Reading About the Reading Life: May 5, 2017 edition

Welcome to another edition of "Reading about the reading life" here at The Itinerant Librarian. This is where I collect stories about reading and the reading life. Basically, these are items related to reading, maybe writing and literacy, that I find interesting and think my four readers might find interesting as well with a little commentary. As with other features I do on this blog, I do it when I have time or feel like it. Comments are always welcome (within reason).

It  has been a while since I wrote one of these posts; turns out it was last December. These posts are one of my favorite blogging exercises, but I do not get to do them enough given everything else going on in life. Life happens. Still, I enjoy finding interesting things and sharing them with  my four readers. By the way, if you want to become reader number five, you can subscribe to the blog via e-mail or via RSS reader; details for this can be  found in the right side column of the blog. 


So, let's get on with it. I've had a few things sitting on my feed reader for a while, so allow me to share and hope you find something interesting. As always, comments are welcome.

• An author in "a sleepy riverside bookstore where patrons politely finish their ice cream cones outside first" is a little startled to find a couple of patrons packing heat. I guess it's one of those things. Story via the Star News (North Carolina).
• In semi-recent news, the author of the famous, or infamous depending who you ask, the author of The Anarchist Cookbook passed away. I remember when the book was such a big controversial deal, and now, it is barely remembered. I am sure if you search online, you can probably find a copy of it somewhere. Story via Boing Boing.
• A chain bookstore company in Thailand wants to hire older folks (60 and up) on the theory that older people love books better than younger people. Are they onto something? Story via Coconuts Bangkok.  
• The New York Times featured an interesting profile of Merriam-Webster, the dictionary makers who are also social media sensations now, and their lexicographers as well as their operations.  
• The New York Times also did a nice piece on the Morgan Library in New York City. Another place I would like to see sometime. 
• Under places I wish I  could visit if I had money and time, Bustle has a list of "The 10 Most Unconventional Bookstores in the World." I can always dream. 
• Other bookstores to visit? Well, apparently Seoul, South Korea, has some nice bookstores too. Story via Korea Bizwire.
• And apparently they opened a nice, new city library in Bangkok, Thailand. Story via Bangkok Post.
• In other library news, this is not happy news. Russia is shuttering down its Ukranian library. Story via Reuters.
• Speaking of libraries, Signature has an article on the largest surviving chained library in the world. 
• In other news, this may be of interest. You can now get over two hundred free art books online via the Guggenheim. Can't take a full art course? Hey, this can give you a head start at little cost. Story via VICE. Get the actual books here via Internet Archive.
• A piece from The Independent (Canada) argues that not reading impairs your social and political participation. I'd have to agree. Hell, just look at the clusterfuck the United States got after the 2016 elections. 
• These days, the term "fake news" is all the rage. But before it became cool, there was yellow journalism. Learn more about it via Public Domain Review. 
• Sometimes you want to support an author, but your wallet is kind of empty. Well, Lit Reactor offers some ways you can still support your favorite author when the economy is bad. 
• Once again, Bookfinder has its annual list of most sought after books that are out of print. Usually, Madonna's Sex book tops the list. However, for 2016, this honor goes to Westworld, a companion book to the 1973 film. With HBO reviving the movie as a mini-series, the book has become a hot item. Story via Fine Books and Collections blog.
• In other interesting bits of trivia, I had no idea Sylvester Stallone is a big rare books collector. He recently put up a private library of about 1000 books up for auction. Story via Fine Books and Collections blog. 
• On a different note, I am a book blogger. One of the things I do is I read books, and I write reviews about them, which I post here on the blog. Once in a while I get book pitches (not as often as some of the big shot book bloggers, but it has been known to happen). Thus, this caught my eye, and I think this may be useful advice to some authors and publishing houses seeking book reviewers. Story via City Book Review. By the way, I do have a book review statement for potential folks wanting me to consider something for review. It is also linked on the right column of the blog. 

Here are a couple of additional items. These come from Spanish language news sources: 

• Via Que Leer, a bit of trivia. Someone did a survey on this and found that only 7% of people in Spain take a book into the bathroom to read. This ranks lower than reading a magazine or the label on a gel container. Still seems a bit low to me, but then again, in our house, we keep books in the bathroom just in case we need something and forgot to bring one in. It always amuses me what people will do surveys on. 
• Via Libropatas, interesting piece on books forbidden in Spain during the Franco regime.