Open Road Media - Not All is Lost in Publishing, After All.

*****DISCLAIMER*****

Just so there is no doubt about my integrity as a blogger and as a reader, the following post is not a paid advertisement, nor have I received any e-books from the publisher gratis that would prompt me to say the praise I do. I have purchased Open Road Media titles with my own money and now own 23 books published by them. In comparison, I have received, upon my request, four e-books for review from Open Road. I hope that clears the question of integrity and any hidden motives. My motives are out in the open: saying thank you for doing a great job :-)

*****END DISCLAIMER*****

It is not very often that I write about publishers. Most of the time, I'm more interested in literature and reading than in the companies that allow me to have access to that literary world. However, precisely because of what I just wrote, I realized that my attitude may be unfair and equal attention should be paid to both, even though my love of books will always take precedence.

I won't beat the dead horse here speaking of the future of publishing. Others have done it better and more extensively than I ever would. My short opinion here is only shared as an introduction to why I chose to make a publisher a main subject of this post. Amid the outcries that publishing is breathing its last, that e-readers, e-books and self-publishing are taking over the world so tightly held in the hand of traditional-format books, I am not worried in the least. Yes, the change is happening as I'm writing this. But change is good. Change is progress. Without change, we still would be burned on the stake for daring to read the Bible ourselves, instead of relying on the Church to read it to us (in the language the masses couldn't even understand). I like to go forward with the times. Consequently, I like and appreciate publishers who are open-minded and bold enough to go forward with the times as well.

Enter, Open Road Integrated Media. This is the forward thinking company with people equally willing to see and make change happen.

Celebrating the past. Building the future. 360° e-publishing.

And they do indeed come through on their promises.

Celebrating the past - check.

Building the future - check.

360° e-publishing - check.



For the past couple of years I have been noticing Open Road's steady rise on the e-book market and in the publishing world altogether. I have to say that this company is doing a fantastic job in giving readers one of the biggest compilation of e-books across the literary genres to choose from. They have biographies, mysteries, thrillers, translated works from across the pond. I think the best part of their contribution to the world of e-books is bringing back to life all the titles that up until now have been unavailable to owners of e-readers. Now, if your little heart so desires, you can have your fill of Pearl S. Buck, William Styron, John Gardner, Octavia Butler, Stephen Coonts, Jonathan Carroll, et al. Really, my head is spinning looking at the list of all the authors, whose titles Open Road offers. There are so many and of such great quality that it's impossible to list them all. But here, go take a look yourself and see if your excitement doesn't start growing dangerously fast.

If the names of all the writers aren't enough, you can always look at all the partners working with Open Road Media. It's simply fantastic what crazy choices there are. Just the thought of all the future releases brought right to our electronic doorsteps makes me dizzy with anticipation and...that's right, excitement. Because this is what Open Road people do best and why they are so important:

Open Road Media publishers will make us, readers all over the country, finally excited about the future of publishing and the future of books. No gloom and doom here. All you have to do is enter that wonderful world of electronic publishing and see if you don't feel like never turning back.

Last but not least, I would like to extend a very special thank you to Iris Blasi, a Marketing Manager in Open Road Media, who is just about one of the nicest people in publishing I got to correspond with. Very coincidentally (although I believe things do work in strange ways like that), when I was in the process of composing this post, I received a personal email (not an automated response) from Iris after I requested one of their titles for review. In it, for the first time since I started blogging over four years ago, I received a 'thank you' for doing what I do and I was encouraged to  'keep up the excellent work'. It was unexpected and, I'm going to be honest here, greatly needed for my own morale. It warmed my heart, truly.  Thank you :D.

Best & Worst ~ My 2012 in Reading

As 2012 coming to an end, the list are popping up all over the place. Since I always go against the grain and don't really care for opinions of magazines' critics (a mixture of experience and instinct), my reading differed from theirs quite a bit. But I'm ending this year quite satisfied in the literary choices I made. Here's an overview of what I liked and didn't, if you care to know. Be warned that not all I include here were books published in 2012.

My Best Reads

Published in 2012

1. The Underside of Joy by Sere Prince Halverson

2. Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See by Juliann Garey

3. Toby's Room by Pat Barker

4. We Sinners by Hanna Pylvainen

5. Marie Curie and Her Daughters by Shelley Emling

6. The Reckoning by Alma Katsu

7. Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce

8. Wilderness by Lance Weller

9. The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian

10. A Hundred Flowers by Gail Tsukiyama

11. The Sadness of the Samurai by Victor Del Arbol

12. The Cranes Dance by Meg Howrey

13. Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

14. Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear

15. The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty


Published Before 2012

1. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

2. The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

3. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

4. Falls the Shadow by Sharon Kay Penman

5. The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama

6. The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma

7. Maisie Dobbs & Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear

8. The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler Olsen

9. Winds of War by Herman Wouk

10. The Hunger Angel by Herta Muller

11. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

12. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys


Unfortunate Disappointments 

1. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

2. Helen of Troy by Margaret George

3. The Replacement Wife by Eileen Goudge


Special Mention for an Outstanding Audio Performance

1. Holy Bible: Word of Promise New Testament

2. The Word of Promise The Gift of Psalms

A slight change of direction.

As you grow older, you grow up. At least that's the idea. I started blogging four years ago quite by accident and without much thought to it. I saw so many book blogs and figured I could have one too since I loved reading books and wanted to talk about what I read. I don't have many opportunities to talk about books in my life, even fewer to talk about books and not be treated with patronizing indulgence. It somehow happened that within my immediate family, I'm the only one who reads with a deeper purpose than simply passing time and treats reading not as a silly hobby but something serious that brings added value to my life.

Four years later, I feel I am in a place that allows me to make more straightforward and somewhat calculated decisions. This blog, which used to be Reading Extravaganza, is one thing I can and will change. I am doing something I should have done four years ago. I am finally giving it a direction.

Axe for the Frozen Sea is now a literature blog, not a book blog. What I will try to do here is create a bridge between literary fiction and commercial fiction. I don't want to write a novel that will be in the middle of these two. I am not a writer, I'm aware of what I can and cannot do. Unlike what seems to be 90% of today's population, I don't want to write books. I belong to that very important group of people for whom books are written, paintings are painted, music composed. I make art a part of my life. Unfortunately, the trend that worries me is that writing is no longer seen as art by an unbelievable number of people. It's sad but not tragic. As all other art, true writing will persevere.

I want to show you, whoever you might happen to be, that literary fiction is not pretentious or a whole lot of nothing dressed in big words no one understands. Literary fiction is instead beautiful, it has depth, it has lessons to teach you if you're willing to learn, and it will help you understand why writing is a gift very few people are born with.

I would also like to show those on the other end of reading tastes that 'commercial' fiction (I do hate that word, in all honesty) is not all worthless rubbish written by money and fame seeking individuals, who are nonetheless keen observers of the general public. Genre novels, such as horror, thriller, fantasy, crime et al, are penned by many talented writers whose passion for writing shines through their stories. If it were up to me, I would do away with the distinction altogether. Splendid fiction should be just that. Novels should be judged on the quality of writing, not on which category or genre they belong to.

What is happening in the book world nowadays is tragic. The readers' standards are so low as to be almost non-existent, the atrocious books published and read nowadays are an insult to all the unforgettable literature that is facing a danger of becoming obscure. Not to mention we're now raising a generation of young people who not only religiously read Twilight trilogy instead of Grapes of Wrath or Les Miserables (yes, I read both in tenth grade and I was not an exception) but are encouraged to do so because after all it doesn't matter what one reads, as long as one reads. This may possibly be the most nonsensical and dumbest sentiment I've ever heard. This phenomenon is too complex to be written about in this post. I will write a separate one. Yes, I do have a strong opinion on it (I have strong opinions on a lot of issues, which condition I find a lot more preferable to trying to be falsely objective and in effect not have opinions at all).

I suppose this post may be called my blogger manifesto. And if it is that, then the posts published within this blog are my reader manifesto. I will always speak up for literary works of art and against the rubbish written by semi-literates that should never have seen the light of day.

Writing is not a business and books are not consumer products.

To me, writing is an art and only the truly talented people can claim the privilege of being called writers. There is no course, no school that will teach a person how to create magic with their words. I'm not a very assertive person, have always had problems due to trying to please everyone and will most likely suffer mental anguish from worrying over what others think of me for the rest of my life. That is the reason why I may write a comment here and there about the sad state of writing world/culture but I never really outright talk or write in full length about all that bothers me. But I have to now. I see it as a duty to myself to speak up now, even if no one reads a word of it.

I've been asking myself some questions. One of the things I wanted to know was what my beliefs were. And then I became worried that I might not have any (the process and what led to it, and the outcome are all a lot more complicated but not the subject of this post, hence the very simplified version). Thankfully, I do. I believe in the power of the written word to save lives, to change a person, and to influence change in the world. Great literature can, and has done all that.

Sadly, fewer and fewer people seem to believe that. And I think about why true gift is afforded so little regard and respect, every single day. It's killing me. Especially when I see my fellow readers, self-proclaimed lovers of books state that at the end of the day, 'It's just a book.' But then, I get a kick in the wound caused by readers comments because I see writers say exactly the same thing.

I want to ask the scribblers of the world who so profess their love of reading and writing:

Why the fuck are you writing?!

I have my answer but I hope that maybe readers will stop and look for one too.

And then, the most important question needs to be answered:

Why do you read?

Do you know what art does to me? It speaks to me in ways that not one person has ever spoken to me. I couldn't ever explain it to anyone who hasn't experienced it as well. One sentence in a book can break my heart. A description of a country's landscape will have me reeling with homesickness, and sarcastic humor of a character will make me laugh, regardless of where I am or in whose company.

Not all books are like that and not all people can write in such a way. But what I described is magic and magic is rare nowadays and all the more precious for it.

What has been happening recently online with readers and authors attacking one another is disgusting but also useful to me. I now know that not all readers are equal in their love for books, some of them may not even like reading so much as showing their questionable prowess in the usage of offensive language, snarky remarks and general nastiness. I also realize now, with greater clarity than ever, that a disturbing number of authors see their books as products and themselves as business 'owners'.

I don't even want to think in how many ways this 'writing as entrepreneurship' concept is wrong. Writers are artists. Most importantly, books are precious pieces of art, not a product to be sold alongside household devices.

I want absolutely nothing to do with this 'business' of putting out books. The books I read leave an imprint on me, make my life better, even if in a small way. Your products won't, because you're not really writing your souls into them, you're just trying to make money.

I know this blog is not a crazy popular site with tons of visitors a day. In an age when good writing is considered pretentious and you're only right when you agree with the majority (and called uppity, condescending, judgmental and arrogant when you don't), controversy reigns. Most importantly though, reading has always been a solitary activity for me, certainly not a means to socialize more. I want to write about books. I don't want to socialize, especially with people whom I can't even look in the eyes when we're conversing. I'm not criticizing any of it here, it's just not me. I'm an introvert through and through, I have no interest in virtual exhibitionism. But I appreciate gifted writers, I know talent when I read one and wish to convey that here by sharing my thoughts on fantastic novels that are classics and those that are just being published for the first time. I believe in literature and that it will live on, long after the 'scribbling business' folds.

High Summer Read-A-Thon

Today is the first day of the High Summer Read-A-Thon (07/16-07/22) and I have decided to participate because of two things: fun and a stack of books that will topple soon, if I don't do anything about it. If you'd like to join, the link above will get you to the right spot. The action takes place at the Seasons of Reading blog hosted by lovely Michelle, owner of her personal book blog, The True Book Addict. Who knows, maybe you'll even decide to hang around for the future read-a-thons :-). I think I will.





Books I really want to get read:

1. In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner
2. The Prophet by Michael Koryta
3. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
4. The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

My plan is to stick to physical copies this time and stay away from my kindle for the whole week. I hope it works.

Hogarth - the publishing imprint from Random House to be excited about

Not that long ago, approximately three months, I swore off any and all debut authors. I did that because I had been disappointed by debut performances so many, many times in the past years that I finally decided to put a stop to the waste of time. I own more than enough books that actually deserve my time and effort, and my life expectancy doesn't get any longer, despite my best efforts at denial.

But then, along came Hogarth. And my oath to not read another debut book in my life flew out the window on the wings of a butterfly. Or should I say, the wings of an eagle, since the window was shut tight against influences and a butterfly would surely become a smudge. An eagle however, just flew through with a crash and a lot of broken pieces of silly resolution scattered at my feet. What?! That was a digression, if ever I saw one.

Leaving the unnecessary previous paragraph behind, it seems my mental complaints have been addressed and my dreams may just come true, because what Hogarth is offering the reading crowds, is also what the intelligent, reading crowds are looking for.

"Contemporary, voice-driven, character-rich books that entertain, inform and move readers."

This is a necessary detox for brains which inadvertently got addled by the pop-drivel that the said brains' owners decided, for some ungodly reason, to read.

Anyway, enough with the over-the-top, self-indulgent 'witticisms'. All I'm trying to say, I'm happy Random House decided to create Hogarth, which I think will indeed fill in the gap in today's world of books.

What you read above, is what I already love about this imprint and what makes me truly hope that there is still future for intelligent reading and that paranormal YA/ pop-culture fiction, with no originality and with disregard for the rules of written language, is not all that adults are left with.

There are already four titles in the works, all of which look promising, and all of which I will be reading and reviewing, if you care to find out if the books live up to the standards set by their publisher.

HOGARTH'S SUMMER 2012 INAUGURAL LIST

I Am Forbidden 

by Anouk Markovits

The Kissing List

by Stephanie Reents

The Watch

by  Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya

The Dead Do Not Improve

by Jay Caspian Kang

There's a book I can't wait to get my hands on.

It's coming in April and it's Elizabeth I by Margaret George! I am an absolute, die-hard fan of this writer and her books have never failed me. I thought I was done with Tudors (too many books about them, kinda like those love-struck teenage vampires), but because it's Margaret George, I know it will be outstanding. By the way, those who compare her to Philippa Gregory, please stop. You are doing Ms. George a grave disservice. Gregory and George are not even on the same planet as far as writing and historical accuracy go. Anyway, below is a little info on the book from the author's website:

New York Times best-selling Margaret George captures history’s most enthralling queen—as she confronts rivals to her throne and to her heart.
One of today’s premier historical novelists, Margaret George dazzles here as she tackles her most difficult subject yet: the legendary Elizabeth Tudor, queen of enigma—the Virgin Queen who had many suitors, the victor of the Armada who hated war; the gorgeously attired, jewel-bedecked woman who pinched pennies. England’s greatest monarch has baffled and intrigued the world for centuries. But what was she really like?
In this novel, her flame-haired, look-alike cousin, Lettice Knollys, thinks she knows all too well. Elizabeth’s rival for the love of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and mother to the Earl of Essex, the mercurial nobleman who challenged Elizabeth’s throne, Lettice has been intertwined with Elizabeth since childhood. This is a story of two women of fierce intellect and desire, one trying to protect her country, and throne, the other trying to regain power and position for her family. Their rivalry, and its ensuing drama, soon involves everyone close to Elizabeth, from the famed courtiers who enriched the crown to the legendary poets and playwrights who paid homage to it with their works. Intimate portraits of the personalities who made the Elizabethan age great—Shakespeare, Marlowe, Dudley, Raleigh, Drake—fill these pages, giving us an unforgettable glimpse of a queen who ruled as much from the heart as from the head, and considered herself married to her people.
This magnificent, stay-up-all-night page-turner is George’s finest and one that is sure to delight readers of Alison Weir, Philippa Gregory, and Hilary Mantel.

Also, when you visit Ms. George's website, make sure to read Ten Surprises About Elizabeth Tudor.

Elizabeth I by Margaret George will be published on April 5th, 2011 by The Viking Press

Weekly Geeks: We Might Need a Shrink here!

Weekly Geeks has an awesome topic this week. Tara from 25 Hour Book suffers from P.A.B.D., short for Post Amazing Book Depression. I won't replicate the whole post here. I will only quote a few sentences here and there but make sure you read Tara's thoughts on this phenomenon. Anyway, I love the idea and believe that we all suffer from it, it's just that we didn't know the name and now here it is:

So what is P.A.B.D.?


Post Amazing Book Depression - The over-whelming sad feeling one gets after finishing a great book.


Some signs of P.A.B.D.:

*missing characters


* often includes talking about characters in day to day life


* hearing songs that remind you of certain characters/scenes


*constant rereading of the same book

Have you had PABD?
What book caused it? How did you deal with it?

Boy, did I have P.A.B.D.!!!!! Many times over! But I will limit my experiences to two books and one series.All of them I read many years ago and I still keep thinking about the characters and plots and about how amazing the whole experience was. The saddest part is that no matter how many times I re-read the books, this experience will never be the same. The best part is, these books are so awesome that every time they're re-read there is a completely new experience waiting right around the corner (or should I say, right around the page).

Book number one is:

The Children's War by J. R. Stroyar.When I bought this book from the bargain pile in Borders seven years ago , I had no idea what was in store for me. I'm surprised more people are not talking about it. It's the best alternate history book I have read so far.


From Publishers Weekly:


What if the Nazis had won WWII? This isn't the first time a writer has tried to visualize that possibility, but nuclear physicist Stroyar comes up with perhaps the most lavishly detailed scenario so far, realistically describing an alternate 21st century in her massive debut. The author, whose own family suffered under the Nazis, spent a decade on research and travel to Eastern Europe and areas of the former U.S.S.R. With frightening authenticity, she weaves a gripping page-turner that revolves around two men who strive to undermine the Nazi regime. First is Peter Halifax, an Englishman with multiple identities who was orphaned at a young age, adopted by the Underground, betrayed and then doomed to a life of abuse. Then there is Richard Traugutt, an ambitious Nazi official who secretly spearheads the Polish resistance movement's efforts to infiltrate the Third Reich and hasten its demise. When Peter miraculously escapes a life of tortured servitude to a ruthless Nazi official, he blunders into the Polish underground. As Peter and Richard's complex stories unfold, the author layers her fictional tale of modern-day life in the Third Reich with historical accounts of actual atrocities as well as the role of the Polish resistance movement during WWII. The most daring section of the book showcases the underground's plan to use Peter's tragic story as a means to gain support from the North American Union, the only free territory in the world. The author's uncompromising portrayal of an American public inured by evidence of atrocities and only interested in sensationalist personal revelations is a strong indictment of civilized society. Those entranced by what-if scenarios will find plenty to delight them in these pages.

Book number two is:

Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles by Margaret George 
I know that a lot of people like this book by Ms George the least but it's my favorite of hers so far (beats even Memoirs of Cleopatra for me, even though this one's good as well). It's actually the book that sparked my love for historical fiction of which I had known nothing before. 


From Publishers Weekly:


From the author of The Autobiography of Henry VIII comes another massive, painstakingly researched novel that makes history live. Like all tragic figures, George's Mary Stuart has a flaw: a personal and political naivete, misunderstood to the end, that leads to her downfall. Recreating the Elizabethan era with a sure eye for telling detail, George uses her entirely plausible vision of Mary's private life to explain the failures of her public one. Mary's story becomes an allegory for the victory of morality over human weakness; her reign, a symbol of the abuses of rule by "divine right"; her death, of the triumph of the rule of law. Readers will empathize with Mary's pain over an unhappy first marriage, the wrenching upheaval of adultery and her searing realization of trust misplaced and loyalties lost, finally coming to know with her the peace of a soul at rest in God and the glory of a meaningful death. With her use of authentic period language, her gifts for assured pacing and accomplished characterization, and her ability to convey the complex political issues and intrigues of 16th-century England and Scotland, George has created an engrossing novel. Moreover, her deep sympathy for her subject renders Mary an entirely real and unforgettable heroine.

Book number three is actually a whole series. The Legend of Ice People by Margit Sandemo. I first read it in Polish when I was 14 years old and my life has never been the same since. This is the best piece of historical paranormal fiction ever. Unfortunately, the English speaking world had to wait a very long time for this series to be translated and now it's still only available in England. I hope that some American publisher will jump in and buy the rights to it because we're missing a great series here. 

From the author's UK website:


Winter 1581: a deadly plague outbreak robs sixteen-year old peasant girl Silje of all her family. Homeless, starving and shepherding two foundling infants, she stumbles through the corpse-strewn streets of Trondheim on Norway’s northern coast.

Heading desperately for the warmth of the mass funeral pyres blazing beyond the city gates, she encounters in the shadowy forest one of the infamous Ice People, a fearsome, strangely captivating ‘wolf man’. He offers help -- and she feels irresistibly drawn to him. But what is the terrible fascination ? And where will it lead ?

Spellbound, the opening volume in The Legend of the Ice People, begins a journey that spans four centuries and interweaves romance and the supernatural in narratives that are passionate, earthy, often erotic and imbued above all else with a powerful narrative drive.

Show Me 5 - Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith

Ali from That's a Novel Idea has this cool meme which I decided to peruse when I am too lazy to write an actual review or simply don't think I have enough ideas to share about a book to create a cohesive post. Mind you, this will not have anything to do with the quality of the book.

Each Saturday You will post the answer to these questions. The number indicates the number of answers you will provide.

1 - Book you read and/or reviewed this week

2 - Words that describe the book

3 - Settings where it took place or characters you met

4 - Things you liked and/or disliked about it

5 - Stars or less for your rating

  

1 - Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith

2 - YA, thriller

3 - Alexander, a 14 year-old boy who is set up for the murder of his best friend and sentenced to life in prison

Donovan, Alexander's cell mate who despite the circumstances becomes his friend

Furnace, the worst place on earth to be, or rather worse even than hell itself, it's the prison of young boys where both Alexander and Donovan must survive against the odds and the odds are they are never  getting out of there alive, it's a place where unspeakable terrors lurk at night and you don't want to be caught outside your cell after the lockdown.

4 - There almost isn't anything that I disliked. I liked the setting, I think it was original since there aren't many books for YA, especially boys that are set in futuristic prisons. I liked the action, it was very quick paced, very engaging and got me through the book before I knew it. I liked the characters, both good and evil but especially good with their friendships and loyalty and courage in the face of unspeakable evil and with their spirit of never giving up. I disliked the lack of depth for the most evil of them all, the Warden. In my opinion there could have been more background for him, where he's from, why he was doing what he was doing, etc. There were only glimpses instead and for me it was a little frustrating. Maybe we'll know more in part two which is coming out in late fall 2010.

5 - it's not quite 5 stars, but definitely 4 (hardly ever will there be 5 stars from me, I reserve this rating for best of the best but 4 is pretty much very close).

*******

I received Lockdown from Shelf Awareness.

It's Monday and it's time for ... Borrowed Words

I have not posted any quotes for the longest time here but with this first 'Borrowed Words' in new year I hope to be more diligent about my weekly quote feature.

While reading  The Street of a Thousand Blossoms I came upon words that characterized one person's attitude towards reading and it is something completely different from my own, in fact, this sentiment is something I don't even fully comprehend in a way that living this way is unimaginable to me. I give you words borrowed from The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama:

In her mind, life was too short to


sit in classrooms, laboring over


words and numbers in

books. She preferred to live the


experiences herself, not just read


about them.

How about you? Do you agree, disagree or do you see the validity of it?

BTT: 2009 In Review

I haven't participated in Booking Through Thursday for the longest time. But today is the last day of the year and I want to end the year right :) by participating in the last edition of a meme that I actually enjoy very much.

It’s the last day of the year, and you know what that means … nostalgia and looking back.

What were your favorite books of the year? (Books that were new to you in 2009, if not necessarily published this year.)

I have read many good books this year but they were mostly older ones or titles reissued by publishers. The order in which I present them to you is alphabetical by author, not a ranking, because I couldn't quite decide which of these books were the absolute best.

1. Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier

2. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

3. To Serve Them All My Days by R.F. Delderfield

4. Behold, Here's Poison by Georgette Heyer

5. The Traitor's Wife by Susan Higginbotham

6. Follow Me by Joanna Scott

7. Lucky by Alice Sebold

8. The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner

Also, since we're on a subject of picking the best of the best I need to mention two more things:

My three favorite authors this year are Daphne du Maurier, Georgette Heyer and R. F. Delderfield. Also, my favorite publisher is Sourcebooks, Inc. It is thanks to their idea of reissuing the books of these fantastic writers that I got a chance to read them.

Show Me 5 Saturday

Ali from That's a Novel Idea has this cool meme which I decided to peruse when I am too lazy to write an actual review or simply don't think I have enough ideas to share about a book to create a cohesive post. Mind you, this will not have anything to do with the quality of the book.

Each Saturday You will post the answer to these questions. The number indicates the number of answers you will provide.

1. Book you read and/or reviewed this week

2. Words that describe the book

3. Settings where it took place or characters you met

4. Things you liked and/or disliked about it

5. Stars or less for your rating

1. The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale.

2. Women's Fiction

3. a) a Mormon wife and mother of four children, Becky;

b) her incredibly understanding and loving husband, Mike

c) a Hollywood celebrity and a British hearthrob, Felix Callahan

4. a) I liked Mike and wish that majority of husbands were that understanding in regards to their wives' friendships with very, very handsome male actors who used to be innocent secret crushes before having become so close;

b) I liked that Becky was really devoted to her marriage, loved her family and truly did appreciate how lucky and blessed she was being married to her true love and having four healthy, wonderful children;

c) I disliked the complete improbability and complete absurdity of the whole premise, I just couldn't make myself treat the book more seriously than as a simple chick lit;

d) I disliked the fact that I couldn't identify myself with any aspect of Becky's life despite being a mother and a wife myself; Becky is a picture-perfect of a housewife, loves baking pies, is a wonderful understanding mother who never loses control or goes temporarily insane; Becky pretty much is an ideal housewife and it made me feel a little guilty that I never was or will be anywhere near this model.

5. I would give it 3 stars if I were a rating kind of person.

BTT: Weeding out my library

Booking Through Thursday's question for today is:

When’s the last time you weeded out your library? Do you regularly keep it pared down to your reading essentials? Or does it blossom into something out of control the minute you turn your back, like a garden after a Spring rain? Or do you simply not get rid of books? At all? (This would have described me for most of my life, by the way.)And–when you DO weed out books from your collection (assuming that you do) …what do you do with them? Throw them away (gasp)? Donate them to a charity or used bookstore? SELL them to a used bookstore? Trade them on Paperback Book Swap or some other exchange program?

My personal library does pretty much blossom into an out-of-control creature. I haven't done anything to organize it in a very long time and I honestly don't think I will be doing any of it in any near future. My dream of course is to be a homeowner (I am unfortunately still a renter) with a separate room just for my books and nothing else. I do own close to a thousand books (all the read ones are in plastic bins in the basement because I simply have no room to shelf them) and I own that one room really wouldn't be enough but it's still nice to think that I would have a real personal library.

Anyway, I mostly do not get rid of books. Not all of the ones I keep will be reread by me but I do have a daughter and there is a son on his way to this world and I keep all my books for them, so they can browse this future library room of mine and pick up any book they want to (and then, when I am no longer in this world, their children and hopefully grandchildren can still read all the books I left them).

However, there are books that I have a feeling I could pass on to another person without "hurting future generations". I don't really like to think of it as "getting rid of books" because that's not what I do. I simply give them to someone who will appreciate them better than I can. If the quality is almost brand new (meaning, I have read them but you can barely tell), I usually would run a giveaway on my blog. If they look slightly worse than brand new, I then donate them to my local library for the library sale.

BTT: Lies, lies, lies.

Saw this article (from March) and thought it would make a good BTT confessional question:

Two-thirds of Brits have lied about reading books they haven’t. Have you? Why? What book?

Sadly, or maybe not so sadly, there is not much to confess here. I have never made up a lie about reading books. Not that I am a person who abhors this kind of behavior. I don't. It has simply never occurred to me to say that I read a certain book when in reality I haven't and probably never will.

I read books for myself only. There is no other motive than love of reading what I want to read and not what others might think I should read. The days of school assignments are over for me. And even then, I read all the books on the required reading list. Yep, I was that nerdy.

My "Reading" Bucket List

Pam from Bookalicio.us came up with a kind of meme where we would list 10 books we think should be read before we die. I decided to join in the fun but I wanted to find ten best books to still read instead of the ones which I have already read and think others should. (Does that even make sense?). Anyway, to make the long story even longer, I grabbed a book that has been sitting on my bookshelf for the longest times, The Top Ten Writers Pick Their Favorite Books, edited by J. Peder Zane and compiled my "bucket" list from the titles that were mentioned the most frequently. Here's what I came up with (or rather what the writers came up with and I just stole):

1. Rabbit Angstrom novels by John Updike

2. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

3. Middlemarch by George Eliot

4. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

5. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

6. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

7. The Red and the Black by Stendhal

8. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson

9. The Raj Quartet by Paul Scott

10. I, Claudius by Robert GravesJust in case you're curious, some of the authors whose lists I took the titles from include: Stephen King, Francine Prose, Joyce Carol Oates and John Irving.
I am actually planning to really stick to this list and read these ten books. I only hope that I can put it away till next year (meaning, I won't kick the bucket, lol!) because I have so many review books to read and other challenges' books for this year that I couldn't possibly fit another list in.

BTT: Recently Biggest

What’s the biggest book you’ve read recently?

(Feel free to think “big” as size, or as popularity, or in any other way you care to interpret.)

I think that if I read through a chunkster (which I love BTW) it has to be be "big" in every possible meaning of the word. It's big in size, big in meaning, big in popularity, big in importance, etc. but especially big in story. I don't care about ambitious novels written in stream of consciousness or just plain gibberish (I have read them and I will not come back to them any time soon). If a book is over 500 pages, it had better give me a darn good, engaging story.

There are two books which I consider to be 'big' and have read them fairly recently (not this year though, with all the review copies and challenges to complete, I had no time for re-reads):

1. The Stand by Stephen King - all time favorite and a post-apocalyptic classic. As a fan I can only recommend the Complete & Uncut edition counting 1200 pages in hardcover. I know it's huge but when it was first published, The Stand was cut by over 150,000 words and I want a whole story :D. One thing I should mention is that because it's the end-of-the-world masterpiece, everything else I read after that just doesn't measure up.

2. John Adams by David McCullough - one of the best biographies I have read. It is another chunkster with 722 pages in paperback edition but yet again, really worth the time and attention. I loved it because the author is a born storyteller, the story of our founding fathers and the birth of our country is beautiful and reminded me how many lives were put on the line so I could live in a free, independent and democtratic country of the United States.

Weekly Geeks: Why haven't I read this yet?

Here's what Weekly Geeks serves us this week:

I think just about every reader has a least one book that they've been meaning to read for awhile (months or even years) but, for one reason or another, they just haven't gotten around to it. Maybe it's a book a friend recommended last year, or a title you've flirted with in a bookstore on more than one occasion, or maybe it's a book that's sitting right there on your bookshelf, patiently waiting for you to pick it up -- but the thought is always there, in the back of your mind: Why haven't I read this yet? This week, tell us about a book (or books) you have been meaning to read. What is it? How long have you wanted to read it? And, why haven't you read it yet?

I have so many books that I haven't read yet but really, really want to or know that I should read. Heck, I already own most of them in preparation to start reading but somehow, some other titles always get in the way and the books that were meant to be read first, take a back seat.
Because there are tons of books I have been planning on reading for at least a year (most of the time longer than that), I am just limiting myself to the authors, series and only a few individual titles that are burning a hole of guilt in my heart for neglecting them.

1. Authors:

Jean Plaidy - I know she is a fantastic historical writer and I love historical fiction. Every time I see one of her books reviewed somewhere, I look at the stack I own and promise myself that right after the current reading project I am concentrating on her. Well, since Plaidy earned a spot in this post, it hasn't come to fruition yet.





Nuruddin Farrah - this is a Somalian author I have wanted to read since I fell in love with books by another African writer, Chinua Achebe. I own Farrah's Variations on African Dictatorship trilogy as well as Knots. From what I understand he is a very accomplished writer and the themes in his books are close to his heart and deal with serious issues of politics and regular people's hardships in Somalia. I prefer such African literature to the kinds of McCall-Smith's mysteries (not to take anything away from them) because in my opinion the literary voices of Africa have to be heard and we know how 'the pen is mightier than a sword'. If you're interested in Farrah's accomplishments and life, here's the link to his biography.

2. Series:

Terry Goodkind's The Sword of Truth - because I am a fan of classic, hard-core fantasy sagas.





Terry Brooks's The Sword of Shannara - see above. I also own almost complete series of both authors.

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's The Cycle of Saint-Germain - because I am a sucker for history, romance and vampires combined and this is what I can find in her books.

3. Books:


Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen






The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

I sometimes feel that both of these books were read and loved by all but me. And it causes me moments of great embarrassment when I say I am a book lover and I'm asked about these two titles when I have to admit that indeed, I have not read either yet.

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King - King is one of my most favorite authors, evil vampires are my most favorite kind of vampires and I really don't know what I'm waiting for.




Roots by Alex Haley - it's a classic, it's a real chunkster (the longer a book, the better for me) and it's a saga spanning generations that's simply asking to be read.




All these books represent just a tiny percentage of all that I haven't read yet but really want to. They have been on my mind for simply the longest time and I know I will not be able to ignore their call for much longer.

Weekly Geeks: Second Chances

Here's Weekly Geeks for this week:

There have been times in my life where I reread a book (or author) I hated--or thought I hated--but the second time around ended up loving. Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever changed your mind about a book or author the second time around? Have you ever given a book or author a second chance?
If you have, I'd love to hear your stories. Blog about your experience(s) in giving second chances.

If you haven't, I'd like you to consider giving a book or an author a second chance. You can blog about your intentions to do so--or if you're a quick reader, maybe you can even squeeze something in!

Can't think of a single book or author? Don't worry, you can stretch this one to include movies or music if you prefer.

I love to give second chances. Unfortunately it has not happened with my favorite thing, books. I now realize that I am very unforgiving when it comes to reading bad (in my opinion) books. So, to cut it short, I do not have a book that I gave a second chance. However, I am glad that there is part two to this question. It made me rethink my harsh judgement as to the books I didn't like and I indeed have come up with two titles that I am willing to give a second chance.


1. Moby Dick by Herman Melville

I cannot tell you often enough how much I sweated and how many tears of frustration I poured over this book in college. Because it gave me such a hard time, and because I did not finish it, and as a consequence I believe I failed a quiz test, you can imagine the resentment I felt towards Moby Dick. But now, it is 10 years later and I think I have grown up mentally a little bit (at least I hope I have, who knows, maybe I've regressed and am being a tad bit optimistic here). Anyway, I am fully prepared to take my chances and give this classic another shot.


2. The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant

I disliked this book so much that when I wrote a review of it right after having finished it, I believe I might have been too harsh. It's been a few months since, so my guilty memory is still quite fresh. I know that this author is loved by many and there just must have been something I missed while reading the book. I own two other books by this author, including the ARC of Sacred Hearts, and I will definitely give this author a second chance because the guilty feelings will not stop until I do.