Google Data » Google Books https://googledata.org Everything Google: News, Products, Services, Content, Culture Mon, 09 Jan 2017 18:02:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.13 Enhancing Linguistic Search with the Google Books Ngram Viewer https://googledata.org/google-books/enhancing-linguistic-search-with-the-google-books-ngram-viewer/ https://googledata.org/google-books/enhancing-linguistic-search-with-the-google-books-ngram-viewer/#comments Thu, 17 Oct 2013 13:01:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=6e0744fa8641c6444bccd6bd7d2cda90 Posted by Slav Petrov and Dipanjan Das, Research Scientists

Our book scanning effort, now in its eighth year, has put tens of millions of books online. Beyond the obvious benefits of being able to discover books and search through them, the project lets us take a step back and learn what the entire collection tells us about culture and language.

Launched in 2010 by Jon Orwant and Will Brockman, the Google Books Ngram Viewer lets you search for words and phrases over the centuries, in English, Chinese, Russian, French, German, Italian, Hebrew, and Spanish. It’s become popular for both casual explorations into language usage and serious linguistic research, and this summer we decided to provide some new ways to search with it.

With our interns Jason Mann, Lu Yang, and David Zhang, we’ve added three new features. The first is wildcards: by putting an asterisk as a placeholder in your query, you can retrieve the ten most popular replacement. For instance, what noun most often follows “Queen” in English fiction? The answer is “Elizabeth”:


This graph also reveals that the frequency of mentions of the most popular queens has been decreasing steadily over time. (Language expert Ben Zimmer shows some other interesting examples in his Atlantic article.) Right-clicking collapses all of the series into a sum, allowing you to see the overall change.

Another feature we’ve added is the ability to search for inflections: different grammatical forms of the same word. (Inflections of the verb “eat” include “ate”, “eating”, “eats”, and “eaten”.) Here, we can see that the phrase “changing roles” has recently surged in popularity in English fiction, besting “change roles”, which earlier dethroned “changed roles”:


Curiously, this switching doesn’t happen when we add non-fiction into the mix: “changing roles” is persistently on top, with an odd dip in the late 1980s. As with wildcards, right-clicking collapses and expands the data:


Finally, we’ve implemented the most common feature request from our users: the ability to search for multiple capitalization styles simultaneously. Until now, searching for common capitalizations of “Mother Earth” required using a plus sign to combine ngrams (e.g., “Mother Earth + mother Earth + mother earth”), but now the case-insensitive checkbox makes it easier:


As with our other two features, right-clicking toggles whether the variants are shown.

We hope these features help you discover and share interesting trends in language use!]]> Posted by Slav Petrov and Dipanjan Das, Research Scientists

Our book scanning effort, now in its eighth year, has put tens of millions of books online. Beyond the obvious benefits of being able to discover books and search through them, the project lets us take a step back and learn what the entire collection tells us about culture and language.

Launched in 2010 by Jon Orwant and Will Brockman, the Google Books Ngram Viewer lets you search for words and phrases over the centuries, in English, Chinese, Russian, French, German, Italian, Hebrew, and Spanish. It’s become popular for both casual explorations into language usage and serious linguistic research, and this summer we decided to provide some new ways to search with it.

With our interns Jason Mann, Lu Yang, and David Zhang, we’ve added three new features. The first is wildcards: by putting an asterisk as a placeholder in your query, you can retrieve the ten most popular replacement. For instance, what noun most often follows “Queen” in English fiction? The answer is “Elizabeth”:


This graph also reveals that the frequency of mentions of the most popular queens has been decreasing steadily over time. (Language expert Ben Zimmer shows some other interesting examples in his Atlantic article.) Right-clicking collapses all of the series into a sum, allowing you to see the overall change.

Another feature we’ve added is the ability to search for inflections: different grammatical forms of the same word. (Inflections of the verb “eat” include “ate”, “eating”, “eats”, and “eaten”.) Here, we can see that the phrase “changing roles” has recently surged in popularity in English fiction, besting “change roles”, which earlier dethroned “changed roles”:


Curiously, this switching doesn’t happen when we add non-fiction into the mix: “changing roles” is persistently on top, with an odd dip in the late 1980s. As with wildcards, right-clicking collapses and expands the data:


Finally, we’ve implemented the most common feature request from our users: the ability to search for multiple capitalization styles simultaneously. Until now, searching for common capitalizations of “Mother Earth” required using a plus sign to combine ngrams (e.g., “Mother Earth + mother Earth + mother earth”), but now the case-insensitive checkbox makes it easier:


As with our other two features, right-clicking toggles whether the variants are shown.

We hope these features help you discover and share interesting trends in language use!]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/enhancing-linguistic-search-with-the-google-books-ngram-viewer/feed/ 0 Ngram Viewer 2.0 https://googledata.org/google-books/ngram-viewer-2-0/ https://googledata.org/google-books/ngram-viewer-2-0/#comments Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:09:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=006dda51187338251f63a1a1bd448c5a Posted by Jon Orwant, Engineering Manager

Since launching the Google Books Ngram Viewer, we’ve been overjoyed by the public reception. Co-creator Will Brockman and I hoped that the ability to track the usage of phrases across time would be of interest to professional linguists, historians, and bibliophiles. What we didn’t expect was its popularity among casual users. Since the launch in 2010, the Ngram Viewer has been used about 50 times every minute to explore how phrases have been used in books spanning the centuries. That’s over 45 million graphs created, each one a glimpse into the history of the written word. For instance, comparing flapper, hippie, and yuppie, you can see when each word peaked:

Meanwhile, Google Books reached a milestone, having scanned 20 million books. That’s approximately one-seventh of all the books published since Gutenberg invented the printing press. We’ve updated the Ngram Viewer datasets to include a lot of those new books we’ve scanned, as well as improvements our engineers made in OCR and in hammering out inconsistencies between library and publisher metadata. (We’ve kept the old dataset around for scientists pursuing empirical, replicable language experiments such as the ones Jean-Baptiste Michel and Erez Lieberman Aiden conducted for our Science paper.)

At Google, we’re also trying to understand the meaning behind what people write, and to do that it helps to understand grammar. Last summer Slav Petrov of Google’s Natural Language Processing group and his intern Yuri Lin (who’s since joined Google full-time) built a system that identified parts of speech—nouns, adverbs, conjunctions and so forth—for all of the words in the millions of Ngram Viewer books. Now, for instance, you can compare the verb and noun forms of “cheer” to see how the frequencies have converged over time:
Some users requested the ability to combine Ngrams, and Googler Matthew Gray generalized that notion into what we’re calling Ngram compositions: the ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide Ngram counts. For instance, you can see how “record player” rose at the expense of “Victrola”:
Our info page explains all the details about this curious notion of treating phrases like components of a mathematical expression. We’re guessing they’ll only be of interest to lexicographers, but then again that’s what we thought about Ngram Viewer 1.0.

Oh, and we added Italian too, supplementing our current languages: English, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Hebrew, and Russian. Buon divertimento!

]]> Posted by Jon Orwant, Engineering Manager

Since launching the Google Books Ngram Viewer, we’ve been overjoyed by the public reception. Co-creator Will Brockman and I hoped that the ability to track the usage of phrases across time would be of interest to professional linguists, historians, and bibliophiles. What we didn’t expect was its popularity among casual users. Since the launch in 2010, the Ngram Viewer has been used about 50 times every minute to explore how phrases have been used in books spanning the centuries. That’s over 45 million graphs created, each one a glimpse into the history of the written word. For instance, comparing flapper, hippie, and yuppie, you can see when each word peaked:

Meanwhile, Google Books reached a milestone, having scanned 20 million books. That’s approximately one-seventh of all the books published since Gutenberg invented the printing press. We’ve updated the Ngram Viewer datasets to include a lot of those new books we’ve scanned, as well as improvements our engineers made in OCR and in hammering out inconsistencies between library and publisher metadata. (We’ve kept the old dataset around for scientists pursuing empirical, replicable language experiments such as the ones Jean-Baptiste Michel and Erez Lieberman Aiden conducted for our Science paper.)

At Google, we’re also trying to understand the meaning behind what people write, and to do that it helps to understand grammar. Last summer Slav Petrov of Google’s Natural Language Processing group and his intern Yuri Lin (who’s since joined Google full-time) built a system that identified parts of speech—nouns, adverbs, conjunctions and so forth—for all of the words in the millions of Ngram Viewer books. Now, for instance, you can compare the verb and noun forms of “cheer” to see how the frequencies have converged over time:
Some users requested the ability to combine Ngrams, and Googler Matthew Gray generalized that notion into what we’re calling Ngram compositions: the ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide Ngram counts. For instance, you can see how “record player” rose at the expense of “Victrola”:
Our info page explains all the details about this curious notion of treating phrases like components of a mathematical expression. We’re guessing they’ll only be of interest to lexicographers, but then again that’s what we thought about Ngram Viewer 1.0.

Oh, and we added Italian too, supplementing our current languages: English, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Hebrew, and Russian. Buon divertimento!

]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/ngram-viewer-2-0/feed/ 0 Google Books Search Blog joins the Inside Search Blog https://googledata.org/google-books/google-books-search-blog-joins-the-inside-search-blog/ https://googledata.org/google-books/google-books-search-blog-joins-the-inside-search-blog/#comments Fri, 24 Aug 2012 20:20:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=facd59b08ee50a9c0c0430fffb34ae0c Posted by Ariel Levine, Google Play Operations Specialist

Thanks to everyone who’s been a loyal reader of the Google Books Search blog over the years. As part of an effort to simplify our communications channels, we’re retiring this blog and moving on over to the official Google Inside Search Blog. We’re looking forward to continuing the conversation about Google Books search there.

For those of you interested in eBooks, be sure to follow Google Play at play.google.com/+ to learn all about upcoming author Hangouts plus new content, features and releases on Google Play.

]]> Posted by Ariel Levine, Google Play Operations Specialist

Thanks to everyone who’s been a loyal reader of the Google Books Search blog over the years. As part of an effort to simplify our communications channels, we’re retiring this blog and moving on over to the official Google Inside Search Blog. We’re looking forward to continuing the conversation about Google Books search there.

For those of you interested in eBooks, be sure to follow Google Play at play.google.com/+ to learn all about upcoming author Hangouts plus new content, features and releases on Google Play. ]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/google-books-search-blog-joins-the-inside-search-blog/feed/ 0 Jacques Pépin cooks a talk up for Googlers about the essentials https://googledata.org/google-books/jacques-pepin-cooks-a-talk-up-for-googlers-about-the-essentials/ https://googledata.org/google-books/jacques-pepin-cooks-a-talk-up-for-googlers-about-the-essentials/#comments Wed, 01 Aug 2012 20:59:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=123a8b1155877a3921556c9dbd3aff2d posted by Cheryl Pon, Google Books Strategist

“If you happen to have talent and are a good craftsman, you could really [make] extraordinary food with a bit of love.” - Jacques Pépin
As a child, I grew up with inspiring classic TV programs featuring chefs like Julia Child, Martin Yan, and of course, Jacques Pépin, the award-winning French chef. With great fascination, I would watch him on his hit show, Jacques Pépin: Fast Food My Way, as he prepared cuisines like sautéed rabbit with morels and pearl onions, and tartelettes aux fruits. His beautifully presented dishes were the epitome of classic French homestyle cooking with just the right amount of panache.

Pépin came to Google recently to discuss his latest book, Essential Pépin, which encompasses all the recipes from his expansive career as a French chef. Not only does the thick cookbook contain a trove of recipes, but a DVD containing techniques Pépin recommends for cooking, such as perfecting your knife technique and the best way to flip an omelette — all signature styles that are best viewed rather than read.

During his talk here, Pépin advised that rather than leave a good recipe the way it is, he wanted to keep going deeper with exploring more ways in which a recipe could improve. But although his recipes are constantly evolving, and are now quite different than they were 25 years ago due to constant improvements over the years, Pépin's cooking techniques are the same.

From a man who turned down cooking for the Kennedys in order to cook at Howard Johnson’s, Essential Pépin is cooking through the master chef's eyes, and preparing food with an appreciation for and a sense of aesthetics.

Check the talk out here:
]]> posted by Cheryl Pon, Google Books Strategist
“If you happen to have talent and are a good craftsman, you could really [make] extraordinary food with a bit of love.” - Jacques Pépin
As a child, I grew up with inspiring classic TV programs featuring chefs like Julia Child, Martin Yan, and of course, Jacques Pépin, the award-winning French chef. With great fascination, I would watch him on his hit show, Jacques Pépin: Fast Food My Way, as he prepared cuisines like sautéed rabbit with morels and pearl onions, and tartelettes aux fruits. His beautifully presented dishes were the epitome of classic French homestyle cooking with just the right amount of panache.

Pépin came to Google recently to discuss his latest book, Essential Pépin, which encompasses all the recipes from his expansive career as a French chef. Not only does the thick cookbook contain a trove of recipes, but a DVD containing techniques Pépin recommends for cooking, such as perfecting your knife technique and the best way to flip an omelette — all signature styles that are best viewed rather than read.

During his talk here, Pépin advised that rather than leave a good recipe the way it is, he wanted to keep going deeper with exploring more ways in which a recipe could improve. But although his recipes are constantly evolving, and are now quite different than they were 25 years ago due to constant improvements over the years, Pépin's cooking techniques are the same.

From a man who turned down cooking for the Kennedys in order to cook at Howard Johnson’s, Essential Pépin is cooking through the master chef's eyes, and preparing food with an appreciation for and a sense of aesthetics.

Check the talk out here:
]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/jacques-pepin-cooks-a-talk-up-for-googlers-about-the-essentials/feed/ 0 A Change to Our Retailer Partner Program: eBooks Resellers to Wind Down Next Year https://googledata.org/google-books/a-change-to-our-retailer-partner-program-ebooks-resellers-to-wind-down-next-year/ https://googledata.org/google-books/a-change-to-our-retailer-partner-program-ebooks-resellers-to-wind-down-next-year/#comments Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=1c664843a5f04e42d16661076c8f4cd2 Posted by Scott Dougall, director, product management, digital publishing

With the launch of Google eBooks in 2010, we introduced a multi-faceted approach to selling ebooks: online, on devices, through affiliates and through resellers. One part of that effort -- the reseller program -- has not gained the traction that we hoped it would, so we have made the difficult decision to discontinue it by the end of January next year.

This change will help us focus on building the best ebooks experience we can across hundreds of devices with millions of books. Books will continue to be a major content pillar alongside apps, music and movies in the Google Play store. And -- regardless of where they bought them -- customers will still be able to access and read their ebooks on the web, phones, tablets and compatible eReaders.

We will work closely with our sixteen reseller partners as they transition in the coming months. Also, booksellers will still be highlighted in the “Buy this book” section of Google Book search, supported with our affiliate program and have access to free Books APIs.

Looking at the results to-date, it’s clear that the reseller program has not met the needs of many readers or booksellers. While our role as an ebooks wholesaler to booksellers will be coming to a close next year, we remain as committed as ever to making the eBooks experience from Google the best it can be for readers around the world.]]> Posted by Scott Dougall, director, product management, digital publishing

With the launch of Google eBooks in 2010, we introduced a multi-faceted approach to selling ebooks: online, on devices, through affiliates and through resellers. One part of that effort -- the reseller program -- has not gained the traction that we hoped it would, so we have made the difficult decision to discontinue it by the end of January next year.

This change will help us focus on building the best ebooks experience we can across hundreds of devices with millions of books. Books will continue to be a major content pillar alongside apps, music and movies in the Google Play store. And -- regardless of where they bought them -- customers will still be able to access and read their ebooks on the web, phones, tablets and compatible eReaders.

We will work closely with our sixteen reseller partners as they transition in the coming months. Also, booksellers will still be highlighted in the “Buy this book” section of Google Book search, supported with our affiliate program and have access to free Books APIs.

Looking at the results to-date, it’s clear that the reseller program has not met the needs of many readers or booksellers. While our role as an ebooks wholesaler to booksellers will be coming to a close next year, we remain as committed as ever to making the eBooks experience from Google the best it can be for readers around the world.]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/a-change-to-our-retailer-partner-program-ebooks-resellers-to-wind-down-next-year/feed/ 0 Anne Rice On Man-Wolves, "White Collar," and Why Her Immortals Would Never Go to High School https://googledata.org/google-books/anne-rice-on-man-wolves-white-collar-and-why-her-immortals-would-never-go-to-high-school/ https://googledata.org/google-books/anne-rice-on-man-wolves-white-collar-and-why-her-immortals-would-never-go-to-high-school/#comments Tue, 13 Mar 2012 21:23:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=51e5e8c1bdad2edf0d0fd5ee730742f7 Posted by Anne Bartholomew, Merchandising Manager, Books on Google Play

Anne Rice laid the foundations in so many ways for authors writing paranormal fiction today, and much of her early work still stands out for me as the turn-to books when it comes to creatures of the night. The Wolf Gift is no exception, and it does, as the Wall Street Journal noted, bring "vintage Anne Rice" to mind as it grapples with a "gothic, violent, gory, metaphysical" voyage into the supernatural. Watch our full Q&A with her (also available on our our YouTube channel.)



Some of the best moments from the talk included her reflections on today's popular paranormalists. Anne noted that she enjoys how writers today are "domesticating" vampires, and realizes it's a path her own vampires would never have taken. She also reveals her inspiration for the houses in her books. She built The Wolf Gift's opulent Nideck Point estate "block by block, floorboard by floorboard" with memories of the wonderful houses she's lived in, and with her admiration for great fictional houses in mind (like Rochester's in Jane Eyre and Miss Havisham's in Great Expectations).


We live-streamed our Q&A for fans outside of Google, many of whom submitted questions online for us to share with Anne in the course of the interview. I'd like to extend a big thanks for fans' participation and enthusiasm--your questions sparked some great discussion and we enjoyed how the event was so interactive.

Please stay tuned for more author events from Google Play and AtGoogleTalks!

Buy a digital copy of The Wolf Gift on the Google Play Store, to read on your tablet, phone, eReader or anywhere on the web:  
]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/anne-rice-on-man-wolves-white-collar-and-why-her-immortals-would-never-go-to-high-school/feed/ 0 Introducing Google Play: All the entertainment you love, anywhere you go https://googledata.org/google-books/introducing-google-play-all-the-entertainment-you-love-anywhere-you-go/ https://googledata.org/google-books/introducing-google-play-all-the-entertainment-you-love-anywhere-you-go/#comments Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:36:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=afc420e0856e9ed18b9deb8ea5f13584 Posted by Scott Dougall, Director, Product Management

Starting today Google eBooks will be available on Google Play - a new place to experience books, music, movies, and Android apps and games, available anywhere you go. For users of our Google Book Search platform, we are excited to offer this seamless way to purchase and enjoy the eBooks you’ve discovered. With over 4 million titles, Google Play is your home for the world’s largest selection of eBooks. Beyond books, Google Play lets you store up to 20,000 songs for free and buy millions of new songs. It’s home to 450,000 Android apps and games and gives you access to thousands of your favorite movies for rent, including new releases and HD titles.

Learn more on the Official Google Blog.

Explore Google Play at play.google.com/about
Shop our store at play.google.com
Follow Google Play on Google+ to keep up on the latest news, exclusive content, and deals.]]> Posted by Scott Dougall, Director, Product Management

Starting today Google eBooks will be available on Google Play - a new place to experience books, music, movies, and Android apps and games, available anywhere you go. For users of our Google Book Search platform, we are excited to offer this seamless way to purchase and enjoy the eBooks you’ve discovered. With over 4 million titles, Google Play is your home for the world’s largest selection of eBooks. Beyond books, Google Play lets you store up to 20,000 songs for free and buy millions of new songs. It’s home to 450,000 Android apps and games and gives you access to thousands of your favorite movies for rent, including new releases and HD titles.

Learn more on the Official Google Blog.

Explore Google Play at play.google.com/about
Shop our store at play.google.com
Follow Google Play on Google+ to keep up on the latest news, exclusive content, and deals.]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/introducing-google-play-all-the-entertainment-you-love-anywhere-you-go/feed/ 0 Identify and Use your Power: A discussion with Susan Cain https://googledata.org/google-books/identify-and-use-your-power-a-discussion-with-susan-cain/ https://googledata.org/google-books/identify-and-use-your-power-a-discussion-with-susan-cain/#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2012 23:22:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=bc38b7da631f2d9196cd1525a6908b94 Posted by Mireya Sémelas, Google eBooks Strategist

I had the pleasure today of meeting Susan Cain when she participated in an Authors@Google event hosted at our Mountain View headquarters. Her stimulating new release Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking has made it to the top of The New York Times Bestseller list.

Before becoming an acclaimed author, Susan practiced corporate law for seven years and then worked as a negotiations consultant. Her list of clients includes well-known firms like JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, One Hundred Women in Hedge Funds and many more. However, far from being the self-confident person that her career might make her appear to be, Susan declares herself an introvert. She prefers listening to talking and reading to socializing. Watch her presentation at Google here:





In her talk, Susan said that our style as introverts or extroverts is embedded in ourselves, just like our gender; and it makes us react to stimulation in different ways. Susan said that while extroverts seek stimulation, introverts tend to react more to light, sound and and other types of stimulation, preferring less of it.

From as early as our childhood days, Susan said, we are constantly exposed to extrovert environments: playgrounds in which we are made to join in games with other kids, school classes where we have to read out loud and participate in team assignments to obtain good grades. And yet, she asserted, some children stay on their parents’ laps instead of running around with others or seek quiet spots to do their homework. This attitude accompanies us through adulthood, where we're exposed to workplaces that promote open working spaces, teamwork and social gatherings.

Buy this Google eBook!
Susan’s book asks how introverts can cope and succeed, and suggests that we try to achieve a balance between our introvert and extrovert impulses. She points out that the most successful teams and marriages include both an introvert and extrovert. "No man is an island," she stated, "...we need people around us."

At the end of her talk, Susan shared with the attendees three important takeaways that resonated, personally, with me:
  1. Give yourself time for quiet. Guilt-free. We’re all entitled to it.
  2. Think differently about the next generation of introvert children. Solitude is a catalyst to creativity.
  3. Think hard about what the essence to your great power is.  Susan joked that it might be the ability to fly, go back in time, win a wizard scholarship or even find the key to a secret garden, but whatever it is - she urges us to use that power, well and brilliantly.  

]]> Posted by Mireya Sémelas, Google eBooks Strategist

I had the pleasure today of meeting Susan Cain when she participated in an Authors@Google event hosted at our Mountain View headquarters. Her stimulating new release Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking has made it to the top of The New York Times Bestseller list.

Before becoming an acclaimed author, Susan practiced corporate law for seven years and then worked as a negotiations consultant. Her list of clients includes well-known firms like JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, One Hundred Women in Hedge Funds and many more. However, far from being the self-confident person that her career might make her appear to be, Susan declares herself an introvert. She prefers listening to talking and reading to socializing. Watch her presentation at Google here:





In her talk, Susan said that our style as introverts or extroverts is embedded in ourselves, just like our gender; and it makes us react to stimulation in different ways. Susan said that while extroverts seek stimulation, introverts tend to react more to light, sound and and other types of stimulation, preferring less of it.

From as early as our childhood days, Susan said, we are constantly exposed to extrovert environments: playgrounds in which we are made to join in games with other kids, school classes where we have to read out loud and participate in team assignments to obtain good grades. And yet, she asserted, some children stay on their parents’ laps instead of running around with others or seek quiet spots to do their homework. This attitude accompanies us through adulthood, where we're exposed to workplaces that promote open working spaces, teamwork and social gatherings.

Buy this Google eBook!
Susan’s book asks how introverts can cope and succeed, and suggests that we try to achieve a balance between our introvert and extrovert impulses. She points out that the most successful teams and marriages include both an introvert and extrovert. "No man is an island," she stated, "...we need people around us."

At the end of her talk, Susan shared with the attendees three important takeaways that resonated, personally, with me:
  1. Give yourself time for quiet. Guilt-free. We’re all entitled to it.
  2. Think differently about the next generation of introvert children. Solitude is a catalyst to creativity.
  3. Think hard about what the essence to your great power is.  Susan joked that it might be the ability to fly, go back in time, win a wizard scholarship or even find the key to a secret garden, but whatever it is - she urges us to use that power, well and brilliantly.  

]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/identify-and-use-your-power-a-discussion-with-susan-cain/feed/ 0 Nothing Says Valentine’s Day Like Vampires: Get Twilight Today For Only $2.99 https://googledata.org/google-books/nothing-says-valentines-day-like-vampires-get-twilight-today-for-only-2-99/ https://googledata.org/google-books/nothing-says-valentines-day-like-vampires-get-twilight-today-for-only-2-99/#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:34:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=a49e9f9c109f7dc4d3eb1e2b6ca1fefb Posted by Ariel Levine, Google eBooks Associate

This one day special is now over.
Forget the chocolate and flowers this Valentine’s Day. The rush of new brooding love can be all yours with our special offer on Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight eBook. Seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan moves to a new town in the wilds of the Olympic Peninsula, and her life changes completely when she meets Edward Cullen, the most attractive guy at her high school. But Edward has a deep, supernatural secret, and his love, though pure and true, threatens her very existence. The angsty affection of Twilight spawned a whole new genre of paranormal romance when it was released and the series continues to lead the bestseller lists today. Treat yourself to this guilty pleasure with the first book in the series - Twilight, today for only $2.99. This offer is good for readers within the United States and Canada, through midnight EST today, 2/14/12.]]> Posted by Ariel Levine, Google eBooks Associate

This one day special is now over.
Forget the chocolate and flowers this Valentine’s Day. The rush of new brooding love can be all yours with our special offer on Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight eBook. Seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan moves to a new town in the wilds of the Olympic Peninsula, and her life changes completely when she meets Edward Cullen, the most attractive guy at her high school. But Edward has a deep, supernatural secret, and his love, though pure and true, threatens her very existence. The angsty affection of Twilight spawned a whole new genre of paranormal romance when it was released and the series continues to lead the bestseller lists today. Treat yourself to this guilty pleasure with the first book in the series - Twilight, today for only $2.99. This offer is good for readers within the United States and Canada, through midnight EST today, 2/14/12.]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/nothing-says-valentines-day-like-vampires-get-twilight-today-for-only-2-99/feed/ 0 Join Anne Rice’s online broadcast discussion of "The Wolf Gift" https://googledata.org/google-books/join-anne-rices-online-broadcast-discussion-of-the-wolf-gift/ https://googledata.org/google-books/join-anne-rices-online-broadcast-discussion-of-the-wolf-gift/#comments Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:06:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=32a9e3bf7f4e4a796d4a2089d1cfc7d8 Posted by Ariel Levine, Google eBooks Associate

Anne Rice, author of Interview with the Vampire, The Witching Hour, and Angel Time: The Songs of the Seraphim will be coming to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View to discuss her latest book, The Wolf Gift, on Friday, February 24th at 10AM PST. Fans around the world can get involved in this talk by submitting questions for her, and attend the talk by watching the live-stream on YouTube (see details below).


The Wolf Gift is a richly imagined story of a man turned wolf trying to figure out what his new reality means--all while trying to stay one step ahead of the people desperate to hunt him down. With this novel, Anne Rice makes an intriguing return to the gothic world her fans know and love, set this time not in her native New Orleans but along California's haunting mist-shrouded coast. Both searching and suspenseful, it’s a gripping exploration of a man both delighted and tormented by a life he could never have anticipated.

The talk will be live streamed on the Authors@Google YouTube channel, and there will be some time for fan questions. If you’d like to submit a question for consideration please visit our Google Moderator page for the event. We look forward to you joining us as we discuss the depths of this supernatural tale.

Read The Wolf Gift: Pre-order the ebook for The Wolf Gift today from Google eBooks (available February 14) for easy reading on tablets, smartphones, e-readers and the web. The Wolf Gift is available in all of our online stores: Buy in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia or Canada!

Submit your questions for Anne Rice: Click on this Google Moderator page to submit your questions and vote on other fans’ questions. We will select some of the most popular questions to ask Anne Rice during the talk. The Google Moderator page is open from now until February 23rd, 12PM PT.

Watch the live YouTube broadcast: On Friday, February 24th, at 10AM PT, Anne Rice’s interview will be broadcast live from the Authors@Google YouTube channel, youtube.com/atgoogletalks. The talk will last 30-45 minutes. We'll also post the recorded interview on this page afterwards.

(Photo credit: Matthias Scheer @2010)

More about Anne Rice:


Read some of her most popular books: 

]]> Posted by Ariel Levine, Google eBooks Associate

Anne Rice, author of Interview with the Vampire, The Witching Hour, and Angel Time: The Songs of the Seraphim will be coming to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View to discuss her latest book, The Wolf Gift, on Friday, February 24th at 10AM PST. Fans around the world can get involved in this talk by submitting questions for her, and attend the talk by watching the live-stream on YouTube (see details below).


The Wolf Gift is a richly imagined story of a man turned wolf trying to figure out what his new reality means--all while trying to stay one step ahead of the people desperate to hunt him down. With this novel, Anne Rice makes an intriguing return to the gothic world her fans know and love, set this time not in her native New Orleans but along California's haunting mist-shrouded coast. Both searching and suspenseful, it’s a gripping exploration of a man both delighted and tormented by a life he could never have anticipated.

The talk will be live streamed on the Authors@Google YouTube channel, and there will be some time for fan questions. If you’d like to submit a question for consideration please visit our Google Moderator page for the event. We look forward to you joining us as we discuss the depths of this supernatural tale.

Read The Wolf Gift: Pre-order the ebook for The Wolf Gift today from Google eBooks (available February 14) for easy reading on tablets, smartphones, e-readers and the web. The Wolf Gift is available in all of our online stores: Buy in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia or Canada!

Submit your questions for Anne Rice: Click on this Google Moderator page to submit your questions and vote on other fans’ questions. We will select some of the most popular questions to ask Anne Rice during the talk. The Google Moderator page is open from now until February 23rd, 12PM PT.

Watch the live YouTube broadcast: On Friday, February 24th, at 10AM PT, Anne Rice’s interview will be broadcast live from the Authors@Google YouTube channel, youtube.com/atgoogletalks. The talk will last 30-45 minutes. We'll also post the recorded interview on this page afterwards.

(Photo credit: Matthias Scheer @2010)

More about Anne Rice:


Read some of her most popular books: 

]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/join-anne-rices-online-broadcast-discussion-of-the-wolf-gift/feed/ 0 Doodling for Dickens’ Birthday: A behind the scenes look https://googledata.org/google-books/doodling-for-dickens-birthday-a-behind-the-scenes-look/ https://googledata.org/google-books/doodling-for-dickens-birthday-a-behind-the-scenes-look/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=4f964ca0132eb770cb47735cc2c49c4d Posted by Ariel Levine, Google eBooks Associate

Today marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens' birthday (born February 7, 1812). To celebrate the life and work of one of the world's greatest storytellers, the Google doodle team created this fantastic celebratory doodle for our home page:


In addition, our Google Books editorial team curated a collection of free and featured Dickens classics available in the Google eBookstore in Dickens' native land (United Kingdom) and some Commonwealth countries (Canada, Australia) as well as the US -- a relatively new nation that Dickens himself visited in 1842 and 1867.

As anyone who has read a Dickens novel can attest, they are full of memorable characters, realism, humor, lyricism, and social commentary. He is considered one of the greatest novelists of the Victorian era, and responsible for some of the most iconic stories in English literature. Contemplating Dickens’ diversity of characters and themes, I wondered how the artist who created the Dickens doodle, Mike Dutton, handled the challenge.

Prior to working at Google, Mike was a freelance artist, and illustrated several children’s books, including Donovan's Big Day. He is no stranger to making the words on a page come alive through imagery.

Mike has worked on countless doodles, some honoring other authors like Richard Scarry, and others celebrating events like the Royal Wedding and the World Cup. His favorite doodles to work on (so far!) were Mary Blair’s 100th birthday and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (author of The Little Prince).

When asked about his experience trying to represent Dickens, Mike said that it posed a greater challenge than most. “Google doodles,” he said, "are intended to be fun and delightful"; however Dickens’ work is frequently serious in tone. So I decided to focus on Dickens’ characters to bridge this gap.”

And Mike’s doodle is full of characters! We see Nell and her grandfather in the The Old Curiosity Shop, many characters from Little Dorrit, Oliver and his friends from Oliver Twist and Estella and Pip from Great Expectations. Even a certain French aristocrat graces the doodle, sitting inside the uppercase “G” -- a reference to his near death by guillotine. And no tribute to Dickens would be complete without Ebenezer Scrooge and a vivid depiction of London in the background.

Mike said that while he normally works on his tablet, he had to go back to a physical drawing board for the Dickens doodle, creating each character separately so that he could place them within different parts of the Google logo. Like an engineer, he likes to iterate on what he designs until he gets it right.

Mike’s puzzle – layering characters from Great Expectations and Oliver Twist

When I visited his office, I also saw that like other artists, Mike immersed himself in his subject. He had Dickens’ novels stacked by his desk, as well as images from adaptations of the author’s novels pinned to his wall.

 “Just happy to be here.”

Interestingly, while a doodler’s work neither hangs in a museum nor receives the reverence of a Da Vinci or a Picasso, the illustrations are perhaps more widely and instantly viewed than any other artists’ in history. When asked about this, Mike responded:

“Sometimes I feel I got to cut in line somewhere along the artist’s journey. Being a doodler is a very fun job, but we take it seriously. Our ultimate goal is to engage and delight users, but we want to make sure we really pay proper homage to each figure along the way too.”

Mike’s doodle lets Dickens’ characters speak to the author’s impact, the way Dickens himself used them to speak his messages to the world. They are familiar, warm, and tell their sometimes harsh stories in a way that makes us want to take notice and enjoy. He uses them to successfully capture what made Dickens’ great: characters that are real to us.

Find out more about Dickens’ work and Google doodles: 

]]> Posted by Ariel Levine, Google eBooks Associate

Today marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens' birthday (born February 7, 1812). To celebrate the life and work of one of the world's greatest storytellers, the Google doodle team created this fantastic celebratory doodle for our home page:


In addition, our Google Books editorial team curated a collection of free and featured Dickens classics available in the Google eBookstore in Dickens' native land (United Kingdom) and some Commonwealth countries (Canada, Australia) as well as the US -- a relatively new nation that Dickens himself visited in 1842 and 1867.

As anyone who has read a Dickens novel can attest, they are full of memorable characters, realism, humor, lyricism, and social commentary. He is considered one of the greatest novelists of the Victorian era, and responsible for some of the most iconic stories in English literature. Contemplating Dickens’ diversity of characters and themes, I wondered how the artist who created the Dickens doodle, Mike Dutton, handled the challenge.

Prior to working at Google, Mike was a freelance artist, and illustrated several children’s books, including Donovan's Big Day. He is no stranger to making the words on a page come alive through imagery.

Mike has worked on countless doodles, some honoring other authors like Richard Scarry, and others celebrating events like the Royal Wedding and the World Cup. His favorite doodles to work on (so far!) were Mary Blair’s 100th birthday and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (author of The Little Prince).

When asked about his experience trying to represent Dickens, Mike said that it posed a greater challenge than most. “Google doodles,” he said, "are intended to be fun and delightful"; however Dickens’ work is frequently serious in tone. So I decided to focus on Dickens’ characters to bridge this gap.”

And Mike’s doodle is full of characters! We see Nell and her grandfather in the The Old Curiosity Shop, many characters from Little Dorrit, Oliver and his friends from Oliver Twist and Estella and Pip from Great Expectations. Even a certain French aristocrat graces the doodle, sitting inside the uppercase “G” -- a reference to his near death by guillotine. And no tribute to Dickens would be complete without Ebenezer Scrooge and a vivid depiction of London in the background.

Mike said that while he normally works on his tablet, he had to go back to a physical drawing board for the Dickens doodle, creating each character separately so that he could place them within different parts of the Google logo. Like an engineer, he likes to iterate on what he designs until he gets it right.

Mike’s puzzle – layering characters from Great Expectations and Oliver Twist

When I visited his office, I also saw that like other artists, Mike immersed himself in his subject. He had Dickens’ novels stacked by his desk, as well as images from adaptations of the author’s novels pinned to his wall.

 “Just happy to be here.”

Interestingly, while a doodler’s work neither hangs in a museum nor receives the reverence of a Da Vinci or a Picasso, the illustrations are perhaps more widely and instantly viewed than any other artists’ in history. When asked about this, Mike responded:

“Sometimes I feel I got to cut in line somewhere along the artist’s journey. Being a doodler is a very fun job, but we take it seriously. Our ultimate goal is to engage and delight users, but we want to make sure we really pay proper homage to each figure along the way too.”

Mike’s doodle lets Dickens’ characters speak to the author’s impact, the way Dickens himself used them to speak his messages to the world. They are familiar, warm, and tell their sometimes harsh stories in a way that makes us want to take notice and enjoy. He uses them to successfully capture what made Dickens’ great: characters that are real to us.

Find out more about Dickens’ work and Google doodles: 

]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/doodling-for-dickens-birthday-a-behind-the-scenes-look/feed/ 0 Gertrude Stein puts the “there” back in Oakland https://googledata.org/google-books/gertrude-stein-puts-the-there-back-in-oakland/ https://googledata.org/google-books/gertrude-stein-puts-the-there-back-in-oakland/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:52:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=5b9ba0562dc9f04f030322d6ecd9a731 By Matt Werner, Technical Writer, Enterprise

Gertrude Stein. (Courtesy Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.)

What exactly did renowned U.S. writer and art collector Gertrude Stein mean when she said “there is no there there” about Oakland, California? In honor of Gertrude Stein’s 138th birthday today, we explore the meaning of this oft-quoted phrase.

In fall 2011, I attended the SF Museum of Modern Art’s exhibit of Stein’s groundbreaking Paris art collection. At the exhibit, a small display about her childhood in Oakland, California, sparked my interest. I was born in Oakland, and I’m currently writing a book about Oakland. I wondered what it was like for Gertrude Stein growing up there in the 1880s. I purchased The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas from the Google eBookstore to read about Stein’s experiences in Paris and San Francisco with her companion, Alice Toklas. The more I read by Stein and saw how she plays with language, the more I wondered about the meaning of her “no there there” quote.



There is a “There” in Oakland. (Photo by Joe Sciarrillo)

Searching Google Books, I found the “no there there” quote on page 298 of Everybody’s Autobiography, published in 1937. The full quote is:

“...what was the use of my having come from Oakland it was not natural to have come from there yes write about it if I like or anything if I like but not there, there is no there there.”

Searching the Google News archive, I found that dozens of articles over the last several decades used her quote. Searching Google Scholar, I found over 1,000 scholarly articles referencing her quote. But still, I wanted to learn more. What was Oakland like in the 1880s? I went to the Oakland History Room at the Oakland Main Library to find out.

Newspaper clippings from Stein’s file in the Oakland History Room referencing her “there” quote.

Stein’s family moved to Oakland in 1880, when she was six, and lived at the Tubbs Hotel their first year. Author Robert Louis Stevenson also stayed at this hotel from March to April, 1880.

Tubbs Hotel, Oakland, California. (Courtesy Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room)

Her family then moved to a home near today’s 13th Avenue and East 25th Avenue. She lived in Oakland until 1891, and left at age 17 for Baltimore, after her parents passed away. Oakland was a much smaller town then, with a population of just under 35,000 in 1880.

Downtown Oakland in 1889. (Courtesy Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room)

Children playing in a water hole near where Stein grew up in Oakland in this 1884 photo. (Courtesy Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room)

Nearly 45 years later, Stein returned to Oakland on a lecture tour in 1935. By that time, the city had grown nearly 10 times to over 300,000 residents. When she tried to find her childhood home, it was no longer there. When she published Everybody’s Autobiography two years later, saying there was “no there there,” it was an expression of “painful nostalgia” about her home being gone and the land around it being completely changed. The house where she grew up was on a sprawling 10-acre plot surrounded by orchards and farms. By 1935, it had been replaced by dozens of houses. Oakland held a special significance to her, and on her return, she found that Oakland had urbanized and changed from the pastoral place she remembered.

Gertrude Stein writes in her autobiographical novel, The Making of Americans, about her childhood in Oakland, where a child “could have all anybody could want of joyous sweating, of rain and wind, of hunting, of cows and dogs and horses, of chopping wood, of making hay, of dreaming, of lying in a hollow all warm with the sun shining while the wind was howling.” She won her first literary award as a student at Franklin School in Oakland for a piece she wrote about the sun “setting in a cavern of clouds.” Returning to her home decades later to find it gone and to find Oakland no longer a place “of chopping wood, of making hay” struck her, and she wrote her famous “no there there” quote in response.

Stein’s house, two miles south of this 1889 photo, was in a sparsely-populated section of Oakland. (Courtesy Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room)

When researching Stein at the Oakland History Room, the literary portrait file had photos of Jack London, a contemporary of Stein’s, who also grew up in Oakland. The file included other famous authors who visited Oakland in the late 1800s, including Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, and John Muir. Despite the misinterpretation of Stein’s quote, there has always been a “there” in Oakland. Oakland has been blessed with several waves of artistic movements, stretching back to these authors. And in interviewing innovative artists and writers in Oakland today for my forthcoming book Oakland in Popular Memory, I’ve seen first-hand that now more than ever, there is a “there” in Oakland.]]> By Matt Werner, Technical Writer, Enterprise

Gertrude Stein. (Courtesy Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.)

What exactly did renowned U.S. writer and art collector Gertrude Stein mean when she said “there is no there there” about Oakland, California? In honor of Gertrude Stein’s 138th birthday today, we explore the meaning of this oft-quoted phrase.

In fall 2011, I attended the SF Museum of Modern Art’s exhibit of Stein’s groundbreaking Paris art collection. At the exhibit, a small display about her childhood in Oakland, California, sparked my interest. I was born in Oakland, and I’m currently writing a book about Oakland. I wondered what it was like for Gertrude Stein growing up there in the 1880s. I purchased The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas from the Google eBookstore to read about Stein’s experiences in Paris and San Francisco with her companion, Alice Toklas. The more I read by Stein and saw how she plays with language, the more I wondered about the meaning of her “no there there” quote.



There is a “There” in Oakland. (Photo by Joe Sciarrillo)

Searching Google Books, I found the “no there there” quote on page 298 of Everybody’s Autobiography, published in 1937. The full quote is:

“...what was the use of my having come from Oakland it was not natural to have come from there yes write about it if I like or anything if I like but not there, there is no there there.”

Searching the Google News archive, I found that dozens of articles over the last several decades used her quote. Searching Google Scholar, I found over 1,000 scholarly articles referencing her quote. But still, I wanted to learn more. What was Oakland like in the 1880s? I went to the Oakland History Room at the Oakland Main Library to find out.

Newspaper clippings from Stein’s file in the Oakland History Room referencing her “there” quote.

Stein’s family moved to Oakland in 1880, when she was six, and lived at the Tubbs Hotel their first year. Author Robert Louis Stevenson also stayed at this hotel from March to April, 1880.

Tubbs Hotel, Oakland, California. (Courtesy Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room)

Her family then moved to a home near today’s 13th Avenue and East 25th Avenue. She lived in Oakland until 1891, and left at age 17 for Baltimore, after her parents passed away. Oakland was a much smaller town then, with a population of just under 35,000 in 1880.

Downtown Oakland in 1889. (Courtesy Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room)

Children playing in a water hole near where Stein grew up in Oakland in this 1884 photo. (Courtesy Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room)

Nearly 45 years later, Stein returned to Oakland on a lecture tour in 1935. By that time, the city had grown nearly 10 times to over 300,000 residents. When she tried to find her childhood home, it was no longer there. When she published Everybody’s Autobiography two years later, saying there was “no there there,” it was an expression of “painful nostalgia” about her home being gone and the land around it being completely changed. The house where she grew up was on a sprawling 10-acre plot surrounded by orchards and farms. By 1935, it had been replaced by dozens of houses. Oakland held a special significance to her, and on her return, she found that Oakland had urbanized and changed from the pastoral place she remembered.

Gertrude Stein writes in her autobiographical novel, The Making of Americans, about her childhood in Oakland, where a child “could have all anybody could want of joyous sweating, of rain and wind, of hunting, of cows and dogs and horses, of chopping wood, of making hay, of dreaming, of lying in a hollow all warm with the sun shining while the wind was howling.” She won her first literary award as a student at Franklin School in Oakland for a piece she wrote about the sun “setting in a cavern of clouds.” Returning to her home decades later to find it gone and to find Oakland no longer a place “of chopping wood, of making hay” struck her, and she wrote her famous “no there there” quote in response.

Stein’s house, two miles south of this 1889 photo, was in a sparsely-populated section of Oakland. (Courtesy Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room)

When researching Stein at the Oakland History Room, the literary portrait file had photos of Jack London, a contemporary of Stein’s, who also grew up in Oakland. The file included other famous authors who visited Oakland in the late 1800s, including Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, and John Muir. Despite the misinterpretation of Stein’s quote, there has always been a “there” in Oakland. Oakland has been blessed with several waves of artistic movements, stretching back to these authors. And in interviewing innovative artists and writers in Oakland today for my forthcoming book Oakland in Popular Memory, I’ve seen first-hand that now more than ever, there is a “there” in Oakland.]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/gertrude-stein-puts-the-there-back-in-oakland/feed/ 0 East West Bookstore: Lending a personal touch to eBooks https://googledata.org/google-books/east-west-bookstore-lending-a-personal-touch-to-ebooks/ https://googledata.org/google-books/east-west-bookstore-lending-a-personal-touch-to-ebooks/#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 23:03:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=08d6301b8a9ae119da6192c32a81055c This is a guest blog post written by Graham Waldon, manager of East West Bookstore, an independent bookseller based in Mountain View, California


People are more important than things. That motto lies at the heart of what we believe at East West Bookstore, lending a certain resonance to our partnership with Google and its philosophy of "focus on the user and all else will follow."

East West is not just a business. It is above all a resource for expansive ideas, a retreat from ordinary life, and a gathering place in support of community ideals and spiritual growth. True spirituality is always current, vibrant, and applicable to daily life, not something to be hidden away or buried in the depths of history. In that spirit, East West always strives to evolve and adapt to people's current needs. One of our fun new evolutions this past year has been our integration with Google to sell Google eBooks on our website.

Our partnership has given us a complete ebookstore, with a vast selection, so that as more and more people move to ebooks, we'll be there ready for them. Since we rely heavily (like all independent bookstores) on people who love helping to support us, we're glad we can offer them this way of doing so. And when you buy a Google eBook from us, you're supporting more than just East West. You're serving our whole community by supporting an important spiritual and cultural resource that is unique in the Bay Area.




Some of us on the staff here already take our eReaders with us wherever we go, and many of our customers are the same way. For those who aren't, we held a "technology petting zoo" event on January 3rd for folks who were just looking for a friendly way to dip their toes in and find out what this whole ebook thing is all about. With help from some of our Google friends, we had demonstrations, one-on-one assistance, and a variety of devices -- including an iPad, iPhone and Android devices -- on hand for people to try out.

Customers who came out enjoyed the event, learned a lot about eReaders and apps, and became more familiar with our ebookstore. A visiting couple from Portland was glad to be able to support East West even after they headed back home, by purchasing eBooks. A local author was inspired to get her own book published through Google eBooks. And everyone enjoyed exploring the expanded possibilities of reading in the digital age.


Check out East West's ebookstore.

Hundreds of bookstores across the US are also selling Google eBooks. To find your nearest participating independent bookstore and learn how you can support them through Google eBooks, visit http://www.indiebound.org/google-ebooks. For customers outside the US, you can search for participating stores in Australia, Canada and the UK. ]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/east-west-bookstore-lending-a-personal-touch-to-ebooks/feed/ 0 Read Google eBooks Offline! https://googledata.org/google-books/read-google-ebooks-offline/ https://googledata.org/google-books/read-google-ebooks-offline/#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:14:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=e6690659e631c3b01e36bb074207a3be Posted by Xinxing Gu, Google Books Product Manager

We’ve all been there: the Internet is suddenly down, and you can’t keep on reading your ebook to see what the character decides to do next. Or you’re about to head to the airport and want to be able to dive into a newly-purchased ebook during a long flight.

Well, here’s some much-awaited good news! Google eBooks now supports offline reading in Google Chrome. Whether you are flying through the air, backpacking through the European countryside, or simply facing intermittent network connections, you can always read your Google eBooks in your Chrome browser or on your Chromebook.

To read your Google eBooks offline, you’ll need to install the Google Books app from our Chrome Web Store and ensure your Google eBooks are available to read offline. Please see this article in our Help Center and follow the simple step-by-step process to enable offline reading for your ebooks.

We’re excited to make it easier for readers to access their Google eBooks on the go -- whether you're online or offline!]]> Posted by Xinxing Gu, Google Books Product Manager

We’ve all been there: the Internet is suddenly down, and you can’t keep on reading your ebook to see what the character decides to do next. Or you’re about to head to the airport and want to be able to dive into a newly-purchased ebook during a long flight.

Well, here’s some much-awaited good news! Google eBooks now supports offline reading in Google Chrome. Whether you are flying through the air, backpacking through the European countryside, or simply facing intermittent network connections, you can always read your Google eBooks in your Chrome browser or on your Chromebook.

To read your Google eBooks offline, you’ll need to install the Google Books app from our Chrome Web Store and ensure your Google eBooks are available to read offline. Please see this article in our Help Center and follow the simple step-by-step process to enable offline reading for your ebooks.

We’re excited to make it easier for readers to access their Google eBooks on the go -- whether you're online or offline!]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/read-google-ebooks-offline/feed/ 0 Flock to Google Books to Unlock Secrets in Angry Birds Seasons https://googledata.org/google-books/flock-to-google-books-to-unlock-secrets-in-angry-birds-seasons/ https://googledata.org/google-books/flock-to-google-books-to-unlock-secrets-in-angry-birds-seasons/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:10:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=6bcabfd93d8bd05245476b22fa45a489 Posted by Oliver Chiang, Google Books Strategist


Tis the season to be... angry! We're partnering up with Angry Birds this holiday season to bring you an early gift. In the latest adventures of your favorite furious feathered friends — Angry Birds Seasons for Chrome — the birds have locked away bonus levels in the game. Being avid readers, they've hidden clues to unlock the bonus levels in the new Google Books app for Chrome.

We're not going to reveal the birds' secret here, but read on for some hints:

First, if you haven't already, download the Angry Birds Seasons app for Chrome. To do so, open your Chrome web browser, then download the game by going here in Chrome. (Don't have Chrome yet? It's a fast and free browser available for download here, with Angry Birds Seasons and Google Books app pre-installed.)


To get the bonus levels in Angry Birds Seasons, you'll need to head over to the Google Books app to find your first clue. Open your Chrome web browser, and go here to download the Google Books app. Once you've installed the Books app, open it up to find out how to unlock the bonus levels in Angry Birds Seasons.

What levels are the Angry Birds hiding? Find out with Google Books!
]]> Posted by Oliver Chiang, Google Books Strategist


Tis the season to be... angry! We're partnering up with Angry Birds this holiday season to bring you an early gift. In the latest adventures of your favorite furious feathered friends — Angry Birds Seasons for Chrome — the birds have locked away bonus levels in the game. Being avid readers, they've hidden clues to unlock the bonus levels in the new Google Books app for Chrome.

We're not going to reveal the birds' secret here, but read on for some hints:

First, if you haven't already, download the Angry Birds Seasons app for Chrome. To do so, open your Chrome web browser, then download the game by going here in Chrome. (Don't have Chrome yet? It's a fast and free browser available for download here, with Angry Birds Seasons and Google Books app pre-installed.)


To get the bonus levels in Angry Birds Seasons, you'll need to head over to the Google Books app to find your first clue. Open your Chrome web browser, and go here to download the Google Books app. Once you've installed the Books app, open it up to find out how to unlock the bonus levels in Angry Birds Seasons.

What levels are the Angry Birds hiding? Find out with Google Books!
]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/flock-to-google-books-to-unlock-secrets-in-angry-birds-seasons/feed/ 0 Google Currents is hot off the press https://googledata.org/google-books/google-currents-is-hot-off-the-press/ https://googledata.org/google-books/google-currents-is-hot-off-the-press/#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:39:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=ad94f5f82b6af6c631b759d95a0dbce2 Posted by Mussie Shore, Product Manager, and Sami Shalabi, Technical Lead

The following launch announcement is cross-posted from the Google Mobile blog, and comes from Google Currents, a new app that makes reading magazine and news articles on mobile devices a clean and elegant experience.

We strive to give you beautiful and simple ways to experience all the content the web has to offer, such as sharing photos on Google+, watching YouTube videos and discovering books, movies and music from Android Market. Today we’re expanding our content offering with the introduction of Google Currents, a new application for Android devices, iPads and iPhones that lets you explore online magazines and other content with the swipe of a finger.




Ready for consumers
We’ve worked with more than 150 publishing partners to offer full-length articles from more than 180 editions including CNET, AllThingsD, Forbes, Saveur, PBS, Huffington Post, Fast Company and more. Content is optimized for smartphones and tablets, allowing you to intuitively navigate between words, pictures and video on large and small screens alike, even if you’re offline.

To get started, simply download the app and choose the publications you want to subscribe to for free. You can also add RSS, video and photo feeds, public Google+ streams and Google Reader subscriptions you’re already following. In addition to consuming your favorite media, you can also use the trending tab to discover related content that matches your tastes.

Ready for publishers
Alongside Google Currents, we’re also launching a self-service platform that gives publishers the flexibility to design, brand and customize their web content. For example, if you’re a small regional news outlet, a non-profit organization without access to a mobile development team, or a national TV network with web content, you can effortlessly create hands-on digital publications for Google Currents.


Great content needs a great audience, which is why Google Currents is integrated with Google+ so users can share articles or videos they’ve enjoyed with their circles. Publishers can also associate their account with Google Analytics in order to increase their awareness of consumers’ content preferences, device use and geographic distribution.

Google Currents is now available for download in Android Market and the Apple App Store for US users. Whether you’re a reader or a publisher, we hope that Google Currents helps you easily experience the best content on the web. Try it here now and stay tuned for more to come.]]> Posted by Mussie Shore, Product Manager, and Sami Shalabi, Technical Lead

The following launch announcement is cross-posted from the Google Mobile blog, and comes from Google Currents, a new app that makes reading magazine and news articles on mobile devices a clean and elegant experience.

We strive to give you beautiful and simple ways to experience all the content the web has to offer, such as sharing photos on Google+, watching YouTube videos and discovering books, movies and music from Android Market. Today we’re expanding our content offering with the introduction of Google Currents, a new application for Android devices, iPads and iPhones that lets you explore online magazines and other content with the swipe of a finger.




Ready for consumers
We’ve worked with more than 150 publishing partners to offer full-length articles from more than 180 editions including CNET, AllThingsD, Forbes, Saveur, PBS, Huffington Post, Fast Company and more. Content is optimized for smartphones and tablets, allowing you to intuitively navigate between words, pictures and video on large and small screens alike, even if you’re offline.

To get started, simply download the app and choose the publications you want to subscribe to for free. You can also add RSS, video and photo feeds, public Google+ streams and Google Reader subscriptions you’re already following. In addition to consuming your favorite media, you can also use the trending tab to discover related content that matches your tastes.

Ready for publishers
Alongside Google Currents, we’re also launching a self-service platform that gives publishers the flexibility to design, brand and customize their web content. For example, if you’re a small regional news outlet, a non-profit organization without access to a mobile development team, or a national TV network with web content, you can effortlessly create hands-on digital publications for Google Currents.


Great content needs a great audience, which is why Google Currents is integrated with Google+ so users can share articles or videos they’ve enjoyed with their circles. Publishers can also associate their account with Google Analytics in order to increase their awareness of consumers’ content preferences, device use and geographic distribution.

Google Currents is now available for download in Android Market and the Apple App Store for US users. Whether you’re a reader or a publisher, we hope that Google Currents helps you easily experience the best content on the web. Try it here now and stay tuned for more to come.]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/google-currents-is-hot-off-the-press/feed/ 0 Take Note(s): Highlighting your Google eBooks https://googledata.org/google-books/take-notes-highlighting-your-google-ebooks/ https://googledata.org/google-books/take-notes-highlighting-your-google-ebooks/#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:03:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=933ed52818051f09b49c40bb8be8b9a9 Posted by Xinxing Gu, Google Books Product Manager


Like many of you, we love to highlight and mark up our books, capturing insights, important notes to remember, or even gathering opinions to later share with our favorite authors. Starting today, you'll also be able to break out the colored highlighters and pens with Google eBooks in the Web Reader.


To start adding notes, first open your web browser and find your Google eBooks in your My eBooks bookshelf (make sure you are signed into your account at the top right hand corner of your screen). If you don’t have any ebooks yet, you can start your collection with a free classic from Best of the Free bookshelf, or purchase an ebook from our eBookstore. Then, click on the book to open it in the Web Reader.

You should be able to select the text you want to comment on by dragging or double-clicking with your mouse. A context menu will appear, and you can then click on "Add Note".


A notepad will be displayed where you can write down your notes and pick a highlight color too. In addition, you can add multiple lines of notes, and format them with bold or italic font style. To make text bold, place the text between two asterisks (*), and to italicize text, place it between two underscores (_). For instance:


When you click the "Save" button, you will create a new note. Then, when you bring that note up, it will display the formatting you specified:



You can also just pick a color from the bottom of the original context menu to highlight the text, without adding notes:


After adding notes, you can conveniently see all your notes in the ebook by clicking on the "Margin Notes" icon at the top right of the Reader. The menu will show you all the text you've highlighted text and the notes you've made on them. You can click on each result to go to the corresponding page in the book.


To edit or delete a note, hover your mouse over the highlighted text until a pop-up menu appears. Then click on the "Edit" or "Delete" button to make the change.

These new features are currently only enabled for ebooks available in "flowing text mode", and highlights or notes can't be added to ebook samples. We are also working hard on bringing these features to your mobile devices and eReaders, so stay tuned!]]> Posted by Xinxing Gu, Google Books Product Manager


Like many of you, we love to highlight and mark up our books, capturing insights, important notes to remember, or even gathering opinions to later share with our favorite authors. Starting today, you'll also be able to break out the colored highlighters and pens with Google eBooks in the Web Reader.


To start adding notes, first open your web browser and find your Google eBooks in your My eBooks bookshelf (make sure you are signed into your account at the top right hand corner of your screen). If you don’t have any ebooks yet, you can start your collection with a free classic from Best of the Free bookshelf, or purchase an ebook from our eBookstore. Then, click on the book to open it in the Web Reader.

You should be able to select the text you want to comment on by dragging or double-clicking with your mouse. A context menu will appear, and you can then click on "Add Note".


A notepad will be displayed where you can write down your notes and pick a highlight color too. In addition, you can add multiple lines of notes, and format them with bold or italic font style. To make text bold, place the text between two asterisks (*), and to italicize text, place it between two underscores (_). For instance:


When you click the "Save" button, you will create a new note. Then, when you bring that note up, it will display the formatting you specified:



You can also just pick a color from the bottom of the original context menu to highlight the text, without adding notes:


After adding notes, you can conveniently see all your notes in the ebook by clicking on the "Margin Notes" icon at the top right of the Reader. The menu will show you all the text you've highlighted text and the notes you've made on them. You can click on each result to go to the corresponding page in the book.


To edit or delete a note, hover your mouse over the highlighted text until a pop-up menu appears. Then click on the "Edit" or "Delete" button to make the change.

These new features are currently only enabled for ebooks available in "flowing text mode", and highlights or notes can't be added to ebook samples. We are also working hard on bringing these features to your mobile devices and eReaders, so stay tuned!]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/take-notes-highlighting-your-google-ebooks/feed/ 0 Celebrating the life of Mark Twain with a Google Doodle and Google Books https://googledata.org/google-books/celebrating-the-life-of-mark-twain-with-a-google-doodle-and-google-books/ https://googledata.org/google-books/celebrating-the-life-of-mark-twain-with-a-google-doodle-and-google-books/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 03:24:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=10758facbb4adeefa8e67dde6bcf5f3b Posted by Oliver Chiang, Google eBooks Strategist


Please note some images may not be available in full view to readers outside the United States

In honor of Samuel Langhorne Clemens' – better known to the world as Mark Twain – 176th birthday today, Google has prepared a special doodle evoking one the most famous scenes from one of Twain's most famous novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. We at Google Books invite you to take a trip through this American author and humorist's life via our body of digitized works, and maybe even convince you to read a free ebook copy of one of Twain's classics.

As a child, Twain lived in Hannibal, Missouri, a town on the Mississippi River, in the early to mid-1800s. Twain describes one of his first jobs as a "printer's 'devil'" – an apprentice at his uncle's newspaper, the Weekly Hannibal Journal. "500 subscribers, and they paid in cord-wood, cabbages, and unmarketable turnips," he recalls of the experience later in his short-lived column "Memoranda" (circa 1871) for The Galaxy magazine.


From the cover of Life on the Mississippi

Twain was a man of many jobs and experiences. In Life on the Mississippi, Twain writes about his early twenties as a steamboat pilot on the river: "I believe there has been nothing like it elsewhere in the world." Soon after, as described in "The Private History of a Campaign that Failed," Twain talks about his very brief stint in a volunteer militia group for the Confederacy at the start of the U.S. Civil War.

Embarking on his career as a writer and a journalist in the mid-1860s, Twain wrote about his travels in the the U.S. and Europe in Roughing It and The Innocents Abroad, respectively.

Illustration from The Innocents Abroad

By midlife, the prolific Twain was publishing some of his best-known works, for instance –

1906 photo from a copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Twain was born during Halley's Comet's passing by Earth, and famously predicted he would "go out with it" too. Just a day after the comet's subsequent return in 1910, Twain indeed passed away. If the writer ever felt any grievance toward the harbinger-comet, he would be happy to know that he is much more popular, at least in literature, than the comet. Mentions of his pen name far surpass mentions of "Halley's Comet" in our extensive corpus of scanned Google Books, as seen in the Ngram chart below:

The blue line represents mentions of "Mark Twain", the red, "Halley's comet"

Twain also arranged for his whimsical autobiography, Autobiography of Mark Twain, to be published 100 years after his death. The book was published in 2010 by the University of California Press, and is available for purchase as a Google eBook. Its success makes Twain one of the few to become a posthumous best-selling author, a full century later.

Find more digitized ebooks by Mark Twain in our Google eBookstore or our Best of the free shelf.]]> Posted by Oliver Chiang, Google eBooks Strategist


Please note some images may not be available in full view to readers outside the United States

In honor of Samuel Langhorne Clemens' – better known to the world as Mark Twain – 176th birthday today, Google has prepared a special doodle evoking one the most famous scenes from one of Twain's most famous novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. We at Google Books invite you to take a trip through this American author and humorist's life via our body of digitized works, and maybe even convince you to read a free ebook copy of one of Twain's classics.

As a child, Twain lived in Hannibal, Missouri, a town on the Mississippi River, in the early to mid-1800s. Twain describes one of his first jobs as a "printer's 'devil'" – an apprentice at his uncle's newspaper, the Weekly Hannibal Journal. "500 subscribers, and they paid in cord-wood, cabbages, and unmarketable turnips," he recalls of the experience later in his short-lived column "Memoranda" (circa 1871) for The Galaxy magazine.


From the cover of Life on the Mississippi

Twain was a man of many jobs and experiences. In Life on the Mississippi, Twain writes about his early twenties as a steamboat pilot on the river: "I believe there has been nothing like it elsewhere in the world." Soon after, as described in "The Private History of a Campaign that Failed," Twain talks about his very brief stint in a volunteer militia group for the Confederacy at the start of the U.S. Civil War.

Embarking on his career as a writer and a journalist in the mid-1860s, Twain wrote about his travels in the the U.S. and Europe in Roughing It and The Innocents Abroad, respectively.

Illustration from The Innocents Abroad

By midlife, the prolific Twain was publishing some of his best-known works, for instance –

1906 photo from a copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Twain was born during Halley's Comet's passing by Earth, and famously predicted he would "go out with it" too. Just a day after the comet's subsequent return in 1910, Twain indeed passed away. If the writer ever felt any grievance toward the harbinger-comet, he would be happy to know that he is much more popular, at least in literature, than the comet. Mentions of his pen name far surpass mentions of "Halley's Comet" in our extensive corpus of scanned Google Books, as seen in the Ngram chart below:

The blue line represents mentions of "Mark Twain", the red, "Halley's comet"

Twain also arranged for his whimsical autobiography, Autobiography of Mark Twain, to be published 100 years after his death. The book was published in 2010 by the University of California Press, and is available for purchase as a Google eBook. Its success makes Twain one of the few to become a posthumous best-selling author, a full century later.

Find more digitized ebooks by Mark Twain in our Google eBookstore or our Best of the free shelf.]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/celebrating-the-life-of-mark-twain-with-a-google-doodle-and-google-books/feed/ 0 Pre-order your favorite ebooks at the Google eBookstore https://googledata.org/google-books/pre-order-your-favorite-ebooks-at-the-google-ebookstore/ https://googledata.org/google-books/pre-order-your-favorite-ebooks-at-the-google-ebookstore/#comments Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=2fb7a6400787fa620b7ab9afcbd74535 Posted by Stella Loh, Google eBookstore Product Manager


Excited about Michael Connelly's upcoming new book The Drop? Can't wait to get your hands on True Blue by Diana Palmer? Worried your bookstore will run out of Dean Koontz's The Moonlit Mind before you can get your copy?

Have no fear: Pre-ordering in the Google eBookstore is here!

We are excited to announce that the our eBookstore now supports pre-orders for many titles that have not yet been released. No longer must you wait outside in long lines and in the cold, or worry that you'll forget to call ahead with enough time to reserve a copy of that sequel you've been dying to read.

Simply sign into your Google Account, search for the title you want to pre-order and click on "Pre-order eBook" button.


After you’ve confirmed your pre-order, the title will appear in your purchase history. Once the title is officially released to the public, your credit card will be charged, and we'll send you an email letting you know that your book is ready to read!]]> Posted by Stella Loh, Google eBookstore Product Manager


Excited about Michael Connelly's upcoming new book The Drop? Can't wait to get your hands on True Blue by Diana Palmer? Worried your bookstore will run out of Dean Koontz's The Moonlit Mind before you can get your copy?

Have no fear: Pre-ordering in the Google eBookstore is here!

We are excited to announce that the our eBookstore now supports pre-orders for many titles that have not yet been released. No longer must you wait outside in long lines and in the cold, or worry that you'll forget to call ahead with enough time to reserve a copy of that sequel you've been dying to read.

Simply sign into your Google Account, search for the title you want to pre-order and click on "Pre-order eBook" button.


After you’ve confirmed your pre-order, the title will appear in your purchase history. Once the title is officially released to the public, your credit card will be charged, and we'll send you an email letting you know that your book is ready to read!]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/pre-order-your-favorite-ebooks-at-the-google-ebookstore/feed/ 0 Google eBooks arrive Down Under https://googledata.org/google-books/google-ebooks-arrive-down-under/ https://googledata.org/google-books/google-ebooks-arrive-down-under/#comments Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:08:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=5eae90895c35cbaf9088b7d0d01284e7 Posted by Mark Tanner, eBooks Partnerships Manager, Google Australia
(Cross-posted on the Official Google Australia Blog)

Today, Google eBooks has landed in Australia, and whether you're a bookworm or casual reader, you're invited to stop by and stock up on some great reads for summer.



We've got hundreds of thousands of titles to choose from, including plenty of best sellers, and more than two million free eBooks on top of that. It's easy to find great Australian authors like Kate Grenville, Thomas Keneally, Geraldine Brooks and Christos Tsiolkas.

Google eBooks is all about choice: we're offering more titles and more ways to buy, access and read them, so that your library is literally at your fingertips. You can choose from great titles from hundreds of local publisher partners at launch, including award-winning publishers like Allen & Unwin, Scribe and Text Publishing, not to mention the many thousands of international publishers Google works with around the world. In addition, we are working with some of the best local booksellers in Australia, including Booktopia and Dymocks who are selling eBooks today, with QBD The Bookshop and The Co-op Bookshop coming soon.

Plus, choose your favorite device for any occasion. You can discover, purchase and read our eBooks on almost any device, including your PC or netbook; Android and Apple smartphone or tablet; or pretty much any eReader, picking up at the same spot that you left off as you move from one device to another.

We're also pleased to report that with our Australian launch, we are opening up our Google eBooks affiliate program in Australia, Canada and the UK. The affiliate program allows retailers, bloggers, book publishers and other website owners to earn commissions when they refer their users to Google eBooks. To learn more, please visit our Google eBooks Affiliate Integration Help Centre page.

We're happy to make it even easier for all Australians to discover, buy and read their next great book. Head on over to our new eBookstore, visit one of our great retail partners, or check out the new books tab on the updated Android Market, and get stuck in your next amazing story today.]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/google-ebooks-arrive-down-under/feed/ 0 A visit from Pulitzer Prize-winner Jennifer Egan https://googledata.org/google-books/a-visit-from-pulitzer-prize-winner-jennifer-egan/ https://googledata.org/google-books/a-visit-from-pulitzer-prize-winner-jennifer-egan/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:54:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=4f20d251a992d30d6054319679fd3c75 Greg Sanders, Technical Writer, DoubleClick and display products

We were pleased to host Pulitzer Prize-winner Jennifer Egan, author of A Visit from the Goon Squad, for an Authors@Google event in our New York office this August. I had the pleasure of moderating the talk with Egan in front of a group of Googlers.

Although the cast of characters spanning Goon Squad is vast and raucous, Egan is most interested in the sometimes self-destructive, sometimes tender-hearted protagonists, a music producer and former punk-rocker, Bennie Salazar, and his klepto assistant, Sasha.



The book has received much press focused on the nonlinear nature of its narrative. Rather than flowing predictably from past to present to future, the chapters are ordered either to trace the threads of the characters' lives – to lend credence and nuance to their current state of mind – and sometimes as needed to maintain the plot’s tension. For example, we're led back in time to the formative days of West Coast punk, then thrust a decade or two into the future of lower Manhattan, all with interesting effect, especially as regards Egan's take on technology. Yet I found other aspects of her novel even more intriguing.

First, as a fiction writer myself, I was impressed with the control and narrative prowess Egan exhibits in Goon Squad, including the numerous voices and styles she employs to tell her story. I was particularly interested in one "future" chapter, told by the sister of an Aspergian child, called "Great Rock 'n' Roll Pauses," that presents its narrative in the form of a series of graphs and charts. (Makes us wonder how data narratives will fit with straight-up storytelling in the future.) In addition, she clearly grants her imagination broad license. I wanted to understand how she manages her creative process, and wondered if she had a model that was generalizable for writers and engineers (remember, this is Google) alike.

To prepare for the role as moderator, I made a mental map of the narrative arcs that intersect across the chapters; I read the book a second time and took notes on character names, places, plot points, settings, etc. I then began generating potential points of discussion. When I felt I had a critical mass of questions, I typed them up on index cards (see a sampling) using a manual typewriter. Egan, I discovered in my research, writes all of her early drafts in longhand. This would prompt at least one question I'd ask her: does the mode we write in influence the content we write?

The discussion with Egan was fast-paced and improvisational. She clearly enjoys expanding on the themes of her work – technology, music, the perception of time, the nature of memory – and is refreshingly open about the process she goes through while writing a book like Goon Squad. Take a look for yourself.


Egan speaks at Authors@Google in our New York office

Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad is available as a Google eBookstore, as well as other novels by her (available in certain countries):
]]> Greg Sanders, Technical Writer, DoubleClick and display products

We were pleased to host Pulitzer Prize-winner Jennifer Egan, author of A Visit from the Goon Squad, for an Authors@Google event in our New York office this August. I had the pleasure of moderating the talk with Egan in front of a group of Googlers.

Although the cast of characters spanning Goon Squad is vast and raucous, Egan is most interested in the sometimes self-destructive, sometimes tender-hearted protagonists, a music producer and former punk-rocker, Bennie Salazar, and his klepto assistant, Sasha.



The book has received much press focused on the nonlinear nature of its narrative. Rather than flowing predictably from past to present to future, the chapters are ordered either to trace the threads of the characters' lives – to lend credence and nuance to their current state of mind – and sometimes as needed to maintain the plot’s tension. For example, we're led back in time to the formative days of West Coast punk, then thrust a decade or two into the future of lower Manhattan, all with interesting effect, especially as regards Egan's take on technology. Yet I found other aspects of her novel even more intriguing.

First, as a fiction writer myself, I was impressed with the control and narrative prowess Egan exhibits in Goon Squad, including the numerous voices and styles she employs to tell her story. I was particularly interested in one "future" chapter, told by the sister of an Aspergian child, called "Great Rock 'n' Roll Pauses," that presents its narrative in the form of a series of graphs and charts. (Makes us wonder how data narratives will fit with straight-up storytelling in the future.) In addition, she clearly grants her imagination broad license. I wanted to understand how she manages her creative process, and wondered if she had a model that was generalizable for writers and engineers (remember, this is Google) alike.

To prepare for the role as moderator, I made a mental map of the narrative arcs that intersect across the chapters; I read the book a second time and took notes on character names, places, plot points, settings, etc. I then began generating potential points of discussion. When I felt I had a critical mass of questions, I typed them up on index cards (see a sampling) using a manual typewriter. Egan, I discovered in my research, writes all of her early drafts in longhand. This would prompt at least one question I'd ask her: does the mode we write in influence the content we write?

The discussion with Egan was fast-paced and improvisational. She clearly enjoys expanding on the themes of her work – technology, music, the perception of time, the nature of memory – and is refreshingly open about the process she goes through while writing a book like Goon Squad. Take a look for yourself.


Egan speaks at Authors@Google in our New York office

Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad is available as a Google eBookstore, as well as other novels by her (available in certain countries):
]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/a-visit-from-pulitzer-prize-winner-jennifer-egan/feed/ 0 Google eBooks opens a new chapter for Canadian readers https://googledata.org/google-books/google-ebooks-opens-a-new-chapter-for-canadian-readers/ https://googledata.org/google-books/google-ebooks-opens-a-new-chapter-for-canadian-readers/#comments Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:55:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=553ca59ebe2bc0bb3117756b5eb3311d Posted by Kihyun Jung, Google eBooks Product Manager

In the latest chapter of the roll-out of our eBookstore, we're pleased to announce that Google eBooks has just launched in Canada. Readers there can now access our vast online catalogue, including hundreds of thousands of titles for sale and more than two million free books in the public domain.

We're excited to announce partnerships with both major international and Canadian publishers, including Random House, McClelland & Stewart, Douglas & McIntyre, House of Anansi and Dundurn. As a result, it’s easy to find popular best-selling and Canadian authors like Margaret Atwood and Ami McKay. What's more, we've also partnered with your favorite retailers, like Campus eBookstore and McNally Robinson, allowing you to purchase our Google eBooks from them as well.



The Google eBooks platform is designed to be open and in the cloud, meaning you can pick up your eBook wherever you last left off on virtually any device: PCs and netbooks; Android and Apple tablets and smartphones; and compatible eReaders, like the Kobo, Reader™ from Sony, and Barnes & Noble Nook™.

Since Google eBooks launched in 2010, it has enabled a rich ebooks ecosystem that includes application developers, publishers, device manufacturers, affiliates, and retailers. This gives consumers choice in what they buy, where they buy, and how they read.

So go forth and read: we've got a few pieces in our eBookstore from Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canada's first best-selling author, for you to enjoy.

Google eBooks, Un nouveau chapitre pour les lecteurs canadiens

Publié par Kihyun Jung, Responsable Produit Google eBooks

Un nouveau chapitre s’ouvre concernant le lancement à l'international de notre eBookstore et nous sommes heureux d'annoncer que Google eBooks est maintenant disponible au Canada. Les lecteurs peuvent désormais accéder à notre vaste catalogue en ligne, comprenant des centaines de milliers de titres disponibles à la vente et plus de deux millions de livres libres de droit.

Nous sommes ravis d'annoncer que ce lancement se fait en collaboration avec les plus grands éditeurs internationaux et canadiens, dont Random House, McClelland & Stewart, Douglas & McIntyre, House of Anansi et Dundurn. Vous pourrez par conséquent trouver les livres des auteurs les plus connus et d'autres auteurs canadiens comme Margaret Atwood et Ami McKay. Nous avons également établi un partenariat avec vos librairies en ligne préférées, telles que Campus eBookstore et McNally Robinson, vous permettant d'acheter les livres électroniques de Google directement sur leur site Web.

La plateforme de Google eBooks est une plateforme ouverte et reposant sur le concept du Cloud, ce qui signifie une expérience de lecture de votre eBook ininterrompue sur pratiquement n'importe quel appareil: PC et netbooks, tablettes Android et Apple, smartphones, et eReaders compatibles, comme le Kobo, Reader™ de Sony, et Barnes & Noble Nook™.

Depuis le 1er lancement de Google eBooks en 2010, notre objectif est de créer un écosystème complet d'ebooks qui inclut les développeurs d'applications, éditeurs, fabricants d'appareils, sociétés affiliées, et les détaillants. Le tout pour donner un choix plus large aux consommateurs dans le type de publications qu'ils peuvent acheter, où ils peuvent acheter les livres et comment ils peuvent lire les livres achetés.

Soyez les premiers et découvrez: nos extraits disponibles dans notre eBookstore de Thomas Chandler Haliburton, le premier auteur à succès canadien.
]]> Posted by Kihyun Jung, Google eBooks Product Manager

In the latest chapter of the roll-out of our eBookstore, we're pleased to announce that Google eBooks has just launched in Canada. Readers there can now access our vast online catalogue, including hundreds of thousands of titles for sale and more than two million free books in the public domain.

We're excited to announce partnerships with both major international and Canadian publishers, including Random House, McClelland & Stewart, Douglas & McIntyre, House of Anansi and Dundurn. As a result, it’s easy to find popular best-selling and Canadian authors like Margaret Atwood and Ami McKay. What's more, we've also partnered with your favorite retailers, like Campus eBookstore and McNally Robinson, allowing you to purchase our Google eBooks from them as well.



The Google eBooks platform is designed to be open and in the cloud, meaning you can pick up your eBook wherever you last left off on virtually any device: PCs and netbooks; Android and Apple tablets and smartphones; and compatible eReaders, like the Kobo, Reader™ from Sony, and Barnes & Noble Nook™.

Since Google eBooks launched in 2010, it has enabled a rich ebooks ecosystem that includes application developers, publishers, device manufacturers, affiliates, and retailers. This gives consumers choice in what they buy, where they buy, and how they read.

So go forth and read: we've got a few pieces in our eBookstore from Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canada's first best-selling author, for you to enjoy.

Google eBooks, Un nouveau chapitre pour les lecteurs canadiens

Publié par Kihyun Jung, Responsable Produit Google eBooks

Un nouveau chapitre s’ouvre concernant le lancement à l'international de notre eBookstore et nous sommes heureux d'annoncer que Google eBooks est maintenant disponible au Canada. Les lecteurs peuvent désormais accéder à notre vaste catalogue en ligne, comprenant des centaines de milliers de titres disponibles à la vente et plus de deux millions de livres libres de droit.

Nous sommes ravis d'annoncer que ce lancement se fait en collaboration avec les plus grands éditeurs internationaux et canadiens, dont Random House, McClelland & Stewart, Douglas & McIntyre, House of Anansi et Dundurn. Vous pourrez par conséquent trouver les livres des auteurs les plus connus et d'autres auteurs canadiens comme Margaret Atwood et Ami McKay. Nous avons également établi un partenariat avec vos librairies en ligne préférées, telles que Campus eBookstore et McNally Robinson, vous permettant d'acheter les livres électroniques de Google directement sur leur site Web.

La plateforme de Google eBooks est une plateforme ouverte et reposant sur le concept du Cloud, ce qui signifie une expérience de lecture de votre eBook ininterrompue sur pratiquement n'importe quel appareil: PC et netbooks, tablettes Android et Apple, smartphones, et eReaders compatibles, comme le Kobo, Reader™ de Sony, et Barnes & Noble Nook™.

Depuis le 1er lancement de Google eBooks en 2010, notre objectif est de créer un écosystème complet d'ebooks qui inclut les développeurs d'applications, éditeurs, fabricants d'appareils, sociétés affiliées, et les détaillants. Le tout pour donner un choix plus large aux consommateurs dans le type de publications qu'ils peuvent acheter, où ils peuvent acheter les livres et comment ils peuvent lire les livres achetés.

Soyez les premiers et découvrez: nos extraits disponibles dans notre eBookstore de Commencez à naviguer et faire des recherches sur notre Google eBookstore
  • En savoir plus sur Google eBooks au Canada
    • ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/google-ebooks-opens-a-new-chapter-for-canadian-readers/feed/ 0     Chronicling the life of Chez Panisse Restaurant, one menu at a time https://googledata.org/uncategorized/chronicling-the-life-of-chez-panisse-restaurant-one-menu-at-a-time/ https://googledata.org/uncategorized/chronicling-the-life-of-chez-panisse-restaurant-one-menu-at-a-time/#comments Thu, 27 Oct 2011 21:11:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=4e58b4015835adf605d575013e54f2ee Posted by Cindy Chen, Product Specialist, Geo

    Recently, Google had the pleasure of hosting Patricia Curtan to chat about her new book, Menus for Chez Panisse, as part of the Authors@Google speaker series. Patricia is an artist, designer and printmaker with a long association with Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, California. She has designed and printed letterpress and linoleum block special-occasion menus for the restaurant for several decades. Her gorgeous new book gathers these menus in one place and provides an intimate look into the history and life of this important establishment. Chez Panisse and its founder, Alice Waters, have been credited as key influencers in the organic food movement, famous for its emphasis on sustainable, organic, locally grown and seasonal ingredients.



    Patricia's talk was fascinating. She explained her process of carving linoleum tiles that the US Army once used for submarine flooring to make the blocks she needs for her prints. She also talked about her ties to Chez Panisse. She worked as an apprentice in a printing office owned by a friend of Alice Waters. When the kitchen was understaffed one night, she was asked to fill in at the restaurant. She fell in love and never left. Throughout her time at Chez Panisse, Patricia continued to draw and print as a hobby. Years later, she left the kitchen to focus on printmaking, hand-making special-occasion menus for the restaurant's daily evolving meals amongst other artistic endeavors.

    Linoleum block prints carved by Patricia

    Patricia working at her press

    Patricia brought some of her menus for us to examine after her talk. There is something visceral and tactile about holding a piece of her work. I thought about how hand made objects elicited within me the natural desire to create in the same way that Chez Panisse may bring patrons closer to the desire to cook and grow their own food.

    At lunch after the talk, Patricia discussed the importance of making things with our own hands and growing our own food. She told us, "When we grow food with our own hands, whether it's the basil plant on your windowsill, or the small garden on the rooftop, we build a connection with that food. We are more eager to gather, taste and prepare. In the same way, when we hold a handmade menu, we understand the time, love and care that went into its making. It's a very important part of the magic that is Chez Panisse."

    Patricia at lunch in one of the Google cafés

    Inspired by the talk, I visited the restaurant last week. Patricia’s insider tip to me was to always order the salad, and I am glad I did. The magic of Chez Panisse lies in its ingredients. The signature of Californian cuisine is local, seasonal ingredients, cooked to highlight the freshness of the ingredients.

    Patricia's illustrated menus adorn the walls in the upstairs café

    Menus for Chez Panisse is a collection of Patricia's work, providing unique snapshots into the life of the restaurant. What Julia Childs, James Beard, Hillary Rodham Clinton ate there can all be found within the book's pages. Other menus show how much a meal cost when the restaurant first opened its doors in 1971... $1.75! How some things have changed!


    For other works by Alice Waters and Patricia Curtan, check out:


    Patricia Curtan @ Google speaking about Menus for Chez Panisse
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/uncategorized/chronicling-the-life-of-chez-panisse-restaurant-one-menu-at-a-time/feed/ 0     Keep me posted about new books with Google Alerts https://googledata.org/uncategorized/keep-me-posted-about-new-books-with-google-alerts/ https://googledata.org/uncategorized/keep-me-posted-about-new-books-with-google-alerts/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:01:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=6ec4ced6dedc0a7e37ae7db4a8535174 Posted by Xinxing Gu, Google Books Associate Product Manager

    If you're an avid reader like me, you probably are always eagerly awaiting the next book by your favorite author, or new books on the topic you’re interested in. However, you might not always find out about those new books when they come out. Starting this week, you can set up a Google Alert for books and receive email notices when new books that match your interests become available.

    To create an alert for books, go to Google Alerts, type in the keywords you are interested in about a book, (whether it’s title, author name, or topic) and choose “Books” from the Type drop-down button, and create. You can also preview the email you'll be sent on the right side panel. Once you create the alert, you will automatically begin receiving notification emails about new, recently published books in Google Books.

    Some of my personal favorite alerts for books are:
    Try setting up alerts for your own favorite books now!
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/uncategorized/keep-me-posted-about-new-books-with-google-alerts/feed/ 0     "So, what is it you do there at Grogel?" https://googledata.org/google-books/so-what-is-it-you-do-there-at-grogel/ https://googledata.org/google-books/so-what-is-it-you-do-there-at-grogel/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:20:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=a994530b0d303f57005bbdfb4976cf6f Posted by Mireya Sémelas, Google eBooks Strategist

    My beloved grandmother loves to talk to others about her grandchildren and how proud she is of what each one of us has become. Although, I always worried -- actually, I had solid evidence -- that she didn't fully understand my job at Google as an eBooks Strategist.

    Explaining Google to her has been a real challenge, as her daily interactions with technology are limited to the use of a phone (a landline, not even a mobile one), the washing machine and the TV. Worse, my mind used to go blank every time she asked me, "So, what is it you do there at Grogel?" I won't even get started on my efforts over the last three years trying to correct her pronunciation.

    Enough was enough. I love my Nana and I wanted her to be part of what I do. I wanted to share with her not only my personal but also my professional life. Nana is a fervent reader; her shelves are filled with literary gems that have been passed down through three generations in the family. I began to think about how I could connect her interest in books with my work on Google eBooks. It would still be a challenge: as an 87-year-old, Nana would likely have trouble imagining the existence of a paper-less book.


    But with this goal in mind, on my most recent visit to my family in Spain, I decided to give up trying to tell, and work on trying to show. I would help her experience firsthand the beauty of digital reading.

    Nana does not speak a single word of English, so I took her online to Google Books and looked for one of the greatest contributions to Spanish literature: La Celestina. For those of you unfamiliar with this treasure, this 15th-century masterpiece marks a cultural turning point in the history of Spanish literature.


    I downloaded the eBook in one click and opened it in the Web Reader on the browser. Throughout the few minutes it took to go through this simple process, Nana sat there quietly. When I finally turned to her to ask her to read a few words of the eBook, her face couldn't hide her amazement. But she read the whole first chapter out loud, the tone of her voice showing the excitement behind making this discovery. She was reading Calisto and Melibea's tragicomedy on a computer screen. She was seeing the year 1499 brought to the 21st century through the 'magic' of digital content.

    Ever since that experience, instead of avoiding asking about the details of my job, Nana can't stop asking me questions about it. I think that after having her experience reading eBooks on the Web Reader, on my eReader device and on my smartphone, I am the one who is now talking proudly about my Nana to others.
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/so-what-is-it-you-do-there-at-grogel/feed/ 0     Google Books Returns to the Annual Boston Book Festival https://googledata.org/google-books/google-books-returns-to-the-annual-boston-book-festival/ https://googledata.org/google-books/google-books-returns-to-the-annual-boston-book-festival/#comments Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:31:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=6e5cf1e8cfeb571c57e426393a483625 Posted by Abe Murray, Google Books Product Manager

    Bostonian bookworms curious about ebooks and the latest talented writers are in for a treat this Saturday, October 15th at the third annual Boston Book Festival – a free one-day event celebrating books and authors that's expected to attract more than 30,000 people. We'll be there hosting a Google eBooks Petting Zoo inside the main Boston Book Festival tent at Copley Square, as well as sponsoring two panel discussions.

    Interested passers-by to the Google eBooks Petting Zoo will be able to try out a variety of eReaders and tablets and explore the possibilities of reading books electronically on their favorite device. You'll be able to view Google eBooks on these devices from our vast selection that includes free classic titles and new bestsellers.



    Attendees may also enjoy Google’s sponsored panels, A Reason to Lead and Far Out Fiction:
    • A Reason to Lead will explore Governor Deval Patrick’s memoir, A Reason To Believe: Lessons from an Improbable Life. Governor Patrick will also discuss his story and the call to lead with Walter Isaacson, editor of Profiles in Leadership and author of the forthcoming authorized biography of Steve Jobs.

      (A Reason to Lead includes an introduction by Google's Scott Dougall, Director of Product Management, and will begin at 12:45pm at the Back Bay Events Center John Hancock Hall at 180 Berkeley Street)

    • Far Out Fiction will include discussions with four of America's most imaginative talents. Gregory Maguire will speak about his soon-to-be-released Out of Oz; Karen Russell will present her much acclaimed debut novel, Swamplandia; pop culture vulture Chuck Klosterman will reveal his latest work of fiction, The Visible Man; and Kate Beaton will round out the session with her witty drawings of historic and literary characters navigating the modern world in Hark! A Vagrant.

      (Far Out Fiction includes an introduction by Google's Steve Vinter, Engineering Director, and will begin at 4:30pm at the Trinity Church Sanctuary at 206 Clarendon Street)
    If you're in the area, we invite you to check out these panel presentations at the Festival. And of course, feel free to drop by our booth anytime between 10am and 8pm for your chance to get "up close and personal" with ebooks. We look forward to seeing you there!


    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/google-books-returns-to-the-annual-boston-book-festival/feed/ 0     A Google chat with Nobel Peace Prize-winner Leymah Gbowee https://googledata.org/google-books/a-google-chat-with-nobel-peace-prize-winner-leymah-gbowee/ https://googledata.org/google-books/a-google-chat-with-nobel-peace-prize-winner-leymah-gbowee/#comments Tue, 11 Oct 2011 22:37:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=a662828a3123de595ea2380df2030eba Posted by Anna Tong, Google eBooks Associate

    Last Wednesday, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee stopped by Google to discuss her new memoir, Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War (Beast Books, 2011). We were fortunate to have this extraordinary individual visit just two days before she found out she was one of three women awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.

    By way of background, Liberia in the early 2000s was a country ravaged by a civil war that had claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people. But the country's president refused to hold peace talks. Meanwhile the fighting continued, and warlords trained child soldiers. In the midst of this chaos, Gbowee had a dream.


    "I heard a voice, and it was talking to me, commanding me: Gather the women to pray for peace!" she writes.

    Gbowee began organizing Liberian women of all ages, backgrounds and religions. Hers is an amazing tale of women’s unity: dressed in white, they picketed for months and confronted Africa’s male leaders. Thanks to their efforts peace was achieved, and in 2005, Liberia elected Ellen Johnson Sirleaf - the first modern-day female head of state in Africa.

    Google vice president Megan Smith talks with Leymah Gbowee

    I had the good fortune of being able to sit down with Leymah before her talk and ask her some questions. The first two questions are excerpted from my conversation with Leymah, while the second two are questions asked by Google audience members during her talk:

    Q: What advice can you give to girls around the world?

    A: Something that happens to girls that's universal and across all social statuses is that we let little things take our focus away. Whether you're a girl from Liberia or the U.S. or Hong Kong, you will have challenges. Don't let your story be that you didn't mount those challenges, whether in school or in your social life.

    Q: A central story in your memoir is your relationship with an abusive man. That's something many women can relate to. What's your advice to them?

    A: I always make myself available to listen in a non-judgmental way. When you are in an abusive relationship, the person is making you believe you can't get out, nobody will love you, etc. I try to sit and listen to women and I never criticize. I'm that shoulder. I'm there. I let them know there's always a place to come to if they need something. I've found myself helping women with finances if they make the decision to run away – I did this with girls who were married to ex-combatants.

    Q: Were you ever afraid?

    A: The war started when I was 17. I had my moments with terror in those early stages. The first time I saw a dead body I froze. By the time I was 31 I could walk over a dead body without a second thought. I had become immune to anything called fear.

    Q: The Western media made a big deal out of the Liberian women withholding sex while advocating for peace, but it wasn’t a huge part of your memoir. What are your thoughts on that?

    A: In [the US] the sex industry keeps the financial wheels turning... that over-objectification, it's destroying not just this country but our country as well. When I was growing up I sold donuts. Now girls say, "Why do I want to sell a donut when I can sell myself and make $20?" [Google needs] to start a campaign here showcasing very smart women turning on their brains... it is part of your corporate social responsibility.


    Mighty Be Our Powers, which is available as an ebook in the Google eBookstore (US-only), reveals Leymah's personal history. It's a powerful story: after reading it, the CEO of Barnes & Noble was so moved that he personally paid for Leymah's book tour. In the book, she writes about events in her life like having a happy childhood, an abusive relationship, and what it was like growing up in war-torn Liberia.
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/a-google-chat-with-nobel-peace-prize-winner-leymah-gbowee/feed/ 0     Google eBooks travels ‘across the pond’ https://googledata.org/google-books/google-ebooks-travels-%e2%80%98across-the-pond%e2%80%99/ https://googledata.org/google-books/google-ebooks-travels-%e2%80%98across-the-pond%e2%80%99/#comments Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:48:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=0e2867c89dcfa9656e4fe101ae0c7d66 Posted by Kihyun Jung, Google eBooks Product Manager

    We're happy to announce that we've just opened a new chapter of our Google eBookstore today. Google eBooks is now available in the United Kingdom. Readers in the UK now have access to the world's largest ebooks collection, with hundreds of thousands of ebooks for sale – from major UK publishers like Hachette, Random House and Penguin – as well as more than two million public domain ebooks for free.

    Just as in the US, we’ve designed the Google eBooks platform in the UK to be open. You can purchase, download and view Google eBooks on many devices: Android and Apple tablets and smartphones, the Google eBooks Web Reader and eReaders from Sony, Kobo, Elonex, and more. Your Google eBooks are stored in the cloud, so you can easily access them and continue reading wherever you last left off, regardless of which device you were on.

    We've partnered with independent booksellers, so you will soon be able to buy Google eBooks through your favourite bookstore. Booksellers like Gardners' Hive, as well as others to come, will be selling Google eBooks in the UK. We're also working with local retailers like Blackwell's as affiliate partners.

    Since Google eBooks launched in 2010, it has enabled a rich ebooks ecosystem that includes application developers, publishers, device manufacturers, affiliates, and retailers. This gives consumers choice in what they buy, where they buy, and how they read.

    So what are you waiting for? Grab a digital copy of Great Expectations while you're sitting on the Tube or having afternoon tea – it's on us.

    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/google-ebooks-travels-%e2%80%98across-the-pond%e2%80%99/feed/ 0     A 67-year reunion of wartime survivors, inspired by Google Books https://googledata.org/google-books/a-67-year-reunion-of-wartime-survivors-inspired-by-google-books-2/ https://googledata.org/google-books/a-67-year-reunion-of-wartime-survivors-inspired-by-google-books-2/#comments Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:24:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=7dbbd4b80bba57a926381ac0402007b5 Guest post by James H. Keeffe, III, author of Two Gold Coins and a Prayer: The Epic Journey of a World War II Bomber Pilot and POW

    (Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog)

    Editor's Note: From time to time, we invite guests to post about items of interest. We're pleased to have James Keeffe, III -- author of the award-winning Two Gold Coins and a Prayer: The Epic Journey of a World War II Bomber Pilot and POW -- tell us an amazing story about how Google Books helped reunite a Holocaust survivor and a World War II veteran.

    Last year, my distributor Epicenter Press uploaded my book, Two Gold Coins and a Prayer: The Epic Journey of a World War II Bomber Pilot and POW, to Google Books. The book is a memoir of the WWII experiences of my father, James H. Keeffe, Jr., as told to me. He was an American B-24 bomber pilot who, on his fourth mission during the war, was shot down over Southern Holland and taken in by the Dutch Underground. He spent the next five months evading capture by staying in several safe houses in Rotterdam. In one of the homes, owned by a Dr. Jappe-Alberts, a Jewish family—father, mother and eight-year-old daughter—hid up in the attic.

    About six months ago, I received an email that sent shivers up my spine. It was from the same Jewish family's daughter, now called Helen Cohen-Berman:



    Dear Sir,

    I've found this book a few day ago at the internet. I am the little girl from the Cohen family who was hidden together with Jim at the Jappe-Alberts family. I was 8 years old. I've read a part of the book already on the net and my son in the USA ordered it. It's unbelievable to find all this after so many years... We are now living in Israel since 1978. I would like to leave a note with these information for the writer and his father as a sign of life. Can you give me an email-address? Forwarding is another possibility!

    With regards,
    Helen Cohen-Berman
    Imagine my surprise! All my dad knew about the Cohens at this point was that they had eventually been captured by the Nazis, who also shot Dr. Jappe-Alberts and sent his family to prison.

    Left: Photo of 19-year-old James from October 1942, Right: Photo of 9-year-old Helen from 1945

    Helen, my father and I began emailing each other quite often. Helen, now 76 years old, told us that after all these decades, it had been time for her to come to grips with her memories of the war. Her daughter suggested that she search for the name "Jappe-Alberts” and the place "Rotterdam" on Google. Two results of import came up. The first was a memorial to 10 men shot by the Nazis on a country road south of Rotterdam, including Dr. Jappe-Alberts. The second was the portion of my book on Google Books that had the name Jappe-Alberts in it. Helen began to read that part of the book and, lo and behold, realized she was reading about herself as a young girl and her family.

    She told us that, though her family had been sent to Westerbork, a transit/concentration camp in North Holland, after being captured, they survived the war. The rail system in the Netherlands by that time was so damaged that the Nazis could not move any more people from transit camps like Westerbork to the death camps of Germany and Poland. Westerbork—along with the Cohens—was eventually liberated by the Canadians.

    Six months after Helen's email to me, after much planning, Helen flew to Seattle and was reunited with my father on September 13, 2011. Sixty-seven years had passed since last they saw each other. It was a very moving experience—all possible because of Google Books.

    After 67 years, Helen and James were reunited in James' Seattle home

    I was greatly honored to have been able to bring my father and Helen together again. Helen said the reunion was a "closing of a circle" and a healing time for her as she was finally able to talk about some of the events she had endured. For my father, the reunion was a joyful occasion. Meeting Helen allowed him to fill in some gaps, and find out the details of her family's capture and imprisonment. He was very happy to see Helen and quite sad when it was time to say goodbye.

    At their reunion, I kept looking at them both, now in their later years, trying unsuccessfully to imagine what it must have been like when they were young and living under the fist of the Nazi occupation. Always the threat of instant and often cruel death weighed heavily on them, yet they both survived—and 67 years later were standing side by side, telling each other, and us, their stories.

    Photo taken at the VFW Hall in Redmond, Washington, where James attends POW meetings. Credit: Book It Northwest
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/a-67-year-reunion-of-wartime-survivors-inspired-by-google-books-2/feed/ 0     Seeking a Sustainable Society: A discussion with former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich https://googledata.org/google-books/seeking-a-sustainable-society-a-discussion-with-former-secretary-of-labor-robert-reich/ https://googledata.org/google-books/seeking-a-sustainable-society-a-discussion-with-former-secretary-of-labor-robert-reich/#comments Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:42:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=e98eda0907141028f6c9ce163bfe2b93 Posted by Ariel Levine, Google Books Associate

    Last week, Google had the pleasure of having Robert Reich come to speak about his latest book, Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, as part of the Authors@Google speaker series. Reich is currently the Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, and has served under three US administrations. He has written 13 books, including The Work of Nations, The Future of Success, and Supercapitalism. In the short session, included below, Reich discusses where our economy is today, how it got there, and where it's headed. He argues that America's economic problems can be attributed to how its wealth is currently being distributed and makes several recommendations, focusing on how Silicon Valley and technology have formed and influenced the economy, in particular.

    Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich speaking as part of the Authors@Google series 

    With grace and humor, Reich spoke for a half-hour about the many reasons we slid into the "great recession of 2008," and then took several questions. Reich stressed that one cannot separate the economy from the rest of national experience. "Economics," he stated, "is an offshoot of a field called Political Economy. [It was] not until Alfred Marshall wrote his Principles [of Economics] that it became a separate science. People [used to understand] that you can't talk about politics separate from economics."

    Reich stated that his argument -- that redistribution is a prerequisite for growth -- is not grounded in morality. That said, Adam Smith, widely considered the father of modern economics and capitalism, called himself a "Moral philosopher." Smith even considered his most important work to be The Theory of Moral Sentiment, despite having written what is now considered the most influential work on economics,  The Wealth of Nations. Though Reich says the question used to be, "What is a good society, and how do we recognize it and achieve it?" it seems that his talk and book ask an adjacent question, "What is a sustainable society?"

    Reich reiterated that workers are consumers, and although they once were able to manage stagnant wages and continue spending, they are now exhausted. After World War II, "the means have not kept up with what a growing economy should have provided them with," and while before they were willing to adjust, sending women into the workforce, taking longer shifts, and taking on debt, the collapse of 2008 forced the middle class to pay their balances, and to "face a necessity they have managed to avoid for decades: they have to make do with less" (138).

    This means that there is belt-tightening going on across the country and money is not moving fluidly into the market. Companies won't hire until they see consumer demand, and consumers won't spend until they have jobs and steady sources of income. "Businesses are sitting on almost two trillion dollars of cash." This is a negative cycle in which no one wins.

    Most worrisome to Reich is that while Americans continue to be unable to find jobs, the financial sector is operating as normal, large bonuses have returned, and inequality is the status quo. He says this is fertile ground for political confrontation, and is worried that individuals will rally around demagogues, who "will channel anger at easy targets like foreigners, the poor, the rich, [etc.]" He calls for reforms that would change the income tax, create wage insurance, and invest in infrastructure, health, and education. He says we must pay attention to how widening inequality and economic insecurity affect our social and political landscape, and the inevitable consequences.

    Reich holding the Google eBook version
     of Aftershock on the Story HD from iriver 

    To find more titles by Robert Reich, please visit our Google eBookstore.
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/seeking-a-sustainable-society-a-discussion-with-former-secretary-of-labor-robert-reich/feed/ 0     Peering into Jorge Luis Borges’s Labyrinth https://googledata.org/google-books/peering-into-jorge-luis-borges%e2%80%99s-labyrinth/ https://googledata.org/google-books/peering-into-jorge-luis-borges%e2%80%99s-labyrinth/#comments Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:34:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=729fcdeb96b48baa1c135743f0096a8a Posted by Matt Werner, Technical Writer, Enterprise

    In honor of Jorge Luis Borges's 112th birthday, Google has prepared a special doodle for today. Borges (1899-1986) was an Argentinian author best known today for his fantastic short stories and influential essays and poetry. His ideas have made a lasting impact on fields as far-ranging as mathematics, philosophy, literary theory, translation studies, and studies in cyberculture/futurology.


    Google Doodle by Sophia Foster-Dimino

    The New York Times piece "Borges and the Foreseeable Future" highlights Borges's surprising influence on the Internet era. Focusing on Borges's story "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius," the article shows how Borges's idea of an infinite encyclopedia can be interpreted as a prototype for Wikipedia.

    In a similar light, Borges's story "On Exactitude in Science," which is about a map as large as the area it depicts, has a virtual corollary with Google Earth and Google Maps. In "El Aleph", Borges wrote about a single point in space through which all other points in space and time could be seen. The Google search box hasn’t quite reached this breadth, but we are adding to the index everyday.

    In The Library of Babel, Borges describes an infinite library that holds every conceivable book, composed of every conceivable combination of letters. This story has left scholars pondering the consequences of this infinite library, and recent titles, like William Bloch’s The Unimaginable Mathematics of Borges' Library of Babel, have set about analyzing the mathematics in Borges’s story.




    Visualizing Borges’s literary legacy

    The Google Books Ngram Viewer is a tool in Google Books which allows you to search for terms and phrases. Using the tool, you can compare trends in word usage in the millions of books in the Google Books digital corpus. Below are Ngrams showing the trends in the number of books that have "Jorge Luis Borges" in Spanish and English. The graphs go from 1899 (when he was born) to 2000. These graphs show Borges's explosive rise in popularity for Spanish and English-reading audiences.

    References to Jorge Luis Borges's name in Spanish-language books in Google Books 1899-2000

    Books Ngram Viewer graph for Borges references in Spanish

    References to Jorge Luis Borges's name in English-language books in Google Books 1899-2000

    Books Ngram Viewer graph for Borges references in English

    What's interesting about these graphs is how there are Spanish-language books referencing Borges as early as the mid-1920s. However, for English books, Borges's popularity didn't take off until he shared the Formentor Prize, an international literary award, with Samuel Beckett in 1961.

    At that point, Borges's popularity in the English-speaking world took off. English translations of his works became more widely available thanks to the efforts of Norman Thomas di Giovanni and other translators, and Borges traveled the world in the later years of his life with Maria Kodama, giving lectures on literature. The number of times Borges's name appears in English books rises sharply in the decade from 1961 to 1971 and continues its upward trend through 2000.

    Interestingly, for Spanish books, the frequency of his name dropped soon after his passing in 1986, only to surge from 1990 to 2000. It will be interesting to see in the future, if references to Borges keep rising.

    "Of a language of the dawn"

    How would Borges, a lover of language known for his exquisite word choice, have used Ngram Viewer? This tool is a step beyond the card catalogue and library indexes he used as a librarian, but is a data visualization tool that allows one to simultaneously peer at and dissect individual words and phrases used in millions of books.

    Would Borges have used Ngram Viewer to track trends and the emergence of words in the many languages he knew? Could he have used it to write about the death of one word or language, to be supplanted by another, similar to how he describes the birth of English from Anglo-Saxon in his poem "On Beginning the Study of Anglo-Saxon Grammar"? Or would he have have used the tool in ways we have not yet imagined?

    Want to learn more about Borges and his writing?

    Visit Google Books to access ebooks by and about Borges:
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/peering-into-jorge-luis-borges%e2%80%99s-labyrinth/feed/ 0     "God Grew Tired of Us" author John Dau tells his incredible life story https://googledata.org/google-books/god-grew-tired-of-us-author-john-dau-tells-his-incredible-life-story/ https://googledata.org/google-books/god-grew-tired-of-us-author-john-dau-tells-his-incredible-life-story/#comments Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:32:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=b6f000f0454555bc81441ce8c571f1dd Posted by Victoria Carlson, Google eBooks Intern

    Recently, John Dau spoke as part of the Authors@Google speaker’s series about his latest book, God Grew Tired of Us, and the similarly named award-winning documentary based on his life. He recounted his journey as a lost boy of Sudan from the age of 13, when his village was first attacked by Northern armies, through his journey to the United States. Dau calls his remarkable life story a living testimony because "the story goes from me to you and then from you to someone else..."

    The video above shows Dau being interviewed on-stage as part of the Authors@Google series 

    At the beginning of his talk, Dau proudly announced that with the recent creation of the Republic of South Sudan, he is now a South Sudanese citizen. He then began to tell his story:

    Dau grew up in a small village with no school. But he remembers being very happy. Then in 1987, his village was attacked. The whistling of bullets, thunder of bombs, and fearful screams woke him and his brother from their sleep. Dau recounted how he and his brother hid, and then fled the village, walking for three days without food or water.

    As they fled, many other lost boys joined their group until it grew to 27. To survive, the boys were forced to eat mud and drink their urine. Many perished.

    Once in Ethiopia the four remaining boys met other groups of lost children. They all banded together to organize a makeshift refugee camp. In total, there were 200 boys ranging from ages 5 to 18. But disease and malaria ran rampant, and without a clinic nearby, two to eight boys would die each day.

    They stayed there for four years until in 1991, the Ethiopian government was overthrown and the new ruling party forced them to leave, along with thirty-seven thousand other refugees. They were given only three days' notice before armed troops forced the people to cross a crocodile-infested river.

    Dau and other survivors then traveled through South Sudan. They faced bombings by Northern rebels, starvation, thirst and poor hygiene. Soon they found Kakooma, a United Nations refugee camp. Dau was now 17 years old and went to school for the first time. Due to the school's limited supplies, children would draw their responses in the dirt when taking exams.

    Reflecting on his first time in school, Dau stated, "Education is so important and you can get anything you want [through learning]". He recounted how he would line up to enter the refugee camp's library at three in the morning every day, and how hard everyone worked to get into the fourth grade, since it was only then that they were allowed to sit in a classroom with shared pencils and notebooks.

    Dau was 26 when the Americans came to take the refugee youth to Nairobi. He was selected to go to the US, where he could rebuild his life. However, he was surprised by many things in America such as the vast amounts of food and the pet aisle in a grocery store. Eventually he adjusted. Dau earned his Associate’s degree in 2004 and then his bachelor’s degree at Syracuse University in 2006.

    In 2006 Dau founded the Lost Boys Rebuilding Southern Sudan nonprofit group so that the lost boys could learn to help themselves. He also founded American Care for Sudan, which raised enough money to build a clinic and has treated over 60,000 people. This clinic in South Sudan has the only ambulance in the country and is one of only six places in the entire country to have wireless internet.

    Dau's message in an inspiring one: to never give up, no matter what has happened in the past.

     Dau holding a Google eBook version of God Grew Tired of Us 
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/god-grew-tired-of-us-author-john-dau-tells-his-incredible-life-story/feed/ 0     Fourth Grader Aces History Report, With a Little Help from Google Books and Abigail Adams https://googledata.org/google-books/fourth-grader-aces-history-report-with-a-little-help-from-google-books-and-abigail-adams/ https://googledata.org/google-books/fourth-grader-aces-history-report-with-a-little-help-from-google-books-and-abigail-adams/#comments Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:13:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=51326441caf9b8e28e7faf405026b107 Posted by Oliver Chiang, Google Books Strategist

    As autumn begins to draw near, the leaves are changing color and school is in the air, much to the chagrin of students everywhere. Fret not! Google Books' ever-growing digital archive of books can make acing those looming reports and exams easier -- and even fun. Just ask Lydia, an elementary school student whose research for a history report led her to find the first published book pertaining to a US First Lady ever, using Google Books.

    Lydia's mom recounts her daughter's tale:

    Last year, when Lydia was in fourth grade, her teacher assigned the students to write a short biography about an historical figure. In addition to writing a short report, the children were also assigned to orally present it to the class, in costume, along with four or five "relics" related to the person.

    Lydia chose to focus on First Lady Abigail Adams, wife to John Adams, the second president of the US. In the course of her research, Lydia learned that John and Abigail corresponded extensively with each other, since they were frequently separated. They often discussed government and politics. Of key importance was the letter Abigail wrote to John while the Declaration of Independence was being crafted. In the letter, Abigail told John to "remember the ladies". Lydia learned that this letter was among the earliest known pieces of writings advocating for women's equality.

    Abigail Adams posing for a portrait (found the cover page and selected a few more pages in a matter of moments. She printed the cover page and showed that as one of her relics.


    The end result? Lydia got an "A" on her report!
    ]]> https://googledata.org/google-books/fourth-grader-aces-history-report-with-a-little-help-from-google-books-and-abigail-adams/feed/ 0 "Game of Thrones" Author talks about Dwarves, Dragons and Delving into eBooks https://googledata.org/google-books/game-of-thrones-author-talks-about-dwarves-dragons-and-delving-into-ebooks/ https://googledata.org/google-books/game-of-thrones-author-talks-about-dwarves-dragons-and-delving-into-ebooks/#comments Fri, 12 Aug 2011 20:23:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=598048af5ad01892564e0473e1cd154c Posted by Oliver Chiang, Google eBooks

    It was an epic geekfest that could only be matched by the likes of a Comic-Con or a Star Trek convention: Googlers flocked to hear master fantasy writer George R. R. Martin talk at our Mountain View headquarters last month, in the first-ever live-streamed event for the Authors@Google series. Though you may have missed Martin live -- in which the Game of Thrones author took a variety of questions from Googlers as well as the general public -- you can now watch the recorded talk on YouTube:

    Martin answers questions about the Game of Thrones books and HBO® series at Google. (Warning: slight spoilers during the talk, but nothing major revealed.) 

    The catalyst for Martin's visit to Google was a happy accident -- or as some might say, the work of the old gods. Last May, Nicholas Farmer was at Professor Thoms', a New York City bar, where a viewing party for the HBO® series Game of Thrones was being held. The bartender nudged him: "Hey Nick, there's the author of Game of Thrones." Farmer went and struck up a conversation with Martin, eventually asking if he'd heard of the Authors@Google series, which his mother Ann Farmer was an organizer for. Martin, friendly guy that he is, was open to the idea of visiting Google, saying "Have your mother contact my publicist, it's up to him." The rest is history.

    At the event in July, Googler moderator Dan Anthony kicked things off by noting, "The only thing that would be cooler than this was if Joss Whedon came rushing in the door, and said he suddenly had to cast a Googler to star opposite Scarlett Johansson." Anthony praised Martin for creating the "world's favorite dwarf Lannister," quickly adding, "that doesn't mean you can kill him now."

    Martin -- on tour promoting his latest book A Dance with Dragons -- was himself an engaging and humorous speaker. He answered fan questions and topics from "How did you get the TV show creators to stay so true to the novels?" (Martin: "Candy and chocolates"), to why he doesn't read internet fan forums ("What if they come up with better ideas than the ones I had?"), to his being something of a post-modern Tolkien ("There's an unspoken assumption in [Tolkien's] Return of the King that Aragorn is the king now and everything will be hunky dory. You never actually get into the nitty gritty of Aragorn ruling. And what is his tax policy?").

    He also answered other questions often asked by fans, like why he kills off major characters so often ("There's a reason") and whether he plans to do any prequel books to the fantasy series (Maybe).

    After the talk, I was able to chat with Martin a little about ebooks. The author says he carries his e-reader with him now whenever he travels, whereas in the past, he would incur overweight baggage charges because of the 10 or more physical books he would inevitably bring along. But he was also concerned that digital piracy might do to the book industry what it did to the music industry.

    Martin, holding a Google eBook version of A Dance with Dragons on the Story HD from iriver

    If you haven't already, make sure to get a digital copy of Martin's just released book from the Google eBookstore, A Dance with Dragons, for your smartphone, tablet, PC, netbook, laptop or e-reader device (see a full list of supported devices).


    If you're new to the series, catch up on the previous books:


    Or grab the boxed set:
    A Game of Thrones Boxed Set

    Finally, during the talk, Martin was presented with a dragon-ized Android t-shirt, designed by Googler Michelle Nguyen and made specially for this event. You can now get your own Android Dragon T-shirt at the Google Online Store:

    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/game-of-thrones-author-talks-about-dwarves-dragons-and-delving-into-ebooks/feed/ 0     Share Your Favorite Books with Literary Circles on Google+ https://googledata.org/google-books/share-your-favorite-books-with-literary-circles-on-google/ https://googledata.org/google-books/share-your-favorite-books-with-literary-circles-on-google/#comments Thu, 11 Aug 2011 17:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=91d1ffadfc45918d98d8fb67efff5b57 Posted by Abe Murray, Product Manager, Google Books

    Say you’ve found a hidden gem on auto mechanics for your greasemonkey friends or want to hop down memory lane with Peter Rabbit and your family. Good news for monkeys and rabbits alike: you can now share info about any of the millions of books in our Google Books index worldwide with your circles on Google+.

    Let’s say you are reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and you’d like your friends to read it with you (or you have a witty comment to let loose). Simply click on the Google+ Share box on the About the Book page or in a Google Books preview, enter your message, then select which circles you’d like to share details about the book with, and click “share”.


    The book cover, description and title linking back to the Google Books About the Book page will appear in your Google+ stream with your message.


    You can also simply paste the About the Book or Google Books preview URL into your Google+ Share box. This will show the cover and book details, helping your friends know exactly what you’re sharing with them. While you’re sharing books, you can also +1 them, and the titles will appear in your profile on the +1 tab.
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/share-your-favorite-books-with-literary-circles-on-google/feed/ 0     Culturomics, Ngrams and new power tools for Science https://googledata.org/uncategorized/culturomics-ngrams-and-new-power-tools-for-science/ https://googledata.org/uncategorized/culturomics-ngrams-and-new-power-tools-for-science/#comments Wed, 10 Aug 2011 22:51:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=f1d882a81aa84e8ad4675e2db8464d45 Posted by Erez Lieberman Aiden and Jean-Baptiste Michel, Visiting Faculty at Google

    Four years ago, we set out to create a research engine that would help people explore our cultural history by statistically analyzing the world’s books. In January 2011, the resulting method, culturomics, was featured on the cover of the journal Science. More importantly, Google implemented and launched a web-based version of our prototype research engine, the Google Books Ngram Viewer.

    Now scientists, scholars, and web surfers around the world can take advantage of the Ngram Viewer to study a vast array of phenomena. And that's exactly what they've done. Here are a few of our favorite examples.

    Poverty
    Martin Ravallion, head of the Development Research Group at the World Bank, has been using the ngrams to study the history of poverty. In a paper published in the journal Poverty and Public Policy, he argues for the existence of two ‘poverty enlightenments’ marked by increased awareness of the problem: one towards the end of the 18th century, and another in the 1970s and 80s. But he makes the point that only the second of these enlightenments brought with it a truly enlightened idea: that poverty can be and should be completely eradicated.



    The Science Hall of Fame
    Adrian Veres and John Bohannon wondered who the most famous scientists of the past two centuries were. But there was no hall of fame for scientists, or a committee that determines who deserves to get into such a hall. So they used the ngrams data to define a metric for celebrity – the milliDarwin – and algorithmically created a Science Hall of Fame listing the most famous scientists born since 1800. They found that things like a popular book or a major controversy did more to increase discussion of a scientist than, for instance, winning a Nobel Prize.

    (Other users have been exploring the history of particular sciences with the Ngram Viewer, covering everything from neuroscience to the nuclear age.)


    The History of Typography
    When we introduced the Ngram Viewer, we pointed out some potential pitfalls with the data. For instance, the ‘medial s’ ( ſ ), an older form of the letter s that looked like an integral sign and appeared in the beginning or middle of words, tends to be classified as an instance of the letter ‘f’ by the OCR algorithm used to create our version of the data. Andrew West, blogging at Babelstone, found a clever way to exploit this error: using queries like ‘husband’ and ‘hufband’ to study the history of medial s typography, he pinned down the precise moment when the medial s disappeared from English (around 1800), French (1780), and Spanish (1760).

    People are clearly having a good time with the Ngram Viewer, and they have been learning a few things about science and history in the process. Indeed, the tool has proven so popular and so useful that Google recently announced that its imminent graduation from Google Labs to become a permanent part of Google Books.

    Similar ‘big data’ approaches can also be applied to a wide variety of other problems. From books to maps to the structure of the web itself, 'the world's information' is one amazing dataset.

    Erez Lieberman Aiden is Visiting Faculty at Google and a Fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows. Jean-Baptiste Michel is Visiting Faculty at Google and a Postdoctoral Fellow in Harvard's Department of Psychology.
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/uncategorized/culturomics-ngrams-and-new-power-tools-for-science/feed/ 0     Celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War https://googledata.org/google-books/celebrating-the-150th-anniversary-of-the-civil-war/ https://googledata.org/google-books/celebrating-the-150th-anniversary-of-the-civil-war/#comments Thu, 04 Aug 2011 18:25:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=40803a491ad9490995d938e1f6de9541 Posted by Victoria Carlson, Google eBooks

    Growing up as the child of an Air Force colonel with a passion for military history, I have traveled to almost every battlefield in the United States. Thus, there is a special place in my heart for Revolutionary and Civil War history. As this year is the Civil War's 150th anniversary, I've been celebrating in my own way, by reading as many related Google eBooks as I can download.


    Last week, I read about Fort Sumter and its eventual surrender to South Carolina in Reminiscences of Fort Sumter and Moutrie in 1860-'61,. Right now, I'm reading a fascinating book called Woman's Work in the Civil War. Interestingly, the author only decided to write this book after searching for a different book and discovering the heroic sacrifices and bravery that many women had shown, but were not remembered for.

    I also found a rare firsthand account from Abner Doubleday that provides a riveting perspective of a staunch Unionist. In his narrative he claims to have been the only officer of the garrison who actually wanted Lincoln to win the presidential election.

    While surfing through lists of Civil War books, I stumbled upon Manassas: a novel of the war by revered author Upton Sinclair. This novel provides a very detailed description of life before the war, focusing on a young Southern man’s life in the Union army.

    Toward the middle of 1861, the North had increased its naval strength and began a blockade of the South. The South’s efforts to create small and fast ships that could outmaneuver the North is detailed in Three Years on the Blockade: a naval experience.

    Next on my tour of the Civil War is The Uprising of a Great People: The United States in 1861. This translated novel presents the perspective of a French citizen on events and slavery in the US during the war.

    From there, I plan on following the 150th anniversary of different Civil War events. I can't wait to begin reading about Confederate "Stonewall" Jackson's defeat of the Union forces in 1862, and Lincoln's preliminary announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation.

    Till next year, I'll satiate my curiosity by searching through general Civil War books and reading personal accounts from both Confederates and Unionists.
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/celebrating-the-150th-anniversary-of-the-civil-war/feed/ 0     Pottermore and Google team up to enable Harry Potter ebooks push to Google Books libraries https://googledata.org/google-books/pottermore-and-google-team-up-to-enable-harry-potter-ebooks-push-to-google-books-libraries/ https://googledata.org/google-books/pottermore-and-google-team-up-to-enable-harry-potter-ebooks-push-to-google-books-libraries/#comments Wed, 20 Jul 2011 13:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=86c4179b613798693a56219a627aa486 Posted by Larissa Fontaine, New Business Development, Google Books

    (Cross-posted on the Google Commerce blog)

    When JK Rowling’s new website Pottermore opens its doors this Fall, we’ll provide services to help fans make the most of their ebook purchasing experience.

    Pottermore and Google are teaming up to integrate Pottermore with a number of Google products and APIs. So when the series of Harry Potter ebooks launches on Pottermore.com in early October, these bestsellers will be available in the U.S. via the open Google eBooks platform. When you buy a Harry Potter ebook from Pottermore, you will be able to choose to keep it in your Google Books library in-the-cloud, as well as on other e-reading platforms.

    Google eBooks can be read on most devices with a modern browser, through the Google Books apps for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, and on more than 80 ereaders.

    Pottermore will be the exclusive place to buy Harry Potter ebooks and digital audiobooks. You’ll be able to buy ebooks from the Pottermore Shop, push them to your Google Books library and store them alongside your other Google eBooks. Your other Google eBooks may be purchased from any of more than 250 independent booksellers or from Google directly.

    Also under this agreement, Google Checkout will be the preferred third party payment platform for all purchases made on Pottermore.com. When you visit the Pottermore Shop, you’ll be able to pay for your purchases using Google Checkout, in addition to using a debit or credit card.

    The Pottermore team also plans to use YouTube for global video broadcasts in the future, as they did for JK Rowling’s announcement of Pottermore in June.

    Stay tuned for more Pottermore and Google wizardry on the web this summer, leading up to when Pottermore opens.
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/pottermore-and-google-team-up-to-enable-harry-potter-ebooks-push-to-google-books-libraries/feed/ 0     "Game of Thrones" Author George R. R. Martin Coming to Google https://googledata.org/google-books/game-of-thrones-author-george-r-r-martin-coming-to-google/ https://googledata.org/google-books/game-of-thrones-author-george-r-r-martin-coming-to-google/#comments Wed, 13 Jul 2011 16:30:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=e0cad8743a849a5bd6723f174108315e Posted by Oliver Chiang, Google eBooks

    George R. R. Martin, credit Karolina Webb

    George R. R. Martin, the acclaimed author of the Game of Thrones novels -- also a recent hit HBO series -- is coming to Google for a live-streamed interview where he'll be taking your questions submitted online. The interview, part of the Authors@Google series as well as Martin's book tour promoting his latest novel A Dance with Dragons, will take place on July 28th at 12pm PDT.

    Martin is a bestselling author most famous for his A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series of novels that has been adapted to the popular HBO drama Game of Thrones. Time magazine has dubbed him an "American Tolkien". In his series, Martin creates a rich world populated by a large cast of intriguing characters and interwoven storylines.

    This is the first-ever live-streamed event for the Authors@Google series, where authors of all stripes visit the company for informal talks about their recently published books. It should come as no surprise that in addition to technology, Googlers love things like dragons and fantasy worlds, and we also love meeting talented writers like Martin.

    This is your chance to get to know the author a little better too. In the live-streamed interview, Martin will be answering some online user-submitted questions.

    Submit your questions for Martin on this page: Open from now until July 27, 12pm PDT.

    Watch the live YouTube broadcast of Martin's interview: On July 28th, 12pm PDT, at the Authors@Google page, youtube.com/atgoogletalks. We'll also post the recorded interview on this page afterwards.

    Meanwhile, make sure to get a digital copy of Martin's just released book from the Google eBookstore, A Dance with Dragons, for your smartphone, tablet or e-reader device (see a full list of supported devices).


    If you're new to the series, catch up on the previous books:



    Or grab the boxed set:
    A Game of Thrones Boxed Set
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/game-of-thrones-author-george-r-r-martin-coming-to-google/feed/ 0     The first Google eBooks-integrated e-reader: iriver Story HD https://googledata.org/google-books/the-first-google-ebooks-integrated-e-reader-iriver-story-hd/ https://googledata.org/google-books/the-first-google-ebooks-integrated-e-reader-iriver-story-hd/#comments Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=3559f5fc9737c4104f1e281adec3d18e Posted by Pratip Banerji, Product Manager, Google Books

    (Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog and the Google Commerce blog)

    Starting this coming Sunday, July 17, the iriver Story HD e-reader will be available for sale in Target stores nationwide and on Target.com. The iriver Story HD is the first e-reader integrated with the open Google eBooks platform, through which you can buy and read Google eBooks over Wi-Fi.

    The iriver Story HD, which retails for $139.99, is slim and lightweight with a high-resolution E Ink screen and a QWERTY keyboard for easy searching. It includes over-the-air access to hundreds of thousands of Google eBooks for sale and more than 3 million for free. With the Story HD you can now browse, buy and read Google eBooks with your e-reader through Wi-Fi, rather than downloading and transferring them from computer to e-reader with a cord as you can already do with more than 80 compatible devices.

    We built the Google eBooks platform to be open to all publishers, retailers and manufacturers. Manufacturers like iriver can use Google Books APIs and services to connect their devices to the full Google eBooks catalog for out-of-the-box access to a complete ebookstore. You can also store your personal ebooks library in the cloud—picking up where you left off in any ebook you’re reading as you move from laptop to smartphone to e-reader to tablet.

    In December, Google eBooks launched with the ability to read Google eBooks on any device with a modern browser, on Android and iOS devices using the Google Books mobile apps, through our Chrome Web Store app and on compatible ereaders. Since then, we’ve added new retailers—growing to include more than 250 independent bookstores—and made Google eBooks available in Android Market. We’ve also extended our affiliate network and updated our family of Google Books APIs.

    The Story HD is a new milestone for us, as iriver becomes the first manufacturer to launch an e-reader integrated with Google eBooks. You can learn more about the Story HD on the iriver website.

    Stay tuned for more Google eBooks-integrated devices to come. If you’re a manufacturer interested in integrating your next device with the Google eBooks e-commerce platform, please contact us at books-devices-request@google.com.

    Update 7/13: We've corrected the word "e-ink" to the more precise "E Ink" as that is the technology brand used in the device's high resolution screen.
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/the-first-google-ebooks-integrated-e-reader-iriver-story-hd/feed/ 0     Journalist Belva Davis Discusses Her Memoir at Google https://googledata.org/google-books/journalist-belva-davis-discusses-her-memoir-at-google/ https://googledata.org/google-books/journalist-belva-davis-discusses-her-memoir-at-google/#comments Tue, 28 Jun 2011 17:03:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=ff82e6cd18226163087b3dca3b5aab30
    Pioneering journalist Belva Davis recently visited Google as part of the Authors@Google program  to talk about her memoir, Never in My Wildest Dreams: A Black Woman's Life in Journalism. 

    Davis was interviewed by Google director Stacy Brown-Philpot, who asked her questions about her career, being black in America, technology's impact on the media, and her hopes for the future.

    During her career Davis anchored at three major network affiliates, CBS, NBC and PBS, and currently hosts a highly respected political affairs program on KQED-TV in San Francisco. She has interviewed icons such as Malcolm X, Frank Sinatra, James Brown, Alex Haley, Dianne Feinstein, Fidel Castro and Condoleezza Rice. During her interview at Google, Davis said that she would like to add President Barack Obama to this list.


    In the video above, Davis is interviewed on-stage as part of the Authors@Google series

    When asked how she started her career, Davis pointed to the Republican National Convention of 1964. She explained that it was during that convention where she saw how the mainstream media shaped public opinion and perpetuated racism.

    Seeing the media's power to tell a story of hatred to America inspired her to try to tell a different story, "I thought to myself... I want to do something like that... I want to be able to tell people what happens to us. No one is truly interested in what happens to us if we don't tell our own story."

    Something that surfaced during the conversation was how important it is to continue telling your story, even after you think you've broken down a wall. Asked if she thought being black in America has changed since the 1960s, Davis said it had, but this did not mean that people should stop working toward change:
    It's like two different worlds for black Americans today. There is the group we dreamed of, that people fought for, march for... And then there is the other world, where unemployment is higher than it's ever been, where poverty is at an unmeasurable amount, where walls are so high that some don't see that they can climb over them.

    So as a country we need to do more, but as a people there is no denying that the world is totally different: When I was starting in this business, I was often asked to leave news conferences because no one could believe I was a real legitimate reporter. Today the president of the country is black.
    In her book Davis recounts where she was the night that Barack Obama won the 2008 Presidential election, and her initial hesitation to celebrate. Once she realized his success was real and being acknowledged, she was unable to control herself and had to share her experiences. She spoke about her experience of America in the 1960s, and the miracle she felt Obama's election was. And yet, always the journalist, Davis admits:
    Deep down, I suspect that this glorious glow will fade into a more complex reality. Every progressive step in America seems to evoke its own backlash. In the same way that Brown v. Board of Education and passage of the Civil Rights Act helped spawn the reactionary rhetoric of the Goldwaterites, so too will Obama's election trigger angry Tea Party movement protesters brandishing him "un-American" and clamoring to take their country "back."

    Yes I choose to remain hopeful. Over the years I've followed my mantra--a note I wrote to myself years ago. Its message applies to the fate of Belvagene Metlon Davis Moore from hardscrabble Louisiana, and to the Obamas and Oprahs and Christophers of the world, and to all who follow the arch of history as it blends toward justice. It begins like this: "Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality" (16).
    Ultimately, Never in My Wildest Dreams, is about not giving up. Davis points out that we are living in a time when young people are throwing up their hands and abandoning their dreams. Davis wanted to let anyone who has thought of giving up that there "are rewards for hanging in there, for having wild dreams, for envisioning yourself as whatever it is that you think will make you happy."

    She writes, "If you can somehow along the way convince yourself to do the work that it takes to get where you want to go, then there you are."


    is available in the Google eBookstore for $7.99.
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/journalist-belva-davis-discusses-her-memoir-at-google/feed/ 0     Google eBooks Affiliate program – Open for business https://googledata.org/google-books/google-ebooks-affiliate-program-open-for-business-2/ https://googledata.org/google-books/google-ebooks-affiliate-program-open-for-business-2/#comments Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=7637d01fa91e08544dd62bfadb8968a3 Posted by Pratip Banerji, Product Manager, Google Books team

    Retailers, bloggers, book publishers and other website owners in the U.S. can now become Google eBooks affiliates. Affiliates can link to Google eBooks on their sites for any of the hundreds of thousands of titles available for sale, earning a commission for referring sales to the Google eBookstore.


    We launched the program as a limited beta in December with our first affiliate, Goodreads. Goodreads is a social reading site, who after becoming an affiliate was able to refer their avid book reading fans to the Google eBookstore. When Goodreads users buy a Google eBook, they’re gaining immediate access to their book and supporting Goodreads in the process.

    Starting today, we invite all interested site owners to apply to join the expanded Google eBooks affiliate program. Participating sites gain new revenue streams by giving their book-reading audiences an easy way to buy Google eBooks.

    Google eBooks affiliates become part of the Google Affiliate Network (GAN). After joining GAN, you can subscribe to the Google eBooks product feed to get links to the full set of available Google eBooks. If you want to query a more targeted set of ebooks you can use the new Google Books APIs.

    For more information and to sign up to be a Google eBooks affiliate, please visit our partner Help Center here.
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/google-ebooks-affiliate-program-open-for-business-2/feed/ 0     Following James Joyce’s Footsteps https://googledata.org/google-books/following-james-joyces-footsteps/ https://googledata.org/google-books/following-james-joyces-footsteps/#comments Thu, 16 Jun 2011 07:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=b4da079f19a4aa6b47541680446a594e Posted by Agustina Dates, Google Books Online Support Team

    One of the things I love most about books is how they can transport you to places all over the planet (and even in other worlds). Cities not only exist in the real world — they exist in literature as well. As a novel's characters walk through pages, our imaginations walk right along with them, following words as though they were streets.

    James Joyce once said, "I want to give a picture of Dublin so complete that if the city one day suddenly disappeared from the earth it could be reconstructed out of my book." And so he did. He took me to Dublin long before I came to live here through books such as Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and, of course, his most celebrated novel, Ulysses.

    One hundred and seven years ago today, Leopold Bloom, Joyce's most famous protagonist, started his journey through the city of Dublin. The story of this modern antihero started and ended on June 16, 1904 (much shorter than the one of Homer's Ulysses narrated in the Odyssey) and is celebrated every year in the streets of Dublin.

    Every June 16th, those who live in or visit Dublin have the chance to witness the city literally blooming, as festivals, lectures, dramatizations and walking tours are held in celebration of Bloomsday. This is a great time to visit the city, and you can start planning your journey by taking a look at the Travel Section in the Google eBookstore, where you can find plenty of books about Dublin or Ireland. For more tips and insights, check out our past blog post on Dublin.

    The city may not look exactly the same as it did more than a century ago, but you can still visit some of the Ulysses's main landmarks, such as the Martello Tower, where the novel starts, the National Library and St. Mary's Church, the O'Connell Bridge (that you can see on the cover of the reproduction of the 1922 first edition of Ulysses), and the famous statue of Leopold's wife Molly Malone.


    Tackling a book as long and complex as Ulysses can be overwhelming. Luckily there is plenty of help to get you started, such as The New Bloomsday Book, The Joyce's Ulysses, James Joyce's Ulysses: A Reference Guide, or The Subaltern Ulysses, among many others.

    See you in Dublin!
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/following-james-joyces-footsteps/feed/ 0     Spring Travel to Seattle https://googledata.org/google-books/spring-travel-to-seattle/ https://googledata.org/google-books/spring-travel-to-seattle/#comments Tue, 14 Jun 2011 22:26:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=ead720fc6fcc39e17e165a77c8db8a35 Posted by Ariel Levine, Google eBooks

    Last month I went to visit a friend in Seattle. Wanting to make the most of it, I did three things to prepare: (1) I asked my friends for advice on where to go, (2) read up on Seattle's demographics, major economic players, and history, and (3) perused Google eBooks for travel guides.

    Initially, I simply typed "Seattle" in the Google eBooks search box, but then I decided to refine my search "By Subject," and selected “Travel."


    After scanning the samples for Our Seattle by Barbara Sleeper and Mike Sedam, Frommer's Seattle 2011, Seattle by Beth Taylor, as well as countless other titles, I settled on one, loaded it onto an eReader, and packed for my flight.

    I'm happy to report the trip was lovely and the weather held. I ended up being able to fit a lot into my two and a half days. I made it to the Space Needle, which was crucial to my trip as it reminds me of the film Sleepless in Seattle, my many years watching Frasier and of course, the Twilight Saga - not to mention Robert Pattinson's oh-so-famous pout! We also spent time in Belltown, Pike's Place Market, and Capitol Hill. I even snuck in a trip on Seattle's Central Link light rail, which was remarkably quiet, mostly above ground, and rivaled New York's subway system in terms of cleanliness.

    Last, but not least, you'll be happy to hear that I made it to meet the Fremont troll.
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/spring-travel-to-seattle/feed/ 0     Doodle in the Google eBooks Web Reader https://googledata.org/google-books/doodle-in-the-google-ebooks-web-reader/ https://googledata.org/google-books/doodle-in-the-google-ebooks-web-reader/#comments Thu, 09 Jun 2011 20:57:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=e89ee9320c263ba247ee49aaae33add3 Posted by Diego Puppin and Derek Lei, Google Books Software Engineers
    As the young (and young at heart) know, books aren't simply meant to be read - sometimes they're meant to be marked up, colored in and scribbled all over. Up until now, however, you couldn't really do that with digital books. Today, we're introducing Doodle Mode for a select group of Google eBooks. Take a virtual crayon to these digital books and go wild: draw pictures and diagrams, connect the dots, or underline words.

    To get started, select any of ebooks, available for purchase, in the list below from "The Everything Kids'" series, which is the first line of ebooks to have Doodle Mode. Open them in the Google eBooks Web Reader. The Web Reader works in all modern browsers and lets you read Google eBooks without having to download them. (Note, however, that Doodle Mode does not yet work with Internet Explorer browsers.)

    Once you've chosen and opened an ebook, go to the upper-right hand menu and click on "Doodle Mode" to begin. A box will appear, showing you where you can start doodling.


    Use your mouse to click inside the box, and you'll start drawing with the crayon. You can use Doodle Mode in the Web Reader whether you're accessing it through your computer or iPad.

    Doodles aren't saved, so you're free to doodle again and again on the pages of the ebooks without having to worry about using them up. (But if you do create a particularly stunning doodle, be sure to take a picture or a screenshot.)

    Giulia, Diego's six-year-old daughter, tried her hand at Doodle Mode...



    ...and created some instant masterpieces:


    From The Everything Kids' Connect Dots Puzzle and Activity Book

    From The Everything Kids' Mazes Book



    Doodle Mode is for all ages, so go ahead and give it a try. You just might be a budding professional Google Doodler...
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/doodle-in-the-google-ebooks-web-reader/feed/ 0     Petting Zoo at Green Apple Books in San Francisco Tonight https://googledata.org/google-books/petting-zoo-at-green-apple-books-in-san-francisco-tonight/ https://googledata.org/google-books/petting-zoo-at-green-apple-books-in-san-francisco-tonight/#comments Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:30:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=2532b9ab4c60a762055531b3df95d235 Posted by Pete Mulvihill, co-owner of Green Apple Books

    Richard Savoy founded Green Apple Books in 1967 when he was 25 years old. In 1999, he handed the reigns over to three new owners: Kevin Hunsanger, Kevin Ryan and myself. Today our store in the Inner Richmond district of San Francisco is more than 10 times its original 750 square feet, with two storefronts and three floors of used and new books along with music, DVDs, and now... Google eBooks. In a dynamic industry that has seen the rise (and fall?) of discounters, chain super-stores, and online sellers, Green Apple has always strived to adapt and remain relevant to our community.
    Green Apple Books is one of more than 250 independent booksellers selling Google eBooks nationwide. Readers can visit our website at GreenAppleBooks.com, browse and shop for Google eBooks, sample them and buy them directly from us. Then you can access your Google eBooks “in the cloud” without ever having to download them (unless you want to), picking up on the page where you left off as you switch among your PC,smartphone, and tablet. The best part about Google eBooks is that you can buy them from your locally-owned independent bookseller, and read them on devices of your choice. You’re not locked in to one bookseller or one kind of hardware. And keeping that money in your local economy really makes a difference.

    We’ve found that it’s easy to learn once you get your hands on a device and try it. So we’re hosting a Google eBooks “petting zoo” this evening from 5:00 -- 8:00 p.m. in our store at 506 Clement Street @ 6th Avenue in San Francisco. We’ll have refreshments and digital enlightenment as we show you how to browse, buy and read Google eBooks by playing with an array of devices, some of which you may already own. And if you’re looking for a gift for all those dads and grads out there, a Green Apple Books gift card never expires and can be used to buy anything we sell including Google eBooks.

    As a store with a sense of humor in addition to our well groomed selection of books, we made this YouTube video to explain how you can support us from anywhere in the U.S. by buying your Google eBooks from us.



    We also display QR codes in front of many print books featured in-store that point to the corresponding ebook page online where you can sample and buy the digital version using your smartphone right here in the store. Because sometimes you want to get dressed and leave the house, right?

    We know many avid readers prefer the tactile sensation of a turning a page and the satisfying thud of a finished novel on a nightstand. So do many of us, but for those of you who want to dabble in the digital, are considering lightening your literary load or crave a healthy mix of 1s and 0s with your paper pulp -- look no further than Green Apple Books. (We buy books, too, so if you go digital, think about selling those used books to us for re-use!).

    Thanks for reading. We hope you’ll drop by to touch some screens.
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/petting-zoo-at-green-apple-books-in-san-francisco-tonight/feed/ 0     Tech writer Steven Levy discusses All Things Google [video] https://googledata.org/google-books/tech-writer-steven-levy-discusses-all-things-google-video/ https://googledata.org/google-books/tech-writer-steven-levy-discusses-all-things-google-video/#comments Tue, 07 Jun 2011 22:19:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=388a5d542cd9b08196f6799fa1c95fba Posted by Oliver Chiang, Google eBooks Support Team


    Veteran technology journalist Steven Levy, a senior writer at Wired, visited Google recently as part of the Authors@Google program to talk about In the Plex, his latest book detailing the inner workings of our company. Levy was interviewed by search engineer Matt Cutts. Cutts asked Levy about his experience writing the book, his many visits to our Google campuses, and his impressions of the company as a whole.



    In the video above, Levy is interviewed on-stage as part of the Authors@Google series


    Levy touched on a number of interesting topics about Google in his interview, which you can watch in the video above. One Googler asked Levy what was one of the biggest revelations the author had about the company. Levy said that while some criticize Google for lacking coherence in what it does, you can find "the root of 'Googliness'" in any of the company's projects.

    Citing Google's self-driving cars, for example, Levy says:


    "It's AI [artificial intelligence]-based, and Google to me is an AI company among other things. It's also a really big information-processing exercise. [The car] takes in all this information about its local area, with little laser sensors and things like that, and it brings back information from Google in Street View and Maps and things like that. So I found it not a surprising product, once you think about it, for Google to embark on."


    The book itself reads like an insider's guide to Google, with fascinating anecdotes dating back to the very founding of Google. One memorable scene shows founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin getting their first big investment in 1998 -- before the company even existed -- from investor Andy Bechtolsheim:


    "At that ungodly hour Page and Brin demoed their search engine for Bechtolsheim... Bechtolsheim, impressed, but eager to get to the office, cut the meeting short by offering to write the duo a $100,000 check.

    'We don't have a bank account yet,' said Brin.

    'Deposit it when you get one,' said Bechtolsheim, who raced off in his Porsche. With as little fanfare as if he were grabbing a latte on the way to work, he had just invested in an enterprise that would change the way the world accessed information. Brin and Page celebrated with a Burger King breakfast."




    Levy, with a copy of his Google eBook "In the Plex"


    My colleague Ariel and I also had the pleasure of interviewing Levy before his conversation with Cutts. We asked Levy what initially drove him to start writing about technology. He told us that he originally covered many topics, and was even a rock music critic for awhile. Then in 1982, he had the opportunity to do a story about computer hackers. "I hadn't even touched a computer before then," he noted.

    The experience writing his now-famous book, Hackers: heroes of the computer revolution (1984), led him to reject common stereotypes about hackers. "They were not creepy sociopaths," he said. "They were doing fascinating things with computers and it was clear that computers were going to change everything." Levy was inspired to become a technology journalist -- one of the early pioneers in the field.

    This prompted us to ask Levy what he thought of tech journalism today. Levy thought the field was more interesting now, calling it a more "varied ecosystem." While coverage of tech companies and innovations used to be found in the business sections of big newspapers, he noted that with the Internet, there was a lot more diversity of outlets now. "A lot of the more interesting stuff comes from blogs," he said.

    Finally, as members of the Google eBooks team, we wanted to know just what Levy thought of the digital publishing revolution. Levy liked that his books were available on new platforms, but also thought the digital books industry needed to figure out business models that work better for authors and consumers.

    "It will take a while for people to understand how those economics really work," he said. "Books should be less expensive and more ubiquitous: there should be three times the number of books for half the price. You should be able to buy a book on whim, like music, or like getting a movie from Netflix."

    If you're a fan of Levy's writing in the books In the Plex and Hackers, the Google eBookstore also has two other books of his on sale:

    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/tech-writer-steven-levy-discusses-all-things-google-video/feed/ 0     5 Fun Facts about Thomas Hardy https://googledata.org/google-books/5-fun-facts-about-thomas-hardy/ https://googledata.org/google-books/5-fun-facts-about-thomas-hardy/#comments Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=81ea2bdd5b1f3a0ce86c7bafa59766bb Posted by Archi Sarkar, Google Books and Online News Associate


    English novelist Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) posing for E. O. Hoppe
    (LIFE Magazine)


    Poet, novelist, short story writer and dramatist, Thomas Hardy was a nineteenth-century literary genius, whose profound influences continued to resonate years later in the works of famous literary stalwarts like D.H. Lawrence and W. Somerset Maugham.

    Here's wishing "Happy Birthday" to an exceptionally gifted writer who gave us Far From the Madding Crowd, The Mayor of Casterbridge, as well as "The Darkling Thrush," among many others.

    Despite his reputation as a great novelist, Hardy preferred to be known as a poet — who wrote novels for financial security. This pragmatism, often reflected in his novels, provided stark glimpses of contemporary reality — like the perils of Clym Yeobright in the rustic terrains of Egdon Heath in The Return of the Native.

    Here are five fun facts about Thomas Hardy that shaped his character:

    1. Thomas Hardy was a skilled architect. He received his formal training from King's College, London, and went on to win accolades from the Royal Institute of British Architects. After the successful publication of Far from the Madding Crowd, Hardy decided to give up his vocation as an architect to become a dedicated poet and writer.

    2. Hardy almost gave up writing and destroyed the manuscript of his first novel, The Poor Man and the Lady, after several failed attempts to find a publisher for it. Noted novelist George Meredith is also said to have turned him down after a brief interview, urging him to experiment more with intrigues, rather than brooding protagonists. Hardy then anonymously published Under the Greenwood Tree, followed by Far From the Madding Crowd.

    3. The coining of the word "cliffhanger" is often credited to Thomas Hardy. The first mention of the word appears in one of serialized episodes of the novel A Pair of Blue Eyes, published in Tinsley's Magazine. Hardy depicts one of the protagonists, Henry Knight, as actually hanging off a cliff.

    4. Jude the Obscure received heavy criticism after publication in 1895 for expressing radical views on the institution of marriage and Christianity. Underlying motifs included children born out of wedlock and conjugal relationships between cousins. Some book merchants would wrap it in brown paper before selling it to the public. Hardy wrote an amusing postscript in the 1912 edition of the book, while referring to some of these incidents: "After these verdicts from the press its next misfortune was to be burnt by a bishop — probably in his despair at not being able to burn me."

    5. Hardy was a naturalistic writer and an ardent believer in Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The plots of his novels were deterministic in essence, where the protagonists were subservient to the forces of nature, and their predicament was usually predetermined by environmental factors, which they had no control over.

    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/5-fun-facts-about-thomas-hardy/feed/ 0     A Whole "Latte" Books https://googledata.org/google-books/a-whole-latte-books/ https://googledata.org/google-books/a-whole-latte-books/#comments Tue, 31 May 2011 22:07:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=7e9dc0993bfea945f814672322d18cdc Posted by Cheryl Pon, Google eBooks Support Team

    Please note that some content may not be available in full view to users outside of the United States.

    T.S. Eliot once remarked that he "measured out [his] life with coffee spoons." Wise man. I measure out my mornings with double espressos.

    Whether it's a double-tall, half-caffeine, sugar-free hazelnut soy latte, cappuccino, macchiato, espresso, or just a fresh, plain hot cup of Joe, we Googlers love our coffee.

    Not only do we have mobile baristas who travel around our Mountain View campus, but tutorials on how to pull the perfect shot of espresso.


    Naturally curious as to where my daily java comes from and how it transforms from this picture of brilliant red berries swinging innocently on a branch surrounded by white flowers into a variety of light, medium, and dark roasts brewed in my kitchen, I dove into Google Books and Google eBooks to learn more.


    If you, too, want to get educated in coffee culture throughout history, check out Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World on Google eBooks, published by Basic Books.

    Interested in the cultivation and profit-making aspects of coffee? Be sure to read Edwin Lester Linden Arnold's Coffee, its cultivation and profit.

    If you're keen on learning more about the corporate culture and commerce surrounding coffee, Everything but the coffee by Bryant Simon (published by UC Press), or Starbucked: a double tall tale of caffeine, commerce, and culture (Hachette Digital) are perfect for your — wait for it — coffee table. Also, make sure to read All about coffee by William Harrison Ukers or Coffee, from plantation to cup by Francis Beatty Thurber.

    So grab a book and cozy up with a cuppa!
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/a-whole-latte-books/feed/ 0     Fighting for the Irish Independence through words: Lady Speranza Wilde https://googledata.org/google-books/fighting-for-the-irish-independence-through-words-lady-speranza-wilde/ https://googledata.org/google-books/fighting-for-the-irish-independence-through-words-lady-speranza-wilde/#comments Thu, 26 May 2011 16:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=38abb88429b58f34fe4f30358ec1ab25 Posted by Francesca di Felice, Google Books Dublin

    Have you ever heard of Lady Speranza? She was a mysterious pro-Irish Independence writer for the magazine The Nation during the middle of the 19th century in Dublin. That's the pen name of Jane Francesca Wilde, the mother of the famous and controversial Oscar Wilde.

    Born around 1821, Lady Wilde was the daughter of Archdeacon Elgee (son of an Italian immigrant), Rector of Wexford, and Sara Kingsbury, granddaughter of the Commissioner of Bankrupt. At this time, Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain due to the Acts of Union in 1800, and many Irish people hoped for independence from Great Britain's Protestant kingdom.

    Lady Wilde embodied her country's hopes and dreams during the fight for independence, by adopting the nom de plume "Speranza," the Italian word for hope. With this nickname she signed many poems, writings, fairy tales and translations. By examining her talent with language, it's easy to understand the origins of her son's genius.



    Her first poem appeared in the newspaper The Nation in 1846 and was followed by many others which won the enthusiasm of the leaders of the Young Ireland, the social and political nationalistic movement responsible for the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848.

    Gavan Duffy, the editor of The Nation, didn't know that Lady Wilde was behind the Speranza poems and letters. Her article, "Jacta Alea Est," published in 1848, urged armed revolt in the cause of Irish freedom.

    Because of the contents of his paper, the British authorities brought Duffy to court. Speranza’s article was used as evidence of seditious conspiracy. Duffy refused to identify the author responsible for the writings. Jane Francesca Wilde came to court and claimed the writings with pride, for she wasn't afraid to stand up for her nation. The following is an excerpt from "Dedication to Ireland," published in Poems by Lady Speranza in 1871:

    My country, wounded to the heart,
    Could I but flash along thy soul
    Electric power to rive apart
    The thunder‐clouds that round thee roll,
    And, by my burning words, uplift
    Thy life from out Death's icy drift,
    Till the full splendours of our age
    Shone round thee for thy heritage—
    As Miriam’s, by the Red Sea strand
    Clashing proud cymbals, so my hand
    Would strike thy harp,
    Loved Ireland!


    The Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848 collapsed quickly and the leaders were arrested. After the closure of The Nation, Lady Wilde lost hope for the cause though she continued to believe in its ideals. She started to write about Irish folklore: fairies, leprechauns, elves and the mysticism which is prevalent on Celtic tradition.

    Lady Wilde's outspokenness emerged once more when her son Oscar was accused of sodomy and she earnestly defended him. She usually quoted to him lines by Goethe to help him face the troubles of his life.

    Indeed, she was used to troubles. Her husband Sir William Wilde, a famous eye and ear surgeon, was at the center of a scandalous court case regarding a young woman. Mary Travers claimed to have been seduced by him. The girl was the daughter of a colleague of Sir William and won the case, gaining £2,000.

    Lady Wilde stayed always at her husband's side, like she did for her son Oscar, even when they found themselves bankrupt after Sir William's death. She moved to London (where she died in 1896) with her two sons. Despite the conditions of her late years, she didn't lose the style and appeal which made her so well known and remembered in her beloved Ireland.
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/fighting-for-the-irish-independence-through-words-lady-speranza-wilde/feed/ 0     Hobbyists unite! How one Google Books user built a vintage automobile https://googledata.org/google-books/hobbyists-unite-how-one-google-books-user-built-a-vintage-automobile/ https://googledata.org/google-books/hobbyists-unite-how-one-google-books-user-built-a-vintage-automobile/#comments Tue, 24 May 2011 18:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=468c82da4bef6c31e5eb07c98feb725d Posted by Oliver Chiang, Google eBooks Support Team


    Meet Bob Ferry and his nice 'ride': a 1906 Oldsmobile Model B Runabout. You might be thinking, "Wow, for a model that's nearly a century old, this car looks brand new." That’s because it is brand new. Bob found old magazines and publications on mechanics with pictures, diagrams and descriptions, by searching the digital treasure trove of Google Books, which helped him build the car from scratch.


    "It's been a great avenue for any hobbyist," says Bob, who has amassed a collection of over 100 Google Books, from out-of-print issues of Popular Science and Popular Mechanics to Harper's gasoline engine book and Horseless Age.

    Bob is a 51-year-old machinist who lives in Louisville, Kentucky, and runs a family-owned shop that builds industrial machinery. Building 'horseless carriages' has been his passion on the side for years, and an outlet for his skills as a machinist. He belongs to an Internet group of horseless carriage replica builders who share photos and ideas about the cars they are building. Some members have been inspired by Bob to also use Google Books to help them construct vintage vehicles.


    An image of an Oldsmobile Runabout from an ad in "The Horseless age" Volume 16, published in 1905

    When Bob started building his car, he started off with a set of plans he purchased from fellow replica car-builder Jimmy Woods, but he also wanted to add as many original qualities to the car as possible that were not in the plans, such as a steamer trunk extension and fringed 'Surrey Top'. He had heard of ebooks, so he went over to Google Books and discovered many old books and magazines about the earliest automobiles from the early 1900s. He loaded them up onto his iPad using his Google Books app and got to work.

    Bob says the Surrey Top was especially difficult to design, but that the vast number of digital books were a great resource, with drawings and texts describing various car tops and the pros and cons of each.


    A diagram of a steering arm lower control rod that Bob used, from "The Gasoline Automobile: Transmission, running gear, and control"



    Bob, testing the early frame of his Oldsmobile


    The final product, in his own words:
    My car is powered by a 17-year-old Briggs & Stratton 12 HP engine and a hydrostatic transmission from a 15-20-year-old Craftsman riding mower. It is steered with a tiller arm (no steering wheel) and reaches a blazing top speed of about 6-7 miles per hour.

    Bob also sees his hobby as a way of giving back to the community. He has been exhibiting his Oldsmobile replica at senior citizen's homes and local shows. The car has elicited huge smiles from seniors. "They would say, 'You know, I used to drive one like that.' Many of these are World War II vets, and I thought, if I can just bring a smile to their faces, let’s do it," Bob says.


    Bob's 7-month-old granddaughter takes the vintage car for a spin

    Bob plans to continue using Google Books to help him on future car-building projects. In the next few years, he plans to build a 1902 De Dion Bouton French car, a 1920 Norton Racer Motorcycle and an Orient Buckboard. He is studying early engine designs, as he wants to build the engine from scratch on his next replica car.

    While he's still a fan of physical books, Bob has increasingly turned to digital books for their convenience, and to find obscure and useful information. “It has really, really been fun,” he says. "I don't know how many books are out there that I would like to try to read each one, cover to cover."

    Do you have story about using Google Books in an interesting or helpful way? Write us at googlebooksblog@google.com
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/hobbyists-unite-how-one-google-books-user-built-a-vintage-automobile/feed/ 0     Google eBooks: By the Numbers, Then and Now https://googledata.org/google-books/google-ebooks-by-the-numbers-then-and-now/ https://googledata.org/google-books/google-ebooks-by-the-numbers-then-and-now/#comments Mon, 23 May 2011 12:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=d448fd2313bb2dfc7ffb29e9c794d90f Posted by Abe Murray, product manager

    It’s been about six months since we launched Google eBooks. Now, we’re happy to report there are more than three million free Google eBooks available in the U.S. for your enjoyment and enlightenment (as compared to more than two million at launch). You can read them in the free Google Books Web Reader, through a free Google Books app, or by downloading them to your favorite compatible ereader.

    To find free Google eBooks, click on “Free Google eBooks” in the left-hand column to narrow your Books search or browse through the Best of the Free bookshelf in the Google eBookstore.

    Free ebooks aren’t the only thing on the rise... At launch, there were just over 100 independent booksellers selling Google eBooks -- now there are more than 250. And while we had just over 5,000 publishers participating when Google eBooks first hit the cloud, we now have more than 7,000 -- a 40% increase in half a year. Last but not least, installs of the Google Books apps for iOS, Android and Chrome have exceeded 2.5 million since December.

    This week, we’ll be revealing Google eBooks facts and figures, and some of the stories behind them, at the BookExpo America and related events in New York.

    Here’s the line-up:

    Monday, May 23

    IBPA Publishing University 2011
    Google eBooks: How Publishers Can Maximize Ebook Sales ‹ On- and Off-line
    8:00 -- 8:45 AM
    The Jacob Javits Convention Center, Level 1, Hall 1A
    Presenters: Pratip Banerji, product manager, Google Books with Matt Supko, American Booksellers Association

    Summary: Learn how you can take advantage of the Google eBookstore and discover from the American Booksellers Association what independent booksellers’ partnership with Google eBooks means to book buyers -- and publishers.

    IDPF Digital Book 2011
    The Year of the eBook - Globally
    8:30 -- 9:15 AM
    The Jacob Javits Convention Center
    Panelists: Abe Murray, product manager, Google Books with Michael Tamblyn of Kobo Books and Yoshinobu Noma of Kodansha

    Summary: Digital books have “crossed the chasm” to mainstream consumer acceptance. What were the critical success factors in this global success story? And what’s next?


    Tuesday, May 24

    BookExpo America
    The Future of eBooks Publishing Executive Panel
    3:30 – 4:30 pm
    The Jacob Javits Convention Center, Room 1E13
    Moderator: Tom Turvey, director, strategic partnerships, Google Books
    Panelists: Amanda Close (President, Random House Digital), Evan Schnittman (EVP, Business Development, Bloomsbury) David Steinberger (CEO, Perseus), Andrew Savikas (SVP, O'Reilly)

    Summary: Senior executives from top publishing houses tell it like it is in a rousing panel discussion about the future of ebooks. This no-holds-barred session will tackle tough issues such as the changing definition of a book, digital rights management, and international marketing, plus new business models like subscriptions and bundling. Bring your burning questions and a pen -- you’ll want to write some of these gems down. The panel will include audience Q&A.


    Wednesday, May 25

    BookExpo America
    Three R’s of Google eBooks: Reading, Regions and Retailing
    9:00 – 10:30 am
    The Jacob Javits Convention Center, Room 1E02
    Presenter: Scott Dougall, director, product management, Google Books

    Summary: Nearly six months since launch, hundreds of thousands of Google eBooks are being merchandised through the Google eBookstore, the Android Market and on the websites of more than 200 partner bookstores across the U.S. More than two million Google eBooks are available for free -- driving trial and excitement for digital reading in the cloud. But on what devices are people reading? What genres are most popular? Which cities have the most avid e-reading populations? Attend this interactive presentation and find out all this and more.


    Thursday, May 26

    BookExpo America
    Seven Years of Google Books: The Next Chapter
    9:00 – 10:30 am
    The Jacob Javits Convention Center, Room 1E15
    Presenter: James Crawford, director, engineering, Google Books

    Summary: Since setting out in 2004 to bring the world’s literary treasures online, the Google Books team has indexed more than 2 million books from publisher partners around the world. With Google Books, millions of users search through trillions of words in milliseconds to find just the book they were looking for -- and the retailers that sell it. What started out with one makeshift scanner and a dream has become a large-scale operation that delivers a free promotional tool for more than 35,000 publishers around the world. Find out what’s next for the Google Books Partner Program, Google Books search and Google eBooks.

    Happy reading!
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/google-ebooks-by-the-numbers-then-and-now/feed/ 0     Define, translate and search for words in Google eBooks https://googledata.org/google-books/define-translate-and-search-for-words-in-google-ebooks/ https://googledata.org/google-books/define-translate-and-search-for-words-in-google-ebooks/#comments Thu, 19 May 2011 18:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=16098f6ef6dcde10c04a9f78ddef9db1 Posted by Derek Lei, Software Engineer, Google Books

    When bookworms stumble across a word we don't know, we face the classic dilemma of whether to put the book down to look up the word or forge ahead in ignorance to avoid interrupting the reading experience. Well, fret no more, readers, because today you can select words in Google eBooks and look up their definitions, translate them or search for them elsewhere in the book from within the Google eBooks Web Reader—without losing your page or even looking away.

    The Web Reader works in all modern browsers and lets you read Google eBooks without having to download them. To select text in a Google eBook within the Web Reader, double-click or highlight it with your mouse and a pop-up menu opens with the following options: Define, Translate, Search Book, Search Google and Search Wikipedia. (Note: these features work in "Flowing Text" mode not "Scanned Pages" mode. Switch to "Flowing Text" in the Web Reader by clicking on the Settings menu labeled "Aa" and select it under the "Show" drop-down menu. Not all Google eBooks are available in "Flowing Text.")



    Define
    Click “Define” and the pop-up now displays a definition of the word via Google Dictionary, without leaving the page you’re on in the Google eBook. Click on the audio icon to the left of the word you want defined to hear the definition pronounced aloud. If you decide you do want to leave the page, select “More” to go to the Google Dictionary page for the word, which provides additional information like usage examples and web definitions.




    Translate
    You can also translate a single word or several sentences of content into dozens of languages, from Afrikaans to Yiddish, by selecting the "Translate" option. As with definitions, you'll see the translated text displayed in the pop-up window.







    Search
    By selecting one of the search options, you can search for the selected text in other places within the ebook itself or across the entire web.

    “Search Book” brings up all the instances in which the selected text appears in the ebook. You can also access the search options by clicking on the magnifying glass icon in the upper right-hand corner of the Web Reader. Click on a search result to jump to that section.

    “Search Google” and “Search Wikipedia” open up a new browser tab displaying the search results for that text on Google and Wikipedia, respectively.



    Go ahead and give these new features a spin by reading a Google eBook.

    Update 5:54pm: Included details about "Flowing text" vs. "Scanned pages."
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/define-translate-and-search-for-words-in-google-ebooks/feed/ 0     Books on Wheels https://googledata.org/google-books/books-on-wheels/ https://googledata.org/google-books/books-on-wheels/#comments Wed, 18 May 2011 20:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=b78bb853a3577ade218076b31e31646d Posted by Dan Hirsch, Google Books Support Team

    Please note that some content may not be available in full view to users outside of the United States.



    As millions of commuters clip in and pedal off for Bike to Work Week, we, on the Google Books Team cruised through our library in search of bike-inspired writing. To our delight, books on bikes abound. The 19th century in particular proved itself a fruitful time for writing about self-powered vehicles. Since 1817 when Baron Karl von Drais invented the first Laufmaschine or "dandy horse," innumerable authors have penned user guides and treatises on bikes, trikes and velocipedes. However, these works do more than just explain how to lube a chain or fix a flat — they reflect on overarching themes of modernity itself. Bike writers cover everything from feminism to globalization. Below are some of the many bike books we liked the most.

    Fast Age




    "Whether velocipedes will ever become a necessity of our civilization—the 'fast' adjunct to our 'fast' age—it is impossible to say, though appearances would warrant such a prediction," writes the anonymous gearhead "Velox" in Velocipedes, Bicycles, and Tricycles: How to Make Use of Them. In 1869, Velox certainly couldn’t imagine the ultimate dominance of planes, trains and automobiles. However, his bike guide affirmatively depicts the modern age as an era defined by transportation. "Man being his own horse" was only the beginning.

    Around the World in Way More than 80 Days




    In a century of expanding empires and increased global exchange, novelist and writers spilled a great deal of ink imagining fantastical trips around the world — Jules Verne's work is a quintessential example. One adventurer named Thomas Stevens actually took such a trip, but rather than luxuriating in a hot air balloon, he propelled himself on wheels. Starting off in San Francisco in April 1884, Stevens rode his large wheeled "penny-farthing" across the U.S. to New York City. From there he traveled with his bike by ship to London, then Paris. He cycled across Europe, did a big loop through the Balkans, rode a steamer down the Red Sea, then crossed the Indian Ocean to Karachi, Pakistan, where he pedaled through the Indian subcontinent. Traveling by boat from Yokohama, Japan, Stevens arrived back in San Francisco in December 1887. He lived to tell the tale and collect his memories in a Around the World on a Bicycle.

    Biking in Bloomers




    If you were a turn-of-the-century suffragette looking for a delightful way to attain mobile independence in a world increasingly populated by male automobile drivers, then biking was the thing for you! In her 1895 work A Wheel Within a Wheel, feminist writer and activist Frances Willard argued that a woman's ability to self-propel using pedal-power could also empower her to advance beyond the traditional restrictions of her gender. Willard writes: "Indeed, I found a whole philosophy of life in the wooing and the winning of my bicycle." Her work gives new meaning to the phrase, "it's like learning to ride a bike."

    * * *


    Should all this talk of free-wheelin' get you in the mood to hit the road yourself, you can find out how to get from home to office (or San Francisco to Yokohama, as the case may be) via bike by using Google Maps biking directions. For more on all things bikes, you can also browse through select archives of the magazine Bicycling.
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/books-on-wheels/feed/ 0     Books from 16th and 17th centuries now in full-color view https://googledata.org/google-books/books-from-16th-and-17th-centuries-now-in-full-color-view/ https://googledata.org/google-books/books-from-16th-and-17th-centuries-now-in-full-color-view/#comments Tue, 17 May 2011 21:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=fb33b42c3a483232b721454b8093fe9c Posted by Dan Bloomberg and Kurt Groetsch, Google Books team

    Google has formed partnerships with many of the great libraries of Europe, including the Czech National Library, the National Library of the Netherlands, the Austrian National Library, the National Libraries of Florence and Rome, the Municipal Library of Lyon, Ghent University, the Bavarian State Library, the National Library of Catalonia, the University Complutense of Madrid, the University Library of Lausanne and the Oxford University Library.

    To date, we’ve scanned about 150,000 books worldwide from the 16th and 17th centuries, and another 450,000 from the 18th century. With our growing list of partners, we expect to scan many hundreds of thousands more pre-1800 titles.

    In digitizing books from any century, we try to create clean images with black text and color illustrations on white backgrounds. This helps enhance readability, save storage spaces and serve illustrated pages faster to readers. However, partners, researchers and other readers have frequently asked us to show the older books as they actually appear, for a couple of reasons: First, these books are interesting artifacts. They have changed their appearance over the centuries, and there is a cultural value in viewing them. Second, because of aging and bleed-through, it can be very difficult to display the images as clean text over a white background; in many cases it’s actually easier to read the text from the original (what we call "full-color") images.

    Printing was introduced in the 15th century, but a great flowering of experimentation in typography took place in the 16th and 17th centuries.

    Secunda centuria, das ist das ander Hundert der Evangelischen Wahrheit
    Johann Nass, 1568


    Thargum, hoc est, Paraphrasis Onkeli Chaldaica in sacra Biblia : ex Chaldaeo
    Paul Fagius, 1546

    Some have great historical significance. Others have interesting typography and wood block illustrations. The links open thumbnail versions of each book (icons with 4 little squares). You get other views by clicking on nearby icons; from the thumbnail view, you can click on a page to expand it.

    Below are links to a few more of these 16th and 17th century books now available in full-color view in Google Books:

    Prognostication nouvelle et prediction portenteuse, pour l'an M. D. L. V.
    Nostradamus, 1554
    The first year of his prophecies, provided for scanning by the Municipal Library of Lyon.

    Description de l'abbaye de la Trappe
    André Félibien, 1689
    A description of La Trappe Abbey in Soligny-la-Trappe, Orne, France. Authored by André Félibien, a French chronicler of the arts and official court historian to Louis XIV of France.

    Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae: Usitata forma Quaestionum ..., Volumes 1-3
    Johannes Kepler, 1635
    The German astronomer’s textbook on astronomy (translated as Epitome of Copernican Astronomy); his most influential work.

    Systema cosmicum : in quo dialogis IV. de duobus maximis mundi systematibus, Ptolemaico & Copernicano, rationibus vtrinque propositis indefinitè disseritur : accessit locorum S. Scripturae cum Terra mobilitate conciliatio
    Galileo Galilei, 1641
    Galileo's landmark work comparing Copernican heliocentrism with the geocentric Ptolemaic system. Engraved frontspiece of Aristotle, Ptolemy and Copernicus.

    La operazione del compasso geometrico e militare
    Galileo Galilei, 1640
    Description of and manual on the operation of Galileo’s geometrical and military compass.

    Tractatus de proportionum instrumento : quod merito compendium vniuersae geometriae dixeris
    Galileo Galilei, 1635

    Ioannis Kepleri ... Dioptrice seu Demonstratio eorum quae visui & visibilibus propter conspicilla non ita pridem inventa accidunt. Praemissae Epistolae Galilaei de iis, quae post editionem Nuncii siderii ope Perspicilli, nova & admiranda in coelo deprehensa sunt. Item Examen praefationis Ioannis Penae Galli in Optica Euclidis, de usu Optices in philosophia.
    Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, Jean Pena, 1611

    Patris Gabrielis Vazquez ... Disputationes Metaphysicae …
    Gabriel Vázquez, 1617

    Relaciones universales del mundo ... : Primera y segunda parte
    Giovanni Botero, 1603

    La rhétorique ou l'art de parler
    Bernard Lamy, 1699

    Idea de vn principe politico christiano, representada en cien empressas …
    Diego de Saavedra Fajardo, 1675

    Idea de un principe politico christiano, representada en cien empresas, dedicada al principe de las Españas nuestro Señor …
    Diego de Saavedra Fajardo, 1655

    Pia desideria emblematis elegiis & affectibus S.S. Patrum illustrata
    Herman Hugonus, 1624

    Obsidio bredana armis Philippi IIII, auspiciis Isabellae ductu Ambr. Spinolae perfecta
    Herman Hugo, 1626

    Emblémes Ou Devises Chrétiennes
    1697
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/books-from-16th-and-17th-centuries-now-in-full-color-view/feed/ 0     New Books API for Developers https://googledata.org/google-books/new-books-api-for-developers/ https://googledata.org/google-books/new-books-api-for-developers/#comments Tue, 10 May 2011 17:15:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=2ad3b3770b1d93c074df45a3a7db20a8 Posted by Kevin Landry, Google Books API Team

    Today, we are releasing a new Google Books API in Code Labs. The new Books API will help you write applications to query for the more than 15 million books that are searchable on books.google.com including book metadata, pricing and more. This API replaces the Google Book Search Data and Javascript APIs.

    The previous GData API and Javascript API will still be available, but ongoing development work will be focused on the new Google Books API so we encourage you to make the transition to take advantage of new features including:
    We’re excited about some of the new capabilities this API gives our developer partners. Using OAuth 2.0, a developer can allow users to retrieve their stored information, including bookshelves in their library, ratings and reviews. With the new JSON structure, accessing this information can be done with ease. Whether you want to use the API on a web page, in a Chrome extension, or on a device, the new Books API gives you a way to access the world’s largest selection of ebooks.
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/new-books-api-for-developers/feed/ 0     From Alaska: Old Harbor Books, the 250th indie bookseller of Google eBooks https://googledata.org/google-books/from-alaska-old-harbor-books-the-250th-indie-bookseller-of-google-ebooks/ https://googledata.org/google-books/from-alaska-old-harbor-books-the-250th-indie-bookseller-of-google-ebooks/#comments Mon, 09 May 2011 18:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=b2f98b00aa51386c9674a66f164c882a
    From time to time we invite guests to post about topics of interest and we’re pleased to have Don Muller join us from Old Harbor Books. Don is a co-founder of Old Harbor Books, an independent bookstore where he has worked for 35 years in Sitka, Alaska. Through our partnership with the American Booksellers Association and its IndieCommerce e-commerce platform for booksellers, Old Harbor Books is now able to sell Google eBooks from its website. In this post, Don talks about the significance of this milestone to his bookstore and—most importantly—his customers. - Ed.

    Based in Sitka, Alaska, Old Harbor Books was opened 35 years ago last week by a group of devoted book lovers including myself. Old Harbor is an independent bookstore specializing in Alaskana, Native American and Alaska Native, children's, ecology, travel, natural history, philosophy and, of course, nautical books. And starting today, we also sell Google eBooks on our website. In fact, we’re the 250th independent bookseller to start selling Google eBooks since the service launched last December.

    In a town with a population of less than 9,000, we’re proud to provide personal service to the readers and explorers who visit our store. We wanted to give our customers a way to buy books from us in whatever format they want—including ebooks. So whether you want to read books on your computer, tablet, smartphone or e-reader, you can now choose from hundreds of thousands of Google eBooks titles we offer.

    Some of my current favorites are are Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan and Confession of a Buddhist Atheist by Stephen Batchelor. Searching by title, subject or author in our online ebookstore, you can find just about anything you’re looking for—and you can buy from us no matter where in the U.S. you are.



    Old Harbor Books customer and manager with me in the middle

    We hope you’ll shop for Google eBooks in our newly expanded online bookstore—the 250th of its kind. If you do happen to live near Sitka, the first 40 visitors to Old Harbor Books at 201 Lincoln Street today get free Google eBooks T-shirts. We’ll also show you how to sign up for an online account and get started with ebook shopping. If you can’t make it to the store, this funny video made by fellow independent bookstore Green Apple Books in San Francisco, Calif. does a great job explaining how to buy Google eBooks from the independent bookseller of your choice and read them on gadgets you already own.

    We’re deeply grateful to Google eBooks and the American Booksellers Association for making this possible by connecting our IndieCommerce-powered website to the Google eBooks platform that lets us focus on merchandising books, rather than building the technology on our own.

    Posted by Don Muller, co-founder, Old Harbor Books
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/from-alaska-old-harbor-books-the-250th-indie-bookseller-of-google-ebooks/feed/ 0     Klingon and Elvish 101, with Google Books https://googledata.org/google-books/klingon-and-elvish-101-with-google-books/ https://googledata.org/google-books/klingon-and-elvish-101-with-google-books/#comments Tue, 03 May 2011 23:27:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=0d7e7ae60d3311d844792fc0b03e6819 Posted by Oliver Chiang, Google eBooks Support Team

    Tlhlngan Hol Dajatlh’a’? Or as the French would say, Parlez-vous Klingon? Google Books empowers you to learn new languages -- even fictional ones, like the Klingon alien language from Star Trek, or the Elvish dialects found in The Lord of the Rings.

    There is no longer any excuse to get tongue-tied at your next Klingon mixer -- unable to even summon up a simple nuqneH (what’s up) or a jIyajbe’ (I don’t understand). After reading through The Klingon Dictionary, you'll be fluently pulling off phrases like, HIjol, Scotty! (Beam me up, Scotty!) in no time.

    More advanced Klingon speakers will want to put their skills to the test with The Klingon Hamlet. That's right, taH pagh taHbe’ (to be or not to be). You haven't fully experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in Klingon.

    If you've read J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy epic series, The Lord of the Rings, or have seen the movies, you may remember that different races (i.e. elves, orcs and dwarves) each had their own languages. To say that Tolkien loved languages is an understatement. In real life, he spoke or studied dozens of different tongues, from French to Old Norse.

    J.R.R. Tolkien

    He was nearly as prolific at inventing new languages. The world of The Lord of the Rings was in large part created out of the many languages Tolkien invented for it.

    A couple of the most developed languages Tolkien created were two Elvish tongues, Quenya and Sindarin. While Tolkien himself left extensive writings and notes about these languages -- see for instance Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names in his work The Silmarillion -- others have also created resources to help you polish your Elvish.

    Make sure to check out Ambar Eldon’s Elvish dictionaries for both tongues: Quenya-English and Sindarin-English. Are you francophone? They've got you covered there too, with Dictionnaire Elfique Quenya-Français and Sindarin-Français. David Salo's A Gateway to Sindarin is a comprehensive book about the history, sounds and grammar behind the fictional language.

    If you want to start with the Elvish ABC's, check out The Lord of the Rings Comprehension Guide's section on how to write words using the Quenya alphabet. For instance, my name in Elvish writing is:
    "Oliver" in Elvish

    Or maybe you just want to woo an Elvish maiden or an Orlando "Legolas" Bloom. You can send along this little love letter:

    Come see the night sky with me, fair maiden/knight.

    You’ll be star-gazing in no time.
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/klingon-and-elvish-101-with-google-books/feed/ 0     One million books scanned and returned to CIC university libraries https://googledata.org/google-books/one-million-books-scanned-and-returned-to-cic-university-libraries/ https://googledata.org/google-books/one-million-books-scanned-and-returned-to-cic-university-libraries/#comments Fri, 04 Feb 2011 15:42:00 +0000 Posted by Kim Armstrong, Deputy Director, Center for Library Initiatives, Committee on Institutional Cooperation

    Today we're celebrating an important milestone: Google has digitized one million books from member libraries of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC). The CIC is the consortium of the Big Ten member universities and the University of Chicago.

    Each of these volumes has been scanned, translated from image to text with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology and added to the Google Books index. Once digitized, the books are shipped back to our originating libraries to resume their journeys from bookshelves to backpacks.

    While Google preserves library books in digital form, and makes them more accessible to more people as a result, it also sends participating libraries (at no cost to us) digital copies for our own archives or other non-commercial use. Accordingly, the CIC libraries are making hundreds of thousands of the recently digitized public domain volumes accessible through their partnership with the HathiTrust Digital Library.

    We became Google's 16th Library Project partner in June 2007. Google Books has now partnered with more than 40 libraries and scanned more than 15 million books worldwide. Books that have only been available for use within the walls of our libraries have found new readers now that they are open to the world. Some examples of CIC titles available for reading include: An Unwritten Account of a Spy of Washington, published in 1892; The 1901 Pipe and Quid: An Essay on Tobacco; and The Sun: a familiar description of his phaenomena, published in 1885.

    While we are pausing to celebrate this moment with Google today, we're not resting on our library laurels. We have a long way to go to digitize all of our books. In fact, CIC libraries have agreed to provide as many as 10 million volumes to this ambitious project, out of total collections approaching 85 million volumes. -- so this is just the beginning.
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/one-million-books-scanned-and-returned-to-cic-university-libraries/feed/ 0     My New Year’s Resolution: Read More https://googledata.org/google-books/my-new-year%e2%80%99s-resolution-read-more/ https://googledata.org/google-books/my-new-year%e2%80%99s-resolution-read-more/#comments Mon, 03 Jan 2011 19:05:00 +0000 Posted by Cheryl Pon, Strategist, Google eBooks

    One of the best things about winding down the holidays is looking forward to ushering in a new year with a fresh outlook. Whether you’re planning to spend more time with family and friends, improve your wellbeing, learn something new, or make use of your brand new PC, smartphone, tablet or e-reader, you might put reading more books at the top of your New Year's resolutions like I did.

    If you’re resolving to add more smiles to your daily life and another spring in your step, take a gander at Shawn Achor’s seven core principles of positive psychology in his book, The Happiness Advantage. If you’re looking to tap into more positive energy, discover how to achieve fulfillment and success in Daniel G. Amen’s Change Your Brain, Change Your Life.

    If you’re aiming for healthy eating or to get fit in 2011, the Google eBookstore has an abundance of books to help you well on your way. Try out a nutrition program based on lean meats and fish and other foods that made up the diet of our Paleolithic ancestors in Loren Cordain’s The Paleo Diet, or learn how to balance your metabolism in Mark Hyman’s Ultrametabolism. Run faster and farther with less effort with Danny Dreyer’s ChiRunning: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running.

    You can also start the new year off right by catching up on popular 2010 titles. Check out life, Mark Twain-style, in Autobiography of Mark Twain: The Complete and Authoritative Edition, Volume 1, read up about the recent economic crisis in Michael Lewis’s The Big Short, or immerse yourself in a coming-of-age story with Patti Smith’s memoir Just Kids.

    As you dive into the new year, delve into some New Year's resolution Google eBooks.

    From all of us on the Google Books team, Happy New Year!
    ]]>     https://googledata.org/google-books/my-new-year%e2%80%99s-resolution-read-more/feed/ 0