Bookish Bits & Bobs

Posted in The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

A quick round-up of random things on my mind related to reading, books, and book blogging:

Despite all of my careful planning and tracking — including my nifty Excel worksheet that tracks all of my ARCs — I now find myself almost hopelessly buried in commitments to new and upcoming books. How did I let this happen???

After sticking to my schedule so, so diligently for the last couple of months, I made the radical decision to DO WHAT I WANT this week… and am now re-reading a 1400 page book. Because I feel like it.

Rereading does make me feel a wee bit anxious. But I’m going to try to get over it. So what if I fall a week behind? Live for now! (Or so I tell myself…)

Of course, rereading a massive book means there probably won’t be any new reviews on my blog for a bit. But I think the reading world will survive without my input for a few days. (Insert maniacal laughter here…)

Are discussion posts the new must-have thing on book blogs? Seems like every book blogger these days has made it a goal to feature more discussion posts. But about what? How many different ways are there to write about whether people leave comments? IDK, maybe I’m just being a sourpuss today (entirely possible), but I tend to find these repetitive after a while.

I guess I’m just not all that interested in reading blog posts about blogging. Unless I’m specifically seeking out a blogging expert for guidance or inspiration. But for the most part, when I visit a blog, I want to read about the topic the blog covers, not the ins and out of being a blogger.

Continuing on my cranky roll, I’m starting to get annoyed by people on Goodreads… the ones who need to update their status with QUOTES from the page they’re on or comments like “OMG, nooooo! I can’t believe she picked (insert spoilery name here) over (some other dude)!” People, please CUT IT OUT! I do not want to be hit in the face with these updates every time I log into Goodreads. Save your spoilers for your reviews — and put a spoiler warning on them!

Let’s see, something positive… I work someplace where there are constantly kids in the hallways and underfoot, and every time I see a kid totally absorbed in a book while waiting for a class or for a younger sibling, I feel a little shiver of joy run up my spine. Kids still read! They’re not all plugged into pads, pods, and gizmos. Well, not all the time, anyway.

Stephen Colbert’s take on the J. K. Rowling interview that broke so many shippers’ hearts made me so happy. Watch it here, if you haven’t already.

Are you waiting for Gail Carriger’s next series, about Prudence from The Parasol Protectorate? How does The Custard Protocol grab you? Check out the announcement here about the new title for the series.

I was very excited to read this week that Redshirts by John Scalzi is being developed for TV! More info here — such an awesome book, can’t wait to see how this turns out!

More exciting news: Not one, but two new Stephen King books will be published in 2014. Take my money, Mr. King, please!

And my favorite discovery of the weekend is probably Wiry Limbs, Paper Backs, an awesome gallery of paperback books acting out their own plots. Check it out!

Sorry for the extra heaping doses of crankiness today! Must remedy that immediately… by diving back into my big, fat book. Quilts, couch, coffee, slippers, and paperback… perfect for this rainy Saturday.

1Jan2014

2014: My bookish resolutions for the New Year

Posted in The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

stamp-143189_640 I never used to make New Year’s resolutions… other than the usual vague statements about working out more, eating healthier, and cleaning out my closets. But since entering the world of blogging, I have a bit more motivation to put my intentions into words, especially when it comes to my book-related and blog-related plans and commitments.

Without further ado, my bookish, bloggy resolutions for 2014:

1) Organize, organize, organize! At the risk of sounding completely geeky, I must admit that Excel has been a lifesaver this past year! After seeing a big upsurge in ARC approvals, I realized I was losing control, and finally came up with a tracking system that works for me. Now all of my upcoming review copies are listed in a nifty little worksheet, sorted by publication date, review status, and source, and I can always tell at a glance where I’m on target and where I’m falling behind. Plus, it’s easy to see when I’m becoming too swamped, so I know which months to avoid for future ARC requests. For 2014, I want to expand how I use my system, adding in other key reading targets — such as new releases that I’m excited to read, or older books that I’ve vowed to get to — so that I don’t end up frustrated when I never seem to have the time for what I truly want to read.

2) Ease up on the requests. On the positive side, I now get approved for a lot more of my NetGalley and Edelweiss requests. On the negative side, I haven’t yet adjusted my requesting volume to reflect this. I used to request a lot of books, based on the assumption that I’d get turned down for many of them. Well, now that I’m getting approved more, I suddenly have more than I can handle! It’s okay — with the help of my handy-dandy worksheet, I’ve got it more or less under control, but I cannot allow myself to continue adding to the backlog!

3) Attend more author events. I think I made it to four book signings and/or author appearances in 2013, and I loved them all. I happen to live someplace where there are always amazing events going on, so I just need to make more of an effort to keep track of what’s happening and then actually GO.

4) Show my shelves some love. Without picking a specific number of books or a definite ratio of new to old, I’d like to just state a general goal of hitting my bookshelves more often and making sure to leave time for the unread books I already own, rather than always moving on to the next new thing.

5) Diversify. This was a resolution from last year that didn’t go very far, but once again, I’d like to make a point of reading 3 – 5 books from outside of my usual fiction comfort zone. History, science, sociology, memoirs? We shall see.

6) No challenges! If there’s one thing I’ve learned about myself as a reader, it’s that I don’t like being told what to read — even if I’m the one doing the telling. This is why I suck at book groups. Sure, I’ll read the group book… if it’s something I want to read anyway. In the past, I’ve signed up for challenges, but I’ve never stuck to them. Because as soon as some other shiny new book comes along, I ditch my older reading plans and just read whatever I feel like. So in 2014, I’ll just be realistic, concentrate on reading whatever I feel like reading, and not enter any reading challenges! Even though there are some really good and clever ones out there… but no! Not for me! I’ll remain challenge-free!

7) No new series. This is a continuation of one of the resolutions I actually stuck with in 2013: I vow not to start any new series this year — with the following exceptions (because, of course, any good rule has exceptions):

New series by authors I love are allowed.
It’s okay to start a new series if the entire series has already been published.
It’s also okay to start a new series if the final volume will be released in 2014.
Obviously, if new books come out that are part of a series I already read, they’re totally fair game.

8) Take stock and take a step back. I’m still working through this one, but starting early in 2014, I plan to take a fresh look at my regular features on my blog, figure out what’s working (and what’s not), and really think about what should be kept, what should be tweaked, what should be replaced, and what should be added. Very vague, I know, but this resolution is really just a way of noting the fact that it’s a good idea every once in a while to reevaluate and try to avoid getting stuck in annoying or unproductive ruts.

9) Breathe, relax, enjoy. I vow to continue to remind myself throughout the year that first and foremost, I read for my own enjoyment. When the blog stress starts to mount or I feel like I have to read something that I’m not excited about, it’s time to hit the pause button, take a few deep breaths, and then do what makes me happy. I read because I love books. And every once in a while, it doesn’t hurt to say that out loud!

May you all be blessed with health, happiness, laughter, and great reading in this wonderful new year!

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28Dec2013

Resolutions, kept and broken: A look back at 2013

Posted in The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Before I launch into a whole new set of bookish resolutions for the New Year, I thought I should do a quick look back to see if I actually kept all — or any — or even a few of my resolutions for 2013. And here’s where I stand:

Resolution: Maintain a healthy ratio of old to new. For every new book, whether purchased or borrowed from the library, I resolved to read at least two that were already in my collection.

Result: Fail! I’m hopeless, I think. The number of unread books on my shelves is simply staggering at this point… and yet the new ones keep coming!

Resolution: No new series. I resolved not to start any new series in 2013, with the exception of new series by authors I already love to read or new-to-me series that have already been published in their entirety.

Result: Success! I can’t think of any series I started this year — with the exception of one or two trickstery books that didn’t warn me up front that there was a big fat “to be continued” lurking at the end. Which is totally not playing fair, as far as I’m concerned. I did read some books in ongoing series that I’m already involved in, and I did read the whole Y: The Last Man series, but those are allowed under my arbitrary rules. This one counts as a win!

Resolution: Patronize local bookstores.

Result: Mixed. I still rely on Amazon for a big bulk of my book purchases, especially now that I’m hooked on my Kindle, but I do make sure to visit the local indie sellers pretty regularly to pick up gifts and random impulse purchases… and if I attend an author appearance or other event at a book store, then I’ll always make it a point to buy something while I’m there.

Resolution: Housekeeping. I resolved to do some serious sorting and put together a bag or two (or three) of books to donate for the next library sale.

Result: Mostly a win. I did take quite a few bags of books out of my house. I co-chaired a book swap at my workplace, which was a huge success — and to which I donated about 25 – 30 books from my own shelves. Everyone who participated walked away with some great finds, plus in the end we donated the remaining books to the library for its next sale — a total of 14 cartons of donated books! My shelves are still overflowing, but I did manage to offload some of the books that I just knew I didn’t need anymore, and got my son to do the same. Honestly, this one is a never-ending challenge, and always will be.

Resolution: Try something new! I resolved to read at least 3 – 5 non-fiction books in 2013, preferable from a few different subject areas.

Result: Hmm. Not really. I read two memoirs, and that’s it. I really should have made more of an effort, but what can I say? I’m a fiction fanatic, from my head to my toes.

Resolution: Face facts. I resolved to admit that I just don’t like short stories and stop trying to force myself to read them.

Result: Success. I read a collection of fairy tales that I was excited about, and picked up an anthology that included stories by authors I love. And that’s it. I just said no to any other offers of short story collections, no matter how highly praised or eagerly pushed at me. Iron willed, that’s me!

Overall? I think that’s what you’d call a decidedly mixed success rate! But that’s okay. I never did lose those extra pounds either…

Some of these will make it onto my 2014 resolution list, in one form or another… along with a few new items that I either will or won’t stick with.

How did you do with your 2013 bookish resolutions? Any big successes that you’re particularly proud of? And any “what was I thinking” items? Let’s round out 2013 by sharing our successes and our “not so much” results!

27Dec2013

2013: My year in books

Posted in The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

2013 was a great year for reading. Bestsellers, hidden gems, older books, books-into-movies — I had a blast, and based on all of my bookish friends’ comments on Goodreads, Twitter, book blogs, and actual in-person conversations (*gasp* – yes, those still happen occasionally!), it sounds like everyone spent some quality time with noses in books.

It’s hard for me to pick a definitive set of “best” books, but here’s a selection of books that made an impression — for good, for bad, really for a whole slew of reasons. As with last year’s year-in-review post, my salute to the books of 2013 is a snapshot of what I loved, what I could have lived without, what made me laugh, what made me cry… and just about everything in between.

[Note: Included here are books that I read in 2013. Many were released in 2013, but some are older. Hey, it’s my list. Make of it what you will.]

[And another note: Click on the links to see my reviews if you’re interested!]

Goodreads stats as of 12/27/2013:

Total number of books read: 145
Total number of pages read: 44,569
Star rating used most often: 4 stars (57 total)
Star rating used least often: 1 star (only 2 this year — not bad!)
Number of five-star ratings: 51

Longest book read: NOS4A2 by Joe Hill, 692 pages
Shortest book read (excluding graphic novels): The Ocean At The End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, 181 pages

Top Genres/Shelves:

I’m not sure this actually means anything, since I have all sorts of additional weird shelves in Goodreads (twins! will make you cry! werewolves! etc.) that probably skew the numbers… and frankly, I got tired of sorting and resorting. Moving on…

Bests, Worsts, & Other Stuff of Note

Best of the Bunch! If I had to pick just one “best” for each of the the various categories in my handy-dandy chart, my choices would be:

Best children’s (middle grade): The Expeditioners and the Treasure of Drowned Man’s Canyon by S. S. Taylor
Best young adult: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Best contemporary: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Best graphic novel: Y: The Last Man (series) by Brian K. Vaughan
Best sci-fi/fantasy: The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord
Best love story: Letters From Skye by Jessica Brockmole
Best historical fiction: The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley
Best urban fantasy: Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs

Overall favorite: Gah! That’s like asking me to pick my favorite child. The book that really stands out for me as something truly special, a time-travel book with a compelling love story and excellent historical content, is The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway. Simply outstanding.

Moving on to slightly quirkier book highlights:

Books that make you want to grab a pedometer: Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.

Best use of Venn diagrams: The Theory of Everything by J. J. Johnson.

Triumphant return of a favorite character: Mercy Thompson in Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs; Harry Dresden in Cold Days by Jim Butcher.

Going out on top: All hail Jane True! Tempest Reborn by Nicole Peeler wraps up the series in style.

Should have quit while she was ahead: Poor Sookie Stackhouse. Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris ends the series several years and several books past its expiration date.

Should have left well enough alone: Let’s just pretend certain sequels don’t exist. I nominate The Shade of the Moon (book #4 in the Last Survivors series) by Susan Beth Pfeffer and The Last Battle (Narnia #7) by C. S. Lewis.

Favorite graphic novel series (already complete) read in 2013: Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan is simply incredible. Absolutely loved it.

Favorite graphic novel series (ongoing) with new volumes in 2013: Where to begin? At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Fables by Bill Willingham is the best thing since sliced bread; for creepy fantasticness, can’t beat Locke & Key by Joe Hill; and in terms of a great beginning to what I hope will be a long-running series, I really enjoyed the first two volumes of Saga by Brian K. Vaughan.

Grrrl power: Let’s hear it for the awesome young women of fiction who inspired, rocked, and ruled, with special praise and recognition to Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein.

Stuff of nightmares: Creeps and shivers galore! Best of the best: NOS4A2 by Joe Hill; Doctor Sleep by Stephen King; Parasite by Mira Grant.

Best book for Big Bang Theory fans: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion has the most Sheldon-like protagonist I’ve ever met… and just made me really, really happy.

Longest awaited sequel: Thank you, Stephen King, for giving us the amazing Doctor Sleep, 16 years after the publication of The Shining. Well worth the wait!

Most disappointing: I preordered Shadows by Robin McKinley months in advance… and couldn’t get past the first 100 or so pages.

Best twist on a familiar story: I loved Longbourn by Jo Baker, a retelling of Pride and Prejudice from the servants’ point of view.

Best author who’s suddenly everywhere: 2013 has to be the year of Rainbow Rowell! I’m one of the many who gobbled up her two decidedly different (and decidedly excellent) young adult novels as well as her book for grown-ups this year.

Best author event: Rainbow Rowell and David Levithan gave a two-person reading that was hilarious and warm and engaging. Hearing them read passages from Fangirl together was priceless! Joe Hill’s appearance and reading of NOS4A2 was also a delight — he was friendly, funny, and just a little bit out there — just as you’d expect.

Rainbow Rowell and David Levithan

Loveliest writing: Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan. Beautiful.

Mind-bendiest timey-wimey weirdness: The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer.

Not what it sounds like: The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan (not really a dictionary); The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker (not really a guide to magic).

Best use of f-bombs: Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn — see chapter 11. Brilliant.

Favorite quirky titles: Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn; Revenge of the Girl With the Great Personality by Elizabeth Eulberg.

Best armchair travels via fiction: Scotland via A Small Death in the Great Glen by A. D. Scott; Africa via A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn; Egypt via Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell.

Most haunting apocalypse: Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts.

Best alien encounter: The Humans by Matt Haig.
Worst (for humanity) alien encounter (in a terrific book): The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey.

Best history lessons via fiction: Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell; The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley; Gathering Storm by Maggie Craig, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel; Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield.

Worst to read with a meal: Parasite by Mira Grant. Ew.

Best for a geek-tastic laugh: Redshirts by John Scalzi.

Most eye-catching covers:

Biggest sources of guilt: Buying three books that I couldn’t wait to read — preordered the hardcovers, no less! — and never making time to read them: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, and The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer.

Bookish delight on TV: Game of Thrones never fails to deliver. Brutal, beautiful, heart-breaking. “Red Wedding” says it all.

Bookish delights at the movies: I was once again quite pleased with the latest Hunger Games adaptation: Catching Fire was just as it should be. Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing was pure bliss. And The Hobbit? Well, I liked the dragon. And Thorin Oakenshield is one awesome dwarf king.

Bookish delight, all year long:

All the many, many books which, for whatever reason, I can’t quite categorize but still really enjoyed (plus a few that are probably better off forgotten). It’s been a great year of reading! I can’t wait to see what treasures I’ll uncover in 2014!

What were your favorite books of 2013? What surprised or excited you the most? Please share your top reads and recommendations in the comments!

12Dec2013

Books, Bribery, & the Boy

Posted in The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

I may have mentioned a time or two (or a hundred or so) that my son is an oh-so-reluctant reader. At age 11, he’s funny, bright, curious, adventurous, barrels of fun… and just will not pick up a book on his own.

He loves stories. In fact, despite being in middle school now and therefore exponentially cooler than he was a mere six months ago, he’s not too cool for a bedtime story with dear old mom. We’re no longer reading picture books, of course. Last year, our read-alouds centered around the entire Harry Potter series. This year, we’ve read The Hobbit, the Narnia books, and Carl Hiaasen, plus a bit of sci-fi for fun.

But still, he will not read. As he’s pointed out to me numerous times, “Mom, I can read. I just don’t want to.” For a very brief while, I had some success in getting him to read on my IPad, since anything with a shiny screen is kind of like crack to my kid. But even that charm wore off, and it’s been months since I’ve been able to get him interested. And an actual book, made of paper and containing pages filled with words? Forget it.

He’s doing just fine in school — surprisingly well, actually, for a kid who insists his favorite class at school is PE — and this year has been forced to step up his study habits quite a bit. He’s on top of the reading assignments in his language arts textbook, but this month, for the first time, the teacher gave the class some firm orders about outside reading. Up to now, they’ve had silent reading time in the classroom. This month, they each had to pick a book at the library, minimum 200 pages, read it on their own time, and write a brief summary for each chapter.

My kiddo procrastinated, as usual. The assignment was due today. As of Monday, he’d read about 100 pages out of 280. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, he managed to finish reading the book and writing up the chapter summaries.

Miracle of miracles, he said that the book was “pretty good” — which from his mouth is a total rave. With poking and prodding, he admitted that it was fun, that he enjoyed it, and that he’d even be willing to read more books like that.

(For the record, the book he just read is Lenny Cyrus, School Virus by Joe Schreiber.)

So where does bribery figure into all of this?

Well, after last night’s marathon reading session, I had a brainstorm:

The kid CAN read. And he even ENJOYS reading while he’s doing it. So what’s missing? MOTIVATION.

I can’t believe I’m even thinking this way, but here goes:

I’m willing to bribe my kid, if necessary, because I firmly believe that the more he reads, he more he’ll love reading. Ultimately, if he spends more time with books, does it matter how he got there? Here’s the scheme I devised: For every book over 200 pages that he finishes, he’ll get $10. For a book that’s under 200 pages, he’ll get $5 — so if he wants to read a bunch of shorter books, that’s okay; there will still be a reward at the end. To qualify for his reading reward, he’ll have to be able to demonstrate comprehension. No written assignments — talk about a buzz kill! — but he’ll at least have to explain to me, to my satisfaction, what the book was about and what he thought about it.

If you’d asked me, oh, ten years or so ago, if I’d ever considering paying a kid to read, I would have been horrified at the mere suggestion! Probably some really obnoxious eye-rolling or sneering tones of voice would have ensued. I was, after all, blessed with an older child who is as big a reading fanatic as I am. Why should money be involved? Reading is its own reward! … I would have said, from way atop my high horse.

But faced with the cold, hard reality of a kid who WILL NOT READ, I’m willing to come back down to earth and face facts, and the facts are these: If I don’t find some way to get the kiddo to WANT to read, he won’t read. And that, to me, is a much worse outcome than having a kid who expects some sort of financial reward for finishing a book.

So… thoughts? Am I a horrible human being? A terrible mother? Or a woman with a brilliant plan? An evil genius?

We shall see how it all works out. I’ll report back on books read and money paid…

Meanwhile, I’d love to know: Have you ever used a reward system to get a kid to read? And is my resorting to bribery a sign of the coming apocalypse? Inquiring minds want to know.

25Nov2013

Goodreads Is Damaging My Calm Today

Posted in The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

I’m not anti-Goodreads. In fact, I usually love the site. I’ve managed to sidestep all the upset about the policy changes in recent months, especially the uproar over deleted shelves and reviews. I participate in Goodreads because I love tracking my own reading, keeping up with friends’ reading lists and reviews, and staying on top of new releases that I might otherwise miss. No drama for me, please! I have enough in my real life, thanks.

So what’s bothering me today?

It may seem like a minor point, but my issue today is with… (drumroll, please!) … SORT ORDER.

Huh? You may well ask…

On any book’s page, we get a synopsis and some details. Scrolling down, we see My Review, Friend Reviews, Lists with This Book, and then Community Reviews. And it’s in the Community Reviews section that I start getting annoyed. I supppose that it’s my own damn fault that until today, I never noticed that there’s a sort option for how Community Reviews are displayed. The choices are newest, oldest, and default. So what’s “default”? Goodreads describes its default sort option thusly:

The default sorting algorithm on Goodreads uses a variety of factors to determine the most interesting reviews. The recipe for our special sauce is a closely guarded trade secret, but the ingredients are: length of the review, number of people who liked it, recency of the review, popularity of the reviewer (i.e., number of people who have liked reviews by that person across all books).

So what’s my problem with this? The problem, for me, is that the review(s) that get the most prominence in the default sort order tend to be by reviewers who write the type of reviews that I personally try to avoid like the plague.**

**Hey, let’s be clear: To each his/her own! It takes all types, and I respect everyone’s right to write whatever they want, however they want! But I have preferences, and I know what I don’t like to read, and that’s all I’m saying here.

Again, just personal preference, but I can’t stand ranty reviews, the “look at me, I’m so clever” reviews — and I know some people love ’em, but I just don’t like looking at reviews with graphics/GIFs.

But beyond all that, I see no value in tearing down a book, and by extension, its author, for the sake of showmanship or attention-grabbing. But for whatever reason, it’s exactly these type of reviews on Goodreads that seem to get tons of “likes” — and therefore, those are the reviews that show up at the top of the sort order.

For a lot of books that are well-received overall or have a huge number of reviews, perhaps that doesn’t matter so much. But for a book by a new author that hasn’t “traveled” much yet, having a harshly negative (but highly “liked”) review pop up first in the default sort can only be damaging to its success. Let’s be honest: How far down do you scroll once you get to Community Reviews? Probably not that far, right? So if the first couple of reviews that show up are intensely negative, how likely are you to keep reading?

Don’t throw things at me when I state that I like Amazon’s lay-out better, where we see a graph of the reviews (how many per star category) prominently displayed above the individual reviews. Did you know you can read Goodreads reviews that way too? I didn’t, before today. Because it’s not obvious, and I just never thought to look. But yes, underneath the Community Reviews header, there’s an option for Rating Details, which displays all reviews sorted by stars.

Lo and behold! The picture really changes if you look at a review via Rating Details. In the case of the book that first set me off today, here’s what happened:

Under Community Reviews, by default sort, the first review is a one-star rant that, among other things, compares reading the book to “eating a rectum”. (There’s a lot more to the metaphor, but I’ll spare you.) Unbelievably, this review received 55 likes and 43 comments (many by the reviewer herself). Again, just to be clear, I respect the reviewer’s right to review the book as she sees fit. But is it fair to potential readers to have this review appear on top by default, unless they specifically change their sort order?

Looking at the very same book, if I click on the Rating Details menu choice, suddenly the book appears in a whole new light! 59% of reviewers gave the book either a 4 or 5 star rating, and only 4% of the reviews were 1 star. Wow, a lot of people liked this book! But you wouldn’t know that based on the default sort.

And when I open the page for other books I’ve read recently, the pattern seems to hold. For whatever reason, the ranty, negative reviews seem to get a lot of likes, which by the Goodreads “special sauce” formula means they rise to the top of the sort.

I don’t know why this particularly set me off today. Well, yeah, I do. I just felt bad, that’s all. I felt bad for the author who poured her heart into a first novel, and whose book’s page consistently shows this awful rant at the top of the Community Review section. How disheartening!

Like I said, I respect every reader’s right to give out one-star ratings as well as five-star ratings. And if you enjoy reading ranty reviews, by all means, have fun! But this super secret algorithm of Goodread’s seems a bit unfair in the long-run, as the picture that ends up being painted isn’t necessarily backed up by the totality of reviews given.

So, what do I want? I guess I’d like Goodreads to change their page lay-out, actually, although I suppose that’s wishing for the stars. Still, I think there must be a way to display data initially that doesn’t skew one way or the other, and that lets readers decide what type of reviews they want to focus on. I’m all for the fair and open exchange of ideas, but sometimes it’s the presentation that ends up mattering the most.

And when it comes down to deciding whether to give a new book a try, particularly when it’s by an author we’ve never read before, are we going to try the book that seems to have received very good reviews from most of its readers? Or are we going to read the book compared to eating very unsavory body parts? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

This is mostly a reminder to myself to dig deeper, I suppose, and not be unduly influenced by the first review I see, no matter how many “likes” it has. But for those of you — like me — who never paid enough attention to know that you have a choice, I have just two magical, important, life-changing words for you:

Sort order.

_________________________________

A note after the fact: When I posted this earlier today, I had a momentary brain lapse resulting in not quite getting the post title to say what I’d meant it to say. In other words, I screwed up my pop culture reference! Couldn’t rest until I fixed it. Aaah. All better now.

19Nov2013

Another Day, Another DNF

Posted in The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

I seem to have stumbled upon a hot-button issue when I tweeted earlier today:

It’s been 2 weeks since my last DNF. Will you still respect me if I DNF another book? I’m trying, but idk, I don’t think I can continue.

— Bookshelf Fantasies (@reader_bsf) November 19, 2013

Based on some of the responses I received, DNFing is a thing to be both feared and desired.

So… the dreaded Did Not Finish….

Why do we avoid it? When do we embrace it? When is it just absolutely necessary?

For me, I used to be a big believer in Just Finish The Damn Book. I kind of prided myself (in my young & foolish days) on always finishing whatever I started.

But now that I’m older and wiser (or really, just older and busier), I just can’t justify taking the time when I know — I mean, really KNOW — that a book just isn’t happening for me.

Different emotions apply in different circumstances. Take my two most recent DNFs:

In the case of the first, I was reading a review copy of an upcoming YA novel. It was… just okay. I thought it sounded like fun, but the writing didn’t grab me, the plot wasn’t terribly believable, and by about the halfway point, I realized that I didn’t care. Would it get better within the next few chapters? I peeked ahead about 25 pages. Nope, still didn’t care. Would it at least have a great ending? Skipped to the final pages. Nope, still didn’t care. And what’s worse — it didn’t actually end! On the final page, it became clear that this book was the first in a series. Oh, hell to the no! That was all it took for me to put the book aside.

Still, I did feel a bit remorseful, as I’d requested the ARC and have been trying my best to read and review everything I’ve requested. I did do what I thought was right in this circumstance: I sent feedback to the publisher explaining that I wouldn’t be reviewing the book because it wasn’t a good fit for me. I have featured the book in a few “hey, look what I’ve got!” type of posts, so in my own meager little way, I have helped spread the word. And, although I mentioned in that week’s Monday Agenda post that I didn’t finish and why, I tried to make it clear that the book would certainly appeal to some readers — it just wasn’t for me.

All in all, I walked away from it feeling a bit let down over not liking a book that I thought would be fun — but I wasn’t at all sorry not to finish the book itself.

In my most recent DNF scenario, my feelings are a bit more complicated. I bought a book by an author I admire — in fact, I preordered the book months ago, and was so excited to get my shiny new hardcover edition as soon as it was released! I’ve read everything by this author, and either loved, really liked, or mostly liked all of her previous books. But this one? Well. Today, I reached page 150, and just kind of sighed and moaned and then realized — that’s it. The plot has gone nowhere. There are so many made-up words that I feel like I need a glossary. The world-building is incomplete and not terribly comprehensible. Really, to be blunt, I’ve come this far, and I just don’t care. So I face a choice: Push onward, or quit?

If you’d asked me 10 years ago, then of course the answer would be: Onward! But I can’t really think that way any more.

I work, I’m a mom, I read tons, and I blog. I also try to have a bit of time for goofing off, hanging out with my family, watching TV, and kicking back.

Life’s too short to read books I don’t like!

So with this current book, I’m afraid it’s going to have to be a DNF, again. This one really breaks my heart a little bit, both a) because I bought the &*^%$ hardcover! and b) because I’d been looking forward to it so much.

I’m putting it aside — for now? — and moving on. Perhaps the mood will strike me in another week or two and I’ll go back to it and finish. But I doubt it. (PS – I cheated a bit and started reading Goodreads reviews once I hit the wall today — and nothing I read made me feel like I should reconsider or give it another go.)

The DNF issue seems to be a big one for a lot of readers. Press on? Give up? Is it failure to DNF? Is it a lack of commitment? Or is it a gift to yourself (as I’ve come to feel) to acknowledge that your time would be better spent on something else?

Sometimes, it’s just the mood. This book isn’t working for me right now, but maybe another time. Sometimes, it’s the book itself: I can’t stand the writing. I don’t like the characters. I realize that I’m just not interested in xyz.

Whatever the case, I always want to feel like I gave a book my best shot… but I’m not too proud (or for me, stubborn is probably a better word for it!) to walk away when it’s time to move on.

Charleen at Cheap Thrills wrote an excellent piece on How To DNF in Two (Not-So-Simple) Steps. If you’ve ever found yourself struggling to finish a book that, in your heart of hearts, you just don’t want to read any more, then definitely check out her advice!

So, how about you? Do you force yourself to finish a book even if you’re not enjoying it? Has your attitude toward the dreaded DNF changed over time? How do you approach the decision to put a book aside, and is it hard for you? And do you find yourself going back to your DNF pile — or are you more of a “if I’m done, I’m done” kind of reader?

As for me, I think I experienced a semi-epiphany the day that I first gave myself permission to stop reading a book that wasn’t working for me, and while I don’t do it often, I do happily feel that DNF is a valid choice… and certainly one that has saved me hours and days of unhappy reading.

And happy reading? That’s what it’s all about.

10Nov2013

Domestic Chores: Being the Family Book-Picker

Posted in The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

After this many years of marriage, the routines are pretty much set in stone.

He cooks. I do the dishes. He does the food shopping. I supervise homework. He waters the garden. I handle all tech support. He unclogs stuff. I do the online bill paying.

It all works.

Our other sharply defined division of labor?

I pick out his reading material.

Here’s the deal. My husband did not grow up in the US and is not a native English speaker, although his English is actually excellent. He’s always enjoyed reading (and if you want to know the role that reading played in our romance, you can read about it here), but he didn’t start reading books in English until well into his 20s. He also (gasp! horrors!) doesn’t think about books and reading non-stop, the way that I do.

He’s told me, for instance, “I don’t care who wrote the book, so long as it’s good.” And “I don’t keep track of authors.”

I’m not sure that he’s ever gone into a bookstore without me dragging him by the hand.

He certainly does not read book reviews. (He also does not read my blog, so HI HONEY! I can say what I want with impunity.)

BUT…

He does love to read. Granted, he usually only makes it through 5 – 10 pages at a time. He reads in bed and then falls asleep. Cute, right?

My job is to pick his books. Crazy, I know. But hey, we have a system.

A good book can last him a few months. But once he’s done, he’ll inform me, “I need a book.” It’s my job to go search the bookshelves and come up with a few choices, then hand him a stack and maybe provide a few comments on each.

It’s harder than it sounds. I read everything; he does not. A good half (or maybe even 2/3) of my books are out of the question from the outset. He won’t read science fiction*, fantasy**, horror, paranormal/supernatural, or anything approaching brick-like size.

*He did read science fiction in his teens: Asimov, Clarke, Bradbury… but has no interest now.

**He did, however, read and enjoy The Time Traveler’s Wife. Go figure.

He also refuses books with any but a straight-forward narrative style (Beloved by Toni Morrison was quickly rejected), complains when books have long descriptive passages (“gibberish”, as he puts it) or just don’t grab him for whatever stray reason. He has also read books all the way through and then quit five pages before the end, saying that he “got the point already” and was done. (The Poisonwood Bible comes to mind…)

Recent successes? Biggest hits recently have been The Thorn Birds (which he remembered fondly as a TV mini-series) and Maya’s Notebook by Isabel Allende. Lately, we’ve done well with Allende, Lisa See, and Amy Tan. He seems to enjoy books with a non-US setting, where he gets to explore new cultures and read about beliefs, traditions, and superstitions that he hasn’t encountered before.

So far, he’s steadfastly refused to read Outlander or A Game of Thrones, perhaps because they’re kinda huge, or maybe it’s just because I keep pushing them. Like, constantly.

Because hubby dearest does not keep track of titles or authors, we’ve had the somewhat hilarious experience of having him get halfway through a book before realizing that he’s read it before. In the case of A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell, by the time he got that far, he was hooked again, so this became one of the rare books that he’s read more than once.

He’s decided that I should start tracking his reading… and seeing how much I love a) Excel and b) playing with books, I’ve started a worksheet of his recent reading. I’m NOT setting him up with his own Goodreads account, because he’d use it about as often as he uses his Facebook account (i.e., never) — but if I’m supposed to just remember what he’s read, then we’re both in trouble.

Meanwhile, he tells me that I’m doing great. I feel like my choices fail at least as often as they succeed — but, hey, I haven’t run out of options yet. It really is in my best interest to keep him reading, after all — that way I get more uninterrupted reading time for myself!

It’s fun, actually. Considering how much time I spend reading books, thinking about books, talking about books, and writing about books, it’s nice to be able to share this with him. Granted, he’ll never come to a book signing with me or get all excited about the big annual library book sale… but at least he appreciates the joy of a good book and will even initiate book discussions once in a while!

Meanwhile, don’t even get me started on my “no, I don’t feel like reading!” kid. I swear he’s mine — I remember the delivery quite clearly! — but I can’t for the life of me figure out how I ended up with a kid who just has no interest in reading… much as I push and push and push.

Oy. Well. At least one of the males in my household appreciates my book-pushing and book-picking efforts.

12Oct2013

Bookish Bits & Bobs

Posted in The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

I realize that all of my posts lately have either been book reviews or ongoing features of one sort or another — but no general musings or *deep* thoughts on the life of a reader. And that’s fine, but maybe it’s time for a general catch-up post with the random pieces of bookish ephemera that have been floating through my life:

Call it my mid-October resolution. Because who needs to wait for January 1st? I’m trying to put myself on a book diet. No more reading the random books that catch my eye until I catch up on my review books! I love the nice folks at NetGalley, but now I’m swamped! I made myself a pretty schedule of reviews a couple of months ago, but alas! I strayed. I read other things. And now I’m behind. So, I hereby resolve to declare “hands off” for all books lying around my house until I get through all of the review copies yet to be read on my Kindle! My goal is to catch up on all books with publication dates up through the end of November. And then I can return to my wanton ways, reading whatever the heck catches my eye at any given moment.
My new bloggy resolution, aka The Rule of 5 (because I like to give things titles…): I’m going to make more of an effort to explore the blogging world, and my goal is to visit five new blogs each and every day. Wish me luck!
Why am I not at New York Comic-Con? (Okay, the answer is that I live on the West Coast; that was a rhetorical question). I’m missing the Outlander panel, and I’m simply green with envy. But this piece at least reassures me that the Starz Outlander series is in very good hands!
Now that the fall TV season is underway, I’m finding myself with less time to curl up and read each evening. This is not a good thing. Something has got to go… hmmm, must prune the season-pass shows on my DVR pronto!
My son wants to read more graphic novels. The problem is, where to start? If he wants to read Batman, Superman, Spiderman, or Iron Man (or any of their known associates), the choices are simply overwhelming. If you have recommendations on good entry points or sequences for any or all, please drop me a note! Bear in mind that this is for an 11-year-old (although, okay, I may read ’em too!). Thank you mucho.
I haven’t been to an author event in ages… so I was excited to see a few appearances coming up in my area that I don’t want to miss! David Levithan, Rainbow Rowell, Gail Carriger… Let’s see if I can actually make it out of my house and attend!
A coworker came up to me today and said, “I hear you have a blog! I can’t wait to read it!” Well, I’m of two minds about that. Sure, getting more readers is a good thing. And yes, blogs are by their nature open to the public. But. This is a person who isn’t a personal friend, just a coworker. Granted, someone I like a lot and who’s an avid reader, but still. Boundaries. It makes me uncomfortable to think that the line between my work life and my creative outlets may become blurred. I’m interested in others’ experiences: Do you share your blog with everyone in your “real life”? Or do you keep it more or less private, sharing with your online circles but not your actual friends and acquaintances?
Again with the 11-year-old: His school has a Doctor Who club! It meets during lunch on Fridays, open to anyone who wants to get together to watch episodes and discuss them. Fun! And yet — nerdy! I encouraged him to go… but mustn’t push. Just because I’d choose Doctor Who over pick-up touch football games doesn’t mean my son needs to.
I’m joining the world of audiobooks! Or, at least, I’m giving it a shot. I’ve never been able to focus while listening to a book, but decided to download a copy of the Outlander audiobook last week when heading out by myself for a long walk. I think it helps that I know the story so well — but so far, so good! I’ve been listening in brief snatches during solo car rides… although my real intent was to motivate myself to go to the gym and hit the treadmill or elliptical while listening to the book. Yeah, so far, that hasn’t happened. Still, I’m really having fun listening to the book, and the narrator is truly wonderful, especially with her ability to switch back and forth between her British and Scottish accents. I’m still not sure that I’d have the patience for a book that’s new to me — but for now, Outlander on ITunes is a treat!

Book News & Stuff That I Find Exciting (or at least noteworthy…):

There’s a new Firefly/Serenity comic book series on the way! According to this article, it will pick up after the events of the Serenity movie. I’m in!
How do y’all feel about books with movie tie-in covers? I came across this image of the new Australian cover for The Book Thief. Thoughts? I suppose if it attracts more readers to an amazing book, I shouldn’t knock it. Right? But for me personally, I never buy books with movie tie-in covers. *Shudder*
Who else is a Madeline fan! C’mon, raise your hands for the old house in Paris all covered in vines! Here’s a great tribute to the 75th anniversary of Madeline.
Cover reveal! I can’t wait to read Landline, Rainbow Rowell’s new book due out next July!
Are female characters stronger in children’s literature than in adult fiction? Read what author Kate Mosse has to say about it, here.
Catcher in the Fry? McDonalds plans to start giving out books instead of toys in Happy Meals. For realz.
An end to airbrushing? Verily magazine shows women as they are — no photoshopped bodies or faces allowed.

And that’s all for today! Must unplug, unwind, read a book, go for a walk… it’s the weekend! Happy Saturday, happy reading, and happy whatever-makes-you-happy to all!

23Aug2013

Holy Pre-Orders, Batman! That’s a lot of books.

Posted in The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

I was just reviewing my open orders with Amazon, and realized that my pending pre-orders are out of control! Well, not really out of control, considering that I WANT ALL OF THESE BOOKS NOW — but I certainly have a lot coming in the next few months.

Here are all the books I’ve pre-ordered, due to arrive any time from next week through March, 2014 — and this doesn’t include another handful of pre-release books I’ve requested from the library or all of those lovely review copies I have yet to read.