What’s In a (Book’s) Name?

We’re could all probably name a few books we borrowed or bought completely because of their magnetic cover images.

The anonymous blogger at Bibliobio acknowledges – and provides examples of - a similarly superficial reason for favoring – at least initially - one book of the millions available for plucking: the book’s title.

After perusing the Bibliobio post and musing over your own degree of vulnerability to book titles, you might enjoy perusing the lists of unusual book titles posted here, here, and here – although some of these titles will surely strike some booklovers as repellent rather than magnetic!

If you have a favorite book whose title is part of the reason you number it among your faves, why not share that title with other readers by sending along that title in a Comment? Who knows – maybe your fave will become the fave of a fellow booklover somewhere?

An Author Makes the Cover of Time

This week’s photograph of U.S. novelist Jonathan Franzen is the first time in a decade that a writer has been depicted on the cover of Time.

Craig Fehrman has posted to The Millions an illustrated and somewhat sardonic look  at the other writers Time has trumpeted on its covers.  

Franzen’s upcoming novel is entitled Freedom.

Unexpected Treasures of the New York Public Library

A New York Times columnist Robin Finn describes some of the surprising objects – other than books - owned by the New York Public Library: everything from Truman Capote’s cigarette case to the cane Virginia Woolf used to walk to the river where she drowned herself. Finn also includes in her list of curiosities some of the most unusual books NYPL owns (such as the heaviest volumes).

Found at iLibrarian

Overdue Library Book Returned After 50 Years

Library-using booklovers will be amused by the latest entry in the Most Overdue Books Sweepstakes.

Contributed by Ponce staffer Leticia Stinson

Airport Hires Writer in Residence

London’s Heathrow Airport has hired popular author Alain de Botton as its first “writer in residence.”

Great publicity for the airport, great for de Botton’s career, and great for airport passersby with enough time between connecting flights to stop by and meet an author. A rare win-win-win public relations stunt, and we hope it catches on at other airports around the globe.

The New York Times has the details. 

Meanwhile, you can obtain from your local public library copies of de Botton’s always-intriguing books: 

• Kiss & Tell (1996)
• How Proust Can Change Your Life (1997)
• The Essential Plato (1999)
• The Consolations of Philosophy (2000)
• The Art of Travel (2002)
• Status Anxiety (2004)
• The Architecture of Happiness (2006)
• The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (2009)

Found at Library Stuff

Are the People of Earth Ready for a Library-Themed Ice Cream Flavor?

While some of the rest of us weren’t paying attention, over four thousand bibliophilic ice cream lovers (or perhaps over four thosand ice cream-loving bibliophiles) have been suggesting names for a library-related new flavor for Ben & Jerry to unleash upon a hapless world.

There are countless people who have blogged about this unexpected (and, as far as we can tell, totally harmless) development in the annals of Internet Era “market research.” Nicholas Brisbanes’ recent blogpost  weighs in on his personal favorites among the name-that-new-flavor proposals; he also  provides links to the relevant websites, should you wish to enter the fray yourself on helping influence the upshot of this important issue.

Meanwhile, we’re glad we don’t have to choose among the many worthy suggestions. But let’s look on the bright side: perhaps the world will end up with more than one library-themed ice cream flavor!

The Invisible Library

As if there weren’t already too many actual books and too little time to read them, there are apparently hundreds of made-up book titles that some of those real books refer to. There’s even a blogger who keeps up with them; you can read the article he’s written for the New York Times about “the invisible library” (also the name of his blog, also the name of a Borges novel) here.

Found at Librarian.net