Infographic-tastic

I was trawling GoodReads recently, updating my progress in the 2014 Reading Challenge, when I came across some fun infographics I wanted to share with you all.

First up we have the "Top 10 most read books in the world":

I can't decide whether I'm happy to see a young adult novel series that has been so widely read as to appear in this list, or simply to be horrified that it's appearing alongside books like The Diary of Anne Frank and The Bible? Answers on a postcard please.

It's nice to see Lord of the Rings at #4, too. From my own experience in the world of bookselling, I found that Fantasy (and Science Fiction) tended to be viewed with some derision as genres, but I think this is beginning to change. We probably have George R. R. Martin to thank for that. By the way, George, could you please hurry up and finish The Winds of Winter, please.


Next I discovered "The Benefits of Reading Books", which reads like many a conversation I have had with my peers trying to argue the same, mostly, without success:

I always enjoy a Chinese proverb and this one is no exception, though I wonder what sort of garden could be found in the books you usually find on or around my shelves/floor/desk/handbag; possibly some sort of post-modern steampunk dystopian science-fiction garden, that you might not necessarily want to go into.

I would definitely agree that reading reduces stress and can put you in a better mood. I find there is nothing better than the ability to escape into a book, forgetting everything that might be winding you up in the real world for a few minutes - or indeed, hours - and the sense of calmness you can feel as a result. Having said this, it probably does depend upon exactly what you are reading: I've finished some books in a state of upset due either to the fact that I've come to the end, or indeed that the end has come to one or more of the characters I've spent the last few hundred pages getting to know.

My last offering is "Unpacking Reading Habits" - I think some of the connections here are a bit tenuous, but it's good for a laugh!
I do think it's true that I pick up speed towards the end of a book, though I don't think that I am more likely to read fiction at 12am (I am usually asleep). Would be interested to know if anyone else has different experiences / reading patterns, though.

It's nice to see some infographics being done for reading, and books. I think one of the benefits of e-readers and online reading in general is that more people are reading now than before, be it in the form of a blog, a newspaper or the faithful fiction title. It's also useful, particularly in HE (but also for some students in FE) to have such a wide range of databases and journals available online, though it does take something away from the experience of going to the library, hunting down the books you need and retiring to a cosy corner to read them. But then I am rather old fashioned.

Until the next post, where I might even produce something with a slightly less tenuous connection to work ... happy Friday!

Social Cataloguing

At present i'm trying to triangulate a point between three fans where I can achieve maximum coolness; thus far I am experiencing mixed success (cool ankles and ears, still too hot in all areas between). Any more of this 30 celsius nonsense and i'm moving to Siberia. Oops I forgot to say hello

Hello, loyal blog readers! This week in 23 Things we are exploring social cataloguing sites.

I'm no stranger to LibraryThing and have been using it for a while. The layout is simple and you can organise books into different shelves, as well as use keywords to connect with similar books and indeed similar-minded readers. I also enjoy the 'stats/memes' function, where you can view stats for your library in a number of different ways, including: 'vous et nul autre', books shared between you and exactly one other LibraryThing member and 'controversial books', a list of your most 'controversial' books as measured by standard deviation of members' star ratings. Somewhat unsurprisingly for me, I've enjoyed several things that others haven't, but then, Angry White Pyjamas does cater to a bit of a niche readership...

In the interests of branching out, I'm now using GoodReads as well. Overall, I must admit I find the site nicer to use - the colour scheme is brighter, for starters, and I like the quotations and quizzes that are available to catalogue on the site, as well as books. The 'Listopia' function is also interesting, similar to the lists you can create on Amazon. Speaking of which, Shelfari (Amazon's contribution to the social cataloguing website medley) intrigues me, as I wonder exactly how much it is about 'cataloguing' as opposed to 'getting people to buy things.' More to follow on this, as it seems you have to sign in using your Amazon account, something I don't plan on doing at work.


If you happen to be bored, or have a spare moment or two, you can check out my 'read' bookshelf on GoodReads here:

my read shelf:


Until the next post - keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep blogging!

Breathing new life into old e-maps using Pearltrees

Greetings on this cold, grey and rather miserable Tuesday afternoon. Fear not, though, I bring shinies. Or, more accurately, pearlies.

Yes, today I have been exploring Pearltrees, as a way of recycling the Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy e-maps from the old VLE. I'm quite pleased with the look of the 'Pearltrees' and the interface is very user-friendly, although it does keep badgering me to upgrade to a premium account. I mean, really, do I look like i'm made of money?



I'm enjoying this method of presentation for the old 'e-maps', it's much more interesting than looking at a list of hyperlinks, although it has more potential for confusion. In an ideal, non-premium world I would like to have spaced the pearls out a bit more to reduce this, but alas, organisational freedom comes at a price. As does changing the background picture of each pearl, hence why the 'notes', or groupings, are all the same.

Thanks to Lorraine for giving me a heads up on this resource, it is indeed excellent :)

Coming soon, my half-hearted adventures into the realm of Twitter. I mean, really, 140 characters? An alien concept for someone who still uses full words and punctuation in text messages.

When Bookbandit met Prezi, or, here be widgets

A couple of you have asked me how I managed to embed my Hair and Beauty Pinterest board onto my blog, and in this Prezi I have attempted to show you how! I enjoy the fact that i've had to embed, as a widget, a Prezi that explains how to embed things as widgets, making this a meta-widget, I suppose.

This is also my very first Prezi so any feedback would be welcome. (It still makes me feel seasick.) Oh, and 'Once More' is the shortened version of my blog title and e-mail address, just so you're aware.

The widget has landed

Look, a shiny new widget!!  ----------------------------------------------------------------------->

This is just to showcase some of the new books i've ordered for Hair and Beauty, and so that I get to type the word 'widget'.

Not telling you how long it's taken me today to work out how to embed it ...