Book Reviewing for (Less) Fun and (More) Profit

I was very excited to sign on as a contracted reviewer for Shelf Awareness’ Readers’ Edition e-newsletter when it launched earlier this year, but I must admit that I didn’t really foresee how a paid reviewing gig would affect my overall reading and blogging habits. This “do what you love, the money will follow” exercise has turned out to be a “be careful what you wish for” thing sometimes. Perhaps if I’d understood about the “Overjustification Effect” before I started this, I’d have been more reticent about jumping into it:

“The Misconception: There is nothing better in the world than getting paid to do what you love.
The Truth: Getting paid for doing what you already enjoy will sometimes cause your love for the task to wane because you attribute your motivation as coming from the reward, not your internal feelings.”

My commitment to Shelf Awareness is for two reviews a month, which isn't onerous. I’ve given them a list of my preferred categories, and they usually send me four or five galleys a month to consider, so I do have some choice about what I’ll be reading for them. They’ve given me books I might not have encountered otherwise, and while I’m not sure any of them will make my Books of the Year list, they’ve generally been good reading.

Having said that, ”I might not have encountered these books otherwise” also means that, in some cases, these aren’t the books I’d have read if I’d had entirely free choice about it. But getting paid to do something sometimes means that you don't necessarily have free choice about how you do what you do. And if I want to get paid to do this, I have commitments and deadlines to meet, and in all honesty, those things certainly affect my motivation to choose certain books at certain times.

It’s further complicated by the fact that my reading time is limited as it is, and that this work is a discretionary sideline to an unrelated full-time career that claims most of my weekday hours. I have a family, and I have other ways I like to spend my non-working time besides reading--the blogging I’ve been doing for nearly five years being pretty high on that list. Having said that, when I’ve had to make decisions about how to allocate the time budget, you may have noticed that blogging is one of the places I’ve made cuts (although they’re partly offset by the fact that I can re-post my SA reviews here once they’ve run in the newsletter, with proper disclosure), and those cuts may turn out to be long-term.

I realize I could always choose not to do the paid reviewing, as it’s certainly not what pays the bills (although it does provide some “mad money”), but it is something that moves me in the direction I’d like to take work-wise, and that’s one reason I don’t want to stop doing it. Even before I took it on, I’d been cutting way back on accepting books for non-paid reviewing; I’m still limiting those, and at this point I think that will also be a long-term cut (aside from those I collect at BEA, which I’ll most likely do again in 2012 despite having far too much of the 2011 haul still in TBR Purgatory). Eventually, I’d really like more time for discretionary reading to come from that change, as I do not enjoy experiencing bookstore paralysis...and I see paying for books I want to read (and then write about, which is why I came here in the first place) as quite different from accepting "free" book offers as effective payment for reviews.

I realize this post may sound like one big list of complaints, but I really don’t mean it to be; I’m thinking out loud about my choices. I realize I’m very fortunate to have the chance to read books, write about them, and get paid for doing it, and I really don’t want to give up that opportunity. But I also don’t want that opportunity to be something that takes the fun out of reading, or takes as much time away from "reading for fun" as it has for the first six months I’ve been doing it.

Going into a new year of reading, I think I need to understand that this new line of work is still a work in progress for me, give myself more time (and patience) to work out how to make it all work, accept that some things just may not be able to work the same way they did before I got into this...and maybe use some of my vacation time from work as periodic “reading days” for my other work!

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At MomsLA: Can we afford Santa Claus?

It’s not even a secret to those who keep the secret, really: parents are Santa’s most helpful elves, interceding with children’s Christmas requests and quietly seeing to whether they’re granted. But when we know that those packages under the tree are coming out of our own budgets and not a workshop at the North Pole–and we know that those budgets are stretched daily, even without the expenses of making the holidays happy–should we be feeding the fantasy and encouraging our kids to “ask Santa” for anything at all?

I'm at MomsLA today, wondering whether this holiday season might have an unexpected economic casualty: Santa Claus.

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Light the way to Christmas Day

You may have noticed I'm filling the spaces between "real" (that is, written) posts with photos throughout the holiday season. It's the most picturesque time of the year!

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At the movies: *Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows*

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

official movie site

Mystery/Suspense (2011), rated PG-12

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law

Directed by: Guy Ritchie

Written by: Michele Mulroney and Kieran Mulroney

Synopsis, via RottenTomatoes.com: Sherlock Holmes has always been the smartest man in the room...until now. There is a new criminal mastermind at large-Professor James Moriarty-and not only is he Holmes' intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil, coupled with a complete lack of conscience, may actually give him an advantage over the renowned detective. When the Crown Prince of Austria is found dead, the evidence, as construed by Inspector Lestrade, points to suicide. But Sherlock Holmes deduces that the prince has been the victim of murder-a murder that is only one piece of a larger and much more portentous puzzle, designed by Professor Moriarty. The cunning Moriarty is always one step ahead of Holmes as he spins a web of death and destruction-all part of a greater plan that, if he succeeds, will change the course of history. -- (C) Warner Bros

This was my impression of the first Sherlock Holmes movie, two years ago: 

“It was entertaining - Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law played off one another well - but I felt that it was a bit of a mess in spots, with a plot involving a highly-placed conspiracy and occult elements that seemed just a bit Dan Brown-influenced to me. I've never read any of the original Holmes novels, but I'll just assume many liberties were taken. Still, it was fun, and RDJ is always very watchable.”

The follow-up, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, is less of a mess, and even more fun. I still haven’t read any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes novels, but have picked up enough about them through general cultural literacy to be able to place the characters in context. This movie adds two significant ones to the mix, Sherlock’s brother Mycroft and his arch-nemesis, Professor James Moriarty.

The plot synopsis quoted above is pretty vague, but regardless of this series’ roots in the traditions of mystery/detective fiction, plot doesn’t matter much in these film interpretations--although I do think the plot in this movie made more sense than the first one did. Giving a major role to the Holmes/Moriarty relationship helped with that, although the larger focus remains on the relationship between Holmes and his partner Dr. John Watson. Downey and Law seem to have real fun with these characters, and that’s where most of the fun of the movie comes from--RDJ remains very watchable, even as Holmes assumes a variety of disguises.

For me, some of the fun also derives from these films’ great sense of style, and I appreciated that even more this time, particularly the steampunk elements. Overall, A Game of Shadows isn’t as smart as its main characters are, but it’s got clever dialogue, some excellent set pieces, and moves along well--it’s a very enjoyable ride.

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Monday Moment: At Santa's Village

South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, CA, 12/11/2011

This may be one of the finest examples of the North Pole in Southern California this year.

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Sunday Salon: Bookstore Paralysis, and overdue Bookkeeping

The strangest thing happened to me last weekend. I went into a bookstore and not only was I NOT overcome with book lust, I wanted to flee the scene. I was overwhelmed and fatigued by all the choices. I had to take a few minutes for a mental adjustment, and was only able to resume browsing when I reminded myself Christmas was coming, and I could look for books as gifts for other people instead of for myself. That helped, and saved me from the shame of leaving the store empty-handed.

I mostly blame book blogging for this experience. Thoughts of the stacks of TBR books all around my house have rarely held me back from adding to them during a bookstore visit, but this time they did. Despite being miles away, the yet-unread ARCs that I brought back from BEA last spring nudged and nagged at me. The review deadlines that I always seem to be running behind lately loomed on a giant calendar in my mind’s eye. I just couldn’t bring myself to add to it all.

But to be honest, some of the blame probably could be shared with the bookstore itself, which was of the unremarkable chain variety and shall remain nameless for our mutual protection. I suspect any reservations my TBR shelves and review responsibilities were causing could have been easily overcome if I’d been in search of--or attracted to--a PARTICULAR book, but I had no agenda when I went in, and without one, the browsing just didn’t work for me.

It was a strange and awkward experience I would prefer not to repeat, but I’d love to know if it’s happened to anyone else. Have you ever left a bookstore without buying anything because it was all just too much?

This is my first Sunday Salon in a few weeks, and it’s good to be back! And it’s been even longer since my last Bookkeeping report, so let’s catch up...

Reviews posted since the last report:

The Daughter She Used to Be, by Rosalind Noonan

Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life (audio), by Steve Martin

The Heroine’s Bookshelf, by Erin Blakemore

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) (audio), by Mindy Kaling

The Betsy-Tacy Treasury, by Maud Hart Lovelace

Just KIds (audio), by Patti Smith

One Hundred and One Nights, by Benjamin Buchholz

The Personal History of Rachel DuPree, by Ann Weisgarber

New to TBR Purgatory (“R”=review copy)

The Safety Expert by Doug Richardson (R)

Spin: A Novel by Catherine McKenzie (R)

Friends Like Us by Lauren Fox (R)

The Accidental Feminist: How Elizabeth Taylor Raised Our Consciousness and We Were Too Distracted By Her Beauty to Notice by M. G. Lord (R)

Enemy Women: A Novel by Paulette Jiles 

(won in a giveaway from Serena at Savvy Verse and Wit--an overdue thank you!)

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Jane by April Lindner

All Clear by Connie Willis

Practical Jean: A Novel by Trevor Cole

Dead Low Tide: A Novel by Bret Lott (R)

The Night Swimmer: A Novel by Matt Bondurant (R)

Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis by Lauren Winner (R)

Wine to Water: A Bartender's Quest to Bring Clean Water to the World by Doc Hendley (R)

The Western Lit Survival Kit: An Irreverent Guide to the Classics, from Homer to Faulkner by Sandra Newman (R)

I Think I Love You: A Novel by Allison Pearson

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta

(won in a giveaway from Megan at Leafing Through Life--thank you, very belatedly!)

I’m hoping to get a little just-for-fun reading in during the holidays, but we’ll have to see how the review-required reading moves along (and that’s another post, if I can make some time for writing as well as reading!). I’m also thinking about what might make my 2011 Books of the Year list (which may not end up posted till the beginning of 2012). What are your plans for these last few weeks of this reading year?

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Friday Foto: Having a Ball!

We call this fellow "Jacuzzi Bear." One day he'll come and live with us, but he's at home at my mother-in-law's house now, wearing his holiday finery.

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Book Talk: *The Personal History of Rachel DuPree*, by Ann Weisgarber (updated post)

(This is a revised/updated post reflecting my thoughts upon finishing this novel. It was originally published on December 8, 2011 to meet a commitment for a TLC Book Tour date.)

The Personal History of Rachel DuPree: A Novel
Ann Weisgarber
Penguin (Non-Classics) (2011), Paperback (ISBN 0143119486 / 9780143119487)
Fiction (historical), 336 pages
Source: Publisher
Reason for reading: TLC Book Tour

Opening lines: “I still see her, our Liz, sitting on a plank, dangling over that well. She held on to the rope that hung from the pulley, her bare feet pressed together so tight that the points on her ankle bones were nearly white. She was six. She had on her brother's castoff pants and earlier, when I'd given them to her, she'd asked if wearing pants made her a boy. I'd told her we'd wait and see, and that had made her giggle.

“The plank Liz sat on swayed and twisted in a wind that blew stinging grit. Her bandana covered her nose and mouth. The rope around her waist was knotted to the one that held the plank. Isaac, my husband, called it a harness. He said it'd keep her from falling off.

“'We're right here,' I said to her. 'Daddy's got you.'”

Book description, via the publisher’s website: Praised by Alice Walker and many other bestselling writers, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree is an award-winning debut novel with incredible heart about life on the prairie as it's rarely been seen. Reminiscent of The Color Purple, as well as the frontier novels of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Willa Cather, it opens a window on the little-known history of African American homesteaders and gives voice to an extraordinary heroine who embodies the spirit that built America.

Publisher's Reading Group Guide summary

Comments: Ann Weisgarber spent seven years on the research and writing of The Personal History of Rachel DuPree, her first novel, and has been rewarded for her efforts with several literary honors, including an Orange Prize nomination (the book was first published in England). The research enables Weisgarber to bring her story to life with careful details, but the most effective detail she uses is her title character's narrative voice.

The fact that some of the homesteading pioneers of the Great Plains were African-Americans seems to be a bit of an historical footnote, but in some ways it makes sense that they'd seek opportunity in a place where they wouldn't be held back by entrenched traditions and prejudices. Isaac DuPree saw that opportunity in the landowning promise of the Homestead Act; and in Isaac, Rachel Reeves saw her own opportunity to escape potential marriage to a slaughterhouse worker and a life of domestic labor. They made a deal: Isaac could claim Rachel's 160 Homestead-Act acres as well as his own if they got married and remained husband and wife for a year. Twelve years later, they live with their five children on the 2500 acres they now own, seizing more opportunities as neighboring ranchers give up on the tough, unwelcoming Dakota Badlands, sell out, and move back east. And now, a summer of terrible drought and another baby on the way have caused Rachel to wonder whether those neighbors might have had the right idea, and she begins to question what opportunities her children will find in this isolated, difficult place.

It's hard not to be impressed by how effectively Ann Weisgarber gives voice to an African-American pioneer woman of nearly a century ago. I was immediately and deeply drawn into Rachel's story and the challenges of her life--not just the hard labor of it, but the deep insecurity of it. Making a living off the land is inherently insecure and easily destabilized by the whims of nature, and for the DuPrees, it's compounded by the harshness of the place where they're trying to make that living. Rachel's increasing sense of loneliness is clear, and I responded strongly to both her strength and the tangled emotions that cause her to doubt it.

One thing that struck me early in my reading of this work of historical fiction is that it’s an interesting companion/counterpoint to one my favorite nonfiction reads of 2011, Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns. Wilkerson’s book explores the “Great Migration” of thousands of African-Americans from the segregated small towns of the South to the big cities of the North and the West Coast. Through Rachel Dupree, Ann Weisgarber traces the migration of one African-American family from a big Northern city to the harsh, barely-populated prairies of the Dakotas, where they are more challenged by the isolation and the elements than by Jim Crow in their efforts to cultivate the land and make a life.

I wouldn't have minded if The Personal History of Rachel DuPree had been a longer novel; there were some plot threads that didn't seem to be fully explored. At the same time, I'm not sure a longer novel would have had the same intensity or, in the end, have been as satisfying.

Rating: 4/5

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (IndieBound.org)

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Christmas Trees: The Drunk-Monkey Decorating Secret

My mother-in-law hosts a Christmas-tree party every year. In return for food, drinks, and congeniality, she gets friends, neighbors and family to do her decorating.

An open bar + more than 40 party guests=major drunk-monkey-decorating potential, you'd think. 

And yet...

The end result comes from the involvement of many hands, but seems to reflect the thoughtful actions of actual humans. Where were the drunk monkeys?

They stayed at my house, tossing garland. I've concluded that the line between a lovely tree and a monkey tree is made from LOTS of garland.

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Shelf Awareness Book Talk: *One Hundred And One Nights*, by Benjamin Buchholz

One Hundred and One Nights: A Novel
Benjamin Buchholz
Back Bay Books (2011), Paperback original (ISBN 0316133779 / 9780316133777)
Fiction, 368 pages

Portions of this review were originally published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (12/9/11), which supplied an Advance Reader Copy (furnished by the publisher) and payment. All opinions expressed are my own.

Abu Saheed--”Father Truth”--is the ironically-chosen pseudonym of the narrator of Benjamin Buchholz’ debut novel, One Hundred and One Nights. The site of his new shop selling mobile phones and satellite dishes in the southern Iraqi town of Safwan allows a prime view of the highway overpass used by the passing American military convoys, which he tracks daily. Although he hasn’t been in town or in business long, his life seems to have taken on a routine in just weeks: days in the marketplace, dinners at an old friend’s restaurant, and nights alone in his unfinished house. That new routine is unsettled when a local girl begins visiting him in the evenings as he’s closing the shop.

Of course, things aren’t what they seem. Through use of flashback, foreshadowing, and stream of consciousness, Buchholz unwinds the story of an Iraqi physician who returns home to Baghdad after years of study and medical practice in Chicago, believing he could help his country rebuild after the fall of Saddam Hussein...and is now in this isolated southern town selling mobile phones as a cover for a mission bent on destruction. That mission isn’t what it seems, either. As the story builds, the reader begins to question the reliability of the narrator and the reality of his situation, and this adds to the dramatic tension as the flashbacks and the present converge.

Buchholz’s unit of the Wisconsin National Guard was deployed to Iraq in 2005, and he and his family have remained in the Middle East; his assumption of an Iraqi voice and viewpoint, and his depiction of native characters, settings, and customs are informed and convincing. One Hundred and One Nights is an absorbing, affecting, and beautifully-written first novel.

From the publisher: After 13 years in America, Abu Saheeh has returned to his native Iraq, a nation transformed by the American military presence. Alone in a new city, he has exactly what he wants: freedom from his past. Then he meets Layla, a whimsical fourteen-year-old girl who enchants him with her love of American pop culture. Enchanted by Layla's stories and her company, Abu Saheeh settles into the city's rhythm and begins rebuilding his life. But two sudden developments--his alliance with a powerful merchant and his employment of a hot-headed young assistant--reawaken painful memories, and not even Layla may be able to save Abu Saheeh from careening out of control and endangering all around them.

A breathtaking tale of friendship, love, and betrayal, One Hundred and One Nights is an unforgettable novel about the struggle for salvation and the power of family.

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Before and After: The Return of the Drunk Monkeys

We put up the Christmas decorations this past weekend. It's usually a bit chaotic and cluttered. We've probably got more ornaments than what would fit the tree comfortably, but it's so hard to leave any of them out. Every year, I hope it won't end up looking like it was attacked by some drunk monkeys.

Oh, well. Maybe next year.

BEFORE: With lights aglow, the tree awaits its finery.

AFTER: The Drunk Monkeys have done their thing, and the tree has to wear this outfit for another three weeks.

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Book Recommendations, Given On the Fly

My apologies to those who were lured to this post by its title, because it’s somewhat misleading. This is the post where I talk about why I don't give book recommendations on the fly.

I went to a blogger party last weekend where most of the attendees aren’t book bloggers--our blogs cover a range of topics, but we all have being LA-area moms as a point in common. I met a few new people and caught up with some old friends, and several of the women I talked with had questions for me:

“What one book should I read right now?”
“What are you reading and loving?”
“What’s the best book you’ve read lately?”
“Have you read The Marriage Plot yet?”

Sadly, the response to that last question is “no,” although I look forward to changing that to a “yes” before too long. However, that was undoubtedly the easiest question to answer.

I think I’m a decent book reviewer. However, I don’t think I’m a good book recommender...and I think that’s related to the fact I tend to choose my own reading based on reviews rather than recommendations, if that makes sense. I’ll try to explain.

Unless I know you pretty well--and sometimes not even then--I’m not terribly comfortable giving advice on anything, and that includes what you “should” read. It’s related to the fact that I’m not terribly comfortable receiving advice, either (even if I ask for it). My preference is to seek out the information on my own, evaluate it, and make my own decisions, based on self-knowledge. I know my own likes and interests and what speaks to me. If I don’t know you and your tastes well, I don’t want to assume that you’ll respond to a book (or a movie, or what-have-you) the way I do, so I’m hesitant to come out and tell you that you need to read it, just because I did. I take personal recommendations quite personally (no pun intended); the list of people I give them to is pretty short, and I try to make those recommendations based at least as much on what I know they like as what I like. It’s usually an “I read this and thought of you” thing, and that really can’t happen unless I know you.

There are a couple of other reasons I hold back on making reading recommendations outright, and one is very specific to book blogging. Book bloggers have access to a lot of books before the general reading public does, and “what I’m reading and loving right now” could be a book you won’t be able to get for another couple of months, and I think it’s just frustrating to get a book recommendation that you can’t act on right away!

Another reason isn’t so much a book-blogging thing as a reading-interests thing. There’s so much I don't read, particularly in genre fiction, that I wouldn’t know where to begin recommending books to people whose preferences don’t jibe with mine. And due to various factors, I’m often one of the last to read the big “everyone’s-talking-about-it” books--but if everyone's talking about that book, you really don’t need my recommendation on it anyway, do you?

I feel as if I disappoint people when they ask me for on-the-fly book recommendations and I can’t give them decent answers, and I want to apologize if I’ve done that to you! Maybe I can make up for it by recommending a few of my favorite sources for the reviews and information I use to make my own reading choices? They can come to you in your inbox or feed reader:

• BookPage’s “Book of the Day” e-mail newsletter (free, daily) and the BookPage App (free for iPhone/iPad/iPod, updated monthly)
• Shelf Awareness’ “Enlightenment for Readers” e-mail newsletter (free, twice weekly) (I am a paid reviewer for SA for Readers)
• DearReader.com E-mail Book Clubs (free, daily--not a review source, but daily excerpts from different selections each week are a great way to sample books)
• IndieBound’s Indie Next List (monthly) (it’s a widget in the left sidebar of this blog, and I am an IndieBound affiliate)
• Book bloggers! If you’re not sure where to find us, try searching FSB Media’s Book Blogger Directory, checking out the “Awards (2008-2011)” category of the Book Blogger Appreciation Week website, which recognize bloggers’ favorite bloggers in a variety of genres, or visiting book bloggers' "favorite blogs" links

As we rush toward the end of 2011, I’m working on my “Books of the Year” selections. It’s going to be tough to make the cuts this year, but I think that’s not a bad problem to have, as it speaks to the generally high quality of what I’ve read. Once I’ve made and posted those choices, I’d be happy to have you take any of those selections as recommended reading.

• Here’s a question for book bloggers: How do you like being asked for on-the-fly book recommendations? How do you usually respond?

• And here’s an invitation for those who’d like recommendations: Comment or e-mail me about your interests, your reading preferences, and a few books you’ve liked lately, and I’ll see what recommendations I can come up with for you--just help me get to know you a little better first!

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Shelf Awareness (Audio)Book Talk: *Just Kids*, by Patti Smith

This is a compensated review originally written for Shelf Awareness for Readers, which did not publish it. It is posted here with permission. I have a personal copy of this book, but hadn’t yet read it when I was offered the audiobook for review.

Just Kids
Patti Smith
HarperAudio (July 2011), unabridged audio CD (ISBN 9780062109385)
Memoir, 9 CDs

Just Kids, Patti Smith’s memoir of her friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe, which began with a random meeting in Brooklyn in 1967 and lasted until Mapplethorpe’s death from AIDS in 1989, won the 2010 National Book Award for nonfiction. Drawn together by their shared drive to create art and united by a vow to take care of one another, they spent several remarkable years together in New York City’s artistic subculture, centered around the legendary Hotel Chelsea.

Smith and Mapplethorpe were far more than best friends. As struggling young artists, they were roommates and, for a time, lovers (until they both accepted Robert’s homosexuality). And as their artistic paths diverged - Robert’s toward photography, Patti’s to poetry and music - they were one another’s muses. In Just Kids, Smith doesn’t over-analyze their complex relationship; she simply shares it intimately and openly, and makes it absorbing and engaging.

Mapplethorpe’s art was edgy and controversial; Smith’s music and poetry may be more respected than popular. It’s not necessary to be a fan of either’s work to be drawn into their personal story. A sharp observer and accomplished writer, Smith makes their world vivid and engaging, recounting scenes, episodes and conversations in striking detail.

Smith acknowledges that it took her a long time to be ready to tell this story, and she doesn’t shy away from its less-than-flattering elements. With variations in tone that match the material - erudite discussion of French poetry soon followed by a drawling recount of a conversation with one of her Chelsea neighbors - she makes an appealing narrator of her own story in this audio production, which is enhanced by the inclusion of some of her lyrics and poetry.

Book description, from the publisher’s website: It was the summer Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, and the summer when a chance encounter in Brooklyn led two young people on a path of art, devotion, and initiation. 

Patti Smith would evolve as a poet and performer, and Robert Mapplethorpe would direct his highly provocative style toward photography. Bound in innocence and enthusiasm, they traversed the city from Coney Island to Forty-second Street, and eventually to the celebrated round table of Max's Kansas City, where the Andy Warhol contingent held court. In 1969, the pair set up camp at the Hotel Chelsea and soon entered a community of the famous and infamous—the influential artists of the day and the colorful fringe. It was a time of heightened awareness, when the worlds of poetry, rock and roll, art, and sexual politics were colliding and exploding. In this milieu, two kids made a pact to take care of each other. Scrappy, romantic, committed to create, and fueled by their mutual dreams and drives, they would prod and provide for one another during the hungry years. 

Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. It serves as a salute to New York City during the late sixties and seventies and to its rich and poor, its hustlers and hellions. A true fable, it is a portrait of two young artists' ascent, a prelude to fame.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (IndieBound.org)

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Book Talk: *The Betsy-Tacy Treasury*, by Maud Hart Lovelace (TLC Book Tour)

The Betsy-Tacy Treasury: The First Four Betsy-Tacy Books
Maud Hart Lovelace
Harper Perennial Modern Classics (2011), Trade Paperback (ISBN 0062095870 / 9780062095879)
Fiction (children’s), 736 pages
Source: Publisher
Reason for reading: TLC Book Tour

Book description, from the publisher’s website: There are lots of children on Hill Street, but no little girls Betsy’s age. So when a new family moves into the house across the street, Betsy hopes they will have a little girl she can play with. Sure enough, the moment Betsy meets Tacy, one of the most heartfelt friendships in all of children’s literature begins.

The Betsy-Tacy Treasury brings together the first four books in Maud Hart Lovelace’s classic series: Betsy-Tacy; Betsy-Tacy and Tib; Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill; and Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown. Tracing the girls’ lives from early childhood to the brink of adolescence, Lovelace illuminates their innocent, mischievous fun and their eye-opening adventures exploring the world around them—from the stories Betsy spins from their neighborhood bench and the sand stores they run in their backyards, to their first experiences at the library, the thrill of the theater, and the sight of their first automobile.

Comments: Harper Perennial has made a project of reissuing the works of Maud Hart Lovelace during the last three years, and they’ve now worked their way back to the beginning. Unlike some of her later books featuring an older Betsy Ray, the earliest of Lovelace’s autobiographical children’s novels about Betsy and her friends have rarely been out of print, but now the first four books in the series have been collected in a one-volume “Modern Classics” edition, featuring the original illustrations. Like the other reissues, this one includes supplemental material: biographies of the author and illustrator, background about the real-life models for characters and events in the stories, and forewords by contemporary authors who are fans of the books.

The stories in this volume are ones that I read and re-read and loved dearly when I was in the age range that Lovelace’s characters are here. Betsy Ray and Tacy Kelly are across-the-street neighbors who meet when they’re five years old and soon become the inseparable Betsy-Tacy. Within a year or so, they are introduced to Tib Muller, who lives a few blocks away in an enchanting chocolate-colored house with a round tower room, and the twosome becomes a trio; Lovelace revisits them a couple of years later in Betsy-Tacy and Tib. At this stage, the novels take place at two-year intervals. When they all turn ten, the girls are grown-up enough to explore the immigrant settlement on the other side of the Big Hill; at twelve, they get to discover the attractions of downtown Deep Valley, Minnesota. The first two novels are largely episodic and not about much more than the girls’ games and small adventures; there’s more overall plot to Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill and Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown.

These books grew out of stories that Lovelace told her daughter about her own childhood, and there are places where the writing has the feel of oral storytelling. It’s also very strong on physical descriptions that effectively bring things to life in the reader’s mind. Like the best children’s writing, it doesn’t talk down to the child reader; however, there are some noticeable--and appropriate--differences in tone and style between these novels and the ones that follow Betsy and her friends through high school and into adulthood.

I haven’t revisited the first Betsy-Tacy books for decades; I used to think I’d read them again with my daughters if I had them, but since I ended up with a son, that didn’t happen. And I never owned these books--they’re closely associated with my own childhood love affair with the library, which was something I shared with Betsy. Reading them now is like a double dose of nostalgia for me; I’m not only immersed in Betsy and Tacy’s turn-of-the-(20th)century childhood, but I revisit my own childhood in the 1970s, when I read about them for the first (and second, and third) time. By then, we took things like cars and telephones for granted, but we were still able to roam our neighborhoods with a fair amount of freedom and play games that sprang mostly from our imaginations. I think the experience of childhood has changed more between my time and now than it did between Betsy’s time and mine. But the experience of reading about Betsy, Tacy, and Tib’s childhoods was as enjoyable as it ever was--it hasn’t gotten old--and I’m glad I can finally put these books with their older sisters on my “keeper” shelf.

Rating: 3.75/5

Other stops on this TLC Book Tour:

Tuesday, November 8th: Amusing Reviews

Thursday, November 10th: A Cozy Reader’s Corner

Tuesday, November 15th: Cafe of Dreams

Wednesday, November 16th: Teresa’s Reading Corner

Thursday, November 17th: Laura’s Reviews

Tuesday, November 22nd: Sidewalk Shoes

Wednesday, November 23rd: Books Like Breathing

Monday, November 28th: Reading Lark

Tuesday, November 29th: Reviews from the Heart

Wednesday, November 30th: Raging Bibliomania

Friday, December 2nd: Book Hooked Blog

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (IndieBound.org)

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Remember This!

My husband and I were recently having a conversation with someone about something that happened a couple of years ago, and he was surprised by the details I still recalled about it. “I don’t know how you remember this stuff so well,” he said.

I think my memory has been better than his for as long as we’ve known each other, and since his seizure episode last spring, that seems to be even more true. It’s interesting, given that I’m the one who worries about Alzheimer’s... I have far from perfect recall of many everyday, ordinary things, but sometimes I’m just as surprised by the things that do stick in my head. (But if you really want to be amazed by what sticks in someone's head, read about this woman.)

During a recent Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast discussion about memoir, one of the panelists talked about the link between memory and emotion. We’re more likely to form strong memories around events associated with strong emotions, which makes them highly subjective. But even those memories may be lacking in strong details, and may be reconstructed into narrative using some of the devices of fiction. (For that reason, we may want to reconsider chastising some memoirists for inaccuracy.) I wonder if that’s one reason why memories of childhood sometimes seem so clear; it’s a time when our emotions are more primary and much closer to the surface.

It’s also a time when our brains are much less full of stuff, which is why adults need to rely on documentation--notes to self and to-do lists and smartphones and journals.

I started this blog in order to create a record of my reading--to remember what I read, when I read it, what it was about, and what I thought about it. Over the course of nearly five years and more than 1600 posts, it’s evolved into a record of many other pastimes and events and thoughts--a tangible, searchable memory. There are definite advantages to having a place where you can just look it up.

And when I know that I’m going to be documenting something, I find myself more attentive to it in the moment as well, so that I’ll be able to record those facts and feelings and impressions. It may be that actively creating memories is actually good exercise for the brain, and perhaps that will help me manage some of those Alzheimer’s worries. But I should work on exercising it even more; I’ve noticed that when I’ve decided not to blog about something, I’ll sometimes catch myself drifting through it, not fully tuned in. That's a problem--experiences that aren't blogged about are no less valid than experiences that are (although they may be less momentous).

Granted, we all can use some mental downtime now and then, but we need mental discipline too. My mother-in-law makes a point of doing several crossword puzzles every day as her mental exercise, and I respect that, but I think that just spending more of our time paying attention might be even more valuable. (That might even help with the super-short-term memory "Now what did I come in here for anyway?" thing...) There’s something to the whole “in the moment,” mindful-living thing; when I’ve focused more on the moment, I find I remember it better long after it’s over. And writing it down helps me remember it even more.

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(Audio)Book Talk: *Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?* by Mindy Kaling

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)
Mindy Kaling (Facebook) (Twitter) (Tumblr)
Crown Archetype (2011), Hardcover (ISBN 0307886263 / 9780307886262)
(audio edition ISBN 9780307939807)
Nonfiction/essays/memoir, 240 pages
Source: Purchased audiobook (Audible.com)
Reason for reading: Personal

Book description, from the publisher’s website: Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?”

In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.

Comments: If not for Tina Fey’s Bossypants, I’m not sure I’d have given much thought to reading Mindy Kaling’s Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, and I certainly wouldn’t have considered getting it as an audiobook. But celebrities--especially those known for comedy--reading their own work have provided some of my best audiobook experiences so far, so I went for it. It was a good call. That’s mostly thanks to Mindy Kaling, but I also have to thank Tina Fey for influencing the decision.

I’ve drifted away from regular viewing of The Office during the last couple of years, but even when it was Must See TV for me, Kaling’s character Kelly Kapoor was never one of my favorite parts of the show; I usually found her a bit irritating, to be honest. However, I knew Kaling was also a writer and producer on the series, which was one reason I didn’t roll my eyes and cringe when I heard she had a book coming out. Fortunately for us all, knowing Kelly is not the same as knowing Mindy.

Aside from the Thursday-night NBC-comedy connection, there are other common factors that will lead people to compare Kaling’s and Fey’s books. Both are more in the personal-essays vein than outright memoir; while they follow an autobiographical outline, both women make a lot of topical detours and digressions. As a single, childless woman who’s succeeded relatively young in a very tough business, Kaling’s digressions tend to be into more personal subjects like food, shopping, and guys. In addition, many of her observations and references are very current; in another couple of years, they will make it obvious that the book was written in the early 2010's (twenty-teens?), but right now, they're spot-on. (Given that books like this don't generally have a long shelf life--pun not intended!--that's probably not a problem, though.)

As I mentioned, I’m not a big fan of Kaling’s character on The Office...but I came away from this book quite impressed with Kaling herself, and I’d now say I’m a fan of hers. For one thing, It’s hard not to be amused by the fact that her first big career success was an award-winning Off-Broadway play she co-wrote with her best friend, Brenda Withers, called Matt and Ben, in which they played best friends Matt Damon (Brenda) and Ben Affleck (Mindy). She’s justifiably proud of her Ivy League education, but comes across as an interesting mix of flighty and grounded. She's quick-witted, open, strikingly good-natured, and regardless of her consuming (pun very intended) interest in shopping and fashion, deep down, she’s not shallow. And speaking of fashion: there is something deeply off-kilter in a world where a woman who looks like Mindy Kaling is considered “chubby.”

Another point of comparison between Kaling’s and Fey’s books is that, in the audio edition, Kaling also addresses the listener directly and makes reference to differences between the audio and print versions of the book. I’ve come to appreciate audiobooks that offer a little more than simply reading aloud, and I’m glad I decided to “read” Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? this way. I think the only potential drawback to it is that the book is made up of short pieces, and in audio, the transitions aren’t always clear. Despite that, I really enjoyed Mindy Kaling’s company for a few days during my commute; she engaged my interest, enlightened me a little, and made me laugh a lot.

Rating: 3.75/5 for the book, 4/5 for the audio presentation

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (IndieBound.org)

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At the movies Double Feature: *The Muppets* and *Hugo*

To be honest, sometimes I prefer seeing "family" films without the younger members of the family. Tall Paul's kids were with their mom this weekend (although they spent Thanksgiving Day with us), and he and I went to the movies on Saturday and Sunday. Partly for that reason, I didn't end up spending as much time reading as I expected to during my four days off, but one of the movies was based on a book...

The Muppets (PG)

official movie site

Comedy/musical (rated PG)

Starring: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Kermit T. Frog, Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, The Great Gonzo, and introducing...Walter

Director: James Bobin

Screenwriters: Jason Segel, Nicholas Stoller

Summary, via RottenTomatoes.com: On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world's biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets' former stomping grounds. To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the $10 million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino tribute band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate.

As a nearly-lifelong Muppets fan--I watched the original Muppet Show when it was first-run TV, y'all!--I've missed them during the last several years, but I was highly skeptical about the news that they'd be making a "comeback" in a new film. I feared exploitation and misuse by a studio who didn't really get what made them so great (Disney's owned the Muppets for years, and at times it's seemed like an odd match), and I expected I'd be avoiding The Muppets when it came to theaters.

The fact that I found myself eager to see it within a few days of opening is a tribute to the power of good reviews, both from traditional media and word of mouth. Much of the credit goes to screenwriter and star Jason Segel, for whom this was a passion project--and it shows. The Muppets are in the trustworthy hands of someone who really does get what makes them so great, and makes appropriate references to their history and the show-within-a-show structure of The Muppet Show. The characters are properly in character, and the humor is their trademark combination of clever and cornball. This is a "fun for the whole family" movie, but it might be more fun for the older members, who'll appreciate more of the references. Kids of all ages will appreciate Fozzie's fart shoes, though.

Hugo (PG)

official movie site

Starring: Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz

Director: Martin Scorcese

Screenwriter: John Logan, from a novel by Brian Selznick

Summary, via RottenTomatoes.com: Throughout his extraordinary career, Academy Award-wining director Martin Scorsese has brought his unique vision and dazzling gifts to life in a series of unforgettable films. This holiday season the legendary storyteller invites you to join him on a thrilling journey to a magical world with his first-ever 3-D film, based on Brian Selznick's award-winning, imaginative New York Times best-seller, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret." Hugo is the astonishing adventure of a wily and resourceful boy whose quest to unlock a secret left to him by his father will transform Hugo and all those around him, and reveal a safe and loving place he can call home.

I'd been intrigued by a couple of the recent trailers I'd seen for Hugo, but this is another film where the decision to see it was made very close to release date, and was highly influenced by positive reviews. This is a movie based on a children's book and marketed toward a young audience, but there are elements that could be a bit intense and confusing for little kids. 

For the slightly older moviegoer, however, Hugo is a wonderful experience. It's one of the most beautiful films I've seen in a long time, and the 3D effects are so well-integrated that they don't seem at all gimmicky. On the other hand, I'm not sure they're entirely necessary. The story of an orphaned boy who lives high in the rafters of the Paris train station and has a gift for fixing things is engaging and moving, and its "magic" isn't so much the stuff of fantasy as it is, truly, the magic of the movies. The film is a real work of art, and one I'd be glad to watch again--and now I want to know its source material, because I'm not a "read the book first" stickler. I've added Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret to my Christmas wish list.

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It's official: *The Holidays* Are Here!

Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, CA
November 16, 2011

OK, maybe I should have waited till tomorrow to post this, but...y'know, why fight it? 'Tis the season. Who's putting up their Christmas tree this weekend?

And a Happy Thanksgiving to the USA! I hope you and yours enjoy and appreciate the day.

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Full Disclosure: On blogging, books, and money

Bookkeepers (the "my day job" kind)

I’d be lying if I said that the possibility of making some money from writing wasn’t lurking somewhere in my mind when I started blogging here. I wasn’t sure it would happen from blogging, but I did hope that blogging would open some doors to paid writing opportunities in other venues (and it has, but it took four years to get there!). But I’ve also had some chances to make a little money with the blog itself, and I have selectively taken advantage of them. I belong to an ad network, I use affiliate links, I’ve been paid to have a few of my posts syndicated to wider readership, and I occasionally post (or re-post) a paid book review here. 

Blogger disclosures are taken pretty seriously, and not just by the FTC. In the book-blogging realm, we’ve gotten used to stating where we get the books we read and review. Openness and transparency about our sources are meant to defray any concerns our blog readers may have about our objectivity and honest opinions, and this sort of disclosure is standard ethical business practice--as an accounting major, I remember discussing it in my university auditing classes. As Amy notes in “Unsolicited Advice: When in Doubt, Disclose”:

“...(S)ome more high profile bloggers and bookish people have come under scrutiny for not disclosing all their sources of income. One blogger said they were honest and absolutely nothing had changed about the review policy or procedures. While this may be true, the problem remains that this is the internet. We don't all know each other. But even more than that, it's not that they are doing anything wrong, it's that the appearance of wrongdoing exists (emphasis added). It casts a shadow not only over individual bloggers but book blogging as a whole. “

One reason that disclosure seems to be of particular concern among book bloggers is that so many of us started doing this as a hobby that expanded out of another hobby--we loved reading and talking about books, and blogs were a new outlet for that. We’ve formed a sense of community around it. Those origins and connections may feed some conflicted feelings over taking a more “businesslike” approach to book blogging...and about bloggers who decide to do that. April addressed some of the reasons for her decision to monetize her blog, and some of the negative feedback she’s received about it:

“Sometimes blogging feels like a full time job. If you are a successful blogger and I’ll leave you to determine your metrics for that, you likely put in AT LEAST 14 hours per week blogging. You deserve to be compensated for that...Further I am sure SO MANY OF YOU can relate to spending out of pocket money on your own blog.

“I am recouping my costs and I will be damned if I hear another person complaining about other people monetizing. When you pay my blogging salary, then you can complain to me about my ads.”

The thing about ads on blogs is that it’s usually pretty obvious that’s what they are. It’s the less obvious paid promotions that generate more concerns about disclosure, and when book blogging begins to shift toward practices that may be customary in more traditional business environments but haven’t been part of this hobbyist culture, we should probably be even more aware of the need for transparency and clarification.

And with that said, you can read elsewhere about the big flap over revelations that the popular #FridayReads hashtag/meme has evolved from a weekly community “share what you’re reading” Twitter activity to a business that charges publishers several hundred dollars a pop to promote particular titles and/or conduct giveaways of featured books on Facebook during the event--and hadn’t mentioned that in those tweets and Facebook posts. I missed the Twitterstorm over this, but when I read about it later, it explained the e-mail that came from the BlogHer Book Club organizers last week (although the timing may have been merely coincidental):

“We've recently made a change to how #BHBC Twitter promotions should be done. Effective immediately we ask that all #BHBC social media promotions to BlogHer.com content also contain the #ad hashtag.”

(The BlogHer Book Club is a partnership with Penguin, and it pays participants to write reviews, discuss, and promote its selections on social media, so it’s pretty evident there’s publisher money involved. In my experience with BlogHer.com, it has been open about its partnerships and advocates and practices disclosure.)

The FridayReads principals have responded with their own discussions about disclosure, and Wendy is surveying book bloggers about their disclosure practices.

Teresa addressed the distinctions between paid and editorial content, which are well established in traditional media but still evolving in the online social-media world, and how this impacts disclosure:

“Many of you know that I work in magazine publishing. In my world, we try to make it abundantly clear what content in our magazine is advertising and what content is selected by the editors. The ads look like ads, and the editorial content looks like an article or column. If we ever get an ad that looks too much like editorial content, we require the advertiser to redesign it or we add the word 'Advertisement' at the top of the page. Readers do not have to hunt around to figure out what content is paid for and what content is not...

“In the new world of social media, the separation is less clear. On Friday, some of the Friday Reads defenders claimed that the paid content was clearly marked as sponsored content and that readers who followed Bethanne’s stream could see what was paid and what wasn’t. But the thing is, it wasn’t clear at all. It looks to me like the team was using a shorthand and a format that was clear and understandable to them but that wasn’t clear to those outside the circle. Never once did I see the word 'paid' or even 'sponsored' before Bethanne tweeted about how the program operated on Friday morning.

"So what material is paid for? According to the Friday Reads FAQ, publishers pay to offer weekly giveaways through Friday Reads. They also pay for Twitter interviews with Bethanne. This information is available on the Friday Reads website, so the team has not been hiding it. The trouble is that before Friday there was no reason for readers to go seek it out. For a lot of people, that means it might as well be hidden...

“...(What) about paid bookstore placements and Amazon suggestions and online ads and so on...? I don’t like those things either, and when I go to a big box bookstore, I tend to browse the stacks so I can be directed by my own interests. If I look at the tables, I keep in mind that the publishers paid to have their books there. Do I wish it were more clear? Sure. But a bookstore is more obviously a place of commerce than a Twitter stream is (emphasis added). If the publishers weren’t paying to be there, the bookstore might still be choosing the most sellable books.”

I don’t think I’ve been unclear about any of my own monetization activities on this blog, but if you have any questions about them, feel free to ask in comments or e-mail me. They basically cover my blogging costs and generate some personal mad money. Blogging is a hobby, and as much as I enjoy it, I will not be quitting my day job for it--let me be clear about disclosing that, too.

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Book Talk: *The Heroine's Bookshelf*, by Erin Blakemore (TLC Book Tour)

The Heroine's Bookshelf: Life Lessons, from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder
Erin Blakemore (Facebook) (Twitter) (Blog)
Harper (2010), Hardcover (ISBN 006195876X / 9780061958762)
Nonfiction/literary criticism/biography, 224 pages
Source: personal copy
Reason for reading: Participation in TLC Book Tour to support the paperback release*

Opening lines (from the Introduction): “In times of struggle, there are as many reasons not to read as there are to breathe. Don’t you have better things to do? Reading, let alone REreading, is the terrain of milquetoasts and mopey spinsters. At life’s ugliest junctures, the very act of opening a book can smack of cowardly escapism. Who chooses to read when there’s work to be done?"

Book description, from the publisher’s website: Jo March, Scarlett O’Hara, Scout Finch—the literary canon is brimming with intelligent, feisty, never-say-die heroines and celebrated female authors. They placed a premium on personality, spirituality, career, sisterhood, and family, not unlike women of today. When they were up against the wall, authors like Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott fought back—sometimes with words, sometimes with gritty actions. 

Witty, informative, and inspiring—full of beloved heroines and the remarkable writers who created them—The Heroine’s Bookshelf explores how the pluck and dignity of literary characters such as Jane Eyre and Lizzy Bennet can encourage modern women, showing them how to tap into their inner strengths and live life with intelligence and grace. From Zora Neale Hurston to Colette, Laura Ingalls Wilder to Charlotte Brontë, Harper Lee to Alice Walker, here are authors whose spirited stories and characters are more inspiring today than ever.

Comments: Erin Blakemore has assembled The Heroine’s Bookshelf from some unlikely elements; literary criticism, biography, and some self-help psychology. Addressing the common habit of the bookworm to seek refuge in “comfort reading” during challenging personal times, she suggests that the books we turn to can provide more than just comfort; chosen carefully, they can help us develop the internal resources to get through and rise above those challenges.

Each of the dozen chapters in The Heroine’s Bookshelf focuses on a specific trait--self-awareness, happiness, dignity, compassion, fight, ambition, etc.--and features a classic fictional heroine who exemplifies it. Her premise assumes that these characters are already well-known to most readers, but merit consideration in light of the highlighted trait. Blakemore provides more than character analysis, however; she also talks about the author who created that character and her story. The authors she discusses are also women, and she explores how their own backgrounds and experiences informed the characters they created, although this did not necessarily mean the characters were based on them. Blakemore’s underlying theme is that we are the heroines of our own stories, and she returns to it in each chapter with specific examples of how both author and character exhibit the mindsets and behaviors of heroines. Each chapter concludes with a short list of the circumstances in which a reader might consider revisiting that particular heroine, and some suggested “literary sisters” who might also be worth knowing.

The heroines Blakemore highlights come from both older classics---Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice), Jane Eyre, Jo March (Little Women)---and more recent ones--Scout Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird), Celie (The Color Purple). Some are expected choices and others are more surprising, and sometimes Blakemore brings out an element we may not have considered before. However, I was at least as interested in the author biographies as I was in the characters--sometimes, particularly with books I haven’t read, even more so (Margaret Mitchell pretty much rocked). I didn’t expect there to be so much attention given to the creators of the characters featured in The Heroine’s Bookshelf, but I appreciate that there was, and I enjoyed the book more because of it.

One reason that classics are classics is that they continue to be meaningful to readers over time. Although many of the novels we call classics could be considered “historical fiction” now--and some actually do fall into that category--some were utterly contemporary at the time they were written. However, one thing they have in common is that they’re not dated--the themes that frame them are timeless, and perhaps more importantly, so are the characters that their stories are built around. The Heroine’s Bookshelf is a reminder of the continuing value and relevance of some of those characters, and made me want to visit with some of them again.

Rating: 4/5

Other stops on this TLC Book Tour:

Tuesday, November 15th: The Lost Entwife

Thursday, November 17th: Bookstack

Friday, November 18th: Books and Movies

Monday, November 21st: Books Like Breathing

Wednesday, November 23rd: Amusing Reviews

Tuesday, November 29th: Good Girl Gone Redneck

Wednesday, November 30th: Book Addiction

Thursday, December 1st: Reviews from the Heart

Monday, December 5th: Book Drunkard

Tuesday, December 6th: Book Hooked Blog

Thursday, December 8th: Melody & Words

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (IndieBound.org)


*Additional disclosure: The publisher provided copies of this book to tour participants to facilitate their reviews. I already owned the book (received as a Christmas gift in 2010) and declined the review copy offered. I was not paid or otherwise compensated for this review.

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