Weekly Geeks 2011-18

I thought this week, I'd give you two activities. You may do both activities OR you may choose one over the other.

Option 1: Write a post (or leave a comment) with suggestions for future weekly geek topics! Share as many ideas as you'd like! Be as creative as you want. Or if you can't think of any "new" topics of your own, consider listing your top five topics from the past, from our archives.

Option 2: Write a post about your genre prejudices or your genre allergies. (I tend to be allergic to westerns, for example.) Are there genres that you haven't read that you avoid at all costs? Are there genres that you don't take seriously? Would you be willing to try something new? (Or someone new!) Consider asking for recommendations and challenge yourself to get outside your comfort zone a bit. Alternatively, you may want to write a post about one of your favorite genres and recommend titles to newbies. Which books would you recommend to those readers who are new to that genre?

Option One: My Top Five Fave Topics from the Past!
1. 2009-45
A christmas wish-list! I know it's simple and straightforward, but I love reading wish lists...it gives me ideas.
2. 2009-35
A discussion about your reading "plan." Oooh, very interesting.
3. 2010-6
Romancing the tome. Romantic literature...I especially liked reading about blogger's favorite literary couples and the necessity of sex in literary romances.
4. 2010-10
Literary tattoos. This should be obviously awesome. I'm far too indecisive to have one of my one.
5. 2011-3
Female authors were the focus of this WG, even I (feminist reader) read largely male authors, so it was wonderful to see everyone's thoughts on this topic.

Option Two:
Genre Allergies:
I admit that I am very prejudiced when it comes to three genres in particular: romances, westerns, and mystery novels. I just can't get into it...I don't know why but they just seem so formulaic and episodic...

If anyone can recommend a mystery, western, or romance though...I would be willing to try it out.

Genre Loves and Recommendations:
I LOVE fairy tale retellings. Which I know I've talked about before.

So...I also love YA dystopian novels, and would recommend

• The Knife of Never Letting Go (although I still despise the protagonist) by Patrick Ness,
  
• How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff,
• The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, and
  
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury,
  

I'm currently reading Incarceron by Catherine Fisher, which might be included on this list later.

Weekly Geeks 2011-15

Finally I am back to doing Weekly Geeks, a weekly meme and discussion starter! This week's theme is: Catch Up on Reviews!

"This week I thought I'd go with one of Dewey's original weekly geek themes.

1) In your blog, list any books you've read but haven't reviewed yet. If you're all caught up on reviews, maybe you could try this with whatever book(s) you [hope to] finish this week.

2) Ask your readers to ask you questions about any of the books they want. In your comments, not in their blogs. Most likely, people who will ask you questions will be people who have read one of the books or know something about it because they want to read it.

3) Later, take whichever questions you like from your comments and use them in a post about each book. I'll probably turn mine into a sort of interview-review. Link to each blogger next to that blogger's question(s).

This is a very timely topic indeed! I have completed quite a few books, and have yet to review them! Although yesterday I completed three reviews...I still have a few more to do!

1. Books I have recently read, and need to review:

• Once I complete Wolf Wing by Tanith Lee, I need to do a series review of her Claidi series.
• Once I complete Venus Preserved by Tanith Lee I need to do a series review of the Venus series.
• I have also recently read two books on running/nutrition, which are listed in my 2011 reading list but I'm not sure if I should attempt to review them or not. Any suggestions?

2. Please ask any questions about any of the books I listed in 1 or any book I've read at all (or maybe a book I should read). I would love to discuss with you!

Weekly Geeks 2011-3

So here is what you task is for this week (You may do one or all or just some of the following):

• What are your feelings about literary prizes regarding WHO gets selected? Do you think literary judges tend to be biased more toward men? If yes, why do you think that is?
• Tell us about some of your favorite books written by women.
• Do you tend to read more books authored by men or by women?

This week offers a tough prompt! Being female, and a self-proclaimed feminist, you'd think I would have very clear ideas on the topic of gender in writing. But...really...like all multi-faceted topics it's hard to have a "hard and fast" simple opinion. Unfortunately. Unless you like long complicated discussions and reading my ramblings, then it is very fortunate indeed.

First of all let me say that I know absolutely no statistics or anything really about the state of gender in the publishing world, everything I say is my opinion which is based on my limited understanding.

Regarding the first prompt, which seems so sweet but really can be divisive, I hate prizes that delineate WHO can even be considered. I recently took a course on children's literature (aged 0-4) and was disgusted with the long list of awards that only applied to Latino illustrators, black authors, Asian authors, female illustrators, etc. First off, if I won an award for being "the best" "female white redheaded author of 2011" I admit I would be horrified and embarrassed. What? I can't just be a good author, I'm only good within those delimitations? Secondly, I think it's racist or sexist. We are all human, all authors should be judged together in my opinion. There will always be bias-humans are imperfect, and to try to eliminate bias is to eliminate the impossible, and what makes us human in the first place. So some judges may prefer male authors, or white authors, or what have you-but setting up alternate race or gender specific awards doesn't lessen that bias-it emphasizes it. If I were to set up a white male award, that would be racist/sexist, why aren't the others?

OK, rant over.

I have noticed that I personally tend to read more books by men than by women, just slightly, but I think that is due to my genre and topic preferences more than anything. In fantasy/sci-fi I read mostly female authors, in YA books I read mostly female authors, but most of my history and library science monographs are authored by males, and most "general literature" I read is also written by males. Additionally, most "classic" literature is (of course) dominated by male authors. I think that it is important to read both male and female authors, but that it is even more important to read books you like. I'm not going to read a crappy book just because it's written by a women, nor will I ignore a great book just because it is written by a man (unless it's Shakespeare or Dickens, I really can't stand either of them). That's just silly.

With that said, some of my favorite books by authors who happen to be women include:

The Birthgrave by Tanith Lee
Villette by Charlotte Bronte
Beauty by Robin McKinley
Cybele's Secret by Juliet Marillier
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Masks by Fumiko Enchi

I would highly recommend them all, as well as reading the other Weekly Geeks posts-I am excited to see how everyone responded to such a great prompt!

Weekly Geeks 2011-2

Awards and Lists

Winners of awards and book titles on lists have always fascinated me. Not because I think the books that make it onto those honors and lists are any better than those that haven't, but because they are a way to find new books, popular books, books that people are talking about-and a chance to enter into that conversation through reading. I have to admit, there are many awards and lists I don't know about, and the Michael L. Printz Award (from the Young Adult Library Services Association, I think it began in 2000) is one I had never heard of until this week's Weekly Geeks prompt! And what a wonderful discovery it is.

Sadly, I have read very few of the books honored with this award, but several have been on my wishlist for ages.

Some of the Printz award winners/honorees that I yearn for:
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman

Now some Printz award winners/honorees that I have read:
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, which I read very recently, was an Honor book in 2003.
how i live now by Meg Rosoff was the award winner in 2005, which I enjoyed immensely back in 2005 or 2006 when I read it. It was dystopian YA with just enough eating disorders and family drama to keep impending disaster surreal and mundane-wonderful book.

Weekly Geeks 2010-40

Recently NPR aired a Guilty Pleasures episode where writers talked about the books they loved but were embarrassed to be seen reading. It got me thinking about all those books I love but don't necessarily want other people to know I love them. Given that the holiday season is filled with eating the foods we love (but shouldn't eat), parties that last far into the evenings (way past our bedtimes), sipping those holiday drinks (fat with calories but oh so delicious), and curling up in front of our fireplaces with books that take us away from the holiday stresses...I thought it might be fun to share our guilty pleasures with other readers. So, for this week's Weekly Geek post share:

• The Books that you Love but are Embarrassed to be Seen Reading
• Tell us WHY you love them
• And (just for fun) tell us your favorite guilty snack that goes perfectly with all that guilty reading

Don't forget to come back and give us a direct link to your post...then check out other Geeker's guilty pleasures!

Lovely topic! I don't really feel embarrassed to be seen reading anything, but sometimes I am painfully aware of the fact that I am reading something like genre fiction when I should be reading insightful monographs or some educational tract for school.

1. Books I Love but am Embarrassed to be Seen Reading
a. The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee
It's YA, it's sci-fi, it's a romance. Despite appearances, I usually don't lean towards these categories. It's a bit cheesey and predictable and melodramatic. But that's probably why I love it. It's so melodramatic and "serious" despite the rather ridiculous premises...but it's so well written and well-imagined that it's hard not to get sucked into the strange romance and familial drama.
b. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Ugh, it's trashy romance that's "literary" because it's kinda old. No one likes it or takes it seriously. But I was sucked in. I cry every time Melanie dies when I read it. I dislike basically every character, I'm bored by Civil War stories, but I want Tara to be rebuilt and the two despicable main characters to end up together.
c. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
I debated adding this to the list. I don't actually like this book, or anything about this series actually. Yet...I read them all, it was like a train wreck. I had to see the final cataclysmic explosion. Ugh. It was even worse then I feared. I can see why some people like it. I think. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mindset when I tackled the series?

2. Guilty Snacks for Guilty Reading
Gingerbread men! Can't have just one, and they are so silly looking and seasonally specific! But also sables and M&M cookies, or maybe even donut holes...

Weekly Geeks 2010-39

Do you plan on participating in any reading challenges in 2011? Are you planning on hosting any reading challenges? Perhaps you'd like to share an idea for a reading challenge--to see if there is any interest! Share with us which challenges look tempting to you! (You don't have to "officially" join any of the challenges for this weekly geek. Just let us know which ones you'd be most interested in.) You might want to spend some time browsing A Novel Challenge. Are there any challenges you are looking forward to that haven't been announced yet? Regardless of your challenge plans, are you starting to plan ahead for next year? Do you make lists or goals? Are you a person who enjoys reading more if it is structured? Or are you all about being free to read what you want, when you want?

Normally I am a "read what I want when I want" to kind of gal. However, this means I have a lot of books I never quite get around to-which is why I decided to jump on board with the Off the Shelf! challenge for 2011. The goal: read 30 books from my TBR pile in 2011. What I liked about this challenge was that you could choose your commitment, I just thought 30 books sounded like a good number! To help me, I created a list of my TBR pile and added it as a page to this blog. As I complete each one, I can cross it off the list and feel productive!

If you are a hoarder like me, I recommend trying this challenge out with me next year!

I had thought that that would be enough for me...but then I checked out A Novel Challenge as WG suggested...and I couldn't resist just one more! So I decided to dive into Into The Old World Reading Challenge hosted by Splash of Our Worlds and My Love Affair With Books. Basically, this challenge is all about reading older books in 2011. However, they really don't have to be that old...just published before 2009!

A Tanith Lee challenge, now that's another thing I could get behind. Might make one up for myself!

Weekly Geeks 2010-38

This weeks topic: Antique Books.
This is not something I have a lot of.
In fact, this is something I only have one of. That is of course, only if you can include a rapidly deteriorating book of poetry that my mother took from my grandmother then eventually passed along to me. It's very pretty to look at, and that is probably why I have kept it, since the poetry itself doesn't really appeal to me. I've never really been able to "get" poetry, and this one is no exception.
This treasured tome is an 1884 hardcover edition of The Poetical Works of Jean Ingelow: Including the Shepard Lady and Other Poems.

I would love to expand my collection of antique books. The library I was interning in last Spring actually had a whole room of rare and antique books that had been donated, the oldest one was a series from the seventeenth century. This library was in a private high school. All they did was sit on the shelves (sad), and were not properly cared for since the librarian did not have the funding or permission to do anything with the collection. One of my jobs was to occasionally dust down the whole room and each volume. I admit I did some dilly-dallying so I could admire each one.

Weekly Geeks 2010-37

Do you read for a few minutes here and there?

Do you put aside certain nights or times of the day to read?

How do you minimize family interruptions?

I have yet to figure out how to plan my reading well, to get reading time in at all!
It seems to happen in spurts. I won't read for weeks, then spend a week doing nothing at all but reading. Between school and family obligations it seems impossible to even get homework done, much less leisure reading. That said, I find it impossible to just read for a few minutes here and there-it just isn't enough! I try to get work done early enough to just dedicate an entire night to reading, but that rarely happens...I usually read then desperately try to catch up on everything else the next day instead!
Unfortunately, in my house, there is no way to minimize family interruptions. In fact, I would say that the only time I am consistently (and I mean every few minutes with asinine stuff) interrupted is when I am trying to read. I look forward to reading everyone else's posts this week for ideas on how to properly fit in time for reading!

Weekly Geeks 2010-36

I wanted to talk this week about book recommendations. Where do you go for book recommendations? How often do you challenge yourself to get out of your comfort zone? How often do you read outside your favorite genre? How often do you try a new-to-you author? How often do you take a chance? This week, I'd like to offer you a few opportunities.

So your assignment this week, if you choose to play along, is to ask your readers for recommendations. Choose a genre--any genre--and ask for recommendations. You can be as general or as specific as you like. Consider it as an "I'm looking for...."

The second part of the assignment is to write a list of recommendations and share them with your readers. Choose a genre--any genre--and share your list of favorites. I think of this as "If you're looking for...."

I have to admit that I usually just pick up books almost at random, and rarely use any type of resource for book recommendations! Just like everything else on the internet, I usually begin at one book review, and just click and click and click through a million different links until I stumble across something interesting. Of course, then I have to be able to find that book cheap or find it in my library...so it's rare I actually read a book that I have heard of before I pick it up physically. Most of the time, I go to the bookstore or library and peruse the clearance bins or stacks until something catches my attention! I judge very much on cover and cover blurb I have to say.

I don't really have a favorite genre...just genres I don't really care for (i.e. westerns, hard core romances, detective/crime). I try to read a variety of books, fiction and nonfiction although I do tend to stick to history monographs and Young Adult or fantasy-ish type fiction. Besides Tanith Lee, I rarely stick to one author however, so I guess I read a variety on the author-front! But I am ready to "take a chance!"

So, readers, and my lovely first follower, what would you recommend from any of those three genres (Westerns, Romances, Detective/Crime fiction) for me? I would love to expand my reading horizons.

If you are looking for any good fairy tale books, I have several to recommend! These are all books I have personally read, and recommend for anyone.

If you are interested in the study of fairy tales I would recommend:

1. Anything and everything by Maria Tatar, especially The Classic Fairy Tales and Secrets Beyond the Door: The Story of Bluebeard and His Wives.
2. No Go the Bogeyman or From the Beast to the Blonde by Marina Warner

If you are interested in short story fairy tale retellings I would recommend:

1.The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
2. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling's Fairy Tale series of books, with titles such as Black Heart, Ivory Bones each book is a collection of short stories and poems that reflect or retell fairy tales.

If you are interested in full novels that retell a fairy tale, take a look at:

1. Fitcher's Brides by Gregory Frost (Bluebeard/Fitcher's Birds)
2. Beauty by Robin McKinley (YA) (Beauty and the Beast)
3. Deerskin by Robin McKinley (Donkeyskin/Beerskin/Deerskin)
4. Arabian Nights and Days by Naquib Mahfouz (1001 Arabian Nights)
5. Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier (The Six Swans)
6. Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier (The Twelve Dancing Princesses)

Weekly Geeks 2010-35

The books I waited too long to read...
As readers we all have our own way of deciding how fast or how slow we add books to our TBR pile and how fast we get through them.

We make list of books, we get recommendations, we drool over the cover art or just hang around in the book section reading excerpt all under the guise of making a decision about what we will delve into next.
If you are like me YOU WILL HAVE A TBR PILE, no if, and or but about it. My print pile is just about everywhere and my ebooks are taking up too much space on my hard drive.

That said…

Once in a while I read a book I have had for years and I think “How the hell did I miss this one? Why did I not read this one before?

Is there a book that has hang around your reading pile for far too long before you got to it, A book that probably got packed away until you accidentally got to it or a book that you read a few pages in and never got back to.

If so share or ask your readers about that book that really made an impression on them (good or bad) after having it or hearing about it for far too long?

Sadly most of the books I put off for too long are books I eventually regretted reading at all, maybe I shouldn't read books that I keep putting off!

Two examples:
Twilight (yes, I read all of them)
Harry Potter (yes, I read all of them...the first was good)

There have been a few books that I put off and put off that I eventually read and loved. That for some reason I kept returning to the TBR pile but loved once I read them.

Examples:
Villette by Charlotte Brontë
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Birthgrave by Tanith Lee (I had read the Four BEE books and The Silver Metal Lover before...but this book kicked off the Tanith Lee frenzy I am still on)

Villette was atmospheric and character-driven, slightly less gothic and paranormal than good old Jane Eyreand the better for it. I had expected this to be inferior to the more famous Jane but I would highly recommend this romance to anyone who enjoys the Brontës or Victorian romances.

The Bell Jar is always touted as the girl's verion of Catcher in the Rye which I read in elementary school and enjoyed. So this kept going back to the bottom of the pile. When I did rediscover it in my TBR, I found it superior to Salinger's and far more enjoyable (I don't think it's because I'm a girl either, I think it's just a better, more adult, book).

The Birthgrave is crappy fantasy/sci-fi from the 1970s at its best. Excellent (if chronologically inconsistent in just one case) worldbuilding and characterization; readers really get into the characters "heads." While it is just a "meh" book while you are reading it, fun and exciting but nothing to write home about, you realise its excellence when you can't stop thinking about the world and characters for days after finishing it. The book acts as a stand alone, although it is the first in a trilogy.
(image from here!)

This Weekly Geeks has inspired me to re-evaluate my TBR at least!