Books and art

From Articulate: Eye Candy the Librarian

Art and books. A union that makes, for me anyway, print books preferable over ebooks. Not only can they make a design statement in a room (eg: with spines colour coded) on shelves, they make a statement about the value placed on books and reading by the owner and in some way constitute a 'collection' of sorts. "A home without books is a body without soul." Marcus Tullius Cicero. That certainly rings true for me.

I have just finished Malinche by Laura Esquivel. I was originally attracted in a second hand store to its lovely cover. I liked the quality of the paper, the artwork and the colours of the cover. I had read her books before so also knew I would probably enjoy it at some level. As I was finishing the book in bed last night I realised the cover is actually a folded up codex (so called by the author) and designed by her brother I think. Some of the sections of the codex are used as illustrations throughout the book.

PM's of Australia

I came across this new website Australian Prime Ministers via Senator Kate Lundy's blog this week. I think it is great. Apart from learning who the first Australian PM was - the obligatory quiz question, I know hardly anything about our political history.

I had a laugh at the section titled The prime ministerial wife. Sort of puts them in place with the Prime Ministerial car and the Prime Ministerial brief! From Ada, Florence and Vera to Annita, Janette and Therese, how the times change.

Here is Elsie Curtin doing her bit at The Lodge!

The Book Thief

I have just returned from Fiji where I started on The Book Thief. Interestingly one of my travel mates had started the book and didn't like it. It has an unusual narrative style but I like it.

I am working on a post and maybe an article on 'embedded librarians'. I have been one for a while now and haven't come across many articles about this area of librarianship. It has it's own sets of challenges and probably varies from organisation to organisation and team to team.

The Boat

I have just finished The Boat by Nam Le - great book! I thoroughly enjoyed it and as I have spent a bit of time in bed recently and sitting around waiting for removalists it didn't take long to get through. The book is a series of short stories set in vastly different settings; including Australia, Vietnam and Iran. I am loving books set in or about Vietnam at the moment due to my recent visit and family connection over there. Recently also read When heaven and earth changed places which was very interesting. Set during the Vietnamese (American) War and provides insight into their culture and beliefs.



I was talking to someone last night about online book stores and thought it'd be interesting to compare a few. Often when you throw in postage it works out dearer than buying from a physical book shop. Especially because as soon as the online stores 'recommend' other titles I might like, I end up spending more than I planned, although I have the same problem when I browse the shelves in a shop (in non-fiction especially). So, I paid $24.95 for The Boat in a store.

Fishpond - AUS$19.82 free deliver over $50
Amazon US$10.20 + postage
The Book Depository £7.19 free delivery
Booktopia AUS$19.96 + postage

All much of a muchness I guess. The difference for me is in the delivery charge and not having to worry about exchange rates and conversions. Fishpond have regular free delivery offers so I take advantage of those. Would be interesting to look at the environmental aspects too - cost to environment of delivery via stores vs from online shops to clients.

Tango in Newtown

I am currently reading The Last Tango of Dolores Delgado by Marele Day. My mother got it out of the local library after reading her other book Lambs of God which I had been throwing out for some reason. She recommended Dolores Delgado to me as it is set in Sydney (Newtown, Kings Cross and Balmain mainly) and so I borrowed it from the library after Mum.

Dolores' death takes place at a Tango themed bar/restaurant in Newtown which I suspect is where I had my 21st Birthday party in 1989. The book was written in 1992 and includes a funny scene where the PI Claudia Valentine (who is investigating her friend Dolores death) is embarassed to use her new mobile phone in public. You can just imagine it being the size of a brick! There are frequent references to the gentrification that was occuring in the 1990's of inner city suburbs such as Balmain, Newtown and Coogee and the reaction to this by the locals.

There is also a part where Claudia is followed by a Barina, which was the first car I ever brought, in 1992. So many personal reference points and I am quite enjoying the story itself.

Our people

What is it with CEO's and other bosses calling their staff our people? I find it being used more and more, particularly by law firm CEO's and I think it sounds impersonal and condescending. Used most recently in the context of redundancies (ie: why we are not having them) .... "we are looking after our people" or "recognising the value of our people". What's wrong with our employees or staff or even better my colleagues? The head of my organisation also uses this term, it must be in the latest edition of PC management terminology (possibly replacing team member). I am not one of your people thank you.

I have just rediscovered BookCrossing and have decided to sign up and share my books. This fits in with my plan to spend less on books, for budgetary and tree saving/recycling reasons.

Favourite blogs

These are a few of my (non-work related) favourite things ... I mean blogs. In no particular order.

Encyclopaedia Britannica Blog

Awful Library Books

Glasgow School of Art Library and Learning Blog

Firm Spy

Scooter Swag

Nestled In

The Toy Society - like BookCrossing for toys

Then there is Facebook, Flickr, LibraryThing and other sites I can waste endless hours on......