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The Bookaholics' Guide to Book Blogs: the new literary force
As more and more bloggers write about books and with some of their Web sites receiving thousands of hits a day, this is an easy-to-follow guide to the top, book-related blogs. With the current craze for blogs, the phenomenon of book blogging is of interest from an objective standpoint as well as to those keen to read book reviews. How much influence do these bloggers have? Is there any kind of censorship or quality control? Are booksellers aware of them? Does Oprah Winfrey take note? Many people develop a real fondness for book bloggers who write reviews for love and not money. Taking in small, quirky Web sites like Book Slut, dovegreyreader, Bluestalking Reader, and MoorishGirl as well as large, well-known sites like salon.com, this book will show readers how to investigate literature from distant lands, to find the sites of authors who are yet to be discovered by the mainstream, and to find the pages of book industry pundits who have opened their daily lives to a wider world. Welcome to the honest world of book blogs. Catheryn Kilgarriff and Rebecca Gillieron are editors at Marion Boyars Publishers, and Meryl Zegarek is a book publicist of many years standing. All three have seen the book industry from the inside and are happy that blogs are now opening this world up to ordinary readers.
288 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2007
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37 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 29, 2010
While the rest of the world blogs about what they had for breakfast, book lovers have other fish to fry. Covering everything from crime to horror, Henry James to Harry Potter, bibliophiles are producing some of the most stimulating and entertaining work on the web. Not incidentally, they're at the forefront of the forces revolutionising the publishing industry. From Web sites to Weblogs, podcasting to social networking, book lovers have shown there's more to the internet than a dancing dog on YouTube.
This book celebrates the individuals who have taken their shared love of literature into cyberspace. Authors, booksellers, publishers and reviewers are feted, while the big corporations seeking control of the written word are confronted. Little-reported issues are addressed, such as the radical writers, disillusioned with mainstream publishing, who have found outlets for their work on the web. There's also an absorbing piece on the brewing civil war between newspaper critics and book bloggers. The book's upbeat, informal style captures the spirit of these exciting times.
Sadly, the message is obscured by the medium. Throughout the book, typographical errors keep stubbornly appearing. It's nothing dramatic, but just enough to irritate. Even the final sentence can't escape a distracting typo.
Misplaced letters aren't the only problem. Rebecca Gillieron's sixty, seventy, and (in a couple of horrific instances) ninety-word sentences make some passages heavy going. The book’s usefulness as a reference work is limited by an inconsistent use of web addresses and the absence of an index.
What rescues the book are the extracts from literary blogs themselves. Knowledgeable, witty and wordy-wise, book bloggers are clearly a talented bunch. Some may be brutally honest, but most are as ready to shower roses on writers they like as they are to deliver raspberries to those they don't. I especially enjoyed the plain-speaking Dovegreyreaderand the entertaining bookdaddybut all of the bloggers featured in the book deserve to be there.
Voices from the web are welcome distractions from this book's shortcomings. Yet even here, the authors can't help meddling. A Finnish blogger's exuberant post about one of his favourite horror authors is reproduced. His enthusiasm is infectious, even for those who may not be fans of the genre. Why the authors feel the need to reprint part of his blog in the original Finnish is one of this book's enduring mysteries, another is the decision to reprint nine consecutive pages from Toby Litt's blog. I'm all for giving readers a taste of the author, but this takes spoon feeding a ladle too far.
Why make so much of so little? What's a misplaced letter here, an elongated sentence there? Perhaps it's the old "if a job's worth doing..." mentality. But more than that, the authors of this book should know better. The opening page trumpets their credentials as industry insiders, as experienced in editing as they are in typesetting. And if attention to detail does justice to a book's subject and signals respect for its readers, the opposite is also true.
The publishing house which produced this book is a small, independent press, and it gives me no pleasure to decry their work. If it weren't for the flaws, I'd have no hesitation in recommending it. As it is, the best investment of any revenue generated by this project would be the employment of a sharp-eyed proof reader for the next one.
This book celebrates the individuals who have taken their shared love of literature into cyberspace. Authors, booksellers, publishers and reviewers are feted, while the big corporations seeking control of the written word are confronted. Little-reported issues are addressed, such as the radical writers, disillusioned with mainstream publishing, who have found outlets for their work on the web. There's also an absorbing piece on the brewing civil war between newspaper critics and book bloggers. The book's upbeat, informal style captures the spirit of these exciting times.
Sadly, the message is obscured by the medium. Throughout the book, typographical errors keep stubbornly appearing. It's nothing dramatic, but just enough to irritate. Even the final sentence can't escape a distracting typo.
Misplaced letters aren't the only problem. Rebecca Gillieron's sixty, seventy, and (in a couple of horrific instances) ninety-word sentences make some passages heavy going. The book’s usefulness as a reference work is limited by an inconsistent use of web addresses and the absence of an index.
What rescues the book are the extracts from literary blogs themselves. Knowledgeable, witty and wordy-wise, book bloggers are clearly a talented bunch. Some may be brutally honest, but most are as ready to shower roses on writers they like as they are to deliver raspberries to those they don't. I especially enjoyed the plain-speaking Dovegreyreaderand the entertaining bookdaddybut all of the bloggers featured in the book deserve to be there.
Voices from the web are welcome distractions from this book's shortcomings. Yet even here, the authors can't help meddling. A Finnish blogger's exuberant post about one of his favourite horror authors is reproduced. His enthusiasm is infectious, even for those who may not be fans of the genre. Why the authors feel the need to reprint part of his blog in the original Finnish is one of this book's enduring mysteries, another is the decision to reprint nine consecutive pages from Toby Litt's blog. I'm all for giving readers a taste of the author, but this takes spoon feeding a ladle too far.
Why make so much of so little? What's a misplaced letter here, an elongated sentence there? Perhaps it's the old "if a job's worth doing..." mentality. But more than that, the authors of this book should know better. The opening page trumpets their credentials as industry insiders, as experienced in editing as they are in typesetting. And if attention to detail does justice to a book's subject and signals respect for its readers, the opposite is also true.
The publishing house which produced this book is a small, independent press, and it gives me no pleasure to decry their work. If it weren't for the flaws, I'd have no hesitation in recommending it. As it is, the best investment of any revenue generated by this project would be the employment of a sharp-eyed proof reader for the next one.
August 8, 2011
This book. penned by a publisher and an editor, both female, appears to me to be an absolute insider's view of the book world. It is full of "insider"-abbreviations and slang terms I'd never previously encountered. There are also references to publishers, book shops and the like previously unknown to me, but apparently household names to everybody else in the world.
I usually restrict myself to serious books about health and spiritual matters, among other things, so I found the book to be a somewhat superfluous offering, though light-hearted and entertaining (and there is a need of light-hearted and entertaining books).
It introduces us to blogs about every subject imaginable and includes long extracts from the blogs of various apparently well-known bloggers. It deals with booksellers' blogs, publishers' blogs, fan blogs, etc etc. It discusses and cites pornographic blogs, and presents us with some macabre excerpts.
There's a chapter about the internet in general and one comparing traditional book reviews to blogs.
The chapter I most enjoyed was the final one, treating of audio- and e-books, and introducing me to Martin Ames.
I learnt about The Book Depository, which is actually a store I often have bought books from, through Amazon, though unaware of the fact of its being a major bookseller in its own right.
Not until page 243 out of 247 was it actually mentioned how the beginner can him- or herself find a site on which to blog, which I was wondering about. But, thus, eventually, we do learn of two sites where we can start our own blog, though UK Amazon does not permit me to specify these.
There is also a lovely, comprehensive list of blog sites at the end of the book, so the reader can explore further on his/her own.
Unfortunately, the book was marred by the many typos, omissions of words, etc, etc, and even one grave grammatical error, none of which I would have expected in a book written by a publisher/editor duo.
But to sum up, an entertaining book for those interested in blogs and the book world as a whole, though in my view not a work of importance, i.e. not a book that I would regard as a must read. Thus only 3 stars. But the book was a refreshing addition to my library and extended my universe by introducing me to the new (for me) fascinating world of blogging.
I usually restrict myself to serious books about health and spiritual matters, among other things, so I found the book to be a somewhat superfluous offering, though light-hearted and entertaining (and there is a need of light-hearted and entertaining books).
It introduces us to blogs about every subject imaginable and includes long extracts from the blogs of various apparently well-known bloggers. It deals with booksellers' blogs, publishers' blogs, fan blogs, etc etc. It discusses and cites pornographic blogs, and presents us with some macabre excerpts.
There's a chapter about the internet in general and one comparing traditional book reviews to blogs.
The chapter I most enjoyed was the final one, treating of audio- and e-books, and introducing me to Martin Ames.
I learnt about The Book Depository, which is actually a store I often have bought books from, through Amazon, though unaware of the fact of its being a major bookseller in its own right.
Not until page 243 out of 247 was it actually mentioned how the beginner can him- or herself find a site on which to blog, which I was wondering about. But, thus, eventually, we do learn of two sites where we can start our own blog, though UK Amazon does not permit me to specify these.
There is also a lovely, comprehensive list of blog sites at the end of the book, so the reader can explore further on his/her own.
Unfortunately, the book was marred by the many typos, omissions of words, etc, etc, and even one grave grammatical error, none of which I would have expected in a book written by a publisher/editor duo.
But to sum up, an entertaining book for those interested in blogs and the book world as a whole, though in my view not a work of importance, i.e. not a book that I would regard as a must read. Thus only 3 stars. But the book was a refreshing addition to my library and extended my universe by introducing me to the new (for me) fascinating world of blogging.
November 3, 2011
If you're going to read this book, read it now (as in early 2008). Many of the trends, programs, etc. are already starting to shift and one of the sites referenced is already defunct.
This book was finished in early to mid-2007 and does a fair job of trying to report on all things book blog related. The book is written by two British independent publishers which, at times, gives us a nice glimpse through the eyes of someone on the other side of the fence. These are rare gems of insights in the book (mainly focusing in the last third of the book) it's just too bad there is so much else to wade through.
The book crams a lot in a pretty slim read. So at times it's obvious we're just skimming the blogs, trends, analysis and at times just feels like a big magazine article. The writers do a good job of connecting all the dots surrounding book bloggers and mentioning all of the hot-button issues. But it just doesn't go deep enough.
It's obvious that the writers are connected and have their favorites as the same bloggers and sites are mentioned throughout the book. This gets a little tiresome, especially when some bloggers get their posts quoted verbatim, in the book, for pages at the time.
If you're a book blogger, you'll probably want to check this out as it gives you tons of info on many of the more established lit-blogs out there.
But the book surveys too much to offer much substantive insight (again, other than the last pages) to folks who are frequent guests in blogland and familiar with what is out there.
I was and remain so glad that there is enough interest out there to compile a book like this. These ladies know how to write and I enjoyed their style and quips. I do hope they use it as a springboard to pen a more analytical book based on their publishing experiences and less about the people they know and their blogs.
That would be a book worth blogging about.
This book was finished in early to mid-2007 and does a fair job of trying to report on all things book blog related. The book is written by two British independent publishers which, at times, gives us a nice glimpse through the eyes of someone on the other side of the fence. These are rare gems of insights in the book (mainly focusing in the last third of the book) it's just too bad there is so much else to wade through.
The book crams a lot in a pretty slim read. So at times it's obvious we're just skimming the blogs, trends, analysis and at times just feels like a big magazine article. The writers do a good job of connecting all the dots surrounding book bloggers and mentioning all of the hot-button issues. But it just doesn't go deep enough.
It's obvious that the writers are connected and have their favorites as the same bloggers and sites are mentioned throughout the book. This gets a little tiresome, especially when some bloggers get their posts quoted verbatim, in the book, for pages at the time.
If you're a book blogger, you'll probably want to check this out as it gives you tons of info on many of the more established lit-blogs out there.
But the book surveys too much to offer much substantive insight (again, other than the last pages) to folks who are frequent guests in blogland and familiar with what is out there.
I was and remain so glad that there is enough interest out there to compile a book like this. These ladies know how to write and I enjoyed their style and quips. I do hope they use it as a springboard to pen a more analytical book based on their publishing experiences and less about the people they know and their blogs.
That would be a book worth blogging about.
December 15, 2008
There was a lot of interesting information about the people who write book blogs, but it didn't have the wealth of information and lists of book blogs that I hoped for. There were a few web addresses, but each chapter addressed a different category of book interest that is blogged about. Since I have my preference of what kind of books I'd like to read, most of the chapters didn't really apply to my interests. One or two chapters had sex book blog descriptions that I just skipped in my continuing hope that the next chapter would have what I'm looking for.
I felt like it was more about discussing book/blog categories than actually guiding me to more book blogs I'd be interested in.
I felt like it was more about discussing book/blog categories than actually guiding me to more book blogs I'd be interested in.
August 5, 2011
Choppy writing and not a lot of links (which is what I was expecting - and hoping for). It would have been better published (and thus could be perpetually updated instead of being outdated almost immediately upon release) as a website.
September 10, 2012
This is so cozy and wonderful. If you write a blog, read blogs, or love books or any kind of literary criticism, you should give this title a go. Full review can be found on my own book blog here: http://anakalianwhims.wordpress.com/2...
April 23, 2011
UK slant, quite choppy writing with lots of typos/grammatical errors, somewhat out-of-date by now.
A decent browse.
A decent browse.
August 25, 2008
Typographically excruciating and out-of-date before it hit the shelves.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews