Book news a-go-go

Two book-related things worth mentioning:

First:
Do you own an ereader? I do. The Dude cashed in a bunch of AmEx points to buy me a Nook in a a Gift of the Magi-esque turn of events for which I am forever grateful to him.

I spent a lot of time considering what kind of e-reader I wanted. I rarely buy books anymore since I can get most of what I want to read through MPOW. I sometimes have to wait to read a just-released book, but there are very few books for which this is a deal breaker. So when I was thinking about buying an e-reader, I knew that I would want to have one that was compatible with Overdrive books which do DRM management through Adobe Editions.

This blog post at ProfHacker caught my attention because it talks about Calibre, a piece of software which allows you to convert ebooks from their native format to whatever format your e-reader requires. As long as the title in question passes the DRM sniff-test, you're good to go.

Second:
NPR Books is doing a virtual books club with Unbroken, Laura 'Seabiscuit' Hillenbrand's new book that they're calling a "a book-club-meets-social-media experiment."

Virtual book clubs aren't new--the Onion AV Club does a really cool one. What sets this apart, though, is that the author is involved with this one. Hillenbrand is doing interviews, Q&As, and a live chat through the course of the month.

If you're interested in jumping into the chatter, you can get all the details here. This post gives you everything you need to get started and directs you to the NPR Books' Facebook page and Twitter hashtag so you can start chatting.

I'm going to pick up Hillenbrand's book today so that I can be part of the awesomeness.

BSC Headquarters

If you're a woman of a certain age, you remember reading The Baby-Sitters Club books. I spent many an hour with Kristy, Claudia, Stacey, and Mary Anne. Later, Mallory, Jessie, and Dawn joined the group.

I always found myself identifying with Mary Anne--geeky, quiet, and sweet.

Anyway, if you find yourself filled with pangs of longing for days gone by, you should stop by BSC Headquarters. Tiff, a librarian, is re-reading the BSC books and blogging about them.

It is, in a word, hilarious.

Things I kind of used to like: The Jessica Darling books

I try to keep the tone positive over here at A few of Mrs. Dude's favorite things. My aim is always to highlight things that are good in the world and to keep the negativity to a minimum. Yes, I bring the snark. But I don't want this to be a blog where I snark about everything.

But I am seething with rage, so I have to get this out.

Kat(ie) at Kat with a K alerted me to the fact that Megan McCafferty was planning to write a 5th Jessica Darling book.

I was suspicious, but cautiously optimistic that maybe that wasn't the case.

I now have confirmation that Kat(ie) was right.

I've read all four of the Jessica Darling books. It could be argued that Jessica and Marcus are the greatest romance of our generation, literarily speaking.

For teens and twenty-somethings everywhere, Marcus Flutie is every guy they crushed on in high school. He is brooding and sweet and hot as can be. Jessica is all of us--insecure, snarky, and unable to decide what to commit to.

They are Veronica and Logan for the bookish set.

Fourth Comings was terrible. Maybe it was a necessary evolution for Jessica, but it stunk to high heaven. It was tepid and uninspired at best.

It was as if McCafferty couldn't leave well enough alone.

Now we get word that McCafferty is writing a fifth book.

I liken it to going to the hairdresser and getting a really bad haircut. The hairdresser cuts too much off of one side of your hair. To make it "right," she cuts hair off of the other side to even it up, but she manages to make the other side even shorter. She goes back and forth, desperately trying to even things up and you walk out with a dorky haircut that you paid way too much money for.

Maybe the ending of Fouth Comings didn't feel "right" to McCafferty. Maybe it was her plan all along to make a fifth book to resolve things. Maybe she just gots to get paid. I don't know know.

But I wish that she'd stop picking at the scab that is Marcus and Jessica. After all, there is such a thing as saying too much.

You know what the sad thing is? I'll read the fifth book. And I'll probably bitch and moan on my blog.

What have I been doing lately?

I saw Superbad. It was pretty good and very funny. I loved Michael Cera in it, which isn't surprising.

I caught up on Season 3 of Top Chef. Casey grew on me. I hate Howie. Sara M. is rad. Sarah has a heart of gold. Brian is funny. Tre is cool. Daryl is a cutie. And I have mad love for CJ. And Ted Allen loves bacon.

I read the latest (and last?) installment of the Jessica Darling books. I don't find Jessica Darling very sympathetic as a character. I love Marcus Flutie, though, so I guess it balances itself out.

I listened to Icky Thump, the new White Stripes disc. It was fantastic and made me love them even more.

I know it's a drive-by update, but I wanted to stop by and tell y'all what was up.

Books I now own

I bought 2 books yesterday:
1. Spook City by William Gibson
2. Fourth Comings by Megan McCafferty

My in-laws bought me:
3. Shopaholic & baby by Sophie Kinsella

I got a Paperback Swap book:
4. Undead and unwed by MaryJanice Davidson

My to-read list runneth over. Luckily I need to read 3 more books by the end of the month for my Summer Reading Club.