Author Archives: kara

About kara

We know our letters just fine, and we know our numbers to a certain point, but books were always the realm of four-eyed poindexters with bowler hats and cravats. That’s why it pleases us so that America’s proud illiterates are finally stepping up and pushing back against the crushing tide of education that threatens to swallow us all into its gaping maw of checked facts. Champions of the Ignorantiat will not like it here.

From Puddingdale to Hogglestock via Silverbridge.

Posted on October 23, 2010 by kara

From The Chronicles of Barsetshire by Anthony Trollope Barchester is a cathedral town in imaginary Barsetshire of mid-nineteenth century England. Each of the six Barchester novels — beginning with The Warden, and continuing with Barchester Towers, Dr. Thorne, Framley Parsonage, The Small House at Allington, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on From Puddingdale to Hogglestock via Silverbridge.

On The Nightstand

Posted on October 16, 2010 by kara

Cousin Henry by Anthony Trollope

Posted in On the Nightstand, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments Off on On The Nightstand

Benjamin Franklin was a Librarian.

Posted on October 15, 2010 by kara

An illustration depicting the Junto, a literary society formed by Franklin in 1727.

Posted in Libraries and Librarians | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Benjamin Franklin was a Librarian.

A Radical Pessimist’s Guide to the Next 10 Years

Posted on October 15, 2010 by kara

Douglas Coupland’s “Radical pessimist’s guide to the next 10 years”  is a thought-provoking, traumatizing exercise in linear predictions based on peak oil, rampant financialist malfeasance and climate change. Coupland reveals the shape of things to come, with 45 tips for … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on A Radical Pessimist’s Guide to the Next 10 Years

Bookstores are Closing all Over the Valley, Where we Need Them Most.

Posted on October 8, 2010 by kara

As news of the impending closure of the Barnes & Noble store in the Encino Marketplace travels through town, Encinoites are taking up (online) arms. They are venting their anger via a Facebook page (created by resident Robin Permaul), demanding that … Continue reading →

Posted in Bookstore Apocalypse | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Bookstores are Closing all Over the Valley, Where we Need Them Most.

Posted on October 5, 2010 by kara

Nancy and Sluggo #149 via Cover Browser

Posted in Book Design, Comics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on

Ou à tes-vous, dÃcadence?

Posted on October 1, 2010 by kara

Where did the decadent novel go? from guardian, uk If ever an age called for the kind of self-conscious maximalism pioneered by Wilde, Baudelaire and Huysmans, it is ours. Instead, we are beset with dreary naturalism. “What happened to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Ou à tes-vous, dÃcadence?

Are You Still There, God? It’s Me, Blubber.

Posted on September 29, 2010 by kara

It’s Banned Books Week again and across the country, libraries, bookstores, teachers and readers are celebrating that which our founding fathers labored over quills and parchment for and our father and forefathers fought and died for, the very freedoms that we alone … Continue reading →

Posted in Banned Books | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Are You Still There, God? It’s Me, Blubber.

Privatizing the Public Library.

Posted on September 26, 2010 by kara

from the new york times Anger as a Private Company Takes Over Libraries SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — A private company in Maryland has taken over public libraries in ailing cities in California, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas, growing into the country’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Libraries and Librarians | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Privatizing the Public Library.

And Then There Were Fewer.

Posted on September 25, 2010 by kara

(spoiler alert). First, there were ten….. a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a remote island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on And Then There Were Fewer.