Book Tidbits 10: On the Kindle and book awards

-

  • The Kindle has gone worldwide! So, they'll finally ship to my neck of the woods, and I can get my own Kindle! Of course, soon as I work up the budget for one and figure out the other tech stuff which I barely understand. My take on whether the popularity of the Kindle will signal the demise of books: No. I myself really prefer ink and woodpulp. I can never give up on owning my books or adding to their already unmanageable number. And given the convenience and beauty of books that even a reader like the Kindle cannot match (books don't need power, books can have fantastic layouts and designs), I don't think that the book is one technology that will go away easily. So, personally, I don't mind purchasing another type of reading repository. I figure it's just another aspect of book collecting.:)
  • The Man Booker Prize winner has been announced. This year, it's Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, a historical fiction novel featuring Thomas Cromwell. Let's add that to the Booker Prize winners that I haven't read, but which I hope to read. Eventually. Sadly, though, the Booker prize winners have been hit-or-miss for me. Some I absolutely loved (e.g. Blind Assassin, Life of Pi), and some I just couldn't stand to finish (e.g. Vernon God Little). Here's hoping this one's a "hit."
  • And since we're talking about prizes, the winner for the Nobel prize for literature has also been announced. Unfortunately, I'm not really familiar with her writing, but, reading about her life gives me the impression that she's an outstanding woman. For what it's worth, I'm glad that a woman has won this year, considering that she's only the 12th woman to win in 108 years of the Nobel.
  • Of course, to those who're not that into the Booker or the Nobel awards, here's something that might interest you more--the Cybils! It's a Children's and Young Adults Bloggers' Literary Awards. This was introduced to me by Tarie of Into the Wardrobe, who was a former grad school classmate and who also happens to be one of the judges for the Science Fiction and Fantasy category. Nominations for the awards are open to the public. So, head on over to Cybils and nominate your or your children's favorite books. (On an off note, Tarie didn't actually tell me about her blog. I was just blog-hopping around when I chanced upon her blog and realized I knew the author. Wonderful how we meet old friends and acquaintances through blogging.)
  • Finally, I leave you with this--a hilarious peek at the kind of problems the book had when it first came out. It's great for a hearty laugh.

Comments

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said…
I just saw that the price of the US version is down to $259. Guess competition with e-readers is driving the price down??

I still prefer print books, but wouldn't mind having one. I LOVE gadgets.LOL
October 9, 2009 at 9:00 AM
Anonymous said…
That video is hilarious!
October 9, 2009 at 11:19 AM
Tarie Sabido said…
Thanks so much for spreading the word about the Cybils, Honey! =D
October 10, 2009 at 1:24 AM
fantaghiro23 said…
@Diane - Hi! Yup, I wouldn't mind having that gadget either.:)

@StephanieD - I've seen that video several times and it still cracks me up.

@Tarie - My pleasure.:)
October 10, 2009 at 9:40 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Soledad's Sister by Jose Dalisay, Jr.

-
Image
Soledad's Sister  by Jose "Butch" Dalisay is the first Philippine novel to be shortlisted for the distinguished Man Asian Literary Prize  in 2007. I remember reading about the Man Asian at that time and finding out about Dalisay's shortlisted novel. And I recall thinking, "Well, that sounds about right." After all, Butch Dalisay is one of the country's premier writers.This much is evident when you read Soledad's Sister . Way back in college, I was fortunate enough to have Butch Dalisay as one of my professors. The class was an undergrad course on Survey of American Literature, and I remember every single story and poem we took up to this day. I also remember him reading to us one of his essays during class. He had his Mac open on his desk and was reading his essay from the screen. Back then, I was thinking, "This should be boring. But it isn't." And I realized it wasn't boring because I was entranced by his words. The summary...
Read more

Filipino authors with internationally-published books

-
Image
Some of the books from Filipino authors published by intl. publishers. Clockwise from top left: Age of Blight by Kristine Ong Muslim; The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco; The Courageous Princess Vol. 1 by Rod Espinosa; Learning To Fall by Mina Esguerra, Smaller And Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan; The Last Time I'll Write About You by Dawn Lanuza. It seems an exciting time for Filipino authors. A Filipina YA author was at the Brooklyn Book Festival and other festivals, some Filipino authors just wrapped up panels during the Fil-Am International Book Festival in San Francisco , a few other Fil-Am authors are coming out with new books from a major publisher in the next few months ( literary fiction , young adult , and middle grade ), and another classic author was recently published by Penguin Classics. Not to mention that a few Filipino authors have been pitching at #dvpit and have already found agents . And I'm pretty sure I'm barely scratching the surface her...
Read more

The El Bimbo Variations by Adam David

-
Image
When reading a poetry collection, one of the last things you expect to do is laugh out loud. But, if you were to read Adam David's new edition of The El Bimbo Variations , that is exactly what you'd be doing. My advice: try not to read it in public, unless you're okay with people looking at you weird because your shoulders are suddenly shaking in laughter or you have a snap-happy grin on your face. I first read The El Bimbo Variations back when it was still in pdf format. Four years ago, the poet Adam David gave a talk to one of our high school junior classes during a yearly activity where we expose students to real-life writers. In preparation, he sent us  a copy of his El Bimbo Variations , and told me that we could distribute it to the students so that they'd know his work. We photocopied them for the classes assigned to Adam and, on the day of the talk, I went in and listened to his session where he got riled up about big publishers and their limited repertoire...
Read more