Week Nine, Thing Twenty One

I searched and browsed through a couple podcast directories, specifically podcast.net and Yahoo!Podcasts. I wasn't all that impresed with podcast.net. In scanning through the results list nothing caught my eye.

I have to say I did like the Yahoo directory. The front page is subdivided into three panels; What we like, what other people like, and explore on your own. The first section contains podcasts that Yahoo! finds new and noteworthy. The second panel contains lists of the most popular and highly rated podcasts. And the third panel allows you to browse by category. I added npr's All Songs Considered to my Bloglines account. This podcast is currently the second most popular on Yahoo!.

I tried searching for book reviews in the Yahoo! directory and was surprised by the amount of comic book podcasts that are out there (along with reviews of fantasy books and podcasts from a christian perspective). I did find C-Span's program After Words which airs on BookTV Sunday nights. This podcast features the writer of a hardback, recently published, non-fiction book, interviewed by someone with knowledge in that particular field. I added this podcast to my Bloglines account too.

Most of the podcasts I tend to listen to are radio broadcasts like This American Life and Fresh Air. In the past, I haven't sought out library related podcasts with the excpetion of tutorials we've used on Learning 2.0.

Week Eight, Thing Nineteen

So I posted about LibraryThing already, and how much I love it, and how right on I found their recommendations. This time around I cataloged a handful of books I have at home.

Now this is going to come as a shock to those of you who think all librarians have huge book collections, but I don't actually own many books. Why?

1. I am cheap
2. I almost never read books more than once
3. I've worked in libraries for the last nine years

Now I read all the time. It's just that almost all of the books I read I get from work or I borrow from friends. So thinking of five books I actually own was a challenging exercise.

All of my books were quite popular with the exception of Impossible Vacation which is owned by only 90 members. That surprised me. And, get this...no other members own the exact same books that I own.

I added a widget to my blog that shows some of my favorite books. See it? It's on the left-hand sidebar.

If you're interested you can also check out my catalog on LibraryThing.

Week Five, Thing Twelve

I've been experimenting with rollyo this morning, a free web service that allows you to build your own search engine and search multiple websites of your choosing. I played around with some of the preexisting searchrolls, such as free photos and quick quotes. With the free photo searchroll I found a public image for my last blog post. Using quick quotes I discovered this statement from Eleanor Roosevelt; "It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself."

Here's my personal contribution to rollyo, a customized comix & creators searchroll.

I added five sites to my searchroll: Fantagraphics, Quimbys, noflyingnotights, Comiclopedia, and Friends of Lulu. These are some of the sites I used to search quite a bit when I was selecting comix and graphic novels for the teen section of medium size public library with a large collection budget.

Select Search Engine...comix & creatorsSearch The Web

Powered by Rollyo

Week Three, Thing Seven

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Originally uploaded by aNA_vaLDES.

This week I discovered Library Thing, an online service that among many other things, allows people to catalog their book collections. You can tag your books as you like, export your data, and, what I like most of all, find book recommendations.

Currently, I'm reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. A most outstanding novel and one of the best books I've read in some time. When I type the title of this book into Library Thing's Book Suggester, it tells me that 3200 people who use Library Thing own this book, only 95 books are more popular, 55 people have reviewed the title on Library Thing, and it shows books with similar tags, library subjects, other books owned by people who own this title, and finally, suggestions for other books to read.

I have read and loved at least four of the ten titles recommended by Library Thing. Amazing! Can you guess which books? All right, I'll tell you: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem, The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, The Hours by Michael Cunningham, plus I've read and enjoyed books by Dave Eggers, one of the recommended authors. How utterly fantastic.

Week Three, Thing Five part II

We just missed Calvin Trillin!
Originally uploaded by KatDeiss.

I stumbled across this photo of a Calvin Trillin flyer in Flickr. When I was a kid, my Dad had copies of Trillin's political humor collections lying around, but it wasn't until I was 19 or 20 that I read Trillin on my own. He quickly became one of my favorite writers. His books always felt like home. Trillin, with his wry humor, reminded me of my Dad. And Alice, with her smart practicality seemed a lot like my mother. When Trillin talked about his urban adventures with his two little girls it brought back memories of Saturdays when my Dad would take my sister and I on downtown adventues of our own. We'd go to greasy diners, European coffeeshops, and my Dad would try to entice us into exploring the city's steam tunnels. Joking, of course, but I always took him seriously.

On Saturday I read About Alice, Trillin's latest book and tribute to his late wife. I found it beautifull written and quite moving. I wish I had time to say more. Perhaps later.