Staff Picks Blog

I must admit I haven’t yet read this book, although I will, (in fact I am off to buy it later this morning, a copy for myself and one for a gift), but what I really want to post is how we find out about the books we read. I heard an interview on The Splendid Table on Saturday where Lynne Rossetto Kasper talked to Robin Goldstein and I knew I had to read it and own it. That book was from an American Public Media radio show. Many reviews I get and have always found very promising are from the radio. And it used to be this mad scramble to write down the title or titles and when I wasn’t fast enough I would have to call Dennis Reese at WSUI and he would have to call me back with the information or, get this, send me a tape of the show. The olden days…

Now the options are boundless for finding reviews and suggestions for reading and/or listening. Blogs have become a major source of recommendations. Libraries have blogs, businesses have blogs, individuals have blogs, even some dogs and cats have blogs. Blog are linked to magazines and newspapers and just random people who want to share what they like. And the best thing about them is with embedded links, you can seamlessly go from one to another to another, all the time making a larger and larger list of books you must read. Sometimes I think we at ICPL need to expand the number of holds a person can place for free, but then I realize it would just be trouble. I would put a hold on every title I heard about and realistically, never get a quarter of them read, and then there would be the issue of fines. Another great source of reviews is ICPL’s catalog. You can even add your own. Looking for more? Amazon has reviews, your neighbor and co-workers, your yoga partner has reviews. They are everywhere and anywhere.

But back to Beer Trials. Goldstein also wrote Wine Trials and which caused quite a stir in the rarefied world of wine tasting. Beer Trials promises to do the same. In fact, dare I write it, he even gives a nod to PBR.