Zombie books Nemesis

12/10/2022

Everyone already bought all the tech they needed in 2021.

11/10/2022

Get the Pixel Buds Pro for just $159.99 at Wellbots.

10/10/2022

There’s a new look for the most popular laptop on the market.

26/08/2022

After four commercial publishers filed a lawsuit earlier this month, the Internet Archive ended its National Emergency Library program earlier than planned, the organization said in a blog post (via ArsTechnica). It opened the “emergency” program in March, providing free access to 1.4 million books for people unable to get to classrooms or libraries during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Emergency Library is part of the Open Libraries initiative, in which the Internet Archive scans libraries’ books, allowing digital “check-outs” via a waiting list. But the Emergency Library did away with the waiting lists and made the scanned books immediately available.

The intent was to keep the Emergency Library up and running through June 30th. But on June 1st, publishers Hachette, Penguin Random House, Wiley, and HarperCollins sued the Internet Archive for copyright violations. The Authors Guild said in March that the Internet Archive was “acting as a piracy site” that violates authors’ rights to their works.

It’s not clear whether ending the program would bring an end to the lawsuit

24/08/2022

J.K. Rowling will stagger the release of her new children’s novel The Ickabog over the next seven weeks, publishing the book in tiny chapters online and making it available to readers for free.

Rowling is hosting The Ickabog on a new website with anywhere from “a chapter (or two, or three)” being published at a time, according to Rowling’s note. The first two chapters are available to read now, and although there’s no description of what the story entails, The Ickabog seems to have more in common with traditional fairy tales. Picture faraway kingdoms with lords and kings. Although the idea came to her while she was writing her wildly successful Harry Potter series, that’s the one thing it is not.

“It isn’t Harry Potter and it doesn’t include magic,” Rowling wrote. “This is an entirely different story.”

The Ickabog seemingly came into existence in typical Rowling fashion: she came up with the idea “a long time ago and read it to my two younger children chapter by chapter each night while I was working on it.” When the time came to publish The Ickabog, Rowling decided to “put out a book for adults instead, which is how The Ickabog ended up in the attic.” During the pandemic, Rowling dug out the book from said attic, put a few new touches on it, and decided to release it online.

“The Ickabog is a story about truth and the abuse of power,” Rowling wrote on her personal website. “To forestall one obvious question: the idea came to me well over a decade ago, so it isn’t intended to be read as a response to anything that’s happening in the world right now. The themes are timeless and could apply to any era or any country.”

Rowling is also asking children to contribute artwork for the story. In her announcement post, she notes that it’s an official competition being run by Scholastic, and people entering could see their artwork in a printed version of the book, which is due out later this year. Rowling doesn’t state if people contributing artwork will receive compensation for their work, but official rules for the competition state that 34 winners in total will receive a “signed copy of the book.” Scholastic will also donate $650 “worth of books to the school or library of the winner’s choice.”

“I’ll be giving suggestions as to what to draw as we go along, but you should let your imagination run wild.”

After The Ickabog’s initial run online, Scholastic will publish it in traditional formats, including as a book, ebook, and audiobook.

Rowling’s latest venture is a children’s book called The Ickabog that’s been stashed away in her attic.

22/08/2022

You can now use your Sonos speaker to listen to free audiobooks from your local library, thanks to a new integration with OverDrive’s Libby app. After downloading the Libby app, you’ll be prompted to register with a valid library card. Then, the app can be connected to a Sonos system and used to play any available audiobooks. Progress syncs across devices, so you’ll be able to pick up where you left off if you’ve been listening elsewhere.

Libby isn’t the only source of audiobooks on Sonos (we’re looking at you Audible), but unlike other services, it’s available completely free. The downside is that your choice of audiobooks will be limited by what your local library has available. OverDrive says that Libby works with 90 percent of public libraries in North America.

Libby works with 90 percent of public libraries in North America.

20/08/2022

When it comes to incredible, elaborate collector’s editions of books, it’s tough to beat The Folio Society, which has in recent years began to expand out into the worlds of fantasy and science fiction. And hot on the heels of its edition of George R.R. Martin’s first book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Game of Thrones, the company has announced today its collector’s edition of the second book, A Clash of Kings.

Like the Folio edition of A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings isn’t cheap: it’ll run the same $195 as the first book, making this a purchase only for the biggest Game of Thrones fans and collectors — especially for those looking to put together a complete set of the full series.

But that nearly $200 price tag does get you a magnificently made copy of the book, with high-end paper and bookbinding techniques that aim to elevate it beyond a $30 hardcover. Folio’s version also expands on Martin’s story with six full-page illustrations and two double-page spreads in each of the two volumes that make up the set, done once again by artist Jonathan Burton. The Folio edition also expands on the genealogies and formal house listings included at the end, updating family trees and alliances that have changed since the first book.

The new $200 edition of A Clash of Kings has arrived.

18/08/2022

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which was released as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in the US, is now free to stream on Audible. It’s part of a series of initiatives launched by JK Rowling and friends to keep everyone entertained while they’re cooped up at home. Better yet, it’s the version narrated by Stephen Fry, which has previously been difficult to legally access in the US.

As well as making the audiobook available, the series’ publishers are also temporarily relaxing licencing restrictions to allow teachers to read the books to their students in remote video lessons.

There are big debates about whether Stephen Fry’s or Jim Dale’s rendition of the audiobooks are better, but as a Brit who grew up listening to Fry’s version it’s always been the obvious choice for me. If you’re an American who’s never heard it then I’d recommend you giving it a go even if, as TechCrunch notes, you might have a difficult job getting your hands on his recordings of the rest of the books.

As well as Fry’s English version, the free audiobook is also available in Spanish, French, Italian, German and Japanese.

TEACHERS ARE ALSO NOW FREE TO STREAM THEMSELVES READING THE BOOKS FOR STUDENTS
Although Rowling and her team have loosened the licensing restrictions on teachers reading the books as part of remote virtual lessons, there are still some caveats. The biggest of these is that it’s meant to allow the books to be read on closed educational platforms like Google Classroom or Schoology, rather than commercial platforms like YouTube. Teachers are also encouraged to not amend or abridge the books while they’re reading them, which is advice that Rowling herself could occasionally stand to pay a little more attention to.

Meanwhile, if you’d like to listen to the audiobook, then you can do so over at stories.audible.com. Unfortunately the offer is streaming only (with no option to download), so you’ll need to make sure you’ve got a somewhat stable connection to the internet during its nine and a half hour runtime. Accio 4G, am I right guys?

While teachers are now able to stream themselves reading the books to students.