The book I have selected as my favorite book is “The People We Keep” by Allison Larkin. This book is about a girl finding her place in the world. It’s about creating a family for yourself when your own family has failed you. It’s about learning to accept the love you never thought you deserved, and it’s worth every gut-wrenching turn along the way. Some of the aspects of this book do relate to me and how life is and some of them do not. I came across this book at the beginning of this year when my aunt recommended it to me. The author does a really great job of writing from her heart about the characters and about giving people the chance. 

Because of the books I typically like and this book, I found to be relatable and easy to understand and read. When I am able to relate to a book I usually end up reading it and liking it more and more. 

“Engaging with the book as an idea brings its material form back into the conversation in ways that can be productive, exciting, perplexing, and at times problematic.”

                     – Borsuk 113

When thinking about a book and engaging with it as an idea you begin to unravel the different forms and structures of books along with the content being communicated by a book and where the meaning behind all of this comes from. In the context of digital publishing, we start to think of the idea of books in a digital format which further elaborates the form and structure of a book as we can now reach an even wider audience through global platforms with this format of publishing. It is with digital publishing that books can evolve and grow as being part of a new platform broadening upon this already formed idea of books. Now, in keeping this quote in mind, what is it that could become of digital publishing? Well, as we continue to discuss the book as an idea and allow ourselves to dive deeper into these discussions on format and content we will find that digital publishing could one day become the very format in which we discuss these matters. Who knows maybe one-day books in a physical manner may no longer exist in the future and be structured solely for digital formatting. Digital publishing could even one-day lead to viewing the idea of a book in a far different manner if we were to involve artificial intelligence in the creation of these formats.

<Everything in the world exists in order to end up as a book> This tells me that anything that we publish on the web could end up as a book. It just needs to exist. Publishing digitally is a book in some form but is a medium that is different than the book. When we publish digitally our content could eventually become a book but the medium for which we write could change in order for it to become a book. Someone could also change the way our content is written in order to make that happen like a book being a movie which also has a chance of happening. As more things change and continue to come out the more books will be released. Books can be of many mediums and as things change and come out so do books. Some books are based in things that are not real of have never existed so even if nothing changed books would still continue to be released.

<The book will not become obsolete with new reading platforms, but rather it will change and develop new incarnations and readerships; it will continue to serve certain kinds of literacy needs and literacy desires-specifically those related to its book bound physicality and potentiality.> with each new reading platform the book will change and grow new books will be release on the new platforms because the platform is new. Since people need to learn how to be proficient in the new platform a book will be released on how the platform is used and utilized. The new reading platform could have its own unique ability to host books and enable books to have an experience like no other. But, that would change the medium that the book is using. Also, while other technologies come out books will come out on those technologies however if the book cannot be written fast enough to adapt with the everchanging landscape of technology then it does not become useful to release the book because the window of usefulness has expired. So it makes more sense to blog in this case because blogging will be able to adapt and release with the changes seen in technology.  All books also have the ability to be digital along with their physical releases so digital and physical books will not be phased out.

You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao 

Synopsis: 

“A heartfelt novel about love and loss and what it means to say goodbye”

“Seventeen-year-old Julie Clarke has her future all planned out—move out of her small town with her boyfriend, Sam; attend college in the city; spend a summer in Japan. But then Sam dies. And everything changes.

Heartbroken, Julie skips his funeral, throws out his belongings, and tries everything to forget him. But a message Sam left behind in her yearbook forces memories to return. Desperate to hear him one more time, Julie calls Sam’s cell phone just to listen to his voice mail recording. And Sam picks up the phone.

The connection is temporary. But hearing Sam’s voice makes Julie fall for him all over again, and, with each call, it becomes harder to let him go.”

“What would you do if you had a second chance at goodbye?” 

Perfect for: Readers who love to cry and feel pain; readers who love emotional stories about love; readers looking for a story that depicts grief.

I’m a lover of eye catching books before I read a book, of course there’s the saying “never judged a book by its cover.” But sometimes I can’t help it. I constantly kept on seeing this book on my ‘for you’ page and finally I caved in and bought it. Not only is the cover of this book so beautiful, the story of it made me fall in love with this book even more.

(This book has broken me in the most beautiful way and the last voicemail still haunts me)

You’ve Reached Sam is a story that confronts grief in its most intense and most painful, its tender and genuine portrayal of love in its most pure form was also unexpectedly healing. One of my greatest and most intense fears is losing someone, I love. And then you have You’ve Reached Sam, which is that fear in book form. I think a beautiful part of this book is that there really isn’t an explanation as to how Julie and Sam are connected; it’s not about the how, but about the why. The impossible connection blurs fantasy and reality, underpinning their close and intense bond and therefore offers a great device that explores the complexities of grief and letting go.

</3

The book I have selected is A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. This 1986 reprint of the 1962 dystopian classic features new cover artwork and the original final chapter which had been removed from the first American version. I’ve had this book for about 15 years and use to read it more regularly in high school. The book’s concepts revolve around the importance of freewill and moral choice as well as criticizing the government and penal system. The first thing that catches ones attention to this book is the cover which features an image of a screaming man’s mouth with flames above it. Already we get a sense of chaos before the first page is even turned. The back contains a short overview of what the book is about as well as reviews from various critics. Once opened, the author includes an introduction detailing the importance of the newly added original last chapter. The way which the story is written is quite interesting since Burgess utilizes a made up language called Nadsat. With no explanation or translation for this language, the reader must assume the meanings based on the context in which it is being used. This allows the reader to become fully immersed in the book’s world as if they were an acquaintance of the main character Alex. I believe it is because of this books ability to completely suck the reader into its world is the main reason I’ve held onto it for so many years. Overall its a great read both entertaining and thought provoking.    

My last post talked about my renewed interest in the writing and the written word in general spurred on by the Hyperion series of novels by Dan Simmons. But this was a renewed interest, what sparked it initially?

Like a lot of kids born in the mid-’90s my induction into literature came from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. While captivating and engaging at the time, I was a kid who liked technology; video games, computers, the New (capital N). So when Rowling constructed literary devices that excluded technology from her series I was disappointed to say the least. (Other inconsistencies notwithstanding, like the claim that wizards can’t conjure food, yet Professor Slughorn does it in the 5th book?)

The books that really hooked me were the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. The first book, Artemis Fowl, is the story of a 12 year old boy (points if you guess his name) whose father is missing. Artemis’ father is the head of a nonspecific “criminal empire”, Colfer likely omitting grisly details for the youth audience. As his father is missing and his mother bedridden from an illness, Artemis is head of the household. Artemis takes it upon himself to restore the family to their previous status and in doing so gain the financial resources to find his father. The way he intends to do this is by capturing a mythical creature, a fairy, using his genius intellect, stalwart companion Butler, and the latest technology (of 2001).

In my mind the original printing of Artemis Fowl is one of the, to use a decidedly unacademic turn of phrase, coolest novels for a young person. Printed in paperback, the image above shows the presentation, mimicking the fairy sacred volume “The Book”. The similarity to the Borsuk reading is funny and I didn’t think of that until writing this. At the bottom of each page was writing in the fairy language, Gnomish. You can see an example on the both the center of the cover pictured above as well as the image of a page below.

Eventually Artemis obtains a copy of The Book and painstakingly translates it, with opposite pages in the center of the novel having the original passage in Gnomish and translated into English. This issued a challenge to the reader: Can you figure out the same thing as Artemis? I said yes. Books draw in readers naturally, lacking images and sounds they force the reader to fill in the gaps, create their own experience. But to me, the cipher was different. Not only was I creating and engaging with the story, I became an active participant alongside the protagonist, doing exactly what he did!

The first editions of the novel are paperbacks with the decorative cover, matching the publishing conventions of the time for fiction aimed towards younger people. What sets Artemis Fowl apart as a book is the way in which it engaged with the reader and presented an opportunity to learn more. You didn’t have to do the cipher to finish the book, it was just a story about a phlegm pot cleaner, but it connected with me not only on a narrative level but on an emotional level. I felt a sense of accomplishment from doing the cipher, something I can’t say I’ve felt from another book, apart from slogging through Capital. 

P.S. Don’t watch the movie. Just… don’t.

My favorite book is Roots, Reality and Rhyme. This book is made of the same material as most books that we see in a modern library today. This book was not handmade and was produced by a collection of different companies. The book is a paperback that includes lightweight paper in between. The ink that was used was most likely printed. Various fonts were used and experimented with.  

This book is special to me because it is linked to an event that I have been to, and I got it to remember the event. However, the book is more special than that because this book is different than other books that I have in my collection. This book is a poetry book, and I do not usually read poetry but after the event I knew I needed to have the book because the poems were read aloud to me, and the author signed this book right in front of me. The content of the book opens a perspective that I have not experienced while at the same time I could resonate as I read because I would be thinking about the book and immersed in the book to the point where reality does not exist while reading. The book is of course alive through the events that have been seen but the poems are different, and the poems are the things that spark my imagination. The design of the book was also designed nicely, and you know you are about to go to a different section when you see a picture. The event also allowed me to get the authors voice but after a while you get your own voice as the event happened 3 years ago.  

Ever since I can remember I have always had a love for stories as they can take you outside of your reality and allow you to explore new and imaginative ones. There are many books that I have read in my lifetime and there are many from different genres that I have enjoyed immensely. However, I would have to say that when it comes to books my favorite genres are usually those that are within the fantasy and young adult fiction categories. Now, in keeping that in mind I would have to say that as of right now my favorite book is the Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard.

Something that I love about this book aside from its beautiful storytelling is the cover. I remember when I was going through the bookstore on my nineteenth birthday and looking at all the book covers trying to find something interesting that I could read and the minute I saw the cover of this book I knew that this book was going to be good. The cover, as you can see in the image I have attached, is very minimalistic in its use of color and background with just merely using the image of an upside crown covered in blood. This use of imagery alone already gives you a sense of what the book will entail. I mean how could you look at this beautiful book cover and not want to know what this book is about?

Now, aside from the beautiful cover of this book, there is something to be said about its content as well. Just to give you an idea as to what this book entails it is about a world in which its characters are divided by blood, particularly the color of it. Within this book, those who contain red blood are merely viewed as commoners and those with silver are essentially the elite of society as they possess powers that can be compared to those of gods. Our main character, Mare Barrow, within the story is a red-blooded member of society who works for the silver palace and even though she may have the blood of a commoner she possesses a power far greater than those of silver blood. This disrupts the balance of power between the red and silver allowing her to conjure a plan to take down the elitists. Now, although one may view this book as a non-living object everything about it from the beautiful cover to its content allows for the imagination to run wild.

When considering what my favorite book is, I think of fiction immediately. I’ve read a good amount of books throughout my life, but the one that is my favorite I no longer own. It is called Speak by Laurie Anderson. However, because I don’t own it anymore, I decided to talk about another of my favorites: Grimm’s Fairytales.

Though I haven’t read all of the stories inside the book, Grimm’s Fairytales has always piqued my interest. Part of that is from the idea of simply having old stories on hand to peruse whenever I feel in the mood to read. The content of it appeals to me in that because it’s an older piece of fiction and I would say well-regarded, I too hold it dearly to me. It’s like having an antique or piece of art you hang on your walls.

Another aspect, and one that draws me to many other books, is the appearance. I adore books that have beautiful covers and well thought-out design choices, such as the color of the book when its jacket is taken off. Grimm’s Fairytales is green and brown with green and gold lettering on the spine. It has pictures inside to sometimes go with stories. While I was reading The Book by Amaranth Borsuk, I was fascinated learning about the different elements of books. Borsuk mentions how “a book’s fore-edge might be embellished with designs, gold leaf, or intricate paintings to help a reader identify it” (81). I can only imagine how beautiful the pages must have been, and it’s unfortunate that it doesn’t seem to be practiced as much anymore.

All of these design aspects coupled with my feelings about Grimm’s Fairytales help make it a favorite of mine. Other favorites have different parts of them that I enjoy. For example, Speak by Laurie Anderson is another favorite because of its story and less because of its appearance.

Works Cited

Borsuk, Amaranth. The Book. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018.

I’ve always been interested in writing. I think that language is a beautiful, complex, and fascinating phenomenon with incredible power. While language can be used for a variety of purposes; to persuade, scold, explain, soliloquize, enrage, the list goes on, my favorite function is telling stories.

From a young age I wanted to be a novelist, to write the next Harry Potter or Artemis Fowl (my constant companions during ages 8-13). The wonder I felt alongside those characters exploring new worlds, battling to save their own, and discovering themselves was, and in some ways remains, unparalleled in my mind. While childhood wonder accounts for some of that in a way, the evocative power of the word remained in my mind. I can’t say I’ve always worked towards my goal, but recently I’ve started back towards it.

I experienced a re-ignition of that feeling of wonder reading the Hyperion trilogy by Dan Simmons. Heady, complex books blending science fiction, religious musings, and heroic acts of love and sacrifice made me remember what writing was for me. A means to think new thoughts and go on fantastic journeys, gaining and losing friends along the way.

This renewed appreciation for long-form fiction combined with my studies in the DTC program lead me to examine the concept of “the book”, Amaranth Borsuk would be proud. What I had come to realize is that the print codex as the standard of written narrative fiction is limited in a way. I look to the example of Worm by John C. McRae. Worm was published as an enormous web serial from 2011 to 2013. It contains over a million words making it one of the largest pieces of fiction ever published.

And it was published on a website. McRae published lengthy section two times a week, creating a steady stream of what I think of now as content. This was a novel (pun intended) approach to publishing that has since seen Worm turn into several published novels.

It was this approach combined with a renewed appreciation for the power of the written word that lead me to consider digital publishing as an interest. I very much believe that you only need a small, dedicated audience to find a measure of success online. If I can combine my love of the word with not having to sell my labor to a company that doesn’t care about me, sign me up.

Hello, My name is Devon Baxter, Currently I am a DTC Major in their senior year and plans to graduate at the end of spring semester. During my coursework I minored in communication and obtained the social media certificate. I also plan on getting the game studies and design certificate upon graduation. in the future I don’t plan to be in any particular field or position as I am trying to be realistic with the ever-growing landscape of change and how jobs that currently exist could be eliminated while new jobs start existing. For example I started looking into some of my gifts and one of them is dates and scheduling. I looked online and it seems that scheduling is starting to become a career as some people don’t remember the times of events or they are busy with other things to really put a schedule together. The reason behind this is because project management could be split up into different positions and careers to streamline multiple projects at once for one company.

A day in the life of a scheduler:(I Thought it was funny)

My favorite type of publishing is blogging because the user can have control over their own site or the content that they put on their own site Some sites are however limited with this as they could be controlled by someone else. More likely than not it is owned by the person blogging on the site. SEO plays a great role as it helps in promotion of the site on search engines. Blogs can also be promoted on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in the form of links. This would also be a good way to measure  whether an audience is being reached. people can make money off of blogging an can be seen as a career path that can open doors to other career paths. portfolios can be made from blogs and companies are requiring that people know how to write in order to be successful in the role that they are signing up for.

Blogging is powerful:

Hello everyone! My name is Jianys (G-ann-iss) Berrios and I am 21 years old and currently in my fourth and final year as a senior at Washington State University Vancouver. I am currently working towards obtaining a B.A. in Digital Technology and Culture along with the goal of obtaining a certification in teaching once I have completed my degree in the hopes of becoming a secondary-level visual arts teacher.

Now, there are many areas of digital publishing that I find interesting but I would have to say that I really enjoy digital publishing that takes place through social media platforms in the form of videos. Some social media platforms that I really enjoy are TikTok and Youtube, which are of course the most notable social media platforms within today’s society but when it comes to TikTok I like how you can cater content to a range of groups with just a short video that can last up to a few seconds or minutes. As for YouTube, it is essentially similar to TikTok in that you can cater content to different groups through visual means, but I enjoy how informative some of the content can be through YouTube as well compared to TikTok.

I am interested to see how and what we will learn in taking this course, along with exploring the different types of digital publishing, create an impact/importance within media today. I am also interested in learning more about the different kinds of programs that can be used within digital publishing to gain an audience.

Hello. My name is Jessica. I took this class as a foundation into digital marketing and copywriting for small businesses.

Hi everyone I’m looking forward to taking the class and learning more about digital publishing.

Hiya! My name is Ben Peterson and I’m a fourth year DTC student. The area of digital publishing that I am most interested is video based social media and publishing on those respective platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. But I am also really excited to dive more into the text world such as accessibility on multiple devices, copyright methods, as well as the wide world of the metaverse and digital publishing in that field. I’m excited to work with everyone this semester!