Top Ten Books to Read in Your Garden

Believe it or not but it's almost spring and this is definitely the time to start thinking about what you want to plant this year in your garden, buy seeds and get ready to do some gardening work. To celebrate the return of the garden to our life (although it's always in our heart, even when it's covered in snow for weeks..), we have a guest post with recommendations on 10 great books to read in your garden.

Top Ten Books to Read in Your Garden

This guest post was contributed by Garden

Gardening is invigorating, dirty, tender, satisfying work and nothing quite compares to sinking your teeth into a sun-warmed, just-picked tomato, its juice dripping down your chin. One that you planted months prior, first indoors then transplanted out in your composted soil - preparing a plot being an art in itself. Then staking it and pinching its first flowers so seedings establish before fruit production, and finally weeding and mulching and watering and doing it all over again, and again.

Reading a book is a similar, delicious commitment, and one perhaps best enjoyed in your garden.

The following ten books all celebrate the outdoors, some in a grand way, others more quietly. May their contents inspire you to breathe your air more deeply, embrace your environs more fully.

THE BIG PICTURE

Planet Earth - Alastair Fothergill

Maybe you saw the Discovery Channel's program and are already familiar with the wondrous footage, shot over five years, of the world's wildlife and their habitats. Page turn at your leisure through these awe-inspiring images and accompanying text. A particularly enthralling section is a feature on the otherworldly Lechuguilla Cave, it's top-secret entrance and then strenuous subterranean descent.

HOW PLANT PASSION CAN TURN CRIMINAL

The Orchid Thief - Susan Orlean

New Yorker writer Orlean decides to explore the world of John Laroche, awaiting trial for stealing endangered orchids from Florida's Fakahatchee Swamp, after reading about him in a local newspaper. What follows is an eccentric, funny, and revealing story about an orchid-infatuated subculture.


LIVING OFF YOUR LAND

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver, with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver

A family's good-humoured and enlightening story about eating food only grown by them or from their local area for a whole year. It also includes recipes and sidebars on industrial agriculture.


AN OVERSEAS GARDEN

French Dirt - Richard Goodman

An enchanting account of Goodman's move from New York City to a French village, and what he discovers from gardening there - about the village's inhabitants and himself.

DREAM BIGGER

The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love - Kristin Kimball

City girl moves upstate to start a cooperative farm with the man who will become her husband. The memoir, while initially idealistic, is refreshingly honest about the hard work necessary to build and maintain a farm.


NO DIRT, JUST BUGS

National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects & Spiders - Lorus and Margery Milne

A wonderfully authoritative visual guide - includes 702 photographs - with detailed descriptions of habitats, ranges, food and life cycles of North American insects and spiders.

YUM

Eat Your Yard - Nan K. Chase

Chase details the 35 different trees, shrubs, vines, herbs and flowers that you can grow on your property then enjoy at your next meal!





PERHAPS INSPIRING YOU TO FARM

The Seasons on Henry’s Farm - Terra Brockman

Brockman expertly - and with tremendous heart - writes about the cycle of a year on her Illinois sustainable farm.





MARTHA THEY AREN'T

The Bucolic Plague - Josh Kilmer-Purcell

A hilarious read - and true story - about a gay couple who make a go of the rural life before they became Planet Green's Fabulous Beekman Boys.




THOUGHTFULLY EARTH-MOVING

In the Company of Stone - Dan Snow

Waller Dan Snow builds, yes, walls, but also dams, grottos, pathways, spheres, staircases, terraces, even softball field bleachers, all with found stone and without mortar or nails. Called dry-stone construction and completely hand built, Snow's art is celebrated in Peter Mauss's gorgeous photographs while Snow's prose - equally practical and poetic - are as engaging as his works.

Barnes & Noble Bankruptcy Index: No one seems to be interested in buying B&N

This week our B&N bankruptcy index is moving permanently to Thursday and will be published from now on on Thursdays. Just a short reminder - As Borders filed for bankruptcy, we look at Barnes & Noble, the nation's largest book chain to see if they will follow Borders and also go into bankruptcy and if so, when exactly.

To do it more analytically we launched few weeks ago a new B&N Bankruptcy Index, which is based on 10 parameters, which receive a grade between 1-10 (1 - worst grade, 10 - best grade). Hence we receive a 0-100 point index scale, which we divide into several ranges as follows:

90-100: B&N is in an excellent shape. Couldn't be better!
80-89: B&N is doing great. Bankruptcy is no longer a real threat.
70-79: B&N could do better and has to be cautious of bankruptcy.
60-69: B&N doesn't look too good and bankruptcy is becoming a more realistic threat.
50-59: Bankruptcy is a clear and present danger.
49 and less: Red alert! Bankruptcy is just around the corner and is likely to happen within a short time frame.

We will check the B&N Bankruptcy Index every Thursday, updating each one of the parameters included in the index and will analyze the trend. You can follow the weekly changes in the index from the day it was launched on the Barnes and Noble Bankruptcy Index page on our website.

So here's our update for this week (in brackets is last week's grade):

1. Confidence of the stock market in B&N
This parameter will look at the performance of the B&N stock (symbol: BKS) in the last week. The performance of B&N's stock is an indication of the confidence the market has in the ability of B&N to maintain a viable business.

So let's look at last week's figures:

3/2: $13.20
3/9: $11.81
Change: -10.5%

As you can see, B&N's stock continued to fall down last week with a decrease of 10.5% in the stock's price. Just for comparison, the S&P500 Index rose slightly during this period (+0.9%) and Amazon fell in 1.7%. It looks like the stock continues to fall because B&N has no luck in finding a buyer for the company, which implies they might be a good reason why they're not that attractive.

eChristian Investing offered this comment on the stock's free fall:

Even with top competitor Borders Group (BGP) filing for bankruptcy and closing 200 stores, it is going to be challenging for Barnes & Noble to execute a turnaround. Of course everyone loves a comeback story and if Barnes & Noble succeeds I’m sure it will be stocking that book in stores and on the Nook. However, for now the stock is desperately looking for a catalyst that will stop the free fall.

NakedValue explained on Seeking Alpha what investors might see that frightens them and makes them sell the stock:

• The brick and mortar bookstore business model is dead (see: Borders (BGPIQ.PK))
• Barnes & Noble's dividend cut is an ominous sign
• It's cheaper to buy books online (Amazon.com (AMZN))
• Barnes & Noble is hopelessly behind the eReader curve (Kindle, iPad, Wal-Mart (WMT) eReaders)

NakedValue actually think B&N might be worth a look if you're an investor with an open mind, but apparently right now most investors aren't.

This week's grade for this parameter is also going down to: 6 (6.5)

2. What analysts say on B&N
On Reuters, one retail investment banker who declined to be named, explained that "The stock price isn't the draw or the deterrent. There's no strategic (bidder) out there that would want them. They could appeal to private equity, but there's been no rabid interest so far."

More from this article:

Barnes & Noble has said it will spend $150 million on Nook's development this fiscal year. And those costs will eat into profits for quite some time, analysts warned.

"The investments will continue for the foreseeable future. Combined with declines in physical books, that should continue to pressure earnings," said Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter in a research note last week.

No other comments or analysis were found. This week's grade stays the same: 7 (7)

3. New strategy to regain sales in the brick and mortar stores
Phil Wahba and Jessica Hall wrote earlier this week on Reuters:

Barnes & Noble remains heavily reliant on traditional, bricks and mortar bookselling at its 705 superstores, the same business model that failed at Borders.So Barnes & Noble has bet its future on the Nook and its ability to generate e-book sales.

But that promises to be expensive against deep-pocketed rivals Amazon.com and Apple. It's an open question whether the stores, which face a longtime book sales decline, can generate enough cash to help fund the main prong of Barnes & Noble's growth strategy: the Nook and the e-books sales it generates.

"It's not only 'how do you compete with iPad 2' on the digital side, but does the bricks and mortar have enough legs to support the growth of the digital platform," said Morningstar analyst Peter Wahlstrom.

We couldn't say it any better. Bottom line: Just like Borders, B&N still doesn't have yet a clear and comprehensive strategy that will transform their brick and mortar stores from a liability back to an asset. This week's grade stays the same: 4 (4)

4. What B&N is saying about itself
Silence this week.. This week's grade for this parameter stays the same: 6 (6)

5. Steps B&N is taking
Nothing much here this week. This week's grade stays the same: 6 (6)

6. Competitors
This parameter will mainly look into Borders and how its problems affect B&N. This week there are no big news on this end and the grade stays the same. 5.5 (5.5)

7. Financial strength
Two weeks ago Barnes & Noble published the results for the third quarter. This week we had no updates. This week's grade stays the same: 7 (7)

8. Strength of the digital business
The iPad2 was launched last week, but it is not a direct threat on the Nook (although we'll definitely have some readers buying the iPad 2 instead of the Nook, but I don't think there would be too many of these). Other than no updates and this week's grade stays the same: 8 (8)

9. Sense of urgency
It looks like B&N still think they have time and are not worried at all, or at least not worried enough to begin doing something (again, we don't believe more toys and extra room for the Nook is a winning strategy) with their brick and mortar stores. If we can learn something from the Borders' case, it's how fast things go bad when your reach a certain tipping point of financial distress or distrust of your stakeholders (consumers or publishers for example). This week's grade stays the same: 5.5 (5.5)

10. General feeling
This parameter will be an indication of our impression of all the materials read and analyzed for this index. Our feeling this week is that things are are looking not too good for B&N with no dividends, no buyer at sight and no strategy for the brick and mortar stores. Still, it could all change if a buyer with the right ideas will appear. Right now this buyer is nowhere to be seen, but never say never.. This week's grade stays the same: 6 (6)

This week's Barnes & Noble Bankruptcy Index: 61 points (61.5)

As you can see, this week's index is set at 61 points, which translates into the scale of 60-69: B&N doesn't look too good and bankruptcy is becoming a more realistic threat. Definitely not a good place to be at and too close to the red alert zone. Way too close.. Still it looks like B&N is still not in immediate trouble. See you next Thursday.

To view the weekly changes in the index visit Barnes and Noble Bankruptcy Index on our website.

You can find more resources on the future of bookstores on our website at www.ecolibris.net/bookstores_future.asp

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Working to green the book industry!

How green is your iPad 2? Check out my article on Triple Pundit

How green the iPad 2 really is? That's a question I'm asking myself following the release of the iPad 2 by Apple last week.

If you want to know the answer, or at least my thoughts about the answer, you're welcome to read my article about it at Triple Pundit.

Here's the first paragraph of the article:

Last week Apple unveiled the iPad 2, which immediately became the center of a heated debate. No, I’m not talking about how amazing or totally disappointing its specs are; the debate centered around how green the iPad 2 really is.

Some argue that this version is thinner and lighter and therefore it’s not only a better iPad but also a greener one, while others replied that no matter how advanced the iPad 2 is, an upgrade of a device launched less than a year ago cannot be considered green.

The full article is available at http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/03/green-ipad-2/

Last but not least, check out this clip making fun of the iPad 2 and Apple. It doesn't say anything directly about how green the iPad 2 is, but it's really funny :)

For information and resources about this issue please go to how green is your iPad page on our website.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

You can win American Assassin, The Half Life and other great audiobooks on our 41 Reasons Campaign!

Our Earth Day campaign, 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book, will begin on Sunday and you are invited to participate in it and send us your reply to our question: Why plating a tree for your book is a good idea.

With more than 180,000 trees planted so far on behalf of readers, authors and publishers working with Eco-Libris, it's no surprise that we think planting trees to green up books is a great idea.. But we also want to hear what readers think about it and why they believe planting trees for their books is a good idea, and so for 41 days, starting on March 13 and ending on April 22, Earth Day, we'll publish on our blog 41 of the best answers we'll get, one reply every day!

We are giving away 41 great prizes to all the readers whose replies we'll publish, including 10 copies of 5 audiobooks (2 copies each), a gift of Simon & Schuster Audio.

So how you can win one of these audiobooks? Very simple - add a comment to this post with your reply or send it to us to info@ecolibris.net. We will provide all readers whose replies we'll publish with the opportunity to choose their preferred prize, so you've got a good chance to win the audiobook you like mostly!

The audiobooks are:

1. The Half Life by Jennifer Weiner - From Redbook’s Red-Hot Read series, a short story by the New York Times #1 best-selling author of In Her Shoes and Fly Away Home.

"My life is over," Piper DeWitt thinks to herself, awaiting departure in the overcrowded International Terminal of the Philadelphia airport for an overseas business trip, to romantic Paris no less. She watched as her husband, Tosh, put his own suitcase into the trunk of a taxi the day before. He’d been telling her for months that he wasn’t happy, and though she still wants to believe it is just a phase, after a call to her mother from the Admiral’s Club, she can no longer deny that he’s left her, left their home, left their four-year-old daughter in her mother’s sole care.

Piper met Tosh when she was only twenty-two, just the way self help books said she would – when she wasn’t looking. Now at forty, she wonders how, through all those years, they’d gotten to this place in their marriage. When her flight is canceled due to volcanic ash spreading from Iceland across Europe, and when a handsome stranger offers her an invitation to share a cab, she realizes she can take a departure from her own life. And after a day of living like a tourist in her own city, she hopes she can still find her way home…

2. American Assassin by Vince Flynn - #1 New York Times bestseling author Vince Flynn introduces the young Mitch Rapp on his first assignment, a mission of vengeance that made him a CIA superagent— and a terrorist's worst nightmare.

Two decades after the Cold War, CIA Operations Director Thomas Stansfield must prepare his people for the next conflict. The rise of Islamic terrorism is coming, and it needs to be met abroad before it reaches America's shores. Stansfield directs his protÉgÉe, Irene Kennedy, and his old colleague, Stan Hurley, to form a new group of clandestine operatives—men who do not exist—who will work outside the normal chain of command. Kennedy finds the ideal candidate in the wake of the Pan Am Lockerbie bombing terrorist attack. . . .

Among the thousands of family and friends grieving the victims is Mitch Rapp, a gifted college athlete, who wants only one thing: retribution. Six months of intense training prepare him to bring the war to the enemy's doorstep, and he does so with brutal efficiency, leaving a trail of bodies from Istanbul and across Europe, to Beirut. But there, the hunter becomes the hunted: the enemy has prepared a trap, and the American assassin will need every ounce of skill and cunning if he is to survive the warravaged city and its deadly terrorist factions.

3. Essence of Happiness by the Dalai Lama - Meditations and Spiritual Wisdom on Achieving Lasting Happiness from His Holiness the Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama inspired millions around the world with his wisdom and compassion in The Art of Happiness. Now, in The Essence of Happiness, some of His Holiness’s most unforgettable insights are presented in a meditative audiobook that listeners will return to again and again. Offering sage advice on defeating day-to-day depression, anxiety, anger, jealousy, and other emotions that get in the way of true happiness, The Essence of Happiness contains transforming reflections on overcoming suffering and obstacles to create a fulfilled, joyous life.

The Essence of Happiness is truly an indispensable guide for living.

4. Gideon's War - Howard Gordon - the longtime executive producer of the hit TV series 24—makes his fiction debut with a tale of political intrigue and international terrorism. Gideon Davis has just 48 hours to bring his rogue agent brother in—before a twisted global conspiracy turns deadly.

GIDEON DAVIS, whose behind-the-scenes negotiating skills have earned him the role of peacemaker in conflicts around the globe, knows more about hush-hush discussions in Capitol corridors than he does about hand-to-hand combat. But his more practical, tactical skills come into play when he’s called on by family friend and government bigwig Earl Parker to chaperone a rogue agent from Southeast Asia to D.C. The agent, Tillman Davis, has promised to turn himself in— but only to his brother, Gideon.

Although the two brothers have been estranged for years, Gideon cannot fathom how his brother could have turned into so ruthless a man. But when the plan for Tillman’s surrender goes awry and Earl Parker is taken hostage, Gideon is forced to embrace his dark side in order to evade hostile locals in war-torn Mohan to make his way to the Obelisk—the multimillion-dollar, state-of-the-art oil rig that has been seized by terrorists led by Tillman himself. It is with the help of oil rig manager Kate Murphy that Gideon launches an unlikely one-man rescue.

5. Bird Cloud: A Memoir bt Annie Proulx - "Bird Cloud" is the name Annie Proulx gave to 640 acres of Wyoming wetlands and prairie and four-hundred-foot cliffs plunging down to the North Platte River. On the day she first visited, a cloud in the shape of a bird hung in the evening sky. Proulx also saw pelicans, bald eagles, golden eagles, great blue herons, ravens, scores of bluebirds, harriers, kestrels, elk, deer and a dozen antelope. She fell in love with the land, then owned by the Nature Conservancy, and she knew what she wanted to build on it—a house in harmony with her work, her appetites and her character, a library surrounded by bedrooms and a kitchen.

Proulx's first work of nonfiction in more than twenty years, Bird Cloud is the story of designing and constructing that house—with its solar panels, Japanese soak tub, concrete floor and elk horn handles on kitchen cabinets. It is also an enthralling natural history and archaeology of the region—inhabited for millennia by Ute, Arapaho and Shoshone Indians— and a family history, going back to nineteenth-century Mississippi riverboat captains and Canadian settlers.

Proulx, a writer with extraordinary powers of observation and compassion, here turns her lens on herself. We understand how she came to be living in a house surrounded by wilderness, with shelves for thousands of books and long worktables on which to heap manuscripts, research materials and maps, and how she came to be one of the great American writers of her time. Bird Cloud is magnificent.

So how you can win one of these audiobooks? Very simple - add a comment to this post with your reply or send it to us to info@ecolibris.net. We will provide all readers whose replies we'll publish with the opportunity to choose their preferred prize, so you've got a good chance to win the audiobook you like mostly!

You can see the full list of the prizes on the campaign's page.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Green book of the week: Planet Home by Jeffrey Hollender and Alexandra Zissu

Today I have the pleasure of reviewing a green book, which not only is very useful but also was co-authored by one of most interesting figures in the sustainability field - Jeffrey Hollender.

Our book is:

Planet Home: Conscious Choices for Cleaning and Greening the World You Care About Most

Author: Jeffrey Hollender and Alexandra Zissu

Jeffrey Hollender is is the co-founder and former chairman of Seventh Generation, an award-winning company lauded for its progressive business practices. He is also the author of several books, including The Responsibility Revolution, What Matters Most, and Naturally Clean. He and his wife, Sheila, have three children and live in Vermont.

Alexandra Zissu is a writer, editor, speaker, and consultant. She is the author of The Conscious Kitchen and coauthor of The Complete Organic Pregnancy. She lives with her family in New York City.

Publisher: Random House

Published on: December 2010

What this book is about?
From the co-founder of Seventh Generation, the most trusted brand in environmentally friendly household products, comes this indispensable guide to maintaining absolutely everything in the home in a natural, nontoxic way. Jeffrey Hollender leads you through each room of the house with straightforward advice, comprehensive checklists, quick tips, and unparalleled resources while revealing the hidden repercussions of daily routines that most of us take for granted. From improving air quality in your bedroom to avoiding mildew in the bathroom, from sourcing local or organic food to safely laundering your clothes, Planet Home offers invaluable information for making conscious decisions for your family, your neighbors, and our shared planet home.

With additional information on power, garbage and recycling, air quality, and community activism, this book goes a step further to describe how any household is part of a much larger system. Planet Home offers a unique, comprehensive, educational, and easy approach to helping you and your family lead healthier lives as we collectively protect and maintain our shared resources for many years to come.

What we think about it?
Reading this book, I found myself feeling guilty again and again for not doing enough. Not just for the planet, but also and mostly for not doing enough to keep the house clean, safe and germfree. But don't get me wrong - Planet Home is not a downer that will give you guilt feelings. Actually, as weird as it might sound, it got me more energized to do the right things. Not that I put the book aside and started cleaning, but I definitely intend to make some changes, both in materials used and my own cleaning practices.

No room is left behind with Planet Home. The kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom, the kids room, the utility room, and even the home office are getting thoroughly covered in this book, providing you with both explanations on the issues we need to think about and ideas how deal with them. And no, these are not expensive or inconvenient solutions - some of them do require some discipline (vacuum weekly!) and exploration of options (the best products to clean your kitchen with), but others are very simple like opening a window to get some fresh and clean air from the outside or adding a plant to absorb unwanted chemicals.

The book is also full with useful shopping tips, from how to choose a crib to finding conscious seafood. But by no means this is a shopping guide. In all, this is a guide for making the right decisions for your health, your family and your planet. It is also about connecting the dots and showing how all of these are actually just different sides of the same coin, or like Hollender and Zissu explain "everything we do ultimately touches everything and everyone else."

Well, enough writing. It's time to open a window and start vacuuming!

* If you want a copy of this book, you're welcome to join our 41 Reasons campaign and send us your reply to the question 'why it's a good idea to plant a tree for your book'. This book (as many other great books) is one of the prizes we'll give to the readers whose replies we'll publish on the campaign. For more information check our campaign's page.

The book is printed with soy-based inks on 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper.

Disclosure: We received a copy of this book from the publicist of the book.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

The Scandinavian publisher Whyte Tracks is partnering with Eco-Libris

We are happy to announce a new partnership with Whyte Tracks, an Independent English publisher in Scandinavia and currently produces fiction and non-fiction titles including sagas, creative spirituality, occult and esoteric publications. From now on, for every book Whyte Track is selling, a tree will be planted through Eco Libris!

Whyte Tracks is a publisher with a true commitment to sustainable reading and we are happy to partner with them and plant trees for the wonderful books they publish, such as The Dog's Tale, Scent of Summer Magnolia, The Vineyard of the Nietzschean Priest and many others.

Here's more on Whyte Tracks:

Whyte Track's philosophy is to produce vibrant and beautiful books as a heritage for future generations, presenting spiritual, pagan and cultural history tales from around the globe.

We opened our doors for business in 2009 and now we are ready to expand our operations to include Print on Demand and ebook services for the hobby-writer wanting a few copies to give to friends, for the serious author intending to wow the market, and we can offer a professional and efficient service to Corporations and Educational Institutions with specific publication

requirements. We can also provide print solutions and world wide distribution from our premises in Denmark.

You can visit their website at http://www.whytetracks.eu.com/ and also follow them on twitter and Facebook.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Working to green the book industry!

Barnes & Noble Bankruptcy Index: The stock's price continues to go down

This week our B&N bankruptcy index is moving permanently to Thursday and will be published from now on on Thursdays. Just a short reminder - As Borders filed for bankruptcy, we look at Barnes & Noble, the nation's largest book chain to see if they will follow Borders and also go into bankruptcy and if so, when exactly.

To do it more analytically we launched few weeks ago a new B&N Bankruptcy Index, which is based on 10 parameters, which receive a grade between 1-10 (1 - worst grade, 10 - best grade). Hence we receive a 0-100 point index scale, which we divide into several ranges as follows:

90-100: B&N is in an excellent shape. Couldn't be better!
80-89: B&N is doing great. Bankruptcy is no longer a real threat.
70-79: B&N could do better and has to be cautious of bankruptcy.
60-69: B&N doesn't look too good and bankruptcy is becoming a more realistic threat.
50-59: Bankruptcy is a clear and present danger.
49 and less: Red alert! Bankruptcy is just around the corner and is likely to happen within a short time frame.

We will check the B&N Bankruptcy Index every Thursday, updating each one of the parameters included in the index and will analyze the trend. You can follow the weekly changes in the index from the day it was launched on the Barnes and Noble Bankruptcy Index page on our website.

So here's our update for this week (in brackets is last week's grade):

1. Confidence of the stock market in B&N
This parameter will look at the performance of the B&N stock (symbol: BKS) in the last week. The performance of B&N's stock is an indication of the confidence the market has in the ability of B&N to maintain a viable business.

So let's look at last week's figures:

2/23: $14.70
3/2: $13.20
Change: -10.2%

As you can see, B&N's stock continued to fall down last week with a decrease of 10.2% in the stock's price. Just for comparison, the S&P500 Index almost didn't change during this period (+0.1%) and Amazon fell in 2.6%. I guess this is a combination of both the discontent of the market of B&N's decision to suspend its dividend as well as further backlash from Borders' bankruptcy, as Mark Riddix explains on Benzinga.com:

The recent bankruptcy of Borders (NYSE: BGP) has caused many investors to reevaluate their thoughts on companies in the retail books sector. Borders was forced to declare bankruptcy under a large mountain of debt, and now many investors are questioning whether or not similar companies like Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) can stay afloat. Can B&N survive where others have failed?

This week's grade for this parameter is also going down to: 6.5 (7)

2. What analysts say on B&N
Mark Riddix of New Horizons Financial Management was optimistic this week:

Overall, things are looking up at Barnes & Noble especially given that its main competitor, Borders, is on its last legs. Barnes & Noble has 25% of the e-book market and has its own reader to compete against the Kindle. Its online website continues to generate more revenue for the company, and ultimately, Barnes & Noble does not have to topple Amazon to be successful in the digital publishing industry. The company can generate sizable income and make for a high-quality investment by being the number two player in the industry and an alternative to the 800 pound gorilla that is Amazon.

No other comments or analysis were found. This week's grade stays the same: 7 (7)

3. New strategy to regain sales in the brick and mortar stores
Here's what we have so far: 1. More strategic space for the Nook 2. More toys, games and educational products. Shawn Graham shares on Fast Company what he found on his last visit at his local B&N store with regards to the second point:

Upon entering the store, the thing that I was most surprised by was the significant amount of retail space they are now dedicating to hobbies, games, and childhood learning which I'm guessing takes up approximately 350-500 square feet that was once populated by books. This new assortment diversifies their retail product offerings and also serves as an extension to the reading and play area for children already housed within many Barnes & Noble stores. Based on the prominently displayed LEGO products, it appears they are hoping to attract more kids which will equal more parents which will equal more retail spending--not to mention continuing to get kinds into their customer pipeline as early as possible.

Bottom line: Just like Borders, B&N still doesn't have yet a clear and comprehensive strategy that will transform their brick and mortar stores from a liability back to an asset. This week's grade stays the same: 4 (4)

4. What B&N is saying about itself
Silence this week.. This week's grade for this parameter stays the same: 6 (6)

5. Steps B&N is taking
Nothing much here this week. Only the litigation settling with Spring Design, which initiated legal action against Barnes & Noble in November 2009 in connection with Spring Design’s Alex eReader. Bottom line: Nothing to write home (or the investors about). This week's grade stays the same: 6 (6)

6. Competitors
This parameter will mainly look into Borders and how its problems affect B&N. This week there are no big news on this end and the grade stays the same. 5.5 (5.5)

7. Financial strength
Last week Barnes & Noble published the results for the third quarter. This week we had no updates. This week's grade stays the same: 7 (7)

8. Strength of the digital business
Last week Michael Wolf had an interesting idea on GigaOm - how about B&N extending its value proposition to digital publishing?. He explained:

But as I discuss in my weekly analysis at GigaOM Pro (subscription required), they must do more. Let’s face it, the total pie in books is going to shrink, and the long and unwieldy value-chain from writer to customer is going to collapse. Amazon knew this a long time ago, and that’s why they’ve been moving to disintermediate the publisher and the wholesaler in the e-book world by becoming, essentially, the entire value chain themselves.”

B&N should do the same, and do it quick. Sure, like Amazon, it launched its own self-pub platform in PubIt!, and it tinkered around with a few imprints on the print side for some time. But in the collapsing world of books, it’s every man for himself, and its time for B&N to accelerate its push into becoming a digital publisher.

Definitely an interesting idea. I wonder if B&N are considering it.. Other than that we didn't find any updates and this week's grade stays the same: 8 (8)

9. Sense of urgency
It looks like B&N still think they have time and are not worried at all, or at least not worried enough to begin doing something (again, we don't believe more toys and extra room for the Nook is a winning strategy) with their brick and mortar stores. If we can learn something from the Borders' case, it's how fast things go bad when your reach a certain tipping point of financial distress or distrust of your stakeholders (consumers or publishers for example). This week's grade stays the same: 5.5 (5.5)

10. General feeling
This parameter will be an indication of our impression of all the materials read and analyzed for this index. Our feeling this week, after B&N's quarterly report is not too good. This week we're still more worried as the collapsing stock's price is making the possibility of bankruptcy much more realistic to many who thought this option is not on the table. This week's grade stays the same: 6 (6)

This week's Barnes & Noble Bankruptcy Index: 61.5 points (62)

As you can see, this week's index is set at 61.5 points, which translates into the scale of 60-69: B&N doesn't look too good and bankruptcy is becoming a more realistic threat. Definitely not a good place to be at and too close to the red alert zone. Too close. Yet it looks like B&N is still not in immediate trouble. See you next Thursday.

To view the weekly changes in the index visit Barnes and Noble Bankruptcy Index on our website.

You can find more resources on the future of bookstores on our website at www.ecolibris.net/bookstores_future.asp

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Working to green the book industry!