There are many cool things about my new job as a community newspaper editor, but one unexpectedly sweet perk is that I have my own office. Not a cubicle or other Office Space-like desk divider system, a real, honest-to-goodness office that I get all to myself. It’s actually pretty ridiculous.
I’ve been so busy for the last couple of months that I haven’t had much time to think about decorating the place. I’ve started bringing in a few things for my desk and bulletin board — tea mugs for storing pens and, you know, drinking tea; photographs, postcards and a favorite xkcd comic — but the walls are still pretty bare.
On Friday afternoon I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, NPR MonkeySee’s Pop Culture Happy Hour, which was discussing upcoming summer movies the various participants were excited about. One person mentioned The Help, which will be coming out this August.
I knew the movie was coming out, but hadn’t seen a trailer yet, so popped over to YouTube to find one.
I’m back in Minnesota this weekend, so I’m probably not going to get any reading done today. And since it’s the beginning of May, it seemed like a good day to take a look at my reading from the past month and what I want to try and read in May. Plus, the first third of the year is over which makes it an apt time for a few bookish stats from the year so far.
In the wake of Borders closing down more than 200 stores, there have been a lot of posts of the piles of books people have have snagged during the sales. As much as I like seeing new book stacks and chiming in with which ones I’m most excited about, actually posting my own book piles seemed to depressing, like kicking a kid while they’re down.
Readers on Reading
Teresa (Shelf Love) is contemplating ways of “shutting off the fire hose” of books on her shelves. The post feels like something I could have written myself, since I feel the same way.
Meg (write meg!) has a great post about how she finds time to read even though people in her life rarely see her reading. For the most part, this could have come straight out of my own life.
A Room of One’s Own is a great bookstore. They’re right on State Street, a main pedestrian marketplace in the middle of downtown Madison. They’re a relatively small space, but the have a great selection of books to choose from and can easily special order any books that aren’t in stock. I’ve done this a couple of times and it is great. They host many author events, participate in the Wisconsin Book Festival, and are just generally a place that Madison should be proud of.
Getting that e-mail inspired me to — finally — get serious about changing my book buying behavior.
What happens to a small press when they need to start producing ebooks?
That’s always been one of my questions as I read stories about the impact of ebooks on booksellers and consumers, and I finally got a chance to get a perspective on that issue when I interviewed Krista Coulson, the electronic publishing manager for the University of Wisconsin Press, for the books column I write for a local newspaper.
Monday Tally is a weekly link round-up of some of my favorite posts discovered over the week. If you have suggestions for Monday Tally, please e-mail sophisticated [dot] dorkiness [at] gmail [dot] com. Enjoy!
Post-Halloween Giggles
If looking at these pictures of a little kid being Robocop doesn’t put a smile on your face then I don’t think you have a heart. Also, the parts for the costume are awesome: an old bike helmet, orange juice container lids, a laundry detergent bottle, and milk jugs, to get started.
Monday Tally is a weekly link round-up of some of my favorite posts discovered over the week. If you have suggestions for Monday Tally, please e-mail sophisticated [dot] dorkiness [at] gmail [dot] com. Enjoy!
Questions for You
Now, more fun stuff: Bookstore employees have some idiosyncratic – and funny – book sections. What sections would you have in your dream bookstore? (via @harperbooks)
Last weekend I went to the Twin Cities Book Festival with a few Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and South Dakota bloggers. We were a pretty wide-ranging group, and it was a lot of fun.
The day started out bright an early at 8:00 a.m. with a meeting for coffee close to the book festival. When I got there, I met Reagan from Miss Remmer’s Reviews and Sheila from Book Journey. After a little bit, we were joined by Ash from English Major’s Junk Food and Alea from Pop Culture Junkie. We chatted books for a bit, then headed out to the Book Festival.
