Want Something New to Read? Check Here

Looking to discover a new favorite author, or a book that haunts you for days? Check out out these sites for some suggestions.

I've collected a group of sites that runs the gamut -- from the professionals at NYT to the Average Joe at AllReaders -- because everyone has their own perspective, and sometimes being snooty just cuts you out of some mighty fine things:

BlogCritics

AllReaders

Kirkus

New York Times

BookSpot

BookPage

Lawyer Writer News Flash: Indian Lawyer Outsourcing Co Owned By Americans

Over at Backstreet Lawyer this morning, I posted on Nikki Finke's reporting that several Hollywood Big Kahuna Companies are outsourcing their transactional legal needs over to an Indian company. Legal research, drafting contracts, things like that ....

I've included a link to an Indian blogger who's watching this Indian growth industry -- apparently, they're very excited about it.

Here's the thing that gets me: the Indian outsourcing company is owned by a Manhattan company that, in turn, is funded by Cisco Systems, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Barclay's Capital.

Wow.

I don't know how many lawyers are truly aware of this development -- we've heard of outsourcing, sure. It's mentioned in hushed tones. I don't know how many attorneys are aware that American companies are actually funding the outsourcing, though.

Kindle Unveiled Today and I Don't Want One

Amazon debuted its three-year old project today -- Kindle gives you e-books, as well as lots of newspapers and blogs and Wikipedia and other stuff automatically uploaded to the device.

It's priced a little over $300 bucks. There's lots of hoopla about it, seems like a lot of people are very excited about replacing books made of paper.

Why?

I like books. I like dog-earing pages, I like making notes in margins, I like flipping back and forth -- didn't he leave the gun in the car? -- and I like carrying paperbacks in my tote and having hardbacks on my nightstand.

I like bookmarks. I like cover art.

I like the feel of paper, and the way a book feels in my hand.

Kindle is a cool toy but it's not friendly like a book. Just look at it. And it costs too much, too.

And then, there's bookstores. I like bookstores. I like roaming the aisles, I like ....

May 2011 Update:  Prices went down.  I got a Nook Color for Christmas - it didn't work, so I returned it.  Now, I have a Kindle 3G with WiFi and I like it.  I like paper better, but I do find uses for the ereader.   For more, please refer to the posts under the label "e-books."