Creature of Mad Enthusiasms

There's someone over on time_and_chips who is making beaded bracelets with fandom charms, like one with red and gold beads and a lion charm for Gryffindor folks, or a guns 'n' handcuffs that would do for just about any cop show.

Fun fan stuff that would be great for Media*West, subtle enough for the office, and cute, unique gifts for fans. It's a great cottage industry idea, and one worth the passing on.

Oh, and authors? She also does a "book" bracelet; I'm sure that you could discuss adding charms to it that would suit your various series.

No, really! "The first self-playing audiobook" (read: you can't upload to it or download from it, you can just listen to the single title burned on it.)

I can think of a dozen problems off the top of my head, starting with them being more expensive than a regular book on tape and ending with the ability to load 10 books on one iPod for the price (but 1/10th the space) of 10 PlayAways. On the other hand, if the price drops, they're not a bad idea - good for luddites who don't want to learn a full MP3 player device or don't have a computer, and those big simple buttons would be excellent for the vision impaired or blind. The earphone plug is sized for universal jacks; this can be used with not only any earphones but also with cassette adaptors in the car.

Since the website itself suggests ways of trading and passing them on, I can see PlayAway clubs springing up if these things catch on - and since they're available at Borders, they will be seen and have a chance to catch on.

Gaiman has licensed his Anansi Boys to one of these devices, as have David McCullough, Dan Brown, Stephen Hawking, and John Grisham, so there are some good geek titles in among the popular pap (Busting Vegas, Getting Things Done, 7 Habits, etc.) So far, only copyrighted books are available, which makes sense... but if you really want those things to fly off the shelves, I'd think they'd use the time-tested bestsellers (which conveniently don't need copyright fees) - Pride & Prej, Great Expectations, and most certainly the Bible. If there's one thing that would REALLY take off in that format, it would be the Bible!

ETA: The more I think about this, the more I realize that they're going about their marketing all wrong. They need to do two things, and I swear these would take off like a rocket:

1) DROP THE PRICE!
2) Market Bible versions to churches - I can't count the number of people I know who would love a stand-alone audio Bible - and market literary classics to schools and colleges. I think it would be a lot easier for students to get through the recommended "reading" when they can listen to unabridged classics as they commute, walk around campus, exercise, eat, etc. While I'm all for the love of the printed word, sometimes it's just easier to find time to listen. Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, Great Expectations, Pride & Prejudice - those school standards would make up enough bulk sales to float the rest of the line. (And the students would have something that they could sell back, a la used texts, at the end of the year. "Gimme $5 and put a battery in it, it'll be fine.")

Earth's axis is the reason for the season ornaments. The same CafePress has a whole page of pro science stuff: I love the "Evolution is Science/Intelligent Design is Science Fiction" bumpersticker! Click around, they have all kinds of great things, particularly these bumperstickers on different pages:
- Keep your savior out of my sex life
- What would Darwin Do?
- Who told you I was Republican? - God
- Agnostics Against Bush (some things we know for sure)

I simply MUST get the "I support the 10 Amendments" one!

Okay, enough whining and back to the books. Stanford apparently got bored of Dickens (what, no Oliver Twist?) and has gone on to Sherlock Holmes. Rather typical for them, I got the "Sign up starting November 10!" postcard two days ago. Signup is still open for newsprint copies of three short stories (Scandal in Bohemia, Speckled Band, and Final Problem) plus the entire Hound of the Baskervilles. Although the delivery times ran from "awful" to "really awful," I will admit that I eventually got every single copy of the run of Hard Times.

Speaking of books, I was originally going to run this as a New Year entry, but instead am going to do it as a holiday service for folks looking for that last present:

Low Cost, Reputable Sources of Books
Dover Publications Not only do they have a lot of clip art and craft books, they have low-priced versions of many classics in their Dover Thrift Editions section.

Barnes and Noble Collector's Library I'm still in love with these little hardbacks. For $6 or less, you can get a well-made classic. Order online or look in the rack stuck near the checkout lines at any brick-and-morter B&N. For parents, there are copies of Wind in the Willows, the Alice books, and Secret Garden. For fangirls, there's a very nice edition of Phantom of the Opera. For Austen nuts (and there are plenty of us out there!) there are pocket-sized editions of everything she wrote, some illustrated. For anyone who's been following my education/science postings, there is also an unabridged Origin of the Species.

Book Closeouts The "Overstock.com" of books; a place to pick up overrruns or remainders at dirt-cheap prices. A good place to pick up hardbacks at paperback prices.

Speaking of which, Overstock.com has a book section Prices are not as good as Bookcloseouts.

Booksfree If you don't know what book to get a friend or loved one, how about getting them a membership in this subscription library? For $8 a month, you can offer them 2 books a time out of the sizable collection mailed directly to their door. Perfect for people who have outread the local library or who have trouble getting to one. If you have a grandparent on the list who likes books but has trouble reading these days, there is also a separate BooksFree audiobook subscription service.

Alas, I cannot recommend Zooba. I joined Zooba and BooksFree the same day. I'm on my second shipment of Booksfree books, while Zooba has yet to deliver anything.

And if you want to give the world a gift of books, there's always Bookcrossing. I've already started releasing Christmas-themed books.

Went on cafepress looking for ways to customize Eddie II. Am finding all sorts of fun things people might like to know about...

"I'm a librarian and I WILL shush your ass!" license plate holder
"And the geek shall inherit the earth" license plate holder.
Geeky Wench slogans - "Book Wench," "Computer Wench" etc.
Information Mafia merchandise
T-shirt with the Scarlet Letter on it.
Beer Wench shirt
Pirate Plunder store I wish I dared get the "Pirate Wench - Currently Seeking Cabin Boys" bumper sticker on my car!
Huzzah! bumper sticker
"Garb" t-shirt
"God is my co-pirate" bumper sticker
Assorted other pirate bumper stickers

And for the locals:

Wench.org shop
Local 42 shop
Team Wench "For the Boobies" license plate holder