Book Chat | 6.5.2013

Book Chat is a monthly feature when I chat about anything
book related: publishing news, books I’m excited
about and more. Read more Book Chat posts here.

Books on my Summer List

@rachael18 A good beach read is in the eye of the beholder. I’m hoping to read your book this summer…at the beach, on the patio…

— Brittany R (@BrittanyR30) May 29, 2013

@brittanyr30 very true! I hope you enjoy the book, no matter where you read it!

— Rachael Hanel (@rachael18) May 29, 2013

I don’t plan a specific to read list for summer. I don’t usually characterize things as a beach read or a non-beach read. My last beach vacation I read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen and Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua: the former might show up on a beach read list, but I doubt the latter would. I usually just think about the books I want to read in general. This summer is no different. As I finish reading the Little House series, I’m looking forward to diving into:

We’ll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down
By Rachael Hanel

Maya’s Notebook
By Isabel Allende

The Last Runaway
By Tracy Chevalier

Year of Wonders
By Geraldine Brooks

It’s become quite obvious to me lately, that I tend to prefer female authors. Female authors, or more correctly, authors who also happen to be female are just as good if not better than male authors, but I’ve almost unconsciously gravitated toward them. I like their subjects, particularly the strong female characters that draw me in.

Upcoming Books Reviews

How Did You Get This Number
By Sloane Crosley
June 12th 

Catching Fire & Mockingjay
By Suzanne Collins
June 17th

Socialnomics (Delayed Book Discussion)
By Erik Qualman
June 26th

On the Horizon

Besides reading the great books above and writing views on the other ones, I’ll be hard at work preparing for my Laura Ingalls Wilder series during July. I’m very excited about that, so please come back.

Book Chat: 5.1.2013

Book Chat is a monthly feature when I chat about anything
book related: publishing news, books I’m excited
about and more. Read more Book Chat posts here.

This month’s book chat is the blog post equivalent of a chat with a casual acquaintance during school pickup: it’s short.

Literary Tumblrs

Should you have some unquenched yearning for more literary blogs that what I can offer you, check out these great literary Tumblrs.

Maud Newton

Pages and Polish

Bookshelf Porn

Upcoming Book Reviews

The Sense of an Ending (May 8th)

Catching Fire & Mockingjay (May 15th)

Socialnomics Book Discussion (May 22)

Book Chat: 4.3.13

Amazon’s Acquisition of Goodreads. You knew this was coming right? I had to have some thoughts on this. Well here they are!

Concerns 

• Community. Amazon is a company that loves books. Jeff Bezos built the company on books. The Kindle revolutionized reading as we knew it and rekindled (hehe) readers. However, despite their love of books, I don’t get the warm, snuggly book lovers feel at Amazon as I get at Goodreads. Plain and simple. In addition to their book business, Amazon has become everything else to every one else, and I think that’s damaged their public book lover credibility. 
• Integrity of Reviews. I have heard of publisher’s providing rigged reviews on Goodreads, but I’ve yet to see actual evidence. However, Amazon’s troubled history with reviews by authors and their affiliates is one of legend. Fights occur over reviews when one reviewer (possibly the author or an affiliate of the author) disagrees in an alarmingly strong way with a legitimate review. This doesn’t make a strong, happy community.
• Kindle Compatibility. As a Nook owner (and lover), the advantages of tying a Kindle to my Goodreads account hold no appeal to me. Futhermore, I’m generally a fan of purchasing physical books in person and only look to Amazon for everything else.

Actions

So what am I going to do? Um, well, not much. For the time being, I’m keeping my Goodreads account. There’s been plenty of hand wringing about this across the web. While, I’m not really happy about this, Goodreads is still warm, welcoming and a great place to keep tabs on books I want to read, track my reading, share reviews and make friends. (Hi, Goodreads friends!). And for what little it might be worth, I am happy that a little startup like Goodreads could grow to be such a promising acquisition for Amazon. The founders and staff at Goodreads do have a lot (more than lots of money) to be proud of.

So, what are your thoughts on this deal? Do you use and love Goodreads?

To read more of my thoughts, follow me on Twitter. For more book reviews, books I’ve read and books I want to read, find me on Goodreads. Don’t forget to check out my Pinterest to see all the craft and home decor projects I’ll probably never do and some cool book and social media pins. And of course, If you like what I have to say, like or follow my blog through e-mail. Sign up is on the right!

Book Chat: 3.13.13

Book Chat is a monthly feature when I chat about anything book related:
publishing news, books I’m excited about and more.
Read more Book Chat posts here.

Women’s History Month: In Books

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Big Read Blog created an excellent list of who they consider to be literature’s top 15 female powerhouse characters. On that list of notable characters are favorites of mine, including Scout from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Offred from Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Ántonia from Willa Cather’s My Ántonia and Anne Shirley from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables.

From strong female characters who have stood the test of time to strong female writers, BookPage shared “11 female authors to keep an eye on this spring and summer.” I’m really looking forward to Therese Anne Fowler’s Zelda Fitzgerald historical fiction novel Z, but there are many other notable women to look for on their list.

Book Awards Season

PEN/Faulkner Award Finalists

According to the website, “the PEN/Faulkner Foundation brings together American writers and readers in a wide variety of programs to promote a love of literature.” The recently announced finalists are Amelia Gray for Threats, Laird Hunt for Kind One, T. Geronimo Johnson for Hold it ‘Til it Hurts, Thomas Mallon for Watergate and Benjamin Alire Sáenz.

The announcement is big news in Minnesota because local nonprofit publisher Coffee House Press published Hunt’s and Johnson’s books. To have just one book on the list would be big for a nonprofit press, but two is phenomenal.

Yale Announced the winners of the new Windham Campbell Prizes

The new Windham Campbell prize winners were announced at Yale recently and nine authors have struck gold. The prize, which awards $150,000 to its winners, was awarded toJames Salter, Zoë Wicomb, Tom McCarthy, Jonny Steinberg, Adina Hoffman, Jeremy Scahill, Naomi Wallace, Stephen Adly Guirgis, and Tarell Alvin McCraney. Donald Windham and Sandy Campbell established the fun in the hopes that financial independence will allow the writers to do greater things. (Windham Campbell Prize)

National Book Critics Circle Winners Announced

Fiction Ben Fountain for Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Nonfiction Andrew Solomon for Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity
Biography Robert A. Caro for The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson
Autobiography Leanne Shapton for Swimming Studies
Poetry D. A. Powell for Useless Landscape, or A Guide for Boys
Criticism Marina Warner for Stranger Magic: Charmed States and the Arabian Nights

(BookPage)

Update: The earlier version of this piece stated that Alire Sáenz’s book was published by Coffee House Press. That is incorrect. T. Geronimo Johnson’s book was published by Coffee House Press.

Book Chat: 2.6.2013

Book Chat is a monthly feature when I chat about anything book related:
publishing news, books I’m excited about and more.
Read more  Book Chat posts here.

Responding to Internet Trolls Productively

Author and Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America President John Scalzi has found a creative and productive way to respond to trolling on his blog. Every time a troll uses a particular name, Scalzi will donate $5 to some great charities. He’s also had a number of people pledge him more money. Read more about his awesome response on the Guardian.

Love, Poetry & Other Things

via

February is a good time for me to read some Neruda. I’ll be picking up Pablo Neruda’s 100 Love Sonnets this week. I’m sure it will make some lovely reading leading up to Valentine’s Day next week. I’ll post a review and a discussion of my favorite passages next week.

Well, it’s a brief post. I know, but I wanted to share just a few things. And, before I leave, I’d like to leave you with my favorite passage from one of my favorite poems of all time Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe.

via

Book Chat: 1.2.2013

Welcome to 2013 on The 1000th Voice! It should go without saying that we made it through 2012, but I’m going to say it anyway: We made it!

I’m really excited about all the possibilities 2013 holds for this lovely little blog of mine, my personal life, and my career. With that in mind, I wanted to share some of the book-related things I’m planning for this year. My official 2013 book challenge will be posted on the 11th.

Book Reviews and Ratings

I want to work on my reviews to make them better and more relevant to the philosophy of my blog and my readers. I’m going to add a section to my reviews about why the book is relevant and how it applies to me, potentially to my readers or its cultural impact.

I’ve always struggled with rating a book on Goodreads. Despite my commentary on some things on here, I really don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but at the same time, I want to provide an accurate review for potential readers. To do this, I’ll create a few categories in which I can rate the books, and then I can calculate an average to determine my overall rating. My rating will still be based on five stars. I don’t need to recreate the wheel here; I just want to make the wheel work better for me.

Some Exciting Things

The fourth Wednesday of the month will be designated as book discussion day, when I will take more time to thoroughly discuss a book and its implications or applications in real life. It’s my goal to also encourage more discussion in the comments.

In preparation for my summer visit to DeSmet, SD and watching the Laura Ingalls Wilder pageant there, I’m going to reread all eight of her Little House books. I’m very excited to reread these books and talk about them.

Do you have any thoughts on my plan to improve my ratings and reviews? Anyone else planning to reread a childhood favorite?