The National Book Foundation today announced 21 finalists for its 2011 National Book Awards, including the following: Fiction Andrew Krivak, The Sojourn Téa Obreht, The Tiger’s Wife Julie Otsuka, The Buddha in the Attic Edith Pearlman, Binocular Vision Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones Nonfiction Deborah Baker, The Convert: A Tale of Exile and Extremism Mary Gabriel, Love [...]
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Poet Tomas Tranströmer of Sweden was announced today as recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature. The Swedish Academy awarded Tranströmer the prize “because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality.” This year marks the first time since 1996 that the award has gone to poetry. Tranströmer’s work is [...]
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
A photographer spent a month taking 2,000 images of yellow ants in Vietnam. The strikingly back-lit photos show the insects appearing to engage in human-like activities— a large ant lifts a smaller one overhead, a group climbs on each others’ backs, two ants rear up on their back legs to touch feelers as if shaking [...]
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Yesterday Amazon made its Kindle reader compatible with e-book collections held by many of the nation’s libraries, including PVLD. The device could previously be used only to download e-books purchased through Amazon, or those out-of-copyright works available for free via the company’s web site. Some book publishers are worried that e-reader owners who used to [...]
Monday, September 12, 2011
Michael Hart, the man credited with inventing the eBook, died last week in Urbana, Illinois at the age of 64. In 1971, Hart, an undergraduate at the University of Illinois, was given time on a mainframe computer. He used part of it to type in the Declaration of Independence, and posted a notice letting users [...]
Saturday, September 3, 2011
The recent international bestseller status of Swedish novelist Stieg Larsson shines a light on the world of Scandinavian mystery writing. Worldwide attention for the genre dates back to the 1960s, with Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö’s Martin Beck series. Henning Mankell and Peter Høeg are more recent purveyors of the dark side of Nordic lands. Other current Scandinavian [...]
Monday, August 29, 2011
Research presented at a European medical meeting today suggested chocolate consumption might be associated with a one third reduction in the risk of developing heart disease. The research adds to a string of studies in recent years showing a potential health benefit of chocolate. Scientists cautioned that further research was needed to test whether chocolate [...]
Monday, August 15, 2011
The Dayton Literary Peace Prize committee has announced its 2011 nominees. 67 fiction and nonfiction works have been nominated for helping lead readers to a better understanding of other cultures, peoples, religions, and political points of view. The honors will be awarded in November. Barbara Kingsolver will be the recipient of the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished [...]
Thursday, August 11, 2011
The Librarian of Congress yesterday announced Philip Levine as U.S. Poet Laureate for 2011-2012. Levine is the author of 20 poetry collections (as well as nonfiction), and among other honors, has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Librarian of Congress James Billington describes Levine is [...]
Saturday, August 6, 2011
A series of studies shows that how we define happiness determines what we seek at various times in our lives. For young people, happiness is most often found in anticipating and participating in activities; older persons find contentment in the peaceful enjoyment of the present moment. The study results won’t surprise the parent whose child [...]
Thursday, October 13, 2011
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