Oh Snap!: Bookworm On The Go

This city girl is too immersed in her reading to be phased by a passing train.

Photo by Moriza, courtesy of www.flickr.com

--Allison Geller

Lifestyle Gumbo: For the Love of Books...and Their Preservation

It seems that with e-readers and other such technological advances in the literary world, the good ol’ fashioned book may be going the way of the dodo. Are books becoming obsolete, or something to be undervalued? Virginia Woolf didn’t seem to see any lasting value in them:

“Books ought to be so cheap that we can throw them away if we do not like them, or give them away if we do. Moreover, it is absurd to print every book as if it were fated to last a hundred years. The life of the average book is perhaps three months. Why not face this fact? Why not print the first edition on some perishable material which would crumble to a little heap of perfectly clean dust in about six months time? If a second edition were needed, this could be printed on good paper and well bound. Thus by far the greater number of books would die a natural death in three months or so. No space would be wasted and no dirt would be collected.” [From a BBC radio debate with her husband (and publisher) Leonard Woolf, titled “Are Too Many Books Written and Published?”]

But surely not everyone is so dismissive of books. I, for one, tend to hoard the volumes I’ve read (and even those I have not). Like author Jerry Stern of Florida State University’s English department, I love books, and do everything I can to keep mine in pristine condition. Yes, I may mark in them here or there to highlight a passage that I found particularly meaningful, but I never dog-ear corners and am loath to let the covers get bumped or scuffed. [Via BookLove]

What about you? How do you handle your books? Do you buy throw-away copies or invest in long-term residents of a more permanent collection?

For people interested in more serious book preservation and conservation, the Library of Congress offers a Book Conservation Internship. [Via Library of Congress]

For a more do-it-yourself approach, check out the Alaska Historical Library’s Conservation Book Repair Training Manual.

Photo courtesy Alaska Historical Library

--Rachel Frier

Hedes & Dekes: Nancy Drew is the Common Denominator

What do Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Sonia Sotomayor all have in common? Mary Jo Murphy at The New York Times explains that aside from being female Supreme Court justices (Sotomayor’s nomination still pending approval), they all have a deep love for Nancy Drew, the famous girl detective.

Certainly not all of us who were charmed by Nancy Drew when we were younger will grow up to one day serve in the justice system. But there’s got to be something about Nancy’s can-do attitude that makes her stories into motivational tales for young women, piquing their curiosity while at the same time teaching them that they can do anything they set their minds to.

Nancy never backed down from a challenge, and was able to reason her way through to the end of the puzzle. She was motivated, not by romantic prospects or duty to family, as so many literary heroines are, but by her intrinsic interest in tracking clues and righting wrongs. Something in that equation remains titillating to young female readers, decades after the series’ initial publication.

For all those Nancy Drew lovers out there, what was it that sparked your interest in the series? What was your favorite trait of our beloved girl detective?

--Rachel Frier

Photo courtesy of Chronicle Books

Around the Web: The Lemon Juice Diet and Cameroon Injustice

What do "30 Rock"’s Liz Lemon, Roseanne, and Lisa Simpson have in common? Find out here. [via Jezebel]

Beyonce swears by it, and now a real woman gives it a shot—the 10-day master cleanse. Does it work, and is consuming nothing but lemon juice for a week and a half worth it? [via Lemondrop]

In this Modern Love story, a writer laments the difficulties of finding a life partner—as a love columnist. [via New York Times]

A Swiss photo studio ventured into, er, new territory with this unexpected calendar shoot. [via The Frisky]

A troubling story about a woman from Cameroon who is being put behind bars—for being pregnant, and HIV positive. [via Feministe]

Finally, a study showing that girls CAN compete with boys in the numbers game. [via Lemondrop]

While the Lady Gaga-fronted “no-pants war” continues, this high school in South Carolina won’t let a girl walk for making the opposite choice. [via Feministing]

-- Allison Geller

Photo courtesy of Jezebel.

Literary Links

In an interesting blend of digital technology and book-related humanitarianism, the Endangered Collections Digitization Project of Libraries Without Walls provides partner libraries (the famous Vatican Library among them!) with the technology necessary for digital textual preservation.

Looking for Creative Commons texts online? Internet Archives may be the one-stop resource for you. With lots of links and with new texts added nearly daily, it is quite the clearinghouse for free digital texts and audio files in the public domain.

Of course, if you’re looking for that really hard-to-find book, the Neglected Books Page may be the better bet. This blog reminds readers of titles long since forgotten by most of the reading world, and even directs would-be readers to online booksellers from which to procure copies of these neglected texts.

If you still can’t find any good reading, check out Gnooks.com, through which you can get a personalized suggestion of other authors whose works are likely to be of interest, simply by entering the title of a book you enjoyed.

Once you’ve figured out what you want to read, look for reviews at any number of book blogs, searchable through the Book Blogs Search Engine, which searches 946 book-related sites.

-- Rachel Frier

Oh Snap!: The Classiest Bookworm

Our favorite, Miss Hepburn, immersed in her letters, at a hotel in 1953.

--Allison Geller

Photo courtesy flickr.com

Around the Web: Abortion doctor's killer revealed; Women are ambition-less

The assassination of late-term abortion doctor George Tiller is all over the news and the blogosphere. Could books have influenced Scott Roeder, who is currently being charged? [via Jezebel]

Adding to the ongoing, never-to-be-resolved debate on the difference between men and women is this post and discussion threat that begs the question: Do women lack ambition? [via Shine]

The economy’s down. What better way to fill your summer days than with…soft-core porn? [via Lemondrop]

The words are flying—and not the nice kind—about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. [via Double X]

Already there’s a ton of buzz about The Princess and the Frog, the first Disney movie that will star a black princess. Is Disney still a little bit racist? [via Double X]

Nothing like retro pics of summer fun. Check out this gallery of old-school hunks and beauties (Audrey included) enjoying sweet summertime.[via The Daily Beast]

Some recent college grads take a break from job hunting to answer questions about the dating scene—including how to deal with awkwardness when you’re back to living with the ‘rents. [via Nerve]

Whatever happened to the Brain? The Jock? The sexy badboy Bender? Read what became of the stars of the ‘80s classic The Breakfast Club (once detention was over). [via The Frisky]

Whether you need a dose of confidence to start the new job or you just want to spice up another day at the 9 to 5, check out this spread on modern office chic. [via MissBehave]

--Allison Geller

Photos courtesy of Jezebel and FilmoFilia.

Lifestyle Gumbo: Organizing Bookshelves

Sometimes the art of effectively storing books is an even greater challenge than choosing what to read. For many book lovers, aesthetic concerns are key when organizing their book collections. An article at eHow.com tells us" How to Organize a Bookshelf Attractively", following three main considerations: subject, size, and color. Chodta organizes hers primarily by color. [via eHow]

One of the problems with shelving books is, invariably, the issue of weight. Many shelves buckle under the pressure of so much heavy reading material. Here’s a video on building an invisible bookshelf that will hold up to 20 pounds of books:

What’s your take on the best way to organize your bookshelves? What does your organization style say about you?

Photos courtesy Flickr.com; Video courtesy Video Jug.

--Rachel Frier

Hedees & Deks: Literary News

An exciting discovery in medieval literature: A manuscript may be a medieval women's magazine. While I’m not sure "magazine" is quite the right word for it (after all, these texts were not mass produced), this manuscript points to the literary variety prevalent in the Middle Ages as much as today. No less significant is its implications for female literacy in the medieval period, too! This discovery may well alter expectations of 15th-century literacy.

In other news, James Love at the Huffington Post reports that Obama joins group to block Treaty for Blind and other reading disabilities. The article offers a rather grim perspective on Obama’s stance (I’m not convinced that Obama has as much of a direct role as the article seems to suggest), but highlights the important issue of transmitting accessible literature across borders, and the literacy divide between industrialized and developing countries. The article raises an interesting question about whose rights are placed at the forefront of treaty negotiations: those of individuals, or those of corporations? [Via Dear Author]

--Rachel Frier

Oh Snap!: Bookworms Preparing for Adventure

Books can take us many places, both figuratively and, in the case of these road trip-planning hipsters, literally.

Photo courtesy of photographer Noah Kalina.

--Allison Geller