Once Read Books: what's new & what's news

NYT Students read aloud for record 6 days

2006-11-22T12:21:00.000-08:00

Students read aloud for record 6 days

By Ben Dobbin, Associated Press Writer | November 20, 2006

ROCHESTER, N.Y. --A team of high school seniors set a six-day reading
record on Monday as a way to bolster students' interest in books and
boost their school's spirit.

Southside High School's principal said he pursued the reading marathon
to inspire a school still reeling from the 2001 arrest of a senior who
had smuggled a duffel bag full of bombs and guns into the school
intending to carry out a killing spree.

The teen, who was sentenced to more than eight years in prison,
surrendered peacefully after students notified officials that he had
passed someone a threatening note.

"That was just one of the shadows we've tried to overcome," said
principal Christopher Krantz, who took over the school in 2004. "When I
came here, the school was just kind of stumbling. It had been through
eight principals in eight years. It had some negative press; it had lost
pizazz."

When the clock struck 5 p.m. Monday, six National Honor Society members
drew a standing ovation from hundreds of parents, teachers and
classmates. Cheers also rang out 11 hours earlier, at 6 a.m., when they
matched a Guinness World Record set in October 2005 by five Britons who
read aloud continuously for 117 hours at the airport in Manchester, England.

In mostly one-hour shifts, they read more than 20 beloved children's
books, including the six-volume Harry Potter series, seven "Goosebumps"
thrillers and Katherine Paterson's "Bridge to Terabithia." They wrapped
up their epic, 128-hour performance on the school auditorium stage with
"Oh, the Places You'll Go," a Dr. Seuss classic.

Between their reading spells, the students played table tennis, cards
and Scrabble or crawled into their tents onstage for little more than
four hours of sleep at a time. A nurse or a doctor was on duty nearby at
all hours.

One student developed laryngitis and had to cut back to reading for just
10 or 15 minutes at a time until her voice improved with the help of a
humidifier and infusions of honey.

"For the last six days, reading has been the cool thing to do," the
principal said. "I've had people say to me, 'You know what, we turned
the TV off this weekend and read as a family. It was really
inspirational to a lot of people."

Fwd: [b] On Carefully Choosing a Book by Its Cover

2006-11-11T17:27:00.000-08:00

EDITORIAL NOTEBOOK
On Carefully Choosing a Book by Its Cover
By ELEANOR RANDOLPH
The fact that booksellers are scrambling to market their
wares at other places besides bookstores makes sense, but
something seems a little off kilter when publishers change
a book cover to suit the fashions of the day.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/opinion/05sun3.html?th&emc=th

By ELEANOR RANDOLPH
Published: November 5, 2006

To make my view clear from the start, anything that sells more good
books is good, period. So the fact that booksellers are scrambling to
market their wares at other places besides bookstores makes sense. If
a store sells pots and pans, it should also sell instruction manuals
i.e. cookbooks. Auto shops would be a good place to peddle "The
Complete Guide to Used Cars" or "On the Road."

But something seems a little off kilter when publishers are changing a
book cover to suit the fashions of the day. As detailed in an article
by Julie Bosman in The Times last week, stalwarts like Hachette Book
Group USA will now redo the cover of a book to go with a store's
merchandise. (Imagine, for a moment, Jon Stewart in ecru.)
HarperCollins has been known to take its cue from the fashion industry
featuring more covers in bright green and sangria red this spring as
dictated by the crowd from Paris and Bryant Park.

The publishing industry has taken to selling books in any place and
any color because book sales have been sagging and these new marketing
techniques seem to work. At least in the short term. But what happens
if buyers purchase only one book per season? Or worse, imagine if your
customer buys only a few tasteful-looking hardbacks when redecorating
the house? This would not seem to be a promising long-term business
plan.

To be fair, books have always been considered a fashion accessory in
some quarters. Anybody who has ever purchased a yard of books or a
backyard of books knows that just having these little items around can
raise the tone of the lowliest motel restaurant. As an obsessive
collector of books myself, I have always thought that a room is
softened by bookcases. And their dust, of course.

But this bookselling trend seems different. Ms. Bosman cited one hip
New York shop featuring the careful juxtaposition of a
black-and-orange sweater-and-skirt combination next to Annie
Leibovitz's "A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005" with its sleek
black-and-white cover. For a mere $270 or so you can be almost as
glamorous as your coffee table.

One way to deal with this need to match book and look might be to find
some chameleon-like material that can imitate any color around it.
Failing that, publishers could start using something that reflects the
hue du jour, like aluminum foil. Or maybe they could sell wrappers
that do not have a high school mascot on them book wrappers in
stylish magenta or cerulean or whatever looks good with your
complexion. Then, if you happened to be interested in what's inside a
book, you could read almost anything safely camouflaged behind this
year's color-coordinated cover.

Make an Offer - eBay listings

2006-10-30T17:05:00.000-08:00

All our eBay items now have 'Make an Offer' options - so if there was
something you wanted, but not quite that much, let us know!

http://stores.ebay.com/oncereadbookscom

[b] TOPIC: Description of the day

2006-10-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

"New; fresh, clean, unsued."

Now, in these litigious days, that is a rare book.

-Brian

BOOKie Joint

2006-10-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

-- . . /////| Thanks, ///// | |'''| | |===| | ONCE READ BOOKS | O | | 5422 E. VILLAGE ROAD, | R | | LONG BEACH, CA 90808-1627 | B | / Orders@OnceReadBooks.com |===|/ ''' Phone: (562) 420-1034 10am-7pm Mon-Sat Pacific Time Walk-in's Welcome! We'reOpen 10 to 7 pm Monday through Saturday & Noon to 5 pm on Sunday

MasterCard, Visa, Discover, & American Express happily accepted via Email, Phone, or Post . http://www.oncereadbooks.com/home/ccsec.htm

What's new & What's news at OnceReadBooks.com

http://www.OnceReadBooks.com ______________Find That Book!

a new reason for big books

2006-10-23T15:50:00.000-07:00

Candidate seeks textbooks as shields

By Tim Talley, Associated Press Writer | October 19, 2006

OKLAHOMA CITY --A candidate for state superintendent of schools said
Thursday he wants thick used textbooks placed under every student's
desk so they can use them for self-defense during school shootings.

For full story:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/10/19/candidate_seeks_textbooks_as_shields/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+News

Abibliophobia

2006-10-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

"Abibliophobia"

"An Irrational Fear of Running Out of Reading Materials." This word combines
the Greek negating "a-" with "biblio-" and "-phobia." See entries for both."

http ://www.panikon.com/phurba/alteng/a.html

Early Book Humor

2006-10-13T17:32:00.000-07:00

> on Amazon.com
> Publisher: Cupples & Leon (January 1, 0008)

Well, even the most callow bookseller should recognize this as a typo.

The Cupples & Leon imprint did not even *exist* before March, 0018, when
Ximendes Cupples bought out Ioshua Leon's earlier partner, Tiberius
Calpurnius Tiso. The Cupples & Leon imprint was very successful- among
their best selling titles were "Everything You Need to Know About
Investing in Pompeiian Real Estate", "Lead Pipework for the Noble Home",
and "Gladiators for Dummies". The partnership was abruptly terminated in
February, 0019 when Cupples, while researching "Gladiators for Dummies
-II", was sat on by a bored elephant.

-Forrest, Bibliogrofer

Crowley and Aziraphale's New Year's resolutions

2006-09-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

Crowley and Aziraphale's New Year's resolutions

Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman present New Year's resolutions of the demon Crowley and the angelic Aziraphale characters in their collaborative novel, Good Omens.

Aziraphale:
Resolution #4: I will try to be nicer to the customers. They want to buy books; I want to sell them. It can't be that hard. (Memo to self: Regular opening hours? Mark prices on books?)

Resolution #6: Find out exactly what an "Internet" is.

Biography for $1

2006-09-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

About 10 boxes, mostly Hollywood bio's were sent to the $1.00 table today. There are even a few signed books in there.
As usual for our $1 specials they only stay on the table 1 week! If they don't sell by then they get recycled. There are more of these than will fit on the table so there will be some around for the next few weeks but no longer than that.

M-Bag - returned from Germany

2006-09-01T15:25:00.000-07:00

Got an M-Bag returned from Germany. I'm amazed anything survives.
This was a brand new box, packed firmly with foam, the magazines set inside got a fair corner bump.
http://www.oncereadbooks.com/home/Box/scan10012.jpg

http://www.oncereadbooks.com/home/Box/scan10013.jpg

I'm actually pretty surprized it was returned at all.

$1 Coobooks, some $1 Travel books left

2006-08-01T04:25:00.000-07:00

In our Bargain books at the back and outside there are some $1 Coobooks, and some $1 Travel books left. The $1 books get rotated out after about a week or 2 so check quick.

Get $4 off any order - for doing nothing - much...

2006-07-31T16:00:00.000-07:00

Just post a comment to any blog article, and include your real name and email. We will send you a virtual gift certificate good for -$4.00 off any purchase at our website . www.OnceReadBooks.com This offer good until we revoke it - by deleting this message.

and the author is Terry who????

2006-07-28T13:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, so someone made a typo....

(click on the image to enlarge and check the author on the tape)

foxing

2006-07-28T11:33:00.000-07:00

foxing

Bookmarks

2006-07-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

Is it weird to go into a bookstore complain about the high cost of $2 paperbacks and then end up purchasing $10 of bookmarks (and no books)?

What's new & What's news at OnceReadBooks.com

http://www.OnceReadBooks.com ______________Find That Book!

Otherwise...

2006-07-10T17:24:00.000-07:00

Someone in the stockroom must have been rather bored, when this title came by with an incorrect ISBN. (click to see larger image and look at the title on the sticker)

Travel via Book

2006-02-27T18:48:00.000-08:00

We just got in a large collection of travel books, and they are already out on the shelves. There are some of our older travel books in the $1.00 books now too.
Oddly this entire pickup load of books were carefully packed into fake log boxes (Dura-flame and the like), the stack of them sitting there was very Fahrenheit 451-ish.

New Military Books

2006-02-27T17:37:00.000-08:00

The last of that Military collection from last year is in, and will be going up on the shelves in the next few weeks.

Reorganized the Military

2006-02-11T18:07:00.000-08:00

The Military area has been reorganized, everything's still there, but the Ships are together, and the Aircraft section is more organized.

Armed Services Edition paperbacks

2006-02-10T18:10:00.000-08:00

Just got in a nice collection of Armed Services Edition paperbacks. A couple dozen, more than we've had in some time. They are mostly in the vault.

Moved the Postcards

2006-02-10T18:01:00.000-08:00

The Postcards are (almost) all now in the postcard file cabinet (and in the rack atop it) near the end of the counter under the window.