Steve Pilgrim: Books

A GOOD BIBLIOGRAPHY

Conclusion. Due to a long-standing bug in Radio, I am unable to include the full text of this post here, for fear of damaging your News page. Please click the item title to read this post safely. [dive into mark]

Seneca. "I shall never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good." [Quotes of the Day]

HER FRIENDS AREN'T THAT INTERESTING?

I've got some friends who aren't that interesting as well! (After editing, the sentence became: When she looks at blogs she sees the weblogs she knows; and misses the enormity of the medium.)

I'm beginning to get the impression that there is some kind of history that colors Dave's view of the book or Rebecca or something said in the past. What I can tell you is that this comment about "her friends" doesn't flow naturally from a reading of Rebecca's book.

Morning coffee notes. [Scripting News]

SUMMER READING

Reading list. I'm not quite sure why, but I haven't been documenting what I've been reading for the past few months. Laziness [kottke.org]

MY BOOKS ON GOLF DIDN'T HELP!

Too much?. Okay, do we really need all these books about weblogs? Is it really that complex a thing that we need instruction? I think the basic how-to at blogger.com does a fine job. Or better yet, just look how others are doing it, and jump in. I think we're reaching the over-sat... [brilliant corners]

Other than reference books on HTML, web design and such, I only have one book on weblogs. It's great. Sure, some of what is in it will be obvious to someone who has been prowling weblogs for a while, but much of it is aimed at the person who wants to build a serious weblog with decent readership. Pick up a copy of Rebecca's The Weblog Handbook. It is more than worth the $14.00 (or $11.20 at Amazon). She knows what she's talking about.

"HE SPOKE WITH THE EXPECTATION OF BEING HEARD"

How the Writer (Kipling) Got His (Literary) Stripes. In his entertaining and sympathetic biography, David Gilmour portrays Kipling in all his complexity. By Alan Riding. [New York Times: Arts]

I CAN DITTO THIS POST WITH ONE EXCEPTION...

I'm very interested in the "process" or "mechanics" that other webloggers follow. With Radio's news aggregator, it is becoming clearer to me how people find content. However, even with the aggregator, the search for new sources to subscribe to is ongoing.

How does the InstaPundit locate and read other content? Is this an exercise in bookmarking and favorites with a subsequent discipline for going back and systematically reading those bookmarked sites? Does he use any aggregator?

These are things that I wished for as I read (and reread) parts of Rebecca's book. It's great. Now, I'd like to know how the bloggers with high traffic and lots of posts do it! Oh, and thanks Rebecca!

I FINISHED REBECCA BLOOD'S new book, The Weblog Handbook: Practical Advice on Creating and Maintaining Your Blog. I liked it very much, and recommend it to anyone interested in the subject: bloggers, blog-readers, and journalists writing about weblogs. I can't help but feel that the publication of a how-to book about blogging marks an important milestone in the Blogosphere's development, though I'm not sure exactly what it means, for good or ill. What do you think? [InstaPundit]

BOOK OF BLOGGING ARTICLES

All Y'All Got Blogs. Perseus Publishing put together a neat collection of articles on blogging, including both an article by me that appeared in The Seattle Times and an article that talks about me (by J.D. Lasica). I feel privileged to be in the middle of such interesting company. The book is slightly too cutely called we've got blog (all lowercase, k d lang fans), subtitled "how weblogs are changing our culture." The book ships in a week or so; I got an advance copy just today ... [GlennLog]

Moses Hadas. "I have read your book and much like it." [Quotes of the Day]

AN INTERESTING PROJECT
Also, read Gutenberg by John Man

Gutenberg from Print to Digital. Nick will like this one. Project puts Gutenberg Bible in online form will give scholars the ability to browse the pages of the book that revolutionized printing. [meryl's notes]

THIS MIGHT BE A HORSE RACE

Buy.com takes on Amazon on books. Buy.com is broadening its war with Amazon.com, promising to sell its books at 10 percent below Amazon's prices, the company plans to announce on Tuesday. [CNET News.com]

I'M RE-READING OLD BOOKS
Because there are so many lousy new books!

If You Read One Post About Blogging This Week, Read This One: I’m generally trying to avoid the subject here, for reasons of claustrophobia & time, but Jeff Jarvis spools some interesting and resonant thoughts about the impact of Web writing on book publishing. Specifically, on book consumption, and creation. [Matt Welch's Warblog]

WHEN CAN WE ORDER?
Answer: Take a look right here!

Very, Very Cool: The Essential Blogging Cover is Available!.

[The FuzzyBlog!]

Edward R. Murrow. "Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar." [Quotes of the Day]

AN INCREDIBLY LUCID EXPLANATION OF SOME COMPLEX MATERIAL

Did This Man Just Rewrite Science?. Dr. Stephen Wolfram's "A New Kind of Science" may be the scientific publishing event of the season, but whether it is a revolution in science as well must await the judgment of his peers. By Dennis Overbye. [New York Times: Science]

SOUNDS LIKE BIG BUSINESS TO ME

Evangelical Sales Are Converting Publishers. As surging sales are propelling avowedly Evangelical books to the top of mainstream best-seller lists, the major publishing houses are getting religion. By David D. Kirkpatrick. [New York Times: Arts]

QUESTIONS ABOUT CAUSE AND EFFECT
What really makes a "place" creative and why?

"Be creative or die" [Salon.com] is an interview with Richard Florida about his book called "The Rise of the Creative Class." Memphis scored dead last in his research into cities that have the right kind of creative buzz to attract long-term prosperity. The creative class web site is here. A study done to try and "help" Memphis is here.

I think some of the cause and effect relationships in this data are still fuzzy, but in the spirit of Old Economy and New Economy thinking, there are some excellent findings. Those of you in Silicon Valley, Austin, Boston and other technology centers may not find that this is news. In fact, you may discover that you didn't know other places could be quite so "backward."

Mark Twain. "The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them." [Quotes of the Day]

WRITING BULLETS

Hot Text: Web Writing That Works. Based on research into attention, attitude, cognition, interface, reading, and usability, this book tells you how to write for the Internet-FAQ’s, help, e-mail, marketing copy, press releases, news articles, electronic newsletters, Webzine articles, and your own resume. Get specific guidelines, before-and after- examples, case studies, resources, and personal advice from two real Web writers. Learn to write hot text! [O'Reilly Safari]

"I TURNED THEM ALL DOWN (FOREVER!)"

All that sparkles.... Has anyone, besides me, been offered items from Amazon's "gold chest?" [dollarshort.org]

Time Flies
when you're selling books!

Amazon Memoir: The Oft-Told Story. Yes, it's another dot-com memoir. Yes, it retells an old story. But Mike Daisey's 21 Dog Years: Doing Time at Amazon.com is also a pretty good read. Review by Joanna Glasner. [Wired News]

BOOK RECOMMENDATION

The Accounting Game - Basic Accounting Fresh From the Lemonade Stand
by Darrell Mullis & Judith Orloff

Basic and intermediate accounting courses at a graduate school level cannot illuminate the books of a business as well as this small book does! Judith Orloff has conducted her seminar called The Accounting Game enough times to have well over 100,000 graduates.

If you own a business, run a business, head a division, department or subsidiary of a business or if you have ever thought about investing in a business - public or private - you should take a long weekend and go through this book. It will change what you are able to see in the financial reports you get! This advice is as sound for an MBA as it is for a high school drop-out. In fact, if you have a checkbook, you should go through this book!

Security Risks In All Forms

Amazon Scam. A "clever" author of a $3 Self Help PDF has developed a program to put his book in as a recommendation 12 times, on every single top seller at Amazon. As a result he is now the #3 best seller on Amazon. [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]

I Want a Copy

This may be a job for Glenn's www.isbn.nu!

Wolfram's "A New Kind of Science" is #1 on Amazon. Very impressive. Given that most of his work was done with Mathematica, I suspect that sales of that tool will go up sharply too. There is a good article in Wired on the book. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]

BOOK RECOMMENDATION

Gutenberg: How One Man Remade the World with Words
by John Man

A world forever changed…

In 1450, all of western Europe’s books were hand-copied and amounted to no more than are in a modern public library. By 1500, printed books numbered in the millions. Johann Gutenberg’s invention of movable type ignited the explosion of art, literature, and scientific research that accelerated the Renaissance and led directly to the Modern Age. In Gutenberg, you’ll meet the genius who fostered this revolution, discover the surprising ambitions that drove him, and learn how a single, obscure artisan changed the course of history.

"His story is one of genius very nearly denied. A few records less, and we would not now be revering the Gutenberg Bible as his. All we would have would be the results: an idea that changed the world and a book that is amongst the most astonishing objects ever created–a jewel of art and technology, one that emerged fully formed, of a perfection beyond anything required by its purpose. It is a reminder that the business Gutenberg started . . . contains elements of the sublime–that at the heart of the mountains of printed dross there is gold." –From the Introduction to Gutenberg