Before we get started with this week’s roundup, I’m happy to announce that Weekly Geeks has been nominated in three categories for Book Blogger Appreciation Week (BBAW): Best Series or Feature, Best Challenge Host and Most Collaborative Blog. Last year, Dewey's blog won
in two categories – Best Community Builder and Best Challenge Host. She did much more than host Weekly Geeks, this meme that a group of us have kept going in her honor since the first of the year. (For those who don’t know, Dewey died in November of last year.) We’re proud to be nominated and acknowledged as carrying on this part of her legacy. Thanks to all those who participate in this unique meme!
The short list for BBAW will be announced September 7th and voting will take place between the 7th and the 12th. Be sure to check the BBAW website after the 7th and vote for your favorite blogs!
Now back to your regularly scheduled blog program. Last week’s Geek exploration was about Second Chances: Becky asked if we’d given up on a book (or movie or music) only to discover that it’s “lovelier the second time around.” (OK, I’m dating myself with Frank Sinatra songs.) Or have you contemplated giving a book or author a second chance? And if not, she challenged us to do so. Says Becky: “It is just very interesting to me how time can change tastes and perceptions. How subjective the reading experience is and always will be.”
There were a variety of responses to this challenge.
- Maree found Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin well worth a second read “…because there's always more to find..” Gautami gave up on The Blind Assassin at first, but then picked it up again after six months and now considers it one of her best reads to date. (Edited 8/22/09 after getting it so wrong!)
- another cookie crumbles finds it miraculous that she talks “about Anne Enright, Salman Rushdie and JK Rowling in the same post.” She’s given up on one of these and embraced the others after a second look. You’ll have to read her post to find out who and why!
- The Lord of the Rings showed up in several posts: Lahni at Nose in a Book went from being unable to finish it the first time to having it make her top ten favorites list. Kim at Page after Page thinks she’ll give the trilogy another try next year.
- One genre that showed up in several posts was the classics. Melissa hasn’t broken out in hives yet rereading The Grapes of Wrath. Michelle had a more negative reaction to Gone with the Wind on a second read; her life experience affected how she felt about it. She’s curious what her reaction will be the next time she reads it.
- Classics guilt (which many of us suffer from!) drove Coversgirl to give Dickens a second chance after her inability to get past the first page earlier in her life. Now she “can foresee a lifelong literary love ... proving that stubbornness pays off.” Suey tried Dickens’ Great Expectations again after experiencing an 8th grade nightmare. "I felt very sorry for my 8th grade self and all that she missed during that foggy first reading," says Suey. Now Great Expectations is one of her alltime favorites.
- Some contemporary authors have come under the axe: Tricia has decided to try Atonement by Ian McEwan again; maybe she’ll have the same experience as Care did and come to love it.
- Gigi blogged about Alice Hoffman. “She's an author I'm forever giving another chance to - not always with good results.”
- After a 2-year hiatus Ali is finishing A Prayer for Owen Meany. Here's her Twitter message:
Went to bkstore to buy #Owenmeany. Reread a few pages & couldn't do it. ... I'd forgotten how Owen grated on me. I can hear his voice all too well and it's like fingernails on a chalkboard.
And though Ali came to like it, she’s not inclined to give John Irving another try.
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