video – AbeBooks' Reading Copy http://www.abebooks.com/blog AbeBooks book blog Fri, 23 Sep 2016 17:33:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.1 A Passion for Maps http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2016/06/14/a-passion-for-maps/ http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2016/06/14/a-passion-for-maps/#comments Tue, 14 Jun 2016 18:02:59 +0000 http://www.abebooks.com/blog/?p=24229 We’ve been thinking a lot about maps lately. We recently featured a selection of vintage maps from around the world. We also got lost browsing through vintage road maps and travel guides from the first half of the 20th century.  These pieces of ephemera – an item created with a short-lived purpose in mind, are wonderful snapshots of how people lived before things like smart phones and GPS were at our fingertips. Today, maps published between 1920 and 1960 are in high demand as collectors scramble for pieces of travel history.

We recently came across this fantastic short documentary presented by the Los Angeles Review of Books about maps and those who are passionate about collecting them. LA-based filmmaker Alec Ernest, features Glen Creason, Map Librarian at LA Central Library and author of Los Angeles in Maps. Creason talks about his experience with discovering a vast collection of vintage maps that doubled the library’s archive in a single day.

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The Ultimate Alice in Wonderland Birthday Cake http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2015/09/18/the-ultimate-alice-in-wonderland-birthday-cake/ http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2015/09/18/the-ultimate-alice-in-wonderland-birthday-cake/#respond Fri, 18 Sep 2015 16:31:58 +0000 http://www.abebooks.com/blog/?p=22907 In honor of the 150th anniversary of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, AbeBooks has created a video describing how to make the ‘Ultimate Alice Birthday Cake.’

Have you made a literary cake?

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Thug Notes burns through Fahrenheit 451 http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2013/09/09/thug-notes-burns-through-fahrenheit-451/ http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2013/09/09/thug-notes-burns-through-fahrenheit-451/#respond Mon, 09 Sep 2013 19:36:38 +0000 http://www.abebooks.com/blog/?p=19586

Yo, listen up. Thug Notes offers his gangsta analysis of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It’s a pretty good interpretation once again. I wonder if university students will be referencing Thug Notes this term?

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Books a documentary of Larry McMurtry’s 2012 auction http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2013/08/13/books-a-documentary-of-the-larry-mcmurtry-auction/ http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2013/08/13/books-a-documentary-of-the-larry-mcmurtry-auction/#comments Tue, 13 Aug 2013 21:54:48 +0000 http://www.abebooks.com/blog/?p=19501 In the summer of 2012 Larry McMurtry auctioned off about 300,000 volumes from the warehouses of his bookshop Booked Up.  It was the rare book event of the summer and two film makers were there to catch the action.  They have put together a short trailer to promote the film they hope to make if they can raise $50,000 in a Kickstarter campaign.

As with all Kickstarter campaigns one of the most interesting pieces is in the pledge rewards. A pledge of $500 could yield a “personalized autographed copy of Brokeback Mountain: Story to Screenplay signed by McMurtry (along with other swag); for $850 you get your own personal phone interview with the reclusive author himself; and for $1,250 a personalized and autographed Classic Edition of Lonesome Dove.

Then there’s the big pledges; for $5,000 you can have the “McMurtry Ten” (10 personally selected books from McMurtry’s collection) and for a whopping 25 grand you will receive McMurtry’s personal typewriter. There is also some neat swag for smaller pledges.

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If The Smiths Sang About Charles Dickens… http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2013/06/07/if-the-smiths-sang-about-charles-dickens/ http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2013/06/07/if-the-smiths-sang-about-charles-dickens/#respond Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:55:04 +0000 http://www.abebooks.com/blog/?p=19257 In one of our Ask AbeBooks videos, we answered a letter from a woman seeking suggestions to keep her attention-span-challenged kid engaged when reading about school subjects.

One of the suggestions that my colleague Richard made was for Terry Deary’s Horrible Histories series . Featuring titles such as The Vile Victorians, Ruthless Romans and Awful Egyptians, the series attempts to put the often dry, boring and stodgy subject of history into terms a child will be enthralled by. In short, the series is often gory, bloodthirsty, and blunt, and chock full of toilet humor. But it sneaks in plenty of education when the kid isn’t looking – kind of like hiding spinach in a delicious smoothie.

This excellent video from Horrible Histories is an absolute delight. It’s a short biography of Charles Dickens, plenty peppy enough to amuse kids and make them laugh. But there’s a ton here for an adult to enjoy, too – like the fact that the video and song are clearly a tongue-in-cheek take-off on Morrissey and the Smiths (and sounds very much like a hybrid of “This Charming Man” and “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”. The lyrics are genius and cracked me up:

Little Dorrit is a tale about my dad in debtor’s jail, while Hard Times tells my life, ’bout when I tried to leave my wife…”

Enjoy!

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Tips For Reading to Children http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2013/03/01/tips-for-reading-to-children/ http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2013/03/01/tips-for-reading-to-children/#respond Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:05:16 +0000 http://www.abebooks.com/blog/?p=18515

My colleagues Richard and Christi put together this great video (above) about the importance of reading to children, and even provided some helpful guidelines on how to get started, and how to get the most out of your bedtime (or anytime!) reading. I’ve added the tips below as well, for reference, as well as a list of books included in the video.

Tips:

1. Begin reading to them from at least six months old. Use those thick board books so they can get used to handling books — some people read to ’em while they’re still in the womb.

2. Do it regularly — reading must become routine. It’s have a bath, brush their teeth, listen to a good book.

3. Turn off the TV. Turn off the computer games. Turn off the Ipod. Turn off the radio. If I’m reading, then they’re listening and there will be no distractions.

4. Put some effort into your reading — you don’t have to do funny voices but a monotonous drone can put a young listener to sleep.

5. Stop and explain new words being heard for the first time — and encourage your child to ask when they hear something they don’t understand.

6. With chapter books, have a quick discussion at the end of a chapter — you can start by saying something like…well, it looks like Harry and Ron are really in trouble this time?

7. Let your child choose the books — this is important in developing their own tastes and a feeling of independence. Young children may ask for the same picture book over and over again — that’s fine, they move on….eventually.

8. Don’t underestimate your child’s ability to process stories that seems threatening and violent. There’s nothing worse than bland bedtime reading.

9. Once my children were learning to read to themselves, our routine changed to include them reading something to me before I read to them.

10. For a bit of variety, introduce ‘guest’ readers — granny or grand-dad can do it when they come to stay, or an older sister can do it for an evening.

Great Books for Children:

Peter Rabbit

Green Eggs and Ham

The Paper Bag Princess

Brer Rabbit

The Phantom Tollbooth

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Jack and the Beanstalk

James and the Giant Peach

The Borrowers

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt

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Where Van Halen Meets Librarians: The Weirdest Thing You will See Today http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2013/02/27/where-van-halen-meets-librarians-the-weirdest-thing-you-will-see-today/ http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2013/02/27/where-van-halen-meets-librarians-the-weirdest-thing-you-will-see-today/#respond Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:33:35 +0000 http://www.abebooks.com/blog/?p=18436 To describe this video in only one word would never do it justice, but if I had to: bizarre.

Featuring a stern, turtlenecked librarian named Betty Glover, this is nearly five minutes of surreal, spoof workout advice for librarians, made in 1987 by an Arizona State University student. While disturbingly sizeist and focused on the horror of fatness, the video is also totally delightful, and liberal in its use of Van Halen, Huey Lewis and the News, Tears for Fears, Billy Idol, Devo and other 80s musical greats. The tape claims to offer librarians a way to fight slack muscles and flab while in their element, with such exercises as the vertical drawer pull, and horizontal drawer pull, and rapid-fire stapling.

Weird. I do enjoy that the dictatorial and not-to-be-messed-with Betty Glover comes with her own riding crop. The staff won’t be getting lazy on her watch.

Enjoy this surreal bit of Wednesday library fun.

And for more librarian-themed goodness, check out our list of Literature from Librarians: Great Reads Written by the Experts.

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Jane Austen Like You’ve Never Seen Her http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2012/09/05/jane-austen-like-youve-never-seen-her/ http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2012/09/05/jane-austen-like-youve-never-seen-her/#respond Wed, 05 Sep 2012 19:50:08 +0000 http://www.abebooks.com/blog/?p=17308 Think you know everything about Jane Austen? Don’t be so sure. Our colleague Julie has compiled a list of 10 fascinating tidbits about Ms. Austen, and presents them in a most compelling – and creatively costumed- way in her video. Don’t miss out.

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Ask AbeBooks: Recommended Unusual Cookbooks http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2012/08/24/ask-abebooks-recommended-unusual-cookbooks/ http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2012/08/24/ask-abebooks-recommended-unusual-cookbooks/#respond Fri, 24 Aug 2012 18:03:26 +0000 http://www.abebooks.com/blog/?p=17239 This ir our first “Ask AbeBooks” video, in which we recommend unusual cookbooks to Marjorie, who wrote to us from Wichita asking for gift suggestions. Enjoy.

And if you’d like, you can read about even more weird cookbooks.

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Positions in Bed – One Youtube User’s Take http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2012/07/23/positions-in-bed-one-youtube-users-take/ http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2012/07/23/positions-in-bed-one-youtube-users-take/#respond Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:13:38 +0000 http://www.abebooks.com/blog/?p=16936 I blogged once about the difficulties of comfortable reading in bed and revealed that I am a tummy-and-elbow reader. When I asked around I discovered there were side readers, back-with-the-book-in-the-air readers, propped-against-headboard-or-pillow readers, and more – but the youtube user below gets into some positions I’ve never even attempted. Perhaps she’s into yoga.

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