Rape is NOT porn and Speak is certainly NOT pornographic!

This post was totally unplanned. But I was ranting so much today and could hardly focus that I wanted to pen it down. Once I did that, I wanted to put it up and see what you guys think.

If you have been following the latest goings-on in the literary world, you would have heard about this. You know we are close to the Banned Books week (Sep 25 to Oct 2). And every year, we keep hearing of more and more titles on the list for sundry reasons like sexual content, profanity, violence, and many others. The only reasoning I can strive to understand is "unsuited to age group", but even then, there are so many books I think the age group in question has to read from the banned lists. This is very subjective - why not let parents and teachers be the best guide here?

As readers, we try to do the very opposite - read the books that are banned and get the word out. I mean, if you look at the list, there are so many books that you loved and probably cannot understand why they had to be banned. To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, The Color Purple, etc. The same books get banned over and over. Anyone surprised by the Harry Potter books in the list? Apparently, reading that series can make us witches or wizards or actively interested in the occult. How did they know that I would start a witchcraft organization and spend half my time doing murderous or horrifying spells on innocent people?

And the latest controversy to really irate me, and this time really make me blow my top is Wesley Scroggins' move to ban Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. And no, it's not for just profanity, sexual content, yada yada (which I wouldn't consider valid anyways). According to him, Speak is all about soft pornography. What a scandal! Tell me one person who got sexually excited reading that book and I will put duct tape on my mouth for a week. Speak is about speaking of a rape. It shows how hard it is to open up, how much it can affect you, how people around you may never guess, and how it can happen again. It asks girls to speak about it and not be silent. It asks teen girls to be strong. For ignorant people like Scroggins, Speak is about porn. All my life, I have been sick and tired of reading about the stigma of rape - how the woman is blamed and ostracized, how many women commit suicide because they can't live with the shame. Are we condemning today's teens to a similar way of life?

Laurie Halse Anderson has responded in her blog here. If you have read this book, please share your thoughts on it. This is one book that shouldn't get banned - instead it should be made widely available in school libraries.

BBAW New Treasure - When recommendations pull you out of your comfort zone

Let me put this question to you - what is your best part of reading a blog? Is it the memes or the reviews or the bookish topics? Or is it the anticipation of discovering a new book that you hadn't heard of, so that you can go add it to your wishlist? I'm sure it is a combination of all those features, but how often do we go pick up a book the moment you hear of it? Or if not the moment, then the very day itself or the next day? Of course, I'm assuming here that you had not heard of that book before. Now what if that book is out of that comfy zone you are in? Are you willing to get off the lazy couch and read something that's not your cup of tea? You got to be kidding me, right? With all the mountains of books to read - at your home, in your library hold list and in your virtual TBR (wherever it is that you catalog your reads) - each new book we add inevitably goes to the bottom of the list, but to the list it goes for sure!

So, although I have an Mt. Everest-sized TBR, which tripled over the past 9 months that I have been blogging (yeah, I'm pointing my finger at you all), I did once surprise myself and pick a book to read right after I read a review - a book that I had not heard of at all previously, a book that I would not have grabbed at had I seen it at the store or simply read the blurb at the back, a book I picked only because the blogger who recommended it to me did complete justice to it. This book wasn't exactly the kind I read either, so I doubt I would have read it if not for a recommendation!

Let me introduce you to the book first (I like to keep you surprised, so don't get sneaky and look down) - Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster. This book was published in 1912 (yeah, that long ago). Doesn't the title grab you in a curious way? The protagonist, Judy, addresses her benefactor as Daddy-Long-Legs because the shadow of his long legs were all that she saw of him the day he came to her orphanage to sponsor her education (She doesn't know his name either.) This book is real short and a zip-fast read! What made this book click for me is Judy's quirkiness. Oh my! You should read this book to really get her amazing character! I just couldn't stop laughing. She is one character I would have loved to know personally!

I read this book in January - the month I started keeping reading lists (I stopped keeping readings lists months later, but that's a story for another day!) And then when I saw the review of this book on Aarti's blog, Booklust, I just had to go to the library and read it! I have looked forward to blogger recommendations ever since then. Even with books that I read, I have been able to predict whether a book will be a hit or miss for me simply by reading a blogger's recommendatrion, and that's the best part of reading blogs. Do you have a book that you picked solely on blogger recommendation?

Oh, there's another must-have ebook!

My physical bookshelves are overflowing with books. (Whose isn't?) Each time I get a new book, I squeal with excitement, exchange or rather I would give the book loving glances, probably read a couple of pages and then go put it in my bookshelf. Aah, then the guilt steps in - when I look at every other book that went through the same treatment, only to languish there for quite some time. There's nothing much I did to fix that. I probably encouraged it.

And then, I got a nook for my birthday.

So you know how it is when you get a credit card for the first time? Or when you look at some exciting product online and feel your fingers itching to buy it? You never see the cash leaving your hands, so you feel bliss when swiping the card or clicking that "Submit Order" button. What matters is you have the product in hand. Having an ereader feels similar. For once, I can't "see" the books I own anymore. Unless of course, I keep looking at my library, which I don't. You know the saying - Out of sight, out of mind! (Maybe I should close my eyes and put new books into my shelf.) Aah, there, I'm already trying to solve the wrong problem.

With all the free ebooks floating around, one needs more than control to keep away from adding them to an ereader. It's good for me that most of those free ebooks are paranormal or romance (the two genre I stay away from), or else I may end up with a bloated library. On top of that, B&N provides free ebooks every Friday - both classics and non-classics. Oh, and that classic ebooks treasure trove, Project Gutenberg. Also, let's not forget the irresistible new ebooks that get released every week. And finally, the ereader equivalent of review books - NetGalley. I think I have almost 20 new ebooks requested from NetGalley currently. Heck, if I had 20 review books sitting next to me (for all I know, there may be as many packed into all the boxes of books - since I'm moving this weekend), I would have a panic attack. It will take me a little more than two months to get through 20 books. What was I thinking when I requested that many ebooks at NetGalley? Oh yeah, out of sight, out of mind.

Which reminds me, I think it's been a couple of days since I last checked NetGalley! ::shudder:: And I haven't been on B&N since last Friday. I know I should resist. After all, wasn't that the point of this post? But, what if the title that will be my favorite book of all times is in there? ~scoots off to check the catalog~

In which I name five fascinating bookish book-loving characters

Lately, a lot of books I've been reading feature characters who love books.I'm not sure if I'm noticing this just now, or if I'm just coming across this by plain chance, but it's quite fascinating to read books having such characters. I enjoy comparing my reading tastes with those characters. But most often, these characters mention the well-known classics to be their favorite, and if someone had to write me into a book, I doubt I will name a classic. Not because I don't like them, but I don't feel I need to express my love for them to let the other person know that I love reading.

Do authors deliberately introduce such characters? Sometimes, I notice that the book-loving characteristic of that character has no bearing on the story. The plot would have worked either way. So why do you think we have authors mentioning such characters? Sometimes, it almost feels like a teaser.

Let me list the five most fascinating bookish characters I've come across recently:

Sara, Hidden Wives by Claire Avery: Sara is growing up in a polygamous cult where reading is not encouraged and education means learning about their religious beliefs. All this bugs her because she loves to read. One day, when she is sent to the grocery store to buy something for home, she comes across the books section. Secretly, she puts a book into her purse and walks out after paying for the remaining things. Soon after she is done with her book, she returns to the store to replace the book and "steal" another one. Ok, I have to say that I was impressed by what Sara did. I have always wondered whether people really did that. It's not so hard. We all walk in with big bags and then there's this whole isolated section in your grocery store packed with books (Isolated yes! I rarely see anyone in that section and that disappoints me.) Yeah, I'm sure there are cameras as well. So it's not exactly the most ethical thing to do, but I am impressed nevertheless.

CeeCee, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman: When CeeCee's mother dies, her father leaves her to the care of her aunt, Tootie. CeeCee is however allowed to take only one box of books, and she has to choose among the many books she owns. Of course she argued and fidgeted, but no, the rule remains. I can't imagine even being in that situation, though I'm sure we have all been through that. How many times have we moved home, only to give up a few books and then buy more after we move? But, even then, we take more books with us than we give away, I would imagine. Say you have to move somewhere and you can take only a tiny fraction with you. Which book comes first to mind? (psst..psst.. this is a great way to get recommendations also)

Vidya, Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman: Vidya is probably my most favorite bookish character from this bunch. In her ancestral home, she is not allowed to visit the upstairs library, since upstairs is where the menfolk are, and women aren't allowed there. Vidya, however defies family traditions and accepted customs to go there every evening in secret and read some book. And, when she's caught, she marches directly to the head of the family and requests access. I could have easily considered this character as unrealistic because she seems to get her way. Except that I know a few people like that - who know what they want and how to get it. As in the case of Sara above, I would have lost my mind if I was barred from reading. Imagine some new weird constitutional obligation like that. Ugh.. And yet it persists in some parts of the world.

Kay, What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman: After her divorce, Kay gets depressed and starts reading books. She realizes that she loves books so much she doesn't really need a companion. The book had one awesome quote about this, but since I don't have a copy with me right now, I am not able to share it with you. I can say that I've felt that many a time - that books will do fine for me, and I don't need company. But those thoughts come to me only when I am reading. All other times, I need company, and that's precisely why I've taken to haunt coffee shops as I write my thesis, because I can't fathom being all alone at home with no sign of humanity around. Kay says that whenever she entertains her kids, she still casts a wistful glance to the book she was reading, but she somehow restrains herself. So yeah, I have had that thought many a time, especially when I am a few pages away from unveiling a murder. How about you? Guilty of these thoughts?

Aibileen, The Help by Kathryn Stockett: My recollection of this book is thinner. Aibileen used to read voraciously when she could enter the town library. But once the African Americans are barred from entering, she misses reading so much and confesses this to Skeeter. (Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.) Aibileen's sadness at not being able to borrow books from the library was so poignant. I'm not sure I can survive on that. But this reminds me that there are plenty of people out there who would love to read but cannot, either because they don't know to read or because they can't afford buying books or borrowing them from a library, or even because of severe governmental restrictions such as what Aibileen suffered through. And then, I stare at my mountain of books sitting here and just gulp at my childish enthusiasm when I buy them. What do we do?

Who are your favorite bookish characters?

Armchair BEA Discussion: How to keep an active buzzing blog

Welcome to the third day of Armchair BEA! This four-day event is organized to coincide with the BookExpo America in NY that ended yesterday and the Book Blogger Convention, that is being held today Those of us unlucky enough not to be in the most happening place this week are instead a part of BEA from the cozy comforts of our home. (I know it's not much, but at least one can claim that feeling of participation!). Today, I'm doing a panel post on "Writing and Building Content".


Why do we blog? More specifically, why do we blog about books? Not all readers blog, nor do they review books by habit. There must be something more than a desire to talk about books that makes us sit late nights sometimes, tired after a long day but still finding the energy and the enthusiasm to write up posts. Blogging needs passion. It is easy to blog for a month and then succumb to burnout. In addition to loving books, one needs to love to blog or to write. Of course, we don't have to be a professional writer, nor do we need to worry about most of the things that publishers look for. Heck, if you can write humor into your posts, you're all set!

Yes, I really mean the humor bit. You don't have to be stand-up-comedian-style Rolling-On-The-Floor-Laughing-And-Crying-My-Eyes-Out funny. You don't have to be funny each time. It's okay to be sad and depressed occasionally. We're human. But liven up your posts. The readers who read your blog, need something more than a lot of words thrown in together to actually keep reading till the last word. I'll admit that I don't always read a post entirely. And I'm sure we all do that. When there are tons of blogs to read each day, how do you try to entertain your readers?

Keeping things lively
Even bloggers can get into a rut. If you have been following the same blogging schedule for the past many months, then you are getting into a rut. Almost every blogger gets there. After a while, livening things gets difficult. There is also that case of not wanting to change things too much, in case they don't work out. So how do you keep your readers interested, and get yourself out of that safe nook?

Let's get adventurous! There are so many things you can try. This is after all your blog, and there are no rules there. Your blog is what you define it. Your readers will accept it so long as it doesn't glare their vision, like that fluorescent yellow T-shirt you always hated. Some suggestions are:

• Do a special feature. This can be anything. You can challenge yourself to read books from a particular imprint or lesser-known publisher. Or books from your own country/state. Lesser-known books that I was talking about yesterday. All books that won a certain award or are featured in the NY Times Bestseller List.
• Do weekly / monthly discussion posts. There is no dearth to the number of topics you can talk about regarding all things bookish. These are perfect opportunities to make your blog discussion-oriented as well. Write your post in a way that evokes discussion, in a way that makes it an open topic.
• Create your own meme, but let's be innovative here. Come up with memes that encourage discussion and not just an I-can-write-this-in-my-sleep kinds. As you read through blogs, you would know the kind of memes you don't glance at much. Use that as the metric. Some really wonderful memes I have seen are Weekly Geeks and Jen's Character Connection.
• Write personal posts. Readers LOVE knowing more about the blogger behind a blog. Sheila's Morning Meanderings feature is so incredibly popular. I don't mean that you should bare out your life history, but you can choose what you want to reveal. Kathy once did a weekly feature on her life in France.

How often should I review?
Let me tell you that I almost never follow blogs that post too many reviews a day/week. Or I follow them but comment very less. I guess it's unfair of me to categorize a blogger by the amount of books he/she reads, but it's a personal preference. Reviews take time to read. Unless the blogger is my best friend, or someone who means a lot to me deeply and personally, I will not read through each review, and trust me, I want to read every review that looks good to me. Sometimes if a book has been reviewed a lot and I really really want to read that book, I will no longer read any more reviews, and if you are looking for more comments (we all are), it's a good idea to decide how often you want to post a day.

My typically busy day sometimes forces me to give a cursory glance through my reader, and when I come across a blog with 15-20 posts regularly in a week, I am tempted to "Mark all as read", sometimes without even looking through them. And I doubt many of us have that kind of time that lets us navigate through our reader each day. Once a day is perfect. Twice a day is good, so long as it isn't everyday. You don't really get more readers by posting more. If you really have to post 2 reviews a day, I suggest mixing them - do not review popular books together. It's cruel to the reader. At most, one book reviewed a day is healthy. It keeps your blog active without seeming intimidating.

Memes - Too many or too little?
When I started blogging, I did one meme a day. Almost. In those days, I believed memes were crucial. How very wrong and naive I was! Memes are good to get visitors, and also get more followers. It is also a way for you to find new wonderful blogs to feed your always hungry Reader. But doing more than than 2-3 memes a week isn't a good idea. The reason I don't like memes much is because they tend to be impersonal. Your blog is your voice. If all you do in your blog is list books and probably just add a synopsis, then you aren't making your voice heard. As a reader, it is very important for us to hear the blogger. And you make sure that your voice is heard through reviews, personal/opinion posts and random bookish topics. So, while memes can help you get followers, it may not help you in retaining them or getting more comments.

What a hypocrite! Did I just say no-rules and then give out a lot of rules?
They are just suggestions, from someone who's been writing since ninth grade. There are no rules in book blogging. Over time, you will come to set a pacing for yourself based more on what you do when you visit other blogs. Using your own intuition is the best approach, since you will know well what tires you out or perks you up. The rule of thumb I use is - I post what interests me, and I post as often as my readers let me.

What else do you do to keep things exciting at your blog?

Armchair BEA Discussion: Books from far, far away

Welcome to the third day of Armchair BEA! This four-day event is organized to coincide with the BookExpo America in NY that ends today. Tomorrow is the Book Blogger Convention. Those of us unlucky enough not to be in the most happening place this week are instead going to be a part of BEA from the cozy comforts of our home. (I know it's not much, but at least one can claim that feeling of participation!). Today, for my third post for the Armchair BEA, I'm going to step back a bit and look at us - bloggers - and the little-known books.


How do you decide which books to read or add to your always growing TBR? If you're like me, you probably heed recommendations from bloggers, members in your favorite online communities or book clubs, and friends or family members. Have you ever looked to see if most of the books you read (barring review copies) are the "hyped up" books? And I don't been that in a bad way, but more in an objective way.

Let me tell you about myself. I find that most of the books I read are usually the popular ones. How does one resist all that fanfare and good reviews? When the whole world was going gaga over the Twilight series or even the Harry Potter books, and now over the Hunger Games trio, I barely could sit on my seat. To prove my point, I recently pre-ordered Mockingjay, knowing fully well that I will not be able to wait for my hold to be through at the library.

Alright, that's fine. After all, who likes to be the odd (wo)man out at a book party?

But what about those books that are just as good but either is not written by a popular author, or has not yet been spotted by the media, or are translations? Some of us come across such books once in a while, maybe read a few, but how do we give them a greater stage presence, so to speak?

Iris' post on Blogging as a global phenomenon got me thinking about how we readers can be more proactive in our reading. I am passive at best, because I keep staring at my TBR mountain, wondering what it would be like to get through all those books during my lifespan. So I end up picking a book that is, at the instant of choosing, getting the most heat or sounding the most delightful. My goal is to change that (for the most part). I will still not be able to stay away from the books making the rounds, but I would like to intersperse my reading with books I think are good but have not got the necessary recognition or attention.

Looking at us bloggers as a collective phenomenon, how do we give the not-so-famous books the love they deserve? By spreading the word. Proactive blogging means not just looking at a book to see if we will love it and then adding it to our TBR. It also means that we don't hesitate to share it with our followers. Share the love. No, you don't have to write up a post for every book you find - that will be annoying to your followers. Just as your review reflects that you really loved a book, let us similarly share reviews of fellow bloggers, when they talk about some really amazing books that you have never heard of, and possibly half the world hasn't either. There are plenty of memes that let you share your finds, or bring to the fore books that you read in the past but didn't review on your blog. If you are an active Twitterer, you can consider tweeting about the books that you really want to make known.

How else can you spread the word? Challenges are one way. Another method I really like is a regular spotlight feature. I've seen many bloggers use it very effectively. By doing such a feature, you get the chance to explore new books, tell everyone how great a book is and of course, get more followers. Why not do a feature by focusing on a particular sect of books that you are passionate about? - books that just need a stronger word of mouth to get there.

If you had one book or a set of books that you would want to give a global presence, what would you do?

Armchair BEA Discussion: The Blogger and the Microblogger

Welcome to the second day of Armchair BEA! This four-day event is organized to coincide with the BookExpo America that is in full swing in NY. Those of us unlucky enough not to be in the most happening place this week are instead going to be a part of BEA from the cozy comforts of our home. (I know it's not much, but at least one can claim that feeling of participation!). Today, for my second post for the Armchair BEA, I'm going to analyze one of the biggest phenomena we noticed yesterday.


If you are like me, you must have stayed glued to your Twitter platform yesterday, following the #BEA10 and the #ArmchairBEA tweets. I was hoping to find out what was happening at BEA, while I wrote my thesis in parallel. What I didn't count on was that I would end up focusing almost entirely on the BEA tweets, while not getting even an iota of my work done!

Did you know that Amazon is on its way to be a full-fledged publisher within 6 months? You knew?

Did you know that the Kindle is the second most popular ereading device? (The good old computer is the first) Oh, you already knew that!

Err... so you have been on Twitter yesterday following the most-happening bookish tags? I knew I was not the only one!

Social media is all about well, social networking to me. I am still trying to see Facebook as more than a place to connect with friends. With all its sweet little annoying features, I find it hard to even envision it as a place to be professional. Ning, is an alternative to Facebook, with its many groups and networks, each dedicated to a specific purpose. But I've found the conversation in Ning to be one-sided at best. Occasionally, there are some great discussion topics set up, but on the whole, Ning needs to spruce up on the social level. On that count, Facebook is definitely more social.

But Twitter is going places in the book industry. Who thought that a 160 character piece of text can hold so much information, can convey as much news as a whole blog post can? By the time I read the online updates on the CEO panel, The Value of a Book, I had already heard (thanks to the tweets) and re-heard (thanks to the retweets) all the arguments. Yesterday's talk on social media focused on how authors and publishers can use it for their purpose. Let us discuss about how we can use social media for our blogs. Who doesn't like publicity? I'm sure we all have bright visions of our blog going places.

Twitter is a fine place to build followers. When people sign up for a twitter account, they accept that they will not be able to read every tweet that is burped out each day by the people they follow. Firstly, tweet as much as possible, but do not tweet too much, unless you are reporting from the most happening place on earth. This is quite relative, so you can only use your instinct here. You need to create a vivid online presence, not force it on others.

Whichever media you use to network your blog, make your micro-posts interesting enough. How do you do that, considering that most of us have our blog feeds connected to our social media accounts? Two suggestions - either make your post titles intriguing enough, or tweet about your most important blog posts again, but this time with an interesting premise.

Trust me, both are easy once you get the hang of what you want to publicize.When looking for a catchy phrase to use to promote your post, look at what you think is the interesting aspect of your post. Don't just focus on getting more followers or comments. Both will come if you go about it the right way - and that is, focus on the content. Considering that you can't write an entire paragraph to popularize your post, something short, maybe sweet, maybe not, can be quirky, definitely mysterious or intriguing is the way to go. It should be enticing the reader, pulling him/her in; you shouldn't be giving the full information, yet you should give enough for your followers to click on the link.

Finally, shorten your URLs! This is not very important, but believe me, some of those URLs are so long that they limit what you can type. Some of the popular ones are bit.ly, goo.gl, and TinyURL. That way, you get more space for yourself to write whatever you wish. Gotta love URL shorteners!

How do you make your voice known in social media?

Armchair BEA Discussion: Rise of the online book club member

Welcome to the Armchair BEA! Today's the first day of this four-day event, organized to coincide with the BookExpo America that is in full swing in NY. Those of us unlucky enough not to be in the most happening place this week are instead going to be a part of BEA from the cozy comforts of our home. (I know it's not much, but at least one can claim that feeling of participation!). Today, for my first post for the Armchair BEA, I'm going to talk, sing and glorify online reader communities.


How many online reading communities are you currently a member of? One? Two? Five? Countless? Don't-know? Don't-track? Rather-not-track?

For a long time, there have been book clubs. I mean the real physical book clubs, where usually, a bunch of avid readers sit in cozy couches or chairs (I like the couches better) around a table, and have an intellectual discussion about the many nuances of a book's plot. Lately, we have been having online book clubs and communities as well. And with their proliferation, online book communities are getting larger with more book selections per month, plus plenty of features to ensure that members return to the community many times a day, as opposed to the once a month meetings that are usually common with the physical book clubs.

Are physical book clubs dying out? I guess not, but are they becoming less popular compared to online book clubs? Or are online book clubs becoming more popular?

Is it fair to call any of the many online books clubs as a "book club"? Considering that not always do the same group of members come together to discuss a book online, as opposed to meeting physically.

Personally, I like the face-to-face on-the-fly nature of the physical book clubs. Nothing beats an in-person debate. How nice it is to see the actual expressions and listen to the strong opinions of fellow readers? Such book clubs are however hard to maintain. The time commitment required is something that the modern reader somehow lacks. Also, it is not uncommon to hear of book club members slowing quitting. On the other hand, it is an entirely different experience to discuss books, sometimes real-time, sometimes not, from your own bedroom, while in your PJs! What can beat that? How about sitting in your own classroom / office, and stealing glances into your favorite book club's discussion page and managing to add your two cents to whatever is happening there right now? So long as your teacher / boss does not see you in the act, or sees you but doesn't give you the evil eye, it shouldn't really matter. Right? How about that feeling of being connected? You don't have to meet a person to be connected to him / her anymore. And those tons of book recommendations you get daily from fellow readers. It's no wonder we have such humongous wishlists.

On the other hand, I think it isn't fair to even compare the online and physical book clubs. No one chooses between them, just as no one chooses between e-books and print books. The online communities are here to stay as they make communication easier and faster. They facilitate book promotions to a wider global audience, and most importantly, there is that real-time access to information. You don't have to smack your head if you forgot a crucial discussion point of a book club read.

There are plenty of book communities to choose from today, that someone who is a member of many of them would find it difficult to keep track. Goodreads, LibraryThing and Shelfari are probably the most popular dedicated book communities right now. In addition, popular booksellers and publishers have their own reading groups. Adding to the puree are the tons of book review and discussion blogs and websites that, with their own following, cultivate several huge communites. Phew!

Online book communities are a recent phenomenon. Or rather the spurt in their growth is recent. They are the one gathering place of a huge number of readers, authors, publishers and promoters, from all over the world. There is something rewarding about being able to discuss books with someone across the world from you, on a regular basis, without burning your phone bills. Most of these communities also offer free books, now who doesn't like that?

How do these book communities help the reader, the author and the publisher? As a reader, I love discussing books as much as the next reader. Discussing books has become my main pastime, probably eating up most of my time, even more than I spend reading. There, I said it. In addition to book discussions, there are usually plenty of other hot bookish topics in such communities - be it author interviews, series discussions, and even fun things like Secret Santa gift exchange. With plenty of online book communities focusing on different book genre and categories, every reader usually has a lot of options to choose from.

With such a large readerbase, such communities have a good following among authors and publishers alike. What better place than the wide-open far-reaching online communities to promote your books? What do you think of the growing presence of online book communities? Too much, or just enough?

Ergh! I didn't like this book!

Sarah McCarry's post about women faking niceness in the blogosphere has definitely raised a lot of eyebrows and severely thinned a lot of the reading lips. I can't say I was impressed either, and really, just for how long will we bring gender into every picture?

Anyways, the point of this post isn't Sarah McCarry's questionable and disputable analysis about 'faking niceness' = women. Rather, it is about a tangential thought that slipped into my mind as I was reading her post.

How do you write a negative review?

When I read a book, my reactions are, well, very sharp. If I am reading a WTH scene, I will respond exactly like that. I will even have conversations with the bookish characters, questioning their actions or decisions. In fact, an alternate storyline will already be forming in my mind, where I am part of the book and talking to the characters. Be it a great plotline or a ridiculous one, my reactions can be very emphatic. If I didn't like the book at all, I will fake throwing it across the room (Of course, my conscience won't let me to really throw it).

And then I try to review it a few days later, when my reactions have simmered down. So that, no matter how much of an issue I had with the book, I am able to present my thoughts coherently and not emotionally. Because, no matter how awful the book is, or even that it may not be geared towards me, the book is still someone's baby, a result of someone toiling for months, maybe even years. Which brings me to wonder, is it wrong to post a negative review? I guess not. In that case, how nicely can you write a negative review?

As I was growing up, one of the most useful lessons I've learnt is that if you really want someone to correct a mistake, be nice about it. Instead of saying "You were clumsy on stage today" (which is the truth), you could say "Try not to shift too much on your legs while standing on a stage" or many such variants. If a friend of mine walked up to me and told me rudely that I am an annoying bug and a very bad person, I will be really upset at first, then offended, and finally angry. Why? Didn't she give me an honest opinion? Shouldn't I appreciate it and thank her for having told me what others were too shy to tell me? Maybe if she sugar-coated her words, I may not feel angry. Probably still upset, but I would be in better control of my emotions. Is that what we should do in reviews?

Which brings me to this - there is a thin line between not liking a book and really hating it. I'm sure we all have our list of books that no matter what, we can't bring ourselves to talk about nicely. In such a case, is it justifiable to just give vent to your emotions and rant all you want? After all, you just spent some valuable time on something that didn't justify it.

I doubt there's really a right way to do this. When I watch a movie, I rarely worry about how vehemently I express my opinion, since I'm sure that the director is not sitting in my living room, gauging my reaction. I think it's a good thing that we struggle to write negative reviews. That shows we have big hearts. Ha!

I'm curious about what you think. How do you review a book you didn't like? And what about a book you hated?

Did you sign-up for the Glorious giveaway?

Has a book ever changed your life?

Many times, I have had this discussion with other bloggers and book lovers. Each time I was fascinated by the choices they mention and by their descriptions of how the book(s) affected them. I, however, drew a blank, because for the life of me, I couldn't figure out a book that had so much of an impact on me that I could call it life-changing. Sure, there are lots of books that got me thinking deeply about the subject matter. Some of the recent ones are The Help, Glorious, White Oleander and The Bell Jar. But I wouldn't really call them life-changing. Sure, they inflated the deep-routed beliefs I had and made me wish things had been different. I've even been motivated to be more civic-minded than I am, but I can't say my life changed because of that, because some of those books only echoed what I had always believed, but in a very thought-provoking way.

But over the past couple of weeks, when I thought about this, I realized that there is a book that although might not have changed my life totally, definitely had such a profound effect on me that my life goals changed. My perspective changed. My focus in life changed. And the book? Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.

Reading Anne Frank's diary made me realize how life can change in a day. This is akin to the quotes we frequently hear about living in the present. Of course, each time I just shrugged the quotes off. Hearing a quote is one thing, actually practicing it is a whole level away. That requires more than just illustration. That requires influence and inspiration.

Anne Frank was just like any other girl. She had dreams, squabbles, complaints, wishes, crushes, and life plans. The diary she wrote was just like any teenager's diary, she just happened to be holed up in a house, hiding from the Nazis. I once kept a similar diary that would probably embarrass me if I had to read it today. After reading Anne's thoughts, as you turn the last page, you almost feel as if this is an incomplete life story. If you didn't know Anne, you would ask "What happened to her?", "Did she find love, a career?", "Did she get out of that place?". But the afterward holds a more grim tale.

In so many ways, I am glad that I read this book. Most of the messages in this book are inferred. I've come to understand that there is only so much you can do in life. You can choose to obsessively plan for the next few decades of your life, or wallow in what you don't enjoy. Or you can choose to do what you wish with the time to have here and live in the moment. Much as I had heard this for a long time, I have not felt it more powerfully than that day when I read Anne Frank's diary.

So, did you ever have a book that affected you strongly enough to make you change your life, or feel more passionate about something you never considered before, or change the way you think?


Did you sign-up for the Glorious giveaway?

The Sunday Salon (Non-fiction Blues) -- Apr 11, 2010

I just rolled out of bed 30 minutes back! Egad! It's 10.30 already. Thank God for Sundays ... the only day of permissible guilt-free sleep-ins! I had a fun day yesterday at the International Street Fair at my university. The food was yummy and the performances and stalls set-up by the associations of different countries were quite riveting. I enjoyed this event last year as well, but hadn't been able to spend so much time at the venue since I had some TA work then. Yesterday though, I stayed out for most of the day and most distressingly, during the entire time the sun was at its strongest. Needless to say, in spite of the good amount of sunscreen lotion I used, I got too much tan (which I don't really need). Bummer!

Congrats to all of you who took part in the Dewey Read-a-thon yesterday! I missed the fun! I'm eager to go blog-hopping today to see how you all did! I thought of reading unofficially for the read-a-thon to see if I can keep up, but I got nowhere, since the book I was reading was moving too slow!

I'm trying to figure out which book to read today and might just settle on a non-fiction, Columbine by Dave Cullen. So that will be my second non-fiction book this month. Considering I read very little non-fiction, not due to lack of interest, but due to lack of trying, this seems a huge number to me for a month.

I'm not sure what it is that keeps me from reading non-fiction. I read a few last year - In Cold Blood and The Monster of Florence come to mind instantly. In Cold Blood was a very suspenseful read, where the reader already knew the killers and the victims and still couldn't help but turn the pages. But there were times during the book that I would yawn and just wish the words read for themselves. That happened more often when I was listening to The Monster of Florence. It didn't help that the crime is still unsolved. This book started very powerful and gripping that I was left gasping. I remember I was at the gym when I started listening to this audio book, and I actually got off the treadmill for a moment, and only listened. But all that interest generated tapered off during the latter part of the book, when I started getting all the names mixed up and found the book going in a totally different direction.

Last weekend, I read April 16th: Virginia Tech Remembers, but this time I actually enjoyed the book a lot. Well, enjoy is not really the right word, since how can you "enjoy" reading about a tragedy? But I found I couldn't put the book down and I actually read it slow so that the details wouldn't go over my head. Then again, I was already familiar with most of the names and details listed in the book, so I'm not sure if that had an effect. Now, I'm going to start Columbine.

Funny how I've mainly read tragi-nonfiction books. I never thought of that before.

This week, I've been giving it a lot of thought. I've decided that I'll read at least one non-fiction book each month. I hope it will work out fine without becoming a "chore". I have quite a few nonfiction books sitting on my shelf. (I love buying them, even if I don't read them as often.) And, lately, I've come across a lot of nonfiction book reviews in so many blogs that many are on my must-read list. It shouldn't be hard to choose one.

Are you a nonfiction fan or nonfiction-reader wannabe? If you read a lot of nonfiction, how did you get attracted to that genre? If you don't read so many and would love to, what is your main obstacle?

The Sunday Salon (Internet over the years) -- Apr 04, 2010

Another Sunday is here, and I am thinking the same thing - where did the week go? I literally camped at my lab this week - there was so much work. While I like that kick of adrenaline that usually comes in before a deadline, it also means a casualty - reading.

It's April already and with a jolt, I realized today that some of my friends are just a month and a half from graduation! I myself will graduate in August. So I'm starting to feel the beginnings of the sorrows that will consume me within the next few months. Partings are something I am so poor at handling, in spite of having been through it five times already, and I'm only yet 25! The first time I went through it, was after my 10th grade. I didn't even have an email address then, nor did any of my friends. (I had a PC at home, but my dad used it mainly. Only he had an email address in my house then.) So you can imagine how my friends and I exchanged postal addresses and forget-me-not notes. (I still have them in my home in India.) Over the next few years, I managed to be in touch with two friends of mine by post. Meanwhile, I had taken an internet connection soon after my 10th grade - the connection was shaky and pricey! The computer was the latest HCL model that I wouldn't sit in front of today without scoffing at it. It was plugged to an unreliable electric power that went off whenever it wished. I used it mainly to play Solitaire. :-)

That was 10 years ago! Today, I have 3 email accounts that I check every minute and 2 others that I don't. I have one Facebook and 2 Twitter profiles. I have 2 blogs and right now I am connected to so many bloggers like you, which wasn't even possible 5 years ago? 10 years ago? There's even Yahoo messenger, Gtalk, and Skype. My postal address? Puh-leez! If you are sending me a book, I'm happy. :-) Funny how times have changed, right? And I can't even comprehend how 10 years could change the world so much! I recently connected with all my high-school friends on Facebook. Some have married, some have kids. Some are still studying and dreaming higher. Some are so different from how they were 10 years ago. It never fails to surprise me.

When I see how we connect today, it always makes me wonder how people did it in the past. And then I remember that I didn't grow up with the Internet either and I survived fine. Maybe I did even better then, considering I didn't have to faint at the sight of my Google Reader (Good news on this - I tamed it finally last week!) or worry about missing updates in Facebook and Twitter. I even had more reading time and more television time. And, more family time and more fun with friends that didn't involve any kind of computers. Working at a job and doing a course that needs the computer 24x7 is more of a detriment too, since I have all my networking windows open before opening my work documents. Being connected is a very powerful feeling - to know that you are networked with millions of people the world over who are separated from you by buildings, state borders, continents and oceans, gives an idea of the enormity of this revolution.

Those of you who grew up like me - introduced to the internet much later - do you remember how life was for you before this amazing thing came?

And those of you who used the internet for as long as you remember - do you ever imagine not having it?

While I leave you to think about that, let me mention a couple of awards I received which I'm not passing.

 

I received the Humane Award from Marce @ Tea Time with Marce and Nadia @ A Bookish Way of Life! Thanks so much!! Makes me feel like a great person today! :)

Also, Aleksandra over @ Aleksandra's Corner gave me the Over the Top Award! I know it involves listing one word answers to some great questions, but since I am running out of time, I will give that up for now. Thanks anyways! :)

That's it for now! Happy Easter and happy wonderful Sunday/Monday depending on which side of the world you are! Missing my lovely neighbors from 10 years ago, who used to feed me yummy food on Easter!

Happy Reading and Happy Blogging!