Read, Listen, Watch

Staff Picks and Suggestions

Publishing Genius

I enjoyed this Inside Higher Ed article on “Publishing Genius” on Adam Robinson’s publishing imprint in Baltimore, MD.  It sounds like he’s found success by publishing untraditionally–producing digital versions, or putting up “broadside” pages around Baltimore.  Even though I’ve never visited the city, I’ve had a soft spot for literary Baltimore since reading Laura Lippman’s books, which mention hometown luminaries such as James M. Cain, Edgar Allen Poe and H.L. Mencken.

Forgotten books

Forgotten Books is an on-line library of books that you can read on-line for free. They are hosted by Google. The titles are listed alphabetically. The collection has 1736 books on-line. However, almost half are unreadable due to some hosting error. But in any case this is an interesting example of what books on-line look like.

Shakespeare on the Common

As Stephanie reported last year, if you’re a Shakespeare or outdoor theater fan, you’ll want to be sure to check out this summer’s performance of The Comedy of Errors on Boston Common.  If you like you can brush up on the play ahead of time by checking out one of Snell’s copies.  The Boston Globe ran an article recently on the popularity of outdoor summer Shakespeare performances in the US. They also covered some background to the production and the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company earlier this year. The Comedy of Errors is playing now through August 16, so take a picnic and enjoy it while you can!  

Free Book Download

Oprah’s website, Oprah.com is offering a free download of the new book Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann through 10:59 AM on Wednesday, August 5, 2009.  It centers around 10 interconnecting stories in New York City in 1974, as Philippe Petit crosses between the World Trade Center towers on a high-wire.  The late Frank McCourt gave it a glowing review for Amazon.  It certainly makes me tempted to download it!

Online Exhibits

We’re working on creating a new template for online exhibits for the Library.  As part of the process, I’ve been looking at a number of online exhibits, and found the subject matter of “She is More to be Pitied than Censured” at Brown University to be particularly interesting.  The case of Mary Rogers reminded me of the young women lured to the big city, that Erik Larson so expertly describes in The Devil in the White City .  H. H. Holmes would also prey on similar young women who traveled to Chicago.  The Brown exhibit highlights a number of cases, including many that took place in Massachusetts and throughout New England.  It also deals with the Beecher-Tilton scandal, in which Harriet Beecher Stowe’s brother was accused of adultery.  The exhibit is organized around the 1894 song “She is More to be Pitied than Censured” by William B. Gray.  I was able to find an old recording of the song by Marguerite Newton at the Internet Archive! Explore on your own, and let me know what you think.