books

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J.K. Rowling on Failure & Imagination

J.K. Rowling gave a killer speech at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association last year. This speech is very much worth your time. How did J.K. Rowling go from an unemployed, near-destitute single parent to one of the richest women in Britain? By failing, giving up on others' dreams for her, and embracing her own. "Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I built my life," says Rowling around the 9:30-mark in the speech. Here's a bit more: Ultimately, we all have to decide for... READ ON

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Do You Remove Book Jackets?

I'm going on the record right now: I hate book jackets.* These thin paper protectors look pretty in the store, and they help to differentiate books visually. But practically speaking, I can't stand them -- too easy to tear, lose, or crumple! And if there's one thing I hate, it's a torn or crumpled piece of paper. My friend Lyza recently asked the question of her readers: Do you remove book jackets? She included a survey in her blog entry, and the current winning answer, by a mile, is "Yes,... READ ON

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Confessions of a Book Pirate

Did you know that books are being pirated? I sure didn't -- I thought piracy was limited to music, movies, and software. But apparently there's a thriving online piracy scene for old-school books. And not just eBooks -- in many cases the books are scanned, converted to text via OCR software, and proof-read by the person doing the piracy (!). Author C. Max Magee, writing for his website The Millions, explored book piracy, asking some key questions: who's downloading these books, who's uploading them,... READ ON

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Vonnegut's Letter to His Family About His Imprisonment in Slaughterhouse Five

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s most famous novel is Slaughterhouse-Five. You may have read it -- it's taught in many high school English classes in the U.S., though in others it has been banned. So it goes. Anyway, Slaughterhouse-Five is partially autobiographical; it's based partly on Vonnegut's experiences as a Prisoner of War in World War II, when he and other POWs were imprisoned in an underground slaughterhouse meat locker in Dresden in 1944, Germany. By day, they worked in labor camps; at night they slept... READ ON

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What Really Motivates Us

In the late 1980's, Dan Pink made a terrible mistake: he went to law school. He didn't fare well, graduating in the bottom 10% of his class. Later he overcame his failure at law and became chief speechwriter for Al Gore, then wrote three books about the workplace (including one best-seller). His fourth book is Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Back in July 2009, Pink gave a TED Talk covering much of the ground that would later become Drive. It's an interesting talk because it... READ ON

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The Gigantic Robot

If you're looking for a good book that won't take a lot of time to read, but you'll want to hold onto for a while, consider The Gigantic Robot by Tom Gauld. The 32 page book details the trials and tribulations of a massive and impressive secret weapon whose promise consistently remains unfulfilled. Each page has only one sentence on the left and a stark, striking, black-and-white image on the right. Boing Boing's Mark Frauenfelder reviewed the book, noting that "even though it took 60 seconds for me to... READ ON

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The Visual Miscellaneum

One of the best perks of blogging here is all the free stuff people send me. Like, today, for instance, I opened my mail and found one of the more attractive books I've ever laid eyes on. It's by David McCandless and it's called The Visual Miscellaneum, a Colorful Guide to the World's Most Consequential Trivia. (Right up our alley, eh?) McCandless is a London-based writer and graphic designer who thinks the best way to absorb information is by mapping facts in colorful and cool/quirky ways. So you've got... READ ON

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John Cleese: Create a Tortoise Enclosure for Your Mind

"I want to be as well-informed as I can possibly be before I die" -John Cleese, in a speech on creativity, sleeping on problems, rewrites, and creating "tortoise enclosures" for your mind by creating boundaries of space and time. This is a brilliant little ten-minute talk for anyone who's interested in writing or any other creative pursuit. I wish it went on longer, as this man really does have a lot to say about his subject. Here's a sample quote: "When I suddenly discovered that I could sit... READ ON

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Bookcases as Interesting as Their Contents

Books may be vessels into new worlds of excitement, but bookcases tend to be no more than utilitarian furniture designed with the sole purpose of holding our paged treasures when they aren't being read. (Although, to be fair, they do also help insulate our homes.) They don't have to be so dull though, as evidenced by the beautiful and fascinating bookshelves on this Women's Day post. The strikingly powerful pose depicted in the case above was designed by British artist Kazmierz Szmauz. Some of the other... READ ON

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"The Botany of Desire" Documentary, TONIGHT at 8pm on PBS

Update: the entire documentary is now available online for free! A new PBS* documentary, The Botany of Desire, premieres Wednesday night (tonight!) at 8pm on PBS stations throughout the US. It's based on the popular Michael Pollan book of the same name, and I urge you to carve out two hours (in most markets between 8pm - 10pm) on Wednesday night to watch it. The program is packed with science, history, and beautiful photography. I've seen the film in advance, and I highly recommend it,... READ ON