How to enjoy a larger variety of books (and consequently rate them without bias).

I like to read book reviews. Mainly to get an idea about what inspires someone to make their opinion of the book public. Let's say that I'm sorta conducting a character study. :-)

I've noticed that many book reviews lean heavily toward a bias on 'taste' rather than critical opinion. This can result in a lot of negative reviews of books that are actually wonderful reads. And I don't think it's very fair to give a book 1 star just because "I didn't like it."

So how can we learn to appreciate (and consequently rate) books that are different to what we would usually read? Here are some things you can ask yourself:

1. Does the writing represent its genre well? (NOT, I hate science fiction, this book is shit!)

2. Are the characters' personalities developed well? (NOT, I hated the protagonist, she was a bitch. This book is shit!)

3. Is it paced well? If it slows down in places, are the slower moments warranted and utilized for a specific purpose? (NOT, Man, I got so bored when the guy was describing his home town, and then talked about how it shaped his entire life. I mean, I wanted action, action, action! This book is shit!)

4. Is it executed/edited well? (NOT, I would have written/edited this book differently. This book is shit!)

5. If it is about a subject matter that you aren't entirely keen to read about, do you think someone who is keen about the subject matter would enjoy it? (NOT, omg, this book was way too violent. I hate reading about violence. This book is shit!)

Do you think it's possible to appreciate a book for what it IS, rather than criticize it for what it ISN'T?
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Reading I'm looking forward to ...

I've had the following books on my shelf for a while. They're books that I can't WAIT to get stuck into, but I keep pushing further and further down the pile due to all the ARCs I keep agreeing to read. It's an addiction. Really. How can I turn down all these awesome ARCs from all these wonderful bloggers?

Anyhoo ... this is what's on my list of "can't wait to get to":

Bodily Harm, Margaret Atwood: "Rennie Wilford, a young jounalist running from her life, takes an assignment to a Caribbean island and tumbles into a world where no one is what they seem. When the burnt-out Yankee Paul (does he smuggle dope or hustle for the CIA?) offers her a no-hooks, no strings affair, she is caught up in a lethal web of corruption."


All New People, Anne Lamott: "In this child's-eye view of the fear and pain of growing up, Lamott shows in vivid word pictures that the child is parent of the adult. Nan Goodman, hurting after a failed marriage and her father's death, goes back to the town of her childhood. As skinny little Nanny, aged five to 12, she either adored or was ashamed of her leftist parents, her writer father who never made enough money for comfort and her devoutly Christian mother who was his inspiration."


Dark Places, Gyllian Flynn: "Libby Day, the protagonist of Flynn’s disturbing second novel, was, as a seven-year-old, the only survivor of her family’s brutal murder by her older brother, an event dubbed by the media the “Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” Twenty-five years later, she has become a hardened, selfish young woman with no friends or family. Since the tragedy, her life has been paid for by donations of well-wishers, but, with that fund now empty, Libby must find a way to make money..."


Moments of Being, Virginia Woolf: "Moments of Being contains Virginia Woolf’s only autobiographical writing: “By far the most important book about Virginia Woolf...that has appeared since her death” [Angus Wilson, Observer (London)]. Edited and with an Introduction by Jeanne Schulkind; Index."


Confusion is Next: The Sonic Youth Story, Alec Foege: "A literate and thorough biography of Sonic Youth, one of the most innovative and significant bands of the '80s and '90s. Foege is several cuts above the typical scribblers in rock journalism, and his insights about the possible obsolescence of critics in a pop culture are particularly interesting."


(note: all blurbs were taken from Amazon)
How about you? What are you looking forward to reading, but keep pushing further and further down your list?

"Books can illuminate all those dark corners and rooms inside all of us and improve our thinking, planning, sorting, understanding and behaviors."

Last week I received an amazing response to one of my reviews on Goodreads about The Slap from a reader named April Gavey. I asked her permission to post it here for you all to read as it's certainly worth sharing and poses a lot of interesting questions and discussion topics. It's quite lengthy, folks, but certainly worth your time. Trust me. :o)

Offensive content is required in writing truth. People are complex and layered in everything they do, children included. Babies learn manipulation early but most of us see it as cute. We are animals with observable behaviors as obvious and ritualistic as cats and dogs. Books help us SEE these behaviors and help explain them.

A part of me gets ridiculously annoyed when people say, "I was offended by the bad language" because so often it's as if form is more important than the substance. It's like when there's been a car accident and a victim is bleeding/dying, but a witness is upset because a spot of blood got on her shoes and she feels that's so rude and disgusting. Bad language is transmitting information about internal states of mind of the characters, it's plot movement and development. It's emotion generating, maybe causing yourself to become excited. It's also a fact of human expression in all languages of the world.

Other irritating exclamations are those in the category of "this doesn't really happen." I know for a fact some women kill their babies, and I despise people who refuse this obvious fact. Though I am also annoyed by people who basically feel, ooh, that's too icky, I understand that one.

I've felt that skin crawling nausea, for instance, when I heard about the poor Syrian 13 year old boy tortured to death by Syrian "Security" agents. However, books are a voluntary occupation. In theory, choosing to read a book is free will in action. Read what you want. I've never understood complaints from people who hate the frank language or sexual descriptions or human depravity in books yet read them from cover to cover. 

I don't understand the compulsion to ban a book for everybody else if yourself hates it. Denying reality is criminal, in my opinion. Denying someone the opportunity to learn and explore another mind through a book is a civil crime, in my opinion, even if all the characters are imaginary. Denying enjoyment of language, sex, depravity (for some people), rude tasteless comedy or horrifying politics or general human condition situations that MIGHT be catering to the lowest common denominator or wonderfully illuminating the mysteries of being people is impossible, since a book is only one firm of media transmitting these cultural memes, idioms, ideas and stories and pictures.

The fact the Internet has billions of websites catering to any and every interest of humanity is a "tell" (gambler giving away his game through unconscious body ticks). Homer was a verbal storyteller and all Literature classes start there with the point, first, people gossiped and talked and lied and exaggerated and explained verbally- and then we put it in writing!

We are a mystery to ourselves even when we are eager to live an examined life, and worse, we are often blind to ourselves. Books can illuminate all those dark corners and rooms inside all of us and improve our thinking, planning, sorting, understanding and behaviors. We are not all alike or similar, but there is a range of possible human behaviors where illumination of those psychological data points has positive impacts on each of our real lives and on society.

For example, I want to recognize predatory behavior, and I want to categorize it as silly, safe, or normal, or dangerous or evil, whether it comes from myself or other people. I need to understand other motivations in order to judge how what decisions I need to make, but if I'm ignorant or blind to motivations my life could be damaged by wrong reading of a person. Books help read people. Books help to see the possible range of behaviors humans display, safe and dangerous.

How often and old is the story behind child rape where Mom couldn't recognize the behavioral signs or wouldn't believe in its possibility because she never heard of such a thing? Do we want to live in such ignorance because it's icky so we don't believe the child? Do we give our money to the smooth con man because he smiles nice, but we ignore the shifty eyes and sweating lip?

To me it often feels like willful stupidity, blindness and purposeful ignorance to demand happy books of sweet people who always win their rewards of good living by not swearing, wearing clothes all of the time and practicing only good faith, love and affection to all. It's idiotic.

Choose the books you want to read, don't read books that "offend" you. It's a free country, choose the self educating as well as the entertaining if you want. I don't want to read only dark, noir plots. I also read plenty of comedies, adventure, spy, science, and celebrity books and biographies. But when I read a dark book about amoral or immoral or criminal behavior it's because this exists in the real world too and I want to learn about it.

I like happy books too, by the way. 

Thoughts? Here are some questions to help you. Answer one, all or none, but I'd love to hear some opinions!


1. Do you ever shy away from 'icky' content in books? Why/Why not?
2. What do you do when you come across a book you dislike for whatever reason, do you stop reading, or do you finish it and complain to the world? Why do you think you do this?
3. Do you think it's right to ban books? Why/Why not?
4. Has a book ever made you examine how you behave? Explain.
5. How are your instincts when it comes to judging one's personality or motivations? Has reading (in any form, news, magazines, novels, non-fiction) ever affected how you judge someone?


REMINDERS: Have you signed up for my String Bridge Book & Music Blog Tour yet? If not, and you'd like to, just click HERE. You can also now add it to your TBR file on Goodreads. It's up!

Do you like to doof doof?

So, er, I'm reading a Jodi Picoult novel. I've read quite a few, actually, because despite not really being into 'pop' fiction, she somehow manages to get me so involved in her books that I can't stop reading. But I'm not here today to talk about her hooks. I'm here to talk about something that a friend of mine mentioned about her stuff recently and got me thinking. She said that although she loves her books, she can't read one after the other because they seem to all have the same formula.

Yes, they do. And this formula she uses has given her great success. Aspiring authors want to write like her, to create a story so intense that it's impossible to put down. But 'formula' isn't necessarily a good thing, I think. Being a fan of literary fiction, if I were to read multiple books of hers in a row, I would get bored, because there's no DYNAMIC PROSE.

So, I like to see Jodi as a 'story-teller.' She is a master at story-telling, as is Marian Keyes, Lisa Jewel and Nick Hornby. To me these folks are pop writers. They make money by sticking to a formula that will lure the masses, just like pop music does. There is nothing wrong with this. Nothing at all. And I, on occasion can't wait to get stuck into a bit of pop. Even with music, sometimes I can really do with a bit Madonna, as opposed to PJ Harvey. Sometimes I just need to dance, to get into the groove.

It's the same with books. But! Who do I admire more? PJ Harvey, for sure. Because she gives me soul and makes me think and makes me smile and makes me cry. She makes me want to listen over and over to the layers of melody and instrumentalization. She doesn't give me doof doof doof, quick gimme another song to dance to, quick gimme another shot of vodka so I can keep feeling this thrill. She makes me appreciate very single note, every single lyric. So, my point, I guess, is that's what I prefer in books too. Even though I do like to break it up on occasion with a bit of formulaic pop.

How about you? Are you pro pop or do you like to dig deeper? Do you think there's a difference between writing and storytelling? What authors have you read that you think stick to a formula? Are you able to read many of their books in a row without starting to feel it's all becoming predictable?

Questions For You ... Questions For Me? (caution: possible offensive content ahead)

I have a few questions for you:

1. Does abundant cursing in literature put you off reading the book? If so, why? 'Fuck', nowadays is used as much as 'hello'.

2. What do you think distinguishes between a real poem and just a bunch of flippin' sentences chopped up into different lines?

My name is Jessica

and I can write poetry.

How cool.

Look at this awesome

line break

I'm a genius!

3. Do you put pressure on yourself to read a specific number of books per year? If so, why? Isn't that unessesary stress? Man, isn't there enough of it in this life? Just enjoy reading your book, instead of reading it to start the next.

4. What makes you buy a fellow blogger's published book? Your friendship with the person, or the fact that you're actually interested in reading it? Honestly now, folks ... :o)

5. Do you shy away from buying books from Small Presses? If so, why? *tsk tsk* *slap slap*

So, I'm going to follow Candyland's suit and ask you, to ask me, anything you want to know. And tomorrow, I'll post the answers. Go on, embarrass me if yer like. Ah got tough skin ;o)

Three weeks to read 36,000 words ... um ... ???

Have you ever started reading a book because you "feel in the mood" to read it, but then the next day, or a few days down the track, you "don't feel in the mood" to read it, and it takes forever to get through because you keep thinking about what book you are going to read next and realise you've read a whole chapter (or chapters) and it has gone in one eye and out the other?

I have.

I finsihed a book about a week ago that was 200 pages long, and   
R   E   A   L   L   Y   spread out on each page. I did a quick approx word count and it only added up to 36,000 words. That's damn short. I was in the mood to read it, and then I wasn't. It took me three weeks to finish it. I feel sad for wasting so much time (it is precious nowadays you know).

Perhaps I should have put it on the side lines and started a different one until my "mood" reappeared.

Anyone else ever have to deal with mood change dictating your reading pace? You ever kick yourself for letting it?