Category: books

whither Lonely Planet?

On By Rick McIn books, travelLeave a comment

I’m gone again

MARCH
14-15 – London, England
18-22 – Nigeria
23-30 – Senegal

APRIL
1-17 – South Africa (holiday)
6-10 – Otter Trail
18-21 – NCAA WAG Championships, Los Angeles

3596-Southern_Africa_Travel_Guide_LargeI’m traveling with Lonely Planet South Africa. The book, not the downloadable PDF chapters.

… Up until 2008, the guidebook industry had few signs that the bottom would soon fall out of their business. Sure, website usage was up — both on some of their own sites and digital-only competitors — and user-generated sites like TripAdvisor were eating some of their cake, but sales were solid.

In 2007, combined U.S. sales from the big five travel publishers that represent over 80% of the market (Frommer’s, Dorling Kindersley, Lonely Planet, Fodor’s, and Avalon’s Moon/Rick Steves) were just over $125 million, according to Stephen Mesquita’s “World Travel Guides Market” report for Nielsen BookScan. The following five years were tough, to say the least: By 2012 combined sales had dropped nearly 40% to $78 million. …

gb-revenues

Lonely Planet and the rapid decline of the printed guidebook

Exclusive: BBC selling Lonely Planet to Kentucky cigarette billionaire Brad Kelley:

… What Kelley and his team plans to do with Lonely Planet is confounding insiders — including the irony that a historically environmentally forward-thinking brand like LP will now be owned by someone who made a fortune with cigarettes and now is a land-buying environmental conservationist.

Who knows?

I’m a lot more excited about Google buying Frommer’s for $23 million.

Mike Sissons artwork

On By Rick McIn Art and beauty, books, friendsLeave a comment

My old friend is an artist and art teacher.

Right now he’s working on art for a new book called In Retrospect by Ellen Larson.

… In the year 3324 the Rasakans have attacked the technologically superior Oku. The war is a stalemate until the Oku commander, General Zane, abruptly surrenders. …

ellen_cover

Actually, that’s just the working cover.

Final art and animation are still in the works.

Sissons

Ellen’s trying to get the writing funded through Kickstarter – $3000 goal.

happy with Audible.com

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Letting my credit card expire without explanation led to problems.

Audible.com cancelled my plan, keeping the book credits I had paid for.

After ranting about it on this site, their social media support team got back to me. Restored my credits. And did not try to strong arm me into rejoining.

Good service.

THANKS Andrew R.

Audible-free-audiobook

Audible, owned by Amazon, does not have enough competition, however. And audio books are still priced too high.

Here’s the original post:

Dear Rick McCharles,

We have some unfortunate news. We’ve tried several times to renew your AudibleListener Gold membership plan and have been unable to process the charge with the credit card information we have on file. As a result, we’ve had to cancel your membership.

We find that these automatic cancellations are often unintentional, so we’d like to help you restore your membership. In fact, if you call within the next 14 days we can also restore up to four unused credits.

Please contact us and we’ll gladly assist you:

Sincerely,

The Audible Team

_____

So …, I neglected to update my credit card. NOW they’re taking away my PAID book credits.

Here’s my response:

What?

Why are you taking away my credits?

My Audible account has been inactive since I’ve not gotten around to updating my credit card. But my Amazon account is active.

I thought they were now one and the same.

This seems a SCAM to keep credits I’ve paid for. … Am I wrong on that?

I want to keep my credits. And will update my credit card information to do so.

But I’m too busy right now to listen to new books. That’s why I was quite happy to take a break from keeping my credits.

How can I update credit card without starting up monthly payments?

Hey. I’m quite comfortable with Bittorrent.

If you’re going to take away credits from paying customers, no problem. There are less expensive alternatives.

Let me know.

Rick

_____ After some delay in email response, I got this very friendly message:

There seems to have been a misunderstanding here, and we want to make it right. We value your business tremendously and appreciate your loyalty as an Audible Listener.

We’d like to restore your membership and the credits on your account. Please email us at social-support@audible.com so that we can update the billing information on your account.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Have a great day.

Andrew R, Customer Care Specialist
Audible.com

writer Peter Matthiessen

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Peter Matthiessen (born May 22, 1927, in New York City) is a three-time National Book Award-winning American novelist and non-fiction writer, as well as an environmental activist.

His nonfiction has featured nature and travel, as in The Snow Leopard (1978), or American Indian issues and history, as in his detailed study of the Leonard Peltier case, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (1983). …

Matthiessen received the National Book Award for Fiction in November 2008, at age 81, for Shadow Country, an 890-page revision of three novels set in frontier Florida that were published in the 1990s. For The Snow Leopard he won the 1979 Award in category Contemporary Thought and the 1980 Award in category Nonfiction …

You might only know him for At Play in the Fields of the Lord.

I’m rereading Killing Mr. Watson, part of the Shadow series.

cover

… ”Killing Mister Watson” is Peter Matthiessen’s sixth and most impressive novel, a fiction in the tradition of Joseph Conrad, as fiercely incisive as the work of Sinclair Lewis, a virtuoso performance that powerfully indicts the heedlessness and hidden criminality that are part and parcel of America’s devotion to the pursuit of wealth, to its cult of financial success.

The book is based on the historical Edgar J. Watson (1855-1910), a hard-working, ill-educated, jolly and jingoistic American farmer and entrepreneur who lived on the western coast of the Florida Everglades roughly a hundred years ago. He talked drunkenly now and then of having killed 57 men, but was arraigned just once …

NY Times

tombstone

I can’t think of a better living writer than Matthiessen.

The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War

On By Rick McIn books, governmentLeave a comment

I heard a terrific interview with this author on NPR.

The smartest commentary on modern war I’ve yet heard.

In a new book, The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War, journalist and author Fred Kaplan tackles the career of David H. Petraeus and follows the four-star general from Bosnia to his commands in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Central to the story are ideas of counterinsurgency. Kaplan says that while counterinsurgency is not a new kind of warfare, it’s a kind of war that Americans do not like to fight. …

book

Richard Glaubman, Author and Public Speaker

On By Rick McIn books, happiness, philosophy, product endorsementsLeave a comment

I spent 2 days with Richard at his school in Port Townsend, WA. Tumbl Trak and the town’s Parks & Rec department provided gymnastics instruction for all Middle School classes.

After reading an article about George Dawson, a 98-year-old man just learning to read and write, Glaubman began making regular visits to Mr. Dawson. The resulting collaboration led to the book, Life Is So Good, published by Random House.

Richard Glaubman has appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America, The Discovery Health Channel, and numerous regional television and radio stations. His book has been reviewed by the New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, The Washington Post, The LA Times, The Seattle Post Intelligencer and The Dallas Morning News, as well as many other publications. It has been a selection of both the Book of the Month Club and the Literary Guild.

By the Charter of the University of the State of New York, the New School University awarded him a doctorate of Human Letters “for outstanding achievement in the service of humankind.” And, Life Is So Good won the Christopher Award for writers whose work “affirms the highest values of the human spirit.”

bio

Life

Life Is So Good:

In this remarkable book, George Dawson, a 103-year-old slave’s grandson who learned to read at age 98, reflects on his life and offers valuable lessons in living and a fresh, firsthand view of America during the twentieth century. Richard Glaubman captures Dawson’s irresistible voice and view of the world, offering insights into humanity, history, hardships and happiness. From segregation and civil rights, to the wars and the presidents, to defining moments in history, George Dawson’s description and assessment of the last century inspires readers with the message that has always sustained him: “Life is so good. I do believe it’s getting better.”

Richard is happy to make appearances. Contract him if you’d like an inspirational talk at your school, college or book festival.

RichardGlaubman.com

Audible.com scam

On By Rick McIn books, product complaints1 Comment

Here’s the scam:

Dear Rick McCharles,

We have some unfortunate news. We’ve tried several times to renew your AudibleListener Gold membership plan and have been unable to process the charge with the credit card information we have on file. As a result, we’ve had to cancel your membership.

We find that these automatic cancellations are often unintentional, so we’d like to help you restore your membership. In fact, if you call within the next 14 days we can also restore up to four unused credits.

Please contact us and we’ll gladly assist you:

Sincerely,

The Audible Team

_____

So …, I neglected to update my credit card. NOW they’re taking away my PAID book credits.

Here’s my response:

What?

Why are you taking away my credits?

My Audible account has been inactive since I’ve not gotten around to updating my credit card. But my Amazon account is active.

I thought they were now one and the same.

This seems a SCAM to keep credits I’ve paid for. … Am I wrong on that?

I want to keep my credits. And will update my credit card information to do so.

But I’m too busy right now to listen to new books. That’s why I was quite happy to take a break from keeping my credits.

How can I update credit card without starting up monthly payments?

Hey. I’m quite comfortable with Bittorrent.

If you’re going to take away credits from paying customers, no problem. There are less expensive alternatives.

Let me know.

Rick

_____ After some delay in email response, I got this very friendly message:

There seems to have been a misunderstanding here, and we want to make it right. We value your business tremendously and appreciate your loyalty as an Audible Listener.

We’d like to restore your membership and the credits on your account. Please email us at social-support@audible.com so that we can update the billing information on your account.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Have a great day.

Andrew R, Customer Care Specialist
Audible.com

Rebus – Tooth and Nail

On By Rick McIn books1 Comment

I listened to 3 more of the Inspector Rebus series.

Death Is Not the End (1998) – novella

Hide and Seek (1991)

Tooth and Nail (original title Wolfman) (1992)

Tooth and Nail is the one I’ve enjoyed most, so far. It’s nice to see the curmudgeon so far outside his comfort zone.

tooth and nail

Tooth and Nail … is the third of the Inspector Rebus novels.

Rebus is drafted in by Scotland Yard to help track down a cannibalistic serial killer called the Wolfman, whose first victim was found in the East End of London’s lonely Wolf Street.

… Rankin says he was living in London at the time of writing and didn’t enjoy it, so “I brought Rebus to London so he could suffer, too”. …

Evolution of Life on Earth

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

What would it look like if we took Earth’s 4.5 billion year history, and stuffed it into a normal day’s 24 hour time-frame?

… Inspired by the book “A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Even Pat Robertson believes in Dinosaurs. How about that?

Ender’s Shadow

On By Rick McIn books, movies1 Comment

Like near everyone who’s read it, I loved Ender’s Game. (1985)

Orson Scott Card’s follow-up — Speaker for the Dead (1986) — was good, but different. As a result, I gave up on the Ender’s Game (series), eleven novels, twelve short stories, and 47 comic issues.

But Warren recommend I try Book #5 — Ender’s Shadow — a retelling of the original story, from the perspective of another character — Bean.

… In fact, the two books tell an almost identical story of brilliant children being trained in the orbiting Battle School to lead humanity’s fleets in the final war against alien invaders known as the Buggers. The most brilliant of these young recruits is Ender Wiggin, an unparalleled commander and tactician who can surely defeat the Buggers if only he can overcome his own inner turmoil.

Second among the children is Bean, who becomes Ender’s lieutenant despite the fact that he is the smallest and youngest of the Battle School students.

Bean is the central character of Shadow, and we pick up his story when he is just a 2-year-old starving on the streets of a future Rotterdam that has become a hell on earth.

Bean is unnaturally intelligent for his age, which is the only thing that allows him to escape–though not unscathed–the streets and eventually end up in Battle School. Despite his brilliance, however, Bean is doomed to live his life as an also-ran to the more famous and in many ways more brilliant Ender. Nonetheless, Bean learns things that Ender cannot or will not understand, and it falls to this once pathetic street urchin to carry the weight of a terrible burden that Ender must not be allowed to know. …

Amazon

It is excellent, almost as good as the original.

Recommended. But not for kids. This is an adult book.

Ender’s Game — the film — is finally scheduled for release Nov. 2013.

… an ensemble cast that includes Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Aramis Knight, Hailee Steinfeld, Jimmy Pinchak, Viola Davis, and Abigail Breslin. In November 2010, Card stated that the film’s storyline would be a fusion of Ender’s Game and its parallel novel, Ender’s Shadow, focusing on the important elements of both.

The actor is agee-15, too old to play the part of Ender, actually. I hope Hollywood manages NOT to ruin the story.

I fear they’ll add a LOVE STORY to the plot.