So, gang, what do you of the new Cybook screen, as shown in this photo from Bookeen? I'll leave it to others to comment on the shot. Presumably no amputations were performed or suffered in the line of duty. Meanwhile, separately, congratulations to RWood for his work producing the Harvard Classics in Sony's BBeB---and also in MobiPocket, one of the formats that'll work on the Cybook. The Mobi version will be done in the next week. Download the Sony version of the HCs here. I love the dedication that RW showed in producing this nonDRMed collection and look forward to sampling the Mobipocket version....

Moderator's note: Sadi Ranson-Polizotti, the TeleBlog's book editor and main podcaster, will release an audio of this essay in the next few days. Also enjoy her memories of Saul Bellow. Hans Koning was one of the foremost writers living in the United States, having written thirteen novels as well as numerous works of nonfiction on topics as varied as China, Che Guevara, Russia, and so much more. If you're a well-read American, it's likely you've seen Koning's work many times in The New Yorker or The Atlantic Monthly. He was a "reporter-at-large" for The New Yorker and his work was published to...

Bookeen's new Cybook will offer Mobipocket---in effect making more than 50,000 titles available, or far more more than the Sony Connect store now offers in its BBeB format. Nothing against Sony. This is just an illustration of what happens when eBabel prevails rather than a common standard, like the one on the way from the IDPF. The basic version of the machine is to sell for $350 and appear in September. Meanwhile here's the official press release. Paris, France – July 26, 2007 – Bookeen is proud to announce its new Generation 3 Cybook. Based on the latest groundbreaking Vizplex™...

"Should E Ink machines have a boldface mode for better viewability?" the TeleBlog asked on Tuesday. And based on a very small unscientific poll so far, the answer is yes. Here are the results: 1. Yes--either through heavier type or in other ways. 12 Votes or 48 percent. 2. No. There's already enough contrast between the words and the background on the screen. 6 votes or 24% 3. Neutral. 7 votes or 28%. Hardware-makers have big egos, but even based on the small sample, a message is coming through that jibes with my own experiences. E Ink offers many good points, but for many...

Book clubs from DearReader.com let you receive chapter/excerpts from recent books by email, either for yourself or a book club. Here's the sign-up page for a branch library. Daily segments are about 5 minutes long---here's a sample e-mail. A clever idea, although really I've whined before reading stuff in browsers; I shudder at the idea of people using MS outlook to do pleasure reading. But what about e-books? I was delighted to find on my new Sony Reader excerpts from various bestsellers (even if I chose not to read them). If I were to...

If any nation ought to be e-book country, it's Australia---where physical libraries can be hundreds of miles apart. I've never been there but from afar have a special affection for the place, the setting for such literary classics as My Brilliant Career, on which the Judy Davis movie was based. So what's the deal on the e-book front? The TeleBlog's Carol Jurd will share her thoughts on this in the near future, with a special emphasis on e-books in K-12. And meanwhile an informative feature story has just come out in the Sydney Morning Herald "Publishers admit that e-books still make...

Michael Banks wants a darker green, and I myself agree. I'd also like the photos to be flush vertically with the text. CSS tweaks can restore certain things back to the old TeleBlog look, fortunately. Encouragingly, Bill Janssen likes the way the comment boxes appear on his high-res monitor. So what are your thoughts on the new look---pro and con. This is actually the WordPress Almost Spring theme in its original condition. On the positive side for certain, we finally have a good WYSIWYG editor, plus the already-mentioned guidelines for contributors. Come on. Don't just read us. Write for us and be part...

If you're already a member of LibraryThing (basic membership is free, and lifetime membership is $25), feel free to join the new TeleRead E-Book Reading Club . Nothing special here; it's just a way to keep track of TeleRead contributors/commenters on LibraryThing. As pointed out in my article on LibraryThing and book clubs, it allows you to notice intersections in book inventories between members---that's somewhat fun. LibraryThing is still in the print world, although the ebook tag has been used on 18,000 books and creative commons has been used on 32 books....

Dana Gioia on developing an early enthusiasm for reading: Every passionate reader I know pretty much started reading something embarrassingly bad. I mean, they got into the habit of just reading on a daily basis. They fell in love with books. And the more they read, the smarter they became, the more discerning they became, and they developed a kind of inner-life and intellectual capacity that would never have happened otherwise. Question: what embarrassing book did you start reading with? (Answers and commentary under the fold) This interview has a lot of thoughts about Reading at Risk report from 2004. Gioia continues: Readers are...

Yes, you're reading the right blog. We've just upgraded to WordPress 2.21 and will now be busy finding the right theme and installing plug-ins to work with it. Important: Most likely comments will stick if you make them, but I can't absolutely guarantee this until we've completed the upgrade all the way. Ideally that'll happen later today. Sorry for all the dust! Update (from Robert). The problem is not too serious. We'll figure it out in a few hours. Comment away. ...

Note that we have created a Submission Guideline for TeleRead. For future use, the link is in the upper right of the blog's home page....

"All publicity is good publicity, even if it is illegal," writes Patti Waldmeir in the Financial Times. So she thinks that the pirates "did the Potter publishers a favour." Along the way, she takes a swipe at e-books: "Reading electronic books is no fun at the best of times: only the stingiest fan would prefer 759 pages of scarcely legible Potter online to the $18 Amazon version." Leak didn't kill sales While the above is heresy to us e-bookers, most TeleBlog regulars would probably agree with her belief that the leak of the ending didn't kill sales. And big bookstores don't think the...