Previews, Reviews, and Collection Development
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As I look back over 2011—and my office, piled high with books—I realize that there are so many titles I just can’t let go of, even if I couldn’t get them reviewed. And I also can’t let go of the idea of doing a Best Short Stories list, inspired by LJ book review queen Heather [...]
At this, most wonderful time of year, reviewers are called upon to put their best feet forward, choosing those books that rise to the level of “Best” of the year. If you have been reading this column for a few years, you have experienced my own version of same. Rather than choose a top ten [...]
Several years ago, while wondering how to get more people to read poetry, I came up with an idea. Why not pair poetry collections with popular fiction titles in a read-all-around experience that would show folks how richly exciting and tapped in and accessible poetry really is? I’ve never gotten around to actually trying it [...]
Bolton, Andrew & others (text) & Sølve Sundsbø (photogs.). Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. Metropolitan Museum of Art, dist. by Yale Univ. ISBN 9780300169782. $45. Tragically, we will see no more of Alexander McQueen’s savage beauty, but the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute goes on. The institute, which launched the sellout exhibition for which this [...]
Audiobook lovers were treated to an abundance of top-shelf titles throughout 2011. To compile this list, LJ again turned to its intrepid stable of reviewers, who recommended works ranging from literary memoirs, histories, biographies, and a business course to a slew of thrillers, a short story collection, a trio of hard-boiled beauties, and some literary [...]
LJ‘s film reviewer/Fast Scans columnist picks his top 20 titles from the past year’s home-video releases of documentaries and foreign, indie, and classic films. CLASSIC FILM Ben-Hur. color. 222+ min. William Wyler, dist. by Warner Home Video. DVD UPC 883929178261. $20.99; Blu-ray/DVD combo UPC 883929209453. $34.99. Wyler’s 1959 epic about a noble Jew (Charlton Heston) [...]
It’s that time of year again, where gamers everywhere break out their credit cards so they can enjoy the year’s best video games, whether they were released with a ton of publicity during the holiday rush or months prior under the radar. I’ve got my Christmas list good to go, so it’s with confidence that [...]
Even as the record industry crumbles and digital music is either saving or ruining music depending on who you ask, great music in 2011 was plentiful, as my empty wallet attests. Here are ten albums that aren’t going to be on the best-of lists currently making the virtual rounds, but they’re ones by artists whom [...]
In keeping with this column’s annual tradition of asking readers’ advisors to write about books they enjoyed, I invited one of our profession’s guiding bodies to share their choices for 2011. Founded in 1992, the RUSA/CODES Readers’ Advisory (RA) Committee helped to create the modern RA renaissance. The members of this year’s committee all share [...]
Joining LJ in its newest venture to review original ebook romances, librarian Marlene Harris, publisher of Ebook Review Central and book reviewer at Reading Reality LLC and for LJ Xpress Reviews, has selected the top five 2011 ebook romances that stuck with her in a year of memorable love stories: Dane, Lauren. Goddess with a [...]
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