Sunday Salon: Books for Libraries...and some for me, too!

It's time to help out a couple of needy libraries--the (almost) annual Dewey Donation System Book Drive is on!

Source: deweydonationsystem.org via Florinda on Pinterest

The Dewey Donation System is the charitable baby of author Pamela Ribon, who was first inspired to help the cash-strapped Oakland Public Library in 2003, and longtime Internet citizen David T. Cole, co-founder of Television Without Pity. There has been a drive almost every year since then to benefit struggling libraries and children's programs in various US cities and around the world--you can read the entire history on Dewey's site.

This year's drive is, once again, for two programs:
The Taw Saeng ministry to displaced children in Thailand
The Washington DC Public Library's STAR literacy program

You can help either--or both--of these programs by donating books from their Amazon wish lists or making a cash gift. The links above will tell you exactly how to do it.

I've supported Dewey before, and when I did it this year--I donated four books to DC Star--I got the cool graphic I'm displaying in this post. I hope you'll be cool like that and donate too!

And speaking of buying books...it's Easter, which means MY LENTEN BOOK-BUYING BAN IS OVER! And I DIDN'T CRACK this year! So...tell me a book I should buy now (e-book or trade paperback--I'm still not going to buy hardcovers)!

In the meantime, I don't have a heavy "required reading" agenda for the next few weeks, so I'm trying to decide which of the e-books that are already downloaded on my iPad I should read next. They're a mix of fiction and nonfiction, and I could go either way. Care to weigh in? Just mark your recommendation on the embedded form at the end of this post!

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Friday Foto: Man on Motorcycle

Did I tell y'all my husband has a new toy?

Meet Amelia. (She's a ginger--and yes, she's named for Amy Pond. As Tall Paul says, only he can geekify a motorcycle.) She's the newest resident of our garage.

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Question Time! The Final Chapter (and the Giveaway Winners!)

I really appreciate all the questions people submitted with entries to my Blogiversary Giveaway, because you've helped me put together three blog posts within the past week! The first one was random, while the second was more blogging-specific; we're wrapping up today with more random. And speaking of the giveaway, the winners are announced at the end of this post.

SWG (Savvy Working Gal) couldn't hold herself to just one question:

• What non-fiction book do you recommend everyone should read?
• Is there a second fiction book you could recommend everyone should read since they may have already read and enjoyed The Sparrow when you recommended it last year?
• Is there an author/blogger you turn to if you are looking for the truth?

Non-fiction recommendations are best directed to my good friend Kim--she's my preferred source for them, at any rate! I think it's much harder to make general NF recommendations, because non-fiction reading is so driven by the reader's specific interests. After that disclaimer, I'd go with Anne Lamott's
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life as my general-purpose nonfiction suggestion--it combines memoir, spirituality, self-help, and excellent practical advice.

For a second must-read fiction recommendation, I have another one from my very short "all-time-favorites" list. This one has deservedly attained modern-classic status, and is compulsively readable to boot: East of Eden, by John Steinbeck.

I don't really have an answer to the third question. My tendency is to sort out the truth for myself, using information from a variety of sources.

Ti from Book Chatter wonders:

You read all types of books, but what is the one genre that you WILL NOT read, and why?

There are two, really: horror and romance, although I don't object to elements of either in general fiction. I like suspense, but the horror genre just doesn't appeal to me; and romance just seems like the same story told a thousand times over, with minor tweaks so it's less obvious.

Yvonne in LA has a rather provocative question:

Who is the most overrated author that has become popular in the last decade?

I feel like I should decline to answer this question publicly on the grounds that I might never receive any more review copies!

Having said that...it's actually a tougher question than it seems to be, because there is critical popularity and commercial popularity, and it seems that they frequently don't match up very well, so there are different possible answers depending on your perspective.

(And having said that, one of the first answers that comes to mind is "Dan Brown.")

Well-Connected Mom (Lori) asks:

What is your third most favorite gadget?

These days, I'd say my MacBook, since I'm doing more and more of the things I did with it on my iPad. It's over four years old--one of the old white models that Apple hasn't made for a couple of years. It's still holding up, but I don't think it'll be traveling with me any more

Speaking of traveling, Rockin' Mama (Caryn) would like to know:

Where have you traveled? What are your favorite places to visit?

Other than a couple of brief trips to Canada when I was young and one Caribbean cruise, I haven't traveled much outside the USA. I've been through every East Coast state except Maine, though. My favorite vacations have been spent in big cities--Washington DC, Chicago, Atlanta--and in National Parks--Great Smoky Mountains and Yellowstone. My favorite destination now is the city where I was born, New York--I'm getting excited about returning there in June for Book Expo America!


Two related questions from The Woman Formerly Known as Beautiful (Shannon):

Who is your favorite Star Wars character and why?  What is your favorite Star Wars quote?

My immediate response to the first question was "nobody from Episodes 1, 2, or 3," but that's kind of unfair--and actually not true, because Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda are definitely two of my favorites. Ultimately I have to come back to Leia, though--short, brunette, and kick-ass, so she was clearly a role model for me. I don't really have a favorite Star Wars quote, though..the dialogue in those movies isn't exactly memorable. (Ask me my favorite Princess Bride quote, though. I have about two dozen of those.)

And one last question, from Debbie:

High heels or flats?

I'm 4-foot-8, so you'd think heels, wouldn't you? But no. My feet are not fans. And since I'd need ridiculously high ones even to clear five feet, why bother? Flats (or almost-flats) are my friends!

The winners in the Blogiversary Giveaway have been chosen with the help of Random.org's List Randomizer.

Winner of the Go Reading" gift collection--TravelFlex Book Light, Mini Book Journal, and "Bookworm" Bookplates from GoneReading.com:

Savvy Working Gal

Winner of a $20 iTunes gift card (or e-mail gift certificate) which may be used on anything you like--music, e-books, audiobooks, apps--from the iTunes store:

April

Congrats to the winners, and thanks to all of you for helping me celebrate 5 years of The 3 R's Blog!

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Question Time! Part Two: The Blogging Life

I offered a bonus entry in my Blogiversary Giveaway to anyone who asked me a question (I will be announcing the winners tomorrow!). Last week I took on a variety of queries; this post primarily but not exclusively includes the ones specific to the blogging life.

Sheila from Book Journey asks:

"5 years... what things have changed since you started blogging?  Community?  Your own style of posting?"

My reflections on the five-year milestone are the long-winded answer to this question, but in response to the items Sheila singles out:

I didn't really have a community when I started, and it took quite a while to build one. And that community shifts over time--not everyone sticks around, for various reasons, and new ones enter the fold. And I find that the ones I feel closest to are the ones that I've gotten to know beyond our blogs. And as for my style of posting, I'd definitely say my book reviews have improved! But I don't post as much general-interest commentary as I once did, and I'd like to get back to it.

Deb at Readerbuzz wants to know:

What has kept you going for five years?

For five years, let's say five things:

• Comments--feedback and conversation are good to have, and I've been very fortunate that the trolls rarely show up here
• Community
• Discovering new books--see the current population of TBR Purgatory
• A sense of accomplishment--this blog has opened doors for me, and I think it's improved both my writing and my critical-thinking skills
• Still having things to talk about!

Jill from Rhapsody in Books has a question that surprised me a little, but ties into that "community" thing a little:

How much time do you spend on BlogHer versus the rest of the blogisphere?

Probably not as much time as you'd think, or as much as I'd like to! I'm glad to be part of their blog network, and I participate in their book clubs and review programs when I'm interested. I've been thrilled every time they've syndicated one of my posts (it's happened twice). And I think it's an outstanding source for commentary and content curation: posts from BlogHer have their own folder in my feed reader. I don't always read them all, but I do skim them daily and nearly always find good reads. (But if they'd give me a job, I'd be glad to spend even more time there!)


Kathy (BermudaOnion) asks:

What is the one thing you wished you'd done differently when you started your blog?

It's not something I thought of at the time, but in hindsight, I should have looked at Wordpress before I jumped into setting up on Blogger. I suspect I would have used Blogger anyway--it's so tied into my Google life, I don't really want to self-host, and it's still free--but  I should have researched a little more.

From Jessica at Quirky Bookworm:

Are there any specific blogging things you used to do that you don't anymore? (Themed posts, memes, series, etc...)

Some of the memes I used to do, like Ten on Tuesday, seem to have gone away; I've dropped out of others, like Booking Through Thursday. I didn't deliberately stop doing my Week-End Review link roundup, but since I've shifted to sharing links on Twitter and Facebook as I come across them, the link-out post started to feel redundant and too much like work. I also suspect that it probably sends less traffic to the posts I link to than the social-media sharing does. Having said that, I'd love to have anyone who misses the links posts "like" The 3 R's Blog's Facebook page, because I send a lot of them there!


Sarah from MomsLA has this question:

What's the best thing about being a blogger?

I can think of two, but they're related: it's opened a lot of doors to opportunities and introduced me to so many amazing people I doubt I'd have encountered any other way!


Hannah (Word Lily) wonders:

What, if anything, do you plan/hope to do differently in year 6 of blogging?

I want to put less pressure on myself to blog "often," which for me means 4 or more posts per week. This was also a goal moving from year 4 to year 5, and it looks like I'm getting there--304 posts in 2010 vs. 239 in 2011. Some weeks I'll have more content than others, and I may do NaBloPoMo once more this year, but I'm still working on feeling like it's OK to post just two or three times in a week.

I'd also like to do more general writing and less blogging about blogging, and I want to make more time for blog reading. I tend to keep up with the "professional" blogs in various niches that update multiple times per day, but that's been at the expense of the individual blogs--blogs like my own--by the people I consider my community, and I need to fix this.



And Melissa (The Betty and Book Chronicles) has a rather challenging query:

As someone who has seen a lot of changes in the book blogging community in the past 5 years, what are your predictions for the NEXT 5 years of book blogging?

I don't know if I'd have predicted even half the things I've seen in the past 5 years of book blogging, so don't put down money on any of these "predictions"! Having said that, I think any or all of these things could happen:

• More population growth: some bloggers will close their sites or just drift away, but there will be more than enough entering the sphere to fill the gaps
• More fragmentation: This is a conversation that's been going on for at least a year now, but I don't think it makes sense to think of a single "book-blogger community" any more--it's too overwhelming. I see more sub-communities forming among bloggers with similar aims and interests, and I don't think that's a bad thing as long as there's peaceful coexistence.
• Factions: This is what does concern me about fragmentation--marginalizing sub-communities because of their different interests. Book bloggers are gaining influence and attention within the publishing industry...and that's turning out to be a mixed blessing. The BEA Bloggers Conference/Book Blog UnCon face-off is one current example of the differences in perspectives and goals. I think both sides have good points...and I'm somewhere in the middle. I really don't want to have to take sides, and I hope I'm not the only one who feels that way.

I'd like to throw that last question to the crowd--what are some of YOUR predictions for the next 5 years of book blogging?

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Mobilizing Your Reading

I'd originally complied this as part of my "mobile blogging" mini-challenge for Bloggiesta, but some of the information drifted from the challenge itself (and made that post very long!), so I decided to save it for another day. That day has come!

But before we talk about specific apps, let's talk about where to find them! My go-to source for info on practical, useful apps is Lifehacker, and the appSmitten "App of the Day" e-mail newsletter comes to me.

Mobile Reading: Books

E-book apps let your books travel with you so you can read them anywhere, and with highlighting, note-taking, and bookmarking functions, they make it easy to mark up your books, too. Personally, I'm not crazy about reading on a smartphone screen--it's just too small--but I've been won over by a tablet.

The Kindle app can be used on every major mobile platform--iOS (iPhone/iPad), Android, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry. iBooks is available only for iOS devices, and since I began using it on my iPad, it's become my preferred e-reader.

Kindle and iBooks are the two most popular reading apps, and both have hundreds of thousands of e-books available. However, it should be noted that the e-books for each of these apps are formatted to be read only in that app, and that exclusivity bothers some users.

If you prefer a little more independence in your reading and book shopping, there's the IndieBound Reader app (Android and iOS), which lets you buy your e-books from independent bookstores. (Disclosure: I am an IndieBound affiliate.) 


There are other reading apps that support a variety of formats and let you download e-books from public libraries and online book catalogs, including NetGalley. Thanks to Jacinda (@ReadingWifeJac) for telling me about these, so I can tell you:

• Bluefire Reader app (Android and iOS): supports e-books in EPUB, PDF, and Adobe formats from a variety of online sources
• Overdrive mobile app (all platforms): supports EPUB e-books and MP3 audiobooks, including those available from public libraries
• Aldiko e-reader app (Android only): supports e-books in EPUB, PDF, and Adobe formats 

Mobile Reading: Blogs

The iPad has become my preferred device for blog reading, even more than a computer. There are some great feed-reader apps designed for it, and it's easy to open a post in the browser so I can leave a comment on it. Many feed-reader apps have smartphone versions too, although the layout and features may be a bit different on smaller devices.

A great mobile feed reader should have these features:

• Facebook and Twitter integration so you can share links easily
• Sync with Google accounts and Google Reader (if your feeds are all there already, you shouldn't have to import them)
• Clean, uncluttered reading interface, with the ability to click and see the original post in a browser 
• Loads feeds and stores them so you can read them even if you're off-line
• Integration with a "reading list" save-and-share-service to save posts for later reading and/or reference; my new favorite is Readability, but ReadItLater and Instapaper are other options. In addition to feed-reader integration, each of these lists has its own iOS app; Readability and ReadItLater have Android apps too.

Lifehacker has compiled lists of the top five feed-reader apps for iOS and Android. I can't speak to Android recommendations, but as an iPhone/iPad user, I'll call these out:

• Feedly: works almost everywhere--browser extension, iOS app, Android app--and it's free in all versions. It has search and feed-management functionality as well as the integrations mentioned earlier.
• Reeder: not free, and doesn't have search or the ability to add or delete feeds, but the interface is easy to use and easy on the eyes. It comes in different versrion for the iPhone ($2.99) and iPad ($4.99)
• Flipboard: lets you add your Google Reader blog subscriptions, Facebook and Twitter feeds to the variety of Web content it hosts. It's very pretty (and free!), but I actually find it a bit overwhelming.
• Early Edition (iPad only): not free ($4.99), but my new favorite and worth the price. It looks like a newspaper, but reads much more easily--fonts and backgrounds can be tweaked to personal preference. It can be searched and browsed, has the share/save options, and allows subscribing and unsubscribing to feeds via sync with Google Reader.

What are your favorite apps for reading on the go? (Yes, books are indeed mobile, but we're not talking about them right now!)

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Bloggiesta Report Card: Missions Accomplished (and not)

How was your Bloggiesta? Did you do the things you thought you would? Let me compare my plans vs. reality:

Posts prepared for this week: 2, including this one; 2 more outlined and in progress

All reviews posted on Goodreads: done!

Mobile mini-challenge: done, using both tablet and smartphone! (I composed the post in BlogPress on the iPad, saved it as an online draft, retrieved the draft in BlogPress on the iPhone, added the pictures from the phone's camera roll, and then published it)

Other mini-challenges: (Strikeouts mean I didn't get to them at all)

• The Top Ten of HTML Basics by Pam at Bookalicio.us. (@BookaliciousPam)
• Using Pinterest to Promote Your Blog by Joy from Joy's Book Blog (@joyweesemoll)

I'm already doing many of the things in this challenge--I have a Pinterest account, a "Pin It" button on posts, and link to my Pinterest profile in the sidebar. The problem is I rarely pin anything that comes from my own blog, because I use Pinterest more for reference than promotion, so this will have to be a longer-term strategy modification. However, I did start a Pinterest board for my Shelf Awareness reviews, and pinned a few books to it as I was updating my Goodreads list.

Do you want to join Pinterest, but need an invite? E-mail me at 3.rsblog AT Gmail DOT com--I have a few to hand out!

• How to Build Readers for Your Blog Through Commenting by Sheila from Book Journey (@bookjourney) (I pretty much know this, but I've really fallen down on it lately and could use a little inspiration!)
• SEO: Get Noticed by Search Engines by April from Good Books and Good Wine (@booksandwine)

I "SEO-optimized" my February 2011 review of The Warmth of Other Suns and saved April's challenge post for reference. Some of the steps she mentions are things I already do, but I'm going to work on incorporating more of her recommendations into more of my posts. Fortunately, Blogger has just added tools to make this easier (but as I understand it, it's still a ways from catching up with Wordpress).

• Five Tips to Write Reviews Faster by Melanie from Melanie's Musings (@MelanieFoust) 

I couldn't actually do this challenge since I'm current on reviews, but I've saved the post for reference. I'm already following the "have a format" tip--I've had one for a while.

•  Eight Ways to Freshen Up Your Content! by Emily from Emily's Reading Room (@emsreadingroom) 

Another post I've saved for another challenge I didn't end up doing. It didn't fit into my Bloggiesta goals this time, but I think it will be very useful for future reference!

• "10 Things Bloggers Should Not Do" at WordLily 

One more saved for reference, but that's as far as it got this time

• "Analyze Your Blog!" at Bookish Ruth

Grader.com has made some changes since the last time I used it, and its website and blog-grading tools have been re-worked as "Marketing Grader." Those changes have dropped my blog score from the mid-90s to 80%, but the feedback and advice from the process remain valuable. This is a fast, free, and informative exercise, and one worth repeating periodically.

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Bloggiesta Extra: An illustrated guide to avoiding grammar goofs

On this Bloggiesta weekend, it occurs to me that "blog improvement" certainly should include "better writing," so it seems appropriate to share this here today.

Just because today is April Fool's Day does not mean there's any reason to look foolish in writing! This infographic sorts out some very common grammar mix-ups and misuses, and sets them right, in a simple but memorable manner. Save it for reference--I know I will!

(Thanks to my sister for posting the link to this graphic on Facebook! Posted with permission, using embed code provided in the original post.)


Like this infographic? Get more copywriting tips from Copyblogger.

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