tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50783159414724952772024-03-18T00:56:31.752-07:00A Reader's RespiteMichelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04873109350235219509noreply@blogger.comBlogger728125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-56068600990344519802015-02-22T03:00:00.000-08:002015-02-22T03:00:01.512-08:00And they lived happily ever after. The End.<span id="docs-internal-guid-45389fee-afcd-d80a-4bcd-5f3e8ef57e9b"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been trying to think of a way to release this post with as little fanfare as possible. You see, after eight years of talking about books, authors, reading, and anything else that came to mind, I had made the decision to shut down A Reader’s Respite. This isn’t a huge decision for me; it’s simply time to close up shop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It has been a fabulous eight years and I’ve been extremely fortunate to have met some of the most talented writers, publishers, and most of all readers through this little venture of mine. I’ve seen the book blogging world evolve a million different ways, some wonderful and others not so much, but all of them instructive. And I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If there’s one thing I can be certain of it’s that rumors will surround this decision. Let me put any rumors to rest right now. My decision to close up shop has been a long time in coming and a decision that has taken months to make final. There was no one event that led this decision, although I’d be remiss if I didn’t admit that the direction the book blogging world has taken over the last few years has certainly changed the flavor of the community. Some of these changes, such as the unique blogs that gave us something different from the standard read-and-review formats, have been refreshing and welcome. Other changes that came with the influx of book bloggers detracted from the community and in some cases even tore holes in it. We went from a small, supportive community who celebrated the love of the printed word to a something larger and more fractional. This is, I believe, part of diversifying. Change is inevitable, always.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Reader’s Respite, for whatever it’s worth, will remain planted here on Blogspot. I’ve removed all copyright to the reviews contained here. Should anyone come along who finds any need of a review here (although I cannot fathom why anyone would), they are welcome to them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ll still be writing, just not in this venue. Other opportunities have arisen and I’ll be focusing on those instead which I find a more creative outlet. I’ll still be writing book reviews on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/AEV9CT81N33CR" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1494832-michele" target="_blank">GoodReads</a>, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/readersrespite" target="_blank">Facebook</a>. If you find yourself over on <a href="https://twitter.com/mjscribbles" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, please do say hello (@MJscribbles). I'm trying to be better with <a href="https://instagram.com/jmjacobsen2/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/mjscribbles/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>, so if you have accounts there do find me. I value all the friendships I’ve made, even those that have been tested, and wish all of you the very best. In the unforgettable words of Edward R. Murrow, “Goodnight and good luck.”</span></div>
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-8689946377675304812015-01-26T03:00:00.000-08:002015-01-26T03:00:04.448-08:00Let's talk about re-readsRe-reads. Reading a book for a second, third, or even more times. I was thinking about this the other day as I hit the play button on my audiobook began my second (or is it third? I can't remember) re-read of Hilary Mantel's amazing novel, Wolf Hall. Because let's be honest, I have - and I say this in the literal sense - hundreds of books in my home that have been read zero times. And given my previous calculations involving my expected life-span and average reading, it seems mighty dangerous to waste any dedicated reading time on re-reading a book that's already been enjoyed.<br />
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So why would I live so dangerously close to the edge? As it turns out, I only re-read books if they fall in two specific categories. </div>
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<b>CATEGORY A</b></div>
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Good books that are either a part of a series that the author takes their damn sweet time cranking out the next book necessitating a re-read of the <i>last</i> book in the series to refresh your memory in order to obtain maximum enjoyment out of the most recent release in the series. This nurtures a love/hate relationship with the author, but can be avoided by simply waiting for the entire series to be written before picking up Book 1 to begin with. Essentially, if you find yourself in this trap, it's your own damned fault (although it happens to the best of us). Other books that might fall in this category are books you enjoyed that have finally been adapted to the screen and you want to refresh your memory so you can properly rip apart the screen production and feel the right amount of angst when they completely decimate what was a darned good book. </div>
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<b>CATEGORY B</b></div>
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These books are your absolute favorite books of all time. But it's not as simple as it sounds. Because what may have been your favorite reads ever can be completely ruined by a re-read. I mean, are you ever going to recapture that amazing feeling invoked by your favorite novel twenty years ago? You might be treading dangerous waters here. Case in point: my re-read of <i>Wuthering Heights</i> at age 40 turned my favorite novel from my teens from a nostalgic warm fuzzy in my heart into a serious eye-rolling wall-banger with me muttering "Oh grow the fuck up" every other page. After 25 years, the novel was knocked off my all-time favorites list and that a serious repercussion. One must be wary indeed. </div>
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As I pushed play on Mantel's novel Wolf Hall, I made sure to ask myself whether this was a good idea. The BBC will be presenting a mini-series of the Booker Prize-winning novel in just a few months and I have high hopes for the production. The audiobook version of the novel, narrated by Simon Slater, is utterly brilliant given that reading the novel with it's present tense narration is difficult at best. Slater, as if by magic, elucidates Mantel's story like no internal reading voice ever could. Believe me, I tried. Three times with the dead-tree version to no avail. It took the audiobook version before I understood it and then....it was magical. </div>
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So I feel pretty safe with this re-read. I'm nearly half through and still finding lines and bits here and there that I somehow missed the last time (how?) that make me laugh out loud. Am I sacrificing an unread novel sitting here that will probably now never get read? Probably. It's worth it.</div>
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What makes you re-read a book?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-61195730121563473212015-01-23T03:00:00.000-08:002015-01-23T03:00:06.852-08:00The NBCC Finalists<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The National Book Critics Circle Awards are probably something all book reviewers should pay attention to even if book awards aren't normally your thing. Even if your reviews don't show up regularly on the pages of the NYT book review, if you've ever written a book-rant on GoodReads or squee'd on your book blog, like it or not you <i>are</i> a book critic. So take a gander at what your fellow critics (you know, the ones who actually get paid for spewing forth the same subjective bullshit we do) chose as the best of the best of 2014. Awards will be presented on March 12, 2015. </div>
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Betting pool, anyone?</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-84042613781493302582015-01-21T03:30:00.000-08:002015-01-21T03:30:00.825-08:00Biblio-what?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-29968952943689410282015-01-14T03:30:00.000-08:002015-01-14T03:30:00.810-08:00Texting with Ahab Back in November, Mallory Ortberg released Texts from Jane Eyre: And Other Conversations with Your Favorite Literary Characters. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1627791833?ie=UTF8&camp=213733&creative=393185&creativeASIN=1627791833&linkCode=shr&tag=thebloggess-20&linkId=HZENKIPMLLUELE3R" target="_blank">You can buy this book</a>. I <u>need</u> this book.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-11447223202483604962015-01-12T03:30:00.000-08:002015-01-12T03:30:00.450-08:00January Audio Book Club Antics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yeah, so I'm a huge fan of Slate's Audio Book Club. It's pretty much the only book club podcast I listen to these days. The <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/the_audio_book_club.html" target="_blank">January discussion</a> just went up the other day and it's sitting in my podcasts taunting me because I can't yet listen to it. That's right, yours truly didn't get the January book, <b><i>Brilliant Friend</i></b> - the first of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan <strike>Trilogy</strike> Series - read in time for the Slate discussion. </div>
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For those of you who follow this brilliant bookish podcast, you know how incredibly important it is to read the damned book before listening to Katy Waldman, David Haglund, and Parul Sehgal's amazing yet major spoiler-ish discussions. And I failed. But the Neapolitan <strike>Trilogy</strike> Series seems particularly relevant right now given that the third book, <b><i>Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay</i></b>, has turned up in the <a href="http://www.themorningnews.org/article/announcing-the-morning-news-2015-tournament-of-books" target="_blank">2015 Tournament of Books</a>.</div>
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So if you've been reading Ferrante, it might be worth your while to pop over to Slate and take a listen. Oh, and by the way, February's book will be Phil Klay's award-winning short story collection, <b><i>Redeployment</i></b>. Let's plan ahead this time, shall we?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-54381989039357046182015-01-09T08:29:00.000-08:002015-01-09T08:29:44.794-08:00New Trends in Book Blogging for 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I woke up this morning and realized it was 2015. Yes, I realize I posted something to that effect roughly a week ago, but that was just because everyone else seemed to be doing it. It hadn't really sunk in. Being perpetually behind the times, I am just now catching up to the rest of you. So this morning, as I was pouring my first cup of coffee, I suddenly looked up and said, "Holy crap. It's 2015 already." </div>
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That's me. Always ahead of eight-ball.</div>
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Anyway, this led me to thinking about all of the changes we've been seeing in the book blogging world in the last year. Mostly good ones. Because, allow me to just say this out loud here, book blogging could use some fresh changes. It's been nearly a decade since book blogs became common place throughout the interwebz and up until recently the basic format really hadn't changed. (Snooze.) </div>
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But all that's been changing. In fact, you might even want to call these changes....dare I say it?....new trends in the book blogging world. They're pretty exciting. Check it out...</div>
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<b>Old School:</b> Book blogs as commercial-like ventures. </div>
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<b>New Trend</b>: Small, independent book blogs that are as quirky and individual as the owners themselves. No more flashy ads, gimmicks to gain zillions of followers, daily commercial-like reviews. Book blogs are trending towards the more personal, with a small-town, indie-bookstore feel to them. It's pretty awesome.</div>
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<b>Old School</b>: Daily/weekly reviews of the newest book releases.</div>
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<b>New Trend</b>: More focus on backlist books, favorite authors, opinion pieces, and essays. This is a very encouraging trend as there really were few things more irritating than opening up a feed reader and seeing fifty reviews of the same new release any given week. And if it was boring for a blogger, just think of how readers must have felt. (Mark read, mark read, MARK ALL AS READ, GAH!) </div>
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<b>Old School:</b> Book Blog Awards. The rules? You must pass this on to at least five other bloggers!</div>
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<b>New Trend: </b>Laughing at Book Blog Awards. (Okay, some bloggers may not remember these, but trust me, they were very popular at one time. And holy crap....they multiplied like bunnies on Viagra.) Today's Blog Awards aren't as superficial but most blogs don't clutter up their sidebars with things like this anymore. Visual trend on book blogs for 2015? Less is more.</div>
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<b>Old School:</b> Posting nothing but book reviews.</div>
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<b>New Trend:</b> Diversification. We really saw this take off last year with the increase in popularity of webcomics, but now we're seeing things like podcasts (<i>Serial</i>, anyone?), BookTube, long-form journalism, Lit Journals, and other mediums that have been around quite a while really being embraced and used to their full-potential. We're seeing them featured on more and more book blogs and this is quite encouraging. It showcases the individuality of blog owners and really gets us away from the ho-hum of the generic book review.</div>
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<b>Old School:</b> Reviewing as many books as possible.</div>
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<b>New Trend:</b> Quality over quantity. We're seeing more and more established book bloggers cutting back on the number of books they are reading and reviewing each year. This is an encouraging trend as more bloggers are making the move towards quality reading and posting over sheer volume. Bravo!</div>
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<b>Old School: </b>Book world drama.</div>
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<b>New Trend: </b>errrr, nevermind.</div>
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I'm pretty thrilled to see these new changes taking place in our online book community. Every time I see a book blogger challenge traditional blogging conventions, I find myself <strike>encouraged</strike> jumping up and down with glee and immediately wondering how I can apply my own take on the trend to my own blogging (or lack thereof, depending on the week, the phase of the moon, or whether Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow that year). Because after all these years we need fresh perspective, new format, and a formal ban on the words <u>"lyrical prose"</u> in all book reviews. Okay I just made that last part up, but do you think we can at least take it under consideration? </div>
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Please?</div>
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Now go forth and be creative! Oh, and Happy 2015!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-81253742343725003592015-01-01T00:50:00.001-08:002015-01-01T00:50:35.238-08:00Happy New Year<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyExc3BcsukfC5aPJKociUHC8ZI-RMjgquPDuNmE0X_HJPbi1a-bqQrzv3Zwrh2XtjotEVNXIu82IXXROnC0lYfg9HJQTcXOefoh6ZB7J67mSnlbwrNA5l3K2rRihU5CXYihny2h2vglBL/s1600/happynewyear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyExc3BcsukfC5aPJKociUHC8ZI-RMjgquPDuNmE0X_HJPbi1a-bqQrzv3Zwrh2XtjotEVNXIu82IXXROnC0lYfg9HJQTcXOefoh6ZB7J67mSnlbwrNA5l3K2rRihU5CXYihny2h2vglBL/s1600/happynewyear.jpg" height="320" width="205" /></a></div>
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Happy 2015!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-9588526357219703132014-12-31T03:00:00.000-08:002014-12-31T03:00:10.107-08:005 Books That I Would Have Media-BlitzedOn Monday I talked a bit about how books ended up on everyone's radar. If you missed it, you can read it <a href="http://www.readersrespite.blogspot.com/2014/12/is-it-safe-to-come-out-yet.html" target="_blank">here</a>, but basically I was talking about how publishers decide to dump a ton of advertising money on a given book which is how it ends up being one of the "it" books of the year. Which kind of depressed me a little because it's not a merit-based system. I'm one of those readers who likes to think the best book will always win. But the reality is that for whatever reason, the books that everyone buzzes about throughout the year are almost always the books that the publishers choose to spend a crapload of money media-blitzing. <div>
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Not that the books that they blitz (hey, now that sounds like a good jingle right there) are bad books. As I mentioned last time, most of the books the big publishers push on us are well-written and hold their own. But if you look close enough, those books didn't just become best-sellers and IT-books because they were decent reads. We were told they were awesome, amazing, super-wow books. By the publisher's ad campaigns. Ahem.</div>
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Anyway. The whole thing got me to thinking about some of the really, really good books I read this year that obviously didn't have big publisher media blitzes behind them. I'd love to ask the publishers why they chose to bypass these books and blitz others, but I doubt I'd get a satisfactory answer. Odds are, it was just some editor somewhere who liked a book enough and had the power to bestow the money.</div>
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If I were to play super-powerful editor for a day, though, here are a few of the books I would have media-blitzed the hell out of in 2014:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQmNx317ZDz_w-xILjBSlnMhTewkMCyJ5fgPZQtgAXWg1mBFrEWHf6Fqs5uOrUqvRhxN34bBrACorP7lrB1YP4VF5u93gfpW3kili1ceDwXwIpAQydqbY7Z5iO-210B8pdw8ZaP_aK2lRh/s1600/unnecessary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQmNx317ZDz_w-xILjBSlnMhTewkMCyJ5fgPZQtgAXWg1mBFrEWHf6Fqs5uOrUqvRhxN34bBrACorP7lrB1YP4VF5u93gfpW3kili1ceDwXwIpAQydqbY7Z5iO-210B8pdw8ZaP_aK2lRh/s1600/unnecessary.jpg" height="320" width="237" /></a></div>
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<b>An Unnecessary Woman</b> by Rabih Alameddine. Described as a love letter to literature, Alameddine's novel about a reclusive aging woman in Beirut is brilliant, sad, and written for everyone who has ever loved books. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0x0_-rguS4HoUQN5-g0Ns7FGWvzpi9mpV3FVv__0PBX0gZNTl1YC4998DRON7MzAzQvL9grgoPeupFaSn0pkN2rqlyVLHG3G5bbVczVQdbA7nF-Z9ViQs4OhbUHCtOIHAZeNXoMB4El-N/s1600/FourthJulyCreek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0x0_-rguS4HoUQN5-g0Ns7FGWvzpi9mpV3FVv__0PBX0gZNTl1YC4998DRON7MzAzQvL9grgoPeupFaSn0pkN2rqlyVLHG3G5bbVczVQdbA7nF-Z9ViQs4OhbUHCtOIHAZeNXoMB4El-N/s1600/FourthJulyCreek.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></div>
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<b>Fourth of July Creek</b> by Smith Henderson. A debut novel set in rural Montana with a downtrodden social worker doing his best but fighting an uphill battle, Henderson hits all the right notes. And then some. Wow.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsgkBkSnimeT9U2cIaFbiXzi7uzhEGPwZASvKwXA8OsqHxVIPMbHHCyuALDvEsvTgAZ3tW1PbHsgK8ehDlYQ7IemOrGcD2TPlfZfCcD0j6trR3xs-Shq30JzhCI_S8Xw77N0EqpBtvDr3f/s1600/moriarty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsgkBkSnimeT9U2cIaFbiXzi7uzhEGPwZASvKwXA8OsqHxVIPMbHHCyuALDvEsvTgAZ3tW1PbHsgK8ehDlYQ7IemOrGcD2TPlfZfCcD0j6trR3xs-Shq30JzhCI_S8Xw77N0EqpBtvDr3f/s1600/moriarty.jpg" height="320" width="208" /></a></div>
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<b>Moriarty </b>by Anthony Horowitz. The author's second foray into the world of Sherlock Holmes secures him a place in the canon. No one writes Holmes this well. Except Doyle. Maybe.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigEohwGlDcR8N-vPwMBDI6OWruFLTGTLBnjF3M0Gz88o4LS9mcEaKkrdEfv6gXf9WLSZVCQCBC5PZ-poRVt119R7X3kBS4xzo-AhlUAEjl3RxgsUiMg1wSk1I7uCnaiqzekrLGQen2D7Eo/s1600/brutalyouth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigEohwGlDcR8N-vPwMBDI6OWruFLTGTLBnjF3M0Gz88o4LS9mcEaKkrdEfv6gXf9WLSZVCQCBC5PZ-poRVt119R7X3kBS4xzo-AhlUAEjl3RxgsUiMg1wSk1I7uCnaiqzekrLGQen2D7Eo/s1600/brutalyouth.jpg" height="320" width="221" /></a></div>
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<b>Brutal Youth </b>by Anthony Breznican. A debut novel set in a Catholic school where student hazing and bullying spiral out of control. A tight, beautifully wrought novel that left me thinking about it long after it was over.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PHM1werSu5cm8J33oyhTv40fPg6SbYFfkTzuYZB4felCawZQYyzNfX2Cr9YLjZNHeEldiQBj9ay9ZEslQbZTOztmaP_-cnvyPdDVjoo9d47BKK1UHqrkUY5lSOY3PCcE9yVF6lSjD4k_/s1600/deadlywandering.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PHM1werSu5cm8J33oyhTv40fPg6SbYFfkTzuYZB4felCawZQYyzNfX2Cr9YLjZNHeEldiQBj9ay9ZEslQbZTOztmaP_-cnvyPdDVjoo9d47BKK1UHqrkUY5lSOY3PCcE9yVF6lSjD4k_/s1600/deadlywandering.png" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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<b>A Deadly Wandering</b> by Matt Richtel (non-fiction). A brilliant narrative non-fiction that explores the effects of technology on our attention and the sometimes deadly results that can occur, Richtel may well be on track for another Pulitzer with this effort even if it wasn't heavily advertised by William Morrow.</div>
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So there you have it. What books did you run across in 2014 that slid under the radar? </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-70834076291330288212014-12-29T03:00:00.000-08:002014-12-29T03:00:03.481-08:00Is it safe to come out yet?No, I'm not talking about emerging from the chaos of the holidays, although there's something to be said for that as I claw my way out from under the tinsel, crumpled wrapping paper, and thousands of rogue pine needles that seem to have first infiltrated my house and have now risen to waist-high levels that no one seems inclined to muck out. <div>
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I'm talking about the insidious end of the year "Best-of" book lists. It started innocuously enough back in early December, when I worried incessantly about all of the books that were to be published throughout this last month of 2014. Were they automatically considered B-list books by virtue of their publishing date? What if next year's Pulitzer winner was released on this last Tuesday of the month?</div>
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My worries were soon buried in an ensuing avalanche of <i>hundreds</i> of Best Books of 2014 lists. Much like my wrapping paper-tinsel-pine needle-covered living room floor, my feed reader was so inundated with these lists by mid-month that I was forced to just turn it all off. Because let's be honest: how many times can one see essentially the <i style="font-weight: bold;">same damn list</i> over and over and over without slipping into a coma? Don't get me wrong: I completely agree that Anthony Doerr wrote an awesome novel. <i>All the Light We Cannot See</i> makes for some good reading. But I had to ponder...is it really all that much better than some of the other great books I read this year? And if the answer is <i>um not really</i>, why is Doerr's novel (and the others that routinely showed up on the lists over and over) getting all the attention?</div>
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The answer, of course, is publicity. Which isn't as merit based as we'd all like to think. I mean, in a perfect world the best book would also be the best-<u>selling</u> book, right? Because that makes sense. The reality is much different. Books, after all, are simply goods being sold. Book consumers, like consumers of any other goods, buy books in large part based on advertisement (book publicity). Once a book gets some good publicity rolling, word of mouth between friends, book bloggers, book clubs, and the like keeps that momentum going and if the book was any good to start with *BAM*, you've got yourself a best-seller and the profits start rolling in.</div>
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But with thousands of books published each year, it should be pretty obvious to you by now that not all of these books get the big publicity push or advertising campaign from their publishing houses. Countless books are released each year by the Big Five houses with no more than a purchased Kirkus review and some advance copies set loose on NetGalley. So why do some books get the big publicity and others not? </div>
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It probably shouldn't shock any of us that it comes down to the accounting department. When it comes to previously published authors, publishers will run what they call a profit and loss analysis to see what they can reasonably expect to sell and whether it would be worth their while to advertise the hell out of their latest novel. But that kind of advertising is different from the kind of advertising blitz that goes with a debut author. Remember Erin Morgenstern? Back in 2010 she wrote a novel called <i>The Night Circus</i> and Doubleday made headlines when they bought her novel for somewhere in the <u>high six figures</u>. Yep, a debut novel. So Doubleday was taking a big, big chance here. If you remember the book it's probably because Doubleday also rolled out the carpet on one of the biggest ad campaigns for that damned book. They were going to make sure it sold and recoup some of that <u>high six figures</u> they sank into the book or heads were going to roll.</div>
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And it worked. The book sold when it was published the next year. It was just-better-than-average story, not bad but not stunningly amazing either. <i>Not the hype</i>. The ad campaign that Doubleday paid for got <i>The Night Circus</i> in front of every fiction reader in America. And then we haven't heard from Morgenstern since. And even if we did, I know that I wouldn't be purchasing it because the book was more hype than substance. Lesson learned (well, not really, because I fall for this kind of crap all the time).</div>
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What about the books that don't get any publisher ad campaigns? What are those authors supposed to do? Mostly nothing. If they're lucky they can go to a few book signings, hopefully not at their own expense. But mostly they hope that their book is <i>so good</i> that word of mouth (or hell, maybe Oprah herself) will trump ad campaigns and give them a better bargaining chip when they negotiate their next book. </div>
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So what is my point? (Do I even have a point?) It's not that the "Best of" lists are wrong, per se. More like they are incomplete. As you take a look at them this year, or any year for that matter, try to remember the ad campaigns - if any - for each book on the list. Was it a big blitz? If so, why? Did they pay a lot of money for the book? What was at stake for the publisher? If nothing else, it will keep your eyes from blurring over as you read the same lists over and over and over........</div>
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Check back on Wednesday and let's look at a few 2014 books that didn't make too many lists because not too many people read them. Why? <i>Because they didn't have huge publisher ad campaigns.</i> So come check it out.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-52981466833048291512014-12-17T03:00:00.000-08:002014-12-17T03:00:05.043-08:00Author Watch: Tina SeskisEvery so often an author will come along that bears watching. The savvy reader just knows this is a writer who is <i>going places</i> and as a general rule of thumb it's fun to watch as their style matures and their sales climb with each successive book. If you haven't yet heard of Tina Seskis yet, odds are you will soon. Her first big book to be published Stateside, <i style="font-weight: bold;">One Step Too Far</i>, will be released by William Morrow in January.<div>
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A meticulously plotted thriller about a woman who runs away to London, abandoning her husband and family and creating a new identity for herself in an effort to escape a mysterious secret from her past, Seskis' novel packs quite a punch for such an early career effort. She writes in a genre that is popular, but is unique enough to stand apart. </div>
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The novel itself, it's interesting to note, is already nearing it's fifth birthday. Written in 2010, Seskis formed her own publishing company a few years later after failing to find a traditional publishing home for the novel (and another she had written in 2011). Readers knew a good thing when they saw it, even if the traditional publishing houses did not....<i style="font-weight: bold;">One Step Too Far</i> sold over 100,000 copies in just four short months. Throw in a Bookseller of the Year award and a Top Ten Summer Reads pick and bam....all of a sudden those publishing houses were paying attention.</div>
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Penguin UK picked up the rights to the novel in the United Kingdom while HarperCollins picked it up for the U.S. (and here's hoping they paid a pretty penny for it after all that). With this solidity behind her, I'd expect to see more from Seskis in the near future. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-19653486205649389992014-12-15T03:00:00.000-08:002014-12-15T03:00:07.147-08:00The Great Purge of 2014When your entire household is sick with COLDbola, you can consider yourself productive if you manage to tape up the quarantine tape around the perimeter of your property.<br />
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Reading can seem overwheming when you are this sick so I recommend turning your attention to A) not dying of COLDbola, and B) purging your feed reader in preparation for the New Year.</div>
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What should you keep in your reader? I've only got one hard and fast rule: </div>
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bookshelfporn.com</h2>
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Seriously, how does anyone live without a daily photo of gorgeous bookshelves in their feed? When it comes right down to it, this is all that really matters. Now delete everything else except for one professional review site you respect and three blogging buddies. There. Poof. Your feed reader is now set to go for 2015.</div>
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See how much easier it is to follow my advice than all that bloggiesta schtuff? You're welcome. Now go forth and celebrate the holidays disease free. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-19846343885738070722014-12-01T03:00:00.000-08:002014-12-01T03:00:01.519-08:00Sequel SicknessI'm going to admit something that might sound a tad Scroogey: there aren't very many books written that are good enough to entice me to buy any sequel offered. I'm sure you are composing a mental list of dozens of sequel-worthy novels at this very moment. And I won't dispute you. There are indeed many sequel-worthy novels. But with thousands of new books being published each year there just are not very many good enough for me to set aside time and money that would otherwise be devoted to a new standalone book or an established series and invest it in a sequel to a novel that was anything less than stellar to begin with.<br />
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Even then, I know I am taking a huge risk. I suffer from the angst that the sequel will never measure up to the brilliance of that first novel. Will a mediocre sequel tarnish my golden memory of that first book? Was I mistaken in my original assessment or is the author simply not up to the task? Such was the case with the <b>All Soul's Trilogy</b> by Deborah Harkness. The opening book to that series, <b>A Discovery of Witches</b>, was utterly compelling - a high compliment given the market saturation of vampire stories at that time. And then...cue the doom music...along came the sequel, <b>Shadow of Night</b>, a novel that fell so far short of the original that it destroyed my enjoyable memory of the first book. And that was the end of both the trilogy and the author for me. A travesty for all concerned. It was for this reason that to this very day I have utterly refused to read Larry McMurtry's novel <b>The Streets of Laredo</b>, a novel that is the sequel to his Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece (and perhaps my favorite novel of all time), <b>Lonesome Dove</b>. I simply cannot take the chance that an inferior sequel - and how can anything equal <b>Lonesome Dove</b>? - mar the perfection of the original.</div>
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Needless to say, a well-written sequel can be oh-so-rewarding. It's hard to fathom a world without Frank McCourt's <b>'Tis</b>, the sequel to <b>Angela's Ashes</b>. Or <b>Half-Broke Horses</b>, the incredible sequel (prequel?) by Jeanette Walls to her critically acclaimed memoir <b>The Glass Castle</b>. Or what about the sequel that surpasses the first book? D.H. Lawrence's classic <b>Women in Love</b> was actually a sequel to his earlier novel <b>The Rainbow</b>. </div>
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As you can see, the decision to read a sequel is not one to made lightly in my <strike>twisted</strike> world. And it is with all of this in mind that I tentatively make my list of sequels I'll be reading in 2015......maybe.</div>
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<b>As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust</b> by Alan Bradley (Bantam, January 6). I'm on safe ground with the 7th book in the Flavia de Luce series. When you're this far into what was always intended to be a series, it's in for a penny, in for a pound. While the original Flavia de Luce novel, <b>The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie</b>, can be enjoyed all by itself without needing to read further books in the series, it's been an enjoyable ride and I don't intend to bail on my favorite 11 year-old sleuth any time soon.</div>
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<b>Golden Son</b> by Pierce Brown (Del Rey/Spectra, January 6). Slightly risky. I very much enjoyed Brown's debut last year, <b>Red Rising</b>. He intended this to be a trilogy from the get-go so not to read <b>Golden Son</b> is to be left hanging, but we all know that most trilogies suffer from <i>Book Two Blues</i>, so I'm going to brace myself for the worst here. The pivotal question then becomes: am I invested enough to read the final installment in 2016? Del Rey hopes that I will be. It depends on whether I feel the author made a genuine effort or was just writing filler in which case I feel cheated and usually retaliate by withholding my book money and bitching on Twitter.</div>
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<b>A God in Ruins</b> by Kate Atkinson (Little, Brown, and Company, May 26). Technically, this book isn't being billed as a sequel but rather a companion volume to Atkinson's best-selling novel <b>Life After Life</b>. <b>A God in Ruins</b> tells the story of Ursula Todd's younger brother Teddy from childhood to his adventures as a RAF pilot in the war throughout his adulthood. It's also the biggest risk I'll take, given how very much I adored <b>Life After Life</b>. If Atkinson loses the voice she achieved in telling Ursula Todd's story (stories?) this new novel won't be worth the paper it's printed on. So I am still wavering on the fence here. Okay, I have until May to decide. I can't function under this kind of pressure.</div>
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<b>The Golden Specific </b>by S.E. Grove (Viking Juvenile, July 14). Okay, okay...so it was planned as a trilogy from the very beginning. The question is: was <b>The Glass Sentence</b> a good enough first novel to merit investing my time, effort, and money in this sequel? I'm saying yes right now because these novels have that Philip Pullman quality that I'm betting are going to be front and center throughout the entire trilogy. Count me in.</div>
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<b>Invasion of the Tearling </b>by Erika Johansen (Harper, June 9). Sequel to the soon-to-be-a-major-motion-picture <b>Queen of the Tearling</b>. Someone remind me if I liked the original well enough to read this. I can't remember. That's probably not a good sign.</div>
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<b>Half Wild</b> by Sally Green (Viking Juvenile, March 24). Yet another second book of a trilogy, but I'm invested enough to continue having enjoyed the first installment, <b>Half Bad</b>, enough to give Green a fair shot at beguiling me with the continuing story of some *very* bad witches and one very conflicted young man who is discovering the nature of good and evil in the world and finding that lines are very blurry indeed.</div>
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Okay, that's enough for now. What sequels are you looking forward to the most? Which ones are you ditching? I'm curious. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-61772464260347168582014-11-21T03:00:00.000-08:002014-11-21T03:00:06.048-08:00Kid Lit: Building Reading ConfidenceI dabble a lot in children's literature. With two kids aged six and eight, one girl and one boy, I get to read it all. From the uber-awesome Mo Willems' Piggy and Elephant books (we own them all) to the entire Percy Jackson series, I've read it. Out loud. Multiple times.<br />
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While reading to our children is a given, sometimes having our kids read to us is a bit trickier. Children who are consistently read to generally develop superb reading comprehension skills at a very young age. Good example: my eight year old son relished Richard Adams' <i style="font-weight: bold;">Watership Down</i> over the summer. I mean, he <u>loved</u> that book. He loved the characters, understood the themes, the whole nine-yards. But this was <i>me</i> reading the book to<i> him</i>. He would not have been able to read the book himself. He's just not at that reading level yet. </div>
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When children first learn to read it's all about board books. Simple words, big pictures. They are then supposed to progress to the chapter book. When you think about it, this is a pretty big leap. The simplest - and most popular - chapter books are the <i><b>Magic Tree House</b></i> series by Mary Pope Osborne. First published in 1992, the Magic Tree House books are based on a simple premise: two young siblings, Jack and Annie, discover a tree house in the woods that is able to magically transport them to different historical places in time and back again. You can see the formula here, right? It's like Danielle Steele for the 6-8 year old range....just change the setting and character names and boom, it's a whole new book. There are 52 books in the series so far with room for many more to come and kids love them. (Please don't make me read them all. I'm begging you.)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For $106 you can own your own Magic Tree House Hell, you lucky dog, you.</td></tr>
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The problem is that despite their popularity, from a child's point of view it is a huge jump from reading the simple words in board books to the Magic Tree House chapter books which weigh in at around 80-100 pages per book. They are daunting to the new reader and can quickly dash a child's new reading skills. Yet that vast gap between board books and chapter books has remained empty for years and years. It's sink or swim in the reading world, kiddos.</div>
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Enter Branches, a new arm of Scholastic. Someone - probably someone with children of their own - saw the need for a simple chapter book with subjects more mature than <b><i>Goodnight, Moon</i></b>, easier to read than full-fledged chapter books so as not to crush emerging readers, but challenging enough to build new reading skills. It's a publishing miracle. I'm in love.</div>
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First of all, the vocabulary in the Branches books isn't dumbed down. It's just as sophisticated as any other chapter book out there on the market. What makes the Branches books brilliant is this: shorter chapters (usually 4-5 pages each) and more illustrations to keep their interest going. This simple adjustment produces an amazing result in emerging readers: it creates self-confidence in their reading skills. And that is a vital part of learning to love reading.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhkXue3Eu9UR9fBP8UkS1Jq5aJQKljo0EXv6DnmQbDZmjei1ZwwhqrDfzHYh2dZjKb_VimSyhuJyac0xrGicfbKkmbMF_wp8mYLXU89Qt7yuOdJYHmxbQ94dQuClD0WTx6CLPx16RC9LT/s1600/branches2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhkXue3Eu9UR9fBP8UkS1Jq5aJQKljo0EXv6DnmQbDZmjei1ZwwhqrDfzHYh2dZjKb_VimSyhuJyac0xrGicfbKkmbMF_wp8mYLXU89Qt7yuOdJYHmxbQ94dQuClD0WTx6CLPx16RC9LT/s1600/branches2.jpg" height="301" width="400" /></a></div>
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Branches is just getting warmed up. Their books are each developing into series (yay!). There are series targeted towards both boys and girls and gender neutral, as well....in other words, they are working hard towards getting something to suit everyone. We are currently reading the first in the new <i><b>Dragon Master </b></i>series by Tracey West in this house and I couldn't give it a higher recommendation. Let me tell you why....because last night as my son finished reading his standard one chapter to me, for the very <b>first time</b> <b>ever</b>, he asked:</div>
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"Do I have to stop? I want to read another chapter."</div>
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Someone hand me a Kleenex.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-7470668858254360762014-11-12T03:00:00.000-08:002014-11-12T07:51:00.245-08:00How the soldiers of WWII saved The Great Gatsby from obscurityYesterday, as we all paused to offer our thanks to our veterans, the odd relationship between books and wartime was streaming and out of my consciousness throughout the day. There are, of course, countless wonderful lists of both fiction and non-fiction books on the subject that no serious bibliophile should miss. But I was ruminating on the relationship between the publishing industry and wartime, specifically the Council of Books in Wartime, an organization formed in 1942 by people in the book world who wanted to use books to promote the war effort.<br />
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It was well known at the time that Germany and other Axis powers were fond of book burning. This tried and true Fascist trick was quickly becoming a symbol of the oppression dictators like Hitler and Mussolini were trying to spread throughout Europe and beyond. The Council of Books in Wartime saw a multi-faceted opportunity. If they were to distribute books - free books - to American soldiers fighting overseas, not only would we be boosting the morale of our own troops, but the world would see America's freedom. Not only do we not burn books in America, we give them away - we <i>fly books thousands of miles over vast oceans to distribute them</i> to our soldiers. </div>
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Of course, the publishers had other motives as well. They were hoping to create a new generation of readers; men who would return from war with a love of books that they would then pass on to their children and so on and so forth. It was, in a sense, a financial investment.</div>
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The editions of books the Council chose to publish would become known as the Armed Services Editions. And they were amazing. The publishers went with quality literature, but they needed to be able to publish new editions cheaply (the army was only paying $0.06 per book). They ended up using magazine presses to keep the cost low and the books were wider than they were tall with two columns of text on each page. The first boxes were shipped out in the summer of 1943 and were an instant hit with the troops.</div>
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Over the next four years, <b>122,951,031 </b>Armed Services Edition books were printed. These were quality, hard-cover books being turned into portable paperbacks for our troops. And it was amazing. Did it pay off? In a word, yes. But in ways not expected. Veterans did return from the war still yearning to read books, but it wasn't the hard cover books the publishers were hoping for. Instead, they ushered in a new demand for paperback books that brought publishers unexpected profits and turned reading into a new American pastime. </div>
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But how does <i>The Great Gatsby</i> figure into all of this? I nearly forgot to tell you. One of the books chosen to be published and sent to the troops in 1945 was a little-known short novel that probably shouldn't even have been included by the Council. It had only sold 120 copies in 1944 and by 1945 it had been allowed to go out of print entirely because it was so obscure. But for whatever reason, it was included in the list of books and 155,000 copies were sent off overseas. The novel, of course, was <i>The Great Gatsby</i>. Without the Council of Books in Wartime, Fitzgerald's novel would never have become required classroom reading in America. A most interesting turn of events.</div>
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For more information on this interesting event, consult Yoni Applebaum's <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/09/publishers-gave-away-122951031-books-during-world-war-ii/379893/" target="_blank">article</a> in <i>The Atlantic.</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-90229200876259159122014-11-10T03:00:00.000-08:002014-11-10T03:00:01.760-08:00How women's fiction won the fight against misogynyRecently I came across one of Roxane Gay's essays in her collection <i style="font-weight: bold;">Bad Feminist</i> titled "Beyond the Measure of Men" in which she laments what she calls the "trickle-down misogyny" that has pervaded the publishing world resulting in that evil-of-all-evils, <i>women's fiction. </i>While I love a good social injustice to rise up against as much as the next liberal, try as I might I simply can not see the injustice in the women's fiction genre.<div>
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Oh, that an obnoxious patriarchy exists in the publishing world exists cannot be denied. The aged group of white, button-down, Presbyterian men who lunched with luminaries such as Bennet Cerf still cling to some semblance of control (and their oxygen tanks) whilst trying to instill their antiquarian views on their sons and nephews, but their days are undoubtedly numbered. They matter little and are on the official Endangered Species list even as I type this.</div>
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What matters - and what women authors such as Gay and Wolitzer and Messud tend to forget or altogether ignore - are factual statistics. According to multiple surveys taken in the United States, Britain, and Canada, men make up only 20% of the fiction readers market (See <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14175229" target="_blank">NPR article</a>). That's right. <b>20%</b>. This would be why author Ian McEwan once said, "When women stop reading, the novel will be dead."</div>
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Is it any wonder that the marketing departments of the great publishing houses created the so-called Chick-Lit genre? Dear God in heaven, bankruptcy would have ensued had they not desperately catered to their largest market: women. Whether a woman prefers literature (Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, Barbara Kingsolver, Louise Erdrich, Jennifer Egan), mysteries (P.D. James, Janet Evanovitch), romance (Nora Roberts), historical fiction (Hilary Mantel, Diana Gabaldon, Sarah Waters, Geraldine Brooks), Fantasy (Margaret Atwood), Sci-Fi (Ursula Le Guin), or Non-Fiction (Mary Roach, Laura Hillenbrand), as an author I'd sure as hell want my work sub-categorized as "Women's Fiction" so the damned thing would <u>sell</u> to the one audience who is buying......WOMEN. </div>
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Is it more important to be publicly lauded by a questionable human being such as Franzen than it is to <u>out-sell</u> the bastard? Do we really - as a gender - need validation from men to feel important? I'm left feeling worse than when I simply thought women were being held back.</div>
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As a woman who works in an industry fraught with misogyny far worse than the publishing industry, I understand the underlying frustration expressed by Gay and her fellow authors. Really, I do. But after over a decade fighting it, I've also learned this: a woman has to learn what it is she is fighting against. I don't think these intelligent, bright women understand - at least not quite yet - what they are fighting against. </div>
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Because they don't realize they've already won.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-13512061962447857462014-11-07T03:00:00.000-08:002014-11-07T03:00:08.546-08:00Welcome to Night Vale<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkj59Va7o2fkEZ-oTiYn-PVJMHapmRvkHU8TdY4d6uGFzTPRxIKZH0_Tk7yiXs6-O5V8rczbXhbQdh8B9VukHhZrFn2Q-XMJ6wL0iOKA2D7O_uJouvAGP7co3EgOvTXwkjQP9hqbnqOnzK/s1600/Nitevale1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkj59Va7o2fkEZ-oTiYn-PVJMHapmRvkHU8TdY4d6uGFzTPRxIKZH0_Tk7yiXs6-O5V8rczbXhbQdh8B9VukHhZrFn2Q-XMJ6wL0iOKA2D7O_uJouvAGP7co3EgOvTXwkjQP9hqbnqOnzK/s1600/Nitevale1.gif" /></a></div>
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While others are binge watching shows on Netflix, after learning that Wil Wheaton made a guest appearance on the October 15 episode of the on-going, comedy-satire-conspiracy-theory-podcast-masquerading-as-a-novel-masquerading-as-a-radio-show for the fictional town of Night Vale, I decided it was finally time to binge-listen to this cult classic and get caught up on <b>Welcome to Night Vale.</b></div>
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For those of you unfamiliar with this popular podcast now in it's second year (Episode 56!), Night Vale is a conspiracy ridden desert town in the Southwest. Every podcast is delivered by Night Vale Community Radio. We learn every soap-opera-like detail (hysterical) via this radio broadcast, each of which lasts approximately 20 minutes. Created by Joseph Fink with the radio broadcast performed by Cecil Baldwin, the podcast is drowning in satire and has led the Top Ten Podcasts lists since 2013.<br />
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I won't try to catch you up on the plot of Night Vale, but I will say that if Wil Wheaton is guest performing, it's cool enough for all of you, too. </div>
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<i>Holy crap....in Episode 3:</i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><i>"</i><span style="color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Listeners, we are currently fielding numerous reports that books have stopped working. It seems that all over Night Vale, books have simply ceased functioning. The scientists are studying one of the broken books to see if they can understand just what is going on here. The exact problem is currently unclear, but some of the words being used include ‘sparks,’ ‘meat smell,’ ‘biting,’ and ‘lethal gas.’ For your own safety, please do not attempt to open a book until we have more information on the nature and cause of these problems. The city council has released only a brief statement, indicating that their stance on books has not changed, and that, as always, they believe that books are dangerous and inadvisable, and should not be kept in private homes."</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-40143799778379002462014-11-05T01:00:00.000-08:002014-11-06T22:47:26.738-08:00Can the book be separated from the author? <div>
TL;DR: No, it can't. But if you want to be taken seriously as a book reviewer, you'd better learn to try.</div>
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I can't tell you how many times I've mulled this question over. Countless hours of <strike>arguing with myself</strike> thoughtful rumination have been devoted to this probably pointless philosophical argument, yet every few months something triggers it again and I find myself right back where I started.<br />
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My sense of fair play screams that of course we should judge art - any art, including literature - in a vacuum, separate and apart from it's creator. It stands alone. My idealistic self righteously huffs that any given work of art should be critiqued as if it were found by itself, anonymous in context and authorship. After all, if we automatically rejected all literature because the author is....how should I say it?....<strike>an asshole</strike> an asshole, we wouldn't have Hemingway or Dickens or Wagner's music or Woody Allen's movies, to name but a few.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEI5m3ybeATXiy1pSa8BvUqYxy0NZz7fH1b4xMHNp_Clp7b9_SGgL-ouh1Zr2cvzPAOK7tq_gjwHo1yM1fm1lBGHu7M5cA-3ok7JxbmiGwH4-kTeu8G9hBu-_TwtX-bYovc0vE_hIouDKo/s1600/Hemingway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEI5m3ybeATXiy1pSa8BvUqYxy0NZz7fH1b4xMHNp_Clp7b9_SGgL-ouh1Zr2cvzPAOK7tq_gjwHo1yM1fm1lBGHu7M5cA-3ok7JxbmiGwH4-kTeu8G9hBu-_TwtX-bYovc0vE_hIouDKo/s1600/Hemingway.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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And yet. My idealistic self also dislikes assholes. I can't listen to <i>Ride of the Valkyries</i> without ruminating on Wagner's anti-Semitism. I hate Hemingway and find his books ridiculously pretentious. I'll never be able to watch another Woody Allen film ever again. And Dickens? Dickens is the toughest of all because I truly appreciate his writing, yet admittedly thoughts of his ass-hattery behavior are never far from my mind as I turn the pages, leading to far more snarky comments that I really should be thinking. (You'll be hearing more about this next month as I plow my way through <i>Bleak House.</i> Oh yes, I'm determined.)</div>
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But if I'm going to somehow justify allowing the negative actions or personality traits of an author to unduly influence my perception of their work, it must therefore also be true that I would allow the positive or likable authors to unduly influence me as well. Hmmmm. Those are fighting words to the book reviewer, are they not? The idea that we might be somehow promoting a novel because we like the author on a personal level is quite unethical; abhorrent even. And yet the idea cannot be dismissed out of hand. Because good people do indeed write bad books. It happens. Case in point: James Patterson. Certainly this must be a good, kind man. He has, after all, given millions of dollars of his own personal money to the flagging independent book store industry, a most noble cause and one all true book lovers can champion. Yet let's be honest about his books....he doesn't even write them himself anymore for the love of the book gods, instead farming the outlines out to other writers who now share his franchise. Granted, Patterson isn't out to win literary prizes here, his goal is to churn out as many money-making novels as he can in a given year (hence the farming-out of multiple outlines to multiple writers at once), but folks, most of these books deserved to be panned blogger reviews. Yet he is a good man....are we to be influenced by this? Do we even realize it if we are?</div>
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The answers to these questions vary. Pop culture insists one has every right to be influenced by the artist when considering or evaluating their work, but that's because pop culture loves a good gossip and will justify it however they can.</div>
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But academic art criticism tells us the something else entirely. An educated art critic must learn to separate their own emotions from <u>both</u> the art and the artist being evaluated. While a large part of art is the emotions any given work evokes, as a critic we are not supposed to include the emotions <i>the artist</i> <i>as a person</i> evokes. That is an important distinction. While the artist is an essential part of the work that is created, it may or may not end up playing a role in the criticism of the piece being evaluated in your review. </div>
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This is tricky, folks, I'll admit. When a book's themes, characters, etc, are reflecting the author's own well-known views or experiences, this is when the author's character is important and needs to be included in your critique. It is a part of the literature and it is perfectly acceptable to allow the author themselves to influence your review of the book.</div>
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If not, then the reviewer has the much more difficult task of excluding anything you know about that author from your evaluation of the work. If you cannot do that without bias (and this is the part where I fully admit to you that there are simply times when I can not do it), then don't review the book. </div>
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And if it makes you feel any better, I'll tell you that the list of books I'm not allowed to review because I cannot possibly do it objectively is, right now, too damn long to post here. While many of the books I've self-imposed a no-review moratorium on post little hardship, others genuinely pain me....anything by Orson Scott Card, for example.</div>
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I absolutely adored <i>Ender's Game</i>. And it nearly broke my heart in two to discover, shortly after finishing the novel, that Card is a vocal opponent to gay marriage who donates much of his financial windfall from the <i>Ender's Game</i> series and franchise to fighting the legal establishment of gay marriage in his home state of California. While Card, of course, is free to spend his money however he likes, as a consumer I am also free to <i>not</i> spend my own money on any further of the <i>Ender's Game</i> series of books, however much I enjoyed reading that first one. I am also free to choose <i>not</i> to promote Card's work by offering up reviews or recommendations of his books to other readers. But it pains me...it really does. Because A) I really loved that damned <i>Ender's Game</i>, and B) there's nothing in his work that should lead me to include Card's personal views/life in my critique of his work. Except the Buggers. Damn.</div>
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See how hard this is?</div>
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Dammit.</div>
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Now you try.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-2986289000901953902014-11-03T03:00:00.000-08:002014-11-03T07:15:22.811-08:00In Which Author Matt Haig Tells the Truth (and upsets Twitter in the process)As those of you who keep your ear tuned to the beat of the unholy Twitter drums might already know, author Matt Haig had a few things to say on the popular social media platform over the weekend. Haig, I'm quite sure, felt his comments would go largely appreciated, given the recent <strike>scandals</strike> <strike>bullshit</strike> <strike>dumbass publicity stunts</strike> <strike>dammit I can't get this right</strike> events in the book blogging world in which a handful of writers have made it a new sport to take to intimidate, stalk, or even - in one instance - physically assault book bloggers who write less-than-glowing reviews of their work. Haig tweeted:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj894uPjWVLNPiUwYr9LbX_n_fxhhiRwlqdwUUz7mLLUz8dvAd64VJdZYjVPBxLvbtrmcz5GHxQ80of7mKiKRRrjuiOO9jiDKoPBZ-uTQwx0G64RPGw3MQ3fCVmKQq7GXlFldBX1OlP9PDv/s1600/matthaig1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj894uPjWVLNPiUwYr9LbX_n_fxhhiRwlqdwUUz7mLLUz8dvAd64VJdZYjVPBxLvbtrmcz5GHxQ80of7mKiKRRrjuiOO9jiDKoPBZ-uTQwx0G64RPGw3MQ3fCVmKQq7GXlFldBX1OlP9PDv/s1600/matthaig1.jpg" height="81" width="400" /></a></div>
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I'm also quite sure he didn't expect the Twitter firestorm this statement would produce as book bloggers and authors quickly squared off into their respective corners for the boxing match of the weekend. In a surprising twist, many bloggers disagreed with Haig. They took umbrage with statements such as,</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNhT1JORCkZFJOuLnAaYV9AoZ7e9fn89L36Jhh_lWjQ6PIYdZ7zRgxexOshfvFSxBGczZ0_jUDZ2zPCXpnibtlXdqRhYNSCiZ1FPme2JGaoqdSOjyTU2SbbKVEUY8s2YSGgSFIyhar3go/s1600/matthaig12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNhT1JORCkZFJOuLnAaYV9AoZ7e9fn89L36Jhh_lWjQ6PIYdZ7zRgxexOshfvFSxBGczZ0_jUDZ2zPCXpnibtlXdqRhYNSCiZ1FPme2JGaoqdSOjyTU2SbbKVEUY8s2YSGgSFIyhar3go/s1600/matthaig12.jpg" height="117" width="400" /></a></div>
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So <u style="font-style: italic;">why</u> did so many people disagree? </div>
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Well, it seems that many people took Haig's comments personally and noted that they themselves do not write negative reviews. Ever. And they most certainly did <b>not</b> like Haig's insinuation that they might be doing the book review world a disservice with their constant flow of 5-star review books. And here's the thing: some <strike>good</strike> interesting points made. Many people felt that negative reviews written by book bloggers are always going to be unprofessional, unproductive, and ultimately hurtful. </div>
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A quick glance through GoodReads affirms that many negative reviews can be <i>brutal</i>. But it begs the question, just who are reviews written for? The author or potential readers? There is no doubt in my mind that book reviews are written for potential readers. They are <b>not</b> for authors. In fact, experienced and seasoned authors know to stay far away from reviews of their books. Or at least to steel themselves against them. Even Haig, I'm sure, remembers the angst of reading the Amazon reviews of his book <i>The Radley's </i>being negatively compared to the <i>Twilight </i>novels, an experience that can't have been pleasant.</div>
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But Haig's argument's <u>for</u> critical reviews are far more compelling than any hurt feelings caused by snarky reviews. Chiefly, he calls for conversation. That, after all, is what books are meant to do: create thought and engage us in conversation. And that cannot happen if every book is being fawned over as the "perfect read." Nevermind that it is statistically impossible for every single book a person reads and reviews to be a five-star experience...it disengages any conversation, one of the prime purposes books exist.</div>
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The line between a pro-bono public relations agent for publishers/authors who have given bloggers free books and an advocate for a beloved hobby is sometimes razor thin and easily blurred. Many times it's difficult to see what side of the line we are currently on and as bloggers, it's not uncommon to find ourselves on different sides of it at different times over the years as our experiences change our opinions. What is necessary, however, is to stop and evaluate ourselves every once in a while. Take a look at our recent reviews. Is there a trend? If so, is it a good one or not? </div>
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And while most bloggers are pretty good at self-policing, admittedly, I am not. So I task all of you with watching me like a hawk. All of my book reviews can be found just there to your right on the Goodreads sidebar. Keep an eye on them, will you? If you start noticing too many one-star or five-star trends, CALL. ME. OUT.</div>
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Deal?</div>
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Read on, people. Read on.....</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-15281328631290469192014-10-31T03:00:00.000-07:002014-10-31T07:52:22.361-07:00BooIt's the creepiest day of the year and I hope everyone has some some good Halloween activities lined up tonight. I toyed with the idea of dressing up as Stalker Author Kathleen Hale because what's easier than getting in my car and randomly sitting in front of people's houses wondering if they are the book blogger I'm looking for? But since I didn't get an invite to Harper Teen's big Halloween Bash, I suppose my efforts would be wasted. Alas, there's always next year.<br />
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So what Halloween treat do I have for you this year? In an effort to make up for my missed Sunday Webcomics episodes, I'm giving you one of the most lauded and scariest webcomics of all time, <i style="font-weight: bold;">Bongcheon-dong Ghost Story</i>. Originally a part of a group of web short stories that appeared back in 2011, this amazing short story by HORANG is based on a South Korean urban legend and seriously ought to come with a health warning, so I'm giving you one right now:</div>
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DO NOT READ if you have heart problems or </div>
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any other health issues that severe fright might exacerbate. DO NOT READ</div>
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if you do not like wetting your pants or letting out a little scream.</div>
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You've been warned, right? </div>
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RIGHT?</div>
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Now, Happy Halloween! Enjoy!!!</div>
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<b><a href="http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail.nhn?titleId=350217&no=31&weekday=tue">The Bongcheon-dong Ghost Story</a></b> (follow link, then read the webcomic by scrolling down)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-33956307420206546972014-10-27T03:00:00.000-07:002014-10-27T03:00:04.312-07:00Book Review: THE CHILDREN ACTYes, it's been very quiet around here lately. Mostly because I gathered up family, hopped on a couple of airplanes, and jetted off to Tuscany for a bit. And while I did get myself one of those fancy-schmancy wireless internet pocket devices while we were driving around the Italian countryside and had complete blogging access to the interwebz, I'll be honest....I just didn't feel like it.<div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIZ5xGdr4go-YW3ZpAwfU6R72wYj-PXtSz69b4nSBohUNhdFYY7cPNFtmGHooH0QXBrjIBdVbBTQC1BZNABgfMVMjrl11X8BriZbEYoMNcapCw853LGLdaOYfNQJbUsoEbzCDrYSwEOMNH/s1600/IMG_2625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIZ5xGdr4go-YW3ZpAwfU6R72wYj-PXtSz69b4nSBohUNhdFYY7cPNFtmGHooH0QXBrjIBdVbBTQC1BZNABgfMVMjrl11X8BriZbEYoMNcapCw853LGLdaOYfNQJbUsoEbzCDrYSwEOMNH/s1600/IMG_2625.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">we had the Mr. with us, too, but he was the official photographer</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cinque Terre</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid7yiA_ORxjov_QxmLHUiO-rNoEX18ExHWKfpYV9LxtFK5o-ja7Zj_lc4ZqM-sFfElZNj8njm_eAml31rrgPocqif_DbN71sp6k7ktzTz8ZV23wR3MbUmhWCVaiMFZamGGQCRIqs0LqMEB/s1600/IMG_2619.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid7yiA_ORxjov_QxmLHUiO-rNoEX18ExHWKfpYV9LxtFK5o-ja7Zj_lc4ZqM-sFfElZNj8njm_eAml31rrgPocqif_DbN71sp6k7ktzTz8ZV23wR3MbUmhWCVaiMFZamGGQCRIqs0LqMEB/s1600/IMG_2619.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">balcony where the reading got done</td></tr>
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In fact, I wasn't all that bookish at all throughout our travels. Aside from enjoying the Tuscan sunrise with my coffee and Ian McEwan's <b>The Children Act</b>, I wasn't voraciously plowing through books. Perhaps there was something about the northern Italian countryside that encouraged me to slow down and read McEwan's new novel languidly. The story, blurbed as the conflict a family judge experiences deciding a case in which a minor child - a Jehovah's Witness - wishes to refuse a lifesaving blood transfusion, actually turned out to be a fascinating and insightful character study of London judge Fiona Maye who is facing her own person crises as she carries on with her professional duties in family court. I found myself exceedingly drawn to Fiona: a married career woman who has, consciously or not, given up children of her own for a very successful career in law. The reader, like Fiona herself, can't help but wonder whether this choice has in any way contributed to her husband's recent abrupt announcement that without a dramatic and immediate change in their marital relations, he intends to embark upon an affair with another, and of course younger, woman.</div>
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Fiona's introspection is magnificent as it is interwoven with her current case of a young man just shy of legal adulthood who requires a blood transfusion to live but is refusing it on the grounds of his religion. Fiona makes her decision in the case rather early in the novel and the rest of narrative tells the story of the (shocking) repercussions of her ruling. It is this perspective that propels the novel from merely good to excellent, reminding everyone why McEwan is so very admired in his field. All of this he does in a mere 224 pages. Is <b>The Children Act</b> his best work? I wouldn't go that far, but I will say it is an admirable, thought-provoking piece to add to his canon. </div>
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And of course I should admit that McEwan's poke at longer novels being in sore need of editing probably got my attention as well. As much as I love a <i>good</i> long novel, I must admit that he is correct: very few are well-written enough to justify their length. You can read his controversial thoughts on the matter <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2740179/900-pages-long-novel-says-Ian-McEwan-Booker-prize-winning-author-believes-long-books-need-editing.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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I'll be talking a little bit more about Italy, the drama that occurred in the book world while I was away, and some changes that are going to be made to this blog as a result of all this as the week goes on. In the meanwhile, I hope everyone has been reading some good stuff while I've been away (readathon, anyone?) and getting ready for Halloween. What great books have I been missing?</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-6626238654987720852014-09-22T03:00:00.000-07:002014-09-22T10:48:11.550-07:00The Disappearance of Agatha<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been on a bit of an Agatha Christie binge lately, helped along by Masterpiece Theater and their fabulous renderings of some of the best Hercules Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries. Although she wrote more than just the Poirot and Marple series - did you know she wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott? - Christie will always be known as the Queen of Mystery. She's also the most-read novelist of all time. We know so much about her as a novelist, but little is ever discussed about her personal life.</div>
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Of course this wasn't always the case. In 1926, the Queen of Mystery made headlines around the world when she herself disappeared. It was a Friday, December 23, when Agatha Christie kissed her daughter goodnight and left her home in Berkshire around 9:45 pm and drove away without explanation. Her abandoned car was later found near Guildford but without a trace of the author to be found. No clues. No ransom note. No sign of foul play. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZpKIumrCarYXsOykX2lnio-kzz_NpG6z-NAWW5aebkSLIMdKr_4bS6UXx8p496WBbX8C2XRyJswUKjNAa7lEMATIPAsUEvA00zkhuOUmoIwYCEEHUZHG7zd9Bu0KPuU-A_j4t80t8bd51/s1600/thecar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZpKIumrCarYXsOykX2lnio-kzz_NpG6z-NAWW5aebkSLIMdKr_4bS6UXx8p496WBbX8C2XRyJswUKjNAa7lEMATIPAsUEvA00zkhuOUmoIwYCEEHUZHG7zd9Bu0KPuU-A_j4t80t8bd51/s1600/thecar.jpg" height="208" width="320" /></a></div>
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Christie was enjoying the soaring heights of success. <i>The Murder of Roger Ackroyd </i>was her newest novel and was enjoying exceptional sales. As the days passed with no sign of the author, the country began to fear the worst. Police mobilized 15,000 volunteers to search the local area, including a local lake called the Silent Pool which Christie had used in one of her novels for a character's death. Suspicion also turned toward Christie's dashing WWI Airman husband, Colonel Archibald Christie (police even tapped his phone); suspicions perhaps not too unfounded, as it turned out.</div>
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For eleven days England feared the worst. Then, inexplicably, Christie was discovered safe and sound at a spa in Harrogate, signed in under the name of Theresa Neele (if you're keeping track of clues, this is one is important). If you're wondering <i>what the hell?</i> you're not alone. So was everyone else. Word on the street was that Christie was suffering from temporary amnesia, but really, no one was really talking, especially Christie herself.</div>
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What we do know:</div>
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1. The good Colonel Archibald was indeed playing hokey-pokey on the side. He had found himself a mistress by the name of Nancy Neele (ahem, note the name) and was, in fact, spending the very weekend of the disappearance cooped up in a love-nest with his mistress. Prior to Christie's disappearance that night, the Colonel had informed Agatha that despite twelve years of marriage and a child together, he had fallen in love with the good Ms. Neele and wanted a divorce.</div>
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2. Earlier in the year, Christie's mother, with whom she was quite close, had passed away. It had fallen to Christie to deal with the post-death arrangements as well as the closing up of her childhood home. Christie's husband, the Colonel, being otherwise occupied (see #1).</div>
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3. Christie wrote several confusing (or misdirecting?) letters just prior to her disappearance. One was to the local police constable stating that she feared for her life. Another was to her brother-in-law (Colonel Archie's brother) telling him she would be leaving on a spa vacation shortly. Indeed she would.</div>
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4. While the country was expecting the worst and all resources mobilized, Agatha placed an advertisement in the London Times stating that Mrs Theresea Neele was looking to get in touch with relatives and they could find her at the spa in Harrogate. It wasn't until her fellow guests at the spa began note the similarities between "Theresa Neele" and the missing Agatha Christie that the whole thing blew up. Colonel Christie drove down to the spa, scooped her up and that was that.</div>
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5. England was, needless to say, absolutely furious. Most people believed that the entire thing either was a staged publicity stunt set up by Christie's publisher to up the sales of her book, despite doctor's statements to the contrary or a personal vendetta by Christie herself to punish her wayward husband. The wasted resources and - most likely - the disappointment over a possible national tragedy turning into a simple spa visit inspired righteous indignation as only the English can produce. </div>
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6. The official word from the Christie camp seemed to claim temporary amnesia brought on by stress, although incident was swept under the rug as quickly as possible and never officially spoken of by the author herself ever again. She and the Colonel never lived together again and their divorce became final in 1928. How she put her life back together is another story altogether.</div>
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The disappearance of Agatha Christie remained one of the most gossiped-about events of the early part of the 20th century. But for me, it is only a glimpse into what must have been one of the most excruciatingly painful periods of Christie's life. The death of her mother; a husband who was obviously crappy even before he requested a divorce. This was 1926 when the Colonel would have every right, despite his philandering and downright crappiness, to expect to obtain full custody of their daughter. While her writing may have been a success, her personal life was completely disintegrating. </div>
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So did Christie suffer from temporary amnesia? Frankly, it's none of my business. I'm simply thankful that she made it through that period of her life and went on to find stability, happiness, and a typewriter. Because if she hadn't, the world would be a lesser place.</div>
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Oh, and one last thing. In 2013, a very valuable silver cigarette case came up for auction in London. It was fondly inscribed to a certain man from Mr. and Mrs. Christie in 1926. The man in question happened to be the person who blew the whistle on Agatha at Harrogate Spa all those years ago, alerting authorities as to where their missing author really was. Make of that what you will, super-sleuths.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-51096053134199829672014-09-15T03:00:00.000-07:002014-09-15T03:00:10.379-07:00Welcome to the Detection Club<div style="border: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.428571em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
I recently finished reading the new William Morrow edition of Agatha Christie's classic mystery novel <em style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.428571em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">After the Funeral</em>. It goes without saying that there really cannot be too many editions of the Queen of Mystery's books and this particular Poirot whodunit remains one of her more satisfying efforts. After turning the last page, once again failing to name the culprit before the big reveal (yes, I used a <a data-mce-href="http://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/hound/tg_log.pdf" href="http://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/hound/tg_log.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: #047ac6; line-height: 1.428571em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">detective's log</a> and no it didn't work), I flipped back to the introduction I had skipped over in my haste to begin the story. (I have a horrible habit of skipping introductions. I don't want to hear what someone else thinks of a book before I even begin reading reading it. Spoilers lurk everywhere in introductions. It is a minefield to be avoided at all costs.)</div>
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This particular introduction was written by Sophie Hannah, the author who was chosen to pen the upcoming "Agatha Christie Mystery" <em style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.428571em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Monogram Murders</em>. (If you harbor doubts about anyone else - regardless of talent - writing as Agatha Christie allow me to assure you that you're not alone. But that is a discussion for another day.) In her introduction Hannah muses that the kind of mysteries Christie wrote, "the ones with the high-concept, seemingly-impossible-yet-possible solutions, the ones that take your breath away," would not curry favor with contemporary readers whose "expectations of novels have changed." She notes that during Christie's time, readers simply expected an exciting story, while today's readers expect more realism. In some sub-genres, of course, this is true. She never explicitly says so (and I wondered if she knew it herself), but she is simply describing what is known as the different Schools of Mystery.</div>
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Agatha Christie belonged to what is known as The Golden Age of the British Detective Novel which flourished between the 1920s and the 1930s (also called Puzzle-Plots). Cleverness was the name of the game and outwitting the reader was the goal. Grisly violence, social or political commentary, and descriptive sex was all off limits because it was untidy and couldn't be resolved with a return to nice, neat British social order by the end. Our cousins across the pond do love things nice and tidy...little wonder I harbor such an affinity for them. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Agatha Christie</td></tr>
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<span style="line-height: 1.428571em;">And who can blame the public for making these novels bestsellers? The 1920s saw Europe in tatters. World War I had just ended and everyone was still questioning the death, the carnage. For what? Order - not just social order - had been destroyed. The Lost Generation was groping it's way through the arts. Fascism was rising across the Continent. The average reader lacked an anchor...stability. The British detective novels were, if not quite solvable for the average reader, predictable in format. They provided a safe feeling that order would be restored by the end of the novel.</span></div>
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In 1928 a group of authors gathered together to form a club (a club which is still, by the way, still in existence today). They called it the Detection Club. The first President was C.K. Chesterton. Founding members: Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Anthony Berkeley, Gladys Mitchell, Miles Burton/John Rhode, Father Ronald Knox, and Freeman Wills Croft. Members of the club agreed to rigidly adhere to the following ten rules as established by Knox:</div>
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<li style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.428571em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The criminal must be someone mentioned in the early part of the story, but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to follow.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.428571em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.428571em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Not more than one secret room or passage is allowable.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.428571em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.428571em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">No Chinaman may figure in the story.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.428571em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">No accident must ever help the detective, nor must he ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.428571em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The detective must not himself commit the crime.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.428571em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The detective must not light on any clues which are not instantly produced for the inspection of the reader.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.428571em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The stupid friend of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal any thoughts which pass through his mind; his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly, below that of the average reader.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.428571em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Twin brothers, and doubles generally, must not appear unless we have been duly prepared for them.</li>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1932 Detection Club Dinner</td></tr>
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<span style="line-height: 1.428571em;">If the rules and format of a British Detective Novel from the Golden Age sound vaguely familiar to modern day readers, it might be because you still see their offspring in what we now refer to as</span><span style="line-height: 1.428571em;"> </span><i style="line-height: 1.428571em;">cosy mysteries</i><span style="line-height: 1.428571em;">. I find it fascinating that the name of the sub-genre reflects the comfort that the original genre produced in it's audiences. I don't believe that to be coincidence.</span></div>
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The Puzzle-Plots that Agatha Christie wrote were only one of many Schools of Mystery that have made an appearance since Edgar Allan Poe first ushered in what would become an irresistible genre of reading. From hard-boiled detective fiction to locked-room mysteries; from police procedurals to psychological thrillers, the mystery genre has a variety of schools that are all worthy of study. I'm not entirely certain that they completely evolved from reader demands, but rather were simply a reflection of the times. While Sophie Hannah contends that modern day readers find Christie's plots not "plausible" enough to find commercial success, I would argue that the fact that William Morrow is publishing brand-new editions of Christie's novels refutes that argument entirely. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-41132033983764210802014-09-14T03:30:00.000-07:002014-09-14T03:30:01.360-07:00Sunday Webcomics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroi1hg8xbf62QOjQqlsz7NidbhutyDdfWgJ_T_AVEjlP1XPxeyLni2k3vCA9p1QSIpv81-eWuDFujpTMatEYJrTfX3KFK3rhpl_EiNDxyZj67mCHbnrDc3Pcxyru5MynhRczmM3ggHhC8/s1600/SundayComics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroi1hg8xbf62QOjQqlsz7NidbhutyDdfWgJ_T_AVEjlP1XPxeyLni2k3vCA9p1QSIpv81-eWuDFujpTMatEYJrTfX3KFK3rhpl_EiNDxyZj67mCHbnrDc3Pcxyru5MynhRczmM3ggHhC8/s1600/SundayComics.jpg" height="261" width="320" /></a></div>
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So <a href="http://readersrespite.blogspot.com/2014/09/sunday-comics.html" target="_blank">last week</a> I was featured <a href="http://theoatmeal.com/" target="_blank">The Oatmeal</a>, which is a stand-alone type comic. Another another form of webcomic - and this type might look more familiar to you in the guise of a graphic novel - is a dramatic series that has a long, continuing story with a recurring set of characters and a fully-formed plot line.</div>
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Needless to say, this type of webcomic has it's roots in the comic books days of old when superheros would take an entire comic book to defeat the nefarious evil-doers threatening to destroy mankind. If you look very close, the old comic books would actually run in a series themselves (hence why they were numbered) to tell the long story. In the case of webcomics they are usually serialized, appearing once per week on average (the website will tell you how often and what day they publish and of course you can subscribe to their feed). Once a story is complete, it is usually left archived for new readers to discover and/or available for purchase in graphic novel format.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigh9h-TwPetWOf5jKGd5Zr-iezchFv1u3gwl-1Rj0BYkxVp617JPlm4q17tvAG9tX2t5AOXGCob4oTG2RL9uwnM3fChCaa7ufrRvHB-oHL4JWgTODdLiFW4XbQdDUKxg3lB8J3qzy1iDa8/s1600/FreakAngels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigh9h-TwPetWOf5jKGd5Zr-iezchFv1u3gwl-1Rj0BYkxVp617JPlm4q17tvAG9tX2t5AOXGCob4oTG2RL9uwnM3fChCaa7ufrRvHB-oHL4JWgTODdLiFW4XbQdDUKxg3lB8J3qzy1iDa8/s1600/FreakAngels.jpg" height="320" width="209" /></a></div>
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One of the better examples of a webcomic with a long running storyline is <b>FREAKANGELS</b>, which appeared weekly between 2008 and 2011 to wild popular acclaim. A post-apocalyptic story written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Paul Duffield, FreakAngels ended it's run at 864 pages. Oh yes, you read right. 864 pages. And it's all <a href="http://www.freakangels.com/?p=23" target="_blank">still available</a> and new fans are (binge) reading it every day.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWOx9tAXstOISuKkz5NImyY4QqBh0ofHhyphenhyphenIr7zpPj86ZTrGbmQ3WsDnTOrmwnCPSpWacdaSnFl1KoFPW8fWyuMIbjbMygDxxnoIFCyp7oDYwFwV_pH_PgcLPX2pAC1byEA0mDsVG9e697/s1600/StartPageFA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWOx9tAXstOISuKkz5NImyY4QqBh0ofHhyphenhyphenIr7zpPj86ZTrGbmQ3WsDnTOrmwnCPSpWacdaSnFl1KoFPW8fWyuMIbjbMygDxxnoIFCyp7oDYwFwV_pH_PgcLPX2pAC1byEA0mDsVG9e697/s1600/StartPageFA.jpg" height="400" width="261" /></a></div>
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Based off John Wyndham's 1957 science fiction novel <i>The Midwich Cuckoos </i>(later turned into the movie <i>The Village of the Damned</i>), FreakAngels imagines what might have happened if the creepy children featured in the original novel survived and lived to see a world destroyed by apocalyptic flooding. </div>
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Recipient of the 2010 and 2012 "Favourite Web-Based Comic" Eagle Award, FreakAngels carried some serious clout in the world of webcomics and is worth checking out if you have any interest in apocalyptic fiction or in seeing where the bar has been set in the past.<br /><br />So get comfy. <a href="http://www.freakangels.com/?p=23" target="_blank">Check it out</a>.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078315941472495277.post-72080319967920898132014-09-09T03:00:00.000-07:002014-09-09T03:00:08.581-07:00Boom.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqzkO38UiRMxKooSUGjicq6C-30iXNZhymyEwY2MK5jn6LPk4njp3NnN9TpFLUxKhoP1RLKwGHvbbC9gSx9xXP0BYxIpRrZx6eOmZqsPS2VyQPNwd5cCmRoVb_2Rsqvhfh22rxaXCAYn-/s1600/rip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqzkO38UiRMxKooSUGjicq6C-30iXNZhymyEwY2MK5jn6LPk4njp3NnN9TpFLUxKhoP1RLKwGHvbbC9gSx9xXP0BYxIpRrZx6eOmZqsPS2VyQPNwd5cCmRoVb_2Rsqvhfh22rxaXCAYn-/s1600/rip.jpg" height="400" width="318" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I shouldn't have to tell you what this means. <a href="http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/r-eaders-i-mbibing-p-eril-ix#more-11389" target="_blank">Stainless Steel Droppings</a>. See you there.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344564674518342228noreply@blogger.com5