Davina Morgan-Witts, BookBrowse editor
Since the first publicly-funded library opened in the USA in 1833, many generations of children have been inspired and nurtured by local librarians - none more so than the two generations of children in Old Greenwich, Connecticut who have had the privilege to be members of the Young Critics' Club at Perrot Memorial Library.
The club (actually, two clubs, one for grades 4-5 and one for 6-8) was founded by librarian Kate McClelland over 25 years ago (the oldest "Young Critics" are now in their 40s) and up until this week was run by Kate, her colleague Kathy Krasniewicz, and library director Mary Clark.
That was until yesterday when an apparently drunk driver veered into an airport bus on its way to Denver airport, killing two of the passengers, identified as Kathy Krasniewicz, 54 and Kate McClelland, 71 - who were returning home from the American Library Association's Midwinter meeting. Greenwich's local
newspaper, The Greenwich Times, has more details.
Davina Morgan-Witts, BookBrowse editor
Over the last few years we've seen virtually all newspapers cutting back on their book coverage and, according to the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC), all but two have now closed their standalone book review sections. One of the remaining bastions of the book world is the Washington Post which first introduced the standalone 'Book World' section to
its Sunday edition in 1972. But this literary stalwart appears to be crumbling. According
to the NBCC's blog
Critical Mass, a reliable source at the Washington Post
says that "among the budgetary recommendations new editor Marcus
Brauchli is making to his board is the elimination of 'Book
World'."
Kim Kovacs, BookBrowse reviewer
The following is in response to Lynda East's question to Kim after reading her Jan 1st blog "My Secret Addiction".Lynda asks, "Can you comment on the benefits and problems of the Sony eReader versus the Amazon Kindle? Their prices are comparable and both out of my price range right now (like you, my Christmas gift hints fell on deaf ears) ..."
I've thought ebook readers were a nifty idea ever since seeing one in the first Star Trek movie way back in 1979 (the technological dark ages!). I purchased my first digital reader in 1998, but paid the price of being an early adopter when the model I had was discontinued a few years later and I could no longer purchase books for it. I tried reading digital books on my Dell Axim for awhile, but it just wasn't the same. I eventually abandoned that, too,
coming to the conclusion that the rest of the world just wasn't as ready for digital books as I was, and contented myself with old-fashioned paper for the next several years.
Davina, BookBrowse editor
A couple of people have emailed recently to ask whether The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is based on, or at least inspired by, Andrew Sean Greer's 2004 novel
The
Confessions of Max Tivoli, and if so, why the movie title was changed?
Kim Kovacs, BookBrowse reviewer
Once again I begin my New Year's resolutions with the promise, "I will not buy more books than I can read" (followed by the corollary, "I will buy just one book at a time"). Once again, I suspect I'll fail.
Ever since the fourth grade (don't ask), books have been a refuge for me. Each one represents a new world or adventure, my own little escape pod from the traumas of the day. Books call to me as I stroll the bookstore aisles, unable to resist their alluring covers and captivating premises. How can I possibly leave one of these unexplored worlds sitting, unread, on a shelf at my bookstore?
