Tina Rosenberg, The Haunted Land: Facing Europe’s Ghosts After Communism

Poetry: Stanley Kunitz, Passing Through: The Later Poems

1994

Fiction: William Gaddis, A Frolic of His Own

NonFiction: Sherwin B. Nuland, How We Die: Reflections on Life’s Final Chapter

Poetry: James Tate, A Worshipful Company of Fletchers

1993

Fiction: E. Annie Proulx, The Shipping News

NonFiction: Gore Vidal, United States: Essays 1952-1992

Poetry: A. R. Ammons, Garbage

1992

Fiction: Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses

NonFiction: Paul Monette, Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story

Poetry: Mary Oliver, New & Selected Poems

1991

Fiction: Norman Rush, Mating

NonFiction: Orlando Patterson, Freedom

Poetry: Philip Levine, What Work Is

1990

Fiction: Charles Johnson, Middle Passage

NonFiction: Ron Chernow, The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance

1989

Fiction: John Casey, Spartina

NonFiction: Thomas L. Friedman, From Beirut to Jerusalem

1988

Fiction: Pete Dexter, Paris Trout

NonFiction: Neil Sheehan, A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam

1987

Fiction: Larry Heinemann, Paco’s Story

NonFiction: Richard Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb

1986

Fiction: E.L. Doctorow, World’s Fair

NonFiction: Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams

1985

Fiction: Don DeLillo, White Noise

First Work of Fiction: Bob Shacochis, Easy in the Islands

NonFiction: J. Anthony Lukas, Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families

1984

Fiction: Ellen Gilchrist, Victory Over Japan: A Book of Stories

First Work of Fiction: Harriet Doerr, Stones for Ibarra

NonFiction: Robert V. Remini, Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Democracy, 1833-1845

1983

Autobiography/Biography (hardcover): Judith Thurman, Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller

Autobiography/biography (paperback): James R. Mellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne in His Time

Children’s Book, Fiction (hardcover): Jean Fritz, Homesick: My Own Story

Children’s Book, Fiction (paperback): Joyce Carol Thomas, A Place Apart, Paula Fox; Marked By Fire

Children’s Book, NonFiction: James Cross Giblin, Chimney Sweeps

Children’s Picture Book (hardcover): William Steig, Miss Rumphius; Barbara Cooney, Doctor De Soto

Children’s Picture Book (paperback): Mary Ann Hoberman, A House Is a House for Me

Fiction (hardcover): Alice Walker, The Color Purple

Fiction (paperback): Eudora Welty, The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty

First Novel: Gloria Naylor, The Women of Brewster Place

General Nonfiction (hardcover): Fox Butterfield, China: Alive in the Bitter Sea

General Nonfiction (paperback): James Fallows, National Defense

History (hardcover): Alan Brinkley, Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin and The Great Depression

History (paperback): Frank E. Manuel and Fritzie P. Manuel, Utopian Thought in the Western World

Original Paperback: Lisa Goldstein, The Red Magician

Poetry: Charles Wright, Selected Poems, Galway Kinnell, Country Music: Selected Early Poems

Science (hardcover): Abraham Pais, “Subtle Is the Lord…”: The Science and Life of Albert Einstein

Science (paperback): Philip P. Davis and Reuben Hersh, The Mathematical Experience

Translation: Richard Howard, Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal

1982

Autobiography/Biography (hardcover): David McCullough, Mornings on Horseback

Autobiography/biography (paperback): Ronald Steel, Walter Lippmann and the American Century

Children’s Book, Fiction (hardcover): Lloyd Alexander, Westmark

Children’s Book, Fiction (paperback): Ouida Sebestyen, Words by Heart

Children’s Book, NonFiction: Susan Bonners, A Penguin Year

Children’s Book, Picture Book (hardcover): Maurice Sendak, Outside Over There

Children’s Book, Picture Book (paperback): Peter Spier, Noah’s Ark

Fiction (hardcover): John Updike, Rabbit Is Rich

Fiction (paperback): William Maxwell, So Long, See You Tomorrow

First Novel: Robb Forman Dew, Dale Loves Sophie to Death

General Nonfiction (hardcover): Tracy Kidder, The Soul of a New Machine

General Nonfiction (paperback): Victor S. Navasky, Naming Names

History (hardcover): Father Peter John Powell, People of the Sacred Mountain: A History of the Northern Cheyenne Chiefs and Warrior Societies, 1830-1879

History (paperback): Robert Wohl, The Generation of 1914

Poetry: William Bronk, Life Supports: New and Collected Poems

Science (hardcover): Donald C. Johanson and Maitland A. Edey, Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind

Science (paperback): Fred Alan Wolf, Taking the Quantum Leap: The New Physics for Nonscientists

Translation: Robert Lyons Danly, Higuchi Ichiyo’s In the Shade of Spring Leaves; Robert Lyons Danly, The Ten Thousand Leaves: A Translation of the Man’Yoshu, Japan’s Premier Anthology of Classical Poetry

1981

Autobiography/Biography (hardcover): Justin Kaplan, Walt Whitman

Autobiography/biography (paperback): Deidre Bair, Samuel Beckett

Children’s Book, Fiction (hardcover): Betsy Byars, The Night Swimmers

Children’s Book, Fiction (paperback): Beverly Cleary, Ramona and Her Mother

Children’s Book, Nonfiction (hardcover): Alison Cragin Herzig and Jane Lawrence Mali, Oh, Boy! Babies

Fiction (hardcover): Wright Morris, Plains Song

Fiction (paperback): John Cheever, The Stories of John Cheever

First Novel: Ann Arensberg, Sister Wolf

General Nonfiction (hardcover): Maxine Hong Kingston, China Men

General Nonfiction (paperback): Jane Kramer, The Last Cowboy

History (hardcover): John Boswell, Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality

History (paperback): Leon F. Litwak, Been in the Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery

Poetry: Lisel Mueller, The Need to Hold Still

Science (hardcover): Stephen Jay Gould, The Panda’s Thumb: More Reflections on Natural History

Science (paperback): Lewis Thomas, The Medusa and the Snail

Translation: John E. Woods, The Letters of Gustave Flaubert; Francis Steegmuller, Arno Schmidt’s Evening Edged in Gold

1980

Autobiography (hardcover): Lauren Bacall, By Myself

Autobiography (paperback): Malcolm Cowley, And I Worked at the Writer’s Trade

Biography (hardcover): Edmund Morris, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt

Biography (paperback): A. Scott Berg, Max Perkins:Editor of Genius

Children’s Book (hardcover): Joan W. Blos, A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl’s Journal

Children’s Book (paperback): Madeleine L’Engle, A Swiftly Tilting Planet

Current Interest (hardcover): Julia Child, Julia Child and More Company

Current Interest (paperback): Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism

Fiction (hardcover): William Styron, Sophie’s Choice

Fiction (paperback): John Irving, The World According to Garp

First Novel: William Wharton, Birdy

General Nonfiction (hardcover): Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff

General Nonfiction (paperback): Peter Matthiessen, The Snow Leopard

General Reference (hardcover): Elder Witt, ed., The Complete Directory

General Reference (paperback): Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, Complete Directory to Prime Network TV Shows: 1946-Present

History (hardcover): Henry A. Kissinger, White House Years

History (paperback): Barbara W. Tuchman, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century

Mystery (hardcover): John D. MacDonald, The Green Ripper

Mystery (paperback): William F. Buckley, Jr., Stained Glass

Poetry: Philip Levine, Ashes

Religion/Inspiration (hardcover): Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels

Religion/Inspiration (paperback): Sheldon Vanauken, A Severe Mercy

Science (hardcover): Douglas Hofstadter, Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

Science (paperback): Gary Zukav, The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics

Science Fiction (hardcover): Frederick Pohl, Jem

Science Fiction (paperback): Walter Wangerin, Jr., The Book of the Dun Cow

Translation: William Arrowsmith, Cesare Pavese’s Hard Labor; Jane Gary Harris and Constance Link, Osip E. Mandelstam’s Complete Critical Prose and Letters

Western: Louis L’Amour, Bendigo Shafter

1979

Biography/AutoBiography: Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Robert Kennedy and His Times

Children’s Book: Katherine Paterson, The Great Gilly Hopkins

Contemporary Thought: Peter Matthiessen, The Snow Leopard

Fiction: Tim O’Brian, Going After Cacciato

History: Richard Beale Davis, Intellectual Life in the Colonial South, 1585-1760

Poetry: James Merrill, Mirabell: Books of Number

Translation: Clayton Eshleman and Jose Rubin Barcia, Cesar Vallejo’s The Complete Posthumous Poetry

1978

Biography/AutoBiography: W. Jackson Bate, Samuel Johnson

Children’s Literature: Herbert Kohl and Judith Kohl, The View from the Oak

Contemporary Thought: Gloria Emerson, Winners and Losers

Fiction: Mary Lee Settle, Blood Ties

History: David McCullough, The Path Between the Seas: Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914

Poetry: Howard Nemerov, The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov

Translation: Clara Winston and Richard Winston, Uwe George’s In the Deserts of This Earth

1977

Biography/AutoBiography: W.A. Swanberg, Norman Thomas: The Last Idealist

Children’s Book: Katherine Paterson, The Master Puppeteer

Contemporary Thought: Bruno Bettleheim, The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tale

Fiction: Wallace Stegner, The Spectator Bird

History: Irving Howe, World of Our Fathers

Poetry: Richard Eberhart, Collected Poems, 1930-1976

Translation: Li-Li Ch’en, Master Tung’s Western Chamber Romance

1976

Arts and Letters: Paul Fussell, The Great War and Memory

Children’s Literature: Walter D. Edmonds, Bert Breen’s Barn

Contemporary Affairs: Michael J. Arlen, Passage to Ararat

Fiction: William Gaddis, Jr

History: David Brion Davis, The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770-1823

Poetry: John Ashbery, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror

1975

Arts and Letters: Roger Shattuck, Marcel Proust; Lewis Thomas, The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher

Biography: Richard B. Sewall, The Life of Emily Dickinson

Children’s Book: Virginia Hamilton, M.C. Higgins The Great

Contemporary Affairs: Theodore Rosengarten, All Gods Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw

Fiction: Robert Stone, Dog Soldiers; Thomas Williams, The Hair of Harold Roux

History: Bernard Bailyn, The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson

Philosophy and Religion: Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State and Utopia

Poetry: Marilyn Hacker, Presentation Piece

Science: Silvano Arieti, Interpretation of Schizophrenia

Translation: Anthony Kerrigan, Miguel D. Unamuno’s The Agony of Christianity and Essays on Faith

1974

Arts and Letters: Pauline Kael, Deeper into the Movies

Biography: Douglas Day, Malcolm Lowry: A Biography; John Clive, Macaulay: The Shaping of the Historian

Children’s Book: Eleanor Cameron, The Court of the Stone Children

Contemporary Affairs: Murray Kempton, The Briar Patch

Fiction: Isaac Bashevis Singer, A Crown of Feathers and Other Stories; Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow

History: John Clive, Macaulay: The Shaping of the Historian

Philosophy and Religion: Maurice Natanson, Edmund Husserl: Philosopher of Infinite Tasks

Poetry: Adrienne Rich, Diving into the Wreck: Poems, 1971-72; Allen Ginsberg, The Fall of America: Poems of These States

Science: S.E. Lurie, Life: The Unfinished Experiment

Translation: Helen R. Lane, Octavio Paz’s: Alternating Current; Jackson Matthews, Paul Valery’s Monsieur Teste

1973

Arts and Letters: Arthur M. Wilson, Diderot

Biography: James Thomas Flexner, George Washington, Vol. IV: Anguish and Farewell, 1793-1799

Children’s Book: Ursula K. LeGuin, The Farthest Shore

Contemporary Affairs: Frances Fitzgerald, Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam

Fiction: John Williams, Chimera, John Barth; Augustus

History: Robert Manson Myers, The Children of Pride: A True Story of Georgia and the Civil War; Isaiah Trunk, Judenrat: The Jewish Councils in Eastern Europe under Nazi Occupation

Philosophy and Religion: S.E. Ahlstrom, A Religious History of the American People

Poetry: A.R. Ammons, Collected Poems: 1951-1971

Science: George B. Schaller, The Serengeti Lion: A Study of Predator-Prey Relations

Translation: Allen Mandelbaum, Virgil’s Aeneid

1972

Arts and Letters: Charles Rosen, The Classical Style: Hayden, Mozart, Beethoven

Biography: Joseph P. Lash, Eleanor and Franklin:The Story of Their Relationship, Based on Eleanor Roosevelt’s Private Papers

Children’s Book: Donald Bartheleme, The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine or the Hithering Thithering Djinn

Contemporary Affairs: Stewart Brand, ed., The Last Whole Earth Catalog

Fiction: Flannery O’Connor, The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor

History: Allen Nevins, Ordeal of the Union, Vols. VII & VIII: The Organized War, 1863-1864 and The Organized War to Victory

Philosophy and Religion: Martin E. Marty, Righteous Empire: The Protestant Experience in America

Poetry: Howard Moss, The Collected Poems of Frank O’Hara, Frank O’Hara; Selected Poems

Science: George L. Small, The Blue Whale

Translation: Austryn Wainhouse, Jacques Monod’s Chance and Necessity

1971

Arts and Letters: Francis Steegmuller, Cocteau: A Biography

Children’s Book: Lloyd Alexander, The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian

Fiction: Saul Bellow, Mr. Sammler’s Planet

History and Biography: James MacGregor Burns, Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom

Poetry: Mona Van Duyn, To See, To Take

Science: Raymond Phineas Stearns, Science in the British Colonies of America

Translation: Frank Jones, Bertolt Brecht’s Saint Joan of the Stockyards; Edward G. Seidensticker, Yasunari Kawabata’s The Sound of The Mountain

1970

Arts and Letters: Lillian Hellman, An Unfinished Woman, A Memoir

Children’s Book: Isaac Bashevis Singer, A Day of Pleasure: Stories of a Boy Growing Up in Warsaw

Fiction: Joyce Carol Oates, Them

History and Biography: T. Harry Williams, Huey Long

Philosophy and Religion: Erik H. Erikson, Gandhi’s Truth: On the Origins of Militant Nonviolence

Poetry: Elizabeth Bishop, The Complete Poems

Translation: Ralph Manheim, Celine’s Castle to Castle

1969

Arts and Letters: Norman Mailer, The Armies of the Night: History As A Novel, The Novel As History

Children’s Literature: Meindert DeJong, Journey from Peppermint Street

Fiction: Jerzy Kosinski, Steps

History and Biography: Winthrop D. Jordan, White Over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550-1812

Poetry: John Berryman, His Toy, His Dream, His Rest

Science: Robert J. Lifton, Death in Life: Survivors of Hiroshima

Translation: William Weaver, Calvino’s Cosmicomics

1968

Arts and Letters: William Troy, Selected Essays

Fiction: Thornton Wilder, The Eighth Day

History and Biography: George F. Kennan, Memoirs: 1925-1950

Poetry: Robert Bly, The Light Around the Body

Science, Philosophy, and Religion: Jonathan Kozol, Death at an Early Age

Translation: Edna Hong and Howard Hong, Soren Kirkegaard’s Journals and Papers

1967

Arts and Letters: Justin Kaplan, Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain

Fiction: Bernard Malamud, The Fixer

History and Biography: Peter Gay, The Enlightenment, Vol. 1: An Interpretation

Poetry: James Merrill, Nights and Days

Science, Philosophy, and Religion: Oscar Lewis, La Vida

Translation: Gregory Rabassa, Julio Cortazar’s Hopscotch; Willard Trask, Casanova’s History of My Life

1966

Arts and Letters: Janet Flanner, Paris Journal, 1944-1965

Fiction: Katherine Anne Porter, The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter

History and Biography: Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House

Poetry: James Dickey, Buckdancer’s Choice: Poems

1965

Arts and Letters: Eleanor Clark, Oysters of Lockmariaquer

Fiction: Saul Bellow, Herzog

History and Biography: Louis Fisher, The Life of Lenin

Poetry: Theodore Roethke, The Far Field

Science, Philosophy, and Religion: Norbert Wiener, God and Golem, Inc.: A Comment on Certain Points Where Cybernetics Impinges on Religion

1964

Arts and Letters: Aileen Ward, John Keats: The Making of a Poet

Fiction: John Updike, The Centaur

History and Biography: William H. McNeill, The Rise of the West

Poetry: John Crowe Ransom, Selected Poems

Science, Philosophy, and Religion: Christopher Tunnard and Boris Pushkarev, Man-Made America

1963

Fiction: J.F. Powers, Morte d’Urban

NonFiction: Leon Edel, Henry James: Vol. II, The Conquest of London; Vol. III, The Middle Years

Poetry: William Stafford, Traveling Through the Dark

1962

Fiction: Walker Percy, The Moviegoer

NonFiction: Lewis Mumford, The City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospect

Poetry: Alan Dugan, Poems

1961

Fiction: Conrad Richter, The Waters of Kronos

NonFiction: William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

Poetry: Randall Jarrell, The Woman at the Washington Zoo

1960

Fiction: Philip Roth, Goodbye Columbus

NonFiction: Richard Ellman, James Joyce

Poetry: Robert Lowell, Life Studies

1959

Fiction: Bernard Malamud, The Magic Barrel

NonFiction: J. Christopher Herold, Mistress to an Age: A Life of Madame De Stael

Poetry: Theodore Roethke, Words for the Wind

1958

Fiction: John Cheever, The Wapshot Chronicle

NonFiction: Catherine Drinker Bowen, The Lion and the Throne

Poetry: Robert Penn Warren, Promises: Poems, 1954-1956

1957

Fiction: Wright Morris, The Field of Vision

NonFiction: George F. Kennan, Russia Leaves the War

Poetry: Richard Wilbur, Things of the World

1956

Fiction: John O’Hara, Ten North Frederick

NonFiction: Herbert Kubly, An American in Italy

Poetry: W.H. Auden, The Shield of Achilles

1955

Fiction: William Faulkner, A Fable

NonFiction: Joseph W. Krutch, The Measure of Man

Poetry: Wallace Stevens, The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens

1954

Fiction: Saul Bellow, The Adventures of Augie March

NonFiction: Bruce Catton, A Stillness at Appomattox

Poetry: Conrad Aiken, Collected Poems

1953

Fiction: Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

NonFiction: Bernard A. De Voto, The Course of an Empire

Poetry: Archibald MacLeish, Collected Poems, 1917-1952

1952

Fiction: James Jones, From Here to Eternity

NonFiction: Rachel Carson, The Sea Around Us

Poetry: Marianne Moore, Collected Poems

1951

Fiction: William Faulkner, The Collected Stories of William Faulkner

NonFiction: Newton Arvin, Herman Melville

Poetry: Wallace S3tevens, The Auroras of Autumn

1950

Fiction: Nelson Algren, The Man with the Golden Arm

NonFiction: Ralph L. Rusk, Ralph Waldo

Poetry: William Carlos Williams, Paterson: Book III and Selected Poems

Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters

The National Book Foundation has two separate lifetime achievement awards. The first is the Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. The winner of this award is an author who contributed to American literature during a lifetime of work. The award comes with a medal and a $10,000 cash prize. The past winners of the Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters are:

1991 – Eudora Welty
1992 – James Laughlin
1993 – Clifton Fadiman
1994 – Gwendolyn Brooks
1995 – David McCullough
1996 – Toni Morrison
1997 – Studs Terkel
1998 – John Updike
1999 – Oprah Winfrey
2000 – Ray Bradbury
2001 – Arthur Miller
2002 – Philip Roth
2003 – Stephen King
2004 – Judy Blume
2005 – Norman Mailer
2006 – Adrienne Rich
2007 – Joan Didion
2008 – Maxine Hong Kingston

Literarian Award

The Literarian Award is the second lifetime achievement award that is handed out by the National Book Foundation. It goes to the author whose work over the years best exemplifies the NBF’s goals and objectives. The Literarian Award winners from the past are:

2005 – Lawrence Ferlinghetti
2006 – Robert B. Silvers and Barbara Epstein
2007 – Terry Gross
2008 – Barney Rosset

How Can I Get Free Magazines?

January 28th, 2013 |

Mr. Deb,

I am student from Algeria. I’d like to get some free magazines (in English), to learn English, like “TIME” or “NEWSWEEK”. Please can you tell me how I can.

Thank you seriously.

Student

Dear Student of English,

You already write the language pretty well: better than many Americans, I’m afraid.

That being said, if you want free magazines, there are a number of ways to get them. Some companies don’t ship as readily outside the continental U.S. as others, so I’m not sure what manner of problems you’ll have finding the type of magazine you want. Just to be sure, I’ll give you several ideas about how to get free magazines.

Get a Trial Subscription – Visit promotional websites and look for “trial subscriptions” to their magazines. Promotional websites that might offer what you’re looking for include all-freemagazines.com, freebizmag.com and magazineoutlet.com. Some “free subscription” websites require you register with a credit card. If that’s the case, move on to the next promotional site for magazines. If you don’t want the hassle of unsubscribing to this free promotion or if you fear you’ll have trouble getting out of the promotion, those in America can buy a Visa or Mastercard gift card, sign up for their free subscription using that gift card, use the gift card to buy groceries or gas before the automatic renewal deadline is up, and when they go to charge your credit card, there’s no money for their computer automated scam to take.
Ask Local Businesses For Their Old Magazines – Any business that has a lobby or a break room is likely to have magazines laying out for the customers. These people are eventually going to throw their old magazines in the trash when the new arrivals come. Go into these businesses and ask for their old magazines, telling them you are a student who wants English material to read and have trouble getting a subscription in your home country. You should find someone who’s understanding and who frankly doesn’t want the trouble of throwing out old periodicals, and you can walk away with an armful. They might be a little dated, but I often go back months and read old magazines, if the journalism is good.
Solicit the Company Itself – Email “Time Magazine” or “Newsweek Magazine” itself and ask them for a free complimentary magazine. Explain your situation and tell them you want to read their fine magazine, perfect your English and learn about today’s issues from an American perspective. The editors of either of these magazines might send you a complimentary magazine or two, just for the sake of public relations. Here is the information for both Newsweek and Time.
- Time Magazine – Email the editors of Time and ask them personally for a free magazine. They probably won’t respond, but you never know. Heck, they might even print your request in the magazine if your story is compelling enough. You can also get a free Time e-newsletter sent to your email address daily. These email alerts, found at http://ebm.cheetahmail.com/r/regf2?a=0&aid=1078532063&n=1, give you the latest breaking important news from the perspective of Time. These free newsletters include daily news, the Top 10 weekly stories, special political news, a look at the week ahead and updates on Time features. Remember to avoid clicking Time Marketplace, which are just email offers for subscriptions and their like.
- You can read free Time stories from back issues at the Time Magazine online archives at http://www.time.com/time/archive/index.html?xid=link-cm-archive. These are the original stories from the magazine itself, including coverage of stories from yesteryear. In fact, you can read Time articles online from publications all the way back to 1923.
- Newsweek Magazine – International readers can inquire about back issues of Newsweek Magazine by calling 212-445-5811 or emailing internationalsubs@newsweekmag.com. Of you can ask for free copies of Newsweek at http://www.nwsub.com/newsweek/public/contact.asp. If that doesn’t work, ask if Newsweek has the kind of free e-newsletter that Time Magazine offers. You might get a gift subscription of free complementary magazine just for asking.

Getting Free Magazines

People in North America have it a lot easier finding free magazines. For instance, most public libraries have subscriptions to the major magazine publications, so you can go to the library, read from the library’s supply of magazines and never have to order your own subscription.

Also, you can see if your workplace has magazines sitting around. If they do, ask if you can collect the old copies of the magazines to take home with you to read. Or you could even write in on contests and other promotions and get your letter to the editor published. These usually come with a free magazine subscription for a year.

I hope you can find one method above that allows you to collect the magazines you wan to learn to read English better.

Good luck.

What Are the Locus Awards?

January 28th, 2013 |

In the field of science fiction and fantasy literature, there are a number of awards to honor and recognize the year’s best. There are the Hugos, the Nebulas, and, the awards with the largest fan participation, the Locus Awards. The Locus Awards are an annual event held and sponsored by Locus Magazine, one of the largest magazines that cover the field of sci-fi and fantasy. The winners of the Locus Awards are chosen by a poll of the magazine’s readers. Fans of science fiction and fantasy can be die-hard in their obsession with their favorite genre. Even though the editors of Locus Magazine select the final nominees for consideration, it is up to the fans to choose the years best.

Locus Magazine and the Origins of the Locus Awards

Locus Magazine is a monthly magazine, published in the United States, that has been covering the science fiction and fantasy writing industry since 1968. The magazine contains reviews, articles, interviews with authors, and listings of new books. They have won the Hugo award for Best Fanzine eight times and the award for Best Semiprozine 21 times.

The Locus Awards were created back in 1971, three years after the founding of Locus Magazine. The awards were originally created as a means of providing recommendations to the voters of the Hugo Awards. The first annual Locus Awards were given out for works published the previous year in 1970. Because the awards are voted on by fans and readers of Locus Magazine, it is easily larger than either the Hugo Awards or the Nebula Awards.

The actual trophy for the each category of the Locus Awards is a plaque whose design changes from year to year. Writers who win in each category receive a plaque while winning publishers receive just a certificate. The Locus Awards have always been presented at an annual banquet that has been held in different locations throughout the years. However, starting in 2006, the awards ceremony was moved to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame and Museum in Seattle.

Locus Award Categories and Rules

There are a number of rules and requirements for the Locus Award nominations. The works to be considered must have been published in the previous year and are based on actual publication, not the official publication date. The fans and readers of Locus Magazine go through a process to choose the year’s nominations for each category. The nominations are then presented to twenty publishers. Votes are counted according to what is known as the “Carr system”. This gives each nominee a set number of points according to how they are ranked. For instance, a first-place vote gets 8 points, second-place vote gets 7 points, etc. At the end of voting, the nominee with the most points wins. In 2005, the rules were changed so that the top five finishers in each category were revealed as ‘finalists’.

There are currently fifteen categories for the Locus Awards. They are: Best SF Novel, Best Fantasy Novel,Young Adult Book, First Novel, Novella, Novellette, Short Story, Collection, Anthology, Non-Fiction, Art Book, Editor, Magazine, Publisher, Artist

Locus Award Controversy

Despite the success of the Locus Awards, they have drawn their share of criticism. One main criticism is that Locus Magazine has too much influence on who gets nominated. The same month that the voting ballot is issued, the magazine publishes a recommended reading list. The claims are that this list is too suggestive and influential on readers. The ballot is not limited to the books on the reading list and fans can always write in their own nomination but the chances of these write-ins winning are slim.

Another big criticism is that Locus Magazine allowed anyone who visited their website to cast a vote. Traditionally, all voting had been done by subscribers to the magazine. When online voting was opened up, the results pushed away from the magazine’s recommended list of books. So in order to gain some control over the direction of the awards, Locus decided after the voting was complete to double the value of the votes of the Locus subscribers. This brought about harsh criticisms of unfair voting and favoritism by the Locus editors.

Locus Award Winners

The categories for the Locus Awards have changed over the years. Some categories have since been retired. To make things easy, here is a list of the winners for the top two categories, science fiction and fantasy novels, since 1971.

2008

Best SF Novel: The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon

Best Fantasy Novel: Making Money by Terry Pratchett

2007

Best Sci-Fi Novel: Rainbow’s End by Vernor Vinge

Best Fantasy Novel: The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner

2006

Best Sci-Fi Novel: Accelerando by Charles Stross

Best Fantasy Novel: Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

2005

Best Sci-Fi Novel: The Baroque Cycle: The Confusion; The System of the World by Neil Stephenson

Best Fantasy Novel: Iron Council by China Mieville

2004

Best Sci-Fi Novel: Ilium by Dan Simmons

Best Fantasy Novel: Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold

2003

Best Sci-Fi Novel: The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson

Best Fantasy Novel: The Scar by China Mieville

2002

Best Sci-Fi Novel: Passage by Connie WIllis

Best Fantasy Novel: American Gods by Neil Gaiman

2001

Best Sci-Fi Novel: The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin

Best Fantasy Novel: A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin

2000

Best Sci-Fi Novel: Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

Best Fantasy Novel: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

1999

Best Sci-Fi Novel: To Say Nothing of the Dog byConnie Willis

Best Fantasy Novel: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

1998

Best Sci-Fi Novel: The Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons

Best Fantasy Novel: Earthquake Weather by Tim Powers

1997

Best Sci-Fi Novel: Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Best Fantasy Novel: A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

1996

Best Sci-Fi Novel: The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

Best Fantasy Novel: Alvin Journeyman by Orson Scott Card

1995

Best Sci-Fi Novel: Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold

Best Fantasy Novel: Brittle Innings by Michael Bishop

1994

Best Sci-Fi Novel: Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Best Fantasy Novel: The Innkeeper’s Song by Peter S. Beagle

1993

Best Sci-Fi Novel: Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

Best Fantasy Novel: Last Call by Tim Powers

1992

Best Sci-Fi Novel: Barraya by Lois McMaster Bujold

Best Fantasy Novel: Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper

1991

Best Sci-Fi Novel: The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Best Fantasy Novel: Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

1990

Best Sci-Fi Novel: Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Best Fantasy Novel: Prentice Alvin by Orson Scott Card

1989

Best Sci-Fi Novel: Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh

Best Fantasy Novel: Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card

1988

Best Sci-Fi Novel: The Uplift War by David Brin

Best Fantasy Novel: Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card

1987

Best Sci-Fi Novel: Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

Best Fantasy Novel: Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolf

1986

Best Sci-Fi Novel: The Postman by David Brin

Best Fantasy Novel: Trumps of Doom by Roger Zelazny

1985

Best Sci-Fi Novel: The Integral Trees by Larry Niven

Best Fantasy Novel: Job: A Comedy of Justice by Robert A. Heinlein

1984

Best Sci-Fi Novel: Startide Rising by David Brin

Best Fantasy Novel: The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

1983

Best Sci-Fi Novel: Foundation’s Edge by Isaac Asimov

Best Fantasy Novel: The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolf

1982

Best Sci-Fi Novel: The Many-Colored Land by Juliam May

Best Fantasy Novel: The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolf

1981

Best Sci-Fi Novel: The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge

Best Fantasy Novel: Lord Valentine’s Castle by Robert Silverberg

1980

Best Sci-Fi Novel: Titan by John Varley

Best Fantasy Novel: Harpist in the Wind by Patricia A. McKillip

1979

Best Novel: Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

1978

Best Sci-Fi Novel: Gateway by Frederick Pohl

Best Fantasy Novel: The Silmarillion by J.R. R. Tolkien

1977

Best Novel: Where the Late Sweet Birds Sings by Kate Wilhelm

1976

Best Novel: The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

1975

Best Novel: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

1974

Best Novel: Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

1973

Best Novel: The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov

1972

Best Novel: The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin

1971

Best Novel: Ringworld by Larry Niven

How to Find the Best Interior Design Books

January 28th, 2013 |

Figuring out how to find the best interior design books out of the piles and piles of books out there can be a real chose. Whether you’re a student of interior design or just a layperson preparing to redecorate and design your home, the best interior design books act both as a resource for interior design and reference tool for decorating. But before you go out and buy the first interior design book you can find, you need to know what design books are well-reviewed and which ones are just collections of pretty pictures. From modern design to more traditional styles, there are books all over the market to guide you on your path.

The quickest browse through your local bookstore will show you that there are tons of titles to choose from. How can you know which ones will actually help? Sure, you can read online customer reviews on Amazon or look for reviews of newest titles in interior design periodicals like Dwell, but why not choose a book that professional interior decorators use themselves?

Top Interior Design Books

When picking a book to help you with interior design, knowing which are the top interior design books and which are at the bottom of the sales barrel is super helpful. After all, if a book sells well, it must have something going for it. Here’s the top interior design books based on numbers from publishers.

1. Paula Deen’s Savannah Style

This is considered one of the best interior design books just because of its popularity and the popularity of its author. Paula Deen is known for her Southern cooking style and TV show on the Food network. In this best selling and much loved interior design book, Deen shares photographs of her beautiful home in Savannah, Georgia and offers lots of anecdotal stories behind her design tactics and even shares her ideas about how just about anyone can utilize her design ideas in their space. Deen firmly believes that style isn’t just about colors and curtains — and as a bonus, Deen throws in delicious recipes for entertaining at home or enjoying a night in. This book is a fun read, even if you’re not planning on designing your home in the “Savannah style”.

2. Apartment Therapy’s Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces

One of the best interior design books for people with little room or not much of a budget, this text by Maxwell Gillingham attempts to teach people how to turn their tiny apartment into a beautiful designed lovable home. You may know Gillingham from her super popular interior design website “Apartment Therapy”, and the info in this book is more than just a collection of her most popular blog posts. Want to add comfort and style to your tiny space? Reach for this book.

3. Downtown Chic: Designing Your Dream Home

A team of three interior designers came together to offer this, one of the best interior design books for people looking to add a modern flair to their home in the city. Another bonus — this book is full of “before and after” photos of ten actual design projects, giving you the confidence you need to transform even the ugliest and most cramped space into something you can be proud of.

4. The Home Within Us

The subtitle of this book is Romantic Houses, Evocative Rooms which should give you some idea of the content. Don’t look for modern ideas or contemporary solutions from this text — the decoraters prefer classic motifs to the uber modern styles so prevalent in today’s designs. One thing to consider — this nearly 400 page book, though full of color photos and lots of great design ideas, will run you well over $50, so this is not the best interior design book for designers on a budget.

5. American Modern

This book, mostly written by famous designer and buyer for the stars Thomas O’Brien, translates “cool modernism” into easy to manage styles that even the smallest budget can pull off. Lots of different design features, from the most casual breakfast nook design to extremely formal and vintage looks. Three examples of O’Briens own design projects are presented, from a downtown New York City loft to a beautifully converted old schoolhouse. It isn’t all pretty pictures and braggadocio — O’Brien made sure to include the basics of design principles like architecture, color, scale, and even collecting. This book is a practical narrative that could act as a sort of “master class” for those interested in design. One of the more popular and best selling interior design books.

6. Domino: The Book of Decorating

One of the best and most popular interior design magazines, Domino, presents this guide to taking simple steps to turn your home into a stylish oasis. This is an interior design book aimed at novice decorators who just want to add a little style to their home. Some things you’ll learn from this book — how to form your “personal style”, knowing what items to keep and which to throw out, and even instructions on how to make a budget. This book is known for its simple suggestions and tons of full-color photographs. Most important — the book is full of extra resources and recommendations for a few extra best interior design books make this nearly indispensable.

7. The Big-Ass Book of Home Decor

With an irreverent title like that, you should expect a bit of an off-the-wall interior design book. DIY expert Mark Montano contains a whole library amount of solutions to your interior design projects, and the combination of good advice and whimsical stories make this one of the best interior design books on the market. This book offers over 100 simple projects for every room in your home from buying the right accessories, to painting walls and adding windows.

The best interior design books are easy to read and full of practical advice. You don’t need a degree in design or experience working with interior design in order to design a beautiful interior for your home. Grab a couple of the books from the above list and make your decorating job even easier. Your new beautiful home will thank you.

What Is the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal?

January 28th, 2013 |

Everyone who grew up with reading the Little House books or watching Little House on the Prairie on television should know Laura Ingalls Wilder. She was a school teacher and author who grew up in the 1800’s. What everyone may not know is that she was a real person and has a literary award named after her. The Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal is given to an author or illustrator who has been an influence and made lasting contributions to children’s literature. The award is administered by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association (or ALA). The Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, also known as just the Wilder Award, is but one literary medal given out by the ALA. The medal is named after its first recipient, Laura Ingalls Wilder, in 1954 and is given out every two years. The Wilder Award is one of a handful of prominent awards for children’s authors.

History of Laura Ingalls Wilder Award

The Wilder Award was named after Laura Ingalls Wilder, who was born in Wisconsin in 1867. She was an elementary school teacher who moved to Missouri in 1894, where she lived until her death in 1957. She is best known as the author who wrote the Little House series of children’s books which were based on her childhood growing up in a pioneer family. Her first book, The Little House in the Big Woods, was published in 1932. It told the story of a young girl named Laura and her family’s struggles trying to make a life in 1800’s Wisconsin. Wilder wrote the books in order to tell children about ordinary life in early America. Her other books include Farmer Boy (1933), Little House on the Prairie (1935), On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937), and By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939).

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal was conceived and named at the time of her death. The award was originally given out every five years. However, in 1980, the ALA changed that ruling to every three eyears. Finally in 2001, the rules were changed again so that the medal could be awarded every two years which is still the current ruling at this time.

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal is a bronze medal with an engraving of a young girl’s face. It was designed by the artist Garth Williams, who illustrated the Little House on the Prairie books. The award’s title surround the image, wrapping around the edge of the medal.

Criteria and Rules for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award

Like all medals warded by the ALA, there are rules and requirements for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal. The medal may be awarded to either an author or illustrator (including both co-authors and co-illustrators) of childen’s books or a children’s author that does both. The person may be living but recipients may also be nominated after death. The author must have some experience in children’s literature within the past twenty-five years. They do not necessarily have to be solely an author of children’s literature but some of their work must be for children within the last ten years..

Unlike other American literature awards, U.S. citizenship is not a rerquirement and is not to be considered. Nor does the book have to be first published in the United States. As long as the book, at some point, has been published by a U.S. publisher, it will be considered. To qualify for the Wilder Award, all nominees must be recognized as an important piece of literature and children have read and continue to request to read the books.

A committee of judges are selected by the ALA to choose the winners of the Wilder Award. The committee’s job is to consider an author’s work that is suitable for children. They are not to consider work for other age groups. The Wilder Awards are announced at the ALA Midwinter Meeting and the recipients receive the medal at the Annual Conference in June of that year.

Winners of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award

Below is a list of the past Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal. Some of them were chosen when the five year ruling ands three year ruling were still in effect.

2009: Ashley Bryan (1923 – )

2007: James Marshall (1942 – 1992)

2005: Laurence Yep (1948 – )

2003: Eric Carle (1929 – )

2001: Milton Meltzer (1915 – )

1998: Russell Freedman (1929 – )

1995: Virginia Hamilton (1936 – )

1992: Marcia Brown (1918 – )

1989: Elizabeth George Speare (1908 – 1995)

1986: Jean Fritz (1915 – )

1983: Maurice Sendak (1928 – )

1980: Theodor S. Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) (1904 – 1991)

1975: Beverly Cleary (1916 – )

1970: E. B. White (1899 – 1985)

1965: Ruth Sawyer (1880-1970)

1960: Clara Ingram Judson (1879 – 1960)

1954: Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957)

What Are the Hugo Awards?

January 28th, 2013 |

Just about every marketable industry has some type of awards ceremony. After all, it is nice to be recognized by your peers. For the science fiction and fantasy literature industry, the highest literary honor that you can possibly win is a Hugo Award. It is the equivalent of receiving an Academy Award in the science fiction field. It is given out every year to honor the achievements and extraordinary works or writers, editors, publishers, and artists from the previous year.

The Hugo Awards are held at the international Worldcon convention and the nominees are voted on by the members of the World Science Fiction Society, which number in the thousands. The Hugo Awards go back several decades. Each year five nominees in each of the several categories are picked and voted on. The results are then revealed during the Worldcon convention.

What Is Worldcon?

Worldcon is also known as the World Science Fiction Convention and is held every year at a different location around the world. It first started in 1939 and has been held every year since except for the years during World War II (1942 to 1945). The convention is held by the World Science Fiction Society whose members are from all over the world. This international convention holds activities such as panel discussions, autograph sessions, socializing, gaming, costume contests, and other activities suited for fans of the genre.

The World Science Fiction Society (or WSFS) is an unincorporated society. This means it’s not a company for profit. It doesn’t have any officers or a formal council. Its main purpose is solely to sponsor Worldcon and promote the industry.

How The Hugos Got Started

The Hugo Awards have been held at Worldcon since 1955. They are named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the popular pulp science fiction magazine Amazing Stories. The very first awards were given out at the 11th Annual Worldcon in 1953. A guy named Hal Lynch had the idea to hand out some awards and had a series of trophies made that resembled a steel rocketship. Btu it wasn’t until two years later that the awards became a permanent part of the convention. The original name for the awards was the Annual Science Fiction Achievement Award. “Hugo” was just a nickname for it. But then in 1993, it was voted to change the official name to the Hugo Awards.

The trophy is still based on the same original design of a rocketship. However, every year the base is designed and voted on by WSFC members so the trophy’s base is different every year. The rocketship, of course, symbolizes early science fiction and remains an icon today.

The Voting Process

The nominatiosn for the Hugo Awards takes place between January and March of every year. WSFS members are allowed to nominate up to five people or works of science fiction and fantasy from the previous year for each catergory. Eventhough there are thousands of Worldcon members, only aroun 600 or so actually nominate and vote. By mid to end of April a list with all of the finalists in each category is announced. This ballot with all of the finalists is mailed to the members of the Worldcon. Voting for the final ballot usually invovles around a thousand members, more than in the nomination process. The ballot is a preferential ballot so all of the voters can rank the nominees. This usually ends around end of July, although it varies depending on when Worldcon is held that year. Then when Worldconis held, all of the winners are announced during the Hugo Awards ceremony.

Hugo Award Categories

There are many categories for the Hugo Awards. They include awards for everyone from the authors to the people who helped get the book published to the artists that illustrate them. There are even awards for fans. Here is a list of all the categories for the Hugos.

Hugo Award for Best Novel
Hugo Award for Best Novella
Hugo Award for Best Novelette
Hugo Award for Best Short Story
Hugo Award for Best Related Book
Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine
Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist
Hugo Award for Best Editor Long Form
Hugo Award for Best Editor Short Form
Hugo Award for Best Fanzine
Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer
Hugo Award For Best Fan Artist
The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

What Are Some Traditional Holiday Books for Kids?

January 28th, 2013 |

Traditional holiday books work on a number of levels. One the one hand, they instruct. I remember learning about the true meaning of Christmas by leafing through an old copy of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and to this day my holiday season feels incomplete without a recitation of this classic. These books don’t just educate, they entertain. Traditional holiday books are the best way for parents to pass on their own holiday tradition to children, and they make the perfect gift for newborn babies all the way up to adults with kids of their own.

One benefit of these books is that they work in all settings. If your kids are too young to read a book by themselves, you can enjoy some special time with them by reading the book out loud to them. Rather than planting your kid in front of the television, consider stocking up on traditional holiday books to fill down time. These days, “traditional” books means everything from old classic stories up to modern day takes on the holiday season. Spread your family traditions, or start new ones, with some of these books.

We have plans to expand this page with information about
holiday coloring books for children soon.

Traditional Christmas Books for Kids

Growing up, my family was very traditional about Christmas. Less an emphasis on presents and commercialism, Christmas was a time to enjoy family and friends, warm fires, and family traditions. Though most of the books we read (and even the music we listened to) during Christmas was traditional in nature, every now and then a “new classic” would make it to the list. Christmas is most likely your kid’s favorite time of year already — why not liven it up even more by sharing some of your favorite Christmas books or some of the best-loved Christmas book traditions from around the world? Here’s just a few classic pieces of Christmas literature.

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, Clement Clarke Moore — The most traditional of traditional holiday books, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas is an oldie but a goodie. Full of silly rhymes and promises of goodies to come make this a favorite among kids, and once you get into the habit of reading it every Christmas, it will be a favorite of yours too. The traditional title of this book is “A Visit from St. Nicholas”.
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens — Endlessly rehashed, rewritten, and made into any number of terrible films, this classic novella tells the story of a miser who has an opportunity to change his ways. Read a little bit of this story every night in the days leading up to Christmas. Your kids will have a special memory for the rest of their lives.
The Polar Express, Chris Van Allsburg — This “new classic” (published in 1985) was made into an animated feature in recent years, but nothing surpasses the original. Beautiful illustrations that have a calming effect on parents and kids sit alongside a story that’s built to please.

Traditional Halloween Books for Kids

Children don’t need a reason to get excited about Halloween — any situation that leads to candy will pique their interest. But with so many TV specials and movies about Halloween, it is nice to get your kid’s eyes off the screen and onto a book every now and then. Some parents take issue with Halloween. They consider it a pagan tradition. Still other parents think of Trick or Treating as dangerous — rumors abound of candy tainted with poison or broken glass. This is a good time for parents to help educate their kids about what Halloween is and how to enjoy it safely.

Celebrate Halloween (with Pumpkins, Costumes, and Candy), Deborah Heiligman — To help your kids understand the cultural value of Halloween (and to have some decent recipes and ideas for Halloween goodies around) pick up this edition of the National Geographic Holidays Around the World series. This book is full of information and full-color photos.
What Was I Scared Of? Dr. Seuss — Dr. Seuss is a favorite in the world of traditional holiday books. This text is not exactly Halloween-centered, but can provide your kids a lesson in how to deal with fear. Complete with the kinds of illustrations you expect from a Seuss text, make this short book a part of your family’s annual Halloween tradition.
The Berenstain Bears Trick or Trick, Stan Berenstain — This book works on two levels by telling the story of a pair of siblings out Trick or Treating without parental guidance for the first time while also instructing your kids on not judging people by their appearance. The Berenstain Bears were a favorite of mine as a kid, and this book teaches Halloween safety without being too preachy.

Traditional Thanksgiving Books for Kids

Thanksgiving books for children are not as popular or prevalent as books about Christmas or Halloween, but play an important role in a child’s understanding and appreciation of the founding of our country. What kids learn in school about Thanksgiving is not always accurate or interesting. I remember sitting through a boring “lecture” about pilgrims and Plymouth Rock and pretty much drowning it all out in favor of the cool pictures in the history book of Indians and piles of delicious food. Thanksgiving is really misunderstood among children, so pick up one of these books to educate and entertain your kids this next November.

Jamestown, James E. Knight — The story of Jamestown is told to two children by “an original colonist”. This book tries to highlight all the big points of American history as they relate to Thanksgiving and Jamestown. This is a fairly serious book with beautiful illustrations.
If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620, Ann McGovern — This is a question-and-answer style book meant to teach kids what happened on the journey from England to America. This book presents some fairly heavy concepts, like the Mayflower Compact, alongside more light-hearted tales.
The Night Before Thanksgiving, Natasha Wing — If you and your kids love Twas the Night Before Christmas, pick up this Thanksgiving-themed imitation.

Nothing says “tradition” like a book the whole family loves. Make some appropriate snacks (pumpkin cookies for Halloween, wassail for Christmas, etc) and share your favorite traditional holiday books with your family. Maybe one day they’ll continue the tradition with a family of their own.

The Best Geology Books

January 28th, 2013 |

The best geology books aren’t just textbooks — rock hounds and people interested in the science of geology are more common than you might think. Geology, after all, is the study of the history of our very planet, and many other sciences require an understanding of geology. The next time you’re at the beach and see people using metal detectors, they must in fact be amateur geologists looking for interesting rocks, meteorites, etc.

The best geology books are those that are easy to read but still crammed with hard scientific fact to educate and keep you up to date with recent innovations in geology tech. Look for one of the following three titles at big name bookstores — you won’t even have to set foot on a college campus to increase your understanding of geology.

Top Geology Text Books

Top geology text books are quite naturally the best selling books of that genre. Though you may not be able to buy the best geology books at your local Barnes and Noble, the Internet is a great source for books on rock science.

Here’s the most popular geology books based on sales alone.

The Practical Geologist: The Introductory Guide to the Basics of Geology and to Collecting and Identifying Rocks, Dougal Dixon

This is considered one of the best geology books because it consider geology not just a hard science but an outlet for people looking to collect unique and interesting rocks and gemstones. Dougal Dixon was a geology student in college and has become a well-known science writer who specializes in all the earth sciences in general. His other popular books include titles like A Zoology of the Future, The New Dinosaurs, Man After Man, and Time Exposure. This book explores some of the most basic principles of geology all the way up to details of starting and maintaining a rock, mineral, and gemstone collection. As far as a basic introduction to the world of earth science, you could do much worse.

The book starts out with a brief and easy to understand history of how the Earth was formed and developed, and continues by defining the substances that make up our planet. There are chapters on tectonic movements of the Earth, the impact of weather and water on geology, and a cool and detailed description of geological formations underwater and underground.

But it doesn’t stop there — The Practical Geologist is a primer on how to find, identify, and collect samples of all kinds of rocks and minerals. For each rock and mineral type, there is an explanation of what it is, why it is important, and where you might find it. If you’re looking for a non-textbook guide to rocks, minerals, and gemstones, Dougal Dixon’s text is a must-have.

Geology: A Self-Teaching Guide, Barbara W. Murck

Further proof that you don’t have to take college classes to gain an understanding of geology, this book (by a female geologist, something of a rarity in that field) advertises itself as “a learning journey through billions of years of Earth history.”

Considered indispensable by amateur geologists, Murck’s guide to geology fundamentals is a great way to introduce yourself (or the future college student in your life) to everything from the basics of geology and rock formation to minerals and why they’re important. Murck also throws in a brief history of fossil fuels (and an explanation of why and how they work) as well as a guide to earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, and other “pop topics” in geology.

Even better, Murck’s book offers quizzes and self-tests to help make sure you remember what you’ve read. Because of these quizzes, Murck’s book is an even handier guide than the Dixon test for future students of geology. There are also tons more illustrations in the Murck text than with Dixon — one hundred beautiful illustrations commissioned specifically for this edition. Not just illustrations, but color photographs used to clear up hard-to-understand geology concepts make this text easy to read, easy to learn, and super interactive for students and amateur geology hounds alike. Allowing you to check your progress as you go and quiz yourself, there’s no better into to geology outside of a college textbook.

The Field Guide to Geology, David Lambert

This book, unlike the others on our list, is aimed more at the professional geologist or scientist who needs a handy guide to practical geology. This book has gone through multiple editions, and is often used as a textbook in geology departments around the country. While not one of the overall “best geology books” because of its limited range, there’s at least one section of this book that outshines others in the field.

First published in 1998, since the technology for fieldwork in the science of geology keeps improving, so do the new editions of this text. There’s even a special chapter for innovations in geology, “Monitoring Earth”. To be honest, this chapter is the most striking feature of this text, with all kinds of general overviews of new geology tech, some written and analyzed in great detail, and always using a vocabulary that is relevant to the field without being over the head of the new student of geology. Concepts covered in “Monitoring Earth” include the newer technologies of satellite laser ranging (a new technique scientists use to measure continental drift and change) and the use of satellites for mapping the ozone layer in all its glory.

Unfortunately, the rest of The Field Guide to Geology is pretty much ersatz textbook type material — how the planet was formed, the basics of plate tectonics, the formation of Earth, and figuring out Earth’s history by examining fossils and other old rocks. Some critics argue that the information presented here is too generic, too “dumbed down” for the true student of geology, but I found the illustrations beautiful and illuminating, on the level of the Barbara Murck text above.

For people interested in geology, there are a multitude of textbooks available at the local campus bookstore. The downside to textbooks is that they are dry and aimed more at students of the hard sciences than the casual fan. Luckily, there are plenty of books in this field that can be called the “best geology books” without requiring a bachelor’s degree in Earth Science to understand. If you want to learn more about the fascinating history of our planet, are interested in collecting rocks, gemstones, or minerals, or just want to expand your science library, the tree texts above are perfect choices.

How to Buy Discount Textbooks

January 28th, 2013 |

Believe it or not, learning how to buy discount textbooks is simple. College costs are high enough as it is without the addition of several hundred or even thousands of dollars worth of textbook costs added in. Even though an instructor can require you to buy multiple textbooks for a single class, they can’t require you to buy the book new. The best way to subtract from the bottom line of college costs? Buy used textbooks at a huge discount.

Why Buy Discount Textbooks

Besides the obvious reasons for buying a textbook used (the low price) there are other advantages you may not have thought about.

Buying used textbooks is “green”. You save a ton of paper for every textbook you buy used. If you’re the type of person that practices recycling as a kind of religion, it doesn’t make sense to keep buying brand new textbooks.
Discount textbook vendors sometimes offer great package deals. This is especially true of online used textbook vendors — they’ll ship you a “bonus” package of things you may need during your studies, everything from free filler paper or supplies to coupons to local restaurants and other goodies.
If you’re lucky, a used textbook may include notes from former owners. Complex medical textbooks are notoriously well “noted”, and if you missed a lecture or just need a quick refresher on a topic, having a former student’s notes on a topic could give you that last boost you need to score an A.
College students think people who buy discount textbooks are sexy. Okay, so this one’s a bit of a stretch, but if the hot blond in your Geology lecture notices the bright yellow “USED” sticker on your book, he or she will know that you’re financially-savvy. Saving money at the bookstore means more money for the bar, which is always a plus in the dating scene.

How Do Used Textbooks Work?

Many college students go on the hunt for textbooks and buy the first thing they see — some students have huge scholarships or grants that make college cheaper, so they don’t have to worry about saving money at the campus bookstore. As soon as these students walk out of the bookstore, the textbooks they bought are instantly “used”, even if they return the books in a manner of just a few days. At the end of a semester, a student will sell their textbooks back to the bookstore for a little bit of cash. These textbooks that once cost a pretty penny are now labeled “used” and sold for a fraction of the cost.

There are other ways that used textbooks get in the hands of poor college students — the Internet is jammed with book sellers looking to make a buck by offering expensive textbooks at a discount, or selling “used” textbooks for less than you can find on a college campus. If you want to save money on textbooks in college, check out your online options before you plunk down a bundle for that new science text.

There’s still another way you can buy discount textbooks — book rental is becoming more common as college costs increase exponentially from year to year. When you rent a book from an online vendor, you’re basically doing the same thing you’d do at your local bookstore except through the mail. You pay the rental fee up front (usually a fraction of the “new” cost), use the book for the semester, and return the book back to the rental company in a prepaid package. A big advantage to using a rental company to buy discount textbooks is that you don’t have to stand in line or dig around a bookstore to find a decent used copy — the rental company does the work for you, and even pays for shipping.

Buying Discounted Textbooks – Examples

Still not convinced to buy discount textbooks? Here’s a look at the cover prices for specific editions of new and used textbooks. When you see the difference in your bottom line, you’ll understand the benefits of buying discounted textbooks.

The Presence of Others (3rd edition) — This textbook is used by lots of universities at the “English 101″ level. It retails for $44.50 but is available at a discount online of as much as 60%. That means you could end up paying about $17 for a book that your fellow students paid nearly $50 for.
PDR: Nurse’s Drug Handbook (2009 edition) — Medical textbooks are notoriously expensive, and this massive guide to prescription drugs sells for as much as $80 in the bookstore. I found used versions online for as little as $12, enough savings to keep you and your roommates in pizza for a month.
The Theatre Experience — If you’re buying a book about theatre, you’re most likely pursuing a degree in the humanities. Since you’re going to be broke for years to come, why not save money with discount textbooks? This book is almost $100 new, but is available online for $17.91.
Materials Science and Engineering — An engineering textbook with a less-than-flashy title, you can expect to spend upwards of $250 for this title when it is new. If you buy the discount textbook online, you can pay as little as $19.19.
The Art of Public Speaking — These days, every college student is required to take a course in public speaking. This text costs $115 new and it was easy to find a used version for under $40.

If you purchased all five of these books at the cover price, you’d pay $588. Buying the used versions your total would be just $104. That’s a savings of over 80%. If a car dealer offered you that kind of savings, you’d jump for joy and sign on the dotted line. This is why you have to buy discount textbooks.

You hear all the time how expensive college is, how the costs are rising every year and that Federal and school aid is becoming less and less available and represents a smaller portion of costs. Why not put a dent in your college costs anywhere you can? Buying new textbooks doesn’t make sense, unless of course your textbook is brand new and no used versions exist. Even in that case, look online for textbook rental services — you may be surprised to find out how much money you can save with used books.

How to Store Comic Books

January 28th, 2013 |

People collect comic books for a number of reasons — some old or rare books are valuable collector’s items. Other comic book fans don’t care about the “market value” for their book, they just want to be entertained. No matter the reason, understanding how to store comic books will have a big impact on how long you’ll be able to enjoy them.

Whether you’re a dedicated Marvel fan, hooked on graphic novels, or an acolyte of DC, keeping your comic book collection properly stored will ensure a lifetime of entertainment.

Handling Comic Books Properly

A big part of proper comic book storage is keeping your grimy hands off the paper. Handling your comics properly is basically a three-step process. First, before you ever touch a book, wash your hands with soap and water. Sing “Happy Birthday” to yourself while washing to make sure you’ve cleaned your hands properly. Washing removes damaging oils from your skin — these oils stain paper over time. The second step to proper comic book handling is wearing gloves. Even though you’ve just washed your hands, wearing gloves is a “better safe than sorry” measure. The values of your books depends almost entirely on their condition. Finally, make sure you’re holding the book in the proper place — the best way to pick up a book is by the open edge. Picking up by the stapled side will cause “stress marks” on the spine, which devalues the book.

Bags and Boards

Comic book storage does require a few accessories — namely backing boards and bags. These items help you store comic books and don’t cost all that much.

Buy backing boards and bags that are designed for “archival storage”.
The best kind of bag to store your books in is made of Mylar and referred to as a “sleeve”. These Mylar sleeves are not the only thing that will work, they are the bag of choice for collectors who want to protect the value of their vintage books.
To give your books some support (which prevents spine stress and page wear) you need backing boards. Backing boards last a long time and they’re acid free, so you can consider them a one time investment.
If you want to save a little money, buying cheaper bags and boards for less valuable books or ones you read more often will work great, especially if you follow proper handling procedure. These cheaper materials are not rated for archival storage, aren’t acid free, and therefore you need to change them every 7 years.
If you plant to store comic books in boxes, invest in cardboard boxes made from acid free cardboard. How you organize your books (by titles, dates, prices, or whatever) is totally up to you. Every collector has their own method.

How’s the Weather?

When you store comic books, you need to be aware of a few environmental details. Comic storage boxes should be kept in a room that is below 70 degrees Fahrenheit, dry (up to 50% relative humidity is fine), and dark most of the time.

Like storing wine, keeping comic books in their ideal condition requires steady humidity and temperature and little vibration. The best place to store your collection is an inside closet.

Avoid storing comic books in basements or attics — basement storage will make your collection susceptible to water damage, mildew, and other nasty things you don’t want between the pages of your favorite book. Remember that moisture is a comic book’s biggest enemy outside of fire — water is bad.

Maintaining Your Collection

Don’t just store comic books and expect them to stay in pristine condition forever. You need to check up on your collection with some regularity. What are you looking for?

Color bleeding onto the backing boards
Yellowing pages
Any buildup of mold or mildew

The best way to check for mold and mildew is using your nose. Mold and mildew have a distinct smell, and if you notice that smell you should quickly pull the collection out from the moldy area, carefully set them out to “air dry”, and check the books again in 72 hours. If there is no mildew odor present after three days, it is time to re-bag and board your collection. If, on the other hand, the smell lingers, you may have to start making difficult decisions. Identify the infected comic books and destroy them or remove them from contact with the rest of your uninfected collection. Mildew and mold are living things that multiply and move from surface to surface, so getting rid of two mildewed books could save the hundreds of other books that are otherwise untouched. Mylar won’t protect from mildew, so there’s no way around this step.

Final Steps in Protecting Your Comic Book Collection

If you have a large collection or plan to sell and trade books based on their value there are a few other steps you should take to make sure you get the most for your investment.

Insuring your comic book collection may seem like a drastic step, but if you store your comic books properly and still have to deal with damage, an insurance policy is the only way to get something back for your time and effort. Don’t assume that your comic book collection is covered under a traditional home owner’s insurance policy — in most cases, they are not. You can, however, attach a rider to your existing policy to cover your valuable comic collection. How do you figure out a money value for your collection?

If you’re going through the trouble of insuring your comic collection, look into having your books professionally graded. There are a handful of companies which will look over your collection and help you determine an official grade. Yes, this process is expensive, but you aren’t just having your books graded, often these companies will store your more valuable books in special archival holders (called “wells) that are the most secure spot for such a valuable item.

When your comic book collection turns from a couple of your favorite X-Men titles into a room-sized obsession with all things comics-related, it is time to properly store your comic books. The good news is that a small financial investment and a few steadfast collecting techniques are all that’s required to keep your comic collection safe and valuable for decades to come.

Which Old Comic Books Are Valuable Comic Books?

January 28th, 2013 |

Valuable comic books only have value when people want to buy them. The collectors’ market for old comic books, like any other collectibles market, has rules that govern prices and values, and unless you know something about that market, it’s easy for someone unscrupulous to take advantage of you.

So, how can you tell the rare and vintage comics from the old and worthless ones?

Which old comic books are valuable comic books?

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Buy a good price guide
Focus on a few publishers or titles
Pay attention to condition
Protect your collection
Comic book price guide: the one item you can’t do without

Can you collect comics without knowing much about them, or without reading them? Maybe, but you can’t do it without a reliable price guide. Even if you know everything about every Marvel crossover ever, do you know how much other collectors are interested in that Spider-Man/Daredevil team-up? Not without a price guide.

The price guide is your key to knowing which ones are the most valuable comic books, so you need to get familiar with it. Essentially, it is a listing of the prices you can expect to pay for any comic book, in any condition.

You could just try buying up all the old comic books you can find for sale, and you may get lucky with a rare find or two, but odds are you won’t. Since collectors patrol the market regularly, you’re likely to wind up with nothing but a pile of worthless old comic books.

You have to know what’s worth looking for, and what’s not worth your time. This is where a guide on comic book prices can help. There are many available both in print and online. The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide is probably the most authoritative, but it’s not practical to keep buying new copies of the book.

Fortunately, you can follow current trends through magazines like Wizard or on websites like comicspriceguide.com.

Focus Your Collection

The world of comic books is huge. This is why you should focus your collection on an area that will be easy to learn. If you pick a single publisher like Marvel or DC, or even a single character like Superman or Wolverine to follow, you don’t have to become an expert on everything.

So what should you pick? I can’t tell you that. Comic book collecting is personal in that regard. Pick something you would enjoy collecting and reading. If, however, value is of utmost importance to you, I can offer at least a few tips.

If you stick to publishers that have been around for a long time and that have long established popular characters, you’re more likely to find older and more valuable comics. Marvel and DC are probably the best bets in this regard. Dark Horse Comics might have great titles, and you can certainly collect them, but they haven’t been around long enough to have the number of valuable comic books that Marvel does for even a single character.

You may also want to pick a single character to focus on. Think about it. Superman’s first appearance was in 1938 and Batman’s was in 1939. They each have more than seventy years of history. If you focus on one, you don’t need to learn the history of both, and getting to know the character is important.

It is also a good idea to stick with popular, iconic characters. They tend to have more titles, a longer history, and more crossover appearances in other titles. Also, more people are interested in buying their issues. It’s no wonder that the first appearances of Superman and Batman are the two most valuable comic books. More people are interested in these two heroes than in someone like Moon Knight.

One of the things that make a particular issue valuable is how what happens on the page affects character’s life. Marriages, births, deaths, first appearances, first titles, crossovers, and key villains will all push the value of a particular issue. Knowing the ins and outs of a character in depth will help you pick out the key events and story arcs that have lasting value.

Protect Your Investment

Comic books, especially old comic books, are delicate things, and their condition significantly affects their value. When you’re shopping, you need to look for issues that are in excellent or very good condition, and when you bring them home, you need to keep them in that state. It is the difference between having a box of valuable comic books and having a box of recyclables.

Comic books should be stored in Mylar bags with acid-free backing board to protect their shape and spine. Good archival quality storage materials are available from comic book stores or online through Amazon.com or bagsunlimited.com.

You may also consider durable, acid-free cardboard boxes to make storage easier. They keep everything nicely arranged in the proper vertical position and protect your valuable comic books from sun damage as well.

You can expect some degree of yellowing from old comic books because, unlike the comics of today, they were not printed on acid-free paper. Some very old comic books are also sized differently than those of today, and you want to bear this in mind when purchasing supplies. Your bags and backboards should not be too small for the comic.

This care and maintenance really makes a difference, and these simple steps really help protect your investment.

This should give you some idea of how to collect and care for valuable comic books. What it cannot give you, though, is a sense of how exciting it can be to find that box of comics at a garage sale that just happens to have a valuable one tucked inside, or explain the joy of completing your collection of a particular series or story arc.

Above all, collecting comics is fun, and for most collectors it isn’t just a matter of what titles have the most value in the market. It’s about what titles have value to the collector as well, and that isn’t in a price guide.

Where Can I Get Discount Christian Books?

January 28th, 2013 |

There are many venues available for the Christian book enthusiast looking to save a little cash. Whether you’re searching out the perfect Bible for a relative’s birthday or Christmas present, a Christian-themed novel or inspirational book, or study guides designed with Christians in mind, Christian book discount stores offer you the products you want at prices you won’t mind paying.

Christian Book Stores

Christian book retail stores like Mardel have conveniently located stores where you can browse a giant selection of materials aimed at the Christian consumer. Mardel has thirty-three store locations in six states, with most of their locations in Texas. The nice thing about browsing a big Christian book retailer like Mardel is you can take your time and soak up all there is to see rather than feeling like you have to zero in on a specific item when shopping online. The Mardel experience is like no other for Christians looking for inspirational or faith-specific material — the stores are huge, and there are plenty of salespeople and cashiers to help you find exactly what you’re looking for.

Retail stores like Mardel may not offer year-round discounts on all Christian books and other items, but they are constantly having some kind of sale on a part of their merchandise. Right now, for instance, the online version of Mardel is offering free shipping on orders of $25 or more, as well as free name imprinting on most Bibles, and a wide range of Christian books on sale for under twelve dollars. I’d imagine that if you were to enter a Mardel retail store, you’d find equivalent sales and deals on your favorite Christian reading materials and supplies.

LifeWay Christian Stores is an even larger retailer of Christian books and supplies, operating in over 20 states with hundreds of retail store locations. The stores may be a bit smaller than the giant Mardel retail spots, but the sheer number of them means they can offer different sales and a more specific set of materials. Right now, select LifeWay Christian Stores are offering a wide range of gifts for under $10, in specific categories like “Gifts for Men”, “Gift for Women”, “Gifts for Dads”, etc. You can also find select Christian books, such as Tony Dungy’s new autobiography “Quiet Strength” for less than half the cover price.

There are plenty of other Christian book retailers that offer seasonal discounts on Christian materials — some larger, some smaller. They key to finding discount Christian books and reading materials is spending a bit of time looking in different locations. You never have to pay full cover price for your favorite Christian book.

Online Christian Book Retailers

If you simply can’t find the book, video, Bible, or set of inspirational materials you want at a reasonable price after looking in Christian book retail stores, you have a whole universe of online Christian stores to shop. Besides the aforementioned online presence of bricks and mortar Christian book stores, there are any number of Christian-themed online retailers.

At online venues like ChristianBook.com, the lack of a retail store means you’ll find different savings, a wider range of items, and unique sale opportunities. Looking for Guitar Praise, the Christian equivalent to Guitar Hero? ChristianBook.com has it right now for just under $110 — that’s a savings of $50 over other retailers. ChristianBook.com has hard to find Christian materials, such as textbooks and school aids written from a Christian theological perspective (perfect for homeschooling or at-home tutorials) and a huge variety of concordances and study guides. At the other end of the cost spectrum, retailers like ChristianBook.com have the ability to offer smaller titles like Christian-themed computer games for under $1 — probably because they buy in bulk and ship directly to their customers.

There’s another option for discount Christian books that many people shy away from — online retailers like Amazon.com or even eBay, and non-Christian specific retailers like Barnes and Noble or Borders. Many Christians think that they need to support their local Christian bookstore because these companies are run by Christians — and customers assume that Christian values and principles are taught there, and they are charged with the mission of supporting their local Christian community. But if you live in an area without easy access to a Christian book store, you may need to use an alternative retailer.

Amazon.com has an entire Christian section of their online book retail environment, and their variety of Christian materials is even further categorized by faith, topic, and even the type of book you’re looking for. Unfortunately, they don’t offer discounts on these books, at least not as deeply discounted as Christian bookstores. Barnes and Noble’s “Faith and Spirituality” or “Religion” section is touch and go as far as their selection of discount Christian books, but their online presence has a wide enough selection to merit a trip. Other, smaller book retailers have an even smaller variety of Christian-themed materials, such as Books a Million, which doesn’t even offer a Christian book category, instead forcing you to search by the title or author.

Buy As a Group

Many Christian bookstores (or even non Christian specific retailers) will offer you a larger discount if you place a bulk order for a specific title. If there’s a group at your church that really wants to read a specific title, either for Sunday school, a men’s or women’s group, or just to use as a daily devotional or add-on to your Bible study, get together as one unit and place an order together. You’ll save money on overall cost as well as shipping.

Finding discount Christian books and other reading materials doesn’t have to mean fighting for a parking spot, spending all day in a cramped, understocked store during the peak of the Christmas rush, or settling for whatever gift is on sale online — you can find discount Christian materials almost anywhere that books or reading materials are sold.

What Are Chapter Books?

January 28th, 2013 |

Most parents read to their kids from an early age. Eventually, children learn to read on their own and begin pouring over simple picture books that focus more on vivid, evocative illustrations than text. Eventually, usually sometime between the ages of 7 and 10, a child is ready to move on to what are popularly called chapter books.

What are chapter books? Chapter books are books written for readers who have outgrown picture books but are not yet ready to move on to adult-sized novels. Although they still usually contain large amounts of illustrations, chapter books primarily tell their stories through the text rather than with pictures.

In addition, their stories are divided into sections called chapters, which make them easier to read and digest. These chapters are usually much shorter than those in novels and other books intended for adults. Chapter books are also often released in a series centered on a specific character or group of characters, making them fun for kids to collect and read.

Children’s Chapter Books

If you’re a kid interested in children’s chapter books, or a parent interested in getting your child to read chapter books, here is some information you’ll probably want to know.

Where can I find chapter books?
What are some popular titles?
Chapter books for girls
Chapter books for boys

Kids Chapter Books

You can find kids chapter books anywhere you find books in general. First, check your local library. Most public libraries have an extensive children’s section, and chapter books will usually be located somewhere between the picture books and the young adult books.

Public libraries are a great option, especially during times when money might be tight, if you want to get through a lot of books but don’t necessarily have the cash to spend on buying them. The only drawback is that you won’t be able to keep the books to read again later.

Used book stores, be they brick-and-mortar independent book dealers or online sites such as Alibris.com, are a good option for the cash-strapped that still want to keep their books and build a library of their own. If you’re buying more than one chapter book at a time from a used bookseller site like Alibris, try to buy as many from one dealer as you can, otherwise shipping charges might add up.

If money is no object, large chain bookstores will also usually have a chapter book section, although the selection available might depend on the store’s location. Stick to stores close to residential neighborhoods where many families with children might live. Stores in downtown areas or close to universities probably won’t have the selection of chapter books you’re looking for.

What Are Some Popular Titles?

The titles available in chapter book format are as varied as the genres available in literature that is more grown-up. Many titles focus on investigating science and the natural world, such as The Magic School Bus series.

These books feature the adventures of elementary school teacher Ms. Frizzle and her students (as well as their class pet, Liz the lizard) as they learn about science with the help of their transforming school bus. The books use a combination of humor and straightforward science to entertain children as they learn.

Another type of chapter book you will commonly see are those that deal with life situations that children will commonly face. One excellent example of this type of book series are the Arthur books by author Marc Brown. These books follow the adventures of anthropomorphic aardvark Arthur Read.

In the series, Arthur faces a series of problems, such as dealing with a new puppy, coming down with the chicken pox, celebrating holidays, or going to camp. Children reading the Arthur books will learn successful ways of dealing with these life issues while being entertained as well as developing their reading skills.

Chapter Books For Girls and Boys

While there is absolutely no reason that children of different genders can’t both enjoy the same books, it is true that at the age children are beginning to read chapter books their interests might start to divulge a long gender lines.

If you’re a particularly girly girl or boyish boy (or buying gifts for children of this nature), then here are some specific titles you might want to investigate further.

Chapter Books for Girls

The Weather Fairies: This series centers on the seven Weather Fairies who control the weather of Fairyland. Each book in the series details the their attempts of the fairies and their friends to get back one of seven magical feathers stolen the evil Jack Frost and his goblins

Pony-Crazed Princess: These books center on the adventures of Princess Elle and her love of ponies. Although she is a princess, Elle is the type of girl who just doesn’t like pink. This is an excellent series for the little girl who loves horses but may also be a bit of a tomboy.

Chapter Books for Boys – Pokemon Chapter Books and Scooby Doo Chapter
Books

Pokemon Adventures: Among the most popular manga to ever come out of Japan, the Pokemon Adventures series follows the exploits of pocket monster trainers as they collect, battle, and train their creatures in an attempt to become the master Pokemon trainer.

Scooby-Doo Readers: The iconic 1970s Saturday-morning cartoon about mystery-solving hipsters and their big, goofy dog has been transformed into a series of chapter books released by the publisher Scholastic. Many titles in the series are original, although some are adapted from existing Scooby-Doo episodes.

If the child in your life is ready to make the jump to chapter books, than they are about to leap into a world of adventures above and beyond what they’ve previously experienced. Reading chapter books can help you learn about the world around you or how to deal with new situations in your life, while still entertaining and further developing reading skills. Enjoy, and learn a love of reading that will last a lifetime!

What Is the Caldecott Medal?

January 28th, 2013 |

Children are very visual. One of the best parts of reading books as a child is appreciating at the illustrations and how they can bring the story to life. When it comes to children’s books, there are several annual awards that honor and recognize excellence children’s literature. The most coveted by illustrators of children’s picture books is the Caldecott Medal. Unlike the Newbery Medal, which awards non-illustrated children’s literature, the Caldecott Medal is given to illustrators regardless if they are the authors of the book or not. Books are judged by their style and content. Some nominees don’t even have any text, only illustrations that tell the story. The Association for Library Services to Children, a division of the American Library Association (or ALA) are responsible for administering the Caldecotts. The award was founded in 1938 and has been given out annually ever since. Like the Newbury, the Caldecott Medal is considered the highest award an American children’s book can receive. But what are the criteria for the Caldecott Medal? How are they chosen? For illustrators of children’s books, this is important information that you need to know.

Origins of the Caldecott Medal

After the creation of the Newbury Medal, some people felt that artists of children’s books were just as deserving of recognition for their work. Thus, in 1937 the man behind the Newbury, Frederic G. Melcher, suggested the creation of a second annual medal. The Caldecott was named in honor of the nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. Randolph Caldecott was one of the most influential illustrators of children’s books during the 1800’s. His artwork showed an ability to convey movement, action, and humor that many artists of the time were unable to display. His works has appeared in such books as The Babes in the Woods and The House that Jack Built. When the Caldecott Medal was first accepted, the Section for Library Work with Children invited the School Libraries Section each year to name five of its members to the awards committee. This is why the inscription on the Caldecott Medal reads “Awarded annually by the Children’s and School Librarians Sections of the American Library Association.” Even though the ALA sections have been renamed several times since then, the wording on the inscription has remained the same.

After the suggestion and approval of the Caldecott Medal, it was designed by Rene Paul Chambellan in 1937. On one side of the bronze medal is a scene taken from Randolph Caldecott’s illustration from The Diverting Story of John Gilpin. The scene has the character Gilpin riding a runaway horse and surrounded by geese, barking dogs, and surprised people. The illustration is actually based on a 1782 poem by William Cowper. On the other side of the medal is one of Caldecott’s the illustration depicting “Four and twenty blackbirds bak’d in a pie.” Besides the illustrations, the medal has the winner’s name and date engraved on the back.

How To Get Nominated

The Caldecott Medal is available only to eligible American illustrators. There are several requirements and procedures that each entry must go through in order to be considered. Here are the requirements:

The book must be published in English in the United States during the preceding year.
All the illustrations in the book must be original work.
The artist must be a legal citizen or resident of the U.S.
Eligible books are considered for their technique, interpretation of the story, style, characters, theme, delivering information through the pictures, and appropriateness for children.
The book must be respectful of the understanding and abilities of children.
The book must be able to stand on its own, not as part of other media such as video or audio.

When considering Caldecott Medal nominees, committee members must look at the book’s presentation in regards to an audience of children. While every book that enters is to be considered an illustrated picture book, other components can be used in the committee’s deliberation. For instance, a book’s written half is taken into consideration as well as the book’s subject matter and overall look.

Because the Caldecott Medal is only awarded to illustrators who are American citizens, sometimes critically-acclaimed books are not eligible because they are illustrated by a non-American. So many great children’s picture books never get nominated, at least not for this award. Originally, illustrated children’s books could not be nominated for both the Newbery and the Caldecott, even if they met the requirements of both. However, in 1977 the Board of Directors of the ALSC changed the ruling and stated that any book that was published in the preceding year could be eligible for consideration for either or both awards. To keep the selection process separate, the ALSC set up different committees that would administer the Newbery and the Caldecott Medals.

To apply for the Caldecott Medal, authors send one copy of their work to the ALSC office along with a statement of which award, the Caldecott or the Newbery, that the book is being submitted. You must also submit one copy to the award committee chair. Submitting copies to each committee member is allowed but not required. The awards are announced every January during the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting. Winners of the Caldecott are chosen by committee but there is also a selection of Honor books that are also selected every year.

Caldecott Medal Winners

Here is a list of the Caldecott Medal winners since the award was first founded.

2009: The House in the Night illustrated by Beth Krommes, written by Susan Marie Swanson
2008: The Invention of Hugo Cabret written and illustrated by Brian Selznick
2007: Flotsam written and illustrated by David Wiesner
2006: The Hello, Goodbye Window illustrated by Chris Raschka, written by Norton Juster
2005: Kitten’s First Full Moon written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes
2004: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers written and illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein
2003: My Friend Rabbit written and illustrated by Eric Rohmann
2002: The Three Pigs written and illustrated by David Wiesner
2001: So You Want to Be President? illustrated by David Small, written by Judith St. George
2000: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat written and illustrated by Simms Taback
1999: Snowflake Bentley illustrated by Mary Azarian, written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
1998: Rapunzel written and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
1997: Golem written and illustrated by David Wisniewski
1996: Officer Buckle and Gloria written and illustrated by Peggy Rathmann
1995: Smoky Night illustrated by David Diaz;, written by Eve Bunting
1994: Grandfather’s Journey illustrated by Allen Say; written by Walter Lorraine
1993: Mirette on the High Wire written and illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully
1992: Tuesday written and illustrated by David Wiesner
1991: Black and White written and illustrated by David Macaulay
1990: Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China written and illustrated by Ed Young
1989: Song and Dance Man illustrated by Stephen Gammell, written by Karen Ackerman
1988: Owl Moon illustrated by John Schoenherr, written by Jane Yolen
1987: Hey, Al illustrated by Richard Egielski, written by Arthur Yorinks
1986: The Polar Express written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg
1985: Saint George and the Dragon illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, written by Margaret Hodges
1984: The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot written and illustrated by Alice & Martin Provensen
1983: Shadow, translated and illustrated by Marcia Brown; original text in French: Blaise Cendrars
1982: Jumanji written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg
1981: Fables written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel
1980: Ox-Cart Man illustrated by Barbara Cooney, written by Donald Hall
1979: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses written and illustrated by Paul Goble
1978: Noah’s Ark written and illustrated by Peter Spier
1977: Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon, written by Margaret Musgrove
1976: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon, written by Verna Aardema
1975: Arrow to the Sun written and illustrated by Gerald McDermott
1974: Duffy and the Devil illustrated by Margot Zemach, written by Harve Zemach
1973: The Funny Little Woman illustrated by Blair Lent, written by Arlene Mosel
1972: One Fine Day, retold and illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian
1971: A Story A Story, retold and illustrated by Gail E. Haley
1970: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble written and illustrated by William Steig
1969: The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, illustrated by Uri Shulevitz, written by Arthur Ransome
1968: Drummer Hoff illustrated by Ed Emberley, adapted by Barbara Emberley
1967: Sam, Bangs & Moonshine written and illustrated by Evaline Ness
1966: Always Room for One More illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian, written by Sorche Nic Leodhas
1965: May I Bring a Friend? illustrated by Beni Montresor, written by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
1964: Where the Wild Things Are written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak
1963: The Snowy Day written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats
1962: Once a Mouse, retold and illustrated by Marcia Brown
1961: Baboushka and the Three Kings, illustrated by Nicolas Sidjakov, written by Ruth Robbins
1960: Nine Days to Christmas illustrated by Marie Hall Ets, written by Marie Hall Ets and Aurora Labastida
1959: Chanticleer and the Fox illustrated by Barbara Cooney, adapted from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales by Barbara Cooney
1958: Time of Wonder written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey
1957: A Tree Is Nice illustrated by Marc Simont, written by Janice Udry
1956: Frog Went A-Courtin‘ illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky, retold by John Langstaff
1955: Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper, illustrated by Marcia Brown, translated from Charles Perrault by Marcia Brown
1954: Madeline’s Rescue written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans
1953: The Biggest Bear written and illustrated by Lynd Ward
1952: Finders Keepers illustrated by Nicholas Mordvinoff, written by William Lipkind
1951: The Egg Tree written and illustrated by Katherine Milhous
1950: Song of the Swallows written and illustrated by Leo Politi
1949: The Big Snow written and illustrated by Berta & Elmer Hader
1948: White Snow, Bright Snow illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, written by Alvin Tresselt
1947: The Little Island illustrated by Leonard Weisgard, written by Golden MacDonald (Margaret Wise Brown)
1946: The Rooster Crows written and illustrated by Maud & Miska Petersham
1945: Prayer for a Child illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones, written by Rachel Field
1944: Many Moons illustrated by Louis Slobodkin, written by James Thurber
1943: The Little House written and illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton
1942: Make Way for Ducklings written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey
1941: They Were Strong and Good written and illustrated by Robert Lawson
1940: Abraham Lincoln written and illustrated by Ingri & Edgar Parin d’Aulaire
1939: Mei Li written and illustrated by Thomas Handforth
1938: Animals of the Bible, A Picture Book illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop, written and selected by Helen Dean Fish

What Is the British Book Award?

January 28th, 2013 |

The British Book Awards are an annual awards ceremony in the UK. Their intent is to honor the best of the year in Britain’s publishing industry and to enhance public awareness of the nominees and winners. The awards are heavilly promoted by the UK’s publishing trade journal Publishing News. The British Book Awards are also known as the “Nibbies” because the trophy handed out at the annual ceremony looks like a golden pen nib. The Nibbies were first launched in 1990 and have grown significantly in scope over the years. The Nibbies brings a good deal of media attention to the industry and there are several famous British authors who have been recipients over the years. The Nibbies are administered by the Academy of the British Book Industry whose members include publishers, booksellers, literary agents, and retail suppliers. The main sponsor for the awards is the British chocolate company Galaxy. They have worked with the publishing industry to create book clubs, reviews, and free book synopses in order to promote literature within the UK. As a supporter of new talent, the Nibbies continue to be one of the premiere literary awards in Britain.

History of the British Book Awards

The British Book Awards were founded by a man named Fred Newman who was the co-founder of the company Publishing News in 1979. The British Book Awards got their start through the advice of Martyn Gott and Graham C. Greene who worked along with Fred Newman and Publishing News to create the annual awards. The very first British Book Awards were held on January 18, 1990. It was held at The Park Lane Hotel and was a sell-out event. The next year, the Nibbies were held in an even larger venue to an even larger crowd. The new awards quickly proved to be successful. They have since been held every year.

In 1994, the Academy of the British Book Industry was founded to oversee both the Nibbies and the other popular British literary awards, the British Book Industry Awards. Sponsorship plays a heavy role in the Nibbies, as well. Even though the chocolate company Galaxy is the main sponsor, there are others who contribute to each category. Other sponsors include Reader’s Digest, Vista Computer Systems, Borders, Play.com, and BCA.

Requirements and Criteria for the British Book Awards

Like all other awards of its kind, the British Book Awards has its own set of guidelines and rules. It is up to the publishers to make nominations for the Nibbies, although individuals within companies can nominate entries as well. All entries must have been published in the UK within the last year. Publishers must submit three copies of each nomination for review. A review panel, chosen each year by the Academy, examine all the nominated entired and creates a shortlist of finalists. Books that are shortlisted the previous year but did not win are eligible to be nominated again. Members of the Academy vote twice a year to create these shortlists. When submitting a nomination, all entries must have all of their important information listed such as title, author, imprint, publication date, current format, proposed paperback or trade publication date.

The British Book Awards currently have ten different categories. They are: Book of the Year, Author of the Year, Crime Thriller of the Year, New Writer of the Year, Popular Fiction Award, Popular Non-Fiction Award, Biography of the Year, Children’s Book of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award, and Richard and Judy Best Read of the Year.

Besides the golden trophy and the title, the winners of each year are automatically bestowed with life membership to the Academy and many are recognised as Honorary Fellows.

British Book Award Winners

The following recipients are all winners of the current categories for the British Book Awards:

The Lifetime Achievement Award

2008 J.K. Rowling

2007 John Grisham

2006 Jamie Oliver

2005 Sir John Mortimer

2004 Sir David Attenborough

2003 Alan Bennett

2002 Mark Barty-King

2001 Ernest Hecht

2000 Spike Milligan

1999 Maeve Binchy

1998 Jilly Cooper

1997 Paul Scherer

1996 Wilbur Smith

1995 Delia Smith

1994 Catherine Cookson

1993 Dr. D.G.Hessayon

Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year

2008 A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

2007 The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld

2006 Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

2005 Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

2004 The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Book of the Year

2008 Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

2007 The Dangerous Book for Boys by Con & Hal Iggulden

2006 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling

2005 The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

2004 Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne truss

2003 Stupid White Men by Michael Moore

2002 Billy by Pamela Stephenson

2001 Man and Boy by Tony Parsons

2000 Managing My Life by Alex Ferguson

1999 Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes

1998 Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

1997 Longitude by Dava Sobel

1996 Delia Smith’s Winter Collection

1995 Writing Home by Alan Bennett

1994 Wild Swans by Jung Chang

Author of the Year

2008 Ian McEwan

2007 Richard Dawkins

2006 Alan Bennett

2005 Sheila Hancock

2004 Alexander McCall Smith

2003 Sarah Waters

2002 Philip Pullman

2001 Nigella Lawson

2000 J K Rowling

1999 Beryl Bainbridge

1998 Louis de Bernieres

1997 Bill Bryson

1996 Salman Rushdie

1995 Sebastian Faulks

1994 Roddy Doyle

1993 Andrew Morton

1992 Peter Mayle

1991 Peter Ackroyd

1990 HRH, Prince of Wales

Biography of the Year

2008 My Booky Wook by Russell Brand

2007 The Sound of Laughter by Peter Kay

2006 Sharon Osbourne Extreme by Sharon Osbourne

2005 My Life by Bill Clinton

2004 Toast by Nigel Slater

2003 Churchill by Roy Jenkins

Children’s Book of the Year

2008 Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman by Francesca Simon

2007 Flanimals of the Deep by Ricky Gervais

2006 Ark Angel by Anthony Horowitz

2005 The Gruffalo’s Child by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler

2004 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

2003 Girls in Tears by Jacqueline Wilson

2002 Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

2001 The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

2000 The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson

1999 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J K Rowling

1998 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J K Rowling

1997 Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

1996 The Hutchinson treasury of Children’s Literature edited by Alison Sage

Crime Thriller of the Year

2008 Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell

2007 The Naming of the Dead by Ian Rankin

2006 The Take by Martina Cole

2005 Fleshmarket Close by Ian Rankin

Newcomer of the Year

2008 Catherine O’Flynn

2007 Victoria Hislop

2006 Marina Lewycka

2005 Susanna Clarke

2004 Monica Ali

2003 Allison Pearson

2002 Pete McCarthy

2001 Zadie Smith

2000 Sort Of Books and Driving Over Lemons by Chris Stewart

1999 Borders UK

1998 Daisy & Tom

1997 Kate Atkinson

1990 Bryce Courtenay

Popular Fiction Award

2008 The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards

2007 Anybody Out There by Marian Keyes

2006 The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The Popular Non-Fiction Award

2008 Long Way Down by Ewan McGregor & Charlie Boorman

Past British Book Awards

The following categories have all since been retired but their winners are still recognized for their merit.

The Children’s Author of the Year

1995 Allan & Janet Ahlberg

1994 Anne Fine

1993 Raymond Briggs

1992 Dick King-Smith

1991 Anne Fine

1990 Roald Dahl

The Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year

1995 The Most Amazing Pop-Up Science Book by Jay Young

1994 Mummy Laid an Egg by Babette Cole

1993 Penguin Small by Mick Inkpen

1992 Farmer Duck by Helen Oxenbury

1991 The Mousehole Cat by Nicola Bayley

The Illustrated Book of the Year

2004 England’s Thousand Best Houses by Simon Jenkins

2003 Sahara by Michael Palin

2002 The Blue Planet by Andrew Byatt, Alastair Fothergill, Martha Holmes

2001 The Beatles Anthology

2000 Century by Bruce Bernard

1999 Ethel and Ernest by Raymond Briggs

1998 The Lost Gardens of Heligan by Tim Smit

1997 Flora Britannica by Richard Mabey

1996 The River Cafe Cookbook by Rose Gray & Ruth Rogers

1995 The Art Book

The TV & Film Book of the Year

2007 The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

2006 The Constant Gardener by John le Carré

2005 Himalaya by Michael Palin

2004 How Clean Is Your House by Kim Woodburn & Aggie MacKenzie

2003 What Not To Wear by Trinny Woodall & Susannah Constantine

The Literary Fiction Award

2005 Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

2004 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

The History Book of the Year

2005 William Pitt the Younger by William Hague

2004 Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore

The Sports Book of the Year

2007 Gerrard: My Autobiography by Steven Gerrard

2006 Being Freddie by Andrew Flintoff

2005 Gazza: My Story by Paul Gascoigne

2004 Martin Johnson: The Autobiography

The Audiobook of the Year

2004 Forgotten Voices of the Great War by Max Arthur

2003 Series of Unfortunate Events written by Lemony Snicket, read by Tim Curry

2002 The Laying on of Hands written & read by Alan Bennett

The deciBel Writer of the Year

2007 Jackie Kay

2006 Diana Evans

2005 Hari Kunzru

The Fastest Selling Biography of All Time

2004 My Side by David Beckham

The Travel Writer of the Year

1993 Michael Palin Pole to Pole by Michael Palin

1992 Travels on my Elephant by Mark Shand

1991 India by V.S. Naipaul

1990 A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle

The Fantasy and Science Fiction Author of the Year

1994 Terry Pratchett

Bestseller of the Year

1991 Delia Smith’s Christmas

What Is the Man Booker Prize for Fiction?

January 28th, 2013 |

The Man Booker Prize is a yearly award given out to the best work of fiction for the year. It was first awarded in 1969 and is sponsored by the Man Booker Foundation, which is a charitable organization. The prize is only available to authors who are citizens in the Commonwealth (which includes such countries as Great Britain, India, Africa, New Zealand, and Australia) or Ireland. The Man Booker Prize is the highest recognition an author in those countries can receive and thus is the one prize that is the most coveted. The Man Booker Prize comes with a large amount of prize money but that is just the beginning. The winning author (and their publisher) gain fame and international recognition, increased sales, and lots of media coverage. Winning the Man Booker Prize can literally create an author’s career.

History of the Man Booker Prize

The Man Booker Prize got its start in 1968 when it was sponsored by the Booker-McConnell company. The company was, at the time, one of the largest companies in the United Kingdom and was involved in the sugar industry in British Guiana, which is now known simply as Guyana after they gained independence in 1966. The company’s chairman Jock Campbell set up the Booker Author Division which then went on to sponsor the Booker-McConnell Prize. After some time, the award became commonly referred to as the Booker Prize or just “the Booker”.

In 2002, the Booker Prize was transferred to the Booker Prize Foundation of which the Man Group was the chief sponsor. The booker Prize Foundation was now responsible for the administering of the Booker prize affairs. To keep with tradition and international recognition, the Man Group kept the “Booker” name but added “Man” to the title. Today it is officially known as the Man Booker Prize, although many people still refer to it as the Booker.

Rules For Man Booker Prize

There are several rules and requirements that must be met for a book to be considered for the Man Booker Prize. The first and foremost is that the author must be a citizen of the Commonwealth, Zimbabwe, or Ireland. The other conditions for eligibility are as follows:

Authors must be alive at the time of the award. Deceased authors are not eligible.
The book must be originally written in English.
Self published books are not eligible
Entries must be published in the United Kingdom within the required dates but novels published outside the UK does not necessarily mean disqualification.
Online submissions are acceptable but only if the imprint is an established one and that the judges receive 7 downloaded copies. If the book makes the short list, then the publisher must make the book available for sale in print within 10 days.
All entries are made on a confidential basis.
Authors who have previously won the Booker or any other prize is still eligible.
Children books are acceptable as long as they have been published under an adult imprint.
If a book is shortlisted, publishers will make the books available as e-books within two weeks of the announcement.

All of the entries are judged by a panel. There is a new judging panel every year and usually a judge only serves one time. They are selected by the Booker Prize Foundation’s advisory committee which is chosen by the Foundation itself. The advisory committee includes an author, two publishers, a literary agent, a bookseller, a librarian, and a chairperson. The judging panel consists of literary critics, writers, members of the academic field, and other prominent figures in the literary world. The panel is chosen to be balanced according to gender and profession. Once the judges are chosen, they have full responsibility and power of decision. They are not influenced by the Foundation or their advisory committee. The Man Booker Prize has a reputation for fair and honest judging. The Foundation prides itself on its inability to be seduced by corruption or influenced by bribery.

The judges have the responsibility for compiling a long list which consists of twelve to thirteen books. This is known as “The Man Booker Dozen”. The judges then create a short list of six books that they feel are exceptional and it is the shortlist nominees that are submitted for the prize. At least one judge must fully support a nominee for it to make it to the short list. Each author that makes the short list will receive 2,500 pounds in addition to a hand bound copy of their book.

United Kingdom publishers can submit up to two novels for consideration. In order to be eligible for the prize, the publisher must contribute 5,000 pounds for advertising and marketing of the book. If the book should actually win the prize, then the publisher must contribute another 5,000 pounds.

The prize for the Man Booker Prize was originally only 21,000 pounds. But when the Man Group took over as sponsor in 2002, the prize money was increased to 50,000 pounds. The prize may not be divided or withheld once it is awarded. The winner is usually announced at a large ceremony in London’s Guildhall and the prize is awarded to the winning author by the Booker Prize Foundation’s Literary Director.

Man Booker Prize Winners

The winners for the Man Booker Prize are as follows:

2009: Wolf Hall
byHilary Mantel
2008: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (India)
2007: The Gathering by Anne Enright (Ireland)
2006: The Inheritence of Loss by Kiran Desai (India)
2005: The Sea by John Banville (Ireland)
2004: The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst (UK)
2003: Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre (Australia)
2002: Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Canada)
2001: True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (Australia)
2000: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (Canada)
1999: Disgrace by J.M. Coatzee (South Africa)
1998: Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (UK)
1997: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (India)
1996: Last Orders by Graham Swift (UK)
1995: The Ghost Road by Pat Barker (UK)
1994: How Late It Was, How Late by James Kelman (UK)
1993: Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle (Ireland)
1992: The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (Sri Lanka) & Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (UK)
1991: The Famished Road by Ben Okri (Nigeria)
1990: Possession: A Romance by A. S. Bryant (UK)
1989: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (UK/Japan)
1988: Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (Australia)
1987: Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively (UK)
1986: The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis (UK)
1985: The Bone People by Keri Hulme (New Zealand)
1984: Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner (UK)
1983: Life and Times of Michael K by J.M. Coatzee (South Africa)
1982: Schindler’s Ark by Thomas Keneally (Australia)
1981: Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (India)
1980: Rites of Passage by William Golding (UK)
1979: Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald (UK)
1978: The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch (Ireland)
1977: Staying On by Paul Scott (UK)
1976: Saville by David Storey (UK)
1975: Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (UK/Germany)
1974: The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer (South Africa) & Holiday by Stanley Middleton (UK)
1973: The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell (UK)
1972: G. by John Berger (UK)
1971: In A Free State by V. S. Naipaul (Trinidad/UK)
1970: The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens (UK)
1969: Something to Answer For by P.H. Newby (UK)

Man Booker International Prize Winners

Besides the yearly Booker Prize the Foundation also awards the The Man Booker International Prize. This is given out every two years to an author of fiction. It can be won by an author from any country as long as their work is originally published in English. The first Man Booker International Prize was founded in 2005. Here are the following winning authors:

2005: Ismail Kadare (Albania)
2007: Chinua Achebe (Nigerian)
2009: Alice Munro (Canada)

How Can You Learn to Bind Books?

January 28th, 2013 |

Book binding is an ancient trade with roots in India hundreds of years before the common era. Book binding got its start in religious texts, and has since spread to cover every topic imaginable, from soft cover vanity press titles to hardcover literary classics. Whether you want to bind books in leather or learn contemporary techniques like perfect binding, there is a specific path to learning how to bind a book.

Book binding isn’t just a hobby for the book-obsessed — there’s a real market for people who can repair or restore books. Learning how to bind books by hand makes you an expert not just in the physical act of binding a book, but in the restoration of works of literary art as well. On the other side of the spectrum are commercial book binding operations — people who print and organize large lots of brochures or other paper goods using machinery instead of hand tools. Regardless which side of the business you want to be in, you need to learn to bind books.

College or Apprenticeship

You can learn to bind books one of two ways — by working as an apprentice to someone who has been binding books professionally for a number of years or by taking courses at the university level. There are pros and cons to both methods.

While working as an apprentice is the traditional way to go into the bookbinding field, learning to bind books at the university level could get you a better list of potential jobs. After all, a degree from a University is a lot easier to “prove” than a few years working under the watchful eye of a bookbinder. Also, as binding by hand is going the way of the Dodo, universities that offer courses in book binding are constantly adapting to new technology, exposing students to modern techniques and materials, and offering plenty of job-hunting and financial support along the way.

Having said that, learning bookbinding out of a book is more than a little ironic. If you want to be a hand bookbinder or learn how to restore classic books, sitting in a classroom is not going to give you the hands on experience you’re sure to need. What better way is there to learn a skill than by rolling up your sleeves and jumping in head first? Another downside to the university approach here in America — there are a small number of programs for you to choose from, so your chance at getting accepted into a good “book arts” program (or even the program of your choice) is pretty slim.

Hand vs Machine Binding

While binding books by hand is not at all common these days, there’s something special about holding and reading a book you know was stitched together by a living person rather than a machine. At the same time, machine binding is efficient, cost effective, and consistent. Look at a few hand-bound books and you’ll notice irregular patterns, mistakes in stitching and titles, and other little things that just won’t do in certain applications, like business materials or textbooks.

The question of hand binding versus machine binding is really a debate about what place “the old ways” have in our society. In the not so distant past, everything was made by hand, from the cup to the coffee that is poured into it to the newspaper you read while sipping. Every field, from mathematics to computing, has its segment of supporters who do not equate “modern” with “good”.

Deciding to learn hand binding doesn’t keep you from working in machine binding operations, while learning only machine binding techniques does keep you out of the loop in terms of bookbinding techniques.

Easy Book Binding Steps – Supplies and Machines

Before you decide to learn to bind books, you should understand the steps it takes to bind a book by hand. This difficult trade takes an entire career to perfect, but an amateur can pull off the basic steps with little difficulty. Though the printing press and modern machines have made bookbinding a boutique art rather than a necessary craft, learning about the complex art of binding a book is good for students of art and literature alike.

Here are some easy book binding steps.

Gather your equipment and supplies. Some book binding necessities are awls, different sizes of needles, different strengths of thread, plenty of glue, cardboard for the cover, and tons of paper.
Make four holes on the book’s spine at equal distances.
Now it is time to sew — run a needle into your first hole, out through the second hole, into the third and out through the fourth.
Sew your stacks of paper into the book one at a time using the above method. Once all your stacks are sewn to the spine, you’re about halfway done.
Using a paper clamp, tightly attach the spine to the sides of the pages with glue. Allow to dry.
Now you need to build a cover for the book — cut three pieces of heavy cardboard. You’ll use two of them for the book’s top and bottom cover and one for the book’s spine.
Book’s covers are just paper attached to cardboard with glue. Attach your cover to the outer paper. Remember to paper the front, back, and spine.
Clamp your book together tightly after gluing on the cover and spine, and place the book under something heavy for a couple days.

Hand bound books are a rare treat these days. Very few people are skilled at the craft of book binding, and less and less people learn to bind books every decade. Though it is a dying art, there is something to be said for the alternative — machine binding and the technology of printing. For certain applications, machines are superior to human hands.

Just like the segment of the population that prefers to tie their fishing flies themselves or make their own wine, there will always be a group of people who prefer handmade books to machine printed. Luckily for them, if you want to learn to bind books, there are still opportunities to do so.

What Are Audio Books?

January 28th, 2013 |

If it sometimes feels like there’s always a book you’ve been meaning to read, but you never have the time, then you’re not alone. Whether it’s the new Stephen King novel, the next chapter of the Twilight Saga, or a classic like War and Peace, everyone has a list of books they want to read. However, between work, family, and friends, the list probably never seems to get any shorter. If this sounds like you, you might want to think about audio books.

So, what are audio books? Audio books (sometimes also written as “audiobooks”) are recordings of books read aloud, and they are available in a variety of formats. Traditionally, audio books came on eight or nine cassette tapes, but today they are available on CDs or even as mp3s. Since you can download them from online sites, it is easier than ever to get into an audio book.

They are mobile enough to work into a busy schedule, and because they’re hands free, you can listen in the car on the way to work, while exercising, or even while doing chores around the house. Also, they frequently feature vocal performances by iconic actors or by the book’s own author, lending an extra dimension of experience to the text.

Want to get started listening to audio books? Here’s what you need to know.
Where can you find audio books?
How much do they cost?
Are there unabridged titles?
There are a wide variety of book types and genres available

Where Can I Find Audio Books?

Audio books are common these days. Most major bookstore chains, such as Borders or Barnes & Noble, will have an in-store audio books section. Most local libraries have popular titles available to check out, but there are also mail order clubs and other online sources that make it easy to get started.

Audible.com, for example, offers a plan giving you one credit per month that you can use for any audio book in their store. You download the title to your computer and can either burn it to a CD or send it to your mp3 player for easy listening. After using your monthly credit, you can buy additional titles at the retail price.

For those more interested in renting rather than buying, audiobooks.com offers a monthly all-you-can-rent plan similar to the popular movie rental site Netflix. You can have two, three, or four books out at a time, so you’re not limited to a single title per month. They also offer options for purchasing new and used audio books, or digital downloads.

There are even sites that offer free audio books of material from the public domain, but their selection tends to be limited and the sound quality tends be less reliable than it is on commercial sites. Still, it is an easy way to get an idea of what audio books are like.

What Can I Expect to Pay for Audio Books?

Prices for audio books can vary quite a bit. Most new releases and popular titles will be priced competitively with their printed editions. You can expect that most titles will be somewhere between fifteen and twenty-five dollars, though some may be thirty dollars or more. Others, especially works in the public domain tend to be cheaper. You can usually find such titles for five to ten dollars.

Sites like Audible.com offer a monthly membership instead, where for about fifteen dollars a month you can pick from almost any one of their titles. Certain titles, such as new releases or New York Times Bestsellers will cost more than one credit, but you can get most for just one.

Rental clubs typically charge anywhere from thirty to sixty dollars a month, depending on how many books you want to have out at one time, but if you are the kind of person who will get through six or eight titles a month these clubs can save you serious money.

You can even find some audio books for free online. This is
especially true for certain childrens audiobooks.

Are All Audio Books Abridged?

No. There is a wide variety of unabridged audio books available today. Most new release titles are presented unabridged, as are many classics. Abridged audio books edit certain parts of the texts to shorten the overall length of the presentation. An abridged version might be only five hours long, while an unabridged version of the same text might run for nine hours.

It is usually easy to tell which books are abridged and which are not, but if you are interested in getting the complete text, you want to be careful. Abridged versions are generally cheaper than unabridged versions, and are usually marked, however subtly, as “abridged” somewhere on their covers.

The difference between abridged version and unabridged versions is that, in the abridged text, editors have trimmed nonessential story elements. This means that someone has removed secondary characters and sub-plots as well as descriptive passages and background material in order to shorten the narration time.

Abridged texts certainly are not what the book’s author originally intended them to be. However, it’s rare that the main plot points are removed, and should you want to get through more books in a shorter time, you may want to consider abridged audio books.

What Kind of Audio Books Can I Expect to Find?

All kinds. The market for audio books is vast, and there is something for everyone. You can find science fiction, romance, new releases, books for children, mysteries, biographies, Christian spirituality books, non-fiction, classics, and almost anything else you can think of.

What you will not typically find are reference works, or technical writings and textbooks. These types of book do not read well, and are not intended for mass-market production. There are, however, some texts of this kind available as a service to the blind, but they are not the kind of audio books you would expect to have access to as a club member, and will typically not feature the type of vocal performances you’ll find in other genres.

Aside from these specialty titles, though, the world of literature is available on audio books, and it can be quite impressive. Listening to Alan Rickman or reading the works of Thomas Hardy, or Shakespearian actor Derek Jacobi reciting Virgil’s Aeneid can add an extra dimension of performance to the experience, so audio books are not simply books for those who don’t like to read.

If you are someone who doesn’t enjoy the physical act of reading, or if you enjoy it, but simply don’t have the time, audio books can give you the opportunity to experience all of the books you want without ever having to turn a page.

What Is a Choose Your Own Adventure Book?

January 28th, 2013 |

Choose Your Own Adventure books are a series of super popular book titles meant for kids. They were originally published between 1979 and 1998, but are enjoying a comeback in online versions as well as reprinted editions of the original texts. During the original run, Choose Your Own Adventure books sold well over 250 million copies and were translated into dozens of languages.

If you were a child of the 70s or 80s, you probably read Choose Your Own Adventure books with the same fanaticism that kids today reserve for Harry Potter. With 185 titles in the original series (and hundreds more in spin off series from Disney and other producers) there are plenty of adventures for kids to choose from.

How Do Choose Your Own Adventure Books Work?

These books are all written in the second person, meaning the reader takes on the part of the protagonist. Second person is a rarity in literature, so Choose Your Own Adventure books occupy a special spot in the world of books. Starting at the first page, the reader learns a basic storyline and starts making choices, which send the reader to a different page. Most CYOA books offer more than one “correct” path, with multiple bad endings thrown in for intrigue. During the course of a Choose Your Own Adventure book, the character may get lost, kidnapped, murdered, etc. — not events that most parents would allow their kids to read about these days.

Choose Your Own Adventure: A Brief History

Edward Packard was a busy man in the 60s, juggling a publishing career with the raising of his kids, trying to keep them entertained with wild bedtime stories. Sometime in 1969, Packard wrote a simple story called Sugarcane Island and attempted to have it published. All the major children’s book publishers rejected the book, and it wasn’t until 1976 that Packard approached the right publisher, a small imprint named Vermont Crossroads Press. Luckily for Packard (and millions of CYOA fans around the world), Vermont Crossroads was an innovative publisher that didn’t shy away from his project. It just so happened that the founder of that press had already written a few second person role playing stories for educational institutes, and saw the potential for Packard’s stories in that format.

The first name for Choose Your Own Adventure was the far less catchy “The Adventures of You.” Original ideas are not common in publishing, especially in children’s publishing, and it is probably the sheer uniqueness of the CYOA books that led to their popularity.

Choose Your Own Adventure Titles

Kids have very specific taste, and the producers of the Choose Your Adventure were masters of catering their titles to subjects that would look good to kids on bookshelves. Some of the titles have become classics, remembered more for the cover images (The Race Forever) or their weird titles (Your Code Name is Jonah) than anything between the covers. Here’s a sampling of Choose Your Own Adventure books’ titles.

The Cave of Time — This was the first ever Choose Your Own Adventure Book, and its popularity launched the series from obscure educational tool to mega-popular kids’ book series. The Cave of Time has lots of elements of fantasy, from the cave in question (which exists outside of time and space) to the groovy almost psychedelic cover art.
Survival at Sea — This title gave us two important “firsts” for the Choose Your Own Adventure books series. It was the first CYOA book to offer more than two possible possible tracks to victory, and also the first to include detailed charts and graphs rather than just straightforward narrative.
The Terrorist Trap — This CYOA book is noteworthy because it is one of just a handful of titles that aren’t being reprinted in the CYOA revival. The reason for the exclusion is obvious — America’s views on terrorism and even the word “terrorist” are vastly different from 1991, the year this title first appeared.

Alternative Choose Your Own Adventure Series

Because the original run of 185 Choose Your Own Adventure books were so popular it was natural for publishers to branch out and aim CYOA titles at other audiences.

Younger Readers — This series ran from 1981 – 1992, offering simpler story lines, primary color illustrations aimed at a younger set, and less traumatic negative endings.
Walt Disney Series — The CYOA Walt Disney Series are increasingly harder to find. These titles had something to do with the world of Disney, with titles like Cinderella’s Magic Adventure and Peter Pan in Neverland.
Super Adventure — Though only two “Super Adventure” titles were ever released (Journey to the Year 3000, and Danger Zones), they are a favorite among the Choose Your Own Adventure books fanatics.
Choose Your Own Nightmare — Towards the end of the original run of CYOA books, the publisher tried to capitalize on the popularity of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series by combining the two. Stine himself had nothing to do with this series, instead releasing his own line of CYOA style Goosebumps books called Give Yourself Goosebumps.

The Future of Choose Your Own Adventure

A company called Chooseco is already publishing new versions of classic CYOA titles with revamped graphics and cover packages, but that’s not the end for innovation with this series. Online versions of several books are playable for free at CYOA.com. DVD versions of the books are available (with voice talent like Frankie Muniz and William H. Macy) and the CYOA series has even spread to the Kindle — instead of flipping pages to continue the adventure, readers click links.

Because CYOA had a big impact on kids growing up in the 70s though the 90s, as those kids start producing art and creative material of their own, the impact of CYOA is being felt. Several recent new books have indicated a debt to Choose Your Own Adventure, the series turns up every now and again in standup comedy routines, and you could argue that CYOA influenced video game creators and still continues to do so.

The impact of Choose Your Own Adventure can’t be overestimated. So many millions of these books exist, both in new and used formats, and in so many languages that you’d be hard pressed to come up with a book series that had as much success during the time period of the original series.

How to Find the Best Acupuncture Books

January 28th, 2013 |

As Chinese medicine becomes more popular in the Western world, more and more people are turning to alternative means to make themselves well. Acupuncture is one of the more popular aspects of Chinese medicine, with acupuncture clinics popping up all over North America. Still, some people are a bit confused as to what acupuncture is and how it works. Luckily, there are tons of English-language books on the market to help people unfamiliar with acupuncture learn what it is all about. Knowing how to find the best acupuncture books will allow you to learn, in plain language, what acupuncture is, how it works, and even provide some basic step by step acupuncture procedures.

Acupuncture Practitioners – Acupuncture Basics

The purpose of therapy using acupuncture is to make the body healthier and alleviate pain. Though it may seem strange to make the body healthier by sticking needles in it, this method is tried and tested (over the course of thousands of years) and medical studies here in America have backed up the health benefits of acupuncture therapy time and again.

The most important concepts that an acupuncturist uses when promoting healing sound a little bit New Age — you’ll hear terms like “vital energy” or “energetic balance”. Don’t let the strange nature of the terms fool you — acupuncture has helped many people maintain a healthy and pain-free life. Think of this “vital energy” the way that Western doctors think of blood — it flows through certain channels, much like nerve messages travel along nervous system pathways. Your acupuncturist will monitor the flow and distribution of things like “vital energy”. Instead of blood vessels, acupuncturists are interested in “meridians and channels”.

How Does Acupuncture Work?

The best acupuncture books will help you understand this more clearly, but a brief summary of acupuncture method goes something like this — an acupuncturist can affect your relative health, pain, or sickness by stimulating certain parts of your “energy meridians” with tiny little needles. Don’t believe the stereotype, though — not all acupuncturists depend heavily on needles. Acupuncture often involves herbal healing, electricity, and even magnets and lasers. The point of acupuncture is to manipulate your “vital energy” into the right places. Acupuncturists want your energy levels to reach the proper levels so that your body can heal itself.

Best Selling Acupuncture Books

The top selling acupuncture books have a few things in common. First of all, they’re written in plain English for the layperson to understand them. The best acupuncture book should be readily available in English (and other languages) and have been peer reviewed by other acupuncture experts to make sure they’re giving you the facts.

Before you go shopping for the best acupuncture book, you need to establish what level of acupuncture understanding you’re at. There are acupuncture books for professionals, for students of acupuncture, and even for complete amateurs. Figure out what level you’re at and head out to your local bookstore.

Best Acupuncture Books for Amateurs

Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine, Harriet Beinfield

This is one of the top reviewed Chinese medicine books aimed at amateurs. Easy to read, written by a Westerner, and available at book stores for less than $15, you couldn’t hope for a better introductory text. This book is also one of the better reads on this list, as it includes plenty of actual case studies from Harriet Beinfield’s practical experience and includes extensive details of various types of Chinese medicine (though the focus is on acupuncture). Some people may be put off by the fact that Beinfield rejects basically all of Western medicine, but it is the best introductory text to Chinese medicine available on Western bookshelves.

The Complete Book of Chinese Health and Healing, Daniel Reid

Though there is plenty of information here about acupuncture and other aspects of Chinese Medicine, some readers may be put off by the inclusion of spiritual matters, such as the tenets of Buddhism, Taoism, and even Shinto. Another qualm I have with this book — Reid seems to encourage patients to try acupuncture and Chinese medicine at home without mentioning the possible dangers. This is yet another Chinese medicine text that ignores (and even demonizes) Western medicine.

Complete Guide to Chinese Herbal Medicine, David Moloney

Though you’ll learn plenty about Chinese medicine from this text, you may feel the material’s been “dumbed down” for Western audiences, and many critics would agree with you. Still, if you want to find a basic intro to Chinese medicine and acupuncture, this title (put out by the American Association of Oriental Medicine) will fit the bill perfectly. Be careful not to follow this text’s suggestions too closely, especially the author’s insistence that you only take one Chinese herb at a time.

Best Acupuncture Books for Students and Professionals

The Web That Has No Weaver, Ted Kaptchuk

This text, a must-have for students of Chinese medicine, is more of a philosophical approach to Eastern medicine than a practical guide. This book’s got plenty of material about acupuncture practice, and is light on the “herbal remedy” aspect of Eastern medicine.

Acupuncture, Chin Cheu Hsieu

This is an English translation of an actual Chinese textbook on acupuncture, and as such it is one of the best sources of real information on acupuncture you can find. The closest thing to an education in actual Chinese medicine that you can get without spending months in China.

A Manual of Acupuncture, Peter Deadman

The best acupuncture point reference book translated into English to date. This newer book is full of detailed drawings and diagrams and is indispensable to students of acupuncture. This book contains quotes from traditional Chinese acupuncture texts, both in their original language and translated to English. If you’re studying acupuncture and Eastern medicine, this may become your most turned-to reference book.

You don’t need to be afraid of acupuncture. Sure, there are needles involved, and it may seem a bit more difficult than driving over to your doctor’s office for a prescription, but Chinese medicine has plenty to offer those of us in the Western world who prefer a “quick fix” to our health problems. The next time you’re browsing titles in your local bookstore, grab one of these acupuncture titles and keep an open mind.

Kindle For Mac

December 6th, 2012 |

With the March 2010 release of “Kindle for Mac“, Apple users can enjoy e-books downloaded from Amazon.com. The MacIntosh version of the Kindle e-book reader means that most every major computer, cellphone and mp3 player on the market is compatible with Amazon’s Kindle.

Amazon came out with the first generation Kindle e-reader in late 2007, the device sold out 5 & 1/2 hours, and wasn’t in stock for nearly 5 months. Demand for Kindle readers, as well as improvements to the original design, led Amazon to release the Kindle 2 in February of 2009, then Kindle DX, which was released in June of 2009.

Meanwhile, “Kindle for iPhone” was released in March 2009. With this partnership in marketing the Apple’s popular iPhone Kindle app, it was only a matter of time before a “Kindle for Mac” would become available. Users of iPod Touch, the Windows PC and Research in Mobile’s BlackBerry cellular phones also interface with Amazon’s Kindle books.

What is Kindle for Mac?

Kindle for Mac lets your MacIntosh desktop computers and laptops read Kindle e-books. This gives you the ability to download over 450,000 book titles from the Amazon website, including over 100 or the 110 or so New York Times best sellers.

How Much Does Kindle for Mac Cost?

Prices ranging from $9.99 for the best selling books, and considerably lower for less popular titles. Subscriptions to downloadable versions of national newspapers or magazines are also available, with a one-month subscription to the Wall Street Journal at $14.99, the New York Times at $13.99 and USA Today at $11.99. The monthly price for most of the big name magazines, like Newsweek, Time and Forbes, are $2.99 or less.

The price to buy different Kindle devices varies. When Amazon Kindle first debuted, the device cost in the $390 or so. The price for a Kindle 2 had come down to $299 in June of 2009, but currently retails at $259, as of October 2009. Prices may be higher on Kindle for Mac for a while, but you can expect prices to fall to that $260 level pretty quickly.

What Does a Kindle For Mac Do?

Instead of buying books, magazines and newspapers to read, you can buy one of these publication’s downloads instead. This means you don’t have books and papers stack up around your home or office, or have to be thrown away or stored in the attic to make room for more stuff. Instead, you’re able to leave these books on your Kindle and read them at your leisure.

Storage capacity stretches for the Kindle DX is around 3,500 non-illustrated books, while storage for the original Kindle was around 200 titles. Like a computer, you can buy an upgrade to your storage capacity that increases the memory on your Kindle device.

The Kindle books are electronic files, so the publishers aren’t out the expense to print and distribute their books, magazines and newspaper publications. This means you get e-books at a considerable discount from the price of a printed book, so those who like to read books can buy more books, once the savings on those purchases offset the $250 cost of the e-book reading device.

Is Kindle as Hard on the Eyes as Computer Screens?

No. Reading a book from a Kindle is much more like reading a paper book than it is reading off a computer monitor. Monitors have that bright light lighting the screen, so reading from a computer screen hurts a lot of people’s eyes.

On a Kindle, the words are formed by ink. The lighting is more subdued, so your eyes are bombarded by a bright white tone illuminated with a light background, but tones more akin to the off-white colors of most print books. The Kindle is about the size of the average book, so reading an Amazon Kindle is designed to be like reading a traditional book.

The idea is to enhance your book reading experience, making it cheaper and easier to purchase, while getting rid of the problems of storing your book archives, or dealing with the dust and allergens that are common to books and bookshelves.

Amazon Kindle isn’t perfect yet. For instance, some users have complained that they don’t “own” a Kindle e-book, like they would a book they took home from the book store, so downloading additional copies to a second device has sometimes required additional fees or purchases. A court case or two and policy changes by Amazon have eliminated some of these complaints.

I’m sure the market is going to evolve further, as the years go by, but I can only imagine Kindle becoming easier to use, and advances in technology making the practice of downloading ebooks simpler and cheaper. Having more Kindle readers on the market, like Kindle for Mac, should only help the customer, by giving them more options.

Buying Kindle For Mac

Kindle for Mac is expected to be available in stores on April 3, 2010, so if you have an Apple computer or laptop, and you’ve wanted to be able to download Kindle e-books to your reader, the time has come when you can do that.

For more information related to the Kindle in general, see the following pages:

How Does the Kindle Work in Canada?

December 3rd, 2012 |

How Does the Kindle Work in Canada?

Amazon’s Kindle eBook reader is one of the most popular new gadgets this decade. The first group of Kindles sold out within hours and was out of stock for months.

Despite their popularity, the original Kindle had a major flaw — it was available only in the United States. International customers were out of luck.

The Basics

In October of 2009, Amazon released the international version of the Kindle 2. The Kindle 2 is an improvement on the original Kindle for many reasons, the most relevant to those outisde of the USA is that it works on a different mobile wireless platform. The Kindle 2 can use popular platforms like GSM, EDGE, 3G, and other networks that allows Kindle access to over 100 countries.

But how does the Kindle work in Canada? Is it the same experience as the American version? What about the type and number of books available for purchase?

Pros

Canadians will find they receive the same quick download times (about 60 seconds for an average download) as Kindle users in America. Access to 3G, EDGE, and GPRS networks is free, with no contract required and no additional fees. Unlike the original Kindle, there’s no need to rely on spotty and hard-to-find Wi-Fi networks.

About the download library — complex laws that control Amazon’s ability to publish eBooks mean that there are fewer titles available for the Kindle in Canada than in the United States. However, Canadian users still have a library of over 330,000 titles available for download. Amazon says they are working with publishers to add more every day.

Your Kindle 2 device will ship with a United States power adapter. These adapters support 100V to 240V outlets. If you wish, you can charge the device with the included USB cable via your computer. This same USB cable can be used to transfer personal documents to your Kindle from your computer. Unlike in America, wireless transfer of these documents is currently not available in Canada. Access to blogs and other websites is not available on the Kindle in Canada, although your device will have free access to Wikipedia.

Cons

One downside for Canadian customers is download price — Kindle prices in Canada are slightly higher than in the United States. This means that New York Times Bestsellers and New Releases will run you $11.99, and many titles cost less than that. Amazon advertises that 115,000 titles available in Canada cost under $5.99 for the download. Yes, these are US Dollar prices — all Kindle prices are given in the good old greenback — so those New York Times Bestsellers are about $12.46 in Canadian dollars, and the cheapest books on the Kindle will run you $6.22.

Canadian Kindle 2 users report a shipping issue that is a bit bothersome — sending the Kindle device internationally makes the device subject to customs and import taxes, which Amazon.com lists for you when you order the Kindle at their website. A bit of good news for Canadians — the Kindle’s 1-year warranty still applies in Canada.

The Kindle 2 opened up a whole new market for Amazon — international customers. Canadians can jump on the Kindle bandwagon and enjoy basically the same functionality as their neighbors to the south.

Order a Kindle via this Amazon link, and you’ll help the owners of this site stay in business. (We make a small commission.)

This post is part of a series of posts we’ve made about Amazon’s Kindle technology. Other posts include:

Who Is Ray Kurzweil?

September 19th, 2012 |

Who is Ray Kurzweil?

My first exposure to Raymond Kurzweil, better known as Ray, came while reading Rolling Stone magazine earlier this year. In the January 2009 issue, Kurzweil appeared in David Kushner’s article “When Man and Machine Merge”. Kurzweil’s words in that article stuck with me. Ray Kurzweil said in Rolling Stone that he wanted to clone his dead father via an exact genetic copy obtained from DNA in the father’s grave. That’s right — Kurzweil expressed an honest desire to build a copy of his dead dad by inventing special nanorobots that could enter his father’s grave and bring DNA samples back. The idea behind this clone? To assist Ray in calling up memories of his father.

Ray Kurzweil could be described as an author, an inventor, a “futurist”, and a kind of scientific maven, attempting to predict and analyze the behaviors of the technological future. If I make Kurzweil sound like a cartoon character or a mad scientist then I’m getting the job done.

Ray Kurzweil earned two degrees from MIT — one in Computer Science and another in Literature. Forbes magazine called Kurzweil “the ultimate thinking machine” — the Montreal Gazette called him “the modern Thomas Edison”. Kurzweil is a friend of Stevie Wonder, the author of the popular “10% Solution for a Healthy Life”, and a man that has earned honorary degrees in 14 of the last 30 years. In short, he’s an intellectual stud.

Kurzweil was born into a family that reads like a dream team for creating a brilliant child. Born in Queens to Jewish parents who barely escaped Austria before the onset of World War Two, Kurzweil started life in the Unitarian church, a denomination that puts great emphasis on exposing children to many different faiths and belief systems. Kurzweil’s mother was an artist, his father a musician and composer, and his uncle (a very close friend) worked as an engineer at Bell Labs, often teaching young Ray Kurzweil about computers years before most people would be exposed to computing. In fact, Kurzweil wrote his first computer program in 1963 at the age of fifteen. If you’re keeping score, that’s six years before humans landed on the moon.

One of Kurzweil’s first big breakthroughs in programming came at an equally young age. At just 17 year sold, Kurzweil won the International Science Fair, and was congratulated by President Lyndon Johnson at the White House. Kurzweil wrote a program that composed music, an early foray into the kind of work he would do as an adult.

Among Kurzweil’s major inventions are the Select College Consulting Program designed to match high school students with the right college, the Kurzweil Reading Machine (which allows blind people to have text read to them), and Kurzweil electronic keyboards — the first high quality user friendly synthesizer / keyboards.

But Ray Kurzweil didn’t stop with inventions. His writing career rivals his career as an inventor, at least in 2009. His six published books cover a variety of topics from the history of computers to diet and nutrition advice. Often, reading Kurzweil’s “Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever” seems like a dip into speculative fiction more than a lecture on health. It combines his ideas about the future (for instance, the notion that medical science is only 20 years or so from slowing down or stopping the aging process) with otherwise sound health advice such as limiting sugar intake. His book “The Singularity is Near” is similar, combining hard science fiction themes with sincere advice to his readers. In fact, “The Singularity is Near” lays out a timeline for the advancement of technology toward a time when the “singularity” exists — the moment at which artificial intelligence exceeds human intelligence. Yeah, this is heavy stuff, but it is fascinating reading, and some of Kurzweil’s past “predictions” have turned out stunningly accurate. For example, in his book The Age of Intelligent Machines, Kurzweil predicted the impact of cellular, digital, and other technologies on governments and revolutions. The recent conflict in Iran, digitally broadcast and endlessly Tweeted, is proof of his concept.

Ray Kurzweil holds honorary degrees from sixteen universities, among them Hofstra, DePaul, Michigan State, Queens College, and the Berklee College of Music. Currently, he’s attempting to bring what he calls “humanity’s great challenges”, working with NASA to gather brilliant minds to discuss the possibilities of the Singularity and other future events. He sits on the Army Science Advisory Board and is a vocal proponent of nanotechnology and microtechnologies. His newest book (Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever) is another tome on healthy living and hard science, and a followup to his classic Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever is available at bookstores now. He can also be seen working with Google CEOs attempting to promote the use of wind power to end our energy crisis.

Wherever he goes, whatever he says, Ray Kurzweil leaves an impression. For more information on Kurzweil’s ideas and his work, check out KurzweilAI.net, where the works of writers who follow Kurzweil’s theories (and other related themes) is gathered, from fiction to essays, or singularity.com for a site specifically related to the theory of the singularity.

Who Is Glenn Beck?

September 11th, 2012 |

Why Is Everybody Talking About Glenn Beck?

Glenn Beck is a conservative talk radio show host, author and tv commentator on FoxNews.

While Glenn Beck had been for years a solid second-tier radio personality in the tradition of Rush Limbaugh, with a show on CNN and Headline News and his nationally syndicated Glenn Beck Program on the radio waves, it was the move to Fox News and the airing of the Glenn Beck Show that made Beck a household name.

On a cable channel known for outrageous characters and wild-eyed opinions, Glenn Beck soon stood out from the crowd with his blend of sarcasm, social commentary and over-the-top antics.

In a short time, Glenn Beck has become the most talked-about Fox News analyst and commentator. Beck has pushed aside Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity and made the two of them seem reasonable by comparison. In fact, Glenn Beck has been so outside the box of conservative comment that many Republican leaders have felt the need to denounce Beck or distance from his comments.

That being said, Glenn Beck has edged his way into the political discussion and his comments can’t be ignored. Like my aunt said, “CNN is a dirty word in our house. I listen to Glenn Beck, because he always speaks the truth.” (Let me give an explanation: I live in Texas.)

Glenn Beck Profile

Glenn Beck was born in the state of Washington in 1964, where he was raised Roman Catholic and attended Catholic school. When he was 13, Glenn Beck won a contest that allowed him to appear on the radio as a disc-jockey. Beck would work his entire life in the radio business, though this job would take him around the country.

During that time, Glenn Beck knew his share of tragedy.

When he was 15, Glenn Beck’s mother died in a drowning incident. There was speculation by the Coast Guard that the drowning might have been a suicide, but authorities on the scene stated that it was a classic drowning case.

After Glenn Beck married his first wife, their oldest daughter was born with cerebral palsy. That marriage ended after 9 years due to Glenn Beck’s troubles with substance abuse (alcohol, weed).

Meanwhile, Beck had been slowly working his way through the radio industry. Glenn Beck left Washington at the age of 18 to work at a radio station in Provo, Utah, but left after a year, because he felt out of place. From there, he moved to Washington D.C., where he met his first wife, who was also in radio.

By 1996, Glenn Beck was working at a station in New Haven, Connecticut, and taking classes at nearby Yale University, partly on the recommendation of Senator Joe Lieberman. Glenn Beck too one theology course, but dropped out almost immediately.

When Glenn Beck remarried in 1999, he took his wife’s faith and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Beck family continues to reside in Connecticut (New Canaan) to this day. By 2002, Glenn Beck had founded his own media production company, Mercury Radio Arts, which produces his radio show, publishes his online content and his books, and manages the schedule for his speaking appearances.

It was around that time when Glenn Beck became known to a much wider audience, first through his syndicated radio show, then through his appearances on television. These days, Glenn Beck makes an estimated $23 million a year on his various endeavours.

Glenn Beck on CNN

Glenn Beck worked on CNN from the spring of 2006 until the fall of 2008 and his show was a success, despite being a lonely conservative voice on a left-of-center network. Beck had the 2nd highest rated show on CNN Headline News and posted his best-ever audience the month he signed to join FoxNews. His CNN producer had left for Fox a year earlier, so it was probably only a matter of time before the move happened.

While at CNN, Glenn Beck significantly toned down his performance. Though he was known to occasionally voice outrageous opinions that were likely to alienate the progressives, moderates and independents prone to watch CNN, one could watch the Glenn Beck show and come away thinking he was a fairly mainstream conservative commentator. That all changed when the television personality left CNN for FoxNews.

Glenn Beck on FoxNews

Since Glenn Beck moved to Fox to take over the 5pm slot from John Gibson, he has positioned himself as FoxNews’s most outspoken contributor. These days, Beck is the favorite target of The Daily Show, liberal bloggers and administration officials trying to tie the conservative talk show hosts to the mainstream Republican Party.

With the G.O.P. suffering an identity crisis after controlling all three branches of government for the first time since the 1920′s, with similar results, the conservative movement seems void of too many serious leaders in office. Men like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck have become the voices of Conservative America, and the Democrats seem happy to point out how crazy the G.O.P. sounds these days. This makes Glenn Beck a lightning rod for liberal commentators.

At the same time, Glenn Beck’s new higher profile on the “Fair and Balanced” station has made him fabulously wealthy, as he raked in $23 million last year from his tv and radio contracts, his books and speaking tours. So you might ask yourself, “Who is Glenn Beck, that he’s become such a notable figure in American politics?”

That’s hard to answer.

Glenn Beck might be a voice of American liberty as the Obama Administration tries to bring a new era of regulation and taxation (generally called “socialism”) to the United States. Or Glenn Beck might be a flamboyant entertainer who uses rhetoric and publicity stunts to sell books and gain listeners or viewers.

Or Glenn Beck might be a right-wing radical with a desire to incite those who will listen to him to undermine the U.S. government, justifying this behavior by the assumption that only conservatives love their country. Or maybe Glenn Beck is a religious fanatic who somehow conflates Christianity with American nationalism and justifies hate by assuming anyone against him is against God and country.

Or maybe Glenn Beck is some combination of the interpretations above. We report, you decide. We include facts below to let you decide for yourself.

Glenn Beck Beliefs

Is a Mormon
Believes in the Right To Bear Arms
Pushes for Increased Border Security
Pro-Life
Pro Death Penalty
Against Euthanasia
Believes in Free Speech
Believes in a Libertarian View of Free Market Capitalism

Glenn Beck Books

Since 2007, Glenn Beck has became a prolific author, producing 8 books in that time. The Christmas Sweater is meant to be a modern Christmas story with a message and, these days, Glenn Beck is touring the country telling the story himself, like a modern day Mark Twain or Charles Dickens (which is kind of cool).

The story itself is a great deal darker and less uplifting that I would have hoped, so fair warning, for those wanting to read an uplifting Christmas tale. Glenn Beck claims the book is 90% autobiographical. Though little that happens in The Christmas Sweater appears to have happened to Glenn Beck in real life, he may be telling the truth, assuming Glenn Beck had a dream where the Christmas sweater story happened.

Read The Christmas Sweater yourself to form your own opinion.

The Real America: Messages from the Heart and Heartland (2007)
An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World’s Biggest Problems (2007)
The Christmas Sweater (2008)
An Unlikely Mormon: The Conversion Story of Glenn Beck (2008)
The Christmas Sweater: A Picture Book (2009)
America’s March to Socialism: Why We’re One Step Closer to Giant Missile Parades (2009)
Glenn Beck’s Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government (2009)
Arguing with Idiots: How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government (2009)

Glenn Beck Quotes

Following are some of the more infamous Glenn Beck quotes and comments, though it’s hard to compile anything close to a complete list, given that Beck is daily commenting on America and his act gets more outrageous all the time. While reading these, keep in mind this is a man who professes to have a deep Christian faith (of the Mormon persuasion).

“When I see a 9/11 victim family on television, or whatever, I’m just like, ‘Oh shut up’ I’m so sick of them because they’re always complaining.”

“The only [Katrina victims] we’re seeing on television are the scumbags.”

“I think there is a handful of people who hate America. Unfortunately for them, a lot of them are losing their homes in a forest fire today.”

“The most used phrase in my administration if I were to be President would be “‘What the hell you mean we’re out of missiles?’”

“I’m thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I’m wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. … No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out. Is this wrong? I stopped wearing my What Would Jesus — band — Do, and I’ve lost all sense of right and wrong now. I used to be able to say, ‘Yeah, I’d kill Michael Moore,’ and then I’d see the little band: What Would Jesus Do? And then I’d realize, ‘Oh, you wouldn’t kill Michael Moore. Or at least you wouldn’t choke him to death.’ And you know, well, I’m not sure.” –responding to the question “What would people do for $50 million?”

Glenn Beck Quotes Accusing Americans of Fascism

Glenn Beck also has a series of quotations about his political opponents, denouncing them as Fascists or Nazis.

Keep in mind that the definition of a traditional Fascist is an extreme nationalist who wants an aggressive foreign policy to bring civilization to the less cultured nations, who wants to outlaw the trade unions and other workers’ causes at home and who wants an alliance between the business elite and the government (“syndicates”, as they were called) to control the various industries of the nation, to better control the economy by limiting competition between firms and limiting the bargaining power of individual citizens or workers groups to the detriment of the working classes of that nation, in order to unite towards one goal: the national will (usually war potential).

Many Fascist governments, from Hitler to Mussolini to the Spanish Falange, sought legitimacy through alliances with religious figures (generally the Pope). Fascists also tended to confuse the differences between socialism and communism, assuming one was the same as the other.

When you’re reading these accusations, ask yourself whether Glenn Beck’s politics or the liberals’ politics are more in line with Fascist beliefs.

“So here you have Barack Obama going in and spending the money on embryonic stem cell research. … Eugenics. In case you don’t know what Eugenics led us to: the Final Solution. A master race! A perfect person. … The stuff that we are facing is absolutely frightening.”

“Al Gore’s not going to be rounding up Jews and exterminating them. It is the same tactic, however. The goal is different. The goal is globalization…And you must silence all dissenting voices. That’s what Hitler did. That’s what Al Gore, the U.N., and everybody on the global warming bandwagon [are doing].”

“Everyone is Hitler, except for me!”

Glenn Beck Quotes – Maybe It’s an Act

But you know, maybe Glenn Beck is just an entertainer who uses politics to entertain, like John Stewart or Steven Colbert. If you want evidence that’s the truth, read a few of the Glenn Beck quotes below.

“You can get rich making fun of me. I know. I’ve made lots of money making fun of me.”

“Life is what you make of it. There’s always fun and laughs right under your nose if you’re willing to open your eyes to see it.”

Or maybe Glenn Beck is a man of his word and he’s practicing the right to free speech in the greatest sense of the tradition. Free speech isn’t about protecting the thing we all agree with; free speech is about protecting all speech, including the speech we find offensive or crazy. To show Glenn Beck isn’t a hypocrite when it comes to this issue, here’s a quote you might find interesting.

“The thing I can say about Ted Kennedy is, at least he never flinched on what he believed in, and that’s the way America…the thing you need to take away from Ted Kennedy is, he stood up, and never flinched. Americans need to stand up and, without flinching, without fear, be a lion, and stand up for what they believe in. I didn’t agree with anything he believed him, but I admired [him]. Absolutely. That’s what this country is all about. Stand up for what you believe in.”

“All men are created equal. It is what you do from there that makes the difference. We are all free agents in life. We make our own decisions. We control our own destiny.”

Glenn Beck Opinion

Here’s my opinion about Glenn Beck.

Glenn Beck is a conservative with heavy libertarian ideas, like many conservatives from the Western half of America, and he believes he’s exercising his right to free speech. A large part of Glenn Beck’s act is to get enough attention to sell books and make a lot of money, and if he can affect the political discourse, that’s a big bonus, too. Believing in America as the Land of Opportunity and believing in his right to free speech, Glenn Beck likely assumes there’s no harm in what he does, and he probably assumes he’s doing some good.

I disagree, of course.

Glenn Beck’s theories about race, socialism and the motives of the progressives in this country are half-baked, and he has the platform to influence millions of Americans who, like my aunt, think Glenn Beck speaks “only the truth”.

Given that many people refuse to listen to two sides of a debate, that kind of cloistered thinking, where one only listens to Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, and only reads their books, leads to a form of self-inflicted brainwashing.

After a while, listening to Glenn Beck try to convince you that Barack Obama wants to turn America into a fascist state doesn’t sound so crazy after all.

So when you ask “Who is Glenn Beck,” I would say that Glenn Beck is a lot of things: some bad and some not-so-bad. One thing the two of us agree on is that he has every right to speak his mind on the state of American society and politics. At the same time, I have every right to say Glenn Beck is full of it and that his presence does more harm than good to America.

What Is an Electronic Book Reader?

November 22nd, 2010 |

What Is an Electronic Book Reader?

Electronic book readers are devices that display electronic books, also known as eBooks. At its most basic, an electronic book reader has an input device, like a keyboard, and a screen to display eBook text.

Files called “eBooks” have been around for decades, though they were little more than books stored as text files on disks. The first electronic book readers were released in 1998, the most popular and best-known of the early models was called SoftBook. Priced near $600 and featuring a leather cover and touchscreen display, the SoftBook and its main competitor Rocket eBook were a little ahead of their time and never caught on.

How Do Electronic Book Readers Work?

Modern “dedicated eBook readers” like Amazon’s Kindle are far more complicated than the rudimentary versions of eBook readers in the past–these basically just displayed text files on a small monitor. Using an electronic book reader is as easy as downloading a file from the Internet–buy a book, download it to your device (either wirelessly or by connecting your device to a computer), then select the file and start reading.

The display is a bit more complicated. Modern eBook readers use a technology called E-Ink. The biggest difference between E-Ink and other display methods is that E-Ink only uses energy once when displaying text–once text is displayed, the text stays on the monitor but doesn’t sap the battery power. E-Ink means you can read your eBook reader longer and save the planet at the same time. Unfortunately, E-Ink is fairly monotone, displaying 16 different shades of . . . gray.

The latest eBook reader technology attempts to incorporate color into the display. Other additions to eBook readers include Bluetooth capability, high-speed Internet access, touchscreens, and other features.

How Much Do Electronic Book Readers Cost?

Let’s take a look at the three most popular eBook readers in today’s market, Amazon’s Kindle, the Barnes and Noble Nook, and Apple’s iPad. Comparing the three devices and taking a look at how much they cost should give you a good idea of the kind of money you can spend on an eBook reader.

The Kindle is at the low-end of this scale, retailing for $189. Different models of Kindle will cost a little bit more–for instance, if you are looking for a large screen for your eBook reader, the Kindle DX’s 9.7 inch screen will be perfect for you. The biggest downside of the DX is that it weighs 1.2 pounds and is not exactly easy to hold up and read like a book. The Dx also costs more than the standard Kindle, retailing for $379.

The Nook comes in just above the Kindle at $199. Barnes and Noble has just announced a new version of the Nook featuring a color display that will retail for about $300. Most people who buy the Nook do so for its excellent 3G coverage, though most users of eBook readers won’t need 3G coverage unless they take a train ride through the mountains or want to take their reader on a camping trip.

Apple’s iPad is the most expensive “eBook reader” on the list, though it is hardly just a device for reading electronic books. The iPad has an LCD color screen, and is really a high end “tablet computer” and not a traditional eBook reader. One downside of using the iPad as an eBook reader is its weight–by far the heaviest eBook reader on the market at one and a half pounds. Also, buying an iPad just to use it as an eBook reader doesn’t make a lot of financial sense. Costing between $500 and $900, the iPad is about four times as expensive as most eBook readers.

What Is the Kindle?

Much of the buzz about electronic book readers these days centers on Amazon’s Kindle. The Kindle is by far the most popular electronic book reader ever made.

The popularity of the Amazon Kindle (released in 2007) is due in part to marketing and in part to the ease with which customers can download books. The Internet has spread a wider net across the world since the late 90s, and it is just plain easier to get eBooks on the Kindle than any other electronic book reader.

Amazon’s Kindle can download books wirelessly. The screen uses new technology to make the text easy to read and extend the battery life of the device. The Kindle currently owns the eBook reader market, though as the number of iPads in use in America increases, that lead is likely to disappear.

Where Do I Find eBooks?

The number and variety of books you have access to depends on which eBook reader you use. Not every eBook store is created equal–it is difficult to say outright which eBook reader device has access to the most titles, since some services count newspapers and magazines, games, and public domain (or free) books with their total and some don’t. According to people much smarter than myself, Amazon’s Kindle store actually has the “best” selection of books, meaning the most varied and the largest.

Coming in at a close second is the Barnes & Noble selection for Nook devices (you can even buy books instantly while browsing in B&N bookstores) with upstart Kobo, bringing in the reader with Borders and Apple taking last place. Apple’s weak book selection is a surprise, considering that the iPad is quickly becoming the most popular eBook reader.

Finding eBooks is as easy as connecting with your device’s eBook store. One exception is downloading eBooks through Apple. To download a book from Apple’s iBook store, you’ll need to download the free iBooks app on any compatible Apple device, such as an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch. This makes it the most complicated of eBook download systems, but it’s still pretty easy. On the plus side for the iPad is the fact that they can read iBooks, Nook books, Kindle books, and most other eBook types.

Electronic book readers are becoming popular at a time when paper books, magazines, and newspapers are losing ground. The convergence of these two events could end in two different ways–either eBooks will basically replace paper books, or paper books make a resurgence and the two formats exist in some kind of book harmony. Whatever the case, eBooks have found their way into millions of homes and become second nature to many book lovers. Don’t expect the popularity or prevalence of eBooks and their readers to go away any time soon.

How to Get a Book Published

September 9th, 2010 |

Publish Your Book

The world of book publishing may seem impossible to break into, but the truth is that anyone can have their book published. If you’ve done the hard work — writing a book — then the rest of your task is easy. Trust me — there are so many publishing companies out there who want to publish good work, that sorting through them to find a publisher is like shooting fish in a barrel. Publishing a book is not easy, but if you take the proper steps, you can publish your book in no time.

The editors at AskDeb have worked in the publishing industry (both digital and print) for over a decade, and we’ve seen thousands of wannabe authors make the easy transition into “published writer”. Even though you may have heard that bookstores are having trouble with their traditional business methods, there is still interest in publishing new work. The publishing industry in America is very much alive.

How to Get a Book Published - Book Publishing

Publish Your Book

The Internet has become a top-notch venue for publishers both large and small who want to expand their author list or find new talent. For writers who don’t want to go the traditional route of publication have turned to websites like Etsy and eBay to sell their books on their own, usually one copy at a time. For these writers who have never made a dime off their writing in the past, selling forty or fifty copies of their book over the course of a few weeks is a huge financial return on their hard work, and because of the ease of use and the democratic nature of the web, you should expect authors to continue going this route for publishing. An author’s ability to publish and sell their own work combined with that same ability granted to small presses means there are more publishing opportunities than ever before. The lesson is — if you have written a good book, getting it published is simple.

There are four things every author should be doing right now in order to get their book published.

1. Read All Day Long

Even though you’ve finished your book, you still need to be a voracious reader. We’re not talking about inspiration here — you need to read to find out about publishers, literary presses, and publishing opportunities.

If you triple the amount of books you read on a daily basis, you’re more likely to find out about new publishers that could be interested in your new work. But don’t just read books — lots of magazines publish excerpts or short stories, and successful writers have used these opportunities for years as a jumping off point for their career.

While you read, be sure to write down the names of ten publishers, magazines, or editors who you think would respond positively to your work. If you find a book that you like, that is similar to your own book, figure out who published that book and write their name down. Research these names, find out when they read unsolicited submissions, and try to tailor your book to that press.

All new writers should be well-versed in the names and styles of publishers and small presses. You should be familiar with publishers who are based in your region or even in your city. If there’s a university nearby, find out about their publication history. All major universities have what is called a “university press”. These college presses are usually more willing to publish young writers or experimental material.

However you decide to handle it, you need to find the names of ten publishers you’d be willing to do business with.

2. Narrow Down Your Search

Using that list of ten publishers that you found through your own reading and research, look them up in a copy of the most recent writer’s market for your genre. These books are available for perusal at your local library, or you can buy a copy for yourself. Either way, look for your genre (“Poet’s Market”, “Short Story Market”, etc) and the current year. There’s no use looking up details that were valid five years ago.

While you’re researching, narrow down your list of publishers to just five. This will make your submission process a targeted attack, rather than a random grab out of nowhere.

While looking up a publisher’s details, you need to realize that some imprints may have folded in recent months, some may not be accepting submissions, or a publisher may not want an unsolicited submission without a query letter first. These are the easiest publishers to eliminate from your list.

The purpose of focusing on just five potential publishers for your book is that it forces you to create a concrete idea of what your book is. Instead of spreading your efforts around among ten different editors, you can concentrate on the names of just five people who have the power to publish your book.

3. Package Your Book Correctly

“Packing” your book doesn’t just mean wrapping it in a book mailer and plunking your home address down on the front — once you have worked out which five publishers you’ll be targeting with your book, you need to prepare a unique copy of your book that is specific to each publishing house. Some publishers will want multiple copies of your book to spread around the editing floor, while others are looking for simple excerpts to determine if they want to read more, and many newer publishing houses would prefer it if you sent the text of your book in an email or as an attachment. The point of focusing on five unique publishers is that you can prepare five tailor made copies of your book to fit the style that each house prefers.

4. Keep Trying

This last step in the process of publishing your book is the most important — don’t give up if you get rejected the first time. If your first five publishers reject you, pick five more presses to share your genius with. There are hundreds of stories of authors who were rejected by hundreds of publishers before they found the right house. Rejection at this early stage of your career is good for you — it teaches you to accept criticism and makes victory that much sweeter when you finally do find the right publisher.

See also:

What Are the Best 2010 Summer Books?

July 7th, 2010 |

What Are the Best 2010 Summer Books?

Ask ten readers the names of the best books for reading this summer and you’ll get ten unique lists. Reading is a very personal thing — a great page-turner for you may be boring past my endurance. When it comes to summer reading many people are even more particular. Lying on your back on the beach isn’t necessarily the best time to crack into Marcel Proust’s Swann’s Way, but might be the only time of year you’d be tempted to read a romance novel or a piece of true crime writing.

Whatever your taste for beach books, this list has you covered. From poetry and non-fiction to science fiction and inspirational writing, make this the summer that you finally finish a good book.

Kings of the Earth, Jon Clinch

When a writer’s first book is as popular (both critically and among readers) as Clinch’s Finn was, you have to look forward to the follow up. Clinch delivers with this “based on a true story” novel about fratricide in rural new York. Called both “suspenseful” and “hauntingly beautiful” by critics, the story of three eccentric elderly brothers and the murder trial that introduced them to the world has all the pace of your favorite mystery book with a touch of class. This is literary writing, yes, but on a topic that pairs easily with a bottle of beer.

Dombey and Son, Charles Dickens

Not exactly new material here — Charles Dickens died 140 years ago — but you’re sure to hear a lot of murmurings about this title. Dickens is best known for decidedly un-summer writing like that found in The Adventures of Oliver Twist and Great Expectations, but critics and readers are shedding new light on this piece, originally published in the 1850s. Literary trends are hard to keep tabs on, and we at AskDeb are still more than a little perplexed about so much excitement around a text that is well over 150 years old, but if you spend any time in bookstores or book clubs this summer, you’ll hear this title. Who says summer has to be full of trash fiction?

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, Aimee Bender

Those first two titles are a bit heavy, aren’t they? The best poolside books are sometimes the fluffiest. This novel, about the wacky and lovable Edelstein family, combines elements of fantasy with good old memoir. The main character has the decidedly strange ability of tasting different feelings in food. This may not be true for, but for us at AskDeb psychic phenomena and delicious descriptions of cupcakes are as wrapped up in our memories of summer as watermelon and rolling blackouts.

*Editor’s Summer Pick — Lighthead, Terrance Hayes

If you’re like most people, your poetry library is pretty skinny. Maybe there’s an old copy of The Canterbury Tales leftover from your college days or a Billy Collins book given to you as a wedding present. Summer is as good a time as any to dig into poems, especially when those poems are stuffed with laughs, lyrical brilliance, and straight up jazz. That’s what you get from Terrance Hayes’ new book Lighthead. From the beautiful meditation found in “Fish Head for Katrina” to the brilliant “Avocado” (my vote for must-read text of the year), Hayes is writing poems that rate an SPF in the thousands. In “Avocado”, Hayes manages to weave together a Kafkaesque dream narrative with a history of the Black Power movement. Poetry as summer reading? You bet. Here’s a sample, from “Lighthead’s Guide to the Galaxy”:

Maybe Art’s only purpose is to preserve the Self.
Sometimes I play a game in which my primitive craft fires
upon an alien ship whose intention is the destruction
of the earth. Other times I fall in love with a word
like somberness.

Now that’s an ars poetica I’d like to have a fruity drink with.

Digital Domains, edited by Ellen Datlow

I love a good science fiction anthology when it gets hot outside. If you hate a story, flip ahead three or four pages and start again. This new science fiction anthology, edited by Ellen Datlow of OMNI Online fame, is an anthology of the best science and futurism stories published by OMNI and Datlow’s other projects OMNI Online, Event Horizon, and SCIFICTION). This is not shoot ‘em up aliens and time travel type stuff — OMNI tends more toward the experimental or postmodern. Ellen Datlow is recognized as one of the top editors in speculative fiction, and she’s launched some great careers in the genre with her work at OMNI and others. This book is a collection of her favorite stories from those sources.

How Did You Get This Number, Sloane Crosley

If you need a last minute gift for the egghead reader in your life, this new title by Sloane Crosley is a safe bet. You may remember Crosley’s most famous title (I Was Told There’d be Cake) from just a few years ago, and this new collection of essays is no less weird or wonderful.

Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It, by Maile Meloy

Having a younger brother who is more famous than you are must be tought. Maile Meloy’s younger brother is Colin Meloy, lead singer and most visible member of the indie rock sensation The Decemberists, now selling out a giant rock venue near you. Where her brother’s lyrics are literate, flowery, even rococo, Meloy’s writing is spare. This book, called “the sleeper hit of 2009″ by O Magazine, is just recently out in paperback. There was so much buzz about this collection of short stories, you’re sure to see this title on beach chairs and in backyards all summer long. Meloy’s writing has earned her comparisons with Bruce Springsteen and the raw and bizarro stylings of Roberto Bolano. Pick this book up for those times when you don’t want to commit to a full book but still want amazing writing. The winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship as well as multiple awards for her short story writing, Meloy is a young novelist worth keeping tabs on.

Summer reading requires a very specific book. No other season is as readily identified with a dog-eared book as the hot months. Whether you’re looking to expand your vocabulary with a classic like Dombey and Son or ignore your kids with a piece of chick lit in hand, the summer of 2010 is not slouching in the beach book department. Any one of the above books would look great covered in sand and barbecue sauce.

Kindle Deals, Discounts, and Best Prices

January 25th, 2010 |

Kindle Deals, Discounts, and Best Prices

Amazon’s eBook reader Kindle features an electronic paper display, a super-thin body, and hundreds of thousands of book titles available for download from the Kindle store. Amazon’s asking price, as of January 2010, is $259 for the Kindle 2. The most popular books cost $9.99 to download too. So who could blame you for searching for Kindle deals, Kindle discounts, and best prices on Kindles?

The Original Kindle

Amazon no longer sells their original Kindle reader, but that doesn’t mean you can’t buy one. The first-generation Kindle was a good device and even featured an SD memory card for easy memory expansion — lots of people still want that capability. Used first-generation Kindles can still be found online at

, and they usually cost around $100. Of course, any time you buy used electronics online, caveat emptor–buyer beware.

Make sure you buy your Kindle from high-rated sellers or people that you trust. If you can find a Kindle with the original box and all the cables you’ll be even better off. Buying a used or still-new-in-the box original Kindle is one of the best ways to get a Kindle deal.

The Kindle 2, US-only version

Discounts and the best prices on the Kindle 2 are rare but they do exist. Amazon released the first Kindle 2 in February 2009. This version was able to download eBook titles using Amazon’s Whispernet Internet service. In October of 2009, Amazon released an international version of the Kindle 2, which was able to access Whispernet in many countries via 3G wireless.

Kindle Deals and Discounts

After the release of the international version, Amazon stopped making new units of the US-only Kindle 2. Just like with the original Kindle, you can still find used or refurbished units at a nice discount. As of January 2010, used models of the US-only Kindle 2 are available for purchase on Amazon.com for as little as $229. Amazon says they will continue to support Whispernet for the US-only Kindle 2, so if you’re in the US this is a good way to get a discount on what is essentially the same device as a new Kindle 2.

Kindle eBooks

Whichever model you decide to buy, once you purchase your used or discounted Kindle device you’ll want to start loading it up with books. While the $9.99 charged by Amazon for new releases and New York Times bestsellers is still cheaper than what you’d pay for a hardback, there are other ways to save cash on eBooks at the Kindle store.

Many of the best books available on Kindle are just a few cents or even completely free, and you can’t get a better deal than that. If you’re an English major, your Kindle will pay for itself in no time. All of Shakespeare’s plays are free on the Kindle. Maybe you’re addicted to romance novels? There are countless titles available for download less than a dollar. Not to mention that it is easy to hide your romance novel habit on a Kindle.

The best way to browse free and cheap titles at the Kindle store is to sort your search results by “Price: Low to High.” You’ll be surprised by what you find.

In today’s bad economy, you might not think you can afford a Kindle, but if you use some smart shopping and common sense it will be easy to find deals, discounts, and low prices on the Kindle tech you crave.

Buy a Kindle via our Amazon link, or via our

link, and you’ll help support the site. (We make a small commission when you use our Amazon or eBay links.)

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about various ebook readers. The other posts in this series include:

It’s also part of a series of articles we’ve written about the Kindle:

The Kindle Pricing Strategy & The Kindle Pricing History

January 20th, 2010 |

The Kindle Pricing Strategy & The Kindle Pricing History

Some people criticized the original price of the Kindle 2 after accusations surfaced about the device’s production cost. More questions have come up about the feasibility of Amazon’s business model concerning their Kindle store and the selling of eBooks online, especially when many of the titles are completely free. Amazon has since decreased the price of the Kindle 2 device and refined the pricing strategy of their Kindle store.

The Kindle Pricing History

The original Kindle, which was so hotly anticipated it sold out online in a matter of hours, was first released in November of 2007. The device remained sold out on Amazon.com until April 2008, although many used devices were available online at eBay and Craigslist. Amazon initially priced the Kindle at $399, a price they soon lowered to $359.

In February 2009, Amazon began selling the Kindle 2 for the same price of $359. In April of that year, PC World released an article revealing each individual Kindle 2 only cost $185.49 to build, giving Amazon a supposed $173.51 in profit on each sale. This seemed exorbitant, but that estimate failed to take into account the cost of the Kindle 2’s software.

Nevertheless, in July of 2009 Amazon lowered the price of the Kindle 2 to $299. This price reduction was related to the release of the much larger (in terms of physical size and storage capacity) Kindle DX, which sells for $489, in June of 2009. Amazon further reduced the price of the Kindle 2 to $259, where it stands now (as of January 2010), in October of 2009, just in time for the start of the holiday shopping season.

The Kindle Pricing Strategy and Business Model

The Kindle Pricing Strategy

The business model behind Amazon’s sale of eBooks and other materials via their Kindle store has also received criticism. The Kindle 2, released during a major economic recession in the US and elsewhere, was seen as a luxury product beyond the reach of most Americans.

Many felt the initial price of the device, combined with the average $9.99 price of New York Times bestseller titles, was out-of-touch with American spending habits. At a time when avid readers may be forgoing purchasing new books in favor of checking books out of the library or buying books used in order to keep up with their reading habit, people wondered how Amazon planned to make money from the Kindle 2.

But by the end of 2009 Amazon had sold 1.5 million of their Kindle, Kindle 2, and Kindle DX devices. As of Christmas day of the same year, eBook sales to Kindle owners as well as users of the Kindle app for iPhone and iPod Touch, and the Kindle for PC software, overtook printed book sales.

Amazon stated that the Kindle is its most popular gift purchased that holiday season, and as these new Kindle owners strive to fill their readers with e-books, they will only fuel more sales and fill Amazon’s coffers. Despite some controversy, it seems the Kindle device and the Kindle e-book store are here to stay.

You can buy a Kindle via our Amazon link, and we’ll make a tiny commission, which will help keep the doors to this site open.

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about various ebook readers. The other posts in this series include:

More appropriately, this is part of our series about the Amazon Kindle,which includes some of the following posts:

Kindle Covers and Cases

January 18th, 2010 |

Kindle Covers and Cases

Amazon’s Kindle is popular. If you got your hands on one, the first thing you’ll probably want to do is get a good Kindle case, or cover. You want to protect your investment, and a cover is the best way to keep the dings and scratches at bay. (Please note that all of the Kindle covers and cases mentioned in this post were available at these prices as of January, 2010, but those prices and availability could have changed since then.)

Not only are Kindle covers and cases important for protecting the device, you can express your sense of style. When considering which of the many Kindle covers and cases are available, think about where and for what you’ll be using it. This will help you decide between a case with a beautiful form and one with a little more function.

The following are five of the most popular Kindle covers and cases on the market. All are available online, some right at Amazon.com.

Amazon Kindle 2 Leather Cover: $29.99

This is the official leather case created especially for the Kindle 2 by Amazon, and if you don’t mind having another big, obvious logo for the online bookseller on your device, it’s well worth the price. The case is stylish without being cute or flashy, and it will give your Kindle the discreet look of a leather journal or Moleskine notebook.

This case is secure, keeping your device in place with several small hinges that are designed to fit the Kindle 2. You won’t have to worry about your Kindle sliding out as might happen with a similar case that just used elastic straps for this purpose. The soft interior protects the Kindle from scratches while leaving all buttons and ports accessible, so you don’t have to take the device out of the case to charge it.

Amazon’s Kindle 2 Leather Cover is available for purchase at Amazon.com. You can order one when you get your Kindle, to be certain they arrive together.

ProTec Neoprene Sport Covers: $24.95

The ProTec line of sporty covers for the Kindle are made of a ballistic nylon to protect your device from the types of scratches and dings it might get while banging about inside a backpack or large purse. This is the perfect case for the person who likes to use the Kindle’s text-to-speech function while jogging, or for someone who likes to take their device for reading at the beach.

Available in black, gray, and a sporty lime green, the ProTec covers offer cushioned protection and include a deep inner pocket for bringing along a charging cable. The case zips closed, keeping out lint and dust. The nylon exterior is strong enough to take scrapes without marking the surface of your Kindle as a leather cover might.

The ProTec covers are also available for purchase at Amazon.com

Bobarra Covers: $45 – $54

Bobarra is a small business specializing in fabric and leather covers for the Kindle 2 and Kindle DX (as well as some adorable laptop bags). They offer fabric covers in a variety of prints, as well as luxe and upscale-looking leather covers.

The leather covers come with the option of choosing several different closures, from a simple book-like encasing, to a magnetic closure, to a stylish tab closure. The fabric covers feature Bobarra’s signature scalloped flap design for a touch of romance. Each design is named after a historic writer.

These covers are beautiful and handcrafted, and if you’re really looking to lavish some attention on your Kindle, this might be the way to indulge yourself.

Waterfield Cases for the Kindle 2 and Kindle DX: $27 – $49

Waterfield makes three types of cases designed to fit Kindle devices. Each is well crafted and offers excellent protection for your device, and while they aren’t as pretty or stylish as the Bobarra covers, they do offer a rugged degree of protection.

The Slip Case is a slim, padded sheath, and it contains an inner plastic sheet that protects the Kindle’s screen in case of impact. This would be excellent for protecting your Kindle if you carry it within another bag, like a briefcase or laptop bag. The Sleeve Case is more protective, and includes some inner pockets as well as an outer flap and a carrying strap.

The Travel Case is perfect if you’re going to be taking your Kindle on longer trips. Thin and easy to pack, the Travel Case keeps your device safe while still allowing space for chargers, headphones, and other Kindle accessories in one place.

Kindle Chaos Ultra VU Shells: $19.95

Kindle Chaos makes a selection of cases, but their Ultra VU shells are the colorful standouts. The hard, clear plastic design makes the colors pop against the Kindle’s white exterior. The two-piece construction (similar to your average cell phone case) promises to protect your Kindle from drops and dings, and each case comes with a bonus screen protector.

However, the “kickstand” feature makes this case unique. Each Kindle Chaos shell has a small piece of plastic that flips outwards from the back, allowing you to prop up your device for hands-free reading. This allows you to do everything from reading recipes from a cookbook while preparing food to reading from a textbook while typing a research paper.

If you buy a Kindle cover or a Kindle case from Amazon via our links, you’ll be supporting our site. (We get a small commission if you do.)

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about various ebook readers. The other posts in this series include:

How Do You Make the Kindle Read Aloud Function Work?

January 16th, 2010 |

How Do You Make the Kindle Read Aloud Function Work?

Amazon’s Kindle 2 eBook reader promises to revolutionize the act of reading. Amazon hopes the Kindle will do for books what the iPod did for music. To this end, the Kindle and Kindle 2 devices boast features to entice users to use the Kindle for all their reading, kind of like how iPods became everyone’s “default” music player a few years ago.

The Kindle 2′s dictionary function allows users to look up unfamiliar words without interrupting the reading time, and with the bookmark function, you can mark a page for easy return.

What is the Kindle Read Aloud Function?

One intriguing feature of the Kindle is the read-aloud function, a piece of text-to-speech software that reads the text of your eBook aloud to you.

The read-aloud function is easy to switch back and forth from while you’re reading, so you can read from your Kindle while enjoying your morning coffee and then switch to read-aloud mode on the treadmill.

The read-aloud function is useful for Kindle users who have difficulty reading due to disability–the software is the same as other TTS software that has been available for blind users since the 1980s.

How Do You Make the Kindle Read Aloud Function Work?

The existence of the read-aloud feature is controversial because some publishers say the feature raises copyright issues by creating what is basically an unlicensed audio book. Advocacy groups for the blind say removing the read-aloud feature would unfairly hinder the ability of the disabled to use the Kindle to their advantage.

Amazon has decided to leave it up to publishers to enable the Kindle’s read-aloud function on a title-by-title basis.

Activating the Kindle Read-Aloud Feature

To make the Kindle “read aloud” function work, follow these steps:

1. Press the “text” key. This is the key marked with the symbol “Aa.”

2. Use the 5-way controller to highlight the “Text-to-Speech” option.

3. Press down on the 5-way controller to select “turn on.” You should begin to hear the text of your book spoken aloud through the Kindle’s external speakers. If you wish, you can plug in headphones to listen privately.

Kindle Text-to-Speech Settings

The Kindle’s default voice is male. You can use the 5-way controller to select a female speaking voice instead. The voice’s rate of speech can be increased or decreased as well as paused — all using the 5-way controller. While Text-to-Speech is playing the screen will update to the corresponding page of text.

The Kindle begins to read at the start of the page by default. To start at a particular spot on the page, simply move the cursor to the place on the page you’d like to begin before turning on the feature. If, when you attempt to select “Text-to-Speech” only to find it grayed-out, then your title’s publisher has deactivated the Kindle’s ability to read aloud from this e-book.

You can also activate the Kindle’s read-aloud function by holding down the “Shift” key (marked by an upward-pointing arrow) and the “Symbol” key (SYM) at the same time for a few seconds. You can also pause and resume the feature using the Spacebar.

If you don’t already have a Kindle, buy one from Amazon now using our link. (We’ll get a small commission when you do so.)

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about various ebook readers. The other posts in this series include:

It’s also part of a series of Kindle articles:

How Does the Kindle Work in Australia?

January 12th, 2010 |

How Does the Kindle Work in Australia?

The first Kindle device released by Amazon was not compatible for use in Australia. In fact, the Kindle 1 was for Americans and Americans only.

Late last year Amazon released the Kindle 2 which works with multiple wireless networks like 3G and others. The Kindle is now available to people in over 100 countries, including Australia.

But how does the Kindle work in Australia? Before you rush out and buy a Kindle down under, consider the following..

How To Find the Australian Kindle

In order to purchase a Kindle for shipment to Australia you simply head to the main product page for the Kindle 2 and click on the link that reads “Live outside the U.S.?” Select “Australia” from the drop-down menu and you’ll be directed to the right place.

Pros

Australian Kindle customers enjoy the 60 second download time available to Americans and others, and Amazon’s Whispernet is available all over Australia via 3G wireless, so you won’t have to hunting down a Wi-Fi hotspot anymore.

Remember that publishing law prohibits Amazon from simply granting access to their entire eBook library to people outside of the US — but Australian customers have access to over 310,000 eBooks to choose from in the Kindle store. As expected, Amazon is working with publishers to grant greater access to their download library.

The pricing system differs slightly in Australia — expect New York Times Bestsellers and New Releases to cost $11.99 American ($13.03 Australian) while 125,000 other titles will run you just $5.99 American ($6.51 Australian). Remember that all prices you see on the Kindle store are given in US dollars.

Cons

There is one big problem for Australian Kindle customers — the Kindle does not ship with a power adapter for charging the device. American power outlets are different from those in Australia, and Amazon is not currently producing an Australian power cord. In Australia you will have to use your computer to charge your device via USB. The big downside here is that you’ll have to have a home computer to use the Kindle. On the bright side, The Kindle 2 has an long battery life making the device capable of going as long as a week without a recharge.

You will have the option of transferring your files wirelessly to your device rather than plugging it into a computer and transferring the data that way — but the downside is that Amazon’s Whispernet service will cost you $.99 per megabyte.

Access to blogs and other websites is not yet available in Australia over the Kindle but you will have free access to Wikipedia.

The Kindle 2 is an innovative toy and educational tool. How does the Kindle work in Australia? Just fine, if you’re willing to make a few concessions.

Order a Kindle via this Amazon link, and you’ll help the owners of this site stay in business. (We make a small commission.)

This post is part of a series of posts we’ve made about Amazon’s Kindle technology. Other posts include:

How Does the Amazon Kindle 2 Work?

January 11th, 2010 |

Amazon Kindle 2 Review

Amazon’s Kindle, released in 2007, was a hardware device designed for the purchasing, reading, and storage of e-books through the online bookseller’s retail store. The device proved so popular that Amazon released the Kindle 2 in late February 2009. Like it’s predecessor (which is no longer available, although you can still get a great deal on one at places such as eBay or Craigslist), the Kindle 2 uses the E ink brand electronic paper display to mimic the look of text on regular paper rather than a screen.

Users purchase e-book files over Amazon’s Whispernet Internet service and download them to the Kindle device.

The Kindle 2, however, makes a few improvements over the original Kindle which should add to the user’s experience. The Kindle 2 makes buying and reading e-books easier than its predecessor, so even those who aren’t naturally proficient with 21st century electronic devices should be able to use the Kindle Two.

Like the original Amazon Kindle, book lovers and readers will find that the Kindle 2 eliminates the headaches and eye problems which many people have reading from the computer screen. That’s because you are reading ink letters instead of pixelated letters, while the Kindle background is a great deal easier on the eyes than the brightly-lit computer screen you’re using right now.

So how does the Amazon Kindle 2 work? Here’s how.

Downloading e-Books

In order to get an e-book onto your Kindle 2 device, you have to search for and find them on Amazon’s Kindle store first. If you’ve ever shopped online using Amazon.com, shopping for the Kindle 2 is the same experience. Navigate with the same search features, study the Kindle 2 with the usual customer reviews and browse for additional reading material from the recommendations on the Kindle page. Or if you prefer, you can browse Amazon.com and purchase books from there.

To access the Kindle store from your Kindle 2 device, just press the “Menu” button. Then type in the title of the book or name of the author you are looking for. Search through titles just as you would at Amazon.com. When you’ve found the book you want, you can either purchase it right away or sample a chapter for free. Like Amazon, there is a “saved” list you can store book purchase ideas for later.

Your selection will download to your Kindle 2 device over Amazon’s Whispernet service, which uses the same GSM wireless technology as most modern cell phone providers. The Whispernet does not require the use of a Wi-Fi connection. It shouldn’t take more than 60 seconds to fully download an e-book.

Kindle 2 Book Purchases

Most titles, including New Releases and New York Times Bestsellers, are only $9.99. Some, including many classics of literature, are completely free. Many periodicals are also available on the Kindle 2, with newspapers charging between $5.99 and $14.99 per month, and magazines charging between $1.25 and $3.49 per month.

One of the better features of the Kindle 2 is that all of your purchases are stored not only in your device, but also backed up on the Amazon servers. So if you already owned a Kindle and purchased a Kindle 2, or if you purchase a newer Kindle model in the future, just keep your account the same and all of your e-books can be easily re-downloaded back into your device.

Reading on the Kindle 2

The Kindle 2’s controls are intuitive and easy to use. One complaint I have with so many electronic devices sold on the market today is the proliferation of buttons and features, which mostly just confuse the user. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s been confused by the latest tv remote controls and mp3 devices. The Kindle 2 doesn’t suffer from that defect. Besides the keyboard, there are just a few basic buttons.

Below are the only buttons you’ll have to deal with on the Amazon Kindle 2.

On/Off Switch
Book Selection Controller
Home Button/Stored Content
Next Page & Previous Page
Font Selection
Text-To-Speech (Same button as Font Selection)

Holding down the power switch turns the device on and off, while pressing it lightly will place the device in sleep mode.

The 5-way controller button moves the onscreen cursor when moved side to side or up and down, and selects an item when pressed.

The Home button will display the content stored on your Kindle 2 as well as on Amazon’s servers.

The Next Page and Previous Page buttons “turn” the pages of text you are reading.

The Text Key changes font size, and allows you to toggle the screen orientation and activate the Kindle’s Text-to-Speech function, which will read your e-book aloud to you.

Once you’ve mastered the easy controls, reading on your Kindle 2 is just like reading a regular book. There is not the kind of eyestrain or glare that you get when you read from the screen of your laptop or smartphone. This is because of the Kindle’s use of E ink brand electronic paper, a type of screen that mimics the reflectivity of real paper without backlighting. This technology allows the Kindle’s screen to be legible in all light conditions and to use less battery power than your average handheld data device.

What’s New about the Kindle 2?

When wondering how does the Amazon Kindle 2 work, you might want to know what differences exist over the original Kindle model. Amazon made several improvements over the initial device.

The original Kindle had a 4-level grayscale display, and the Kindle 2 has a 16-level grayscale display, allowing it to display images with improved clarity. The Kindle 2 is overall faster and sleeker than its predecessor, with improved battery life, faster page refreshing and an increased thinness and lightness.

The Kindle 2 also has more memory than the first Kindle, storing approximately 1500 titles over the original’s 250. As of November 2009, the Kindle 2 also offers the ability to read and display PDF files. Unlike the original Kindle, the newest version of the Kindle 2 is also fully functional outside the United States, with the ability to roam on 3G, EDGE, and GSM cellular networks to download content.

For four thousand years, humankind has been reading literature on a single medium – paper. The Kindle and the Kindle 2 attempt to improve on the simplicity of paperbound texts with high technology. Both devices have been very popular, but only time will tell if this popularity will last. Armed with the above information on how the Amazon Kindle 2 works, you should be able to make an informed decision as a consumer as to whether or not this device is right for you.

Order a Kindle via this Amazon link, and you’ll help the owners of this site stay in business. (We make a small commission.)

This post is part of a series of posts we’ve made about Amazon’s Kindle technology. Other posts include:

What Is an Aztak EZ Reader, and How Does It Work?

January 1st, 2010 |

What is an Aztak EZ Reader, and how does it work?

The Aztak EZ Reader is an eBook reader device that is relatively low-cost and very user friendly. These devices stand in contrast to Amazon’s Kindle (the EZ Reader is over $100 cheaper) which throws in a lot of features that many people don’t mind sacrificing for a lower price.

The EZ Reader is known for being the energy efficient and affordable version of popular eBook readers.

Aztak EZ Reader Pluses

There’s a lot to love about the Aztak, especially considering it is a piece of “budget technology”.

The EZ Reader supports multiple file formats, some that the Kindle doesn’t support. With the EZ Reader, you can use DOC, PDF, JPG, MP3, TXT, HTML, and plenty of other formats that you won’t get with Amazon’s flashy machine.

The built-in anti-glare feature of the screen is not very hard on the eyes, even if the color display is limited.

Not only is the EZ Reader thinner than you may expect for the price (about$200), it is lightweight, at far less than 200 grams, meaning it is easy to use on the go.

Aztak has provided an embedded NAND flash memory so you can store hundreds of your favorite books. There’s also an expansion SD card slot to increase your storage capacity by 4 GB

Don’t say the EZ Reader is a power lightweight — you can read up to 8,000 pages on a single battery charge. That means you have a longer battery life than the Kindle, and a much longer life than similar off-brand eBook readers.

Many web freaks are excited about the native PDF support, so you can read documents created in the super popular PDF format right on your eReader, instead of sending them off to customer service to have them converted for you, as you must do with the Kindle.

Aztak EZ Reader Minuses

I hate the EZ Reader’s display. It is only 5 inches in size (an inch less than Amazon’s model of eBook reader) and displays in lame four-color grayscale. To get an idea of what you’re missing with 4-color gray, the Kindle 2 displays in 16 color gray scale, and the newest Kindle shows off even more colors than that.

The EZ Reader is also a chunkier machine — both in weight and in speed. It clunks along at 200 mHz while the Kindle 2 displays a muscular 532 mHz.

The EZ Reader also llmits your display options to a great degree, with only 3 font and zoom sizes — one of which must be read in landscape format.

Not everyone will benefit from the features that the EZ reader has that are cool. If you don’t read for long chunks of time,you may never need the super long battery. If you don’t ever use .PDF files, you won’t find the pdf file format compatability useful, but this device is a real oddity in the world of new tech — it is cheaper, and contains some upgrades from the industry leading tech.

The bottom line — if you’re looking for an affordable alternative to the latest Kindle eBook reader, go for the Aztak EZ Reader.

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about various ebook readers. The other posts in this series include:

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Top Selling Business and Self Help Books of All Time

How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie

The One Minute Manager, Blanchard and Johnson

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey

The Practice of Management, Peter Drucker

Techno Thrillers

The Hunt for Red October

Patriot Games

The Cardinal of the Kremlin

The Sum of All Fears

Rainbow Six

The Horror Writers Association

Rules and Requirements for the Bram Stoker Award

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2008 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Self Help Books for Teens

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff for Teens, Richard Carlson

Success Principles for Teens, Jack Canfield

Dealing With the Stuff that Makes Life Tough, Jill Zimmerman Rutledge

Self Help Books for Men

Get Out of Your Own Way: Overcoming Self Defeating Behavior, Dr. Mark Goulston

The Ultimate Self Help Guide for Men, Joe Novella

Being the Strong Man a Woman Wants: Timeless Wisdon on Being a Man, Elliot Katz

Self Help Books for Women

Five Simple Steps to Emotional Healing: The Last Self-Help Book You Will Ever Need, Gloria Arenson

The Courage to be Yourself: A Woman’s Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem, Sue Patton Thoele

Learning to Love Yourself: Finding Your Self-Worth, Sharon Wegseider-Cruse

Self Help Books for Christians

The Power of Faithful Focus: A Practical Christian Guide to Spiritual and Personal Abundance, Les Hewitt

Building Self Esteem: The Christian Dimension, Anselm Gruen

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