Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for discussion] 

I've recently started listening to a lot of talk radio and literary podcasts. I thought it was important to do a post showcasing these shows because they provide a lot of great insights into the literary world and really round out my blogging ideas.

By far my favorite literary podcast is Books on the Nightstand. This weekly podcast is hosted by Michael Kindness and Ann Kingman. They both work in the publishing industry, but this podcast isn't full of fancy lingo I can't understand. It's actually very easy on my ears and the podcasts are relatively short because I honestly don't have a lot of free hours to listen to podcasts. On average the podcasts are about twenty-five minutes long. There is usually some kind of book topic, this past week it was cookbooks, and then Ann and Michael each suggest a book and talk a little bit about it. Ann and Michael have great chemistry and their podcast is informative as well as fun to listen to. I subscribe to this podcast through iTunes but you can also download the podcast on their website.

Another great podcast is the New Yorker's monthly fiction podcast. This podcast features an author reading a story by another author and then there is a discussion about the story and why they chose the story they did. This podcast has introduced me to a few writers I would not have otherwise heard of and this is another short one. It's only once a month and about thirty minutes long. Very easy to keep up with!

NPR Books isn't my favorite podcast but I listen to it pretty frequently. It's fairly short, about twenty minutes, and features, reviews, news, and interviews. It's an enjoyable podcast but it doesn't feel as friendly to me as Books on the Nightstand does.

The next podcast isn't exactly a lit show but it is a show about book bloggers. Linus's Blanket's Nicole hosts That's How I Blog, a weekly podcast about blogging books. This is a great podcast that has given me ideas on how I would like to change my blog, and Nicole asks some great questions! It's always interesting and there is also some discussion of books (obviously, what else can you expect from book bloggers) in each episode. You can download these podcasts on Blog Talk Radio.

I'm probably a little biased on this one, but the University of Iowa's radio station has two great literary radio shows. One is the newer Not Your Literati which is hosted by my two pals Pierce and Mackenzie. This show talks about what is up on the undergraduate literary scene every Sunday. There is another show on Tuesdays called The Lit Show, which I sadly don't get to hear very often. You can listen to these shows even if you don't live in Iowa City. You can find the schedule on KRUI's website and download the stream for your music player. Both of these shows are one hour long.

With the release of Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince this past week, I thought it would be good to turn once again to movie adaptations. In March, with the release of Watchmen (using that as a jumping off point for discussion), I brought up the subject of worst movie adaptations. This time, I'd like to bring up best movie adaptations (not saying if the recent Harry Potter movie is or isn't faithful to the book since I'll be honest I haven't read the book, but using the subject as a jumping off point for discussion).

So what are some of your favorite movie adaptations of books? Include trailers or scenes from Youtube if you'd like.

Also along with that question, or instead of that question, what book or series would you like to see be made into a movie or movies? Tell us why you think it or they would work as a movie. If the book already has a book trailer, include that, to help make your point.

It's no secret to most of you that I absolutely love Jane Eyre. I've read it three times and it changes every single time for me. I never get tired of it. I've known about Wide Sargasso Sea

for quite awhile too, and ever since I heard it was about Bertha's take on her insanity I was intrigued. Let's face it, Bertha Mason makes Jane Eyre what it is. She brings all the creepiness and discussion into the book. If you haven't read Jane Eyre (Why haven't you read Jane Eyre?) then Wide Sargasso Sea probably won't mean much to you, and this post won't mean much to you, but if you have then you are probably interested to know more about this book.

It is set in the Caribbean and there is a lot of racial tension surrounding Bertha, or as she is called in this book, Antoinette Conway. I won't tell you why she has two different names because it would ruin a little surprise that is tucked away in the 171 pages of Wide Sargasso Sea. Antoinette is essentially white and very beautiful, while most of the people surrounding her are black. The book spends a lot of time exploring the racial tensions Antoinette experiences and Rochester sees, and in that aspect of the book I was a little disappointed. I think I was hoping for more Jane Eyre, but Wide Sargasso Sea explores new issues that belong to it alone.

The story is told in alternating parts from Antoinette's perspective and Rochester's perspective. As we know from Jane Eyre, neither Rochester or Antoinette are too into marrying each other. They are driven by money and sex, and later Rochester finds out she is insane and that her mother was also insane. Wide Sargasso Sea explores this insanity, and shows how it might not have been Anoinette's fault. After all, Rochester is a cold man who really hates her, he is sexually forceful and then later sexually cold, and he attempts to drive her away from what is most natural to her. All interesting ideas that have really colored discussion of Jane Eyre since the book was published.

As a book it is well formed, the characters well developed, the themes covered. Rhys steals fire and mirrors from Jane Eyre, spreading the ideas throughout the book. I underlined several conversations, such as,

"Next time she spoke she said, 'The earth is red here, do you notice?'
'It's red in parts of England too.'
'Oh England, England,' she called back mockingly, and the sound went on and on like a warning I did not choose to hear." (65)

I underlined this because of the concentration on the color red, as in fire, and because I think it shows Rochester's attempt to fit everything into the way he sees life. As you can see, well-formed, complete ideas that relate back to Jane Eyre. I enjoyed these passages, but then at times I felt like I was reading a paper about Jane Eyre instead of a book. Basically, I enjoyed this book in an extremely formulaic way. Maybe if I read it before I studied Jane Eyre in school I would have enjoyed it more? I'm not sure. I would recommend it though as it is very short. I read this book as part of the November Novella Challenge.

I give Wide Sargasso Sea a B.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

So, this post is going to be going up quite a bit later than I had originally planned... Sorry about that...

I've been wanting to write a "Why I Blog" post for a while now. It's been a pretty popular topic among the blogging world lately, and I wanted to mention how I feel about blogging, especially because what I have to say seems different than what other people say. I figured my first blogging birthday would be the perfect time to say what I have to say. So, even though the day is getting close to being over, I wanted to share my views on blogging, and why it is that I blog.

In almost every single "Why I Blog" post I've read, the blogger in question mentions never believing they would have any following, let alone the number that currently follows their blog, and that they would continue blogging even if there wasn't a single person reading their posts, so every new follower/reader/commenter means something extra special. And, honestly, I don't believe them. Sounds harsh I know. But think about it — blogging is a huge time commitment and it isn't easy. There are days when it's really hard to find the motivation or desire to post anything and times when words or reviews just won't come.

I personally would not keep blogging if no one read my reviews. If I never had a single reader, I would stop blogging. I got more feedback than that posting my reviews only on Goodreads. I do need to say this is not about numbers to me. I rarely check my blogging stats. I don't even know where to find a lot of the information bloggers talk about for their blogs. Why? Because I don't care. Stats, views, unique hits and all that other stuff has never been important to me.

Confusing, right? I wouldn't keep blogging if I had zero people reading my reviews, but I don't actually care about numbers and statistics. So, how does this work?

Because I would blog if I had one reader. That's all I need to feel like my blog is worth my time. One person who thinks what I have to say is worth reading.

I started blogging because I love books. I love to talk about books. I could talk about my favorite books for hours on end, going over my favorite parts, what I liked, what I didn't over and over and over. And I do. My best friend has heard about my favorite books so many times now that I'm pretty sure she can quote what I think about them verbatim with all the same inflections that I would use. My sister and my mom can probably make the same claim.

I started this blog because there were aspects to the reading community on Goodreads that I loved, and I wanted more of that. I wanted more people online, who also loved books as much as I do to sit and chat with. I wanted to meet more people who I could go to if I needed more recommendations, and I wanted to find people I could push my favorites on. I can't tell you what an amazingly gratifying feeling it is to recommend an absolute favorite book to someone and have them come back glowing and gushing to tell you how amazing the book was and how thankful they are that you recommended it. But, I bet that most of you have felt that before. I imagine that a lot of you bloggers out there have had a similar experience, so you know.

I started blogging because I wanted to be there for the conversation. I wanted to be there hearing about all these great new books coming out, and I wanted to meet people like me. I've always been around people who enjoy reading, but don't know anyone in real life who feels about reading the same way I do. My mom reads a lot, and we do share books (although she's not as 'nice' to books as I am, so I'm always a little leery lending her my copies.: P) but she doesn't really do the 'book talk' thing. She will tell me if she liked it, and maybe a little bit of why, but there isn't a ton of discussion there. My sister also loves reading, and we have a lot more discussion than my mom. But, she has three little kids, 5 and under, so she (understandably) doesn't have a ton of time to read. My best friend listens to me rave, or rant about particular books, and it's always part of our conversations, but although she enjoys reading, it isn't something she does a lot of. And on and on.

So, I wanted to find a place where I could go to talk about books when and how I wanted, and to meet other people that felt the same. My whole motivation behind blogging. If I didn't have any blogger friends to talk to, why would I do it?

And, since this is a post about why I blog, and I'm being honest here, I also have to say that it's pretty awesome to have someone, especially someone you don't know and have never met stop by and tell you that they think what you have to say is pretty great. Who doesn't like to hear that what they had to say touched someone, changed their opinion of a book, or influenced them to buy a copy? Come on. If you say you don't like hearing people think you are great/smart/well-spoken/awesome/insightful and etc, then I'm going to say I think you lie.

So this, dear readers and friends, is why I blog. I blog to spread the word about books that I love, and get other people to read and fall in love with them too, to make new friends, find new favorite books and to talk about books.

Nothing in the world is permanent, and we're foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we're still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it. If change is of the essence of existence one would have thought it only sensible to make it the premise of our philosophy.
-W. Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965) -
Weekly Geeks started in April 2008. Its brainchild was an effervescent and energetic blogger named Dewey who envisioned a weekly event which would unite the book blogging community. She posted a weekly assignment - a question, a task, a theme - to be completed and posted on the Geeks' individual blogs and linked at the main assignment post. It turned out to be wildly successful.

And then a heartbreaking notification appeared on Dewey's blog on Tuesday, November 25, 2008. The person who seemed to be everywhere in the blogging community, the quintessential community cheerleader who everyone seemed to know and love, had died - leaving a huge hole in our ranks. In the spirit of keeping Dewey's community efforts alive, several bloggers got together and decided to give Weekly Geeks its own space and carry on what Dewey had started.

Over the last nearly three years, the team keeping this blog running has ebbed and flowed. Mostly we've tried to be consistent in posting each Saturday and doing a wrap up each Friday. But, over the last several months not only has our focus as a team struggled, but participation in the weekly assignments has slowed to a trickle. There are those bloggers who come back week in and week out, and sometimes we see some new faces in the links, but overall attendance has sharply declined.

So after some discussion, the Weekly Geeks team has decided that it is time to end this event. We believe that Dewey would approve - she was never someone who hung onto things that were not working. She was willing to look critically at her own inventions and change them up or simply let them go if the community did not seem as excited about them as she was...and so we are taking our direction from the spirit of the person who started this event.

A great deal of thanks are due those individuals who have in some way stepped up over the last three years to help out here, or give us ideas, or participate by posting to their blog one of the assignments. Without the book blogging community behind us, this event would have closed down a long, long time ago.

This is probably also a good time to announce that Weekly Geeks was nominated for the BBAW Best Meme award for this year. The Weekly Geeks team is incredibly honored to be recognized in this way - thank you to those who submitted a nomination!

This blog will remain up, at least for awhile, so that those who wish to may browse the links or read the assignments - perhaps find inspiration for their blog.

This will be the final Weekly Geeks "assignment"...share one of the following on your blog:

• If you knew Dewey - a favorite memory of her, or one of your favorite "events" which was Dewey-inspired.
• Browse the topics here and re-post one of your favorites

Yesterday was the long awaited Twin Cities Book Festival. I got to Minneapolis on Friday night and was excited to see a Borders right across the street from my hotel. I went there right away of course, but didn't end up buying anything. That, of course, doesn't mean I didn't buy anything on Saturday.

This is the nice stack I came away with. To be fair four of these books are literary magazines (which were only $2 each, it's amazing I didn't just buy the entire table) and one of the magazines is for a friend. I got two issues of Creative Nonfiction, a magazine I love for obvious reasons but rarely get. I talk about Number 31 yesterday in my Awesome Essays post because the subject is publishing and writing in 2025, which seemed to be a huge theme in the panel discussions I went to. Check out that post to share your ideas! I also got Number 23, which is about Mexican-American writers, something I've recently become interested in. I got a little poetry magazine called Bateau and the Alaska Quarterly Review for my friend Michael.

As far as actual books, I got the first comic book in the Fables series, A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler (the publicist, Courtney, did a great job selling the book to me), and If You Lived Here You'd Already Be Home by John Jodzio from Replacement Press. I'm super excited to read all of these!

Yesterday was a very long and exciting day. Right away in the morning I met Reagan from Miss Remmers Review, Sheila from Book Journey, Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness, and Alea from Pop Culture Junkie. We all had a great chat about books and life before heading over to Sheila's panel discussion about the future of publishing. Her panel was awesome-- and Kim and I said that she answered all the blogger questions just how we would have answered them. After the panel we browsed some of the tables where publishers and authors were promoting their books.

It was a huge crowd! I was excited to see so many people interested in books all in one room. We all went to get lunch with Liz from Consumed By Books and Joanne from Jo Jo Loves to Read. We talked about books (more) and life (more) and then headed back to the festival because Kim, Alea, and I wanted to go to a panel about comic books and comics that Bill Willingham was speaking at. I never realized there was such a great comics scene in Minneapolis and I'll definitely be checking into the other speakers' work as well.

Later at night Sheila, Reagan, Kim, and I went to Borders for awhile and I found a bunch of books I wanted but didn't buy any, which I think deserves a round of applause. Then my boyfriend met up with us and we went to a Chinese place for dinner.

Take One: Reagan, Sheila, me, and Kim.

Take 423: Reagan, Sheila, me, and Kim.

So that was my fun exciting time at the Twin Cities Book Festival. Hopefully I'll get to go again next year and we can do another Midwest Book Blogger meet-up again soon!

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

This week, Bernadette at Reactions to Reading asked us to share our thoughts on the subject of separating the authors' lives from their writing. Are you able to separate them? Does your view of an author and his or her work change when your own beliefs and opinions differ from that of the author? Does an author's behavior, past or present, impact your opinion of him or her? Just how much or how little background information on an author do you want to know?

Erotic Horizon says that an author's secret past doesn't bother her, but rather may increase her interest in reading his or her books. However, when it comes to certain issues, it can depend, such as an author's continued sanitation of rape scenes. An author who behaves badly is another she could do without.

Another blogger whose interest is piqued by a criminal past is Amat Libris Between the Covers. She also discusses the relevancy of politics between authors who are alive or deceased, and tackles the subject of just how difficult a balancing act it can be for an author espousing their own beliefs.

Margaret from BooksPlease admits that an author's personality and past crimes affect her reading, but an absorbing plot may be enough to get her past it. When it comes to nonfiction, credentials or lack there of do matter.

Bill Pullman is an author KT from Literary Transgressions doesn't especially like but adores his book Northern Lights. KT goes on to offer an example of how one's personal beliefs can interfere and ruin a book.

Trisha of Eclectic/Eccentric does not take much of an interest in authors' personal lives, but the internet has shed a disappointing light on a few. While she may disagree with an author's beliefs, she does promote reading books that we may not agree with:

Reading is not agreeing, and I believe that reading belief systems other than your own is actually a positive intellectual pursuit. It opens your mind to other ways of thinking and helps you determine your own personal beliefs. It sparks discussion, contemplation, and growth. And all of that is, in my opinion, a good thing.
Thanks to everyone who participated in Weekly Geeks this week, and remember to check back tomorrow for our new topic!

National Stadium in Beijing which in the people is called “the birds nest”, has received prestigious Lubetkin Prize, founded Royal Institute of British Architects, RIBA, as the most outstanding architectural work outside of the European Union.

VIA «Lubetkin Prize has got to the bird's nest»

Joanna has been married to Paul for 25 years. In those two and a half decades, they have moved dozens of times, following Paul’s successful career. Each time, Joanna is expected to be the dutiful corporate wife by packing up and following Paul around without any complaints. But when Joanna learns that another move is eminent, she packs her bags and heads down to Pawley’s Island, South Carolina, an area she had fallen in love with years ago. She moves in with Grace, an older woman who retreated to Pawley’s Island to live out her last few months of life. Joanna’s impromptu “holiday” extends to several months, during which she finds a bit of happiness that she’s been missing for so long. McFadden wrote a wonderful account of a woman’s struggle for independence. The reader experiences the story from three viewpoints: Joanna, her husband Paul, and Grace. The lessons learned by each character during their journey of self discovery are very valuable, and for this reason I envision this book generating a lot of discussion in book clubs nationwide.

Once again, here is a link up of all the Contemporary happenings I've stumbled across in the past week on blogs other than Shanyn's and my own! There are some seriously awesome things happening around the blogosphere, so click through the list and check it out!

And since it is absolutely impossible for me to really be aware of all that is happening everywhere, if you have seen or posted anything Contemporary related, Let me know! I will either add it to this list, or include it in next week's post!

Awesome Reading Challenge: The Keeping It Real Contemporary YA Reading Challenge hosted by Kat @ I Write, I Read, I Review. And, there will be prizes!:)

REVIEWS:

Sarah @ The Storybound Girl — Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

Candace @ Candace's Book Blog — Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler, Amplified by Tara Kelly, Vintage Veronica by Erica S. Perl, North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headly

L.L. @ The Story Girl — I am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak

Katelyn @ Katelyn's Blog — The Pull of Gravity by Gae Polisner and My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody

Melina @ Reading Vacation — Past Perfect by Lelia Sales and The Daughters Join the Party by Joanna Philbin (this is the third book in the series.)

Author Jessi Kirby — Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Asheley @ Into the Hall of Books — We the Animals by Justin Torres

Samual @ Books for All Seasons — The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott

Danya @ A Tapestry of Words — Dear Bully by Various

Shannon @ Books Devoured — Looking for Alaska John Green and The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart

The Busy Bibliophile — Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee

Anna @ Anna Reads — Bunheads by Sophie Flack

Raquel @ The Book Barbies — Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Page @ One Book at a Time — Lie by Caroline Bock

Emily @ Red House Books — Reasons to be Happy by Katrina Kittle

Giselle @ Xpresso Reads — dancergirl by Carol M. Tanzman, and Room by Emma Donoghue (probably more Adult than YA, but it is definitely a crossover book).

Somer @ A Bird's Eye View — Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Liz @ Consumed by Books — The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Nicci @ Paper Dreams — Perfect Cover by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez (she also wrote a fun — Five Reasons to Read Virtuosity post!)

Julie @ A Tale of Many Reviews — The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines

Chris @ Between the Covers — Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Ginger @ Greads! — Amplified by Tara Kelly

Carrie @ Stalking the Bookshelves — Saving June by Hannah Harrington and The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen

Rowena @ The Book Scoop — My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody

Mindi @ Books Complete Me — Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennett

Sarah @ YA Love — How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

Jennifer @ Novel Thoughts — Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Aubrey @ holes in my brain — How to Save a Life — Sara Zarr

Mary @ Anxirium — Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

Lori @ Pure Imagination — Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Lisa @ The Garden of Books — Where She Went by Gayle Forman and Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

John @ Dreaming in Books — Spoiled by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Kelli @ I'd So Rather Be Reading — Going Too Far — Jennifer Echols

Princess Bookie — Past Perfect by Lelia Sales and Pure Red by Danielle Joseph

For the Love of Contemporary — His Eyes by Renee Carter

Tiffany @ Tiffany Reads — The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder and Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Ashley @ Bookaholics Anonymous — Raw Blue by Kirsty Egar

Hannah @ Paperback Treasures — If I Tell by Janet Gurtler, Calli by Jessica Lee Anderson and Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott.

Bailey @ IB Book Blogging — Past Perfect by Lelia Sales

The Book Faerie — The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder (WARNING — This review DOES contain spoilers)

Jenny @ The Mimosa Stimulus — Amplified by Tara Kelly and Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Sophia @ The Book Basement — If I Stay by Gayle Forman, Just Listen by Sarah Dessen and The Duff by Kody Keplinger

Natalie @ Quirky Vintage — Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (not completely Contemporary, but mostly & amazing, so...)

Karen @ For What It's Worth — Where You Are by Tammara Webber

Lisa @ The Garden of Books — Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (this is actually a short — What on Earth could I possibly say about this level of intensity — post)

AUTHORS:

The Nerd Girls @ Books to the Sky Interviewed Janet Gurtler! (And there is a giveaway!)

For the Love of Contemporary spotlighted Sarah Ockler!!!

Candace @ Candace's Book Blog interviewed Anne Pfeffer (and there is an international giveaway!) and she also interviewed Stasia Kehoe!

The Contemps blog spotlighted new author Josie Bloss and her novel Faking Faith.

Sam @ Books for all Seasons interviewed Melissa Kantor!

Liz @ Consumed by Books has a fun This or That Interview with Hannah Harrington!

Hannah @ Paperback Treasures has a guest post from Megan Bostic about the songs that inspired her book!

Melina @ Reading Vacation has a guest post from Joanna Philbin.

Kristi @ The Story Siren has a guest post from Catherine Ryan Hyde (with a giveaway)

DISCUSSION TOPICS

Allison @ The Allure of Books vlogged about her favorite YA Contemporary Books
Mandie Baxter: Why I Love Contemporary
Rowena @ The Book Scoop: Why I Love Contemporary
Author Carol Tanzman: Why I Write Contemporary YA
Bee @ Dreamcatcher's Lair: Her favorite Dark YA books. (Not all are Contemporary, but most of them are!)
Author Abbi Glines: Her 11 favorite Indie Contemporary YA Romances

Tough Stuff in Contemporary YA: (again, many of these were written as guest posts and I am only identifying the author of the post, not the host blog)

Rie @ Mission to Read
Bonnie @ A Backwards Story
Candace @ Candace's Book Blog
Jacinda @ Reading Housewives
Katelyn @ Katelyn's Blog
Cara @ Chasing Words
Mandie Baxter
Nicci @ Paper Dreams
Shannon @ Books Devoured
Ginger @ GReads!

Again — If you have seen or written a post talking about Contemporary YA or reviewing a book, LET ME KNOW!! I'd LOVE to include you in the link up AND I personally read and comment on all of them. (It takes a while, but I'm LOVING It!) So leave me a comment, shoot me an email or send me a tweet and I'll add you to my list!:)

Those of you who were on Twitter Sunday night know that I had to give a presentation in my English class Monday. I was complaining about it quite a bit, I'll admit it. The presentation had to take up the class period and I was basically leading the discussion. My presentation went really well, but it got me thinking about the role of presentations in classes.

I personally don't feel like I learn that much from speeches or presentations done by students, so spending a whole semester on them seems kind of ridiculous to me. For example, this week in my class has been all presentations. Since everyone has different things they want to talk about and some people don't spend that much time on their presentations I feel like we're skipping over a lot of important things in the book. We're finishing the book this week too so this is really the only chance we have to discuss the book. So the downside to these presentations is that I don't feel like I'm learning the much.

The upside to these presentations is possibly that each student has to give a presentation which gives them experience? Yeah, notice the question mark. I know most classes don't spend an entire semester on presentations, rather people give short presentations and multiple people go each day. Have any of you been in a class that spent a lot of time on presentations? What were the upsides and downsides? Do you think it gives you any real world experience?

Last week Ali challenged us to think about the classics. She gave us four questions, and allowed us to mix and match.

1) How do you feel about classic literature? Are you intimidated by it? Love it? Not sure because you never actually tried it? Don't get why anyone reads anything else? Which classics, if any, have you truly loved? Which would you recommend for someone who has very little experience reading older books? Go all out, sell us on it!

2) A challenge, should you choose to accept it: Read at least one chapter of a classic novel, preferably by an author you're not familiar with. Did you know you can find lots of classics in the public domain on the web? Check out The Popular Classic Book Corner, for example. Write a mini-review based on this chapter: what are your first impressions? Would you read further? (For a larger selection of authors, try The Complete Classic Literature Library).

3) Let's say you're vacationing with your dear cousin Myrtle, and she forgot to bring a book. The two of you venture into the hip independent bookstore around the corner, where she primly announces that she only reads classic literature. If you don't find her a book, she'll never let you get any reading done! What contemporary book/s with classic appeal would you pull off the shelf for her?

4) As you explore the other Weekly Geeks posts: Did any inspire you to want to read a book you've never read before—or reread one to give it another chance? Tell us all about it, including a link to the post or posts that sparked your interest. If you end up reading the book, be sure to include a link to your post about it in a future Weekly Geeks post!

Many people chose to answer the first and third questions, although every question did get answered. Some geeks love the classics, while others are a bit more apathetic. But everyone had something great to contribute to the discussion. Here is a sampling:

Both Chris Voss and hagelrat from Un:bound answered this week’s challenge. Un:bound is a team blog, and in a possible history making event, more than one team member participated. Very cool. I also love this line from hagelrat: “it's my pet theory that a girl who has nothing but classics on her bookshelves keeps nothing but mills & boon under the bed.”

In another potentially history making post, Weekly Geeks appears in Danish! Dorte kindly translated her post into English, as well. For which I am forever grateful. I did a double-take when I first saw her post, but then I noticed the helpful arrow for us English readers directing us to look below. Thanks for joining Weekly Geeks, Dorte!

Frances at Nonsuch Book included a beautiful mosaic of book covers in her post. All of the covers are from the same book, The Damnation of Theron Ware. Although I’ve never heard of the book, I found the first cover with the windows to be quite appealing. Frances also reflected on the role classics played in her own development.

Puss Reboots admits that “many of the books I read are older than I am.” She also talks about how she compares Don Quixote and Sancho Panza to Jay and Silent Bob. Dude! Awesome comparison. Go check out her post and enjoy the links!

I will confess to letting out a little woo-hoo when I read Terri’s confession that she feels “pretty inadequate about classic lit, considering I have a BA in English.” Sometimes it’s nice to know that English majors haven’t read it all. Terri also made a wonderful comment about comparing reading the classics to music…”it’s a bit like learning music theory and getting a good base of classical music before journeying off into other styles.”

Sassymonkey discusses how different the classics are from each other. She also mentions the required reading list she made for her boyfriend. Inquiring minds want to know…did he make it through the entire list?

Finally, a note about Aunt Myrtle. Poor Myrtle, I’m afraid we were a bit harsh on her. Although she did get plenty of good books out of the deal. I kind of want to be Aunt Myrtle, just to get the books.

********************

In other news…

At the end of each month we’re going to attempt to give shout-outs to the other Dewey-inspired events that are going on. Many of these events already have links over in the sidebar, but a little more linky love never hurt anyone, right?

Chris and Robin are hosting the Dewey Books Reading Challenge, complete with monthly mini-challenges and nifty prizes. This event lasts all year, and just happens to be dear to my heart because I’m participating and reading some incredibly good books. Go check out the blog for more info. Or this site to read some of the reviews of the participants. Betcha find a book you wanna read.

Jackie has started a new blog to continue the Bookworms Carnival. Info on the upcoming themes and hosts can be found at that site, The Bookworms Carnival. The 23rd Edition of the Bookworms Carnival will be held by Jessica over at The Bluestocking Society, where the theme is Books to Movies. Submissions are due by February 13th.

Also, Jackie has made mention of a Facebook blog network for Weekly Geeks and the Bookworm Carnival. Since I know squat about Facebook, I’ll give you the link and hope you all know what she’s talking about. :-D

There has been chatter about the continuation of Dewey’s popular Read-a-thon. As far as I know there are plans to continue (yay!) and the next Read-a-thon would be held in April. We will let you know more info once the planning starts.

This week we are going to continue with the theme started last week and go even further exploring our favorite book characters.

Many of us have had an opportunity to interview an author, mostly through email, but perhaps even on the phone or in person. In fact, many of you have become experts at author interviews. So this week, let's pretend that we can get in contact with one of our favorite characters and interview them. What would you ask Mr. Darcy if you could send him an email. What would his answers be like? What would you say if you could just call up Liesel or Rudy from The Book Thief and ask them anything? How would they answer your questions? What if you could invite Jo March or Anne Shirley to lunch, what would the conversation be like?

So blog about that imagined conversation, or phone discussion, or email exchange. Of course, there may be lots of things we'll have to make up or imagine them saying. But many things we should be able to figure out their answers just from what we know of them in their respective books.

If you need help with what questions to ask them, look around the blogosphere at all the memes we see. Borrow some of those questions. Re-use some of the questions you've asked authors in interviews you've already done. You can really have fun with some questions. For example, ask Elinor from Inkheart what's her favorite book. Ask Heathcliff how he spends his leisure time. Ask Gilbert what he looks for in a girl. Ask Crusoe where he would like to go on his ideal vacation.

You get the idea, right? You can really have some fun with it and get a little silly, or you can be straightforward and serious. But either way, show us how well you know (or maybe don't know) your character and perhaps in the end, we'll all have a whole new perspective about some of our favorite characters! I think that even if we end up with several interviews of the same person, it will be fun to see how differently we each view and perceive them.

Now, have at it and get making those calls and sending those emails to your favorite characters!

Be sure to come back and sign Mr. Linky (that is if I can figure it out since I've never done a Mr. Linky before!) once you've completed your interview, and later let us know about some of the fun interviews you come across on other Weekly Geek blogs.

This week's discussion topic is inspired by the fact that on September 15 the world celebrates the 120th anniversary of the birth of Agatha Christie. She was born in 1890, published her first novel in 1920 and her last one in 1976 (the same year as her death). Her books remain extremely popular and are still being read, listened to, adapted for new computer games and TV shows and are the subject of loads of special events including a month-long blog tour this September.

Have you read Christie's books? Recently? What do you think it is about them that has given them such lasting value?

Or perhaps you have another favourite author whose works have outlasted those of their contemporaries? Maybe you're a fan of Charles Dickens whose work is still widely known and studied while those of his contemporary, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, languish in relative obscurity.

What do you think it is that gives your favourite long-lasting author an edge? Is longevity all to do with quality? Quantity? Style perhaps? Or luck?

As always feel free to answer as many (or as few) of these questions as you like and thanks for participating in Weekly Geeks, a fun meme dedicated to the memory of pioneer book blogger, Dewey.

Okay I have recently received a lot of awards, and unfortunately have not been on top of award posts. This means that I have gotten a few awards that I am not quite sure where they came from. Also, since I have gotten so many awards at once I'm not going to be passing them onto 30 gagillion blogs because that would mean I would have to go out and find blogs I don't actually read, and then give them awards. Since I don't want to do that I will just pass on these awards to blogs I truly love and feel deserve them. So the list...

I received the Silver Lining Award from my good friend Jade at Chasing Empty Pavements. As I understand from her post, this award means that I always try to look at the upside of things. It's pretty amazing I got this award, because I was known as the resident debbie downer at my high school when I was about 15. But hey, what can you expect from a 15 year old? I have five more years of wisdom now! Thanks for this award!

I am now going to pass this award on to Displaced English Major, Southern City Mysteries, Helen Loves Books, and Confessions and Ramblings of a Muse in the Fog.

The next award I received was from a blog I truly respect (not that I don't respect the others), A Guy's Moleskine Notebook. This reading journal is a daily go to for me and I know I can always depend on it for honest reviews and musings that have a lot of heart.

I am going to give this award to Dyxie Land: Gay/Straight Take on Nothing, Books and Movies, and Laura's Reviews. I realize some of you have probably gotten this award before, it circulates quite a bit (this is my second time) so sorry about that. But I wanted to give you all something!

Laura at Reading and Rooibos gave me the Kreativ Blogger award. I only recently discovered her blog but it has quickly become a favorite of mine. For this award I am supposed to list seven things about myself... but more on that later. Thanks Laura!

I am giving this award to A Guy's Moleskine Notebook, The Book Whisperer, Bookmarked!, and A Bookish Way of Life.

And last but not least, I received the Sugar Doll award from Michele at Southern City Mysteries. Hers is a wonderful writer's blog that I urge you to check out. She also has a new weekly meme called Writing Prompt Wednesdays, be sure to join in on that! This award requires to me say ten things about myself...

And I am giving this award to Stuck in a Book, Boarding in My Forties and Chasing Empty Pavements.

So what I'm going to do is tell you fifteen things about myself. I think that's fair. I think I should get some kind of theme going though. So maybe I will tell you fifteen things about since college.

1. I only applied to one school, the University of Iowa. I knew I would get in, I knew it was where I wanted to go, and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on application fees when I knew I was only going to consider Iowa.
2. When I first came to Iowa I was a Journalism and English double major. At the end of first semester my freshman year I quit Journalism, even though that is what I thought I really wanted to do. My roommate and I had a very lengthy discussion the night I decided to quit Journalism. She was a Journalism major too.
3. Since quitting Journalism I have considered French, Communication Studies, Linguistics, American Studies, and History as possible second major or minors. Right now I am interested in History and Museum Studies. That seems to be where life is taking me.
4. My freshman year my boyfriend and I were attending different schools. He was at Kansas State and I was obviously at Iowa. He decided to transfer to Iowa this year and it has made a world of difference in both of our lives, but I am thankful we had that time apart because it makes us appreciate each day together even more.
5. A couple other people joined me at Iowa this year. My best friend from high school, Katharyne, and my other good friend from high school Benjamin. Having both of them with me makes school quite the trip!
6. I asked for a coffee pot my senior year so I could have coffee in my dorm room. I rarely make coffee now, just like my family told me I wouldn't. I just don't have time.
7. Last semester I took all English classes. A hint for everyone else: Never, ever do that.
8. Going on a year and a half now I have worked at the lovely Currier-Stanley Residence Halls Front Desk. I steal pens (But don't tell Barb!)
9. The first English class I took at Iowa was a class on Virginia and Leonard Woolf taught by the lovely Lara Trubowitz. It was a fascinating class and sparked my interest in Victorian literature, mostly because Virginia hated those Victorians so much.
10. In my Victorian Lit class last semester there were two males. And about thirty students. It was an interesting class, and my prof brought Christmas cookies to our final!
11. I have started four (I think?) blogs since I came to college. This is the only one that has stuck. Why that is I do not know. I think I had a different attitude with this one, and an actual purpose.
12. I had season tickets to Iowa football games my freshman year. Yeah, that was a waste of my parents' money. I rarely went to football games in high school.
13. My class was supposed to be the last class to graduate from out old high school, but they didn't get the new high school finished in time so we were the second to last class to graduate from our old high school. I will lie to my children about this because second to last sounds stupid.
14. Last year I saw Ben Folds twice. I also saw Jack's Mannequin twice. I geek out for pianos.
15. Since coming to college I have found out that I love to read literary criticism. So sue me.

Thanks everyone who gave me an award! Sorry this was such a sloppy post, it'll teach to be more on top of this in future!

Weekly Geeks had a rest last week due to America's Independence Day long weekend so everyone should be relaxed and refreshed to tackle this week's discussion.

In the last year or two a new entity has arisen in the publishing world: the book trailer. Apparently every self-respecting book has to have one these days so it seemed a good time to have a chat about them. Feel free to answer as many (or as few) of these questions as you like.

• Do you watch book trailers?
• If yes, do you actively seek them out or just watch the ones that get pushed to you in some way?
• If you don't watch them, why not?
• Have you ever read a book based solely on seeing the trailer? What book was it and what did you like about the trailer?
• Where do book trailers come on your list of things that influence you with regards to what books to read (friends' recommendations, mainstream reviews, bloggers, bookstore promotions, the blurb...)?
• Do you have a favourite book trailer that you'd like to share? What do you like about it?

If you have missed out on seeing many book trailers you might like to visit the Moby Awards website which list the nominees and winners of what is set to become an annual award for the best (and worst) book trailers.

Awhile back I was at a party where I talked with a friend who is also interested in libraries and more specifically archives. When he found out I was interested he recommended that I read Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age

by David Levy, which I promptly purchased the next week. This slim (202 pages to be exact) book is full of information about the place of the document in today's world. Even though the book was published in 2001, it is still right on target with the way we see documents in a digital world. And it takes a surprisingly personal approach towards them and made me see documents in a way I hadn't really considered or just maybe couldn't verbalize before; "For if documents are surrogates for us, they are extensions of ourselves, parts of ourselves. The best and the worst of ourselves can be found in them"(38).

The book starts out with the receipt. Receipts are very ordinary, and a lot of times I tell the cashier I don't want a receipt anymore because I know it will just sit in my wallet for three months and then I will throw it away. But receipts, as Levy shows us, are actually full of information. They tell us where a person went, the day they went there, possibly what they purchased, how much the item cost on that day, how much tax was or if the item was taxed, and anymore a lot of receipts will tell you who it was that rang you up. Receipts are also, as I said, easily discardable and the reason for this is because paper can be mass produced now. This, however, has not always been the case and the fact that we can so easily print and toss receipts says a lot about the society we live in today. This is just one of many examples Levy makes in the book, although it is one of the ones I enjoyed the most. Another section I really enjoyed was the chapter entitled Libraries and the Anxiety of Order, which is all about the basic human need to organize and how libraries are a reflection of this anxiety. He also gets into the creation of the Dewey Decimal System which I think any book lover would enjoy.

There is a lot of information to take in in this book and even though it is short, I read it over a long period of time. It is, honestly, a scholarly book. But I felt like the book maybe wasn't quite sure what it wanted to be. At times it catered to the average Joe, pointing out mundane things we see every day and then turning them and making us see them differently. But then at other times it make an intense discussion about how computers work which, frankly, used some vocabulary that could have been discarded as easily as that receipt at the beginning of the book. And he spent way too much time talking about the etymology of words. I'm sorry, but a pair of parentheses on every page describing the origin of a word is really not that helpful to me, maybe one or two of the really interesting ones I can live with but it was just all too much.

So basically, I would say read this book if you are interested but skim the parts you think are boring. If you are only going to read one library book I would suggest reading Marylin Johnson's This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All which is much more readable than this one. There is a lot to discover here, and that is why this book earned a B.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

It's 1498 in Venice, Italy. Luciano is a homeless street beggar. He survives by pickpocketing and stealing food from street merchants. Until one day he is literally dragged from the streets by the Ferro, the top chef to the Doge. Luciano is brought into the Doge's palace as an apprentice to Ferro. He goes from begging for his meals to three hot meals a day and a warm, dry place to sleep.

Luciano witnesses a murder and immediately reports it to the Chef. The Chef doesn't seem to be very surprised. There has been discussion about a mysterious book of knowledge, a book that, among many things, reportedly has a spell for everlasting life. The doge, suffering from syphilis, becomes obsessed with finding the location of this book. The Catholic Church wants to obtain it because it's said to contain the missing books of the Bible, and if these land in the wrong hands, the Church will lose it's strength over the populace. And finally, Luciano himself is interested in the "love potion" the book purportedly contains, for he has fallen in love with Francesca, a young nun.

Luciano soon learns that book everyone is searching for is not some spell book, but one that is right under their noses.

The Book of Unholy Mischief

is a very descriptive and engaging story. It is evident that Newmark did her research, for the descriptions of Venice and of Rome are detailed and accurate. The descriptions of food are so vivid, I swear I could taste and smell the lavish meals.

Critiques of this book mentioned its similarities to The DaVinci Code. I don't believe this to be a fair comparison, for The Book of Unholy Mischief

has much more depth. The characters are more compelling and developed. It's not only a story about the hunt for a mysterious book, but also deals with the lives of the two main characters and how fate seemed to have brought them together.

Bottom line, this is a book I waited far to long to discover!

Thank you to the author for providing a copy of this book for me to review!

On the outside, Annie Power’s life looks perfect. Her amazing husband, Gray, and their precious daughter, Victory, make her life complete. That is, until flashbacks of her once forgotten past come into focus. You see, ten years ago Annie was Ophelia March, a young, naïve teen caught in the web of an infamous serial killer, Marlowe Geary. Gray rescues Ophelia, and in the process, murders Geary. Ophelia “died” and Annie was born. The emotional and physical trauma caused Annie to forget most of what occurred. But one thing she knows for certain-they never found the body of her boyfriend, the serial killer. Annie thought she was rid of this horrid past, but slowly people around her begin to die. She hears her former name being called from the shadows. People she trusted turn out to be her enemies. A local police detective begins to dig into her past and comes close to finding out the truth. Annie soon discovers that Geary is not dead, and she is willing to give up her life to find the answers to what happened that night a decade ago. Unger does an amazing job of revealing the character’s history to the reader. It is unraveled slowly and methodically. I was engrossed in the storyline from page one, this was a book I couldn’t put down. Black Out was definitely an intense tale that chilled me to the bone!

To enter to win a copy of Black Out, comment on this post. To be entered twice, blog about it and include a link to your blog in your comment. Contest will run through Saturday, October 18. I will post the name of the winner on Sunday the 19th.

Have you already read Black Out and want to talk about it? Join our discussion, through the month of October, in Shelfari's Suspense and Thriller Group!

In addition to incidents of damage, the residents of the areas with archaeological sites are regularly digging up the pharaohs’ graves, stealing and smuggling their belongings. This has become more common since the January 25 Revolution, when the security situation in the country deteriorated.

The latest incident, the damage of Tutankhamun’s mask, took place in August 2014 and is still causing controversy, since Tutankhamun was one of the most famous pharaohs. He became king around 1334 B.C. when he was 9 years old. His tomb, which was discovered in 1922, is of great importance to Egyptology, since the treasures inside the tomb were intact and the famous golden mask accompanied Tutankhamun's mummified remains. The discovery of his tomb contributed significantly in finding out how a royal tomb was prepared for a king’s afterlife.

Monica Hanna, an Egyptian archaeologist, told Al-Monitor that this was not the first time the officials responsible for ancient monuments acted with negligence. In 2006, the southern facade of the Saqqara pyramid was damaged and in 2007, damage was done to the city of Rosetta, which is also considered an important archaeological landmark, as well as to Al-Jayyousi Mosque.

Hanna considers these failures in properly dealing with the Egyptian artifacts and monuments during their restoration the result of 30 years of corruption.

“A crisis unit for monuments and artifacts must be formed. It should be supported by the army and police to confront secret prospecting at monuments as well as terrorist acts. This is resulting in the loss of incomparable treasures, similar to what happened in the Museum of Malawi, Museum of Islamic Arts and El-Arish [National Museum],” she said.

These museums witnessed acts of vandalism and looting. The Museum of Malawi was vandalized and 1,040 artifacts were stolen in August 2013. This happened at the same time as the violence that engulfed Egypt after supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi were dispersed at the Rabia al-Adawiya sit-in. On Jan. 24, 2014, the Museum of Islamic Arts, which was founded in 1903 and included Islamic art in its different stages throughout history, was destroyed in a terrorist explosion in front of the Cairo Security Directorate.

El-Arish National Museum also suffered damage following terrorist operations targeting the Egyptian army and police forces in North Sinai on Jan. 29.

What is both surprising and ironic is that there are 14,000 security guards to protect the Egyptian artifacts, but they are not actually trained to preserve the monuments that are being stolen on a daily basis, according to Hanna. The discussion of the damage to Tutankhamun’s mask did not end, despite the decision by the minister of antiquities to investigate the concerned officials. The situation escalated and resulted in public outrage expressed after experts at the Ministry of Antiquities announced they doubted the mask was the original piece, claiming it was a fake. Subsequently, the Egyptian government consulted German conservation expert Christiaan Eijkman to examine the mask and confirm it was the original piece.

Although the Federation of Egyptian Archaeologists described the damage to the mask as severe, the head of the federation, Abdul Halim Noureddine, told Al-Monitor that the mask — which is still on display in the Egyptian Museum — was not a fake but it was not handled in a way befitting its value. “Epoxy, the material that was used to fix the mask’s chin, is not recommended for restoration,” he said.

Noureddine attributed the repeated mistakes in restoring pharaonic monuments to two main factors. “Sometimes they are the result of the incompetency of the person involved in the restoration and sometimes they are the result of the ongoing conflicts within the monuments commission,” he said.

To hear the position of officials at the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities regarding the repeated mistakes during the restoration of valuable Egyptian monuments, Al-Monitor spoke to the chairman of the central administration for maintenance and restoration, Gharib Sunbul. He said that indeed an error occurred during the restoration of Tutankhamun’s mask.

He said that the restoration expert who used epoxy had succeeded in restoring 90% of the piece, while the remaining 10% showed serious flaws due to the excessive use of this material on the mask, which is made of pure gold. For the mask to be put on display again quickly, the restoration had been done in haste, which resulted in the complete distortion of the archaeological piece.

The government official denied accusations regarding the restoration work of the Saqqara pyramid, “The only mistake there was that the person involved in the restoration did not preserve the randomness in which the ancient Egyptians placed the rocks, and we are working on fixing this,” he said.

Sunbul admitted that a significant issue occurred during the restoration of the city of Rosetta, but that was when the Egyptian monuments commission was affiliated with Minister of Culture Farouk Hosny, before the January 25 Revolution.

Perhaps the fact that an Egyptian government official admits the negligence in previous restoration work of Egyptian archaeological sites is proof that there is a real crisis in preserving the pharaonic heritage. However, at the same time it could be a promising start to handle such crises and find suitable solutions.

Author: Walaa Hussein | Source: Al-Monitor [February 05, 2015]