Arsip untukSeptember 4, 2008

Borders narrows loss for 2nd quarter

{ September 4, 2008 @ 3:41 pm } · { Book's, Yahoo! News }
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Sumber : Yahoo! News, AP Business Writer, 26 Agustus 2008 By SARAH SKIDMORE, AP Business Writer Tue Aug 26, 6:37 PM ET

PORTLAND, Ore. – Bookseller Borders Group Inc. said Tuesday that it narrowed its losses and slashed its debt during the second quarter, but continued to see sales slow as consumers limited their discretionary spending.

The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company said it lost $9.2 million, or 15 cents a share, for the quarter ending Aug. 2. That compares with a loss of $25.1 million, or 43 cents a share for the same quarter of last year.

“We’re very pleased,” Borders Group CEO George Jones told The Associated Press. “We feel like we’ve been managing our business very well and cutting expenses.”

Investors greeted the results with optimism, sending Borders’ shares up more than 7 percent in after-hours trading.

The company, which has been restructuring and selling some business units, said that it lost $11.3 million, or 19 cents a share, from its continuing operations, compared with a loss of $18.1 million, or 31 cents a share, last year. … continue reading this entry.

Famous Peruvian writer applauds Obama’s candidacy

{ September 4, 2008 @ 3:29 pm } · { Barack Obama, Book's, Yahoo! News }
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Sumber : Yahoo! News, 16 Agustus 2008, Sat Aug 16, 9:49 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela – Peruvian novelist and politician Mario Vargas Llosa says Barack Obama would make a “magnificent” U.S. president.

The prize-winning writer says Obama “represents the American dream,” though he also respects rival candidate John McCain.

One of Latin America’s best known writers, Vargas Llosa ran for Peru’s presidency in 1990, but lost to Alberto Fujimori.

He spoke to reporters on Saturday in Venezuela, where one of his plays is being performed. … continue reading this entry.

Books For the Fall: Obama, Woodward and Moore

{ September 4, 2008 @ 3:20 pm } · { Barack Obama, Book Review, Yahoo! News }
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Sumber : Yahoo! News, 18 Agustus 2008 By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer Mon Aug 18, 11:05 PM ET

NEW YORK – In case you’re wondering which books to read this fall, Michael Moore has a suggestion: Don’t read any.

Not the new fiction by Toni Morrison or Philip Roth or Stephen King. Not that policy book by Sen. Barack Obama, whom Moore is supporting for president; or Bob Woodward’s latest on the Bush administration; or Thomas Friedman’s manifesto on the environment.

Not even a little paperback meant as a handbook to the political campaigns. It’s called “Mike’s Election Guide 2008″ and it’s written by a certain Academy Award-winning filmmaker and well known agitator named Michael Moore.

“There really is no time for any frivolity. People are already working two jobs to put gas in the tank, so they can drive from the first job to the second job. People need to spend as much of their free time as possible for candidates,” says Moore, who believes that electing progressives will improve the economy, and in the long run, enable people to read more.

“I would rather you go and work for a local candidate than read my book.”

A multibillion-dollar industry has been built around such “frivolity” and if Moore is looking for an argument — as he often is — he can begin with the team at Grand Central Publishing that’s releasing “Mike’s Election … continue reading this entry.

Obama book falls victim to booksellers’ rivalry

{ September 4, 2008 @ 3:09 pm } · { Barack Obama, Book's, Yahoo! News }
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Sumber : Yahoo! News, 19 Agustus 2008 By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer Tue Aug 19, 1:35 AM ET

NEW YORK – A new book about Sen. Barack Obama has intensified a rivalry between two powerful competitors: Barnes & Noble, Inc. and Amazon.com.

Chelsea Green Publishing, a small, liberal publisher based in Vermont, is releasing Robert Kuttner’s “Obama’s Challenge,” a call for Obama to enact a bold, progressive economic agenda. It plans to distribute copies at next week’s Democratic National Convention, where Obama is expected to get the party’s presidential nomination.

Angering both Barnes & Noble and independent sellers, the publisher also will distribute coupons that can be redeemed exclusively through Amazon.com’s BookSurge, a “print-on-demand” service that through digital technology enables books to be printed in small quantities. … continue reading this entry.

Female doctor writes of life in Saudi Arabia

{ September 4, 2008 @ 2:54 pm } · { Berita, Book's, Qanta A. Ahmed }
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Sumber : Yahoo! News, 26 Agustus 2008 By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press Writer Tue Aug 26, 6:52 PM ET

“In the Land of Invisible Women” (Sourcebooks Inc. 464 pages, $24.95) by Qanta A. Ahmed: Most job contracts don’t include mentions of the death penalty, but when Dr. Qanta A. Ahmed agreed to a new job in a Saudi Arabian hospital she became subject to the laws of that country which, as she writes in her memoir, can include decapitation.

After being denied a visa to stay in the United States, Ahmed, decides at “the spur of the moment” to accept a job practicing intensive care medicine at the King Fahad National Guard Hospital in Riyadh, the capitol of Saudi Arabia.

During her two-year stint, in which she works with an assortment of Saudi men and women as well as nurses and doctors from around the world, she encounters almost daily situations for which no American medical school could have prepared her: a female patient who is comatose but whose face still needs to be properly veiled; female medical personnel trying to listen attentively to a patient’s heartbeat through the rustling fabric of an abbayah, the long black head covering worn by women in Saudi Arabia. … continue reading this entry.

Buck, Poehler help indie label celebrate 20 years

{ September 4, 2008 @ 2:46 pm } · { Book's, Tak Berkategori, Yahoo! News }
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Sumber : Yahoo! News, 25 Agustus 2008 By Cortney Harding Mon Aug 25, 5:36 PM ET

NEW YORK (Billboard) – Peter Buck of R.E.M., “SNL” star Amy Poehler and novelist Jonathan Lethem are among the curators of a limited-edition series of CDs that will mark the 20th anniversary of North Carolina independent label Merge Records.

SCORE!, a subscription-only boxed set, will feature 14 custom-curated discs comprising material from the Merge catalog, along with original artwork.

The first two discs will be curated by Buck and “Junebug” director Phil Morrison. In addition to Poehler and Lethem, curators of future volumes include musician David Byrne, artist Marcel Dzama and Momofuku chef David Chang.

Quantities of the discs will be limited to the number of people who preorder the series between September 8 and January 2009, when the first two volumes are scheduled for delivery. Proceeds from SCORE! will benefit charities chosen by the individual curators. … continue reading this entry.

Hemingway confidante brings author’s Havana to life

{ September 4, 2008 @ 2:36 pm } · { Book Review, Book's, Yahoo! News }
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Sumber : Yahoo! News, 27 Agustus 2008 By Anna MacSwan Wed Aug 27, 3:05 PM ET

EDINBURGH (Reuters) – She was a teenager from Dublin looking to make her name as a journalist when American author Ernest Hemingway entered her life in 1959.

The young Irishwoman became his secretary and traveling companion, and after his death married his son.

Decades later, Valerie Hemingway brought her memories of daiquiris in tropical Cuba and bullfights in Spain to rainy Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital.

She teamed up with Scottish director Toby Gough and a Cuban music and dance group to recreate the Havana of the 1950s in a stage production called “Hemingway’s Havana” as part of last week’s Fringe Festival.

“Hemingway loved Cuba because it was a place where he could be anonymous,” she said in an interview with Reuters. … continue reading this entry.

“Twilight” author drops new book after Web leak

{ September 4, 2008 @ 2:22 pm } · { Stephenie Meyer, Twilight }
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Sumber : Yahoo! News, Thu Sep 4, 1:34 AM ET

CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) – Stephenie Meyer, author of the best-selling young adult “Twilight” books, has put the fifth and final installment in the series on hold in protest after a partial draft was posted on the Internet.

Meyer, the U.S. author of “Twilight” and its sequels “New Moon,” “Eclipse” and “Breaking Dawn,” said she had a good idea of how the leak of “Midnight Sun” had happened, since so few copies had left her hands and each was unique.

The novel tells the love story of a human teenager named Bella and her vampire lover, Edward.

“The manuscript that was illegally distributed on the Internet was given to trusted individuals for a good … continue reading this entry.