tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10974844732373998022024-03-12T21:41:25.346-05:00will work for booksJanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15393229814968030742noreply@blogger.comBlogger270125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-40700012258307349912023-08-16T11:54:00.025-05:002023-08-16T13:13:12.567-05:00Publishing Resources: Books<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">I recently started a publishing lending library at <a href="https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/books/" target="_blank">UNP</a>. I'm including fiction about publishing as well as nonfiction about the publishing industry. Here are the books I have so far along with their publishers' descriptions:</span></div><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo4087193.html" style="color: #0078d7; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;" title="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo4087193.html"></a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo9iUtgnrt-gNmnMqzFOD-3nGLz9lSfUp45yHdweb3-vfBQ_ilKPMFgXrd6sAFdGAnupnEGwcHFhWYa5yzPxtO3dr7njgyBpoNd8kQHpdQlxGR1mEH3IOf7HZ7DuDNRrnhCBEvNr5bnpNMRFz2Xcdyw5kIY6yFs8gXbtoRVLkUho4dVSOSkAWgsyerXid7/s1316/Permissions.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1316" data-original-width="860" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo9iUtgnrt-gNmnMqzFOD-3nGLz9lSfUp45yHdweb3-vfBQ_ilKPMFgXrd6sAFdGAnupnEGwcHFhWYa5yzPxtO3dr7njgyBpoNd8kQHpdQlxGR1mEH3IOf7HZ7DuDNRrnhCBEvNr5bnpNMRFz2Xcdyw5kIY6yFs8gXbtoRVLkUho4dVSOSkAWgsyerXid7/s320/Permissions.jpg" width="209" /></a></span></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo4087193.html" target="_blank">Permissions, A Survival Guide</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #212121;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #212121;">by Susan M. Bielstein</span></span></h4><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58); color: #3a3a3a;">If a picture is worth a thousand words, then it’s a good bet that at least half of those words relate to the picture’s copyright status. Art historians, artists, and anyone who wants to use the images of others will find themselves awash in byzantine legal terms, constantly evolving copyright law, varying interpretations by museums and estates, and despair over the complexity of the whole situation. Here, on a white—not a high—horse, Susan Bielstein offers her decades of experience as an editor working with illustrated books. In doing so, she unsnarls the threads of permissions that have ensnared scholars, critics, and artists for years. </span></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58); color: #3a3a3a;" /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58); color: #3a3a3a;">Organized as a series of “takes” that range from short sidebars to extended discussions, </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58); color: #3a3a3a;">Permissions, A Survival Guide</i><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58); color: #3a3a3a;"> explores intellectual property law as it pertains to visual imagery. How can you determine whether an artwork is copyrighted? How do you procure a high-quality reproduction of an image? What does “fair use” really mean? Is it ever legitimate to use the work of an artist without permission? Bielstein discusses the many uncertainties that plague writers who work with images in this highly visual age, and she does so based on her years navigating precisely these issues. As an editor who has hired a photographer to shoot an incredibly obscure work in the Italian mountains (a plan that backfired hilariously), who has tried to reason with artists’ estates in languages she doesn’t speak, and who has spent her time in the archival trenches, she offers a snappy and humane guide to this difficult terrain. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58); color: #3a3a3a;" /></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58); color: #3a3a3a;">Filled with anecdotes, asides, and real courage, </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58); color: #3a3a3a; margin-bottom: 0px;">Permissions, A Survival Guide</i><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58); color: #3a3a3a;"> is a unique handbook that anyone working in the visual arts will find invaluable, if not indispensable.</span></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(58, 58, 58); color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691191874/under-the-cover" style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #0078d7; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;" title="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691191874/under-the-cover"></a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl01w9BgRNT0QeSpHGCVUz459XksW5_ulT5cAhRCyti8WOINw66SX9p-rwWLPZ-z7jPDQjaLY0ErWt5e59_L046P7XD1_rRyr5CM2WjlN-STGJKdBpDYJb6yB5uzkdIXs19_ME29LnmPuu9ZoXN1ddNaS0IRR1eb1cmLCFIoGuSiDCVFzMk3YokrMEHA0i/s2280/UndertheCover.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2280" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl01w9BgRNT0QeSpHGCVUz459XksW5_ulT5cAhRCyti8WOINw66SX9p-rwWLPZ-z7jPDQjaLY0ErWt5e59_L046P7XD1_rRyr5CM2WjlN-STGJKdBpDYJb6yB5uzkdIXs19_ME29LnmPuu9ZoXN1ddNaS0IRR1eb1cmLCFIoGuSiDCVFzMk3YokrMEHA0i/s320/UndertheCover.webp" width="211" /></a></span></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691191874/under-the-cover" target="_blank">Under the Cover: The Creation, Production, and Reception of a Novel</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #212121;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #212121;">by Clayton Childress</span></span></h4><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; caret-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: #2e2e2e; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; touch-action: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Under the Cover</span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: #2e2e2e;"> follows the life trajectory of a single work of fiction from its initial inspiration to its reception by reviewers and readers. The subject is </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; caret-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: #2e2e2e; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; touch-action: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Jarrettsville</span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: #2e2e2e;">, a historical novel by Cornelia Nixon, which was published in 2009 and based on an actual murder committed by an ancestor of Nixon’s in the postbellum South.</span><br style="box-sizing: inherit; caret-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: #2e2e2e; touch-action: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit; caret-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: #2e2e2e; touch-action: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: #2e2e2e;">Clayton Childress takes you behind the scenes to examine how </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; caret-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: #2e2e2e; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; touch-action: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Jarrettsville</span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: #2e2e2e;"> was shepherded across three interdependent fields—authoring, publishing, and reading—and how it was transformed by its journey. Along the way, he covers all aspects of the life of a book, including the author’s creative process, the role of the literary agent, how editors decide which books to acquire, how publishers build lists and distinguish themselves from other publishers, how they sell a book to stores and publicize it, and how authors choose their next projects. Childress looks at how books get selected for the front tables in bookstores, why reviewers and readers can draw such different meanings from the same novel, and how book groups across the country make sense of a novel and what it means to them.</span><br style="box-sizing: inherit; caret-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: #2e2e2e; touch-action: inherit;" /><br style="box-sizing: inherit; caret-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: #2e2e2e; touch-action: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: #2e2e2e;">Drawing on original survey data, in-depth interviews, and groundbreaking ethnographic fieldwork, </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; caret-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: #2e2e2e; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; touch-action: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Under the Cover</span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: #2e2e2e;"> reveals how decisions are made, inequalities are reproduced, and novels are built to travel in the creation, production, and consumption of culture.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(46, 46, 46); color: #2e2e2e; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691211909/impermanent-blackness" style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #0078d7; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;" title="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691211909/impermanent-blackness"></a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-quLZ162IVrmDo9Z9bK95TGL5PI9CTY_2DxWCehvKB_V2IXGiHrJ9H4nd08lO0IyJ3V3q5XLSoagElCbd_Fb_PztJ8T9JQsdDjDUfkwrlO1DTr3Gst0ef8xBQdSqvpYp03NFREsd6AEwrFm9ksEYEwpooKTmGwn3w-BQjDCogTiu-cHIAdViKnsmkHR83/s2265/Impermanent.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2265" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-quLZ162IVrmDo9Z9bK95TGL5PI9CTY_2DxWCehvKB_V2IXGiHrJ9H4nd08lO0IyJ3V3q5XLSoagElCbd_Fb_PztJ8T9JQsdDjDUfkwrlO1DTr3Gst0ef8xBQdSqvpYp03NFREsd6AEwrFm9ksEYEwpooKTmGwn3w-BQjDCogTiu-cHIAdViKnsmkHR83/s320/Impermanent.webp" width="212" /></a></span></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691211909/impermanent-blackness" target="_blank">Impermanent Blackness: The Making and Unmaking of Interracial Literary Culture in Modern America</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #212121;"> by Korey Garibaldi</span></span></h4><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: #2e2e2e;">In </span><i><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #2e2e2e; padding: 0in;">Impermanent Blackness</span></i><span style="color: #2e2e2e;">, Korey Garibaldi explores interracial collaborations in American commercial publishing—authors, agents, and publishers who forged partnerships across racial lines—from the 1910s to the 1960s. Garibaldi shows how aspiring and established Black authors and editors worked closely with white interlocutors to achieve publishing success, often challenging stereotypes and advancing racial pluralism in the process.<br /><br /></span><i><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #2e2e2e; padding: 0in;">Impermanent Blackness</span></i><span style="color: #2e2e2e;"> explores the complex nature of this almost-forgotten period of interracial publishing by examining key developments, including the mainstream success of African American authors in the 1930s and 1940s, the emergence of multiracial children’s literature, postwar tensions between supporters of racial cosmopolitanism and of “Negro literature,” and the impact of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements on the legacy of interracial literary culture.<br /><br />By the end of the 1960s, some literary figures once celebrated for pushing the boundaries of what Black writing could be, including the anthologist </span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #2e2e2e; padding: 0in;">W. S.</span><span style="color: #2e2e2e;">Braithwaite, the bestselling novelist Frank Yerby, the memoirist Juanita Harrison, and others, were forgotten or criticized as too white. And yet, Garibaldi argues, these figures—at once dreamers and pragmatists—have much to teach us about building an inclusive society. Revisiting their work from a contemporary perspective, Garibaldi breaks new ground in the cultural history of race in the United States.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: #2e2e2e; font-size: 13pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: #2e2e2e; font-size: 13pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/673778/a-career-in-books-by-written-and-illustrated-by-kate-gavino/" style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #0078d7; font-family: times; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;" title="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/673778/a-career-in-books-by-written-and-illustrated-by-kate-gavino/"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf7Mjwe0zpqySOBQUmMkFBVn0tXIfdiO_ryUgQFMXZdaSUBWQf2uaHUewK6qDXRw9mLAtrF-lWbhNWTM41jshHtbSAxRBXZm1emSrkjAPknI2VvgcbYWuwQpPNTRqDkR28n-Bf03agJ8Togh3YUQHxiY28dnv28X6jtLwtSa3Obi4uKLkzg1ragEj8jgRO/s450/CareerBooks.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="365" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf7Mjwe0zpqySOBQUmMkFBVn0tXIfdiO_ryUgQFMXZdaSUBWQf2uaHUewK6qDXRw9mLAtrF-lWbhNWTM41jshHtbSAxRBXZm1emSrkjAPknI2VvgcbYWuwQpPNTRqDkR28n-Bf03agJ8Togh3YUQHxiY28dnv28X6jtLwtSa3Obi4uKLkzg1ragEj8jgRO/s320/CareerBooks.jpeg" width="260" /></a></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/673778/a-career-in-books-by-written-and-illustrated-by-kate-gavino/" target="_blank">A Career in Books</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #212121; font-family: times;"> by Kate Gavino</span></h4><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: times;"><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; text-shadow: none;">A Career in Books</em> is a graphic novel for everyone who’s wanted to “work with books” and had NO idea what it entailed. It’s for those who were taken aback by that first paycheck. It’s for those who wanted a literary career even in the face of systemic racism, who dealt with the unique challenges of coming from an immigrant family, and whose group chat is their lifeline.</span></strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Fort-Book, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Fort-Book, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;">Shirin, Nina, and Silvia have just gotten their first jobs in publishing, at a University Press, a traditional publisher, and a trust-fund kid’s “indie” publisher, respectively. And it’s . . . great? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ They know they’re paying their dues and the challenges they meet (Shirin’s boss just assumes she knows Cantonese, Nina cannot get promoted by sheer force of will, and Silvia has to deal with daily microaggressions) are just part of “a career in books.” When they meet their elderly neighbor, Veronica Vo, and discover she’s a Booker Prize winner dubbed the “Tampax Tolstoy” by the press, each woman finds a thread of inspiration from Veronica’s life to carry on her own path. And the result is full of twists and revelations that surprise not only the reader but the women themselves.</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Charming, wry, and with fantastic black-and-white illustrations, </span><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; text-shadow: none;">A Career in Books</em><span style="background-color: white;"> is a modern ode to Rona Jaffe’s </span><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; text-shadow: none;">The Best of Everything</em><span style="background-color: white;">, and perfect for fans of </span><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; text-shadow: none;">Good Talk</em><span style="background-color: white;">,</span><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; text-shadow: none;"> Younger,</em><span style="background-color: white;"> and </span><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; text-shadow: none;">The Bold Type</em><span style="background-color: white;">, as readers chart the paths of three Asian-American women trying to break through the world of books with hilarious, incisive, and heartbreaking results.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/317841/last-nights-reading-by-kate-gavino-illustrated-by-kate-gavino/9781101992876" style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #0078d7; font-family: times; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;" target="_blank" title="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/317841/last-nights-reading-by-kate-gavino-illustrated-by-kate-gavino/9781101992876"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1qM_VGZOY3UY-ald7ZGXfcdDMuCsx9wRm0U3ErkHgGQUwhnYeXK_tHaHVnnY5YmD_NuWTi-y_ucF4-aPPZRaeyQKA22K9H2vagebhAyn1YbgWDsiIf8GpH7mFHNLc8oaMjWjNhcc8u6VbaJ7lk5aO2UWC2isejwiVaw2EtxW3wVtyQjVn9xJ-OC8KmL9v/s450/LastNights.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="321" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1qM_VGZOY3UY-ald7ZGXfcdDMuCsx9wRm0U3ErkHgGQUwhnYeXK_tHaHVnnY5YmD_NuWTi-y_ucF4-aPPZRaeyQKA22K9H2vagebhAyn1YbgWDsiIf8GpH7mFHNLc8oaMjWjNhcc8u6VbaJ7lk5aO2UWC2isejwiVaw2EtxW3wVtyQjVn9xJ-OC8KmL9v/s320/LastNights.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/317841/last-nights-reading-by-kate-gavino-illustrated-by-kate-gavino/" target="_blank">Last Night’s Reading: Illustrated Encounters with Extraordinary Authors</a> <span style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #212121; font-family: times;">by Kate Gavino</span></h4><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; text-shadow: none;"><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; text-shadow: none;">An irresistible illustrated collection of charming, wise, and hilarious quotations from your favorite authors</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></b></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;">Why do we go to book readings? For a chance to see the authors we love come to life off the page, answering our questions and proving to be the brilliant, witty people we catch glimpses of through their work. Illustrator Kate Gavino (author of </span><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; text-shadow: none;">Sanpaku</em><span style="background-color: white;">) captures the wonder of this experience firsthand. At every reading she attends, Kate hand-letters the event’s most memorable quote alongside a charming portrait of the author. In </span><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; text-shadow: none;">Last Night’s Reading</em><span style="background-color: white;">, Kate takes us on her journey through the literary world, sharing illustrated insight from more than one hundred of today’s greatest writers—including Zadie Smith, Junot Diaz, Lev Grossman, Elizabeth Gilbert, and many more—on topics ranging from friendship and humor to creativity and identity. A celebration of authors, reading, and bookstores, this delightful collection is an advice book like no other and a love letter to the joy of seeing your favorite author up close and personal.</span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/yellowface-r-f-kuang?variant=40985522831394" style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #0078d7; font-family: times; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;" title="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/yellowface-r-f-kuang?variant=40985522831394"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB6KYLlxWctiXJPo2C6eX03ShiznlrZL14SbdvVyDNyp3xo8-VpAQpcfDtDBRjIXGzp2KDd7I_E18dqWItjFngNLUL9NXaHR6W6GpVMY4QDqBLsA2IqDuij6-GTXiogo9Ag0Gf32NmplSdKQ6kre4i_J5Pjw5GTLBLIvWci3pjlihuC2M6ONdYGIKWlSvv/s528/Yellowface.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="350" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB6KYLlxWctiXJPo2C6eX03ShiznlrZL14SbdvVyDNyp3xo8-VpAQpcfDtDBRjIXGzp2KDd7I_E18dqWItjFngNLUL9NXaHR6W6GpVMY4QDqBLsA2IqDuij6-GTXiogo9Ag0Gf32NmplSdKQ6kre4i_J5Pjw5GTLBLIvWci3pjlihuC2M6ONdYGIKWlSvv/s320/Yellowface.webp" width="212" /></a></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/yellowface-r-f-kuang?variant=40985522831394" target="_blank">Yellowface</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #212121; font-family: times; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #212121; font-family: times;">by R. F. Kuang</span></h4><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); color: #212529; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); color: #212529; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b>White lies. Dark humor. Deadly consequences… Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn’t write the book she claims she wrote, and she is most certainly <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">not </em>Asian American—in this chilling and hilariously cutting novel from R.F. Kuang, the #1 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">New York Times </em>bestselling author of <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Babel</em>.<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </em></b></span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); color: #212529; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></em></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: Times;">Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena’s a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="-webkit-standard, serif" style="color: #212529;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: Times;">So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I.</span><span face="-webkit-standard, serif" style="color: #212529;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="-webkit-standard, serif" style="color: #212529;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: Times;">So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the <i>New York Times</i> bestseller list seems to agree.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="-webkit-standard, serif" style="color: #212529;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: Times;">But June can’t get away from Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span face="-webkit-standard, serif" style="color: #212529;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: Times;">With its totally immersive first-person voice, <i>Yellowface</i> grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. R.F. Kuang’s novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable. </span><span face="-webkit-standard, serif" style="color: #212529;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: Times;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: Times;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); color: #212529; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); color: #212529; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-books-the-history-and-future-of-reading-leah-price/9256999?ean=9780465042685" style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #0078d7; font-family: times; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;" title="https://bookshop.org/p/books/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-books-the-history-and-future-of-reading-leah-price/9256999?ean=9780465042685"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkH8ZCaMeA7pNnVj0SCJR6QXnIWlRB28TJY5cHH554Y2gigPvEO8lIdpkZF-8iTVBcQ2hYupB-XPVj5qW4EwKwgjFd3Johz2J7lPvuuETDB-mtPjbMunNqSbmHpw-54sBQ6OncrK9USJ9Z-VXhyL_Sb6Z6Q-aXAwd78G999trGF4LxxKCD7X51rwBCGmlL/s400/WhatWeTalk.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkH8ZCaMeA7pNnVj0SCJR6QXnIWlRB28TJY5cHH554Y2gigPvEO8lIdpkZF-8iTVBcQ2hYupB-XPVj5qW4EwKwgjFd3Johz2J7lPvuuETDB-mtPjbMunNqSbmHpw-54sBQ6OncrK9USJ9Z-VXhyL_Sb6Z6Q-aXAwd78G999trGF4LxxKCD7X51rwBCGmlL/s320/WhatWeTalk.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/leah-price/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-books/9781541673908/?lens=basic-books" target="_blank">What We Talk about When We Talk about Books: The History and Future of Reading</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #212121; font-family: times;">by Leah Price</span></h4></div><div><span style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #212121; font-family: times; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;"><br /></span></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); color: #212529; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="border-color: var(--color-border); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(44, 41, 59); color: #2c293b;"><b>Reports of the death of reading are greatly exaggerated</b></span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); color: #212529; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><br style="border-color: var(--color-border); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(44, 41, 59); color: #2c293b;" /></b><span style="caret-color: rgb(44, 41, 59); color: #2c293b;">Do you worry that you've lost patience for anything longer than a tweet? If so, you're not alone. Digital-age pundits warn that as our appetite for books dwindles, so too do the virtues in which printed, bound objects once trained us: the willpower to focus on a sustained argument, the curiosity to look beyond the day's news, the willingness to be alone.The shelves of the world's great libraries, though, tell a more complicated story. Examining the wear and tear on the books that they contain, English professor Leah Price finds scant evidence that a golden age of reading ever existed. From the dawn of mass literacy to the invention of the paperback, most readers already skimmed and multitasked. Print-era doctors even forbade the very same silent absorption now recommended as a cure for electronic addictions.The evidence that books are dying proves even scarcer. In encounters with librarians, booksellers and activists who are reinventing old ways of reading, Price offers fresh hope to bibliophiles and literature lovers alike.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); color: #212529; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(44, 41, 59); color: #2c293b;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); color: #212529; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(44, 41, 59); color: #2c293b;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); color: #212529; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="https://beltpublishing.com/products/so-you-want-to-publish-a-book" style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #0078d7; font-family: times; font-size: 14.666666984558105px;" title="https://beltpublishing.com/products/so-you-want-to-publish-a-book"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaw80js3u8o4Lb-Gxxi73hu0SnEghr_g50dsD3Wpum7XImRPoTEkTBQhlvROD5qwhbwmyDGQlsWvQOfm20Zx7lHgKF6VeQrIrzTr8j6p3z8d6qNHjoTce2SeCPX_pBOXHaZ4nRJP_J3lv9hAuvP_C9tCEJC9gR7OY2g60mdO-_aGb3DKYHp-zAxEm46fsQ/s2700/SoYouWantToPublishABook.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2700" data-original-width="1800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaw80js3u8o4Lb-Gxxi73hu0SnEghr_g50dsD3Wpum7XImRPoTEkTBQhlvROD5qwhbwmyDGQlsWvQOfm20Zx7lHgKF6VeQrIrzTr8j6p3z8d6qNHjoTce2SeCPX_pBOXHaZ4nRJP_J3lv9hAuvP_C9tCEJC9gR7OY2g60mdO-_aGb3DKYHp-zAxEm46fsQ/s320/SoYouWantToPublishABook.webp" width="213" /></a></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://beltpublishing.com/products/so-you-want-to-publish-a-book" target="_blank">So You Want to Publish a Book?</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: #212121; font-family: times;"> by Anne Trubek</span></h4><p></p><p data-mce-fragment="1" style="box-sizing: inherit; caret-color: rgba(18, 18, 18, 0.75); letter-spacing: 0.6000000238418579px; text-align: left;"><span data-mce-fragment="1" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: times;">This slim but insightful guide offers concrete, witty advice and information to authors, prospective authors, and those curious about the publishing industry’s inner workings. The chapters are chock full of important advice and information, including:</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span color="rgba(18, 18, 18, 0.75)" style="caret-color: rgba(18, 18, 18, 0.75); font-family: times; letter-spacing: 0.6000000238418579px;"> - How advances and royalties <i data-mce-fragment="1" style="box-sizing: inherit;">really work</i> <br /></span><span color="rgba(18, 18, 18, 0.75)" style="caret-color: rgba(18, 18, 18, 0.75); font-family: times; letter-spacing: 0.6000000238418579px;"> - The surprising methods that actually move books off the shelves<br /></span><span color="rgba(18, 18, 18, 0.75)" style="caret-color: rgba(18, 18, 18, 0.75); font-family: times; letter-spacing: 0.6000000238418579px;"> - The art of pitching to agents <br /></span><span color="rgba(18, 18, 18, 0.75)" style="caret-color: rgba(18, 18, 18, 0.75); font-family: times; letter-spacing: 0.6000000238418579px;"> - The differences between Big Five and independent presses<br /></span><span color="rgba(18, 18, 18, 0.75)" style="caret-color: rgba(18, 18, 18, 0.75); font-family: times; letter-spacing: 0.6000000238418579px;"> - The ins and outs of distribution, direct sales, and selling through Amazon.</span></p><span color="rgba(18, 18, 18, 0.75)" style="caret-color: rgba(18, 18, 18, 0.75); font-family: times; letter-spacing: 0.6000000238418579px;"><span data-mce-fragment="1" style="box-sizing: inherit;"></span></span><p data-mce-fragment="1" style="box-sizing: inherit; caret-color: rgba(18, 18, 18, 0.75); letter-spacing: 0.6000000238418579px; text-align: left;"><span data-mce-fragment="1" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: times;">Written by an industry veteran who’s been on both the writing and publishing side, <i data-mce-fragment="1" style="box-sizing: inherit;">So You Want to Publish a Book? </i>is a refreshing, no-nonsense, and transparent guide to how books get made and sold.</span></span></p><p data-mce-fragment="1" style="box-sizing: inherit; caret-color: rgba(18, 18, 18, 0.75); letter-spacing: 0.6000000238418579px; text-align: left;"><span data-mce-fragment="1" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: times;">For readers and writers looking for a straightforward guide for publishing, promoting, and selling their work.</span></span></p><p></p></div>Janahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15393229814968030742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-74323068119095372572013-11-29T18:11:00.001-06:002013-12-02T20:48:39.337-06:00SPEAKING FROM AMONG THE BONES: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley<div><div style="color: rgb(25, 25, 25); font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmctr0ddGdnzgtmM6YcBjHH9ntCaGS3DDkis0-mFIuAFVKwPhyv1iA0iXKN4zO12vVXsD_vNDNoSH_BSHn4E8RrRAIb8VGX_veQ-JTYJQgTaAXWXMPamAvxn0RqW_dcebTAAOYD38Anqe/s640/blogger-image--394177425.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmctr0ddGdnzgtmM6YcBjHH9ntCaGS3DDkis0-mFIuAFVKwPhyv1iA0iXKN4zO12vVXsD_vNDNoSH_BSHn4E8RrRAIb8VGX_veQ-JTYJQgTaAXWXMPamAvxn0RqW_dcebTAAOYD38Anqe/s640/blogger-image--394177425.jpg"></a></div><div style="color: rgb(25, 25, 25); font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div>"When they finally saw the light, I might even become something of a village heroine, with banquets, etc. held in my honor, with after-dinner speeches by Father, the vicar, the bishop, and, yes, perhaps even by Magistrate Ridley-Smith himself, thanking me for my dogged persistence, and so forth.</div><div style="color: rgb(25, 25, 25); font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> I believe Daffy referred to such an extravagant outpouring of praise as an <i>encomium</i>, and I realized that I had not been given an encomium for a very long while."</div></div><div style="color: rgb(25, 25, 25); font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(25, 25, 25); font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">----------</div><span style="color: rgb(25, 25, 25); font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><div><span style="color: rgb(25, 25, 25); font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div>"Neither of us spoke a word and we didn’t need to. We stood there clinging to each other like squids, damp, quivering, and unhappy."</span>Janahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15393229814968030742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-81546334990808697022013-11-29T17:50:00.001-06:002013-11-29T18:16:05.159-06:00DON'T GET TOO COMFORTABLE by David Rakoff<span style="color: rgb(25, 25, 25); font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2UOBv_dXO9zL-P5QTuNoeqTQ6BOUq78Aez0sXq2DVe6_1g6IwhcNp6jGlnp04Wg09tRPe4IT3IsLY6sBFqNkBhNsNzov2UOZW2LnAnzE7Xw6EqTcR-k7lMUaY4eK3hm_xGCsjc6sZr0ZH/s640/blogger-image-1749748376.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2UOBv_dXO9zL-P5QTuNoeqTQ6BOUq78Aez0sXq2DVe6_1g6IwhcNp6jGlnp04Wg09tRPe4IT3IsLY6sBFqNkBhNsNzov2UOZW2LnAnzE7Xw6EqTcR-k7lMUaY4eK3hm_xGCsjc6sZr0ZH/s640/blogger-image-1749748376.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div>"It is not the fault of South Beach that I am a joy-obliterating erotophobe. That it comprises some of my deepest aversions (heat, direct sunlight, and a pervasive sense of fun) while lacking many of my most cherished requirements in a destination (occasional rain, the generally suppressive influence of the superego, and a melancholic populace prone to making monochrome woodcuts of hollow-eyed women sitting disconsolate in shabby rooms with their meager suppers on tin plates before them) is nobody's problem but my own. And it's a problem that I will have to keep to myself this weekend as I work the pool at one of Miami's hiply refurbished art deco hotels—the Hiawatha, let's call it."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div></div></span>Janahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15393229814968030742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-19357177085412170182012-06-11T16:29:00.001-05:002012-06-11T16:30:34.887-05:00Summer Reading Flowchart from Teach.comSo, this is pretty cool
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<a href="http://teach.com/education-technology/summer-reading-flowchart" target="_blank"><img alt="Summer Reading Flowchart" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2196" height="8222" src="http://teach.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Teach.com-IG-Summer-Reading-Flow-Chart-Final-Draft-Not-Max.jpg" title="Summer Reading Flowchart" width="598" /></a>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Via <a href="http://teach.com/" target="_blank">Teach.com</a> and <a href="http://rossieronline.usc.edu/">USC Rossier Online</a></div>Janahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15393229814968030742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-17354679059659994332011-05-05T15:44:00.000-05:002011-05-05T15:44:13.917-05:00I'm gonna sleep with this under my pillow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZZlWosXz3MigZVP-usYACabklLZ7T7LVPLF2Vz9AvDbs0B3tqiqHrIO_MzhdVcxoEtvmG9Tyh0rU8St45gtXSEvZCfD7Ll_mbul_dObBYYFrPf3yroYSC2JWiu2xFGyW9L2sj-bON_G6/s1600/mary_roach.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZZlWosXz3MigZVP-usYACabklLZ7T7LVPLF2Vz9AvDbs0B3tqiqHrIO_MzhdVcxoEtvmG9Tyh0rU8St45gtXSEvZCfD7Ll_mbul_dObBYYFrPf3yroYSC2JWiu2xFGyW9L2sj-bON_G6/s400/mary_roach.JPG" width="328" /></a></div>Lookee! I had a conversation (well, a Twitter conversation) with Mary Roach! I don't have anything else to say about it. Just wanted to make sure that I kept some proof that it happened.Janahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15393229814968030742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-10001756297072485252011-01-02T11:01:00.003-06:002011-01-03T12:09:01.202-06:00So Cold the Winter in Nebraska, I mean the River<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmRiRnCbu23TgfjZj1cF3kS_3ejTTwz8LwR74B9HWRMrassFgySVdTAMn1BpzNXCAx56KYhOGpYUlHkK4d-c1hNeGXYwoMepm4hZVY0vwPixvQh-IyQYUGp8JocxA3cEXYkkUdN4UOvHE/s1600/51nN0yZ1UvL__SS500_.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557636837790818210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmRiRnCbu23TgfjZj1cF3kS_3ejTTwz8LwR74B9HWRMrassFgySVdTAMn1BpzNXCAx56KYhOGpYUlHkK4d-c1hNeGXYwoMepm4hZVY0vwPixvQh-IyQYUGp8JocxA3cEXYkkUdN4UOvHE/s200/51nN0yZ1UvL__SS500_.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<b>Author</b>: Michael Kortya<br />
<b>Title</b>: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/So-Cold-the-River-ebook/dp/B0035IIBUA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1293987631&sr=1-1">So Cold the River</a><br />
<b>Publisher:</b> Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (June 9, 2010) <br />
<b>Format:</b> Kindle Edition <br />
<b>ASIN:</b> B0035IIBUA <br />
<br />
A good twisty story that connects a creepy story from the past with current characters through the paranormal. You will find ESP, possession, and ghosts. The characters are vivid and I liked the main guy a lot. I thought I could tell a bit where things were going, but I liked the trip; there are great descriptions of architecture and setting. There's a nicely drawn older female character. The main guy, a failed movie maker whose marriage is on the rocks, is likeable, too. I thought this was scary enough to be unsettling but not so violent or gross as to be off-putting. A memorable read; I will track down more of this guy's books.beth666annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11063696940811983719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-52697057301144738802010-11-29T10:55:00.005-06:002010-11-30T13:18:45.947-06:00Lee Child, Worth Dying For<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitREI7_eLex7nZoGCGVbbfdN-GnTkGIOQeSAE1xavU89W7q9JNgDNvlp0OephqxYBokR9YzWiffQGDwSpwNzaTMS8fmP-b22yZLPHC19UikaPmorkRBWFdxbmD2T47zduMM3FQHe2ylf2M/s1600/76770529.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545023919271281394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitREI7_eLex7nZoGCGVbbfdN-GnTkGIOQeSAE1xavU89W7q9JNgDNvlp0OephqxYBokR9YzWiffQGDwSpwNzaTMS8fmP-b22yZLPHC19UikaPmorkRBWFdxbmD2T47zduMM3FQHe2ylf2M/s200/76770529.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 132px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<strong>Author:</strong> Lee Child<br />
<strong>Title:</strong> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Worth-Dying-Lee-Child/dp/0385344317/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0">Worth Dying For</a><br />
<strong>Publisher/format:</strong> Delacorte Press, cloth<br />
<strong>ISBN:</strong> 978-0385344319<br />
<br />
I really respect Lee Child for not churning out identical Reacher books each year. This author has taken care to develop his character in interesting ways, and he has also taken him through various psychological twists and turns. The penultimate Reacher book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/61-Hours-Reacher-Novel/dp/0440243696/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291049982&sr=1-1">61 Hours</a>, ended with a cliffhanger that I wasn't expecting; also, it featured a more broken, uncertain Reacher, and fabulous descriptions of a barren South Dakota winter. Child has stayed in the middle of the country for <i>Worth Dying For</i>: here, he places Reacher in a rural, agricultural area of Nebraska--not near the larger cities of Lincoln/Omaha but somewhere in the west (but not, I think, the Sandhills, because the main occupation of the people is farming). <br />
<br />
Child does a great job with the NE landscape, its wideness, starkness, and flatness, and he describes a certain kind of Nebraska woman--older, strong, no-nonsense, modest, conscientious, full of integrity, reserved--perfectly. He describes many of the rest of his Nebraskans as quiet, fairly passive go-along-with-the-flow sorts. (Many Nebraskans do seem this way to others, but I believe that the truth is that once you find the part in the flow that they refuse to go along with [which does, in fact, exist, but which they will not tell you about until you accidentally stumble onto it], they will be shockingly stubborn and unmovable.) Even the Nebraskan evildoers in this book have a certain amount of integrity and civility despite their psychopathic, horrid selves. The culture of civility and refusing to make waves is important in NE, but as I hinted before, not everyone here is as passive as the folks in Reacher's town. <br />
<br />
Also suffering from this passivity, sort of, are the ten Cornhusker (I think ten) football players Reacher beats up at one time or another in the course of the book. This is very amusing in some ways, but these could not have been Blackshirts. Note that Child is careful to call them "Cornhuskers," and that the trademarked name for the team is "Huskers." He did not want to run afoul of UNL/trademarking/etc.etc., I bet (or his publisher did not want him to).<br />
<br />
Anyway, this book is interesting in that it's kind of humorous in an Elmore Leonard sort of a way--criminals and Reacher showing up at the same time and same place without realizing it; comic timing and quick cuts, etc.etc. The nature of the evildoers is kept uncertain until late on. It is very, very horrible what they are doing--which is pretty shocking to the reader because you've been set up, so to speak, by the Elmore Leonard-type timing/humor, and it kind of falls away very quickly into horribleness. There's something of a revenge scene at the end that shocked me a bit in that it has a civilian being Reacher-like. <br />
<br />
Reacher is especially hard and distant and killer-like in this one--scary again, despite the fact that he begins the book injured and presumably psychologically battered. Not much is mentioned about the unresolved cliffhanger from <i>61 Hours</i>; Child is in no hurry to tell us what happened, and when he does, it's almost off-handedly. This I liked.<br />
<br />
Anyway, this was a very satisfactory installment in the Reacher series, and I liked it a lot. My big problem is this: there was no shopping expedition for Reacher. I don't care that there are no stores in the middle of the country. I really, really missed the shopping, and I hope he will get back to it. Those are absolutely my favorite parts of the books.beth666annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11063696940811983719noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-53270158980806474272010-11-11T11:12:00.000-06:002010-11-11T11:12:26.032-06:00The first two books in the bibliophile series by Kate Carlisle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSthcfuxnd5jx-zrJTAxCfwVp9JbtOjVDVZ-cmg7DtFLwkknx_DkU4tDEEu7v1sWUeNuI06MSg4tsvjL4StDZC2Ol27XUxtE9keTuTipyRrcWBGYp-sonSf55YVfoKu1LjiLHqB0aC-FlK/s1600/homicidehc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSthcfuxnd5jx-zrJTAxCfwVp9JbtOjVDVZ-cmg7DtFLwkknx_DkU4tDEEu7v1sWUeNuI06MSg4tsvjL4StDZC2Ol27XUxtE9keTuTipyRrcWBGYp-sonSf55YVfoKu1LjiLHqB0aC-FlK/s200/homicidehc.jpg" width="123" /></a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Homicide-in-Hardcover/Kate-Carlisle/e/9781440687655/?itm=2&USRI=homicide+in+hardcover+bibliophile+series+1">Homicide in Hardcover</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Bibliophile series #1</div><div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">by <a href="http://www.katecarlisle.com/">Kate Carlisle</a></div><div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Ebook (B&N)</div><div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">9781440687655</div><div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Penguin</div><div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 16.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Rating (on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being best)</div><div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Plot: 4</div><div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Characters: 3.5</div><div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Writing: 3.5</div><div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Final: 3.66</div><div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Comments: Extra points were given to the plot category for setting the series in the world of book restoration. This series reminds me of Evanovich's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanie_Plum">Stephanie Plum</a> mystery series. It's pretty goofy, but not quite as over-the-top ridiculous. It helps that the main character is actually good at her job.<br />
<br />
Publisher's description<br />
<blockquote>The streets of San Francisco would be lined with hardcovers if rare book expert Brooklyn Wainwright had her way. And her mentor wouldn’t be lying in a pool of his own blood on the eve of a celebration for his latest book restoration. With his final breath he leaves Brooklyn a cryptic message, and gives her a priceless—and supposedly cursed—copy of Goethe’s Faust for safekeeping. Brooklyn suddenly finds herself accused of murder and theft, thanks to the humorless—but attractive—British security officer who finds her kneeling over the body. Now she has to read the clues left behind by her mentor if she is going to restore justice . . .</blockquote><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikK7GIslqSDj3VEO6a5A244-EK2a5U6kcf7h4o8oIVFIy2jDcFBodeEaPL98V5jZWyICRVsJQHZlOmxHC87_iQOQNw2ns7b0pMPcEpFJ08geHETW8XRMZtPT45GT5o2Jnb6fZrPqq9bVOJ/s1600/bookskill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikK7GIslqSDj3VEO6a5A244-EK2a5U6kcf7h4o8oIVFIy2jDcFBodeEaPL98V5jZWyICRVsJQHZlOmxHC87_iQOQNw2ns7b0pMPcEpFJ08geHETW8XRMZtPT45GT5o2Jnb6fZrPqq9bVOJ/s200/bookskill.jpg" width="123" /></a></div><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/If-Books-Could-Kill/Kate-Carlisle/e/9781101184707/?itm=1&USRI=if+books+could+kill+bibliophile+series+2">If Books Could Kill</a><br />
Bibliophile series #2<br />
by Kate Carlisle<br />
Ebook (B&N)<br />
9781101184707<br />
Penguin<br />
<br />
Rating (on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being best)<br />
Plot: 4<br />
Characters: 3.5<br />
Writing: 3.5<br />
Final: 3.66<br />
<br />
Comments: I'd love to see even more about book restoration. I hope that Carlisle doesn't let that part fade away as result of Brooklyn's improved financial circumstances. I'm finding the number of very attractive men she encounters ridiculous almost to the point of distraction. I think we have enough in there to keep her busy for a while. Please don't add any more.<br />
<br />
Publisher's description<br />
<blockquote>Murder is easy-on paper. Book restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright is attending the world-renowned Book Fair when her ex Kyle shows up with a bombshell. He has an original copy of a scandalous text that could change history and humiliate the beloved British monarchy. When Kyle turns up dead, the police are convinced Brooklyn's the culprit. But with an entire convention of suspects, Brooklyn's conducting her own investigation to find out if the motive for murder was a 200-year-old secret—or something much more personal.</blockquote></div>Janahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15393229814968030742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-34050138437285316402010-11-09T08:00:00.003-06:002010-11-11T11:18:47.896-06:00This is how far behind I am<div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Sadly, I think I'm even missing some.<br />
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</u><br />
<u>Books That Need to be Reviewed</u></div><div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Title (series, if applicable) Author</div><div style="font: 13.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://books.simonandschuster.com/It-Sucked-and-Then-I-Cried/Heather-Armstrong/9781416959144">It Sucked and then I Cried</a> by <a href="http://www.dooce.com/">Heather B. Armstrong</a></li>
<li><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Postmistress/Sarah-Blake/e/9780399156199">The Postmistress</a> by Sarah Blake</li>
<li><a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl/9780307576415.html">The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag</a> (<a href="http://www.flaviadeluce.com/">Flavia de Luce</a>, #2) by <a href="http://www.flaviadeluce.com/view-authors-bio/">Alan Bradley</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780451226150">Homicide in Hardcover</a> (<a href="http://www.katecarlisle.com/index-mystery.php">Bibliophile series</a> #1) by <a href="http://www.katecarlisle.com/kate.php">Kate Carlisle</a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Update: <a href="http://janawillworkforbooks.blogspot.com/2010/11/first-two-books-in-bibliophile-series.html">reviewed here</a></span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780451228918">If Books Could Kill</a> (Bibliophile series #2) by Kate Carlisle <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Update: <a href="http://janawillworkforbooks.blogspot.com/2010/11/first-two-books-in-bibliophile-series.html">reviewed here</a></span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/features/calebcarr/">The Angel of Darkness</a> by <a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/features/calebcarr/carr/frame.html">Caleb Carr</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781401323820-0">Heat Wave</a> (Nikki Heat, #1) by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Castle">Richard Castle</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780312383305">Sizzling Sixteen</a> by <a href="http://www.evanovich.com/">Janet Evanovich</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.tanafrench.com/pagesus/readmore3.htm">Faithful Place</a> by <a href="http://www.tanafrench.com/pagesus/about.htm">Tana French</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/0385517920">The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession</a> by <a href="http://www.davidgrann.com/">David Grann</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/0374134987">Strange Piece of Paradise</a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terri_Jentz">Terri Jentz</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Lit-Mary-Karr/?isbn=9780060596989">Lit: A Memoir</a> by <a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/27468/Mary_Karr/index.aspx">Mary Karr</a></li>
<li><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/My-Fair-Lazy/Jen-Lancaster/e/9780451229861">My Fair Laz: One Reality Television Addict's Attempt to Discover If Not Being a Dumb Ass Is the New Black, or A Culture-up Manifesto</a> by <a href="http://www.jennsylvania.com/">Jen Lancaster</a></li>
<li><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Devil-in-the-White-City/Erik-Larson/e/9780375725609">The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America</a> by <a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=16767">Erik Larson</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.harpercollins.com.au/book/buy.aspx?isbn13=9780007217151">Killing the Shadows</a> by <a href="http://www.valmcdermid.com/">Val McDermid</a></li>
<li><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Still-Midnight/Denise-Mina/e/9780316015639">Still Midnight</a> by <a href="http://www.denisemina.co.uk/">Denise Mina</a></li>
<li><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Her-Fearful-Symmetry/Audrey-Niffenegger/e/9781439165393">Her Fearful Symmetry</a> by <a href="http://audreyniffenegger.com/">Audrey Niffenegger</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780345510976-4">Spooky Little Girl</a> by <a href="http://www.idiotgirls.com/bio.html">Laurie Notaro</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.saraparetsky.com/books/novels/hardball/">Hardball</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V._I._Warshawski">V.I. Warshawski</a> #13) by <a href="http://www.saraparetsky.com/">Sara Paretsky</a></li>
<li><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Body-Work/Sara-Paretsky/e/9780399156748">Body Work</a> (V.I. Warshawski #14) by Sara Paretsky</li>
<li><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Sea-Change/Robert-B-Parker/e/9780399152672">Sea Change</a> (<a href="http://www.robertbparker.net/jesse_stone.asp">Jesse Stone</a> #5) by <a href="http://www.robertbparker.net/">Robert B. Parker</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.robertbparker.net/bookpage.asp?ISBN=0399154043">High Profile</a> (Jesse Stone #6) by Robert B. Parker</li>
<li><a href="http://www.robertbparker.net/bookpage.asp?ISBN=0399154604">Stranger in Paradise</a> (Jesse Stone #7) by Robert B. Parker</li>
<li><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Night-and-Day/Robert-B-Parker/e/9780399155413">Night and Day</a> (Jesse Stone #8) by Robert B. Parker</li>
<li><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Split-Image/Robert-B-Parker/e/9780399156236">Split Image</a> (Jesse Stone #9) by Robert B. Parker</li>
<li><a href="http://www.robertbparker.net/bookpage.asp?ISBN=0399155945">The Professional</a> (<a href="http://www.robertbparker.net/spenser_series.asp">Spenser</a> #37) by Robert B. Parker</li>
<li><a href="http://www.robertbparker.net/bookpage.asp?ISBN=0399153519">Blue Screen</a> (<a href="http://www.robertbparker.net/sunny_randall.asp">Sunny Randall</a> #5) by Robert B. Parker</li>
<li><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Spare-Change/Robert-B-Parker/e/9780425221921">Spare Change</a> (Sunny Randall #6) by Robert B. Parker</li>
<li><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/206-Bones/Kathy-Reichs/e/9781439166239">206 Bones</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperance_Brennan">Temperance Brennan</a> #12) by <a href="http://www.kathyreichs.com/">Kathy Reichs</a></li>
<li><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Spider-Bones/Kathy-Reichs/e/9781439102398">Spider Bones</a> (Temperance Brennan #13) by Kathy Reichs</li>
<li><a href="http://books.simonandschuster.com/Going-in-Circles/Pamela-Ribon/9781416503866">Going in Circles</a> by <a href="http://www.pamie.com/">Pamela Ribon</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.maryroach.net/packing-for-mars.html">Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void</a> by <a href="http://www.maryroach.net/maryroach.html">Mary Roach</a></li>
<li><a href="http://books.simonandschuster.ca/Fly-Away-Home/Jennifer-Weiner/9780743294270">Fly Away Home</a> by <a href="http://www.jenniferweiner.com/theauthor.htm">Jennifer Weiner</a></li>
</ul></div><div><br />
</div>Janahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15393229814968030742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-55067599768832494082010-11-08T08:00:00.001-06:002010-11-08T08:00:07.019-06:00Inklings cartoonist will be in #LNK Wednesday 11/10/10<div style="font: 14.0px 'Times New Roman'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px;"><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/q7KcYVdU_U8?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/q7KcYVdU_U8?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object></div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Jeffrey Koterba was six, he started drawing his first cartoons, painstakingly copying from the Sunday Omaha World Herald’s funny papers and making up his own characters. With a pen and a sheet of white paper, he was able to escape into a clean, expansive, and comfortable refuge from the pandemonium surrounding him. The tiny house Koterba grew up in was full-to-bursting with garage-sale treasures and televisions his father repaired and sold for extra money. A hard-drinking one-time jazz drummer, whose big dreams never seemed to come true, Koterba’s father was subject to violent facial tics, symptoms of Tourettes Syndrome, a condition Jeffrey inherited. From the canyons of broken electronics, the lightning strikes, screaming matches, and discouragements great and small, emerged a young man determined to follow his creative spirit.</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Inklings</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">is an exuberant heart-felt memoir infused with an irresistible optimism all it’s own.</span></blockquote><div style="font: 14.0px 'Times New Roman'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">You can see some of Koterba's favorite cartoons, read his blog, and more at </span></span><a href="http://jeffreykoterba.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">his website</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. He'll be at the </span></span><a href="http://www.bkstr.com/NavigationSearchDisplay/10001-4294967294-10287-1?demoKey=d&navActionType=addNewRefinement"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">University Bookstore</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> on Nov. 10 at 7:00 p.m. for a reading and signing.</span></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px 'Times New Roman'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div>Janahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15393229814968030742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-50867398814281120722010-11-07T12:40:00.000-06:002010-11-07T12:40:23.068-06:00I am a pathetic excuse for a book blogger<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, man. I am shamefully, woefully behind on my reviews. So here's what I'm going to do:</span><br />
<br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">list all of the titles that need reviews in one post</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">link to reviews as I finish and post them</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">vow to post at least one review per week</span></li>
</ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't have a good system for keeping track of what I've read, what I'm currently reading, what needs to be reviewed, and what's been reviewed. I had been managing this via <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/702255">Goodreads</a>: everything on my "currently reading" list had at least been started but still needed a review, regardless of whether I'd finished reading it. That doesn't seem to be working for me any more. I think I'll try simple lists in text documents for a while. Got any better ideas? I would welcome any suggestions you might have.</span></div>Janahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15393229814968030742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-71330052452807882782010-09-29T13:07:00.003-05:002010-09-30T09:12:57.727-05:00Detroit 187 and Homicide: Life on the StreetI was a huge fan of <i>Homicide: Life on the Street</i>. A few reviewers have noted that the new show <i>Detroit 187</i> is very similar to H:LotS. Here are similarites/homages from the pilot alone:<br />
<br />
1. Two guys searching for a shell casing in an alley. Joke is that they find many possibilities. This scene appears in both the first and last ep. of H:LotS.<br />
<br />
2. Partnership with a young guy and an intense, brilliant, difficult-to-get-along-with older one who doesn't even want a partner. In H:LotS, this was Frank Pembleton (black, genius, veteran) and Tim Bayliss (white, innocent, rookie). Frank's a master interrogator in the Box (interview room). One of the hallmarks of some great H:LotS eps was seeing Frank be brillian in the box--and then later also Tim. We see the Michael Imperioli character being . . . interestign in the box in the new show. Also, the innocent newcomer in the Det. show is a black guy; the hardened genius veteran is the white guy, Michael Imperioli. Det. 187 is more about Imperioli so far, and I'm not sure the new partner will be in future eps. We'll have to see. I do know Imperioli has been given a great role and that I really loved his acting in the pilot.<br />
<br />
3. Liutenant Gee, from H:LotS, spoke Italian, was Sicilian. In Det. 187, we have a female sergeant, perhaps also Italian? Have to see more.<br />
<br />
4. The board where a record of cases are kept--red for open, black for solved--played a prominent role in H:Lots; camera often went to it for significant moments. In Det. 187, we have a significant board scene at the end. We'll see if they integrate it further.<br />
<br />
Det. 187 has a long way to go, but mostly I felt very heartened watching it, and excited to think there might be another great police procedural show out there. We'll see if Det. 187 can do "service" to Detroit the way H:LotS did Baltimore; I know the latter was started by Barry Levinson (Bawlmer native) and was guided from a love of the city. We'll see if Det. has similar lineage/potential.<br />
<br />
Fears for the Detroit show: will be too schmaltzy; will shy away from the grittiness. In this show, already, all the cops are basically good looking, probably too much so, and Det., a city in crisis, looked strangely pretty in some scenes. We'll see how it goes.beth666annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11063696940811983719noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-73562856899456800612010-09-29T01:34:00.005-05:002010-09-30T09:13:27.627-05:00Lately<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_vfrP1FEi_lVe5wVWl11HkBTKX8kKk-YEgHMBC-_fTbUB11JGa-j6fgGqJuQb0pGcIG1ua0WXWrvoPSo74gYUeOQXRquHZR7PogsqK3KHLiOUwnIK9D0MS9GDfxrGNeJG1ZpuMjkHLlyQ/s1600/51HE1Eh9KlL__SL500_AA300_.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522226874405258402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_vfrP1FEi_lVe5wVWl11HkBTKX8kKk-YEgHMBC-_fTbUB11JGa-j6fgGqJuQb0pGcIG1ua0WXWrvoPSo74gYUeOQXRquHZR7PogsqK3KHLiOUwnIK9D0MS9GDfxrGNeJG1ZpuMjkHLlyQ/s200/51HE1Eh9KlL__SL500_AA300_.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<b>Author</b>: Lee Child<br />
<b>Narrator</b>: Dick Hill<br />
<b>Title</b>: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/61-Hours-Reacher-Lee-Child/dp/0739365932/ref=sr_1_1_oe_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285742131&sr=1-1">61 Hours</a><br />
<br />
The problem with long-running series is that it's hard to keep them interesting, hard to avoid either becoming so repetitive you're putting people to sleep or so far-fetched it feels as if the characters/plots become unrecognizable. Anyway, Lee Child is a very smart guy and Jack Reacher has remained a very interesting hero, but I had started to feel some series malaise lately. In this book, Child takes Reacher in some unexpected directions psychologically. Maybe it felt too fast or neat in some senses, but I was mostly okay with it, very diverted. Reacher did not sleep with a woman in this book, which I found refreshing; however, he does still go on one of his patented shopping sprees, which I love most dearly. I pray to god in heaven he'll never stop *that.*<br />
<br />
I listened to the audiobook for this one. Dick Hill, who I used to like, has lately become hard for me to take. I've noticed he tends to increase volume and decrease the pace of his reading to signify intensity, and to me in this book, it just felt too heavy. Maybe he's gone batty. Maybe I have. I don't know.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZRdcAuFaJmGxJbM_KsOYt6_CEUGXi6RMRZ3bOBJK2sfm9oCRP-17e0KhRhVhB15Y4cUqMIG49jGEVpW7O_fSfIEI6300gsnoLBuJefzKKdTcVIYF2qymIBcKqnAQlZXlmclG5dvmgn1_D/s1600/51iirf8-v3L__BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522227133710834130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZRdcAuFaJmGxJbM_KsOYt6_CEUGXi6RMRZ3bOBJK2sfm9oCRP-17e0KhRhVhB15Y4cUqMIG49jGEVpW7O_fSfIEI6300gsnoLBuJefzKKdTcVIYF2qymIBcKqnAQlZXlmclG5dvmgn1_D/s200/51iirf8-v3L__BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Author</b>: Sarah Graves<br />
<b>Narrator</b> Lindsay Ellison<br />
<b>Title</b>: Trap Door (Home Repair is Homicide series)<br />
<br />
I started reading this series around book 9, so I can't claim to have an extensive knowledge of it. I'll start with what I like most, which is the local color/detail about Maine (landscape, clothing, accents, food, etc.). I've been listening to the books and I enjoy Lindsay Ellison's Maine accent a lot. I find the heroine, Jacobia Tiptree, tiresome and not all that bright, and she's impulsive, which drives me crazy as a personality trait because it's so inimical to good home repair or good detective work. The supporting characters are more sympathetic and interesting. I do love the realistic plotline involving Jacobia's son Sam, who battles substance abuse; this is handled very well, because he doesn't *get* well at once; he has relapses, and the incredible every-day difficulty of staying clean is portrayed well. Just wished I found the heroine less annoying--more sensitive, more thoughtful--though she has her moments.beth666annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11063696940811983719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-26661831868040308472010-09-23T13:05:00.003-05:002010-09-30T09:13:39.850-05:00The IliadI had no idea:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Patroclus rising beside him stabbed his right jawbone,<br />
ramming the spearhead square between his teeth so hard<br />
he hooked him by that spearhead over the chariot-rail,<br />
hoisted, dragged the Trojan out as an angler perched<br />
on a jutting rock ledge drags some fish from the sea,<br />
some noble catch, with line and glittering bronze hook.<br />
So with the spear Patroclus gaffed him off his car,<br />
his mouth gaping round the glittering point<br />
and flipped him down facefirst,<br />
dead as he fell, his life breath blown away.<br />
And next he caught Erylaus closing, lunging in--<br />
he flung a rock and it struck between his eyes<br />
and the man's whole skull split in his heavy helmet,<br />
down the Trojan slammed on the ground, head-down<br />
and courage-shattering Death engulfed his corpse.</blockquote><br />
<br />
That is seriously vivid and yuck, and yet it's got beautiful images. And think--this war lasted ten years!beth666annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11063696940811983719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-89188774723016642572010-09-10T11:18:00.003-05:002010-09-10T13:29:31.856-05:00Do men really talk like this?From John Sandford, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Moon-Virgil-Flowers-Sandford/dp/0425224139/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284135563&sr=8-1">Dark of the Moon</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>"So here's the woman with the fourth-best ass in the state of Minnesota, right in your hometown, and not a bad set of cupcakes, either, from what I could see . . ."</blockquote>beth666annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11063696940811983719noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-51871082745319130112010-09-06T05:11:00.000-05:002010-09-11T01:50:09.487-05:00The Sociopath Next Door<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitlnCwc50u3DXDaprhPTwhU1jdnrnx3stfYyzQrR6AlXX9AWILk2sdjqXp1zyb7pDsiNU7W9KC2BS-Go-Zr7ZVeYTM7HrWY1xIHSv84k52mfxf3jGDR4saLniiOe1MCZbKJvEvbxTqkeZc/s1600/51bYpSEfPkL__SS500_.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitlnCwc50u3DXDaprhPTwhU1jdnrnx3stfYyzQrR6AlXX9AWILk2sdjqXp1zyb7pDsiNU7W9KC2BS-Go-Zr7ZVeYTM7HrWY1xIHSv84k52mfxf3jGDR4saLniiOe1MCZbKJvEvbxTqkeZc/s200/51bYpSEfPkL__SS500_.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512259882580262322" /></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Title</b>: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Sociopath-Next-Door-ebook/dp/B000FCJXTC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1283422237&sr=1-1">The Sociopath Next Door</a><br /><b>Author</b>: Martha Stout, PhD<br /><b>Publisher</b>: Crown Archetype (February 8, 2005) Kindle Book<br /><b>ASIN</b>: B000FCJXTC <br /><br />This book investigates the ramifications of the fact that one in every hundred people has no conscience. It discusses how sociopathy might have formed from an evolutionary perspective; it outlines/defines the concept of having a conscience and what it might be like not to have one; it gives a few case studies of functioning (or not) sociopaths in society today; it indicates how to detect them in your own life. The text perhaps comes down a bit heavily on the benefits of conscience, love, and morality, but I can see why (esp. if this book is used as a textbook for colleges, which I imagine it possibly is). In the end, it's far better to be burdened by a surfeit of conscience than to lack one altogether.beth666annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11063696940811983719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-5798925249880299412010-09-01T15:25:00.000-05:002010-09-01T15:25:44.789-05:00Laura Lippman on Craig Ferguson's showShe and Craig talk about their "bad urges." I can't wait to get her new book (can't believe I don't already have it). Should I get a print copy or ebook? I'm leaning toward the hardcover. I hope I like the jacket.<br />
<br />
<object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/c4WFBkxNjrI?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/c4WFBkxNjrI?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>Janahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15393229814968030742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-51361693014053120752010-08-27T12:29:00.008-05:002010-08-27T15:30:42.646-05:00True Story, by Michael Finkel<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyTY8wD0lk1EMz9rb9geG5o4ofy-7gsPwkhl6zfES7mn9C2PqJM9Frov5PTBH7rJMRqtbiZAbXIh_aiAex7iuZUc11eVJv-EyigBNzH5NtxkMgr1pFo8UAYC8RFucrFAXosRZTS3i3v4yZ/s1600/51IA05bGP4L__SS500_.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510160893656975970" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyTY8wD0lk1EMz9rb9geG5o4ofy-7gsPwkhl6zfES7mn9C2PqJM9Frov5PTBH7rJMRqtbiZAbXIh_aiAex7iuZUc11eVJv-EyigBNzH5NtxkMgr1pFo8UAYC8RFucrFAXosRZTS3i3v4yZ/s200/51IA05bGP4L__SS500_.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<b>Title</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/True-Story-Murder-Memoir-Culpa/dp/0060580488/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282930312&sr=8-4">True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa</a><br />
<b>Author</b>: Michael Finkel<br />
<b>Publisher:</b> HarperCollins, 2005; HarperPerennial<br />
<b>ISBN</b>: 0-06-058047-X (cloth copy I read, from the library); PB copy available now 978-0060580483 <br />
<br />
<br />
Michael Finkel was a writer for the <i>New York Times</i> magazine until he submitted a story about a main character he'd assembled from a composite of people (and did not tell the magazine that that's what he was doing). He was found out and then lost his job with the magazine.<br />
<br />
Christian Longo was a guy with a wife and three kids; they were devout Jehovah's Witnesses. When he faced financial problems, Longo engaged in a series of crimes (check counterfeiting, theft) that made his life more and more complicated and unhappy--and he ended up murdering his wife and children. Following the murders, he went on the lam to Cancun, Mexico, where he decided to impersonate Michael Finkel. (He didn't know Finkel had lost his job; he was pretending to be a reporter/writer.) When Finkel, newly fired, found out about the story, he decided to write about it and to get to know Longo. <br />
<br />
On some levels, <i>True Story</i> is about the commitment to "going straight" or "telling the truth." Finkel scrupulously establishes that he is verifying every fact he can. For his part, Longo insists (repeatedly, extravagantly, which is a sign in itself) on "absolute truth" in his interactions with Finkel. (We learn that throughout his life, Longo has had several "come clean" moments with his church and family where he promises always to tell the truth from that moment on--even though he never does.) <br />
<br />
Of course both men still end up lying--as do we all (in varying degrees). This is because life is complex; because truth can be complex (often, contradictory emotional truths can exist, each with validity); and because the act of narrating/writing is always on some level going to be kind of a lie (when you put something into narrative, you retell it and reframe it; you exclude things that do not fit, etc.etc.; in so doing, you have altered it; narrative theory graduate school etc. blah). Another thing to consider is that human relationships might not always benefit from statements of unvarnished truth. <br />
<br />
Anyway, the institutions Longo and Finkel are embroiled in--the profession of journalism; religion in the form of the Jehovah's Witness church; the legal system/courts--all devote themselves to establishing absolute truth for the record, whether spiritual or public (and then delivering final judgments such as guilty or innocent; headed to heaven or headed to hell). <i>True Story</i> reveals that these institutions (and the enterprise of storytelling/writing in toto) cannot completely or accurately comprehend the complexity of the situations that the people they are judging must face. <br />
<br />
Longo and Finkel have already been judged in public and received a label: "disgraced" journalist; murderer. The reality of their stories as Finkel presents it in his book is more complicated, less understandable. Moreover, as the book progresses, it becomes even less reliable: throughout the narrative, Finkel obsesses about Longo's tendency to lie, and is warned by many others about being "taken in"; and Finkel himself ends up lying to Longo (though he does confess). We just don't know what the final truth is, absolutely. To make sense of the world, in all our judgements and acts of writing, we must siphon selected items from the overwhelming, unknowable field of reality. Always, something is left out. Always, something is canceled out or repudiated--even though its opposite might also hold true. Sometimes we leave things out because of self-interest or greed, but sometimes it's because of fear or genuine lack of comprehension/scope of vision. Sometime we think we're telling a better version of something even if it isn't strictly true. There's no way, ever, to tell it all.<br />
<br />
In the end, then, this book must of course frustrate, since what it shows us is that the truth of any story, any crime, is ultimately too complex to be sewn up neatly, even though in our courts and moral/ethical decisions we must, nonetheless, make judgments about what we can establish to be true. It's a losing battle, I guess, one that always leaves one feeling unsettled and unfinished. However, on the "upside" (that is one revolting word, no?), that lack of fulfilment is precisely what produces language, narrative, and art, so we must also be glad for it--or at least able to admit to ourselves that it exists, even if it does not bring happy or simple narrative closure.<br />
<br />
<br />
Strengths: weirdness of the two men's relationship as it develops, the fondness that grows between them<br />
<br />
Weaknesses: Finkel could've done more with his own crime here. He "murdered," or at least erased, a real person in his false story; wanted to hear more about his response to that. Also, he tells us that on the day he sees the pix of the Longo's dead family (in Longo's trial), that is the end of their friendship--but he continues to engage with Longo and I'd liked to have seen more reflection on this point.beth666annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11063696940811983719noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-29697118659899842052010-08-02T08:00:00.132-05:002010-08-02T08:00:04.793-05:00Abandoned BooksI guess I'm a bit of a masochist. Writing this post makes me feel horrible—I feel guilty because these books don't deserve to be abandoned and also embarrassed because in the time that I didn't finish <i>The Wordy Shipmates</i> I did manage to read the entire Jesse Stone series. On the other hand, I'm really enjoying putting this post together—I like revisiting my lists of books and thinking about how I feel about each title. (By the way, Beth wrote <a href="http://janawillworkforbooks.blogspot.com/2009/11/books-i-cant-seem-to-finish.html">a similar post</a> a while back.)<br />
<br />
I'm fighting the urge to explain too much but talking about why I didn't finish these makes me feel mean. I hope that you understand that just because I didn't like these doesn't mean you won't. And feel free to let me know how wrong you think I am.<br />
<br />
Here are the books that I've truly abandoned:<br />
<a href="http://www.seldenedwards.com/">The Little Book by Selden Edwards</a>*. I picked it up last week, read a while and it just isn't for me. It didn't grab me or particularly interest me and there are too many other books that I know I want to read. It's also possible that the ridiculously gushy blurbs had an adverse affect (that happens to me sometimes).<br />
<br />
<a href="http://xroads.virginia.edu/%7Ehyper/alcott/lwhp.html">Little Women by Louisa May Alcott</a>. I know, I know. This probably makes me a bad person but I completely lost interest after whatsername died.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shades-Grey-Novel-Jasper-Fforde/dp/0670019631">Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron (Shades of Grey, #1) by Jasper Fforde</a>. I'm still kind of mad about this one. I love Jasper Fforde. I wish he'd keep writing books about books.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.singularity.com/">The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology by Ray Kurzweil</a>. I don't know what I was thinking with this one. Here's the description:<br />
<blockquote>The Singularity is an era in which our intelligence will become increasingly nonbiological and trillions of times more powerful than it is today—the dawning of a new civilization that will enable us to transcend our biological limitations and amplify our creativity. </blockquote>Oh my god so boring. Speculation about the future, no matter how well-supported, is almost never something I want to read about. Note to self: stick to science books by Mary Roach or on a creepy topic (preferably <a href="http://www.maryroach.net/stiff.html">both</a>!).<br />
<br />
<a href="http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781594489990,00.html">The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowel</a>. This one is just temporarily abandoned. I honestly think I'll get back to it, I just need to be in the right mood.<br />
<br />
I haven't "finished" these and I'm not exactly still reading them but I like them and I'll probably dip into them periodically:<br />
<a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Crucial-Conversations/Kerry-Patterson/e/9780071401944">Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High by Kerry Patterson</a><br />
<a href="http://www.squidoo.com/linchpin">Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*This was an unsolicited free advance copy from the publisher. I received it as part of a program where publishers send advances to staff at other publishing houses.</span>Janahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15393229814968030742noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-73698378534982240452010-07-31T10:38:00.000-05:002010-07-31T10:38:46.478-05:00(Mostly) Bookish Links for July 25 - 31, 2010<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3xsLtw62doRTNPttGx4RJm3MmwXHUJwYynLR6mW-ZPj3n3G7vD40COP9aj4al1y7PW6fvPOGJt-aZGt4-3yrI0i_1Pl9raJfQYa_OEl8YW5O_sQi9lalnVXconyL1ex3cxjUjZ9DmIsMI/s1600/cover_PackingMars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3xsLtw62doRTNPttGx4RJm3MmwXHUJwYynLR6mW-ZPj3n3G7vD40COP9aj4al1y7PW6fvPOGJt-aZGt4-3yrI0i_1Pl9raJfQYa_OEl8YW5O_sQi9lalnVXconyL1ex3cxjUjZ9DmIsMI/s200/cover_PackingMars.jpg" width="131" /></a></div><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://crossedgenres.com/simf/2010/07/26/i-know-why-the-vampire-sparkles/">I knew there was a reason those sparkly vampires repulsed me</a> (via <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2010/07/26/i-know-why-the-vampi.html">BoingBoing</a>)</li>
<li>June 30th was <a href="http://thepenguinblog.typepad.com/the_penguin_blog/2010/07/happy-birthday-penguin.html">Penguin's 75th birthday</a>. They've been posting all sorts of <a href="http://thepenguinblog.typepad.com/the_penguin_blog/2010/05/penguins-75th-editor-videos-part-4b.html">good</a> <a href="http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/minisites/penguindecades/index.html">stuff</a> in <a href="http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/competition/0710/75thcomp/index.html">celebration</a>. (<a href="http://thepenguinblog.typepad.com/">The Penguin Blog</a>) </li>
<li>A federal judge ruled that it's <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2010/07/25/federal-judge-says-y.html">ok to break DRM</a> if you are not doing it to infringe on copyright (<a href="http://www.boingboing.net/">BoingBoing</a>)</li>
<li> <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/live">The Book Depository Live</a> lets you watch people all over the world buy books. It's a lot more interesting than I just made it sound. (via <a href="http://www.teleread.com/2010/07/29/someone-in-italy-bought-the-book-depository-live/">TeleRead</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://flavorwire.com/106769/strange-but-true-tattooed-legos">I want this pen</a> (via <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2010/07/27/pen-ad-features-intr.html">BoingBoing</a>)</li>
<li>The <a href="http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/stories/1427">longlist for the Booker Prize</a> was announced. (via <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/awards/man_booker_prize_for_fiction_2010_longlist_announced_168865.asp?c=rss">GalleyCat</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.kk.org/cooltools/the-best-magazi.php">Here's</a> a list of the 100 best magazine articles ever. Makes me sad about David Foster Wallace all over again. (via I can't remember. It was <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2010/07/29/the-100-best-magazin.html">on BoingBoing</a> but I could swear I saw it somewhere else first.)</li>
<li>And now, a book trailer for the new book by the always delightful <a href="http://maryroach.net/">Mary Roach</a> (<a href="http://maryroach.net/packing-for-mars.html">Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void</a>):</li>
</ul><br />
<ul></ul><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ie52BGvaDd0&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ie52BGvaDd0&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>Janahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15393229814968030742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-7001778501490495142010-07-26T08:00:00.017-05:002010-07-26T08:00:03.779-05:00The Passage by Justin Cronin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBPoil_Kk9GxT8zouYqIWKZG0MQibr1ohV5-EQ3Fo7LDlApvxNqn45HnwaG3oiZ2l7CdplmAaj9snlEOyri4G48ODS4jD4wEZ7pG7Mz-6v1YZENtL-9q5Edk17OQvO8BO4Kejz8sXle_fE/s1600/cover_Passage-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBPoil_Kk9GxT8zouYqIWKZG0MQibr1ohV5-EQ3Fo7LDlApvxNqn45HnwaG3oiZ2l7CdplmAaj9snlEOyri4G48ODS4jD4wEZ7pG7Mz-6v1YZENtL-9q5Edk17OQvO8BO4Kejz8sXle_fE/s320/cover_Passage-small.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780345504968">The Passage</a><span id="goog_803311502"></span><span id="goog_803311503"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a><br />
by <a href="http://enterthepassage.com/">Justin Cronin</a><br />
Ebook (B&N)<br />
978-0-345-51686-2<br />
Ballantine Books / Random House<br />
<br />
Rating (on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being best)<br />
Plot: 4.5<br />
Characters: 3.5<br />
Writing: 4<br />
Final: 4<br />
<br />
Comments: I bought this on a whim, and I can't remember which tweet or blog post piqued my interest. I'd seen a lot of both regarding this book, but one in particular pushed me over the edge and got me to buy it. I knew very little about it and I had no idea how long it was. To be honest, I don't know if I would have ended up buying it as a print book. I would have known right off the bat how long it was, and that can sometimes kill a whim. Most distressingly, I didn't know it was the first of a trilogy! I got to the end and thought "Huh. Either I really missed something or that was a pretty vague way to end that." (Obviously, I am a genius.)<br />
<br />
I really enjoyed the story--it was suspenseful and creepy. Way too long, though. I can't believe there are two more whole books coming: on the one hand, like the idea of getting back into this world; on the other, I just think "Ugh. 800 more pages?"<br />
<br />
<br />
See also the review by Bibliolatry: <a href="http://bookworship.blogspot.com/2010/06/long-mostly-interesting-but-very-long.html">The long, mostly interesting (but very long) passage</a>.<br />
<br />
Publisher's description<br />
<blockquote><a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780345504968">“It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.”</a> </blockquote><blockquote><a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780345504968">First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.</a> </blockquote><blockquote><a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780345504968">As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun. </a></blockquote>Janahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15393229814968030742noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-63482878121928904062010-07-24T12:51:00.000-05:002010-07-24T12:51:36.308-05:00Link Roundup for July 18 - 24, 2010Here are the best (mostly book-related) things I saw online this week:<br />
<ul><li><a href="http://faulkner.lib.virginia.edu/">William Faulkner’s lectures have been digitized and are now online</a> (via <a href="http://www.teleread.com/2010/07/19/william-faulkners-lectures-digitized-and-now-online/">TeleRead</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128518102">Cast your vote</a> for the top 100 thrillers ever written (via <a href="http://www.journalscape.com/LauraLippman/2010-07-19-09:47">The Memory Project</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://thepenguinblog.typepad.com/the_penguin_blog/2010/07/they-do-things-differently-over-there-or-a-pictorial-tour-of-new-yorks-bookshops.html">A Pictorial Tour of New York's Bookshops</a> (<a href="http://thepenguinblog.typepad.com/the_penguin_blog/">The Penguin Blog</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/books_9780316089081.htm"><i>The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements</i></a>. <a href="http://bookcoversanonymous.blogspot.com/2010/07/will-stahele-disappearing-spoon.html">Beautiful design</a> and looks like a fascinating read. (via <a href="http://bookcoversanonymous.blogspot.com/">Book Covers Anonymous</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.artisanalpencilsharpening.com/index.html">Artisanal Pencil Sharpening</a>. Great gift idea for your favorite book blogger/nerd/office supply aficionado <hint> (via <a href="http://www.beerorkid.com/2010/07/21/the-number-one-2-pencil-sharpener-starlee-kine-this-american-life/">Beerorkid</a>)</hint></li>
<li>Amazon reports that the <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/amazon/jeff_bezos_kindle_format_has_now_overtaken_the_hardcover_format_168058.asp?c=rss">Kindle format is now outselling hardcovers</a> (via <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/">Galleycat</a>)(see also: <a href="http://www.teleread.com/2010/07/22/whos-on-first-ebooks-hardcovers-paperbacks/">TeleRead</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://booksquare.com/today-in-publishing-a-war/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+booksquare+%28Booksquare%29&utm_content=Google+Reader">Booksquare summarizes the kerfluffle over Andrew Wylie's exclusive deal with Amazon </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.flipboard.com/">FlipBoard</a> is a new kind of social media news reader (via <a href="http://scobleizer.com/2010/07/20/exclusive-first-look-at-revolutionary-social-news-ipad-app-flipboard/">Scobleizer</a>). <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2010/07/22/flipbook-flips-bird.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+boingboing%2FiBag+%28Boing+Boing%29&utm_content=Google+Reader">BoingBoing</a> and <a href="http://gizmodo.com/5594176/is-flipboard-legal">Gizmodo </a>wonder if it's legal. Here's what it looks like:</li>
</ul><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/M7umqKbQ3PA&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/M7umqKbQ3PA&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>Janahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15393229814968030742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-77399326124237175272010-07-20T13:20:00.002-05:002010-07-20T13:40:31.888-05:00Dr. Weil<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlcpt_wq0UqMfho_YQn9tuxauo8f9vtFzuO4xC3_KQjpG3sxGrFhqoVZvi3_q9WRPpFMwxSBm-D096OVGiE4slUJJ-y34U2-5jxejTRVCi1C1rdyCbSszrj02_lPx-FLTkgiuH0hUUlZO9/s1600/37903032.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496049314069227682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlcpt_wq0UqMfho_YQn9tuxauo8f9vtFzuO4xC3_KQjpG3sxGrFhqoVZvi3_q9WRPpFMwxSBm-D096OVGiE4slUJJ-y34U2-5jxejTRVCi1C1rdyCbSszrj02_lPx-FLTkgiuH0hUUlZO9/s200/37903032.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 150px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<b>Title:</b> <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Healthy-Aging/Andrew-Weil/e/9780739315071/?itm=6&USRI=healthy+aging+a+lifelong+guide+to+your+physical">Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Physical and Spiritual Well-Being</a> Unabridged version <br />
<b>Author/Narrator:</b> Andrew Weil, M.D. Read by the author.<br />
<b>Publisher</b>: Books on Tape, 2006<br />
<b>Format</b>: MP3 audiobook (Also available in an abridged version, and in print)<br />
<b>ISBN</b>: 0-7393-1599-4<br />
<br />
You know you've made the big-time as a public health figure when you're known as "Dr. X" (like Dr. Spock)--no first names necessary, thank you very much; it's the inverse, doctorish version of Cher and Madonna, I guess. Because Dr. [Andrew] Weil advocates integrative or holistic health, he is perhaps not yet as widely trusted as Dr. Spock was, but I believe that if it is not yet here, that time is coming.<br />
<br />
The integrative approach to health, as I understand it from reading Weil (and also <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Healing-Mind-Healthy-Woman/Alice-D-Domar/e/9780385318945/?itm=5&USRI=alice+domar">Alice</a> <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Self-Nurture/Alice-D-Domar/e/9780140298468/?itm=6&USRI=alice+domar">Domar's</a> <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Be-Happy-Without-Being-Perfect/Alice-D-Domar/e/9780307406170/?itm=7&USRI=alice+domar">books</a>), views health or well-being as the result of one's status in many areas: physical fitness is important, but so are sprituality, nutrition, exercise, and psychology. For Weil specifically (see link to book at end of post), the goal of being healthy/in optimum health is to gird the immune system, to make it as powerful as possible so that the body can fight disease on its own. This is the best, most effective way to heal. Modern medicine can step in when it is needed, but it's better to need it as seldom as possible. <br />
<br />
Therefore, instead of reflexively reaching for Advil (but doing nothing else) to cure frequent headaches, the integrative approach to health would ask that you instead consider the problem in a wider context--physical, emotional, nutritional, and spiritual--to see if there are ways you can alter your practices in these areas to stave off the headaches to begin with. The goal is to strengthen the body's own defenses overall so the immune system can take care of many problems on its own. I really like the idea of acknoweldging the effects of psychology, spirituality, and interpersonal relationships on health, and it seems logical to focus on strengthening the immune system to forestall problems. <br />
<br />
<br />
In <i>Healthy Aging</i>, Dr. Weil criticizes the excesses/harm caused by the recent antiaging trend (often pseudoscientific) of searching for treatments that deny, reverse, or outright halt the signs of aging; instead, he advocates an integrative approach to growing older that aims at "compressing" morbidity. This basically means living well and then dying fast: having an active old age without significant debilitation until one's last few years (months?), when the end comes. If suffering and major illness are limited for the most part to the end of the lifespan, then one can experience the positive aspects (wisdom, depth, perspective, reflectiveness, etc.) of growing older without being overwhelmed or immobilized by pain or chronic suffering. <br />
<br />
In addition to questioning the usefulness of the desire to halt or eradicate aging entirely, Dr. Weil also discusses the positive aspects of growing older, looking at aging as an enriching, deepening process. He considers the aging of whiskey, wine, and cheese as positive examples. Rot and decay are involved in these processes, to be sure, but they can produce positive results, such as enhanced, complex flavor and depth of taste. Weil wants us to view the effects of human aging in similar fashion. Denial of aging is not useful; nor is pretending that one will not die or ignoring the process and effects of bodily decline that we all experience. To live openly and straightforwardly with the process--physically, spiritually, and emotionally--and accept both the gifts it offers and the costs it exacts is ultimately more rewarding, says Dr. Weil. I agree.<br />
<br />
A note on the audiobook: it's read by Dr. Weil himself. When an author reads his/her own work, it's often illuminating in terms of tone, inflection, interpretation. For me, sadly, Dr. Weil was not the most effective narrator of his own book. He reads as if delivering a paper at an academic conference: rather dry, sometimes hurried, distant, and he pounces on "QUOTE" . . . "END QUOTE." At least he does not say "unquote," as some do. His voice can seem flat at times, a bit monotone, though it is possible to tell when his enthusiasm/intensity level raises. I think this text would've been better served by a professional reader, someone more skilled at using tone/modulation/expressiveness to retain reader interest. To listen to Dr. Weil read a URL aloud is a somewhat unpleasant experience. That said, however, no one's beard (see cover pix) is cuter than Dr. Weil's. <br />
<br />
Weil explains his theory of integrative health and the act of strengthening the immune system in many books; the one I've got is:<br />
<br />
<b>Title</b>: <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?EAN=9780345498021">Eight Weeks to Optimum Health, New edition, expanded and updated</a><br />
<b>Author</b>: <a href="http://drweil.com/">Andrew Weil, M.D.</a><br />
<b>Publisher</b>: Ballantine (orig. 1996; rev. ed. 2006)<br />
<b>Format</b>: Trade paper<br />
<b>ISBN</b>: 978-0-345-49802-1<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK8_qdZNhZPsSfmKQ2R4mXqvDDA6C5SAgDEO0VKxcN2ZlCuyOXNyH3DKs29TyWKJ0pWGMk7okkf0JLjD1Dw43cvNqTFEOqlnk5rUBF5g1AJnafF8fwz-ON01oUq08BR5htGaXPX4ZH_i_b/s1600/44901582.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496049324217199858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK8_qdZNhZPsSfmKQ2R4mXqvDDA6C5SAgDEO0VKxcN2ZlCuyOXNyH3DKs29TyWKJ0pWGMk7okkf0JLjD1Dw43cvNqTFEOqlnk5rUBF5g1AJnafF8fwz-ON01oUq08BR5htGaXPX4ZH_i_b/s200/44901582.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 135px;" /></a><br />
<br />
A final note. It's expensive to be healthy. Organic foods cost more; vitamins can really add up (my own personal vitamin recommendation over at <a href="http://drweil.com/">Dr. Weil's site</a> would cost over a hundred dollars a month); and it is time consuming to prepare whole foods. Is this an approach to eating that can be adopted by busy people without much money? Will it appeal to more than the worried wealthy (or merely well-off) well? I hope so.beth666annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11063696940811983719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-62946753365089548372010-07-17T11:02:00.000-05:002010-07-17T11:02:54.164-05:00Link Roundup for July 11 - 17, 2010Here are the best (mostly book-related) things I saw on the interwebs this week: <br />
<ul><li> <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23bookstorebingo">#bookstorebingo on Twitter</a>. If you've ever worked in a bookstore you'll be able to relate. For example, @Watermarkbooks "had a summer-long Jane Austen bookclub. Had someone ask when she would be there."</li>
<li><a href="http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/university_of_nebraska_pr/2010/07/off-the-shelf-palmento-a-sicilian-wine-odyssey-by-robert-v-camuto.html">Read an excerpt</a> of University of Nebraska Press's <i>Palmento: A Sicilian Wine Odyssey</i> by Robert V. Camuto (<a href="http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/">UNP blog</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.fsgworkinprogress.com/2010/07/editor-author-jonathan-galassi-and-jeffrey-eugenides/">Jeffrey Eugenides talks with his editor</a> at Farrar, Strauss and Giroux about his next book (<a href="http://www.fsgworkinprogress.com/">Work in Progress</a>)</li>
<li>Video games inspired by literature: <a href="http://www.iplay.com/deluxe.aspx?code=119136157&Refid=Gatsby_PR">The Great Gatsby video game</a> (via <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/">GalleyCat</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.blackplasticglasses.com/2010/07/15/ebook-royalties/">Ebooks are not subsidiary rights</a> (<a href="http://www.blackplasticglasses.com/">Black Plastic Glasses</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.msichicago.org/matm/the-details">A contest that will pick one person to live at Chicago's Museum of Science & Industry for a month</a> (via <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2010/07/15/contest-will-pick-on.html">BoingBoing</a>)</li>
<li>Study like a scholar, scholar (via <a href="http://www.teleread.com/2010/07/16/best-library-video-ever/">TeleRead</a>)</li>
</ul><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2ArIj236UHs&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2ArIj236UHs&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>Janahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15393229814968030742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1097484473237399802.post-26287855428309074382010-07-14T12:58:00.006-05:002010-07-14T15:31:12.528-05:00Cozies and Louise Penny's Three Pines series<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-2cF0wnlvprL1ibqOgiaovOeFcF-rgg8uq8zxMDuXc1LqRXgs_oDJ73BUoZeJf95Etvy-ncI4d6QyzSlA2sW6t0xUgKKOrxCX9kpcZ9vMR8kZZgUVDN7s9xJql5-BlvvhP6CZRB-PZYZK/s1600/12218699.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493832568834349378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-2cF0wnlvprL1ibqOgiaovOeFcF-rgg8uq8zxMDuXc1LqRXgs_oDJ73BUoZeJf95Etvy-ncI4d6QyzSlA2sW6t0xUgKKOrxCX9kpcZ9vMR8kZZgUVDN7s9xJql5-BlvvhP6CZRB-PZYZK/s200/12218699.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 114px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi485_a2xhpCKckUOM8KSqusv2RqtFMwQWqaxZIPJMJBTQsSmC0uJik_7QHOuD3Ny7AL_LDyP8GxnONuEZLNMQpZxy12w2_w2Qp83ANtawwTlCxCPkVu2dXkfTdqZlTkb9l71Z0ccRcHd-q/s1600/29379676.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493832572582065218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi485_a2xhpCKckUOM8KSqusv2RqtFMwQWqaxZIPJMJBTQsSmC0uJik_7QHOuD3Ny7AL_LDyP8GxnONuEZLNMQpZxy12w2_w2Qp83ANtawwTlCxCPkVu2dXkfTdqZlTkb9l71Z0ccRcHd-q/s200/29379676.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 142px;" /></a><br />
<b>Author</b>: <a href="http://www.louisepenny.com/">Louise Penny</a><br />
<b>Titles</b>: <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Still-Life/Louise-Penny/e/9780312948559/?itm=1&USRI=still+life">Still Life</a> (Mass-market paperback)<br />
and<br />
<a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/A-Rule-Against-Murder/Louise-Penny/e/9781433251306/?pwb=2">A Rule against Murder</a> (Audiobook, read by Ralph Cosham)<br />
<b>ISBNs</b>: <i>Still Life</i>: 9780312948559; <i>Rule against Murder</i>: 9781433251306<br />
<b>Publishers</b>: St. Martin's (2007); Blackstone Audio (2009)<br />
<br />
Detective: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, at the Sûrété du Quebec<br />
Setting: Three Pines, a fictional village in Quebec<br />
Genre: Cozy but with psychological complexity that is rewarding. Series seems to focus on artists and the act of creation; generational miscues and attempts to communicate; group dynamics; psychological growth or entrapment<br />
<br />
I'm confused by the "cozy" genre of mysteries. I guess they're supposed to make you feel cozy and happy . . . about murder? About not being murdered? Generally, they seem to produce "feel-good" murder stories. At their worst, they tend to kill off threats/scapegoats (not "nice" people) and preserve the strength of the community through the ultimate expulsion. On the positive side, cozies do not intend to glorify violence or crime; they show it as a tragedy and chart the subtle ways murder can affect a community and the psychological dynamics within it. <br />
<br />
The cozies I've read feature close-knit groups of people who happen to live in places where many murders occur. That's where the genre gets a bit dicey for me. If these are such great places, why do so many people die in them? I am reminded of the TV show <i>Murder, She Wrote</i>. Why weren't people shunning Jessica Fletcher or running like hell from her? Why wasn't she banished from Cabot Cove? Nothing good happened while she was around.<br />
<br />
In more seriousness, it is a worthwhile project to think about how crime affects a community, and in this, cozies excel. Often, mystery novels forget to trace the longstanding, painful effects of violent crime: how families/friends of victims, suspects, the police, and so forth all cope with the fallout. If some of the cozies I've read tend to idealize community ties and affluence, they also provide well-drawn and interesting characters and seem more psychologically astute than the standard plot-driven whodunnit.<br />
<br />
Louise Penny's Armand Gamache series features a great main character and an interesting community in Quebec. I have learned much about the English/Quebecois relationship in Canada from the two books I've read. Penny is a great plotter and her mysteries have interesting twists and turns. She makes you feel exasperated and fond of her characters on alternating pages, and she does not idealize them. They are flawed and yet still likable. If these books tend toward a certain worship of Gamache, I have to sympathize, because he truly is a great character. Sometimes the denizens of Three Pines are a bit too talented, too progressive, too witty, too sensitive and artistic to be believable, but at the same time, the place seems appealing as well. Gamache is an outsider in a sense to the community, which is an important, useful device because this way readers, like him, can evaluate the positive and negatives in the community. I've found the plots very interesting and engaging; Penny is a good storyteller and does a great job of creating tension. The two books in the Three Pines series I've read, the first and fourth, are very interesting, and I'm going to keep reading the series. Louise Penny is a great find for me--I love character-driven mysteries, and hers are very engaging.beth666annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11063696940811983719noreply@blogger.com0