Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Privacy and Adobe DIgital Edtions



We librarians take patron privacy seriously. We do not divulge borrowing history to anyone—including spouses or parents. Sometimes, people think we can go back and see everything that they’ve ever taken out. We can’t and don’t want to.
Unfortunately, we don’t exercise the same control over our ebook collection, which passes through intermediaries such as Amazon, Overdrive and Adobe. Several weeks ago, libraries became aware of a data “breach” by Adobe Digital Editions—a provider of our ebook software. Borrowing information was being sent to Adobe from individual computers unencrypted and easily hacked.
The breach (or potential breach) applies to a fairly narrow slice of ebook users—those using Adobe Digital Editions 4.0 on a computer. Overdrive apps for mobile devices are apparently not allowing this breach of privacy.
Since the issue became public, and the ensuing protest from librarians around the country, Adobe has updated Digital Editions to encrypt the data sent from your computer.
For the American Library Association’s statement on Adobe’s fix, click here.
To read about the larger issue of libraries and third-party digital vendors, see this article in Slate:

Monday, October 20, 2014

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Most Popular New History 2014


These are the most popular new history books so far of 2014, according to the library's circulation statistics.  Enjoy!





by Richard Brooks



In 1217 England was facing her darkest hour, with foreign troops pillaging the country and defeat close at hand. But, at the battle of Lincoln, the seventy-year-old William Marshal led his men to a victory that would secure the future of his nation. 

 




by Robert Hutchinson



After the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558, Protestant England was beset by the hostile Catholic powers of Europe, including Spain. Popular history dictates that the defeat of the Spanish Armada was a David versus Goliath victory, snatched by plucky and outnumbered English forces. In this tightly written and fascinating new history, Robert Hutchinson explodes this myth recreating one of history's most famous episodes in an entirely new way. 


by Edward Klein



Edward Klein delves into the rocky relationship between the Obamas and the Clintons. An old-school reporter with incredible insider contacts, Klein reveals just how deep the rivalry between the Obamas and the Clintons runs, with details on closed-door meetings buttressed by hundreds of interviews. 





by Helen Rappaport



The Romanov Sisters sets out to capture the joy as well as the insecurities of those young lives against the backdrop of the dying days of late Imperial Russia. Helen Rappaport aims to present a new and challenging take on the story, drawing extensively on previously unseen or unpublished letters, diaries and archival sources, as well as private collections. It is a book that will surprise people, even aficionados.


by Janice MacLeod



A few days into her stop in Paris, Janice meets Christophe, the cute butcher down the street-who doesn't speak English. Through a combination of sign language and franglais, they embark on a whirlwind Paris romance. She soon realizes that she can never return to the world of twelve-hour workdays and greasy corporate lingo. But her dwindling savings force her to find a way to fund her dreams again. 
 


by Ken Adelman



A dramatic account of the historic 1986 Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Iceland by Ken Adelman who was Reagan's arms control director. The meeting led to negotiations and concessions that neither side had predicted and laid the groundwork for the most sweeping arms accord in history. From his position as a participant in these historic events, Ken Adelman is able to reveal the motivations, relationships, and conversations that led to the summit's breakthroughs.




by Gordon Corrigan



Military historian Gordon Corrigan's gripping narrative of Hundred Years War fought between 1337 and 1453.  Corrigan reveals the horrors of battle and the machinations of power bringing these events refreshingly alive, and giving the great battles and personalities of the period - Edward III, The Black Prince, Henry V, and Joan of Arc among them, the full attention and reassessment they deserve.




by Carlotta Gall



Carlotta Gall has reported from Afghanistan and Pakistan for almost the entire duration of the American invasion and occupation. Gall combines searing personal accounts of battles and betrayals with moving portraits of the ordinary Afghanis. Her firsthand accounts of Taliban warlords, Pakistani intelligence thugs, American generals, Afghani politicians, and the many innocents who were caught up in this long war are riveting. Her evidence that Pakistan fueled the Taliban and protected Osama bin Laden is revelatory.



 


by Tilar J. Mazzeo



Established in 1898 in the heart of Paris, the Hôtel Ritz instantly became an icon of the city frequented by film stars and celebrity writers. By the 1920s the bar became a favorite for F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. Mazzeo chronicles life at the Ritz during the Nazi occupation, when the hotel served as headquarters to the highest-ranking German officers, including Göring, and home to wealthy patrons (and to the spies among them) who stayed on in Paris. A hotbed of illicit affairs and deadly intrigue is revealed, as well as stunning acts of defiance and treachery.







by Dan McMillan



The Holocaust has long seemed incomprehensible, a monumental crime that beggars our powers of description and explanation. Masterfully synthesizing the myriad causes that led Germany to disaster, McMillan shows why thousands of Germans carried out the genocide while millions watched, with cold indifference, as it enveloped their homeland. Persuasive and compelling, How Could This Happen explains how a perfect storm of bleak circumstances, malevolent ideas, and damaged personalities unleashed history's most terrifying atrocity.
Tyson

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

What's New in Mystery and Fiction for October and November?

Wondering what's coming out in Mystery and Fiction for October and November?  Here are a few titles:







Shopaholic to the Stars by Sophie Kinsella
The first Shopaholic novel in four years.  Becky moves to Los Angeles to be with her husband Luke, who has gotten a job there.

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
A new novel from the author of The Cloud Atlas. The book has six different narratives.   

Revival by Stephen King
A new suspense novel from King about a minister in a small New England town in the late 20th century.

The Children Act by Ian McEwan
Fiona May is a High Court Judge in London.  Her latest case concerns a 17-year-old whose parents refuse him a blood transfusion because of their religion.

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