Category Archives: Uncategorized

London in the 18th Century

Posted on April 7, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

I never tire of reading about Britain’s greatest city. London in the 18th Century by Wallace Crawford Snowden, revised and edited by Marie Clayton, offers a full reproduction of pioneering cartographer John Rocque’s 1746 An Exact Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster which provided … Continue reading →

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There is no i in Absence

Posted on April 6, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Carol Shields — the American-born Canadian novelist who won a Pulitzer Prize for The Stone Diaries in 1995 — wrote a short story called “Absence” without using the letter I a single time. It appeared in her 2000 collection Dressing Up for the … Continue reading →

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Free Short Stories

Posted on April 5, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

The Library of Short Stories is a wonderful, and completely free, website dedicated to classic short stories. Offering a wide range of genres from around the world, the Library is the work of Melbourne based author and web developer Evan C. Lewis. Each story … Continue reading →

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Editor, Librarian, Bookseller

Posted on April 4, 2026 by Brian D. Butler
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Black Books

Posted on April 3, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

The National Association of Black Bookstores has declared April 7 National Black Bookstore Day, a national observance honoring the cultural, economic, and community impact of Black-owned bookstores across the U.S. The day also celebrates the late Georgia “Mother Rose” Peat West, founder of Underground … Continue reading →

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Library in the sky

Posted on April 2, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

High in the mountains of southwest Japan, above a small town, there is an unlikely library. Yusuhara, is known as the “town above the clouds” and the home the Kumo-no-Ue  Library, which was designed by the renowned architect Kengo Kuma. … Continue reading →

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When an airplane ticket only gets you a seat on a bus

Posted on April 1, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Kennedy Woodard-Jones bought a plane ticket from American Airlines, went through TSA, lined up at her gate, and didn’t realize she was boarding a bus until it was on the highway. Her TikTok about it got 13 million views, according to … Continue reading →

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Bookstore Tourism: Your Picks pt.3

Posted on March 31, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

“Zubal Books” is located at 2969 W 25th Street, Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1961 by John T. Zubal, and has been providing books for libraries, collectors, researchers, professors, and avid readers ever since, and stocks over 3,000,000 books! … Continue reading →

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Human Authored

Posted on March 30, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

The Society of Authors (SoA) has launched a “Human Authored” scheme to “help identify works written by humans in a market increasingly flooded by AI-generated books”. Under the initiative, authors will be able to register their titles and download a … Continue reading →

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Beneath Memory and Experience

Posted on March 29, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

This quote comes from a talk Ursula gave as part of the Portland Arts & Lectures program of Literary Arts. You can listen to the whole thing here: https://literary-arts.org/archive/ursula-k-le-guin-5/  

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