‘I was too ambitious’: Spotify CEO announces layoffs among 6% of employees as tech job cuts continue — msn.com Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said that the decision to restructure Spotify is an “effort to drive more efficiency, control costs, and speed up decision-making,” adding that he takes “full accountability for the moves that got us here today.” I love it — and when I say I love it, I mean I don’t love it — when someone says they take “full accountability” for some disaster, knowing perfectly well that there won’t be any personal consequences. There’s no accountability without consequences. Had he said “I’m forfeiting my salary for the year and donating it to the employees who lost their jobs,” now that’s something I could respect. Popular Bookstores, Including Barnes & Noble, Are Closing Locations, Starting Feb. 11 — bestlifeonline.com JCPenney Is Closing Even More Locations, Starting Next Month —… Read more →
EppsNet Archive: Bookstores
Profanity in Book Titles
Powell’s Books emailed a list of self-care titles aimed at making readers happier and healthier and saner. A surprisingly high (to me) percentage of the titles — 3 out of 25 (12 percent) — contain the word “fuck.” One title includes the word “shit” but it’s also one of the titles that uses “fuck” so I’m not going to double-count it. Is this a new publishing industry strategy to reawaken people’s interest in reading? Personally I don’t care for it . . . Read more →
Good to Great
Browsing a bookstore with my son . . . he checks in to say that he was skimming through Good to Great. “Have you read it?” he asks. “No, and I’ll tell you why . . .” “Because you’re satisfied with just being good?” he interrupts. Read more →
Books, Writers, Bookstores, Libraries
World’s Coolest Bookstores – CNN Style 22 Most Spectacular Libraries in the World – Architecture and Design Writers at Work Erasing Infinite – Poet Jenni B. Baker creates erasure poetry from David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, one page at a time. Incredible. Must be seen to be believed. Read more →
The Price is Right
Guess how much I paid for this stack of books . . . Hint #1: I bought them at the One Dollar Bookstore. Hint #2: There are 10 books in the stack. Read more →
What’s on Your Bookshelf?
Bookman, my favorite local used bookstore, had a 25-percent-off sale this weekend and here’s what I got: Read more →
Love is Fleeting
I recently bought a collection of short novels by Marguerite Duras from my favorite used book store. Inside the front cover is this inscription: To M—, Because her work influences me so much, and you inspire me so much. Please read and think about me!! Love Always, G— P.S. Merry Xmas XOXO I bought the book for $3.95, so M—- couldn’t have gotten more than a buck, maybe two, for unloading it. Read more →
Overheard at the Bookstore
A gentleman brings a basket of books to the checkout . . . “Do you have the 50 percent off deal?” he asks. The clerk looks genuinely confused. “No,” he says. “Nice try, though.” “I thought it was through the end of the year.” “Are you on the mailing list?” “Yes.” “That’s 25 percent off.” “Oh. Why am I thinking it was 50? Maybe I’m on a special mailing list that gets 50 percent off.” “Maybe you’re on the special list that pays 50 percent more.” Read more →
Angry Illiterates Shouldn’t Work at Bookstores
There’s no one behind the customer service counter at Barnes and Noble but there is a woman doing something with the books in front of the counter . . . “Do you work here?” I ask. “Yes,” she says, but not in a friendly way . . . more like yes, I work here but I regret it. ‘I’m looking for The Book of Holiday Awesome,” I say. “I’ve never heard of that,” she says. I don’t care if she’s heard of it. I just want to know if they have a copy of it on hand. “Do you know the author?” she asks. “No.” She types a couple of things into the computer. “Nothing is coming up,” she says. It’s a popular book so something should be coming up, even if it’s just to say they don’t have it in stock. I lean over the counter to see what… Read more →
A Long and Short Explanation of Why Borders Books Went Out of Business
Borders, unable to find a buyer willing to get it out of bankruptcy, plans to close its remaining 399 stores and go out of business by the end of September. — msnbc.com “When Borders started up 40 years ago,” I explain to my son, “there was a certain percentage of the American public that bought books and read them. “It wasn’t nearly as large as the percentage who preferred to sit on their fat asses and watch television but it was there. There was a profit to be made from it. “Today, if I tell someone about a book I’m reading, they look at me like I’m confessing a perversion. Reading a book?! “Not only does no one read books but if anyone does get a notion in their head to read one, they’re likely to buy it online and/or download it onto a device. “The market for people who… Read more →
New Used Books
I paid a visit to The Bookman — a local used book store — today, spent $36 and came home with the following haul: The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories, Leo Tolstoy Despair, Vladimir Nabokov Hunger, Knut Hamsun The Lover, Marguerite Duras New York Trilogy, Paul Auster Tender is the Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray The White Hotel, D. M. Thomas Read more →