Top Five Wednesday: Settings I Want to see More of

The topic of this week’s Top Five Wednesday is settings I want to see more of. Pretty easy.

Panem

This was too easy. I wouldn’t want to see any new movies adapted from new books, but I definitely wouldn’t mind reading another story featuring Katniss. That’s all I want. But eh.

Hogwarts

This is coming from someone who has only read the first two in the series. But of course I grew up with the characters onscreen. Which is why I’m not excited for the play or for the book that a lot of people don’t even realize isn’t an actual book. If they did there wouldn’t be any midnight releases anywhere. It’s just a PLAY! I’d only want a new story if it’s actually a new story following the same characters we know and love. Not something completely different like the play.

The last two I’ll mention are Sera and Reach from Gears of War and Halo, respectively. Though Reach has already been destroyed.

That’s it for me!

What are the top five settings you’d like to see more books in?

Barnes and Noble not What I Remember

I recently walked inside my local Barnes and Noble for the first time in several years. And it simply isn’t the same as I remember it.

The shelves give off the impression that they don’t want to fill them. There are books faced out all over the place. There is space available on a good chunk of the shelves. And most titles had but one copy on the shelf, except for the BN Classics and Shakespeare.

Couple those things with their announcement to start serving alcohol in four new stores starting this year, and it isn’t so hard to believe the company’s financial troubles. Too many poor decisions are being made right now.

I suppose I could be overgeneralizing based on the one store I visited, but I imagine most BN stores are pretty similar.

Have you noticed anything different in your local store?

Books and Beer…Wait, What?

Barnes and Noble is set to start serving alcohol in four new concept stores this year. You KNOW I have thoughts on this news.

What do YOU think of this new development?

Making Money From Plagiarism

Every so often it’ll come out that a book was the work of plagiarism. The author is forced to pay back royalties to the rightful owner of the content.

Unless you’re Rand Paul. Last year he made more than $200k from book royalties, but his most recent release is actually the work of plagiarism full of quotes pulled from online sources. But to my knowledge he hasn’t had to pay back a single cent. This is disheartening.

He’s been called out for his plagiarism multiple times and still nothing has been done. He’s still collecting royalty checks.

What do I think of this? I think he’s a prick. And I think someone needs to file suit. Even if they’re simply trying to hold him accountable rather than trying to recoup money.

I’ve only heard of plagiarism happening in a few cases, and royalties are almost always paid back. I’m not sure why it hasn’t happened in this case.

What do you think of this guy just collecting money for work that isn’t his?

Check Your Amazon Accounts!

You know that little court case that’s been slithering through the system for a few years now? The one that alleged Apple conspired with publishers against Amazon to raise eBook prices. Well Apple (the lone remaining party) has finally exhausted all of its legal challenges and has agreed to pay $400 million to customers who purchased eBooks between 2010 and 2012. If you did then you should have an Amazon credit on your account right now. The amount will depend on the number of NYT bestsellers and other ebooks you purchased.

I’m not sure if it’s a digital credit or a regular one. So check!

I’m glad Apple has finally had to fork over some money. Screw them and the publishers for what they did and getting caught. The publishers have all settled already.

The Biggest Lie You’ll Hear in a Bookstore

“Shh. You have to be quiet in the bookstore.”

Bookstores have cafes and coffee shops inside them. They have kids running around and people searching for books. Sure they may be somewhat quiet when compared to other retail establishments, but there’s hardly an unwritten rule.

At my store we are constantly paging customers and employees over the loud speaker. Customers and employees are constantly interacting. Music is playing just about every minute the store’s doors are open. Sure people may not like the sound of the crying baby right next to them in the store, but that has nothing to do with it being a bookstore. People become nervous around crying babies no matter where they are.

Also, the door at my store makes a sound when it opens. Just another sound added to the many coming from bookstores.

So the next time you hear someone tell their kid to be quiet because it’s a bookstore, maybe call them on their lie.

Do you think bookstores need to be more quiet than any other place of business? I surely don’t.

Neil Gaiman Might Actually be a Rockstar

I’ve said it before that Gaiman is one of the most recommended authors to me, and American Gods is one of the most recommended titles of any author I’ve ever known of. Well I’m now understanding why. He’s actually a rockstar.

I know this because he recently released a new book and the store carried it. Our new releases are usually 20% off the cover price. Which is less of a discount than other booksellers, but that’s what it is. So when customers see the price of $20 or $22 they sometimes decide to go elsewhere for their book. But not for Gaiman. His books were signed and we got enough to take up an entire shelf on our new releases display (probably 12-16 books) and I think all but one has sold.

Not bad, Mr. Gaiman. You little rockstar.

We also did the same with Anderson Cooper’s new book recently.

Do you agree? You think Neil Gaiman is actually a rockstar?

Get Away From Me With Your Stupid Recommendations!

This week Amazon decided to use its Amazon books Twitter account to give out recommendations for Father’s Day. They claimed to give out the recommendations based on the information people gave them. But it’s stupid.

One guy said he’s a fan of sci-fi and they reommended some random sci fi title from that. Another guy said he wants cheap books. They recommended a $0.99 title on Kindle. No. Just no.

Get away from me with that nonsense. Thankfully, they’re done now. I think.

Top Five Wednesday: Dads

FINALLY. Finally a new video y’all might actually be interested in. Y’all know about Top Five Wednesday, and this topic is pretty straightforward. Now just watch and see if my favorite literary Papa Bears are similar to yours.

PS: There’s a twist!

Who are YOUR favorites?!

No More Librarians?

I actually know someone who just began his work toward an MLS (Master of Library Science) degree within the last few weeks, so this news could be troubling.

The advances of technology have changed several industries over the course of time, and we all know about the struggle publishers had to endure to get their heads above water. It looks like there may be more change coming to the book world in the near future. Librarians may become obsolete.

A team in Singapore has created a robot that can find and identify missing and misplaced books and relay that information to library workers. Obviously librarians do more work than getting books into the right place on the shelf, but it isn’t out of the realm of possibility to imagine a time in which this kind of robot is designed to take on more complex tasks. Then the library theoretically wouldn’t need a librarian on staff, but rather library assistants and associates who lack the graduate degree.

I’m not sure of the intentions of the group that created the robot, but ohht they have opened a can of worms without meaning to?