Posts tagged with economy-of-doom

Jun 12 2023

Weekly Book Giveaway: Edible Economics, by Ha-Joon Chang

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WE LIVE (but the world is a weird place right now, so things will probably continue to be sporadic). Our current Book Giveaway is Ha-Joon Chang's Edible Economics: A Hungry Economist Explains the World, installment #8,943 in our ongoing series, “Nonfiction Books Julia has Picked Up at Random”. A full review will follow shortly...

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Nov 19 2019

Holiday Gift Pick #4

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Gift Idea #4: a used copy of Amy Dacyczyn's The Complete Tightwad Gazette

Well before the internet became a haven of frugality tips, Ms. Dacyczyn produced a newsletter that compiled...

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Nov 27 2017

Bubbly on Your Budget, by Marjorie Hillis

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For a book written in 1937, Marjorie Hillis's Bubbly on Your Budget has some surprisingly timely advice. Sure, the details might need to be adjusted for a 21st century lifestyle, but her basic message—that you should spend your money on what you actually value—is just as valid today as it was 80 years ago...

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Nov 27 2017

Weekly Book Giveaway: Bubbly On Your Budget, by Marjorie Hillis

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In honor of this season of furious consumerism, this week's Book Giveaway is Marjorie Hillis's Bubbly on Your Budget, a reprint of a financial advice guide first published in 1937 under the title Orchids On Your Budget. This volume is used (and looks it), but still an unexpectedly modern and entertaining read. A full review will follow shortly...

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Jul 18 2016

Dark Money, by Jane Mayer

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On August 30, 2010, Janet Mayer published an article in the New Yorker called 'Covert Operations', an in-depth look at the political influence of Charles and David Koch, two American billionaire brothers who have devoted over a hundred million dollars to promoting libertarian causes. Over the next few years Mayer deepened and expanded her research on the subject, transforming her article into...

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Jan 26 2016

Scandalous!

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I recently picked up a copy of Jane Mayer's nonfiction book Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right. I love books about financial scandals, and this one is even juicier when you take into account the contents of this New York Times article, which...

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Jul 1 2015

Health and wealth

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According to Publishers Weekly, Barnes and Noble is once again a profitable business, thanks largely to a more stable market for printed books. The article covers a bunch of other B&N-related news items (Nook sales, the recent website redesign, the up-and-coming "Barnes and Noble Education" division, etc.), but...

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Jan 13 2012

Out with the old

The Barnes and Noble store in Seattle's University Village recently closed, and the Seattle Times is reporting that the furniture chain Room & Board is going to fill at least part of the (enormous...

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Aug 24 2011

Picking over the remains

Last weekend, while hunting for a particular book for my brother's birthday, I ventured into a Borders store. I usually avoid stores that are closing (they make me feel like a vulture), but I'd a...

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Jul 19 2011

For whom the bell tolls

Well, Borders is officially toast: the troubled bookseller has confirmed it will liquidate its assets. If everything goes as planned, going-out-of-business sales will begin this Friday and contin...

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Jun 14 2011

An insider's look

My mother was absolutely fascinated by the Bernie Madoff scandal, but she's determined to wait until she is 100% certain she's found the most informative and in-depth book about his situation befo...

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May 16 2011

Borders trying the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach?

Publishers Weekly has done another post on the rumors surrounding the current state of the troubled Borders chain. According to their most recent information, some of the bookstores may be sold (...

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Apr 18 2011

The end of an era

GYAH. Manga-publishing pioneer Tokyopop has announced plans to close its US publishing division, effective May 31st. Tokyopop's film and TV development wing will remain open, and there's always ...

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Feb 17 2011

Going gently into the good night

Well, the death knell has been struck: Borders has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company plans to close about 200 (out of 642) stores over the next few weeks, all of which will ...

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Feb 10 2011

GYAH!

My beloved Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon laid off 31 employees (a full 7% of their unionized workforce) on Tuesday. Powell's management released a statement explaining that the layoffs were ...

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Feb 3 2011

The fall of civilization

According to Publishers Weekly, second-quarter earnings at HarperCollins have fallen, although they claim their children's department (which produces titles ranging from the Pretty Little Liars se...

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Feb 1 2011

Painful to behold

Whoo boy: Borders is now delaying January's payments to vendors and landlords. Things are not looking good.

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Jan 28 2011

Grim signs

The NY Times has posted another article about the struggles of independent booksellers. The American Booksellers Association just hosted its 6th annual Winter Institute, and the store owners who ...

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Sep 7 2010

Down for the count

PublishersWeekly recently posted an interesting article about chain bookstores' ongoing attempts to stay profitable during the economic downturn. Of the three major U.S. book chains (Books-A-Mill...

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Aug 5 2010

The fall of the book-selling empire?

Further hints of the crumbling world of major chain bookstores: Barnes and Noble is considering putting itself up for sale. (Specifically, they're exploring "strategic alternatives", one of which...

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Oct 21 2009

Hard times

Seattle's Elliot Bay Book Co., an iconic bookseller located in Seattle's historic Pioneer Square District, has been sufficiently hard-hit by the recession to be considering a move. While I'm glad ...

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Jun 11 2009

Manga price hikes

Hmm. It seems that several major manga publishers will be raising their prices in the immediate future, including Del Rey, Viz, and Dark Horse. Their books will now run $1 or $2 more per volume.Pe...

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May 6 2009

Central Park Media folds

Anime producer and manga/manhwa publisher CPM filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last week—the kind of bankruptcy where the company will be liquidated. On one hand, any publisher shutting down is sad ...

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Apr 15 2009

Seriously, how big are these kids' allowances?

According to Cinematical, Twilight fans at a Florida convention were willing to pay thirty dollars to get their picture taken with Kimbra Hickey, the apple-clutching hand model featured on the fir...

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Apr 9 2009

I can't believe I'm saying this...

...but thank you, Stephenie Meyer.MSN Money is reporting that someone, at least, is doing well in this economy, and it's all thanks to you: sales of Twilight-themed merchandise helped Hot Topic's ...

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Apr 2 2009

Have they failed to notice that we are collectively broke?

Brace yourselves, fantasy fans, because the fine people at Tor Books have decided to split the late Robert Jordan's final work into three pieces.The three releases combined make up A Memory of Lig...

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Mar 30 2009

Borders no more?

There's been a fair amount of depressing-sounding Borders news floating around lately (not to mention the obvious shutting down/downsizing of its CD and DVD divisions), and it sounds like we might...

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