Here is a story that isn't news, or if it is news, it's old news, which sounds like an oxymoron to me. However, it was new to me, and probably will be to many of you, so here it goes, two years late. There is, or was around two years ago, a new website created to help you choose books to read. It's called BookLamp, and it uses a different algorithm than the standard list of more books by the same author or in the same genre. How well it works I can't tell, but it's fun to see and who knows, maybe you will find some books you otherwise would have missed.
Rather than relying on reader recommendations, BookLamp uses something it calls the book's genome. What is a book's genome? As their site explains, “It’s complicated and technical... To go into it in detail would take a great deal of time.” Okay. If it's confusing for even them to explain, what are the chances I can understand it, or explain it to you? What are the odds I can do both? Rather than waste each other's time, I'll just say it tries to take into account various features of the book. It can include basic category descriptions, but, as their website says, it may look into frequency of appearance of such things as dragons and horses. If you like one book about dragons, maybe you'll like another. If you read a book to master your skills at parimutual betting on horse racing, maybe you'll like Black Beauty. And why not? Maybe it would be good to take your mind off gambling for awhile and read a nice story like Black Beauty.
BookLamp does provide a little more explanation. Factors considered include the amount of motion in a book, the degree of descriptive language used, the book's pacing, density of text (not exactly sure what this means), and amount of dialog. In other words, it's not just the type or subject of a book that is considered, but the writing style of the author. You might enjoy a book on a subject you normally wouldn't consider if it is written in a way you like.
I went to the BookLamp site to give it a try. I don't read a lot of modern books. I don't much go for fluff. So, I tried a book of major importance. I entered “Uncle Tom's Cabin.” I got a bunch of matches. Were they good matches? I don't know. BookLamp describes itself as a Pandora for books. For those who don't know Pandora, it's a music matching site. You enter a song you like and it plays some songs it thinks are similar. It works very well. However, it takes two and a half minutes to listen to a song. You can test for accuracy quickly. It takes me two and a half weeks to read a book. I can't go out and test this for you. You will have to see for yourself.
I hadn't read the matches it provided for Uncle Tom's Cabin. Most I hadn't heard of. Then there was one I knew... Zorba the Greek. Is Zorba the Greek like Uncle Tom's Cabin? It never occurred to me there was a similarity, but I can't say for certain. In all honesty, I never read Zorba the Greek. But... I did see the movie. I remember someone who looked like Aristotle Onassis dancing around a lot. Zorba was one of those Mediterranean characters, “full of life” as they say. That differs from we Americans who hole up behind our fences and security gates and avoid each other at all costs. Stay out of my space. Zorba wouldn't understand this. That's about all I remember about the movie. It was 40 years ago. It was a good movie as I recall, but not so earth-shaking that I could remember much 40 years later. Maybe I need to read the book. Perhaps I will find some similarities with Uncle Tom's Cabin. Perhaps it is the style. Or maybe Zorba freed the Greeks from some sort of enslavement. He was a man of the people, as I recall.
Anyway, I love new ideas, even if they are a couple of years old. BookLamp is a neat idea which may or may not work for you, but there's nothing to lose in trying it. It's free. Anything that opens new doors, or the covers of new books, is worth a try. So go ahead. You can find BookLamp at booklamp.org/index.php.
Forum Auctions Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026 25 March 2026
Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Andrews (H.C.) Coloured Engravings of Heaths, 4 vol. in 2, first edition, [1710,--94]-1802-1809-[1830]. £10,000 - £15,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- Cramer (Pierre) and Caspar Stoll. De Uitlandsche Kapellen voorkomende in de drie Waereld-Deelen…,, 5 vol., Amsterdam & Utrecht, 1779-91. £8,000 - £12,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Voyages.- Darwin (Charles) and others. Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, 3 vol. in 4, including Appendix to vol.2, first edition, 1839. £8,000 - £12,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- de Graaf (Willem Diederik Vincent). [Inlandsche Kapellen in beeld], 170 fine original watercolours, [Enkhuizen], [1800-40]. £8,000 - £12,000.
Forum Auctions Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026 25 March 2026
Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Dresser (Henry Eeles). A History of the Birds of Europe, 9 vol., including supplement, first edition, by the author, 1871-96. £6,000 - £8,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Zoology.- Felines.- Elliot (Daniel Giraud). A Monograph of the Felidæ or Family of the Cats, first edition, for the Subscribers, by the Author, [1878]-1883. £25,000 - £30,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Frisch (Johann Leonard). Vorstellung der Vögel Deutschlandes, 2 vol., first edition, Berlin, Friedr. Wilhelm Birnsteil, [1736]-1763. £40,000 - £60,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Gould (John). The Birds of Great Britain, 5 vol., first edition, by the author, 1862-1873. £30,000 - £40,000.
Forum Auctions Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026 25 March 2026
Forum, Mar. 25: Pomology.- France.- Poiteau (A.) Pomologie Française. Recueil des Plus Beaux Fruits cultivés en France, 4 vol., Paris, 1846. £30,000 - £40,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- [Robin (Jean)]. Histoire des Plantes, nouvellement trouvées en l'Isle Virgine…,, 1620; with Geoffrey Linocier L'Histoire des plantes, second edition, 1619-20. £3,000 - £4,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Japan.- Siebold (P.F. von). Nippon. Archiv zur Beschreibung von Japan, 7 parts in 6 vol., first edition, Leyden, [1832]-1852. £35,000 - £45,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Valentijn (Francois). Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën..., 5 vol. in 8, first edition, Dordrecht [&] Amsterdam, 1724-26. £8,000 - £12,000.
Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Australia.- Redouté (P.J.).- Ventenat (Étienne Pierre). Jardin de la Malmaison, 2 vol.,, Paris, 1803-04[-05]. £30,000 - £40,000.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 26th March 2026
Forum, Mar. 26: Book of Hours.- Heures a lusaige de Romme, printed on vellum, with 14 full-page illuminated miniatures, Paris, N. Higman for J. de Brie, [c.1521]. £20,000-30,000
Forum, Mar. 26: France.- Book of Hours, perhaps Use of the Abbey of Saint-Gildas de Rhuys, with thirteen miniatures surviving from an original cycle of at least twenty, [c. 1430]. £15,000-20,000
Forum, Mar. 26: Milton (John). Paradise lost. A Poem in Ten Books, first edition, Pforzheimer's sixth state, S. Simmons, 1669. £8,000-12,000
Forum, Mar. 26: Blake (William). Illustrations of the Book of Job, one of 215 first issue "Proof" copies, this one of 65 copies on "French" paper, Published by the Author, March 8, 1825 [but March, 1826]. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 26th March 2026
Forum, Mar. 26: Christie (Agatha). The ABC Murders, first edition, The Crime Club, 1936. £15,000-20,000
Forum, Mar. 26: Halley (Edmund). Astronomiae Cometicae Synopsis, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, no. 297, pp.1882-99, March 1705. £10,000-15,000
Forum, Mar. 26: Haytham (Ibn al) [known as Alhazen]. Opticae Thesaurus...Item Vitellonis Thuringopoloni libri X..., first edition, Basel, August, 1572. £20,000-30,000
Forum, Mar. 26: Kepler (Johannes). Dioptrice seu demonstratio eorum quae visui & visibilibus propter conspicilla non ita pridem inventa accidunt, first edition, Augsburg, David Frank, 1611. £12,000-18,000
Books & Autographs Wednesday 25 March
Koller, Mar. 25: KAFKA, FRANZ, SCHRIFTSTELLER. Eigenh. Brief mit Unterschrift. Prag, 20. Oktober [19]15. CHF 30,000-40,000.
Koller, Mar. 25: EINSTEIN, ALBERT. Zwei eigenhändige Briefe an Ernst Gabor Straus, unterschrieben "A.E" bzw. "A. Einstein". [Princeton], [19]45. und [1950]. CHF 30,000-40,000.
Koller, Mar. 25: HORTENSE DE BEAUHARNAIS, MUTTER VON NAPOLEON III. Album aus ihrem Besitz mit 69 Aquarellen und Pinselzeichnungen in Sepia oder Grau… CHF 14,000-18,000.
Koller, Mar. 25: ZOOLOGIE - ORNITHOLOGIE - Seligmann, Johann Michael. Verzameling van uitlandsche en zeldzaame Vogelen. Teile 1-8 (von 9) in 2 Bänden. Mit 421 prächtig altkolorierten Kupfertafeln. CHF 14,000-20,000
Koller, Mar. 25: BOTANIK - Berlèse, Lorenzo und Johann Jakob Jung. Iconographie du genre camellia... 3 Bände. Mit 300 Farbstichtafeln "a la poupée.” Paris, [1839-]1841-1843. CHF 12,000-18,000.
