Below are a few memorable posts I’ve stumbled upon this week. Feel free to add your own favorite book blog posts in the comments.
Cover Deja-vu
Posted by A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore…
I’ve seen several posts about covers in book blogs this week, many inspired by a making-of-a-cover trailer released by Orbit Books. In this particular post, Katherine points how (humorously) alike two covers seem to be: Eve by Elissa Elliott (Bantam) and Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliott (Touchstone):
Of course, it’s not hard to notice the similarities on these covers, as they’re right next to each other in a bookstore. When have you felt cover deja-vu?
Literary Identity, The Weight of Recommendations, and More
Posted by My Friend Amy
Ever felt frustrated because you don’t have a concrete answer for “what kind of books do you like?” In this post, Amy reflects on not having a defined sense of taste. She comments: “I’m wondering if because I don’t have a clearly identifiable pattern of what I like, my recommendations are less weighty.” Well, I don’t think that’s true. Just because a person doesn’t exclusively read fantasy doesn’t mean she can’t recommend a book in that genre. But Amy’s post did get me thinking about pinning down my own book preferences, which range from literary fiction, to classics, to “women’s fiction” and YA. And cookbooks. And short stories. And political bios. And how-to books. And poetry. Hm. “Literary identity” is hard to pin down, isn’t it?
Wench; Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Posted by Bibliophile By the Sea
Ever since Dolen Perkins-Valdez wrote a behind-the-book essay for BookPage.com, I’ve been curious about her debut novel, Wench. The story’s about a group of slave women who go with their white masters to a resort in Ohio every year, and the resort is based on a real place. Diane of Bibliophile By the Sea enjoyed the book, writing, The author did an amazing job creating memorable, and vividly portrayed characters that will stay with me for a long while. So is the case for other aspects of the novel: like the pain, anguish, physical and sexual abuse some had experienced. It is a story that brilliantly detailed the emotions slave women experienced during this awful period of America’s past. It was interesting to read both author and reader reflections on Wench—I may have to pick this one up.
What book blog posts did you enjoy this week?
That post by My Friend Amy is very good. I was just asked recently about the kinds of books that I like and I was hard pressed to think of a succinct answer. I kind of just range around in my reading.
Here are some of the blog posts of the past week that I found interesting:
Book Gazing – 13 recommended Historical Novels
http://bookgazing.blogspot.com/2010/03/thursday-thirteen-historical-fiction-i.html
It’s fun when a blogger does a compilation of recommendations based on a particular genre or theme.
Posted on The Book Lady’s Blog – A Guest Post by Gina Welch who has a book coming out called In the Land of Believers. I don’t usually read the author interviews, but this guest post told a good story and did make me interested in reading Welch’s book:
http://thebookladysblog.com/2010/03/15/theres-more-on-craigslist-than-ikea-furniture-guest-post-by-gina-welch-author-of-in-the-land-of-believers/
Dreadlock Girl – review of NurtureShock: New Thinking about Children. I’m not even a parent and Dreadlock Girl’s review makes me want to read it.
http://www.dreadlockgirl.com/reads/2010/03/nurtureshock-the-best-parentingchild-studies-book-i-have-ever-read.html