What's What in the Sunday Salon, July 20, 2014

What I’m reading

• in print / on screen

I haven’t quite finished The Leftovers yet, but I’m trying to do so before I go out of town on Thursday–I hate traveling with a physical book that’s more than half-finished. It’s less of an issue with ebooks or audiobooks, since they don’t take up space in the same way, but I’m not sure I’ll have even reached that point in The Interestings by then, given that I’m triple-booking it at the moment. I have one more August release to review for Shelf Awareness, and I’m wavering over whether to bring it with me. On the one hand, I’d rather not travel with obligatory-review books either, but on the other, it’s a short essay collection and those usually do make for good travel reading.

• on audio

I feel like I did the audiobook equivalent of binge-reading with The SIlkworm, which I finished on Friday morning and plan to write up either today or tomorrow. There were some ways in which I didn’t like it quite as well as The Cuckoo’s Calling, but those have nothing to do with the series’ central premise and characters, which are the main reasons I plan to stick with this series.

For years now, I’ve preferred to consume my genre entertainment in TV shows and movies rather than books, but audiobooks seem to be changing that a little, and I’m not sorry that they are.


What I’m watching

Speaking of genre TV, we’ve been on a steady diet of three episodes a night of Supernatural on Netflix this past week, and not getting the least bit tired of it. That said, a few days away from the TV might not be a bad thing…


What I’m writing

I paid tribute to some of my “blogcestors” in a Throwback Thursday post that I updated and repurposed for BlogHer’s Selfiebration question about blogging “family trees,” and I’ve loved the conversations it’s prompted here, on Twitter, and in the Book Bloggers Google+ group. All I have planned for the week ahead here is book reviews, which we all know rarely foster that kind of conversation.


What caught my eye this week

The combination of a busy few days at work and trying to read two to three books at the same time means that my blog-reading has been off-pace this week, so I really don’t have links to share today. I’m also not participating in this weekend’s Mini-Bloggiesta, but I think some of the Mini-Challenges look good and I may tackle them at some point later on. I have a feeling I may be more inspired after next weekend.

• Coral from Book Bunny PR will help us to write five blog post ideas. 
• Bette Lee from Bette Lee Crosby will help us to update SEO on old posts. 
• Wesley from Library Educated brings us a how to on social media etiquette. 
• Katie from Doing Dewey has a challenge about requesting ARCs. 
• Shannon from River City Reading talks about affordable blog design. 
• Alysia from My Little Pocketbooks teaches us all about Thinglink.com. 
• Stormy from Book. Blog. Bake. shares her time management hints . 
• Amanda from Amanda Shofner tells us all about Storify and how it can help us. 
• Stacy from A Novel Life has a tutorial on how to work with blog designers.

What Else is New?

I will be in San Jose for BlogHer’14 this Thursday through Saturday. It’s the tenth-anniversary conference, and my first time attending since 2010 in New York City. I remember a few years when the annual flagship conference sold out months in advance, but this year’s event, even with an attendance cap of 2500, still has some openings if you can make it to the Bay Area with just a few days’ notice. Please let me know if you’re going to be there, because I’d love to see you!

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What's What: July 13 (Sunday Salon)

What I’m reading

• in print / on screen

Things haven’t changed too much since my Week 2 Check-in for the From Left to Write Summer Reading Challenge. I I finished The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry on my e-reader last night, and will be working on my writeup today; I haven’t decided on my next e-book read yet.

Last week, I dug out the galley of The Leftovers I got three years ago(!) because it’s a TV series now, and since I don’t get HBO I figured I should probably, finally, read it.

• on audio

Thanks to a bunch of Facebook raves from friends, I decided not to wait to start The Silkworm on audio–I’m finding it gripping, as well as somewhat grotesque. I think readers who enjoy stories about writers and the publishing business will particularly appreciate some of the intrigue here, but this “Robert Galbraith" outing definitely presents a side of J.K. Rowling that Harry Potter barely hinted at.

What I’m watching

We just finished binging Season 4 of Supernatural last night, with four more seasons to go on Netflix. I’m not sure we’re going to continue at this rate, but if we do, we’ll be close enough to caught up to add the new episodes to our DVR rotation in the fall. I really enjoyed the meta turn the show took toward the end of the fourth season–I like a show that’s able to wink at its own batshit-craziness.

What I’m writing

I have two book reviews to work on today, and I’d like to tackle this week’s BlogHer Selfiebration query, “What does your blogging family tree look like?”, although I admit it has me a bit stumped at the moment. On a related note, I’ve really appreciated the conversation in response tomy post on last week’s question, “What would your life look like it you hadn’t started blogging?”

What caught my eye this week
Not long after a Twitter #Fabchat on the topic of “unplugging” from social media, I came across a discussion of some of the ways it meets our needs:

“That sense of belonging comes from all sorts of places online. For example, the people you follow on Twitter likely share similar interests to you. Sites like Tumblr or Pinterest showcase similar ideas based on what you like. The same goes for all the other sites out there that help facilitate real world friendships as well. In the end, how much you feel a sense of belonging depends on how you use those social networks.”

–“Why We’re Hooked On Social Networks” at Lifehacker

And a couple of takes on how publishers still meet the needs of authors and readers:

“The role of the publisher isn’t to take a book that’s pretty much finished and turn it out to the public. Editors help shape books in significant ways. A good editor doesn’t just tell you that you have made typos or that your sentences are grammatically incorrect; a good editor looks at every part of a book, from character development to plotting to theme, and tells you what doesn’t work, what works really well, what needs to be cut, what needs to be built up. A good editor reconstructs a story from the raw materials and makes it as good as it can possibly be.”

–Why We Still Need Publishers" on Book Riot

“It’s not even that I have anything against you, per se. It’s that so many of you think that publishers are just out to take your money away from you by making ‘unnecessary changes’ to your ‘babies’…You are not the best judge of your own work. Frequently, when you re-read your work, you see what you meant to say, not what you actually said. And if you’re not hiring that shit out, you’re doing a disservice to your readers and yourself.”

–“Reading Rage: I’m Kinda Sick of Your Smug, Self-Published Face” at Insatiable Booksluts

Gratuitous Photo of the Week

The first selection for Book Riot's Riot Read arrived this week!

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What's What (Sunday Salon): Mid-2014 Bookkeeping Graphics!

Since it's a long holiday weekend here in the USA and many of us just might be doing other things, I'm keeping the words to a minimum here today. I just thought I'd show you how my 2014 reading activity is looking, since we're halfway through the year now.

Books Added to my collection | Create Infographics

Books read by genre category | Create Infographics

Book review Ratings Summary | Create Infographics

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What's What in the Sunday Salon: Almost Halfway...

What I'm reading

• in print / on screen

It's summer. It's the midpoint of the year(!). And I want to do some non-required reading with my eyes and not my ears. I'm not giving up on audiobooks, of course, but it's been feeling as if that's the only format I'm reading for fun. I'm getting antsy and mildly rebellious.

One reason I bought myself the iPad mini for my birthday is that it's a more comfortable size for reading, but I haven't really used it for that purpose much until this past week. I'm almost finished with Golden State by Michelle Richmond in iBooks, and I'm determined to work e-books back into my reading rotation. That said, I'm also making my way through an August debut novel in paper-ARC format--I've learned the hard way that e-galleys are a bad idea for me, because out of sight, out of mind.

• on audio

I started and finished Aisha Tyler's memoir/essay collection Self-Inflicted Wounds this past week, and am trying to get my thoughts about it collected and written up to post this week as a farewell to Audiobook Month.

I just got my new Audible credits and am in the market for some good nonfiction listens outside the realm of memoir--leave me your recs, if you have them!

What I'm writing

I'm not signing up for NaBloPoMo in July--in fact, right now I feel like I want to blog a little less in July--but I like quite a few of the prompts for this month's theme, "Decade," so I may be doing some writing on those. (I already have, in a way, actually.)

What caught my eye this week

Two perspectives on one debate:

"Thinking that every reader should feel the exact same way about books as you do and read books the exact same way as you is not only close-minded, but it is also pretty boring. Getting to see a book through someone else’s eyes who has a completely different perspective on it can maybe change your own views on it. Or even if it doesn’t, it can still be an interesting experience and maybe help reinforce the reasons why you do feel the way that you do."

--"New Guidelines for Readers" at Book Riot

"I suppose what it comes down to is this: if you've read novels in a bunch of different genres, and you still think Twilight is your favorite, be my guest. That's your opinion, and even if I don't share it, it's yours and you should own it. But if your reading repertoire is 99% Twilight, Divergent, Matched, etc. and you declare them to be the bastions of modern literature...yes, I find myself being a wee bit judgmental. Because how can you know something is a true favorite, if you've never really tried to pair it against anything else? (And no, the Bronte and Thoreau you were required to read in high school doesn't count.)"

--"A long reflection on the relative merits of Book Shaming" from The Well-Read Redhead

And really, is it that hard to read for 15 minutes a day? Do you need a little extra motivation? It's not too late to join "The Summer Reading Challenge for Adults" hosted at From Left to Write Book Club!

Gratuitous Photo of the Week

Still waiting...can someone please let me know when tomorrow gets here?

Posted with Blogsy

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What's What in the Sunday Salon: First Sunday of Summer

What I’m reading

• in print / on screen

To my own surprise–because it’s been a while–I’m on track with review deadlines for Shelf Awareness. I have one more July release to submit to them, and am trying to decide which of the August review candidates they’ve sent me to start first. And I think I may be able to double-team it with something completely discretionary—I haven’t decided what it will be yet, but I’ve added quite a few titles to iBooks since I last read an ebook, so I’m going to look there first.

• on audio

I’m on the verge of starting something new this week on audio as well…again, I haven’t decided what it will be yet, but having just purchasedThe Silkworm the same day I posted my review of The Cuckoo’s Calling, it may be that. I finished The Martian on Thursday, so I’m playing between-audiobooks podcast catchup at the moment.

Finished listening to #TheMartian on this morning's drive. Who else could barely breathe for the last 45 minutes of it? #AudiobookMonth
— Florinda PVasquez (@florinda_3rs) June 19, 2014

What I’m watching

We started Season 3 of Supernatural on Netflix this weekend, and are debating putting Orange is the New Black into the queue.

What I’m writing

BlogHer’s 10th-anniversary “Selfiebration” prompted me to write about online friends a couple of weeks ago, and asked me to talk about where I was 10 years ago this week. That post will go up on Wednesday…and it was not the most fun I’ve ever had writing anything, so consider yourself warned.

It was much more fun writing, and talking about, my feedback for the BEA Bloggers Conference planners, which I posted this past Tuesday.

What caught my eye this week

"The phrase “blogging for books” suggests that the work of bloggers is done in service of publishers in order to get more books. That is just not the case – and not the motivation – for all the successful bloggers that I personally know. 

“When many of us started blogging five or six or seven years ago, the idea of getting books to review wasn’t even a consideration. Bloggers weren’t on publisher’s radars until they started to see us as active, engaged, excited readers they could reach out to directly. At that point, the narrative shifted to this idea of ‘working with’ each other or that writing reviews was a ‘favor’ that bloggers could do for authors/publishers.”

—Kim’s ontinued discussion (read the comments, too!) of “Blogging for Books versus Blogging Because of Books” at Sophisticated Dorkiness

“Suddenly, in my late thirties, I was binge-watching a television show. I was pining over fictional characters – and I was writing my own stories for them when the official versions ran out. I was making costumes and going to conventions. I was lit up, inspired, excited as I hadn’t been by anything since childhood.”

—I was a little older when it happened to me, but “A Brief History of Fandom, Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Being a Fan” at The Mary Sue definitely rang some bells!

“When I went back to work, I read on my breaks and during lunch, and after the boys were down for the night. It became less of a hobby and more of a thing I did to remind myself that I was still my own person with my own interests outside of breast pumps and nap schedules- something I think is important for kids to see. How do you find time to read when you have kids? You make it, because it matters. I want my boys to recognize that mommy (and yes, I mean specifically mommy) is a fully-developed human whose life is not entirely composed of them.”

–And I was a good deal younger when this happened to me, but I wholeheartedly applauded Amanda Nelson’s “Have Babies, Keep Reading” rant at Book Riot.

Gratuitous Photo of the Week

First Day of Summer, 2013, Boston

Happy First Weekend of Summer!

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What's What in the Sunday Salon--June 15, 2014

I'm not sure I have many regular readers here who are dads, but if that's you, Happy Father's Day--and if you have a dad, do something nice for him today.

What I’m reading

• in print / on screen

I’ve just finished one July release, Christopher Beha’s second novel Arts & Entertainments, and am submitting my review to Shelf Awarenessthis weekend, after which I’ll retjoin another ARC from the same source, Yannick Murphy’s paperback original This Is the Water, in progress. I really need to do a better job of checking publication dates when I’m deciding the oder in which to read the ARCs I get from them, since it actually does matter when those reviews run.

• on audio

I’m just past halfway through The Martian and quite enjoying both the story and the narration so far.

What I’m watching

The TV was pretty quiet this week, thanks to various other activities, and the DVR recordings still aren’t stacking up. We’re almost done with Season 2 of Supernatural on Netfilx, and it’s still going to take a while to catch up with that show (currently on season 96 or something).

What I’m writing

I’m current on book reviews for the moment, so I was able to post some thoughts on the “reality” of online friendships for BlogHer’s“Selfiebration” project a few days ago. I also wrote a lengthy email to the organizers of the BEA Bloggers Conference in response to a request for feedback that they sent me, and I’ll be posting a version of that here as an “open letter” on Tuesday–I’m hoping for some good discussion on that one!

What caught my eye this week

If you’re a Feedly subscriber, it was a tough week to keep up with your blog reading–the service was taken down by hackers three days in a row. They seem to have recovered as of this weekend, but I would recommend setting up an account with another feed service as a backup in case they get hit again; I signed up with Feedbin on Friday. Like Feedly, it works with my favorite mobile feed-reader apps., Mr. Reader (iPad only)and Unread (iPhone and iPad), which was one of my top requirements.

(Speaking of mobile feed readers, I was involved in a Twiiter conversation about their effect on blog comments this past week–you can see the highlights here on Storify. Do you agree that they’ve contributed to decreased commenting activity?)

The Feedly outage led to more conversations and fewer links shared on Twitter this week, so let's play a little catch-up:

• “Within that description, however, lies a multitude of experiences — a hall of mirrors in which my version of Twitter is nothing like your version, and nothing like that of the person sitting next to you on the train or the airplane, or at the basketball game.”—Speaking of Twitter, some observations about its ongoing, years-long identity crisis 

• “But what’s wrong with reading for fun? Especially at a time when publishers are laying off staffers and bookstores are closing, why condemn others for what they choose to read? When you deem certain types of culture acceptable and unacceptable, people deeply internalize these ideas and do, in fact, feel ashamed about what they read or listen to or watch, whether it’s chick lit or YA or whatever the genre du jour to malign is.”—Rachel Kramer Bussel declares “We Will Not Be Reader-Shamed” 

• “According to The Publishing Industry, it’s not enough for readers to just read books anymore. The point of it all is to take readers, convert them to fans, then push them to become evangelists for a book or author. Real readers have to become evangelicals for books because evangelism is, apparently, the only way to drive sales.”—Kim asks “Why Isn’t Just Reading Enough Anymore?” 

• “I wonder how I would have felt about this book had there not been a blazing publicity campaign, and if I had not felt manipulated into reading. Would I have been more forgiving about its thin characterizations, its one-sided plot, its glib sleights of hand? Would I have received the book as I receive most books—as the best a well-meaning author could do?”—Beth Kephart questions the effects of the hype machine

Gratuitous Photo of the Week

I built this from the contents of a fortune cookie and my own photo of a sunset with the Union photo app on the iPad. Instagram liked it.

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What's What in the Sunday Salon--June 8

What I’m reading

• in print / on screen

The great irony of going to Book Expo is how little time it gives you for reading books. I didn’t manage to get through more than a few pages a day while I was there, and it feels like most of the reading I’ve done since I got back has been connected, in one way or another, to creating blog posts about the experience.

That said, I have a blog tour date for the novella Midsummer this Tuesday, and a few promising-looking July releases for Shelf Awareness consideration

• on audio

June is #Audiomonth, and I have a couple of audiobook reviews scheduled to go up next week. However, since I haven’t really gotten back into normal commuting mode yet post-BEA, and I’ve been catching up on podcasts when I have been en route to and from the office, I haven’t actually listened to an audiobook yet this month. I think this is going to be my next one:

Congratulations to The Martian by Andy Weir, narrated by R.C. Bray! You've won the first #ArmchairAudies Listener's Choice award!
— Jennifer Conner (@LitHousewife) May 30, 2014

What I’m watching

I’m enjoying the heck out of 24: Live Another Day not despite its cliches, but at least partly because of them. I watched this show faithfully for its first six seasons, and while I have my doubts that it was ever really all that good—except maybe during Day 5—it’s returned with all of its conventions in full, ridiculous working order. (And speaking of ridiculous–please, Chloe, wash out that black hair dye and scrape off the eyeliner!)

What I’m writing

I have a post scheduled for Thursday in response to one of BlogHer’s “Selfiebration” topics, and I’ll be interested in seeing your responses to it!

To help fill the yawning chasm of months until the final seven episodes air, I’m sorting out thoughts for a “Fan(girl)’s Notes” on Mad Men. I figure I have time for this one—and if you have catching up to do, so do you!

What caught my eye this week

“Relevance is entirely a question of degrees and multiplicity. So maybe the question we should be asking is not ‘am I relevant?’ Maybe we should be more focused on WHO we want to be relevant to! THAT is the question that shapes our individual blogs and blogging experiences and can ultimately bring us to a state of contentment with our blogs or drive us stark raving mad.”

—From Andi’s response to her own question, “Are book bloggers relevant?

“The announcement that next year’s show will consist of a two-day BookExpo, followed by two days of BookCon, caused several BEA attendees to feel that this is a turning point for the show. After years of some people questioning BEA’s future, suddenly a more attractive version–one focused on BookCon–had become very appealing to show organizer Reed. ‘I never paid much attention to the negative talk,’ said one attendee. ‘Until BookCon.’”

—From Shelf Awareness’ report "#BEA14: BookCon Overwhelms/Energizes BEA," suggesting that the success or failure of BookCon may be largely a matter of perspective. The fact that many book bloggers were not impressed tells me that when it comes to matters BEA-related, we’re inclined to see ourselves as publishing-industry or media people rather than part of the general reading public. I’m afraid BEA might have other ideas…

Hope they don't decide bloggers are "the public" & try to route us into the 2 days of BookCon instead of BEA in 2015
— Florinda PVasquez (@florinda_3rs) June 2, 2014

What Else is New? (With Extra Gratuitous Photos!)

BEA week lured me back into Twitter in a fairly big way–I’ve even installed the Tweetdeck app for Chrome. And I am quickly remembering my conflicted relationship with the giant chat room/feed reader/time suck that Twitter is. Part of me hopes that my workplace decides to block it again, thus saving me from myself.

If you’ve already seen my BEA recap posts (and if you haven’t, they’re both linked above), you’ve seen how much I’m enjoying playing around with Storify.

Oh, and there’s this. The book box from BEA arrived on Friday.

Happy Sunday!

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What's What in the Sunday Salon--May 25, Pre-BEA Edition

The audit is done, I have officially been on vacation since Friday, and I leave at way-too-early-AM on Tuesday for New York City! My roommate Kim and I will meet up at the airport that afternoon—I’ll lose three hours flying west to east—and get a cab into Manhattan to start another Book Expo America adventure.

I will be moderating the “Technology 201: Ad Networks” panel on Wednesday at the BEA Bloggers Conference, as I mentioned last week:

“(This panel) is intended to offer information and advice to ‘advanced bloggers with more than 3 years’ experience who are looking to expand their ad networks and generate more money and/or awareness from their blog.’ If you’re looking to make your blog earn its keep–-and maybe a little extra–-come by and hear what panelists Jason Chambers of the Litbreaker ad network, Henry Copeland ofBlogads and Swapna Krishna of S. Krishna’s Books have to say on the subject.”

I sent a tentative agenda to the panelists on Friday, and I’m hopeful for an enlightening conversation. I’ve marked several interesting-sounding conference sessions and exhibitors that I’d like to visit on Thursday and Friday during BEA proper, and I’ll leave for home next Saturday. I am not making any promises that I’ll be in this spot next Sunday.

What I’m reading

• in print / on screen

I’m packing three ARCs and the iPad for the trip. I may not have much time to read other than when I’m in airports or on planes, but those cross-country flights are long. If I’m not too sleepy, I can get a lot of reading in!

• on audio

I finished Call the Midwife at the end of last week, and since I won’t be commuting this week (airplanes don’t count), I may be officially between audiobooks right now.

What I’m watching

The “mid-season finale”/last episode of 2014/seventh show of Season 7/“it’s halfway to OVER” episode of Mad Men airs tonight. I’m not ready to talk about it.

What I’m writing

Today and tomorrow, I’ll be drafting up a few posts for Armchair BEA. I’m not sure how closely I’ll follow the official agenda, but I’m also not sure how much time I’ll have for “live” blogging this week, so I’m trying to work ahead.

What Else is New?

I’ve been thinking about my OneWord for 2014 lately, as my year-end frenzy has been winding down at work. I’ve been feeling far from “Present” in the blogging world for the last couple of months. However, I do believe I’ve offset that with being “Present” in my working life, and not-entirely-absent (if not as fully present as I’d like) in my family life and reading life…and those are the places where I’ve needed to be “Present.” That said, I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to be more “Present” in my online life again before too long. Fingers crossed, folks!

Gratuitous Photo of the Week

My new cards from Moo.com--ask for one if you see me at BEA!

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What's What in the Sunday Salon, 5-18-2014

This is Post #2100 on The 3 R's Blog

What I’m reading

• in print / on screen

I had hoped to get two June releases read and reviewed for Shelf Awareness, but the day job has shoved the freelance work aside (no pun intended–well, maybe a little pun intended), and it looks like time won’t permit that to happen. However, considering that last year I completely stopped contract reviewing during audit season, I should be pretty pleased that I’ve been able to manage one Shelf review per month since March. Since I’ve already received some good-looking selections for July from them, I’ll be moving on to those…and maybe I’ll be able to get into some completely discretionary reading by the end of the week! Frankly, that’s going to feel a little weird at first, but I’m sure I can adjust.

• on audio

I’m about halfway through Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth. Like Orange is the New Black, it’s a memoir that inspired a TV series that I haven’t watched, but I’m having no trouble seeing how it could make that transition successfully. Narrator Nicola Barber is making this a delightful listening experience.


What I’m watching

Seasons have finale’d, people! How long is it until fall? I don’t think we have much summer viewing lined up on the DVR other than the return of Jack Bauer, so I suspect we’ll be resuming our deferred, never-ending catchup of Supernatural pretty soon, and trolling around for something new (to us) on Netflix.


What I’m writing

I would like to get two reviews written today–one for the Shelf, one for the blog. And if things actually do slow down this week–I’ve been wrong about that before!–I’ll be preparing my introduction and some topic posts for Armchair BEA–I can’t not join in, even though I’ll be out of my chair at the real, live BEA next week.


What caught my eye this week

Speaking of BEA, I came across a few helpful conference-prep tips this week. They don’t address comfortable shoes or planning your time or getting around the city–these are more about mental readiness:

• "Introvert or extrovert, a weekend surrounded by strangers—whether that’s for a company getaway, a wedding, or a family trip—is always a little challenging. For introverts, it’s about finding a balance so you can survive the weekend.
• “(I)ntroverts tend to do best when they have time to recharge away from people…”
• “(W)e introverts tend to like plans and don’t like when plans change. The thing is, when you’re in a large group, those plans are going to change a lot.”

–“An Introvert’s Guide to Surviving a Weekend with Strangers” at Lifehacker

In the case of BEA, the “weekend” is figurative, as the event runs from Thursday through Saturday, and the bloggers meet on Wednesday.

"Once upon a time, you met a blogger, and you felt a bond. Now, we walk past each other in the conference hall— the book blogger, the coupon blogger, the advocacy blogger, the mom blogger, the dad blogger, the LGBT blogger— as if we were strangers. Once we asked, ‘What’s your name?’ and ‘Where are you from?’ Now we ask, ‘What is your blog about?’ or ‘Who is your sponsor?’ 

"Has blogging died? In some way, yes. But before I get angry emails saying that blogging LIVES, let me go zen Buddhist on you and talk about the concept of death. 

"‘What causes death?’ a student once asked his zen master. 

“‘Birth,’ answered the guru.”

–“Has Blogging Lost Her Soul?” by Neil Kramer on BlogHer.com

Bloggers get their day at BEA, but it’s books that bring us there:

“So what about the 1%, the never-published novelists who fly in the face of reason and the odds, keep slogging away, and then – cue the thunderclap! – land an agent who sells their work. Is their writing process somehow less vexing in retrospect?”

–“First Novels: The Weird, Thrilling Trip Through A Very Narrow Door” at Monkey See

And because you don’t have to be a “book blogger” to write an insightful, affecting, and deeply personal book review, I give you my friend Kim Tracy Prince and her thoughts on Everybody Has Everything by Katrina Onstad:

“No, the events are not real, because it is a novel, but the subject matter is My Worst Nightmare, and it’s a book that I shouldn’t have accepted for review especially in the wake of personal loss, but something drew me to it and I loved the writing and story and in the end it made me get off my ass and hire an estate planning attorney to finish the job that I started and never could bring myself to complete.”

What Else is New?

Just a few days ago, I was invited to moderate a panel at the BEA Bloggers Conference, which I’ll also be writing up for Armchair BEA after it’s over.

“Technology 201: Ad Networks” is intended to offer information and advice to “advanced bloggers with more than 3 years’ experience who are looking to expand their ad networks and generate more money and/or awareness from their blog.” If you’re looking to make your blog earn its keep–and maybe a little extra–come by and hear what panelists Jason Chambers of the Litbreaker ad network, Henry Copeland of Blogads and Swapna Krishna of S. Krishna’s Books have to say on the subject.

(And if you have questions or thoughts to share on this topic, please let me know--even if you won't be at this session, or at Blogger Con at all, I'll try to get them addressed for you!)

Gratuitous Photo of the Week

From three years ago, in the city where I'll be ten days from today

Happy Sunday! How are you spending this spring weekend?

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What's What on Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms--hope you have better things to do than read blogs today. (And as a friend of my husband's posted on Facebook this morning, "To all you non-moms and four-legged moms, Happy Disposable Income Day!")

What I'm reading

• in print / on screen

I'm glad that I can read in the car again--there was a long time when I couldn't physically tolerate it for long. I may manage to finish Brutal Youth (June 2013) on our drive home from Oceanside later today. My good luck with Shelf Awareness review candidates this year is holding up.

• on audio

I finished The Cuckoo's Calling late last week, and while I have several promising candidates in the queue for my next audiobook, I haven't made a pick yet.

What I'm watching

Nearly every one of our shows is having its season finale this week, except Mad Men. It's going to be a long summer without new Arrow episodes...

What I'm writing

BlogHer is marking the 10th anniversary of its annual conference with "Selfiebration"

...a 10-week content event that will take a look at where we started, what we’ve built, the mistakes we’ve laughed at, the memories we’ve so lovingly created, and more. We think of it is an internet-wide lovefest, soapbox, and time machine, and we hope you'll take part. Every week, we will be publishing posts that fit the following categories, all under the hashtag #Selfiebration. And we'll be serving up prompts and asking for you to link up on topics that inspire you to write your own memories.

and with my busy season officially winding down (the audit's almost done, woohoo!), I really hope to join in.

What caught my eye this week

I didn't get much blog-reading done this week because of crunch time on the aforementioned audit, but I did save "The Busy Person’s Guide to Content Curation: A 3-Step Process for Your Blog, Newsletter, or Timeline" from Buffer's blog with an eye to improving this section of the Salon.

Gratuitous Photo of the Week

 

Posted with Blogsy

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What's What in the Sunday Salon, "Star Wars Day" Edition

May the Fourth be with you!

What I’m reading

• in print / on screen

The day after the Readathon, I finally finished what was supposed to be my first book of 2014. Because that was a self-imposed deadline as opposed to an external one, I picked it and put it down several times, but after nearly four months, I’m done with The Book Thief. I haven’t written up my thoughts about it yet, but I think I’ll get that done in a much shorter time (maybe even this week) However, this much I can say now: it’s joining The Sparrow on my short list of Books Everyone Must Read.

Having caught up on several unfinished books (and my “read in 2014” shelf on BookLikes), I’ve moved on to June ARCs for Shelf Awareness. I’m actually looking forward to my two cross-country plane trips later this month to and from BEA for the reading time!

• on audio

I’m a little past halfway through The Cuckoo’s Calling. I have to be honest: if it hadn’t come out that it was actually written by J.K. Rowling, I doubt I’d have even thought of reading it–but I’m liking it quite a lot, and really enjoying Robert Glenister’s narration. That said–and I’m not complaining–Rowling seems to be pretty much incapable of writing short fiction any more.

What I’m watching

As I write this on Saturday evening, we’re watching Jim Gaffigan: Obsessed for the second time this week–he’s really that funny (and family-friendly, too)!

What I’m writing

Writing is not coming in very high on my list of Things I Have Time to Do lately, but I’m seeing a light at the end of the annual-audit tunnel, and starting to think there’s a chance of getting back on the blogging-journaling-expressing-thoughts-in-words train by June…

In the meantime, I revisited some thoughts about reading diversely on Throwback Thursday. It seemed like a good time…

What caught my eye this week

…because readers and bloggers are talking about how #weneeddiversebooks and authors.

“As readers, we need authentic stories to better our experiences, and as writers we need our voices to be authenticated. The few mainstream stories that feature minority characters are often still written by the majority speaking for those groups, not the groups themselves. For example, stories about women of color written by white authors (see Secret Life of Bees and The Help) soar to the top of best-seller lists, while stories about people of color written by people of color still have problems getting traditionally published.”

–“Why All Bloggers Should Care About BookCon’s Lack of Diversity” (Queerie Bradshaw on BlogHer.com)

BookCon takes place on the last day of Book Expo America, May 31. From Left to Write offers “13 Tips for Book Expo America Attendees”, like this one:

“Don’t take every book handed to you. Really, it’s ok. I know it’s hard to turn down free books, but be honest with yourself. Are you going to be able to read all of them? You might take one to give to friends, but be realistic. Besides, your shoulders will thank you.”

And if you won’t be going to BEA, hopefully this caught your eye–the Armchair BEA agenda is posted!

Gratuitous Photo of the Week

Sorry, Duolingo, but this will never be true if I can help it!

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Sunday Salon: Readathon Wrap-up

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What's What in the (Easter) Sunday Salon

Happy Easter, and my apologies for being a missing person here last week! However, I had a very good excuse–Kim will back me up, and I will provide additional evidence in this week’s Gratuitous Photo.

What I’m reading

• in print / on screen

I’ve been trying to be more proactive this year in making specific requests from the monthly lists Shelf Awareness sends to reviewers, and it seems to be paying off–some of my best reading this year has come along that route. That’s new to me, and I like it. I’m also liking the book I’ll be reviewing there in May, The Possibilities by Kaui Hart Hemmings, author of the novel that was the basis for the movie The Descendants.

• on audio

I finished The Headmaster’s Wife last week and am catching up on podcasts while I ponder what to listen to next. Any suggestions or recommendations? Comment, please!


What I’m watching

Sticking with Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seems to be bearing some fruit, at long last. But Arrow is still doing comic-book TV better.


What I’m writing

I’m hoping to get a couple of reviews written today–we don’t have a big day planned, so time may permit. However, I expect that blogging will continue at a poky pace for another few weeks, so I hope you will lower any of your own expectations accordingly.


What caught my eye this week (or maybe the week before)

Just a couple of shares, since the reading side of blogging has been almost as poky as the writing side:

“10 Reasons I Still Blog” at Ann’s Rants

"1. A conversation with an audience. I don’t write only because I love to write. I specifically love to write because I love interacting with an audience—whether online, on paper, or in real life.
“5. An antidote for perfectionism. Forcing publish is how I get through writer’s block, THE END. As Cheryl Strayed said “Surrender to your own mediocrity.” This is the special sauce on my pickles-onions on a sesame seed bun. I keep surrendering–letting good enough stand in for great. I keep creating, and cool things keep happening.”

“Secrets of Success: How Reading Gives You an Edge”, via Alli Worthington (we probably suspected this, but validation is nice)

“4. Reading gives you a psychological boost. There’s nothing like diving into the story of a person who lived life well to remind us that life is more than the (sometime depressing) images and messages we see on TV, life is beautiful and full of opportunity to live it well. Studies show that reading self-help books can also help lessen depression.”

What Else is New?

I haven’t signed up officially for next weekend’s 24-Hour Readathon, but it looks like I may actually be able to participate for at least a fraction of it this time. Even if it ends up being unofficial, I’ll be glad to join in at all–I’ve missed the last few!

I found The Amazing Story Generator at the Chronicle Books booth at #bookfest last weekend. I’m thinking about using it as the basis for a new participatory blog feature (let’s not call it a “meme”), but I’m still kicking around just how it might work, so watch this space…

Gratuitous Photo of the Week

Signing lines and stages--scenes from the LA Times Festival of Books, 2014

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What's What: Sunday Salon 4-6-2014 (Pre-FoB edition)

What I’m reading

• in print / on screen

It felt like most of what I read last week was spreadsheets! I’m in my work’s annual storm cycle, when things converge so that I’m closing the accounting records on a month and a year at the same time, and trying to juggle demands from both the external auditors and internal management. I’ve been short on time for reading books or blogs, and while I did make my blog-tour date last Monday, I missed Thursday’s (I’ll make it up next week).

If all goes as it’s supposed to, I’ll be out from under most of this in six weeks or so…

• on audio

I should have finished A Short History of Nearly Everything last week, but there were a couple of days when my brain was too fried to focus on it and I listened to podcasts on the commute instead. I think I have less than two hours of it left, though, so it won’t be much longer.


What I’m watching

I know I talk about Doctor Who and Sherlock a fair amount around here, but my biggest TV obsession is probably Mad Men, and next week it returns for the beginning of the end. AMC is prolonging the final season by splitting it across two years–the same thing they did with Breaking Bad–so we’ll get less of it each year, but we’ll get to have it around longer.


What I’m writing/blogging

This blog is the official stop for the blog tour of Beth Kephart’s Going Over on Tuesday, but I’ll be unofficially extending its stay with related content through Thursday, and you’re welcome to linger for that.


What caught my eye this week (a surprising amount considering how little time I've had for blogging, really!)

"And the main reason I don’t miss wedding planning? Because I really love being married...
The wedding was just the beautiful beginning.
All the great stuff comes after."

--"Why I Don't Miss Wedding Planning" (Write Meg!)

"Observation #5: The audience will forgive you anything — as long as it’s funny.
"This was something Johnny told the writers, and I think it’s still true, despite observation #3. But because funny is in the eye of the beholder and we’ve become a much more fragmented culture, I don’t think we’ll have many more comedians like Johnny Carson, who appealed to such a wide swath of Americans. My nephew thinks Comedy Central’s Tosh is a riot, while I think he’s simply obnoxious."

--"Comedy Is Hard" (Donna Schwartz Mills, SoCal Mom)

"This is the day the embattled field of book criticism has long feared… the day it’ll be taken over by swarms of opinionated amateurs with an international platform and no need for a paycheck. Kids, we’re talking about. BiblioNasium, the book-focused social network for children, has added a new feature in response to user demand. Children will now be able to post reviews..."

--"'Goodreads for kids' to spawn terrifying legions of underage book reviewers" (MobyLives)

• I've actually been intending to share this for a few weeks, as I've been fascinated by Julie's series on for-profit schools, based on her five years as an employee at one. However, the post I'm linking here includes links to all of the prior ones, so I think it's finally covered. The entire thing will open your eyes and/or confirm your suspicions about this particular segment of the higher-education industry.

• Write it once, use it twice (or more)--Buffer's Ultimate Guide to Repurposing Content is the Blogger's #PSAoftheWeek 

What Else is New?

I may not be posting here next Sunday, because I’ll be doing something even more bookish all next weekend–it’s time again for the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books! Anastasia posted a great user’s guide to LATFoB on Saturday, and tickets for the panel discussions and conversations are available as of this morning. I’m glad to be going back after missing it last year, and even more excited because I get to host Kim on her escape to a bookish weekend somewhere warm!

And so, this week's Gratutious Photo--a collage from the 2012 FoB--is a little less gratuitous than usual.

How's your weekend?

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Sunday Salon 3-30-2014: What's What In the Post-Birthday World

What I’m reading

• in print / on screen

I still have two days left of Birthday Weekend, and two blog-tour posts due up the week, so I’ll be reading and writing for both of those today and tomorrow, and then preparing for my spot on the tour for Going Over. It’s nice not to have much of anything else in the works for a couple of days, to be honest, especially since April looks to be pretty busy. I also need to get going on May reading for Shelf Awareness–I’m down to just one review a month for them until my “real” work slows back down–and if there’s time for it, I’ll read some more Fic.

• on audio

Since I’m in the middle of a few days off from work, I’m also having a few days off from my audiobook, but even so, I should finish the (unabridged edition of) A Short History of Nearly Everything this week. I’m really glad I decided to listen to this one right after the abridged version–science can be so entertaining in the right setting.


What I’m watching

We already have tickets for Captain America: The Winter Soldier next weekend, which is no surprise at all if you know my husband.


What I’m writing/blogging

I had a short to-do list for this weekend’s Spring Bloggiesta (which runs through tonight), and spent Friday afternoon working on that:

• Updated my Review Archive spreadsheet
• Combed the archives for possible Throwback Thursday posts, and set up a spreadsheet to schedule them (picked 35 posts, assigned possible dates to some, and won’t consider others this year unless prompted by related events!)
• Evaluated my blog design and made some minor changes (sidebar items, colors, and links)–I was a little dismayed that this involved actually changing to a new version of my template, but I like the brighter new look–and if you’re getting this post in your feed reader or email, click on over to the blog and see it for yourself!

What caught my eye this week

The first place on the Internet that sucked hours from my life was Television Without Pity, and I’ve always loved it for that. Although I haven’t regularly read the site for a while, I’ve followed members of its original team as they’ve brought its sensibility to new online homes, and I’ve continued to appreciate the way it’s informed my pop-culture worldview for over a decade. News broke last Thursday that TWoP will be shut down this week:

"For me, the April 4 end of TWoP isn’t just the loss of another time-sucking, iPhone-accessible fix of entertainment. It’s a sign that the times are shifting away from the kind of writing that informed who I am (as a journalist) today…the site’s archives will be saved ‘in the digital ether,’ but publicly inaccessible–its content virtually disposed in a last gasp of bitter irony (or perhaps I should call it cosmic snark?). TWoP blazed."

–“Television Without Pity: A personal EWlogy”, at Popwatch

What Else is New?

I’m composing this post in the Byword app on my big birthday gift to myself, an iPad Mini, which I am very pleased with so far! It’s smaller and lighter than my iPad 2, but equally capable of everything I want to do on a tablet, including writing and photo-editing.

Panel tickets for the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will be available next Sunday morning at 9 AM, so I need to make some time to comb the schedule this week…and get the guest room ready for Kim’s visit! I’ve been in touch with a few area book bloggers about meeting up with us during the Festival, but if I missed you, give me a holler!

Gratuitous Photo of the Week

A drive to Santa Barbara, a meeting with a friendly Golden Retriever (as of there's any other kind) ,and a stop at Chaucer's--Paul made my birthday just what I wanted! (And yes, I did already read Fangirl, but Rainbow Rowell is coming to LATFoB and I can't ask her to sign an Audible download!)

Happy Sunday! What's up with you?

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