From Print to Movie: George RR Martin's Game of Thrones

It's been several years now since I first read A Game of Thrones, the first in a series called A Song of Ice and Fire. George RR Martin creates a medieval world in which several dynasties are vying for power, with seven distinct kingdoms. His characters are memorable, my personal favorite being Daenerys, the mother of three dragons (it's a nod to my own three incredible children). The original planned trilogy has not only produced five separate (and lengthy) novels, but has also spawned a movie starring...take a deep breath...the incredibly talented Sean Bean.

In an article in this week's New Yorker, writer Laura Miller profiles Martin and his rise to fandom:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/04/11/110411fa_fact_miller
His stories appeal to a wide audience of readers. If you like historic, it's here. If you like epic battles, it's here. Quests for power, strong characters, mystery, intrigue, the supernatural, fantasy, comedic situations, dysfunctional families, swordplay, dire wolves, dragons...it's all here. And Martin wields his pen like the mightiest sword, so be prepared...he's as ruthless in dispatching favorite characters as JK Rowling in her Harry Potter series. As far as print to movie, I have to admit, Sean Bean is pretty easy on the eye...

Project Gutenberg & eBooks

Did you receive a Kindle or Nook for Christmas, only to realize how quickly the charges can add up in your excitement for downloads? No worries. Project Gutenberg has over 33,000 titles FREE! Of course, you won't find the last Steig Larsson, but if you love the classics or obscure/rare titles, you'll love this site. All copyrights on their titles have expired in the United States - if you live elsewhere, check those in your country.

Not only that, but YOU can help by becoming a proofreader! Check this out:
Distributed Proofreaders
By proofreading 7 pages, many volunteers can work on the same book at the same time, making it possible to release it as an eBook that much faster.

Now, all I need to do is buy an eReader!

Thoughts for the day...

"I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries." ~Carl Sagan, Cosmos

I've been thinking about this quote quite a bit this past week while pouring over spreadsheets in an attempt to figure out how to absorb a potential major cut to the library's budget. Since the first libraries excavated from the Fertile Crescent dating back to 3000BC, libraries have been the repositories reflecting the history and culture of our civilization. The original subscription and public libraries in America contained volumes in Latin and Greek, versions of the Bible and other books thought to edify and educate the community. Now libraries have evolved to hold a wealth of materials in various formats working as a cooperative to satisfy the needs of the patron.

Far from being replaced by Google and eBooks, libraries are more relevant than ever in this economy. Last year alone our library offered 129 programs to over 1600 participants from the community, circulated an average of 250 items per day and answered 1,680 reference questions. The Board of Trustees and Friends of the Library have purchased several discount museum passes, saving families hundreds of dollars. If you're reading this now you probably think I'm preaching to the choir, but it's disturbing how an entity which gives back so much in value to the community can be forced to cut services to the people who need us most.

Please re-read the quote above. If you feel about libraries as I do, please add your voice. Support your local library.

Note This...

The New York Times Book Review recently released its annual list of 100 Notable Books of 2010 .

It's amazing to me the storm of controversy that ensues once the list is published. Angry readers demand to know why their favorite reads were not included, judges are accused of bias, why three books on baseball heroes, why the finale of The Girl Who series, not the first? etc. It reminds me of the reaction to Time's person of the year - why the founder of Facebook?!

One thing I liked about this year's list is that they've included nine short-story collections this year. I usually shy away from buying them because they don't seem to get checked out as often as full length novels, but I've always enjoyed them myself...usually you can find one on my bedside table. I find if I get engrossed in a novel before bedtime I might stay up until the wee hours, or else my eyes roll up in my head and I can't remember what I read because I was so exhausted. Like the story of Goldilocks, the short story is "just right".

For those of you who eschew short stories, now's the time to test the waters. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of reading to do!

Listen Up...

Not that I stick to the New York Times Bestseller List for all my reading choices, but when a title gets a lot of buzz I do like to see what all the fuss is about. Even though it's fallen from the top 15, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo seemed to get an extraordinary amount of attention. People would come in and say they loved it! and an equal amount of people would come in and say they hated it. My curiosity got the best of me and I put my name in for it, and honestly, I tried. A few times. I hated it. Perhaps it was the translation, rather stilted and formal, or perhaps it was trying to figure out the Swedish pronunciation of the names of characters...at any rate, I brought it back while book two and three jumped onto the bestseller list, replacing Dragon Tattoo.

Being stubborn (yes, it's a fault of mine), I decided to try it as an audiobook. There have been several books I've listened as I'm commuting or doing errands, and actually a few I've recommended as opposed to the print version because the reader did such a great job, it was like a performance! And who doesn't love being read to?

And the verdict is...I loved it. Not necessarily the content, this is not a bedtime story after all, there's a serial killer about. But the reader was skillful, the unfamiliar names rolled off easily and he was able to assign different voices to the characters. The plot kept you on the edge of your seat at times, literally, and I love it when I'm equally pleased with both character development AND plot. I'm on hold for The Girl Who Played With Fire now! So, if you're one of those holdouts because you tried the print version of a book, try a different format! Or have someone read it to you.

Going through the library mail this morning, I came across the new issue of The New Yorker (dated October 18, 2010). Their cover art has always been eyecatching and this was no exception...a young man with a laptop and earbuds, sitting on a comfy chair in a library. OK, is that all? Nope. The wow factor is the backdrop of shelves of books behind him, all volumes illustrated with faces on the spines instead of titles, some expressing shock, some fear, some horror!

What is even more amusing to me is the looks of some of my colleagues as they react to the illustration. Some are shocked, some fearful, others horrified! I mean, it's a laptop, not a Kindle or Nook...but even if it were, are we that afraid of new technology? For one thing, for all we know, the guy is playing WOW, not reading Dickens. But even if he were, is that so scary? When graphic novels first came out, there was a huge uproar - even when authors like Joe Sacco took current events and placed them in a format that even reluctant readers would look at.

Laptops, eReaders are SmartPhones are beyond the fad phase now, they are everywhere and evolving. As a public librarian, I believe there is - and always will be - a place for print materials. As I've said before, there is nothing that compares to the heft of a book, the faint musty smell of a classic. But look at The New Yorker cover again...some of those volumes are curious, some are blase, some are actually happy! Ranganathan, the father of library science, says "for every reader, his or her book. For every book, its reader." So what if it's delivered via Kindle, Nook or other eReader?!

GiraffeCam

One of those "awwwhhhh" websites...

A few years ago, the Washington National Zoo set up a webcam so we could all watch the baby panda, who apparently wasn't all that impressed and pretty much slept the whole time. Roger Williams Zoo in Providence RI has a baby giraffe and the results are much better:
GiraffeCam

He tends to hang back towards the other side of the stall and his head is out of the frame, but at least he's awake!