AI Companies Are Buying and Destroying Antique Books!

 This is horrifying news via Forbes!! Checkout this very short YouTube video.

The End of Reading?

 

Well, I am an avid reading and have read 41 books this year already. Apparently, I am not part of the above demographic mentioned in the above video.

According to writer, Rose Horowitch from The Atlantic, reading has declined by 40% in the past 20 years! Scary news for sure!

Click on the above video link to watch the CBS Morning clip featuring Rose Horowitch.

Childhood Literacy Crisis in the USA!

Wow, just wow, national exam finds that 40% of US 4th graders are below basic reading level. Additionally, over 50% of US adults are not able to read at a middle school level. 

This is scary 😱 news! As a nation, how are we supposed to stay competitive and relevant without an educated workforce in the generations to come if our literacy is in crisis?

Dr. Carla Hayden Has Been Dismissed As Librarian of Congress

 

Dr. Carla Hayden is the first woman and the first African-American to be the Librarian of Congress. She was fired yesterday evening by Donald J. Trump via email.

The following video highlights the reason Dr. Hayden had been fired by Donald J. Trump.

Dr. Carla Hayden only had approximately a year and a half left to serve as the Librarian of Congress. Why not let her serve the rest of her term when she was doing a good job?

Below is Dr. Hayden's testimony before congress on May 6, 2025. She sounds like a very articulate and competent librarian to me.

Sadly, Donald J. Trump seems to be dismantling democracy as we know it.

The Word 'DEMURE' Has Been Selected As 2024's Word of the Year!

 

I learned about this a couple of days ago, that 'DEMURE' has been named the word of the year by Dictionary.com! Brat, Brain Rot, Weird & Extreme Weather, and Midwest Nice were other words that shaped 2024 according to the above YouTube Video!

5 Audiobooks Receive 2024 Grammy Nominations

I largely forget about the fact that audiobooks are nominated for a Grammy Award!! I recently came across the following Kirkus Review article titled, 5 Audiobooks Receive 2024 Grammy Nominations by Michael Schaub.

In the article mentioned above, I learned that the following five books have been nominated for a Grammy Award:

1. My Name Is Barbra by Barbra Streisand

2. Last Sundays in Plains: A Centennial Celebration by Jimmy Carter

3. Behind The Seams: My Life In Rhinestones by Dolly Parton

4. ...And Your Ass Will Follow: Words + Music by George Clinton

5. All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words: Unpublished, Unvarnished, and Told by The Beatles and Their Inner Circle by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines

Seems like we have a top heavy celebrity selection of nominees for the Grammy Awards! I think Dolly Parton's book sounds the most intriguing, especially since she narrates her own book. The winners will be selected on February 2, 2025. Good luck!!

Florida Department of Education Recommends Pride & Prejudice to Read about ‘American Pride.’ Say What?!

Seriously, I can't believe my eyes!! I read on Book Riot's website an article titled: Florida Recommends PRIDE & PREJUDICE to Read about ‘American Pride.’ Not kidding. by Jeff O'Neal. In the article, Jeff O'Neal wrote the following:

Florida, ground-zero for book-banning and censorship, continues to fumble the point of books and reading with its recent decision to include Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice in a list of recommended books for reading about ‘American Pride.” The Department of Education’s inclusion of Austen’s 1813 novel comes with no explanation, excuse, or apparently abashedness. About the only thing you can say for P&P’s relation to America is that it was published after the Declaration of Independence—that is the United States actually existed. I don’t think the U.S. is even mentioned in Pride & Prejudice. Is it possible that someone just saw the word “Pride” in the title and threw it in? And is this actually the explanation that makes the most sense, dumb as it is? I think so.

I am baffled as to why the Florida Department of Education has included Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen on a list of books to read regarding American Pride. 

Yikes, a Woman in San Francisco Has Been Asked to Remove Her Little Free Library Or Pay a $1,400 Fine!!!

I came across and read the following article published in the San Francisco Chronicle titled, S.F. bureaucrats gave woman a choice: Remove free library or pay $1,400 after one anonymous complaint by Heather Knight. In the article, Heather Knight wrote the following:

For more than a decade, Susan Meyers’ front sidewalk proved a cheerful hub in her Lower Pacific Heights neighborhood — until one anonymous grump called 311. In this city notorious for giving tremendous credence to solitary complainers — who have the right to halt housing projects, foil their neighbors’ housing remodels and stall emergency transit projects — that one call compelled a visit from a Public Works inspector.

And soon, Meyers’ adorable little library had a notice affixed to it with bright blue tape giving her two choices: Remove the bench and the library or pay $1,402 for a “minor encroachment permit.”

Even though there’s plenty of space on the wide sidewalk for people to walk, push their strollers or pass by in wheelchairs. Even though the home’s front stairs stretch farther into the sidewalk than the bench or library. Even though legions of neighbors love the setup and want it to stay.

Meyers’ neighbors have offered to create a GoFundMe to raise the $1,402 for a permit, but she doesn’t want to go that route. The 79-year-old therapist and her husband, a retired lawyer, could pay the fee, but why should they?

Public Works says the couple doesn't have to pay the fee for now while the department develops a new program to make it easier to add benches, free libraries and other neighborhood amenities, but the details of that proposal aren't yet clear.

“It’s the principle of it,” Meyers told me about getting the notice. “When you’re trying to raise spirits in a city at a very low time, that shouldn’t be punished.”

After reading the above article, I was left shaking my head at the nonsense of it all. Seriously, if both the bench and the Little Free Library referred to in the above article DO NOT encroach upon the sidewalk space AND walkers, baby strollers, and those in wheelchairs are able to use the sidewalk without being restricted in any way, then what's the problem with having the bench and the Little Free Library where they are currently located? 

Additionally, as the above article also points out, 'the home’s front stairs stretch farther into the sidewalk than the bench or library', yet the anonymous individual who reported the issue isn't complaining about the stairs apparently. 

Click on the above link to read the entire article.

ChatGPT Has Authored or Coauthored Over 200 Books on Amazon!!

Interesting news tidbit. In case you haven't heard about ChatGPT, it's "an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI and launched in November 2022." (Wikipedia) 

According to a Reuter's article, ChatGPT launches boom in AI-written e-books on Amazon by Greg Bensinger written on February 21, 2023:

There were over 200 e-books in Amazon’s Kindle store as of mid-February listing ChatGPT as an author or co-author, including "How to Write and Create Content Using ChatGPT," "The Power of Homework" and poetry collection "Echoes of the Universe." And the number is rising daily. There is even a new sub-genre on Amazon: Books about using ChatGPT, written entirely by ChatGPT.

It's kind of amazing that AI has come along way in that AI can now write or cowrite books. It makes me wonder how well written these books actually are. Not that I'll be rushing out to purchase and read a book written/cowritten by ChatGPT.

How do you feel about the plethora of eBooks flooding Amazon's website that are being written or cowritten and published by ChatGPT?

Lastly, the above YouTube video discusses the topic of ChatGPT and the eBooks it has written/cowritten that are now available on Amazon. 

Seriously?? Amazon Sells Books That Claim Satan Caused The Coronavirus...

When I came across the following article on Forbes' website titled, Amazon Sells Books That Claim Satan Caused The Coronavirus by Rosa Escandon, I thought it was April Fools Day, not Leap Day! 

In the article, Rosa Escandon wrote the following:

Authors on Amazon are writing about the coronavirus, but their conspiracies and assertions could mislead readers. Books sold on Amazon claim that the coronavirus is caused by everything from satan to biological warfare. Titles such as Jesus vs Satan: The origins of Coronavirus and Military Virus Apocalypse: Biological Warfare, Bioweapons and China Coronavirus Pandemic are currently available on the platform.

I don't know about you all, but I feel quite overwhelmed by the sheer amount of news coverage regarding the coronavirus through various media outlets. It's like you can't get away from the news regarding the coronavirus as it's all over the tv news, the radio, magazines, newspapers, Facebook posts, emails, texts messages, people talking about it in public, etc. Seriously, it's all become way too much!!

I feel like there is a certain amount of fear and uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus as it continues to spread worldwide. The news media's hyper reporting isn't helping to ease concerns surrounding the coronavirus and neither is the plunge on the stock market that is being attributed to the coronavirus.

All I want is accurate, reliable information regarding the coronavirus. I've really had to back away from watching tv news and limit my time spent on social media to avoid being bombarded by all the coronavirus news.

How does everyone else feel about the coronavirus?