Steampunk Gypsy

I have a book club. And it's a great book club. (Hi, guys!) But I like coming up with new ideas for book clubs. If I get another book club, I might do a "read around the world" series, pairing up novels from or about certain areas with tea from that area.  The World in a Cuppa (Tea)  would help with that, although...I'd be awfully tempted to skip Tibet. If you'd like to steal the idea, go ahead; if you want to include Tibet, here's an easy  recipe for butter tea . Links! Libraries, Books, & Authors 10 Reasons You Should Be Reading Brian K. Vaughan’s Saga  There's really only one - it is amazing! Related: (Warning - Spoiliers!)  Brian K. Vaughan And Fiona Staples Reveal What's Ahead For Saga  I'm so excited! Happy birthday, William Goldman!  The Princess Bride  is one of my favorite stories ever  - and that's saying something. Nathaniel Rich wrote an excellent article discussing how the novel came at just the right time ...

Why Is The FCC Only Holding Net Neutrality Meetings In DC? Well, it seems obvious to me, anyway - they want to make sure the "right people" are filling the venue: lobbyists, ISP representatives, and others who aren't likely to make a fuss about our rights to information access and intellectual freedom and how killing net neutrality is denying those rights. The FCC ought to be holding meetings throughout the country, trying to get opinions from every demographic, so that they can really approach the issue fairly. Go tell them that . Links! Libraries, Books, & Authors Chickens in the Stacks, and Other Strange Tales from Public Librarians   50 Novels By Women Writers On Conflict, Displacement And Resilience   The Best Back to School Books for Your Kids   Parents in California Reject School District’s Sex Ed Book Choice   Helping cultural heritage institutions get their content on Wikipedia   Net & Tech Of monkeys and men (and copyrig...

I was just discussing this with one of my former professors this weekend:  Free flow of information is critical in crisis . Although this article discusses the role of churches as points of access to information in times of crisis, I think it has, at least in the U.S., been seen as an essential - perhaps even a defining - role of libraries. When people need information - when crisis hits and you don't know what to do - you head to the library, where you can find information on organizations that can help, information about what exactly is going on and what you're supposed to do about it, information on how to contact loved ones. I have a friend in Liberia, and the U.S. has a special relationship with that nation, so I've been thinking about Liberia in particular throughout the Ebola crisis. I wonder what the history and current situation of librarianship in Liberia is, and whether a stronger library system, particularly public and school libraries, could have made a diffe...

Links! Libraries, Books, & Authors Leo Tolstoy Creates a List of the 50+ Books That Influenced Him Most (1891)   Happy birthday,  Suzanne Collins !  Net & Tech Civilians in Abandoned McDonald’s Seize Control of Wandering Space Satellite   Science Play Doesn't End With Childhood: Why Adults Need Recess Too   Other Steven Moffat Wants ‘Doctor Who’-‘Sherlock’ Crossover, But Doubts Possibility  Yeah, the two worlds are too different - a crossover just wouldn't work.  The Big, Long, 30-Year Conservative Lie  Related:  The 1% May Be Richer Than You Think, Research Shows   Former Republican congressman makes six figures, says he lives 'paycheck-to-paycheck'   Senate Republicans hold up money to test evidence in rape cases   Israel, Palestinians agree new Gaza truce   Nestlé is pushing to privatize and control public water resources  

Happy National Book Lovers Day! I could recommend a book for you to read, but it would depend on who you are: what you've read, what you've not, what you've liked, what you've hated, what you're in the mood for...too many factors to just give you one title. Instead, I'll show you the new Little Library my church ( St. Martin's Episcopal ) has just opened up for business! Here are some links for National Book Lovers Day: 10 Ways To Celebrate National Book Lovers Day National Book Lovers Day 2014: Science Says Reading Makes You Healthier   8 Famous Authors On The First Book They Ever Loved   National Book Lovers Day: 9 Reasons I Love Books   12 Things To Celebrate National Book Lovers Day   Links! (Just a few today - I want more time to read my books!) Libraries, Books, & Authors Chuck Wendig discusses  the email he received from Amazon regarding Hachette .  Net & Tech Used Cigarette Butts Could Be Used To Store Energy ...

President Obama comes out for Net Neutrality Links! Libraries, Books, & Authors We Support James Risen Because We Support a Free Press  'Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg says: " The pursuit of Risen is a warning to potential sources that journalists cannot promise them confidentiality for disclosing Executive Branch criminality, recklessness, deception, unconstitutional policies or lying us into war .' Confronting Reality By Reading Fantasy  "But I bristle whenever fantasy is characterized as escapism. It’s not a very accurate way to describe it; in fact, I think fantasy is a powerful tool for coming to an understanding of oneself. The magic trick here, the sleight of hand, is that when you pass through the portal, you re-encounter in the fantasy world the problems you thought you left behind in the real world.... When you go to Narnia, your worries come with you. Narnia just becomes the place where you work them out and try to resolve th...

So, an older gentleman came into the library today, asking for a particular book. He didn't know the title or author, and it had been years since he read it - but it had a Jewish guy, sort of like James Bond, who maybe restored art? Oh, and he saved the Pope's life. Good enough . He also wanted a book by Edna Ferber - I talked him into taking three. He was very nice, very happy, and said, "Thank you!" It made up for the patron complaining that a Reference Librarian who was helping someone else hadn't stopped to say hi to her; and the guy who came in from out of state for his father's funeral, who used his deceased father's library card to check out a DVD that he returned, minus the case, a few weeks late. It's easy to focus on the problem patrons, rather than the vast majority of perfectly nice people who use our services - I'm choosing to remember this guy today. Links! Libraries, Books, & Authors Photos: Celebrities ‘Read Everywhe...