When Bad Things Happen to Good Books

August 19, 2008 at 4:09 pm | In Books, LIfe, Reading | 10 Comments
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A while back, the Tuesday Thingers blogged about book swapping. In my post, I specifically mentioned lending my copy of Aberrations by Penelope Przekop to a friend of mine named Marjorie, and that when I lend a book, I do so being okay with the fact that it may come back to me damaged or not at all. As it turns out, that was a prescient post. Marjorie took this book with her on a business trip. As with her other previous trips, she writes up really fun stories about her time away and sends them out to all of us. Here is an excerpt from this trip that directly relates back to my book:

I guess I’ve passed the point where I get carded, even occasionally and when in soft lighting. That’s okay though, because I get to remember watching Wonder Woman and Simon & Simon. And that’s Important.

A band is about to start. I think the chances of this being music I would actually enjoy are very slim. Especially given the crowd. They all seem to be middle-aged work friends with their work outfits still on. The conversations around me involve:

• Teenaged children
• Wine
• Email
• Wraps (whether wraps as in food or clothes, I can’t tell)
• Huckleberries (I swear to god, this was a full half-hour discussion)

I’m clearly the best-dressed person here. I’m wearing a shirt with puffed short sleeves, thin navy stripes and a white collar and cuffs. My jeans are very dark-washed and are long and narrow at the ends, and I’m wearing navy round-toed pumps.

I ordered salmon on a bed of arugula with a bright red chili sauce on top. I finished the lobotomy book and am reading a book I borrowed from my friend, called “Aberrations”.
Oh goodness, this lady that is about to play the piano has on a bizarre black velvet outfit with matching headband and frizzy hair. I’m having serious doubts about what this music will be. Turns out it’s classic jazz, so I decide to stay.

OH F*** BEE BEE BEE BEE BEE!

A bee started bonsai diving at my food and my borrowed book flew up in the air and came down on my salmon, splashing my splendid shirt in the process. I finally managed to trap it in a glass of water with a saucer over it, but it wasn’t soon enough to spare my friend’s book.
Oh man. I hope she’s not pissed, because it’s pretty royally f***** up with bee sauce.

I only wish that I had a video of Marjorie telling me this story in person. She is a wonderful story teller and was probably a renowned tribal story teller in a previous life. I almost peed myself when she told me that her significant other said, “Uh, I think you owe Jennifer a new book.” Not at all. She really loved Przekop’s novel and that’s the most important thing to me. Now I have another story to go along with the book. That’s worth much more to me than the ARC. I’ll happily buy a brand new copy of Aberrations, but I doubt I’ll ever be able to look at the book without thinking about bee sauce.

Do you have any funny stories about book lending gone bad or has something bad ever happened to a copy of a book you borrowed from someone else? I’d love to hear your stories.

Tuesday Thingers ~ LT Vs RL

August 19, 2008 at 6:35 am | In LIfe | 10 Comments
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Today’s question: LT and RL (real life)- do you have friends in real life that you met through LibraryThing? Have you attended any LT meet-ups in your area? Would you be open to attending meet-ups or is LT strictly an online thing for you?

I have not met anyone that I’ve become friends with on LibraryThing in real life, although I would be happy to meet each of them. The downside of living in a small town is that there aren’t any LT meet ups. I do have a pretty successful history with online meetings, though. Back in 1994, I spent time chatting on a talker called Dreamscape. My nickname was ZenLauda. One day, through a conversation I started about Michael Stipe, I started talking with HoneyPoison. We met and fell in love. I moved from Michigan to Virginia to attend graduate school and to see if our relationship was just something that felt right when we visited each other. In October, we will have been married for 11 years, with two beautiful daughters to show for it. Not too shabby if you ask me. :)

How about you? Have you ever met anyone IRL who you met online? How did it work out?

The Poll’s Closed

August 18, 2008 at 11:19 am | In Books | 5 Comments
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The results are in!

After a really tight race, but perhaps not as tight as the Men’s 4 X 100 relay last week, Moving Day is September 3rd won Literate Housewife’s first Creative TBR Photo Contest!  This photo was submitted by:

Lee Anne

Congratulations!  I will be sending you your $15 Amazon gift card via email very soon.

I would also like to thank everyone who participated by sending in photos and voting.  This whole experience was a lot of fun.  This was a lot of fun and it will have to be repeated in one form or another every year.

Save the Date ~ September 8

August 18, 2008 at 8:00 am | In Books, LIfe, Reading | No Comments
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It is a great honor and privilege to be offered a slot in TLC Book Tour’s first tour featuring Kathleen McCleary’s novel House and Home. TLC Book Tours was started by two the nicest bloggers out there, Lisa from Books on the Brain and Trish from Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’? My copy of the novel arrived last week and I was so excited. It looks and feels so refreshing and relaxing. It’s my next book and I can’t wait get started.

My date on the tour is September 8, so bookmark this site and come back for my review and other fun tour-related stuff. You never know when you might find a chocolate on your pillow when you come to visit Literate Housewife. But don’t just stop on my date. I’m sure that there will be a lot of happening to make you feel at home at each stop along the way. Here is the full schedule:

Wednesday, September 3rd: Hooked on Houses
Friday, September 5th: It’s All About Books
Monday, September 8th: The Literate Housewife
Wednesday, September 10th: Books and Cooks
Friday, September 12th: Breaking the Spine
Monday, September 15th: She Is Too Fond Of Books
Wednesday, September 17th: Caribousmom
Thursday, September 18th: Age 30 - A Year of Books
Monday, September 22nd: Booking Mama
Wednesday, September 24th: The Inside Cover
Friday, September 26th: In the Shadow of Mt. TBR
Monday, September 29th: Displaced Beach Bums

I look forward to seeing you here. I’ll even be dusting and cleaning the bathrooms just for you.

The Sunday Salon

August 17, 2008 at 3:08 pm | In Books, LIfe, Reading | 15 Comments
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Well, the theme for this week was getting caught in someone else’s hell.

First, Melmoth the Wanderer. I gave this book a good college try. I swear it. I read it as often as possible and found parts of it interesting. I got about 275 pages in and I just couldn’t take it any more. After reading through 100 or so pages about a Spanish aristocrat’s struggle to get out of a Jesuit convent only to find him in front of the inquisition I threw in the towel. Although he hadn’t yet sold his soul to the devil, I was in hell as a reader.

I have always thought of myself as someone who enjoyed Gothic fiction. I did a little research on Melmoth and discovered a couple of things I hadn’t known before:

1. Anti-Catholicism is a common theme in Gothic fiction. That was most definitely true of Melmoth. I don’t believe I’ve read anything else that comes near the same level.

2. The form of Gothic fiction I really like is classified as Victorian Gothic. That’s where Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charlotte Bronte, and Daphne Du Maurrier.

I do feel bad for not completing the book, but I did my best and will post my review within the required 6 weeks time line.

Second, the experience of being one of the venues chosen by an author to continue the family feud that I chronicled on Friday. Little did I know that when I agreed to read and review the book that the author also thought I wanted to enter in to that family’s personal hell. Thankfully for me, all’s well that ends well. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for the surviving children.

Although the author in the above mentioned situation did not attack my review or my blog directly, I was accused of not having a life this afternoon by another commenter who apparently didn’t like my post about Entertainment Weekly’s review of The Gargoyle:

Why the hell do you care if it got a bad a review? Did you expect universal praise, a shower of roses, and a swarm of congratulations?

My God, find something to do with yourself besides prowling people’s opinions.

My first thought was that she must have been prowling around for other people’s opinions when she happened upon my post in the first place - but I don’t want to be equally rude in return. Outside of that, I’m just not sure how to handle this one. The research I did on the name and IP address left by that reader points back to a Canadian author I’ve never heard of before, but I can’t be certain that is who she is. As far as my response, my wonderful husband pointed out pointed out that reviews printed by major publications carry a lot of weight. I just wanted to counter that review because I loved that book so much. Because I regularly read all of the blogs that I listed in that post, I didn’t have to “prowl” for them. I already knew where to find them when I needed them. Then again, why should I have to defend myself at all? It’s freedom of speech, baby. I don’t need universal praise, a shower of roses, or a swarm of congratulations to prompt me to write about anything.

I know that I am not alone when it comes to receiving uglies left behind by readers. How have you handled those types of comments? Do you respond at all? Do you defend your writing and opinions? Or do you do something like Danny suggested and simply say: “Thank you for your gentle and constructive criticism.”?

So, that’s another week for the record books. On the fun side of life, the Creative TBR Photo Contest is in full swing!  There’s still time to vote.  Check out my sidebar for more details.  I’m also looking forward to taking Thursday off to be with Emma as she attends her kindergarten orientation. I’m going to take her to a nail salon afterwards to make her feel even more like a princess. It should be a fun day. :) I’ve also started reading The Last Queen by C. W. Gortner. If the first 25 pages are any indication, I’m absolutely going to love this book - and reading a good book (along with some Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough ice cream) is the perfect cure for anything that ails me. ;)

I hope you all have a great week! I’ll be “prowling around” tonight after the kids go to bed to see what else is going on in the Sunday Salon.

Book Blogger Appreciation Week

August 16, 2008 at 5:42 pm | In Books | 1 Comment
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Amy at My Friend Amy came up with a brilliant idea - let’s all celebrate and show our appreciation for book blogs!  She’s leading the challenge for Book Blogger Appreciation Week, which will be held the week of September 15-19.  This is going to be a wonderful week!  Continue on for more details…

Book Bloggers: You work hard. You read books, you write reviews, you maintain relationships with your readers, publicists, and authors. You are constantly running to the post office to mail your giveaways and participating in carnivals to help boost traffic. You sometimes want to faint when you see the size of your TBR pile, but faithfully you read. And you do it because you love it. Book blogging is for most a hobby. But it’s a hobby that takes a lot of work and time. It’s a labor of love.

I’ve been blogging for three years but only really got into book blogging in the last year. I have found, without a doubt, that book bloggers are the kindest, most open minded, and supportive group of bloggers on the internet. With book blogging, it’s about community and a love for the written word.

The Readers: We love you! You don’t have a blog, but you read our reviews and share your thoughts with us. You enter our giveaways and click on our Amazon associates link. We do this for you and appreciate your readership. We hope you’ll join in the fun and festivities of BBAW! (we’ll have a special contest just for you!)

Book Blogger Appreciation Week: Acknowledging the hard work of book bloggers and their growing impact on book marketing and their essential contribution to book buzz in general, I am excited to announce the first Book Blogger Appreciation Week. Think of it as a retreat for book bloggers and a chance for us to totally nerd out over books together. And of course, shower each other with love and appreciation.

Register: In order to experience the maximum impact of the week, I invite you to register your participation (just like a retreat)! To register, just send an email to bookbloggerappreciationweekATgmailDOTcom with your blog url and what you consider your niche…i.e, general book blog, classics blog, personal blog with a healthy dose of books, YA books blog, etc. Then, add one of the two buttons at the bottom of this post to your sidebar. If you are a reader (no blog) just send an email announcing your plans to follow along.
Why bother? If you register, you will be added to a book blog directory which will exist long after this week is over. Additionally, you will receive one raffle entry into the daily giveaways during BBAW here at My Friend Amy.

Awards: Oh yes, there will be awards. The Oscars of Book Blogging. :) Nominations start next week.

Spread the Word: If you are excited about this idea like I am and the other book bloggers who are helping, please consider writing a post on your blog announcing this event and inviting other book bloggers and readers to join.

Help Wanted: If you have a talent for designing buttons (like those below) and would like to donate some of your time and skill to me, please email me personally at mypalamyATgmailDOTcom

#94 ~ Castaway Kid

August 16, 2008 at 12:38 pm | In Books, Family, LIfe, Reading, Religion | 1 Comment
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Castaway Kid: One Man’s Search for Hope and Home by R.B. Mitchell

In Castaway Kid, R.B. Mitchell revisits his childhood spent in an orphanage just outside of Chicago and the impact that had on his life. He is the only child of two parents who were very mentally ill. His father incapacitated himself during a suicide attempt and his mother spent most of her adulthood in and out of mental hospitals. Only his maternal grandmother Gigi brought any stability to his life. It was her weekly visits that provided him with the love he would ultimately need to survive inside the orphanage and to choose faith and hope over despair as he grew to adulthood.

It was heartbreaking to read about Mitchell’s experiences with his mother and the orphanage where she left him at the age of three. At such a young age, he had no concept of how sick she was and he blamed himself for being left alone. His kind housemother did what she could to comfort him and explain that his situation wasn’t his fault, but with so many other young boys to care for, she didn’t have all of the time and energy Robby needed. Gigi visited him weekly, but was unable to care for him physically or financially. Those visits were the bright spot in Robby’s week, but when she left him back at the orphanage it was like being abandoned all over again. Nothing good ever happened when his mother showed up, but Gigi tried her best to foster love between them. How it must have pained Gigi to watch the decline of her only daughter while being unable to raise her only grandchild as she would have liked.

Despite his circumstances, Robby is a resilient young boy who doesn’t want his circumstances to dictate how his life ends up. Once he learns that there is a scholarship to a college in North Carolina for which he is eligible through his father’s family, he starts taking odd jobs and weekend work to save the money he would need when he was on his own. His hard work earned him jobs that weren’t usually open to boys from the home. He also took it upon himself to invest his savings. This isn’t to say that his adolescence was smooth sailing. His anger, alienation, and feelings of inferiority would have led him down the wrong path had he not had this other side of him that wanted to rise above. His story is proof that nothing is impossible if you put your mind and prayer to it.

Even with a growing faith life, Rob continued to difficulty with relationships, especially with women. He realized that despite his loving grandmother, he had very little experience to draw upon when it came to romantic attachments. His fear that he would develop mental problems like his parents or that his girlfriends may turn out like his mother haunted him into adulthood. It wasn’t until he met the woman who was to become his wife that he opened his heart fully for the first time. Before that could fully happen, however, he had to learn to forgive his parents and learn to let go. It was a pleasure to experience that with him. She, like his grandmother before her, brought out the best in him and taught him how to trust.

It has been a long time since a book moved me to tears, but as I was reading the last pages of this book, I couldn’t hold them back. Some of the best and most inspiring stories come out of deeper personal pain. This story was well paced and well thought out. The only aspect that didn’t work well for me was the internal dialog and personal prayers. Those portions felt like they were often saying what was obvious from the context. I was able to skip over them without losing the story or its meaning. At its best, this memoir is a profoundly human story of the power of hope, love, and forgiveness. There is a reason for suffering if only you allow yourself to see it. This is an important message in such a cynical and sarcastic world.

*******

To buy this book, click here.

Book Bloggers Beware ~ An Update

August 15, 2008 at 3:42 pm | In LIfe | 6 Comments

After writing this post, I was personally contacted by Rusty Shelton, the Managing Director of Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists.  He expressed his sincere apologies.  It was upsetting for him to find out about what was going on, but he was glad to find out.  Now that he knows, he can take care of the situation.

One thing that I want to clarify from my original post is that I do not hold Phenix & Phenix responsible for what happened.  There is no way they could have foreseen this?  I’ve had plenty of great experiences working with them and am looking forward to more in the future.  I was warning my fellow book bloggers about the book and its authors, not the publicist. ;)

I want to thank each and every one of you for your suggestions and your thoughts.  I will be reposting the review and disallowing the comments.  erisian was exactly right about that and thanks to my beloved husband, I now know how to make that happen.  Another special thanks to Johnny for letting me know that the name of the image included the name of the book.  I really appreciate that he brought that to my attention.

Here’s hoping that this will never happen to another book blogger.

Book Bloggers Beware

August 15, 2008 at 11:54 am | In Books, LIfe, Reading | 25 Comments
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I was contacted by Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists earlier this year to see if I would be interested in reading and reviewing a book. I won’t mention the name of that book here because I don’t want it to be picked up by search engines. Here is a picture of the cover so you know which book I’m talking about:

I read this book and reviewed it. It was awful, but I tried to be as fair as possible. Over the past week, I started receiving comments from people involved with this family that had absolutely nothing to do with my review. The first comment was from someone speaking out for the mother. I was a little concerned about it, but ultimately didn’t do anything because it did offer the other side of the story. It was after that that things started going down hill.

The co-author and publisher of the book replied back to the initial commenter with a 1,550 word response, which started a volley of vitriol between the two sides. I started deleting these comments as soon as they were posted. Once I started doing that, spam-like comments from people using the first names of both authors starting pouring in. As a result, I unpublished my review of this book yesterday afternoon. If you are interested in my review of this book, I still have it listed on LibraryThing. It wasn’t worth the effort required to monitor the comments. Within hours of taking that review off-line I started getting emails from people I do not know asking me why that post is no longer available on my blog. I will not be replying to those emails.

I cannot begin to tell you how much I regret ever agreeing to read and review this book. Not only did I not enjoy the book, but now I’m starting to feel a little harassed as a result. I do not in any way want to be a part of this family feud. If you are contacted about reviewing this book, I strongly suggest you decline the offer. If you’ve already agreed to read and review it, I would strongly suggest not posting your review. I don’t want this to happen to anyone else. I will be contacting Phenix & Phenix to let them know what their clients are doing. I’ve now learned my lesson about reading and reviewing self-published books.

Creative TBR Photo Contest Now Open!

August 14, 2008 at 12:00 am | In Books | 14 Comments
The photo that started it all

The photo that started it all

My lack of inspiration inspired Lisa Roe to write a guest post about trying to think about TBRs in a new way.  The photo she included in her post inspired me to hold this contest. In response, 13 photos were submitted. Each with their own unique look at TBRs. You can find them on my Creative TBR Photo Gallery page.

I think they’re all wonderful, so I’m going to decide which is the most inspiring photo. After looking at all of the pictures, use the poll below to place your vote. The poll closes at noon EST on August 18. The photo with the most votes at the close wins a $15 Amazon gift card.

Let the voting begin!

….

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