Music tomorrow! 6-9pm

Steve Haug is back, singing and playing acoustic folk, Irish and pop music. Coffee and Tea will be on, as will the cookies!

Thursday, 27 August, 7pm - Book Club reviews Making Money

7pm Constellation Books Book Club
Join us as we review Terry Pratchett's "Making Money," a comic lesson in the worth of paper money.

Yes, they DO still Ban Books even in the 21st Century

You may think that - in this enlightened century - no one bans books any more. Sorry, not so! The good folks at the American Library Association and the Kids' Right to Read Project have a cool Google map that reveals book challenges that came SINCE 2007. Take a look - it is both educational and sobering.

Read Banned Books!
Lauretta

Today - Tea with the Author - 3-5pm

Tea with the Author, Saturday 15 August 2009, 3-5pm

Join Baltimore’s Monchel Rice, author of “Charge it 2 Da Game," for tea, coffee and cookies. "Charge it 2 Da Game” is a urban story of jealousy, envy and greed.

Hugo Awards

I missed this last weekend (when Worldcon announced it).
The Hugo Winners are - and congratulations to them ALL:

• Best Novel: The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury UK)
• Best Novella: “The Erdmann Nexus”, Nancy Kress (Asimov’s Oct/Nov 2008)
• Best Novelette: “Shoggoths in Bloom”, Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s Mar 2008)
• Best Short Story: “Exhalation”, Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)
• Best Related Book: Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded: A Decade of Whatever, 1998-2008, John Scalzi (Subterranean Press)
• Best Graphic Story: Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones, Written by Kaja & Phil Foglio, art by Phil Foglio, colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)
• Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: WALL-E Andrew Stanton & Pete Docter, story; Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon, screenplay; Andrew Stanton, director (Pixar/Walt Disney)
• Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Joss Whedon, & Zack Whedon, & Jed Whedon, & Maurissa Tancharoen, writers; Joss Whedon, director (Mutant Enemy)
• Best Editor Short Form: Ellen Datlow
• Best Editor Long Form: David G. Hartwell
• Best Professional Artist: Donato Giancola
• Best Semiprozine: Weird Tales, edited by Ann VanderMeer & Stephen H. Segal
• Best Fan Writer: Cheryl Morgan
• Best Fanzine: Electric Velocipede edited by John Klima
• Best Fan Artist: Frank Wu

And the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (presented by Dell Magazines): David Anthony Durham

More details here.

New Art! - J.R. Blackwell's "Blood and Sand" opens tonight with the Wine Tasting

Tonight's big! Wine Tasting 6-9pm, with NEW photography from J.R. Blackwell.
Munchies, the swinging sounds of Sinatra by Ken McDermott, coffee for those who don't drink wine. It will be a FINE time.

Tonight 6-9pm!

Lauretta

The Kindle and Book-ownership or Here Abide Daemons?

Disclaimer: we are an indie bookstore, not affiliated with Amazon, and we sell e-books (not the Kindle-compatible ones either) on our website. Ergo, we have a bias....you are forewarned.

We all know someone with a Kindle (tm probably) - who is also relatively happy with it. Fine, good, they're reading...I am all in favor of reading.

However, I have been reading that Kindle's terms and conditions state "Digital Content will be deemed licensed to you by Amazon under this Agreement unless otherwise expressly provided by Amazon." So you're renting the book instead of buying it, right? (Feel free to correct me in the comments below - I may be wrong.)

Allowing for sociological changes due to the new medium, I have to say this protocol still sounds antithetical to the basic concept of book buying/book-ownership. I am not the only one who finds this odd and possibly harmful. The folks over at BoingBoing are starting up a Petition for a DRM (Digital Rights Management) Free Kindle.

What say you out there in reader-land? Am I being a stuffy old-fashioned bookseller or are there some real dangers there?
Lauretta

Tea with the Author - today 3-5pm

Join Marylander Gary Clites, author of "Seneca Wood" for tea, coffee, and cookies. “Seneca Wood” is a mystery set in Baltimore and West Virginia.

Lauretta