CWMARS Downloadable Books

The Consumer section in this morning's Daily Hampshire Gazette had a piece by Margot Cleary about downloading an e-book onto her iPad. She headed the piece with "Not-So-Easy-Reader" ostensibly because the initial steps to downloading are somewhat onerous and include downloading more than one app. Once done, however, borrowing books is easy. Cleary was lucky to get "Swamplandia" by Karen Russell. I always add anything I'm  interested in to my waiting list. Just now I received an email saying that "Defending Jacob" by William Landay was ready for me. What a nice surprise since I'd forgotten about it.

ebooks = a mess

Our title for today's topic was heard at a recent meeting of librarians in Western Massachusetts - Ebooks = A Mess. Sorting it out will take some time but we'll begin here with the "big six" publishing houses - Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin, Random House and Simon & Schuster. Until recently, Penguin sold ebooks to libraries through OverDrive (the major distributor of ebooks to the library market) but recently stopped sales to the library market and they put restrictions on Kindle titles already purchased. Random House is in, and will make all of its titles available to the library market. Harper Collins allows only 26 circulations to its library ebooks. For this reason, our consortium, CWMARS, is not purchasing ebook titles by Harper Collins for the foreseeable future. American Library Association President, Molly Raphael wrote "As of early March, the other three publishers - Hachette, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster - were still not permitting access for libraries to their digital editions." (americanlibrariesmagazine.org, March/April 2012 page 4) So who is? It looks like Random House is the winner here. In the same issue of American Libraries, Raphael wrote that some publishers think "that libraries lend ebooks to anyone who visits their websites, thus making collections available virtually without restrictions worldwide" (page 12). Not!

While looking up information for this paragraph I came across an Overdrive "cheat sheet" which is now available at the circulation desk here at Tilton Library. It's called "Library Compatible eBook Devices" and is current as of March 1, 2012. We also have "how-to" brochures available which provide step-by-step instructions for checking out ebooks and audiobooks to different devices. /sw

We're Back!

We've been busy trying to figure out how to explain the finer details of borrowing library ebooks on the many forms of digital readers including Amazon Corporation's "Kindle" and the Barnes and Noble "Nook". Yes, you can borrow books for your devices with your library card. Yes, we can help you figure out how to do it.

Ray's Autumn Reads

Dog On It by Spencer Quinn

You don't have to be a dog lover to love this book. Chet, the canine partner of Bernie, a private investigator, will work his way into your heart by the second page with his intuitive but often flawed manner of helping out his boss to crack the case and capture the perp. Chet is smart, but not that smart. He is, after all, only a dog. They are, however, a team, and would be nowhere without each other. The first book of a series, it's lots of fun, very endearing, and has a bit of real suspense thrown in.

The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball

An account of the author's journey from one life to another, this tells the story of how a vegetarian, city dwelling journalist finds herself on a 500 acre farm in upstate New York, milking cows, eating animal organs, and working fields with a horse drawn plow. It is a story of letting go of everything familiar to follow one's heart. The journey is not without it's travails and setbacks, and you may wonder how the author and her partner on this adventure manage to prevail.

We The Animals by Justin Torres

The youngest of three brothers describes their experiences growing up in an unconventional family as the sons of a white mother and Puerto Rican father. At once heartwarming and frightening, it is a glimpse into family life and loyalties and the ways that family bonds and love can conquer, or sometimes destroy.  

BOOK GROUP READS

October 2011

This month as we introduced ourselves, we recommended a book or two we’ve read recently (that we liked).

SARA: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

SHARON: In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson and Pope Joan: a Novel by Donna Woolfolk Cross

PAM: John Adams by David McCullough and First Family: Abigail and John Adams by Joseph Ellis

MARY LOU: The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

HSIU LI: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

KATHLEEN: True, (…Sort Of) by Katherine Hannigan and Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea

KATE: Caleb’sCrossing by Geraldine Brooks

NORMA: Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne

MOIRA: The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock

MIDORI: The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Fantasy and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

NANCY: Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks and Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross

Ray's Summer Reading Report

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
Slightly mindless, entertaining and funny, at least at the beginning. It painted a good picture of the caricature people might have in their minds of the New Jersey underworld. The appeal is in the main character, Stephanie Plum, who is on the one hand kind of vulnerable and sexy and on the other hand fearless and determined.
The Call by Yannick Murphy
The unusual format (paragraphs labelled with repeating categories), lends appeal. This is the story of a rural Vermont veterinarian, his family, love and forgiveness. Recommended!
Northwest Corner by John Burnham Schwartz
This slightly dark, yet redemptive story is about what happens to two families after a tragic accident which occurred in Schwartz's Reservation Road. Events occur which look like the son will follow in the footsteps of his ruined father but in the end, it's his father's support and love which saves him. The bonds of love that were in place before the accident, ultimately prevail. 

Ray, a  former non-reader, read three books this summer.

Mystery Book Group Discussion

Do you have comments about the August mystery book group selection, The Eyre Affair Jasper Fforde? Let us know here what you think so far.