Max Hastings falls hard for his Kindle...

"Delayed for three hours at New Orleans airport last month, I lost myself in the journal of Walter Scott, one of the best accounts in literature of a writer's life. I reflected wryly on what the old master might have thought, seeing lines which he penned in his house beside the stately Tweed almost two centuries ago reach me through a wizard's electronic box.

He would not have quibbled, I fancy, about the means. He would merely have been delighted to find his old words still reaching an audience in a new age and a new world." 

-I can't text and adore dusty old books, but when I was given an electronic reader, I was hooked

Note: no mention of iPad...

Social Media Marketing & Publishing: A match made in absolute heaven

SMM is the most natural avenue for publishers to take for one reason: 

Association is what keeps social media churning--people are constantly asking: "WHO/WHAT DO YOU READ?"


Clearly the days of marketers telling consumers what to purchase, where to purchase, and how much to purchase are long gone. (And thank goodness for that--how boring!) Now marketers of consumer goods must figure out how to be the lucky one the consumer picks. Discovering how to wiggle into that position is simple*: find out who the consumer is asking. The age old tradition of asking for a book recommendation is now exactly how the masses choose shampoo, hotels, and shoes.

Inspiration: Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

*Prof. Sanaj (Consumer Behavior God) would probably cringe if he read that sentence. Obviously I'm oversimplifying here.

99-Year-Old Writer & The iPad: BFFs

Just in case you missed it, here's a viral vid to lighten up your evening!

Spring Cleaning: Link Style (The Job Search Version)

• Thursday= Seth Godin + Penelope
• Recommended Reading: Get a Life, Not a Job
• Job Search Marketing Toolkit- Target Job Market
• Exchange your verbs for nouns (when it comes to your resume, at least)
• Two new entry-level blogs to follow: 
• Grad to Great by Anne Brown (@gradtogreat)
• Ms. Career Girl by Nicole Crimadli (@MsCareerGirl)

Spring Cleaning: Link Style

• Single lady memoirs...
• RIP Peter Porter. RIP Allan Sillitoe
• Bret Easton Ellis at the LA Book Festival
• "Blowout Quarter for Amazon"
• What editors actually do (warning: hi-larious!)
• "Random House Lets Go of Styron eBook Rights"
• A breakdown of Linchpin's bibliography
• Colombia's Semana names the top 100 Spanish-Language Novels of the last 25 years 

The Best Sites for News Roundups

I'm a bit of a bloghead.

If you happen to be reading this you're probably a bit of a bloghead yourself.

I subscribe to an embarrassingly high number* of book blogs.

But sometimes I just don't have the time to sift through it all. For instance, since I nanny on weekends, I rarely read the reviews in their entirety. (Shame! Shame! Shame!) When I don't have the time I go to a few trusted sources for roundups:

1. The Book Bench: A long-time favorite of mine, The Book Bench is the blogging arm of the New Yorker and the "in the news" posts are always funny, always informative, and always welcomed.
2. Bookninja: If you like your news with a heaping side of sarcasm, Bookninja should be your bag (er, blog). The news posts are quick but also representive of the day's events.
3. Huffington Post: In my opinion (however weighty you think it to be) HuffPo knows blogging like the back of its virtual hand. In the olympics of social media, HuffPo is Michael Phelps (pre-scandal)--swift, effective, and always interesting. I'm a big fan of the condensed reviews.
4. Nathan Bransford Literary Agent: While this is a particuarly great blog in its own right, I normally head on over to NBLA for his "This Week in Publishing" posts. Say you were without power for an entire week. Or maybe stranded somewhere without cell service. Well, if your power and service managed to resurface by Friday (when these posts go up) you'd be all caught up in just a few minutes.
5. Omnivoracious: The blogging branch of Amazon.com, Omnivoracious produces great review roundups, daily news piles, and kidlit compilations.

*Too many to list.

Mmmmm. C'est bon.

Ready For Dessert from David Lebovitz on Vimeo.

Le eek!

David Lebovitz’s new book came out a bit ago and I just had a first read.

Ready For Dessert (Ten Speed Press) is a compilation of David’s all-time favorites. (Including recipes from his first two books which are currently out of print.)

David Lebovitz knows sugar, he knows it inside and out, and I could read his sugared thoughts until the cows came home. In addition to his new book, I highly suggest reading The Sweet Life in Paris for extra insight.

PS: The video is David and his take on the chocolate chip cookie. Fast forward to around 2:30 or so to see him taste test them on Parisians. (Which is really the best part.)

Kitchen Happenings

Oh my! So it's been a while.

I have a growing list entitled "but seriously, blog about this" and the list just keeps growing and growing. And the blogging? It just keeps shrinking and shrinking. Well, this...this is a start.

My kitchen has been hoppin' for the past few weeks. Here's what I caught on film:

 [coffee toffee recipe via Smitten Kitchen]

What: deliciously lush toffee with a hint of coffee (topped with toasted almonds)/ Why: a housewarming fete for the record books/ When: last weekend/ Recipe review: 10! This was my third time making this. It's foolproof toffee and the coffee is pure genius.

 [Caramel Cake via Lottie and Doof]

What: creamy yet fluffy buttermilk cake with an oozy caramel glaze. Yup. Creamy, oozy fluff. Can you even handle it?/ Why: because I've had this cake bookmarked for MONTHS, and truth be told, sometimes you just need a buttermilk cake with a caramel glaze. Right?/ When: a lazy Sunday night/ Recipe review: a 7. The cake is baller but it took a while to get the glaze to the right consistency.

 [Black and White Cookies via Joy the Baker]

What: the best of both worlds/ Why: I needed a shippable birthday gift/ When: last night, 11pm/ Recipe review: a 6. I'd add a tsp of lemon juice to the cookie dough AND the vanilla glaze.

So that's a slice of what I've been up to. I'll be back blogging within the week. In the meantime, I've started a tumblr to house all the reblogs and photographic spillover.

Check back, por favor. 

News Bites

Hello there,
Happy Friday!

• Le iPad: Who is it for? How well does it work? (Because I'm sure you need another iPad review like you need a big, giant hole in your head.)
• Maud Newton reminds us that NYC apartments are ideal for ebook reading...
• Ethics, ethics, ethics...Remember this article? Yup, the one that sparked one thousand blog posts. Remember this virtual smackdown? Well, here's some more food for thought (brought to you via eBookNewser).
• "Oprah Winfrey May Host a 'Book-Club Show' on Her New Network" (via GalleyCat) Huzzah, Oprah!
• iBooks on the iPhone
• I know I tweeted this, but I'm reposting it because, well, it's Friday and Fridays should have fun in them..."10 Songs for English Majors"

Written and Illustrated by Mark Crick

Published by Harcourt

[image via]

Today seemed like a normal Monday. Monday is my day off and normally I spend it in a coffee shop or running errands. (My life is both fulfilling and thrilling, huh?) Well, today I opted for a morning of coffee shop dwelling and an afternoon of browsing at my favorite new-to-me bookshop. An hour and $8 lighter, I emerged with two very cool titles, the coolest of which is pictured above. 

Kafka's Soup: A Complete History of World Literature in 17 Recipes is an idea so great, so perfectly suited to my tastes, so perfectly produced, that upon discovering it I uttered a "whoa, seriously?" OUT LOUD.

Here's a teaser: 

"Tarragon Eggs 

a la Jane Austen

• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, or 1 teaspoon dried
• 4 tablespoons butter
• Ground pepper
• Pinch of salt

It is a truth universally acknowledged that eggs, kept for too long, go off. The eggs of Oakly Farm had only recently been settled in the kitchen at Somercote, but already Mrs B--was planning a meal that would introduce them to the neighborhood with what she hoped would be universal acceptance." 

Now, not to get all girlish and predictable, but...I KNOW! RIGHT?! So dreamy.

Well, I heard that Borders was having quite a lovely week and on my way home from one nanny job this afternoon I decided give the mega-store some extra moola. You know, to sock away for a rainy day. I stopped by for a some birthday shopping.

If ever I doubt my desire to work in publishing all I need to do is take a trip to the bookstore and plant myself in the children's section. Each sight and sound serves as an affirmation that I am, in fact, still madly in love with books and what they do for others. (Phew!)

Today I picked up the following:

Hug Time by Patrick McDonnell (LBYR)

"The world is so big...and yet so very small, it's time that we embrace it all. That's something that we all can do. Start with the one who's closest to you."

Oh, Baby! Go, Baby! by Dr. Seuss (Random House Books for Young Readers)

Image via

" Congratulations! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting So...get on your way!" 

Because what else does a 1-year-old need to hear on his birthday?