The rumor mill is spinning regarding Barnes & Noble's Nook 3G e-reader. Based on "hard evidence from within B&N," Engadget reported the device "is being discontinued, with sales to seemingly continue until stock is exhausted," and noted the company "is encouraging retail partners to not send out any bulk orders for the Nook 
3G, as there simply won't be sufficient quantities to fulfill those orders."
While such a move would reduce B&N's Nook line to two models--the Nook Wi-FI and the Nook Color--PC magazine wrote that the "news comes just after Barnes & Noble announced it has sold 650,000 subscriptions on the Nook Newsstand, and an earlier boast that the Nook (all models) is the company's best-selling product ever. If the Engadget report is true, presumably both developments were due to the Nook Color, announced in October."
A B&N spokesperson wouldn't comment on Engadget's claim, but told PC magazine "3G sold out during the holiday season so there is plenty of demand for it."
Electronista suggested that the Nook 3G "may also have been the victim of the e-reader's increasing role as a secondary reader. Many iPad owners have e-readers as well, and many buying competing readers like the Kindle have now skewed either towards the cheaper Wi-Fi models or else towards color readers and tablets."
Cnet News offered a conservative response, pointing out that "it would seem odd for Barnes & Noble to discontinue the 3G/Wi-Fi version of the Nook and tell customers they could only get the Wi-Fi-only version. The fact is, Amazon offers both a 3G/Wi-Fi Kindle and Wi-Fi-only Kindle, and Barnes & Noble would most likely continue to offer models that compete with what Amazon's got."
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Cool winter e-handselling idea of the day: In an e-mail newsletter sent yesterday to "snowbound customers," R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Conn., featured a selection of "great reads for a cold day, all under $15!" and suggested that this "is going to be the perfect week to snuggle up to a great book and let the wintery weather pass us by. While we always prefer to visit with you at the store, if getting in your car and braving the slush seems too daunting, not to worry. You can still find tons of great e-books online for immediate download to your iPad, Nook, Android, laptop--everything except the Kindle! And for many e-books, our prices match Amazon's and Barnes & Noble's."
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David Gaunt, owner of gleebooks in Sydney, has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia "in recognition for his services to the arts," the Northern District Times reported. Gaunt is a former v-p of the Australian Booksellers Association and was a foundation board member of the Sydney Writers' Festival from 1998 to 2003. Gleebooks has been named bookseller of the year five times.
"I have great people that I work with and rely on, and that has allowed me to have more free time to be involved in Australian literature and promote good writing," he said. "There is no point in being a bookseller if you are not going to go that extra yard and connect readers with authors and promote literature."
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"India's booming publishing market is proof of the physical book's staying power," participants at Asia's DSC Jaipur Literary Festival told Reuters, which reported that "hundreds of book lovers attended a debate on the fate of printed books in the sun-drenched grounds of a former palace as part of the free five-day event."
"Books matter more in India than anywhere else we publish them," said John Makinson, chairman and CEO of the Penguin Group. He also noted that "the pressure on physical bookshops in countries like the United States--where bookseller Borders Group Inc. is in talks to secure a $500 million credit line--doesn't exist in India, adding that books have a key role to play in Indian society," Reuters wrote.
"In India books define and create the social conversation," Makinson said. "In China, the books that sell well are self-improvement titles. Popular books in India are of explanations, explaining the world. The inquisitive nature of India is unique."
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The Indiebound app was one of the "coolest book apps for reading, getting free e-books and organizing a digital library" featured by the Huffington Post, which asked, "Are book apps books, or something else? It's like being at the birth of a new form. We love books, but these apps are getting pretty cool."
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Gangsta reader. The New Yorker's Book Bench blog showcased Julian Smith's portrait of a reader with 'tude in his video "I'm Reading a Book," which offers an intense biblio-threat: "Don’t you eva interrupt me while I’m reading a book!"
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What are they reading at the Sundance Film Festival? A Huffington Post slide show featured celebs and their books, including Twilight star Chaske Spencer picking up a copy of Steve Berry's The Emperor's Tomb. The Good Books Good Cause literacy campaign donated books to the gifting suites.
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Flavorwire offered some helpfu DIY tips regarding what to do with your books after the Internet apocalypse: In "preparation for the fast-approaching day when physical books will be completely obsolete, we’ve prepared a DIY guide to how you can turn your dusty old doorstops into useful, functioning household items."
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"On one occasion, Woolf went shopping for a book she was meant to review after losing her original copy. When told at a bookstore that they weren’t stocked with this particular book, she grew angry and caused a scene. Woolf found the supposedly lost copy of the book in her bag when she returned home." This is just one of "59 Things You Didn't Know About Virginia Woolf" featured by Flavorwire.
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Concerning Borders's sales of its Day by Day Calendar business to
Calendar Holdings, mentioned yesterday: some of the Day by Day kiosks
will continue to operate until mid-February.
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Book trailer of the day: Revenge of the Radioactive Lady by Elizabeth Stuckey-French (Doubleday).
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Laurence Hughes is joining the Free Press as associate director of publicity. He has held senior publicity positions at HarperBusiness/Collins, NAL and Dell/Delacorte. Most recently, he has worked as an independent publicity consultant.