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Trav
Since 2006, I have been blogging about three things: books, publishing and Birmingham. As fast as things change these days, I think it’s a great time to be keeping a book blog, tracking new books, and reading about the quickly evolving publishing industry. I am fortunate enough to work in book publishing (nature & travel) and love the constant weaving of all the newness into all the oldness.
Latest Posts
If you know the names Marshall McLuhan & Neil Postman then you can probably skip this one. If you don’t recognize those names then the first 90 pages of Garber’s “Screen People” will feel like fresh air. While I 100% agree with what the...
I had a wonderful visit ay Court Street Books in Florence, AL this week. These folks know books and love book people.
Tomorrow is Independent Bookstore Day! It’s always such a fun day to get out and celebrate the need for indie bookshops in our communities. The goal is simple – just get out, if you can. Here’s a handy map where you can type in your zip...
I recently got to explore the Squirrel Hill area of Pittsburgh, PA and had a wonderful time inside the Riverstone Books location there. This shop is much bigger on the inside than it looks from the street and is worth popping in. My...
I feel like a bear coming up out of a hibernation and I am glad to be back out in the open. I had to check out and log off for the first of the year. For the job, we have offices in Minnesota just outside the cities and in all honesty –...
Here’s an interview with the CEO of Birmingham/Homewood-based bookstore chain Books-A-Million, Terry Finley. Finley (Instagram) has been in bookselling for 50 years. Schmidt’s Publishing Confidential newsletter is book and publishing...
December is always a fun time here in Birmingham, AL, especially if you like shopping for books. With all of the Maker Fairs and local bazaars going on, there is always something to do on the weekends. What’s been fun is seeing all of...
UPDATE: Today (12/15/25), Merriam-Webster Dictionary declared “slop” as the word of the year. This seems equal parts fair and depressing. I hope humans do better in 2026. It is always interesting to see what the dictionary folks declare...
I recently read Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics, and I was blown away. This book came out in 1993, and I know that makes me really late to the party, as I’ve seen this recommended quite a few times, but I’ve never stopped to read....
This week’s Nonfiction November 2025 festivities are being hosted over on Deb Nance’s site, ReaderBuzz, with the prompt being: “New To My TBR: It’s been a month full of amazing nonfiction books! Which ones have made it onto your TBR?”...
It's Week 4 of Nonfiction November and I am offering up a few words and photographs of letterpress and print artist Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.'s excellent book "Citizen Printer". #NonfictionNovember #bannedbooks #bookstodon #typography...
This week’s Nonfiction November festivities are being hosted over on Liz’s site Adventures in reading, running, and working from home, with the prompt being: “Book Pairings: This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title....