Francis Tan has recently posted on ‘The Next Web’ site a post called ‘Why Books Will Probably Never Die.’ It is about the future of the written word and ebooks. Worth a read.
To Read the article visit:
http://thenextweb.com/media/2011/04/22/why-books-will-probably-never-die/
I have been working on the two book libraries (of sorts) that I have on two of my websites. These libraries are being redeveloped and there is quite a bit of work to be done on both of these sites. Let’s look at the two libraries in a little more detail.
Tracing our History – History
The first library is hosted at Tracing our History and this library is part of the History section of the site. This library is the smallest of the two libraries, though it will continue to grow in size over time.
History is the main page of the History section of the Tracing our History site and doubles as the main directory to the History library. At the moment the library is a library of links to works on Australian history in particular and other areas of history that I am interested in. Works that were previously hosted at Tracing our History are currently unavailable until they have been reviewed and made available in pdf format. There are however a number of books available via links that are of a high quality and in my opinion, very important and/or valuable works.
Visit the History page at:
http://tracingourhistory.com/history.html
The Book Room
The second library is hosted at particularbaptist.com and is called simply ‘The Book Room,’ where old books are not forgotten. It is also known as The Particular Baptist Library, with an emphasis on Particular Baptist and good, solid, Reformed works. The Book Room features a directory to the various sections of the library in the right column of each page. This makes navigation of the site a relatively simply exercise.
As with the previous library at Tracing our History, there are a large number of books available via links to other sites. Most of these links should now be in working order, having recently been checked. As with the previous library, works hosted at particularbaptist.com are being reviewed and being replaced by PDF versions. This will take time to complete and currently those works are still available in HTML format.
Future plans for The Book Room include having dedicated pages for each work hosted at particularbaptist.com, including sections on each book page for book reviews, a Scribd widget for reading and downloading PDF versions of the book, additional resources on the book, links to other versions of the book and purchasing options for the book via online bookshops like Amazon. An example of this approach is ‘The Sermons of Hugh Latimer,’ which can be found at:
http://particularbaptist.com/library/latimer_sermons_contents.html
The Book Room can be found at:
http://particularbaptist.com/library/libraryindex.html
At the BookShelf
This Blog, ‘At the BookShelf,’ will be linked to both of these libraries, being the vehicle whereby news of added content, book reviews, and so on, will be broadcast. Of course At the BookShelf will remain a place for reviewing books and sharing my experience of them, but I do plan for At the BookShelf being a way of sharing what I read in a more valuable way also – by actually making available what I read to those who are entering into my reading experience, be that by way of an ebook hosted on one of my sites, an ebook hosted elsewhere or by links to places where the book may be purchased.
At the BookShelf and the two libraries already mentioned will also interact with my other book reading and sharing activities on the World Wide Web at such places as Goodreads, Shelfari and Book Crossing, as well as at other sites that I may become involved in over time. There will also be interaction with Quotista (a site for sharing quotes) and possibly another Blog I maintain for the purposes of quotes from books (which currently I use for private purposes).
With all of my involvement in book sharing social networks, web applications, web sites and the like, At the BookShelf will be a rich meeting place for all things to do with books and should be the better for it. I hope it will be a place of interest and usefulness for others. It will also be a place for sharing my personal experiences with books, which may or may not be of interest to visitors of this Blog. I guess time will tell.
Visitor Interaction
I welcome visitor interaction on all of my sites, including this Blog. On all of my sites I try to make available the means for interacting with visitors for sharing information, making comments, etc. Please make use of the means for doing so, though I do reserve the right for removing content that I don’t approve of (such as Spam, offensive comments, etc).
I have changed my mind concerning this Blog and will continue to post to it. Why? Because the particularbaptist.com site (and Blog) will not cover everything that I read. Therefore this Blog is still relevant and will allow me to post reviews concerning books that cover history, wilderness, etc.
Now this is an idea I really like, but I won’t spend too much time describing what it is all about and how it is done. I’ll simply say that I’m signing up and looking forward to getting involved with this whole BookCrossing idea.
Check out BookCrossing at:
A response to reading ‘365 Ways to Change the World,’ by Michael Norton
OK, I admit it – I’m a Bibliophile. What is a Bibliophile? Basically, a bibliophile is someone who loves books and loves collecting books. I am a book collector – but not in all topic areas. I only collect books in the areas that interest me.
I also love to read books – which I guess makes me a bookworm. Once again, I only read books in the areas that interest me.
See the article below for a discussion on Bibliophilia, etc:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliophilia
So what areas interest me – well the list below is not an exhaustive list, but it does cover the main areas of my literary interests:
Theology
Church History
History
Wilderness
Genealogy
There are other areas into which I sometimes dip my toes, such as horticulture, cooking, etc. However, it is the above areas that really interest me.
Some time ago – probably back in 2007 – I bought a book called ‘365 Ways to Change the World,’ by Michael Norton. I wanted to make a difference in the world in which I live – to give something back as it where. As a Christian there are many ways for me to do so, but I also wanted to make a difference in more mundane matters and ways also. Of course I know that Christians are able and currently do make a difference in a variety and plethora of ways. I was looking for something a little different to the norm I guess.
Anyhow, I came across this book and thought that this would be a great book to read one day at a time – as the book suggests one action/theme for each day of the year. This book would give me plenty of food for thought and there would have to be many things that I could do or participate in to make a difference.
Not long after I bought the book my world was turned upside down and became something totally different to what I had up till then been living. Totally is probably not the right word, as some things didn’t change – but it was certainly life-changing.
I chose to leave my job in an organisation for which I had worked for nearly twenty years, the last few of which I was a manager. My health was terrible, with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome causing absolute havoc. I moved from the area in which I was living to a totally different location and under different circumstances, and that without a job. Life had changed tremendously for me and all of my belongings were locked away in a storage shed until I could sort my life out and start afresh.
I got another job which was completely different to the one I had before. My health seemed to improve dramatically and the dreaded illness which had plagued for two decades seemed to finally disappear. Then I had a terrible car accident which almost killed me and prolonged this transitory period of my life.
Now finally, I have recently been able to get all my belongings out of storage – including this book by Michael Norton. It is therefore now time to start again what I had originally planned to do and had begun back in 2007. I will read the section of the book marked out for each calendar day and consider what I shall do with the actions/themes for that day. It may be that there will be days that I will not take up the suggested action or activity, while on other days I may very well throw myself into the suggested action or activity. What I am hopeful of is finding at least one action or activity, though I am fairly sure there will be far more than one action or activity that I will participate in to some extent.
I will probably report my attempts or at least my resolutions to engage in actions and activities here, as a way of showing whether this book is useful for assisting people in making a difference. After all, its subtitle is ‘How to make a difference – one day at a time.’ As I set out on my journey with this book, I am quite excited by the prospect of making that difference and becoming more engaged with the world in which I live – in a positive manner.
I think the book is a brilliant idea and something that most people would find helpful – even if they do everything that is suggested in the book. It is certainly packed with ideas and suggestions.
There is also a web site to use along with the book:
All of the ideas in the book are included in the web site and many more according to the book. There is also an ‘ideas bank’ on ways of changing the world for the better – which also seems to be a brilliant idea I think.
OK, I will now look at today’s idea.
My copy of the book (paperback) is by Penguin Books ( www.penguin.com.au ) and was printed in 2006.
The first book I will be reviewing for Thomas Nelson is called ‘The Noticer,’ by New York Times bestselling author Andy Andrews. It is actually an ebook that I have.
The hardcopy book is available at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0785229213/thomasnelsoni-20
There is an online web site associated with the book called ‘The Noticer Project’ at:
http://www.thenoticerproject.com/
I haven’t started to read the book yet, but will be doing so today. Certainly the web site looks interesting. The site encourages visitors to think of 1 to 5 people who have played an important role in their lives. You then post a message sharing your thoughts about these people on the site and an email is also sent to those people. The message is meant to be an inspiration and encouragement to others who visit the site.
A quote from the site will perhaps help:
"The Noticer Project is a worldwide movement to "notice" the five most influential people in your life! Noticing those five people can be as private (just a letter or email) or as public (posting to your Facebook page or joining The Noticer Project Facebook group) as you choose, but the movement is meant to encourage us to step outside our busy schedules and avoid waiting until a wedding, graduation or even a funeral to take notice of the special, influential people in our lives. By noticing those who have made a difference for you, you not only acknowledge their contribution, but you may gain a new perspective on your own journey. If you are noticed, you are encouraged to continue the movement by ‘noticing’ five people in your life!"
There is also a Facebook Group that can be joined and ‘The Noticer’ can be followed on Twitter.
The web site has a number of suggestions as to how you can ‘notice’ that important person in your life, be it from writing a private letter, making a donation to a charity in the name of that person, etc.
The site encourages you to notice a person before a birthday or funeral.
Overall, I quite like the concept of noticing others. It certainly has you thinking in a more ‘other-centred’ manner and encourages you to not be so ‘self-centred.’ I wouldn’t try and blend what is a secular concept into a Christian one, but the project does warrant comparisons with many Christian virtues.
Visit the web site by clicking on the banner below:
I have this morning become a book reviewer for Thomas Nelson. This will involve me reading and reviewing books that Thomas Nelson send to me. It is an unpaid job, but I do get to keep the books I review. I guess this could be a good and/or bad thing, depending on the individual book I read and review.
Being a part of this program will allow me to keep current on trends in Christianity – at least to some degree, as I read and review the books that are sent to me. It will also save me money as I don’t have to pay for the actual books that are sent to me. So the library will continue to grow and my reading will span the length and breadth of the current ‘Christian’ scene.
I will be posting reviews of the books I read and review for Thomas Nelson here, so readers of this Blog will be able to ‘experience’ the journey with me. They will also be posted on commercial book selling sites.
My reviews, will of course, be from my Particular Baptist perspective – which I guess will be somewhat novel for a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.
I have spent a lot of my time around books. I love books. I can’t have enough books – at least it certainly seems that way. I’m always on the lookout for books. I don’t buy a lot of new books these days, however, if there is a good one – well, I just have to buy it.
I’ve always read a lot. Early in life I probably read more out of necessity in order to pass subjects and exams. It wasn’t until I left school that I really got a passion for books. What spurred my passion for books was my growing interest in Christianity and my subsequent embrace of it. I just wanted to learn and to learn as much as I could. So I started to buy books
Somewhere along the track I became interested in reading books of other subjects as well, especially books to do with history. I also read novels, but for me to read a novel it has to have a great plot. One of my favourite authors is Tom Clancy, which probably gives you some idea of the type of novels I read.
Of course I collected books on horticulture (I trained as a horticulturist), cooking, computers, travel, wilderness and other areas that I was interested in. However my real passion in books has always been theological and historical.
At the moment my life is in a ‘treading water-like’ situation. I’m probably still another 6 months away from moving into another home to rent (I currently live in a caravan park in a cabin), so the vast majority of my books are in storage and I can’t get at them because they are quite some distance away and I don’t have a car. There probably isn’t a day that goes by that I wish I had access to some book or another. I am longing for the day when I’ll be able to make use of all my books again.
I’ve probably managed to collect another couple of boxes of books in the time I have been away from them and I am slowly accumulating a collection of them in the cabin. They are enough to get me by at this stage, but my various interests are crying out for the books to assist me in them.
I have begun to place a listing of the books I own on my web site at particularbaptist.com and will eventually add them to my Shelfari presence as well. A look at the list (which is nowhere near complete) soon gives an idea of the number of books I have.
See the list at:
http://www.particularbaptist.com/kevins/kevinslibrary.html
See my Shelfari Profile at:
http://www.shelfari.com/particularkev
I have also started accumulating books online at both the particularbaptist.com website and the Kevin’s Family – History Site. These two virtual libraries encapsulate the two main areas of my passion for books – theology and history.
It is for these two libraries (other than my own interest of course) that I am buying out of copyright theological and historical books. Gradually I am building up my collection of online books in these libraries, sharing my passion for books and the wealth in books with a much wider audience.
Visit the libraries at:
http://particularbaptist.com/library/libraryindex.html
http://particularbaptist.com/matthewshistory/library/articles.html
Not only do these libraries contain the works that I have collected and put online, they also have many links to others works that others have placed online. In short, these two virtual libraries have an enormous amount of resources in them – enough to keep the most avid reader going for a life time.
I have now started the ‘At The BookShelf’ Blog and the ‘Reformed Reading Group’ at Shelfari to provide another aspect to sharing my passion for books, especially in the two areas I have mentioned – theology and history. With these two latest sites I will be able to interact with visitors and discuss various books, what we have learnt, questions and issues raised, enjoy fellowship, etc. So I am really hoping that my visitors will join the Reformed Reading Group (I am thinking especially of Reformed Christians here obviously – though others are most welcome) and get involved in the discussion, as well as having visitors interacting via the comments provision here at ‘At The BookShelf.’
Visit the Reformed Reading Group at:
http://www.shelfari.com/groups/36946/about
What I intend to post here in the Blog are reviews of the books I have read and possibly some quotes from some of the books also. I will probably also be posting URLs for new books (old books) I post in the two virtual libraries also.
What else is left to say but please get involved at some of the sites I have mentioned? You won’t regret it.
At the BookShelf 