Roundy Up

Today we’re playing with the Verdana font.  Big and bold and brassy and easy on the eyes.  What say you?  Should we go big or keep it petite and dainty?  I wouldn’t bring it up but a significant someone complained that Times NR scrunches the lines too tightly together.  So how’s this treating you then?

Rounding the up:

• Mitali Perkins is sly.  Who thinks to take a video camera to their own book release party?  And who, for that matter, thinks to turn that same camera on?  That would be the same "who" that caught me dancing till I couldn’t dance no more alongside the likes of MotherReader, Liz B, editor Judy O’Malley, and … hey, is that Laura Lutz?  And she’s undeniably dead center in the frame too while I’m hidden behind the instructor.  Phew!  Thank God your average Queens librarian will take a bullet for a New York Public librarian.  The proof is in the pudding.

• Speaking of Liz, I’ve enjoyed the post on her blog Laws Every Blogger Needs to Know; And Comments.  The query was whether or not you, as a blogger, ever erase comments.  I don’t moderate my comments, partly because I’m awful at moderation.  Seriously.  You should see my e-mail box.  Listservs and Google groups and the like slay me.  So I don’t moderate the Fuse #8 comments, partly because they’re far more interesting when I step back and let ’em do their thing.  I don’t erase much, but I will sweat over whether or not to delete a particularly mean jab.  Not that it happens that often.  And when you post with great frequency it becomes a bit of a moot point anyway.

• Meanwhile, back in the world of books, thanks to Galleycat we now know that according to The New York Times, children’s literature is solely a hit-based field.  Really?  Apparently.  "The Harry Potter effect demonstrates a truth about sales of children’s books: they are highly volatile and dependent on blockbusters. ‘It is unquestionably the most volatile sector, because it’s hit-driven,’ said Albert N. Greco, a senior researcher at the nonprofit Institute for Publishing Research, who analyzed the data in the study."  The basis for this conclusion?  In 2006 there was a "measly" 2.5% rise in children’s book sales as opposed to 9.6% the year before.  Pardon me a moment while I knock the mothballs out of the world’s smallest violin over here.  Sheesh.  This does, however, explain the note of sheer panic I hear behind every desperate plea for the "next Harry Potter".  If I am right, there will be no "next", darlings. Not for quite a while, anyway.

• And finally, BB-Blog led me to this wonderful t-shirt.  Need I say Spoiler Alert?  I think I need.  Don’t look too closely at this if you intend to ever find a surprise ending a surprise again.  Fortunately a lot of these only make sense if you’ve already seen the film/television show/read the book.

Dunno if I agree with that idea about the Others.  I still say they’re nasty and evil.  In any case, you can find this shirt at Threadless, if you’re interested.  Or, y’know, verging on the incredibly cruel.

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