Here Are Some Of The Best Independent Bookstores

CNN: Brick and mortar: Best indie bookstores

In the age of Amazon and e-books, common wisdom claims that brick-and-mortar bookstores are going the way of the dinosaurs. If a national chain such as Borders, which folded in 2011, couldn't succeed in this climate, what are the odds of an independent shop going the distance?

Surprisingly good, it turns out.

I've published three novels over the past three years, and each time I head out on tour, I discover amazing bookstores. While it's hard to beat the Internet for sheer efficiency, virtual book-buying can't satisfy the same itch for discovery that browsing in person can. Moreover, it's become easy to love e-books and local stores since Kobo started partnering with independents to make some 3 million titles available electronically.

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Bookyards Editor: I have been to the stores in Quebec City, Toronto, and San Francisco. The Book Passage in San Francisco is my favorite. Being by the water makes it special.

The World’s Most Magnificent Libraries

I Will Never Be Afriad Of This Gang

Here Are Ten Magnificent Bookstores (National Geographic)

Bookyards editor: Here are ten magnificent bookstores according to National Geographic .... Top 10 Bookstores.

The Oddness of Isaac Newton

Photo: Isaac Newton (Wikipedia)

Oliver Moody, The Times Literary Supplement: The oddness of Isaac Newton

There is a well-attested saying of the Prophet Muhammad to the effect that every century or so a “renewer” (mujaddid) will be sent by God to restore Islam to its proper form. The truth requires regular and forcible upkeep. From the jurist ash-Shafi’i and the philosopher-theologians al-Ash’ari and al-Ghazali to Ibn Taymiyyah, the grandfather of modern Salafism, the putative mujaddidun were thinkers who recognized that what has been revealed cannot simply be allowed to bed down into custom and ritual – it must be made new for each generation.

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Bookyards Editor: The works of Isaac Newton can be downloaded here.

The Battle Between Ebook And Book

I Am So Guilty Of This ....

If You Pirate An Ebook In Sweden You Can Get 6 Years In Prison

Good Reader: If you pirate an ebook you can get 6 years in prison

There is a new bill proposal in Sweden that will extend the prison term for anyone pirating an ebook or a movie on a file sharing website, such as BitTorrent. It will go from two years to six years and the amount of time someone would spend in prison would rival someone getting charged with manslaughter.

Presented by Council of Justice member Dag Mattsson, the report envisions new criminal designations and crime being divided into two levels of seriousness. “In cases of gross crimes, a person may be convicted of gross copyright infringement or gross trademark infringement and sent to prison for at least six months and not more than six years.”

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Bookyards Editor: Talk about a harsh penalty!!!!!

How Future Book Signings With An Author Will Be Arranged

Remembering W. B. Yeats: 10 Quotes From The Nobel Prize Winner

W. B. Yeats

India Today: Remembering W. B. Yeats: 10 quotes by the first Irishman to receive a Nobel Prize for Literature

William Butler Yeats was one of the most celebrated litterateurs of the twentieth century. Born on June 13, 1865, the author made significant contributions to both English and Irish literature and is particularly remembered for his role in reviving the latter.

Yeats was also the first Irishman to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923. He is one of the few writers who produced their greatest works after receiving the Nobel Prize. His best works include The Tower (1928) and The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1929).

In 1913, Yeats wrote the preface for the translation of Rabindranath Tagore's Geetanjali, for which Tagore had won the Nobel Prize.

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Bookyards Editor: Works by W.B. Yeats can be downloaded from the following link.

Nikola Tesla's Autobiography

Bookyards editor: For Nikola Tesla fans, his autobiography can be downloaded from here.

Banning Books In The Name Of Political Correctness Is Absurd

Nicole Russell, Washington Examiner: Banning books, especially 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,' in the name of political correctness is absurd

Schools in the Duluth school district in Northern Minnesota will no longer require high school students to read two classic novels, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, because it might bother their feelings. The Star Tribune reports Duluth schools will keep the books in the library, but the kids won’t study them in English class, due to the “racial slurs” in the novels.

Revising or erasing history, even artistic interpretations of time periods, does a grave disservice to the very students whose “feelings” they are trying to protect.

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Bookyards Editor: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' can be downloaded from here.

Here Are Twenty-Three Books Mark Zuckerberg Thinks Everyone Should Read

Mark Zuckerberg, Reuters

The Independent: Twenty-three books Mark Zuckerberg thinks everyone should read

From non-fiction works about the benefits of the free market to sci-fi novels on the capabilities of technology, the publications span a variety of genres

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has a single mission: to connect people around the world.

It's one reason why he decided to launch a Facebook-based book club last year, with a reading list that focused on "different cultures, beliefs, histories, and technologies."

Although the birth of his daughter, Max, kept him from hitting his goal of a book every two weeks, he ended the year with 23 selections in his A Year of Books reading group.

We've put together a list of his picks and why he thinks everyone should read them:

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Bookyards Editor: One of the books that he recommends is William James' " The Varieties of Religious Experience." It can be downloaded from here.

31 Incredible Libraries and Bookstores Around the World

Pando Trip: 31 Incredible Libraries and Bookstores Around the World

For centuries libraries have been the temples of knowledge. And they have been treated accordingly – some of them are definitely among the most impressive architectural wonders. Even if you are in a city for a short time, you can visit impressive libraries or bookstores and admire their magnificent beauty.

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Bookyards editor: An incredible photo-gallery of libraries.

A Look At How Public Libraries Are Reinventing Themselves For The 21st Century.

Halifax Central Library. (Adam Mørk/Halifax Public Libraries)

Macleans: How public libraries are reinventing themselves for the 21st century

Coding workshops. 3D printers. And books. Far from extinct, today’s public library is about access to technology as much as to knowledge.

On any given day, in one of the world’s busiest urban library systems, 50,000 people come through the doors of the Toronto Public Library’s 100 branches, while 85,000 make an online visit. The walk-ins bring their coffee and their lunches; they talk and watch TV while charging their phones; they do their homework, often via thousands of computer sessions; they make videos or create objects with 3D printers; take classes in computer coding or yoga; attend author talks or listen to experts offer advice for those looking after elderly relatives; access video tutorials on everything from website design to small business management from Lynda.com (an American online education giant that offers 3,600 courses taught by industry experts). Together with their online fellows, they borrow musical instruments, passes to the city’s art galleries and museums, WiFi hotspots, lamps that battle seasonal affective disorder, Raspberry Pis (small, single-board computers primarily used for coding training), DVDs, more than 12,000 ebooks and—of course—plain old print-and-ink books, a good 90,000 of them every day. All at no cost.

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Bookyards Editor: Technology is definitely changing everything.

Here Are Some Of The Works By Mark Twain

Bookyards Editor: Enjoy the works of Mark Twain. You can browse and download his ebooks at this link.

Ebooks Are Not 'Stupid' – They're A Revolution

‘The way e-readers have increased accessibility to books is not an enhancement, it’s a godsend,’ says Erin Kelly Photograph: Amazon

The Guardian: Ebooks are not 'stupid' – they're a revolution

The head of publisher Hachette has claimed ebooks are a failure – but as an author and a reader, they’ve completely changed my life

I was a relatively late convert to the e-reader, getting my Kindle five years ago when it became clear that reading 600-pages of A Suitable Boy while breastfeeding wasn’t going to work. After a frenzied few months of almost exclusive e-reading, I returned largely to the traditional printed book for a number of reasons: screen fatigue, a tendency to scrawl in margins, because I want my kids to see me reading, and because I’m a passionate supporter of bookshops and booksellers. Hachette Livre CEO Arnaud Nourry recently called ebooks “stupid” – but last summer, they changed my life.

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Bookyards Editor: I agree .... because I know ebooks have completely changed my life.

Are Ebooks A Stupid Idea?

Inside Higher Ed

The Guardian: 'Ebooks are stupid', says head of one of world's biggest publishers

The chief executive of Hachette Livre, Arnaud Nourry, says the industry has had ‘one or two successes among a hundred failures’ and that ebooks have ‘no creativity’

The head of one of the world’s largest book publishers has described the ebook as “a stupid product” that is unlikely to see further growth.

Arnaud Nourry, chief executive of Hachette Livre, made the comment to the Indian news site Scroll.in in a wide-ranging interview about Hachette’s future in India, which also touched on digital publishing. According to Nourry, the “plateau, or rather slight decline”, that ebook sales have seen in the US and the UK in recent years is “not going to reverse”.

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Bookyards Editor: Are ebooks a stupid idea? I think not but the head of one of the world's biggest publishers believes they are.

Inside The World's Most Incredible Libraries

Daily Mail: Truly novel tourist attractions! Inside the world's most incredible libraries, from Hogwarts-style galleries to gold-leaf monasteries

* Some are fascinating old halls with wooden ladders and mesmerising ceilings that are hundreds of years old
* One of the most beautiful is Prague's Clementinum library, featuring baroque halls, globes and ornate balconies
* Bibliotheque Joanine shimmers with dazzling gold, whereas Tama Art University in Tokyo has futuristic architecture

It's hard to imagine these libraries have problems with late returns - as users are surely desperate to come back again and again.

They are the most spectacular in the world.

Some are fascinating old halls with wooden ladders and mesmerising ceilings that have housed literary works for centuries. Others modern masterpieces.

One of the most spectacular is the Clementinum library which features baroque halls, a collection of globes and ornate balconies lining the walls.

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Bookyards Editor: Very impressive.

Sun Tzu's Book "The Art Of War" can be downloaded from Bookyards.

Bookyards Editor: Sun Tzu's Book "The Art Of War" can be downloaded from Bookyards here.