Orbit Books reports a 25% decrease in Swords and a 20% decrease in "Glowy Magic" on fantasy book covers.  I think this spells danger for the genre! 

This is the best book news story of the week, I don't care that it's only Monday, nothing will top this.

Orbit Books reports a 25% decrease in Swords and a 20% decrease in "Glowy Magic" on fantasy book covers.  I think this spells danger for the genre! 

This is the best book news story of the week, I don't care that it's only Monday, nothing will top this.

The Guardian had a neat article which asked the question "What will become of the marginalia and forgotten mementoes" that are often stashed and scribbled into book if we ever became a fully electronic society.

Most of us BookFinder.com advocates are what I would call "serious bibliophiles" and for us I do not see this becoming an issue, we won't give up the printed word.  But will future generations have the joy of things found in books?  And what of inscriptions and signed books?  These joys are not found in the writing but the physical object of the book itself, and that is something that electronic copy of a book can never have.

Or maybe we will just change the way we do things.

I read a story some time ago about David Sedaris being asked to sign an eReader at a book signing and at the time I thought it pretty ridiculous, Sedaris did end up signing the reader but somehow I feel that fan just has a defaced reader now.  

Lastly I'm sorry that I have been the blog here, I'm going to try and make an effort to begin posting here again, I've been neglecting the blog a bit too long I think.

The Guardian had a neat article which asked the question "What will become of the marginalia and forgotten mementoes" that are often stashed and scribbled into book if we ever became a fully electronic society.

Most of us BookFinder.com advocates are what I would call "serious bibliophiles" and for us I do not see this becoming an issue, we won't give up the printed word.  But will future generations have the joy of things found in books?  And what of inscriptions and signed books?  These joys are not found in the writing but the physical object of the book itself, and that is something that electronic copy of a book can never have.

Or maybe we will just change the way we do things.

I read a story some time ago about David Sedaris being asked to sign an eReader at a book signing and at the time I thought it pretty ridiculous, Sedaris did end up signing the reader but somehow I feel that fan just has a defaced reader now.  

Lastly I'm sorry that I have been the blog here, I'm going to try and make an effort to begin posting here again, I've been neglecting the blog a bit too long I think.

I just wanted say thank you to everyone who completed the BookFinder.com survey.  I'll be closing it up in a couple minutes and then going over all the input and suggestions that you gave us, and at a first glance it looks like we have some really good feedback.

Your input is extremely helpful when considering new ideas, and as such we really appreciate everyone who took a couple minutes out of their day to offer their opinions.  So thank you.

In other news, I think we finally tracked down the problem that was causing some users to randomly receive 403/404 errors that were blocking access to our search.  With the help of a couple VERY helpful BookFinder.com users we were able to finally replicate the problem ourselves and last week we worked out a fix.  Since then we have been monitoring the results and it seems as if we have fixed it. 

This was very frustrating for us since we knew users were having problems but we could never replicate the issue on our side, which made finding the root cause quite difficult.  So again I would like to say thank you to all the BookFinder.com users who contacted us and provided valuable information that helped us find this problem and solve it.

If you are still having problems, or ever have problems please do send us an email to let us know about any bugs on our site.

[Now Reading: Foundation and Empire by Issac Asimov]

I just wanted say thank you to everyone who completed the BookFinder.com survey.  I'll be closing it up in a couple minutes and then going over all the input and suggestions that you gave us, and at a first glance it looks like we have some really good feedback.

Your input is extremely helpful when considering new ideas, and as such we really appreciate everyone who took a couple minutes out of their day to offer their opinions.  So thank you.

In other news, I think we finally tracked down the problem that was causing some users to randomly receive 403/404 errors that were blocking access to our search.  With the help of a couple VERY helpful BookFinder.com users we were able to finally replicate the problem ourselves and last week we worked out a fix.  Since then we have been monitoring the results and it seems as if we have fixed it. 

This was very frustrating for us since we knew users were having problems but we could never replicate the issue on our side, which made finding the root cause quite difficult.  So again I would like to say thank you to all the BookFinder.com users who contacted us and provided valuable information that helped us find this problem and solve it.

If you are still having problems, or ever have problems please do send us an email to let us know about any bugs on our site.

[Now Reading: Foundation and Empire by Issac Asimov]

Once again we are trying to develop new ways to better serve you, the local BookFinder.com user, as well as any other book buyers on the internet who have not yet heard of us.  I suppose sounds rather simple but because not everyone is looking for the same kinds of books (signed first editions vs cheap reading copies vs textbooks) we have to be careful to consider everyone.  This is where you come in.

Please take our survey and tell us what kind of books you read, and how we can make BookFinder.com better for you!

The survey is only six questions long, should only take about 1-2 minutes, and is completely anonymous.

Thanks in advance for your help!

-Scott & The BookFinder.com team

Once again we are trying to develop new ways to better serve you, the local BookFinder.com user, as well as any other book buyers on the internet who have not yet heard of us.  I suppose sounds rather simple but because not everyone is looking for the same kinds of books (signed first editions vs cheap reading copies vs textbooks) we have to be careful to consider everyone.  This is where you come in.

Please take our survey and tell us what kind of books you read, and how we can make BookFinder.com better for you!

The survey is only six questions long, should only take about 1-2 minutes, and is completely anonymous.

Thanks in advance for your help!

-Scott & The BookFinder.com team

This weeks Essay in the NY Times Book Review struck a chord with me, in it the author talks about his youth when he would go to a yearly church book sale and stock up on cheap paperbacks to get him though the year. 

This is exactly what I do every year with a local charity book sale sponsored by our local daily newspaper.  Each year I go and pick up a bag full of books to help limp my reading habit though the year on budget, but there are always extras.  This year I picked up the entire Foundation series to go along with a number of other gems that I have sitting in my to be read pile.  Apparently I am not alone, the author also had many, many, extras.  So many extras that he is still reading his selections thirty years on

As the author looks back at his youthful self I see my future self in his words, I foresee the day that I too will be forced to institute "the First Law of Literary Thermodynamics, otherwise known as the conservation of libraries. No book can come into our household without another book leaving it."

I dread that day, I better get reading.

This weeks Essay in the NY Times Book Review struck a chord with me, in it the author talks about his youth when he would go to a yearly church book sale and stock up on cheap paperbacks to get him though the year. 

This is exactly what I do every year with a local charity book sale sponsored by our local daily newspaper.  Each year I go and pick up a bag full of books to help limp my reading habit though the year on budget, but there are always extras.  This year I picked up the entire Foundation series to go along with a number of other gems that I have sitting in my to be read pile.  Apparently I am not alone, the author also had many, many, extras.  So many extras that he is still reading his selections thirty years on

As the author looks back at his youthful self I see my future self in his words, I foresee the day that I too will be forced to institute "the First Law of Literary Thermodynamics, otherwise known as the conservation of libraries. No book can come into our household without another book leaving it."

I dread that day, I better get reading.

A few of you have mentioned to us that you have been experiencing problems with connecting to BookFinder.com in the past week.  Some people have experienced 404 Errors and 403 Errors when viewing different BookFinder.com pages. 

Thank you for pointing out these issues, because of your messages we are aware of what is happening and are working on a solution to fix the problem completely.

In most cases the errors are intermittent, and if you do happen to experience a 404 or 403 error on a BookFinder.com page, please try refreshing the page (ctrl + F5).  In many cases a simple refresh will bring up the correct page.  There are cases, however, where the error persists.

If you continue to have issues connecting to the site we apologize and ask for your continued patience as we fix this issue.

Sincerely

The BookFinder.com Team

A few of you have mentioned to us that you have been experiencing problems with connecting to BookFinder.com in the past week.  Some people have experienced 404 Errors and 403 Errors when viewing different BookFinder.com pages. 

Thank you for pointing out these issues, because of your messages we are aware of what is happening and are working on a solution to fix the problem completely.

In most cases the errors are intermittent, and if you do happen to experience a 404 or 403 error on a BookFinder.com page, please try refreshing the page (ctrl + F5).  In many cases a simple refresh will bring up the correct page.  There are cases, however, where the error persists.

If you continue to have issues connecting to the site we apologize and ask for your continued patience as we fix this issue.

Sincerely

The BookFinder.com Team

As a BookFinder.com user you probably didn’t even notice but last week we just picked up and moved servers.  For several years we were running our servers from around BookFinder.com’s birthplace of Berkley, CA but last week we packed up our bytes and moved our digital home.   Now we are happy to announce that we are up and running on the Elastic Compute Cloud, which is a cloud computing platform developed by Amazon.  Charlie and Bryan (our dynamic programming duo) are very excited about this change, since not only is cloud computing a cutting edge technology but it should also provide BookFinder.com with a flexibility and scalability that we have never previously had.

So if you are like me the question you are probably asking yourself right now is, “so what does this mean for me?” and the non-technical short answer is “very little.”  Our search functions will remain the same, and while we may run a little faster now the look and feel of BookFinder.com will stay the same.  The real benefit of this change is behind the scenes here.  Kind of selfish I know but, I think we deserve it =).

Hopefully now we can get back to trying to add new bookstores and additional services that will help you book buyers find the books that you need and love!

[Now Reading: Prelude to Foundation by Issac Asimov]

As a BookFinder.com user you probably didn’t even notice but last week we just picked up and moved servers.  For several years we were running our servers from around BookFinder.com’s birthplace of Berkley, CA but last week we packed up our bytes and moved our digital home.   Now we are happy to announce that we are up and running on the Elastic Compute Cloud, which is a cloud computing platform developed by Amazon.  Charlie and Bryan (our dynamic programming duo) are very excited about this change, since not only is cloud computing a cutting edge technology but it should also provide BookFinder.com with a flexibility and scalability that we have never previously had.

So if you are like me the question you are probably asking yourself right now is, “so what does this mean for me?” and the non-technical short answer is “very little.”  Our search functions will remain the same, and while we may run a little faster now the look and feel of BookFinder.com will stay the same.  The real benefit of this change is behind the scenes here.  Kind of selfish I know but, I think we deserve it =).

Hopefully now we can get back to trying to add new bookstores and additional services that will help you book buyers find the books that you need and love!

[Now Reading: Prelude to Foundation by Issac Asimov]

After trying eInk screens and back lit screens I assumed that the eInk caused less eye strain, but it seems that like so many times before, I may have been wrong.  A NY Times Bits Blog post recently covered this topic and it seems that I cannot blame my back lit monitor for my deteriorating vision any more than I can blame my car for my cardiovascular health. 

Honestly, who can take a break from reading after only 20 minutes?  That's inhuman.

After trying eInk screens and back lit screens I assumed that the eInk caused less eye strain, but it seems that like so many times before, I may have been wrong.  A NY Times Bits Blog post recently covered this topic and it seems that I cannot blame my back lit monitor for my deteriorating vision any more than I can blame my car for my cardiovascular health. 

Honestly, who can take a break from reading after only 20 minutes?  That's inhuman.

Just to beat the dead horse a little more

The discussion I brought up yesterday about copyrights of different book formats is really about the only thing going in book news right now so that is what you get to hear about.  This morning's Jacket Copy was quoting more music industry history lessons.  This time dredging up that that before cassettes were going to ruin the music business it was records... 

"That was a time when people thought records were really bad for musicians," said Gary Calamar, the co-author of "Record Store Days: From Vinyl to Digital and Back Again," a new history of (and unashamedly geeky paean to) the culture of the record store. "People were just getting used to electricity, and many artists resented the presence of records. They thought nobody would buy sheet music anymore."

It's not that the music industry is the only comparison for the book industry; it's just that changes they faced are a little fresher in our minds.  Thinking about this makes me wish I could travel back to 1500, just to hear a first-hand account from monks screaming about how Johannes' device was the work of Satan, and that the printing press would be the ruin of the written word.

I'm sorry, I swear I'll be off my soap box any second now...

[Now Reading: Heat by Bill Buford

Just to beat the dead horse a little more

The discussion I brought up yesterday about copyrights of different book formats is really about the only thing going in book news right now so that is what you get to hear about.  This morning's Jacket Copy was quoting more music industry history lessons.  This time dredging up that that before cassettes were going to ruin the music business it was records... 

"That was a time when people thought records were really bad for musicians," said Gary Calamar, the co-author of "Record Store Days: From Vinyl to Digital and Back Again," a new history of (and unashamedly geeky paean to) the culture of the record store. "People were just getting used to electricity, and many artists resented the presence of records. They thought nobody would buy sheet music anymore."

It's not that the music industry is the only comparison for the book industry; it's just that changes they faced are a little fresher in our minds.  Thinking about this makes me wish I could travel back to 1500, just to hear a first-hand account from monks screaming about how Johannes' device was the work of Satan, and that the printing press would be the ruin of the written word.

I'm sorry, I swear I'll be off my soap box any second now...

[Now Reading: Heat by Bill Buford

It's funny to think about but that is what we have to do currently if we want the same book in two different formats. It has always has been the case, and we never really questioned it because just say you bought a hardcover copy of The Grapes of Wrath, but years later wanted to re-read it while on vacation.  You might very well buy a copy of the paperback, so you don't get your nice hardback all soggy when you fall into the pool while reading it on an air mattress.  You had two copies, someone had to print them, ship them and stock them and you payed for both of them.

Now, what about digital books?  You bought the hardcover, should you pay if you want to have a digital copy as well?

This exact debate has been flaring up again and again in publishing and reading circles for the past several months (years?) but really got going when the New York Times journalist Randy Cohen wrote in his Ethicist column that downloading a pirated copy of a book you already purchased new is pretty much O.K.

Then  one of my admittedly favorite authors, John Scalzi chipped in his two cents on his Whatever blog and essentially agreed with Cohen. 

Scalzi does go on to, correctly, explain that there are limits to this and that an Audio book differs in that the reader and sound editors need their share, and obviously you can't download the Kite Runner movie because you bought the book, but in general both of these gentleman bring up the interesting point that a digital copy of a book you legally bought is essentially the same as making a cassette tape copy of that The Who - Live At Leeds record you wanted to preserve from the ware you knew you were going to inflict on it by playing it 3000 times.

So you know how I feel, tell me know your position while we wait for the lawyers to tell how this will end.

It's funny to think about but that is what we have to do currently if we want the same book in two different formats. It has always has been the case, and we never really questioned it because just say you bought a hardcover copy of The Grapes of Wrath, but years later wanted to re-read it while on vacation.  You might very well buy a copy of the paperback, so you don't get your nice hardback all soggy when you fall into the pool while reading it on an air mattress.  You had two copies, and because someone had to print them, ship them, and stock them, you paid for both of them.

Now, what about digital books?  You bought the hardcover, should you pay if you want to have a digital copy as well?

This exact debate has been flaring up again and again in publishing and reading circles for the past several months (years?) but really got going when the New York Times journalist Randy Cohen wrote in his Ethicist column that downloading a pirated copy of a book you already purchased new is pretty much O.K.

Then one of my admittedly favorite authors, John Scalzi chipped in his two cents on his Whatever blog and essentially agreed with Cohen. 

Scalzi does go on to, correctly, explain that there are limits to this; and that an Audio book is different in that the reader and sound editors are entitled to their share, and obviously you can't download the Kite Runner movie just because you bought the book, but in general both of these gentleman bring up the interesting point that a digital copy of a book you legally bought is essentially the same as making a cassette tape copy of that The Who - Live At Leeds record you wanted to preserve from the ware you knew you were going to inflict on it by playing it 3000 times.

So you know how I feel, tell me know your position while we wait for the lawyers to tell how this will end. 

People who get to know me know that I love reading, and I also love music, and my favourite place to shop for either is at a shop with used merchandise.  One thing I often wonder while looking though the stacks is "what made someone buy this."  Sometimes it's because the work in question is, in my opinion, awful to the point of hilarity but other times I just wonder what was going on in the previous owner’s life when they decided to buy, or sell, this gem.

On that note I saw this on the BookFinder.com insider list yesterday and I thought I would share it, Bruce from Double-B-Books wrote that while cataloguing a stack of books which had just come into his shop he found the following note that the former owner had written:

I cannot think of another "thing" which people form such a close personal bond with, other than books.  I too have found notes like this, none as powerful mind you, but I think this is why I feel that a good used book store is so irreplaceable.  When you walk in, not only are you face to face with repository of knowledge and entertainment but at any moment you can stumble upon a small window into the life of a complete stranger who had something in common with you. 

It's definitely nothing I have ever experienced with a record sleeve.

[Now Reading: City of Thieves by David Benioff]

People who get to know me know that I love reading, and I also love music, and my favourite place to shop for either is at a shop with used merchandise.  One thing I often wonder while looking though the stacks is "what made someone buy this."  Sometimes it's because the work in question is, in my opinion, awful to the point of hilarity but other times I just wonder what was going on in the previous owner’s life when they decided to buy, or sell, this gem.

On that note I saw this on the BookFinder.com insider list yesterday and I thought I would share it, Bruce from Double-B-Books wrote that while cataloguing a stack of books which had just come into his shop he found the following note that the former owner had written:

I cannot think of another "thing" which people form such a close personal bond with, other than books.  I too have found notes like this, none as powerful mind you, but I think this is why I feel that a good used book store is so irreplaceable.  When you walk in, not only are you face to face with repository of knowledge and entertainment but at any moment you can stumble upon a small window into the life of a complete stranger who had something in common with you. 

It's definitely nothing I have ever experienced with a record sleeve.

[Now Reading: City of Thieves by David Benioff]