Note: Don’t forget to read my updated post about J.K. Rowling’s Rejection of Ebooks and how J.K. Rowling is STILL Resisting Ebooks. And if you want to learn more about ebooks, check out my Ebooks Category Page.

Sometimes the irony in life is so funny, it’s almost sad. Here’s one for you: I’ve been reading across the internet (first read on this post) today that pirated copies of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books were briefly up on Amazon’s website in digital format for the Kindle. The books have since been taken down. Here’s the ironic part: Rowling has been firmly against her books going digital, because she’s afraid of piracy.

As it turns out, each new Harry Potter book has been pirated into digital copies within hours of being released. That means that the younger generation the books appeal to (the same generation more open to using technology to consume books – more irony) are forced to turn to pirated copies of the ebooks when the author and publisher refuse to do it themselves.

A strong argument could be made that when no official ebook version of a novel is made available, it encourages piracy. I came across this post from the Dear Author blog that says:

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Today marks the 200th birthday of Edgar Allan Poe, a man who practically invented the modern mystery, horror and other genres. I grew up reading his twisted tales and The Raven was one of the first poems I really studied – giving me a greater appreciation for poetry.Yes, he’s had a profound influence on me as a writer and a reader. Here’s a brief snippet from the New York Times:

Edgar Allan Poe reaches his second century mark today. The young United States was a strange place for literary genius to develop, and Poe’s career was relatively short (he died at 40, on Oct. 7, 1849)…

Edgar Allan Poe at 200

Happy Birthday!

How old is too old in the world of literature? That’s the question posed in this article on the Guardian website by Robert McCrum. He is, of course, making reference to Diana Athill, whose memoir Somewhere Towards the End had won the Costa Prize. Athill is 91. McCrum makes this very blunt, and somewhat ambiguous statement:

Old people, in general, don’t have literary careers.

Then he goes on to list a number of exceptions to that unwritten rule. Like Daniel DeFoe, who at 59 published Robinson Crusoe, his first novel. And others like William Golding and Graham Greene who went on to publish into old age.

Let’s face it, most literary stars, past and present, are fairly young when they reach the pinnacle of success. Maybe that’s because younger writers bring a new and fresh perspective to their work. Or Maybe it’s because publishers are biased against old writers. Maybe we’re just looking at anecdotal evidence to justify any type of ageism in the literary world. I don’t know.

But near the end of McCrum’s article, he makes an interesting observation:

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Another story dubbed as a memoir has been revealed to be false. But this time, the story itself has been around for a while, since the Holocaust to be exact. The story is the love between Herman and Roma Rosenblat, who claimed to have met while Herman was in a Nazi concentration camp:

Oprah Winfrey once dubbed it the "greatest love story" she had ever heard: a boy held at a Nazi concentration camp during World War II and a girl on the outside who tossed him apples to keep him alive. They eventually married and grew old together.

According to this article from CNN.com, Mr. Rosenblat confessed this past weekend that the story was made up. A book deal that had been in the works was immediately canceled:

Berkley Books immediately canceled publication of Rosenblat’s memoir, "Angel at the Fence," which was set to be released in February.

"Berkley will demand that the author and the agent return all money that they have received for this work," Berkley spokesman Craig Burke said in a statement.

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Nobel Prize winning playwright Harold Pinter,78, died yesterday (December 24) according to this article on CNN’s website:

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I talk a lot about the benefits and virtues of ebooks and other digital media on this blog, almost to the point of obsession. However, too often I fail to mention that I still love good old fashion print books. It doesn’t matter if it’s a mass market paperback, or a newly released hardcover, or even a trade paperback – they all offer the promise of an entertaining story and maybe the chance to learn something.

There is something else that print books offer, that if you read the New York Times Books Section today, you probably will know what I’m talking about: The things left in books. I came across this interesting essay about various objects found in books, usually by workers at used book stores:

I speak of any of those bizarre objects — scissors, a used Q-tip, a bullet, a baby’s tooth, drugs, pornography and 40 $1,000 bills — that have been discovered by the employees of secondhand bookstores, according to The Wall Street Journal and Abebooks.com. Mystery surrounds these deposits like darkness.

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My thoughts and sympathy go out to Mr. Damour’s family and friends. He was the temporary Wal-Mart employee that was killed as a crowd rushed into the store at 5am:

Jdimytai Damour, 34, was crushed as he and other employees attempted to unlock the doors of a Long Island, New York, store at 5 a.m. Friday, police said.

You can read more details about the incident in this article, and more about Mr. Damour in this article. This incident is a sad commentary about what the holidays have become. I don’t think there’s any bargain on electronics or a sale of any kind worth more than a human life.

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When I think of banning books, I normally think about large piles of books being set on fire in the street, or even certain books being pulled from school libraries for one reason or another. But banning books hardly conjures up the image of a large bookstore chain canceling a book signing because a religious group threatens to cause a disruption.

Yet that is exactly what happened at Waterstone’s Bookstore today in the UK. According to this BBC report, a book of poetry that was considered "Obscene and blasphemous" by a group called the Christian Voice:

Patrick Jones was due to sign copies at Waterstone’s in Cardiff but the shop cancelled the event at the last moment.

Christian Voice said the book was "obscene and blasphemous" and called on the chain to remove copies from stores.

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Even as the death of author Michael Crichton is still fresh in our minds, another giant in the world of literature has been taken to that enormous bookstore in the sky: John Leonard, author and critic, has died at the age of 69 from lung cancer.

While John Leonard himself may not be a household name, you will probably be familiar with a few of the authors he helped propel to literary stardom, most notably Grabriel Garcia Marquez and Toni Morrison. I came across this interesting article from the Washington Post, which says in part:

Mr. Leonard was a steadfast promoter of many literary friends, including Morrison. He also was credited with launching Márquez’s reputation among American readers after the Colombian writer received mixed reviews in France for his masterwork, "One Hundred Years of Solitude."

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I have just learned that Michael Crichton, writer of such bestsellers as Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, and created ER – the wildly popular television medical drama, has died of cancer. This is according to  Reuters:

Crichton, a medical doctor turned novelist whose books have sold more than 150 million copies worldwide, died "unexpectedly" on Tuesday in Los Angeles after a private battle with cancer, his family said.

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