Booking Through Thursday: Honesty

This week’s BTT topic:

Do you think reviewers are obligated to put up a good review of a book, even if they don’t like it? Have we come to a point where reviewers *need* to put up disclaimers to (hopefully) save themselves from being harassed by unhappy authors who get negative reviews?

Interesting topic this week. Well, first of all – I think if you’re doing book reviews (or reviews of any kind of product) and putting them out there in cyberspace for the public to read, you really should be honest. So if you think a book is not worth reading, you should say that. You owe that to the people taking time to read your writing.

On the other hand, I don’t think you have to be nasty or derisive or so brutally blunt that you hurt feelings or inspire wrath. It’s perfectly possible to say that you didn’t particularly like a book without unnecessary sarcasm or ranting. Most writers (not all, I realize – but most) are willing to hear a little criticism of their work as long as it’s of the “constructive” variety, and as long as they think the critic has taken the work seriously and is really expressing a honest opinion.

Of course, I haven’t had that much experience of author reactions. I’ve only heard from one author about the review I did of his work, and that was a very nice, courteous little note thanking me for my “candid” review (I had written that overall I liked the book, but there were a few things that bothered me and I said so). I’ve heard tales of authors attacking book reviewers (in print – not physically – so far, anyway) who write negative reviews, but fortunately haven’t had to deal with that myself yet. And I’m not sure what sort of “disclaimer” you could use to keep a really disgruntled author from striking back. I suppose if it happened to me, I’d just ignore it unless it got really ugly.

Personally, I rarely finish a book that I really hate. If I’m having to force myself to read a book by the halfway point, it usually gets abandoned. That’s one of the reasons I’ve cut way back on requesting or accepting ARCs. I love getting those free books, but basically I just want to read for pleasure. And that means I’m pretty selective in the titles I choose. And I suppose it also means I’m not likely to be posting any totally negative reviews. But don’t you think life is just too short to waste a lot of time reading books you don’t like? After all, there are an awful lot of really good books out there, calling my name.

But I’m going to be very interested to read what others have to say about this topic. Have you ever tangled with an author over a review you’ve written? And how did you handle it? And are you willing to name names? And if you’re an author, how do you handle the frustration of reading those negative reviews? As I said – a really interesting topic.

[The above article is cross-posted on my blog at Blogspot.]

Booking Through Thursday: Presents!

This week’s BTT topic:

What, if any, memorable or special book have you ever gotten as a present? Birthday or otherwise. What made it so notable? The person who gave it? The book itself? The “gift aura?”

First of all, Happy Birthday, Deb. And many more. Hope you get lots of good books as gifts!

Wow, this week’s BTT turned out to be a real walk down the well-known memory lane for me. I really hadn’t intended to spend so much time on it. But once I started thinking about the question and looking at old books, I just got completely carried away.

Dontcha love it when that happens?

At first I was tempted just to say I don’t get books as gifts, and let it go at that. Which would have been mostly true – my friends and family really aren’t givers-of-books. Not into that. They might give me a gift card from a bookstore. And that’s fine – they’re perfectly lovely folks and have many other wonderful traits and endearing habits. But that means I mostly buy my own books. And it also means I had to go back pretty far into the distant past (think Early Pleistocene) to come up with books I received as gifts.

The first one that came to mind is my copy (well, one of my copies) of J.D. Salinger’s Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour An Introduction. It was given to me by my husband-to-be on my 18th birthday, and it has a really nice little personal inscription in the back (“. . . on the first day of your eighteenth year. . .” – nowadays, M is usually quick to point out that it was actually the first day of my nineteenth year, but that doesn’t make it any less sweet). We were both devout Salinger enthusiasts at the time, and I think M fancied himself a sort of working-class, slightly older version of Holden Caulfield. Fortunately, he grew out of that rather quickly. (I always saw him as more of a George Harrison type, myself.)

I think that’s the only book gift I’ve received as an adult that really made a deep impression on me. Loved the stories, loved the gift, loved the gift-giver. Loved being eighteen.

After that, I had to reach pretty far back into my childhood to come up with gift books that were anywhere near as memorable. But I recall receiving as Christmas presents three storybooks that I always loved and all of which I still have. In fact, I may have gotten them all at the same time – the publication dates are pretty close together. And they’re all dated within just a few years of my birth date, so I must have been really little when I received them. They’re all those oversized, beautifully illustrated storybooks they used to do for kids back in the late 1940s and early 50s.

One of them is The Bumper Book by Watty Piper with illustrations by Eulalie, which I think is still being published today, or being published again. Seems to me I’ve seen some recent editions listed on eBay. It’s a gorgeous book with lots of classic children’s tales and verses – “Wynken, Blynken and Nod,” “The Owl and the Pussycat,” “The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat,” and many others. All with amazing illustrations by the wonderful Eulalie.

There’s also Johnny Gruelle’s Golden Book, written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle (oddly enough). Gruelle was the originator of the Raggedy Ann books, and this book includes sections on “Raggedy Ann’s Alphabet” and “Raggedy Andy’s Numbers.”

And the third title in the group is The Everyday Story Book, illustrated by Signe Ivarson (who I’m assuming also wrote the stories, although the book doesn’t make that clear). The pictures in this one are just too cute to be believed – they look a lot like all those books of pink-and-perky paper dolls from the 1950s. And in fact, when I opened my copy this morning, I found a pile of homemade paper dolls I’d done by tracing the illustrations. How cute, if I say so myself, is that?

See what I mean about walking down memory lane?

But my absolute favorite gift book I ever received is a book called 365 Bedtime Stories, which I got for Christmas when I was about nine years old. It’s a jumbo-sized storybook by the Whitman Company, written by Nan Gilbert and illustrated by Jill Elgin. It has a one-page story for every day of the year, and the stories are all about the children and families who live on What-a-Jolly Street. The end papers are a map of What-a-Jolly Street, with all the houses illustrated, along with the school at the end of the street. I loved What-a-Jolly Street. And I loved all the people who lived on What-a-Jolly Street. I used to read a story every night at bedtime (by this time, I was tucking myself in), and I was very careful not to read ahead. Obviously, I was already a book nerd by the age of nine.

Over the years, I managed to lose my original copy of 365 Bedtime Stories. But when eBay came along, I was able to track a copy down (well, two, actually). A really over-priced copy, of course. But now it’s back in my library and I can revisit What-a-Jolly Street anytime the real world gets just a little too real.

Gosh, what a shameless display of nostalgia-wallowing this has been! And I didn’t even talk about the little white leather Bible I received from (I think) one of my grandmothers when I was about six or seven (probably the Protestant grandmother – I think the Catholic one already knew I was a hopeless heathen by then). I’ve still got it, though it’s very fragile now, and the zipper is coming loose. I grew up to be not really very religious, but I still cherish that gift.

Booking Through Thursday: Conditioning

This week’s BTT topic:

Are you a spine breaker? Or a dog-earer? Do you expect to keep your books in pristine condition even after you have read them? Does watching other readers bend the cover all the way round make you flinch or squeal in pain?

Afraid I can’t really come up with one definitive answer here. Some books I do try to keep in pristine condition – certain first editions, and copies of titles that I collect – like Alice in Wonderland or Huckleberry Finn. And some very old books, of course.

However, the very mention of spine-breaking makes me cringe. That’s a no-no. I don’t even like to break the spines of magazines.

If it’s a hard cover book, I try not to be a dog-earer (that’s why I have that huge collection of bookmarks). But paperbacks are fair game: usually not for marking my place (again – huge collection of bookmarks), but for noting passages I want to remember and write down later.

Which brings us to margin writing. And on that count, I’m afraid I have to plead guilty – I’m an enthusiastic note writer. I usually try to keep it short, and write lightly in pencil so I can erase later. But if you start investigating my library, you’ll find that most books are annotated to some degree. Well, it’s my book and I’ll write if I wanna!

Booking Through Thursday: What’s Sitting on Your Shelf?

This week’s BTT topic is inspired by a recent Washington Post article, and the main question is:

“What tomes are waiting patiently on your shelves?”

I think I’ve probably written a few times on this blog about the fact that I find it really, really difficult to let go of books.  Once a book comes into my possession, it’s mine for life.  Or at least, that’s the way I look at it.  I suppose I have let a few go, over the years; but always against my better judgment, and I’ve usually regretted it afterwards.

But I’m a slow reader and sort of a picky reader, so a lot of the books I’ve acquired have ended up unread or half-read.  Which means that, yeah, I’ve got a lot of books I fully intend to read or finish reading someday when there’s world enough and time.

At the moment, I’m on the road and away from my physical library.  But I did a quick check of my LibraryThing catalogue (has to be quick because the hubby is standing at the hotel room door, jingling the car keys), and came up with a few titles right off the bat.  Flatland by Edwin Abbott – one of the classic early sci-fi works: I’ve had my ancient paperback copy for years now, and have every intention of reading it – someday.  The Mirror and the Lamp by M.H. Abrams – again, another classic, and if you were an English major twenty or thirty years ago, it was a must-read; don’t know how I managed to pass it by, but one of these days I’ll get back to it (I promise).

Of course, there’s always War and Peace, which I really would like to read someday (no, I really mean that) – I’ve got several copies of it, I think.  And I’m pretty sure I’ve been hanging onto a couple of volumes of Proust since high school.  I’ll get to them someday.

OK, I guess I could say Moby Dick, couldn’t I?  I’ve got several copies of that, too.  Had them for years.  But it would be a lie to say I intend to read any of them.  Who needs all that info about whales, right?

And now it’s back on the road as we head out for the beautiful (but rainy today, I think) Texas Hill Country!

Booking Through Thursday: Book Meme

This week’s BTT topic:

I’ve seen this series of questions floating around the ‘net the last few days, and thought it looked like a good one for us!

What was the last book you bought?
Actually, the last time I was on a book buying excursion, I bought four books – Miss Bunting, Never Too Late, and Peace Breaks Out, by Angela Thirkell, and If on a winter’s night a traveler, by Italo Calvino. At a Book Rack used book store. Haven’t read any of them yet.

Name a book you have read MORE than once
Alice in Wonderland. Dozens of times.

Has a book ever fundamentally changed the way you see life? If yes, what was it?
Be Here Now, by Baba Ram Das.

How do you choose a book? e.g. by cover design and summary, recommendations or reviews
All of the above. But probably by reviews more than anything.  And there are some authors I always read, whenever they come out with something new - mostly mystery writers like P.D. James and John Dunning.

Do you prefer Fiction or Non-Fiction?
I would say, these days I probably prefer fiction over non. But that hasn’t always been the case.

What’s more important in a novel – beautiful writing or a gripping plot?
Again, currently I’d have to say plot and character are probably more important to me – beautiful writing is always a plus, of course.

Most loved/memorable character (character/book)
Hmmmm. A tough one. Guess if I have to choose just one, I’ll have to say Huck Finn.

Which book or books can be found on your nightstand at the moment?
I don’t have an actual nightstand, worse luck. But my bedtime reading at the moment includes Eva Moves the Furniture by Margot Livesey, The Eight by Katherine Neville, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.

What was the last book you’ve read, and when was it?
The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs, finished a week or so ago. My review is here.

Have you ever given up on a book half way in?
Sure. But generally if I don’t like a book enough to finish it, I’ll know before I’m halfway through. These days, I’m pretty picky about the books I read, so there aren’t many that I dislike enough to abandon before the end. I suppose the last book I started but never finished was The Devil Wears Prada. Just couldn’t really get into it, and then I saw the movie (which I loved, by the way) and thought “why bother?” and shelved it. Has that ever happened to you? It’s happened to me more than once – which is why I always prefer to see the movie after I’ve finished the book.

Booking Through Thursday: Worst of the Best

This week’s BTT topic:

What, in your opinion, is the best book that you haven’t liked? Mind you, I don’t mean your most-hated book–oh, no. I mean the most accomplished, skilled, well-written, impressive book that you just simply didn’t like.
Like, for movies–I can acknowledge that Citizen Kane is a tour de force and is all sorts of wonderful, cinematically speaking, but . . . I just don’t like it. I find it impressive and quite an accomplishment, but it’s not my cup of tea.
So . . . what book (or books) is your Citizen Kane?

Gee, this is a lot easier than I’d really like it to be. I can think of so many “great” books that I just don’t care for – it’s almost scary. But then I’ve never minded admitting that I’m a philistine, so here goes.

I guess if I had to pick just one book (and I think I’ve already blogged about this recently), it would have to be James Joyce’s Ulysses. Or possibly James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I didn’t care for either of those, although I recognize the artistry. I read Ulysses for a college English class and I’m glad now that I was forced to finish it. But at the time, it was really a struggle. And Portrait of the Artist I read because it’s one of my husband’s favorites and he kept recommending it. No accounting for taste, I guess.

Then there’s Sterne’s Tristram Shandy. But I suppose that wouldn’t really count because I’ve never actually managed to read it. I know, I know – everybody tells me it was post-modern before there was a modern for it to be post-. I’ve tried many times to get through it, but always give up somewhere around page 10. Just not my cuppa. But maybe someday something will snap and I’ll be able to zip right through it and love it. Stranger things have happened.

One I’m really embarrassed about (because, in general, Hawthorne is one of my favorite authors) is The Scarlet Letter. I know it’s considered to be his masterpiece, but I just think it’s an abominable book. The House of the Seven Gables is much more readable. Had to read The Scarlet Letter in high school and by the end of the term, my copy was in shreds from being thrown across the room. I think I actually dropped it in a toilet at one point. Appropriate.

And then, of course, there’s Faulkner. And this is something I really hate to admit, having lived in the South most of my life. But I’ve never really enjoyed Faulkner. Too gothic. Too much testosterone. Too much something. I don’t know what it is, but it’s just too much for me. OK, The Reivers wasn’t too bad, but that may just be because I was thinking of Steve McQueen in the movie the whole time I was reading it.

Which brings us back to movies. And “Citizen Kane.” How can you not love “Citizen Kane”?

Tuesday Thingers: Banned Books List

Forgot to post this on Tuesday, so here it is on Thursday.  This week is Banned Books Week, and Marie at The Boston Bibliophile has an appropriate project for the Tuesday Thingers group. Take the list of Most Frequently Challenged Books of the 1990s from the ALA website, highlight what you’ve read, and italicize what you have in your LT library.

It’s a long list and I’m afraid my showing isn’t very good, so I’ve edited it to show just the books I’ve read and/or have in my LT library. Here’s my list:

1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain – Gets my vote for Great American Novel. I’ve read it many times.
2. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck – I always thought this was pretty awful, but don’t see why it’s so often challenged. Just dull and boring.
3. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger – One of the favorite books of my youth. Whenever I reread it today, I just end up thinking what a nasty little piece of work Holden is. He definitely had too much time on his hands. They should have pulled him out of that prep school, smacked him a few times, and sent him out to find a job.
4. The Color Purple by Alice Walker – I’ve never read this and I’m very embarrassed to admit that. I’d make it my project for the week, except that I’m snowed under with challenge books right now.
5. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel – Well, I haven’t read the whole series – just the first book. I liked it, but not enough to continue watching everybody evolve.
6. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle – Haven’t read this yet, but it’s on my list.
7. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood – The only Atwood I’ve read. More cause for embarrassment.
8. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee – First read this when it originally came out back in the 60s. Loved it then, love it now. Don’t know why I don’t have a copy in my library.
9. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes – OK, I don’t see this listed in my LT catalogue, but I’ve definitely got it around here somewhere because my husband just read it recently. He must be hiding it under all those guitar magazines in his study.
10. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling – Again, haven’t read the whole series – just the first book. Don’t imagine I’ll read any others anytime soon. Not a big fan of Potter. Even less of Rowling.
11. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein – Great book. I think I’ve given a copy of this book, at one time or another, to just about every child I’ve known.
12. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley – Huxley was a huge favorite of my “crowd” in high school.
13. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut – If you were a college student in the late 60s, this was required reading.
14. Lord of the Flies by William Golding – Strange, disturbing book from a strange, disturbing time in the history of the world.
15. Native Son by Richard Wright – I’ve read some of Wright’s short works, but not the novels.
16. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende – I’ve liked most of the “magic realism” I’ve read, so I really should try this one.
17. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain – One of the first “long” books I read by myself. I’m pretty sure I read Tom before I read Huck.
18. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford – OK, tell me why anyone would challenge this book. There’s really not much to read here anyway, is there?
19. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman – I loved this when I was a toddler. All those tigers melting into butter just seemed magical. OK, so I was a strange toddler. I’m pretty sure I own several editions, but I think they’re all in storage with most of my children’s books.

I find it interesting that the list from the 2000-2007 period is slightly different from the 1990s list. It seems strange that a book would make it on one list, and not another. I can sort of understand it when it’s a new title. But why should Fahrenheit 451 all of a sudden become suspect? Or why was One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest acceptable in the 1990s, but not after 2000? Well, I suppose the answer has something to do with book banning not being a rational sort of practice in the first place.

Friday Fill-Ins #90

Hard to believe it’s already time for another Friday Fill-Ins! Time goes on its flight. And here we go:

1. There is no need to panic – I’ve already done that.

2. Where in the heck did the last ten years of my life go?

3. Make things worse is all I managed to do. This is pretty standard procedure for me.

4. Prospects for writing the great American novel are receding farther and farther into the realm of improbability (for me, at least).

5. Take me to Aruba is the message. (No matter what Marshall McLuhan said.)

6. Simplicity and tranquility are what I always strive for. Complication and chaos are what I almost always achieve.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to relaxing and watching a DVD of “Quiz Show” – I never saw it when it was originally out, tomorrow my plans include shopping and dinner out to celebrate my birthday (a few days late) and Sunday, I want to watch the Cowboys/Packers game, and get some reading done!

Wordle

My husband says this is called a “Wordle.”  Sort of a cloud made up of bits and pieces of one’s blog.  This one is a little too small to see, but if you click on the picture, you can see a bigger version.  Neat.

Booking Through Thursday: Autumn Reading

This week’s BTT topic:

Autumn is starting (here in the US, anyway), and kids are heading back to school–does the changing season change your reading habits? Less time? More? Are you just in the mood for different kinds of books than you were over the summer?

Well, we don’t have kids, so we’ve never experienced that “back to school” rush that parents of school-age children go through. However, being married to an English professor does mean that I’ve always thought of September as the real beginning of the year – the pace of life quickens and everything starts up again. And, of course, it’s always been the start of the biggest season for the publishing industry, too. So there are always tons of new titles out there, enticing me to expand my already ridiculously long “to be read” list. (Not, of course, that I’ll manage to read all those new books – I’m still working on the new releases from last year.)

I suppose the only change in my reading habits in the fall might come from the fact that the summer means reading a few lighter books. One or two things I can take to the pool or the beach. Other than that, I don’t think my choice of reading matter really changes from season to season.

And as for having more or less time to read – I always seem to have less time to read than I’d like, don’t you?