<![CDATA[Book & Reader Forums - Blogs]]> http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/ Book reviews, news and discussion forums en Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:15:47 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg <![CDATA[Book & Reader Forums - Blogs]]> http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/ POD Company feedback? http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/meredithgreene/pod-company-feedback-877/ Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:00:51 GMT I am compiling a comparison article for my weekly column Greene Ink on POD self-publishing companies. Wanting to write a more rounded piece I am seeking a bit o' feedback from those who have actually had personal experiences with using/dealing with said companies. We've only had dealing with two companies, Authorcrossing and Lulu, but the more info we get, the merrier.

More than just prices and numbers, I'm mainly looking for pros & cons from actual consumers, either on the writing side or the buying side. I'll pick from a large swath of the most popular companies, but if you've found a lesser-known company to be a diamond in the rough, by all means let me know. If I use your info, let me know if you want your name (or initials) to appear in your 'column cameo'.

I'll post a link to the column when it goes up on Thursday.

Many thanks,
Meredith Greene ]]> meredithgreene http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/meredithgreene/pod-company-feedback-877/ eBooks announcement from Macmillan Press... http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/meredithgreene/ebooks-announcement-from-macmillan-press-875/ Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:15:12 GMT Read article here Feel free to leave comments, should you feel so inclined.]]> ... and news on the upcoming 'Blio' eReader software:

Read article here

Feel free to leave comments, should you feel so inclined. ]]> meredithgreene http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/meredithgreene/ebooks-announcement-from-macmillan-press-875/ 2010 book list http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/sfg75/2010-book-list-872/ Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:29:58 GMT *January* *Karl Menninger; Man Against Himself *February* *M. Scott Peck; The Road Less Traveled and Beyond. *Azar Nafisi; Reading Lolita in Tehran *Rollene Saal; The NYPL guide to reading groups *Calvin Trillin; Remembering Denny *Bob Woodward; Maestro January
*Karl Menninger; Man Against Himself

February
*M. Scott Peck; The Road Less Traveled and Beyond.
*Azar Nafisi; Reading Lolita in Tehran
*Rollene Saal; The NYPL guide to reading groups
*Calvin Trillin; Remembering Denny
*Bob Woodward; Maestro

March
E.L. Doctorow; Waterworks
Virginia Woolf; Jacob's Room ]]> SFG75 http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/sfg75/2010-book-list-872/ Planting Season is here. http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/gilgamesh/planting-season-is-here-870/ Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:34:22 GMT Fenced off the yard to keep away our dog. 2-7 planted Moro Orange Tree. 2-7 Started a garden. 2-14 planted seed of cucumber in a bag. 2-15 planted Persimmon. 2-15 sprayed neem on Navel Orange. Fenced off the yard to keep away our dog.
2-7 planted Moro Orange Tree.
2-7 Started a garden.
2-14 planted seed of cucumber in a bag.
2-15 planted Persimmon.
2-15 sprayed neem on Navel Orange. ]]> Gilgamesh http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/gilgamesh/planting-season-is-here-870/ The NYPL guide to reading groups; Rollene Saal http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/sfg75/the-nypl-guide-to-reading-groups-rollene-saal-869/ Mon, 15 Feb 2010 01:43:49 GMT I found this book at goodwill on my birthday in the wonderful town of Grand Island. I haven't participated in many reading groups, as a matter of fact, most have flamed out before even getting off the ground. Online discussions have been another animal. Unfortunately, the cyber-reading group is not addressed at all in Saal's book.

Saal points out that the best groups operate with the fewest rules and that the only "officers" are perhaps a secretary to record what books are read and to send out reminders of when the meetings are. Various groups across the country are mentioned. Groups that are based on small groups, large groups, and those that specialize in certain genres are highlighted by her in a refreshing way that makes you look forward to starting your own group! Another interesting aspect was her characterization of those who participate. There are the "book hogs" who seek to dominate every aspect of the conversation at every turn. There are "nervous nellies"(not the real term, I just can't remember it right now) who take up space, but who would feel rejected if what they posted wasn't praised immediately. There are some "book bulls" as well, who expect to lead the conversations and who try and steer the discussion according to how they want it to turn. I haven't known many hogs, but a bull or two can be found, usually with dismissive or hinting back-handed comments to a person's participation. Online, I can sniff a bull out like a bloodhound.

This was a good book and it even comes with a list of suggestions that would be wise for any reading group to discuss.
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]]> SFG75 http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/sfg75/the-nypl-guide-to-reading-groups-rollene-saal-869/ Six Levels of Internet Conversation http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/peder/six-levels-of-internet-conversation-866/ Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:10:17 GMT *Six Levels of Internet Conversation * Coversation on the Internet runs a wide gamut from placid to heatedly adversarial, as usual polite norms of face-to-face personal conversation are set a side in greater or lesser degree. The following is my summary based on observation and personal... Six Levels of Internet Conversation

Coversation on the Internet runs a wide gamut from placid to heatedly adversarial, as usual polite norms of face-to-face personal conversation are set a side in greater or lesser degree. The following is my summary based on observation and personal experience after a number of years. I hope nobody is personally or specifically offended -- moderators and admins especially. It is a dangerous topic to write about and no insult or criticism is intended, especially not of the management here at BAR.

1. Friendly on-topic conversation, where people talk in generally agreeable and agreeing terms about the topic under discussion, like say almost everyone talking about their similar views of Dan Brown

2. Argumentative on-topic discussion, where people have different opinions about the topic under discussion, like say religion or politics, and trade opinions back and forth which are designed to convince or discredit the opinions of opposite persuasion. This discussion can frequently lead up to Level 3 discussion, because some people seem to get agitated to see opinions posted that are opposite to their own -- even if on-topic -- and respond with personal remarks of their own which are off-topic.

3. Disagreements involving people, where people shift the topic of discussion from the topic under discussion to some of the people discussing the topic, which often gravitates toward personal insults and name calling. Personal savaging and brawling might or might not be allowed to continue in duration and severity, depending upon the moderators' and management's attitudes and tolerance.

4. Disagreements involving moderators, where moderators get involved in the discussion and run into opposite opinions from one or more members. Personal insults toward moderators are not tolerated very well, so the discussion might go to Level 5 rather quickly.

5. Disagreements involving administrators, where admins get drawn into the discussion, frequently because it is getting out of hand, and they encounter opposite opinions from one or more members. Few admins tolerate disagreement with how they run the forum, so level 6 is almost a foregone conclusion after Level 5 is reached.

6. Banishment, is a very short and undesirable kind of discussion; it can be a very brief announcement by the administrator, if that, whereupon people are evaporated and kept out. ]]> Peder http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/peder/six-levels-of-internet-conversation-866/ Books Read 2010 http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/peder/books-read-2010-865/ Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:17:01 GMT Must-reads for the coming year are already stacking up here: *Possession *by A. S. Byatt. Finished in January. *Your Face Tomorrow *(3 vols) by Javier Marias *The Book of Disquiet* by Fernando Pessoa *The Original of Laura* by Vladimir Nabokov *Verdun* by Jules Romains *Go Down, Moses* by... Must-reads for the coming year are already stacking up here:

Possession by A. S. Byatt. Finished in January.
Your Face Tomorrow (3 vols) by Javier Marias
The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa
The Original of Laura by Vladimir Nabokov
Verdun by Jules Romains
Go Down, Moses by William Faulkner
Who Killed Jesus? by John Dominic Crossan

January
1/3 Possession by A. S. Byatt
1/18 2666 by Roberto Bolano. A reread.
1/21 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Childrens book.
1/28 The Art of the Poetic Line - James Logenbach

February
No books finished in February. Still stopped in the middle of:
Your Face Tomorrow - Vol 1 by Javier Marias

That's only four works so far in two months. Definitely off the pace. :( ]]> Peder http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/peder/books-read-2010-865/ Analysis of Midnight in Dostoevsky by Don DeLillo http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/blueseaurchin/analysis-of-midnight-in-dostoevsky-by-don-delillo-856/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:49:30 GMT *Midnight in Dostoevsky by Don DeLillo* Two young students invent an imaginary world to evade their inconsequential one, when one continues left alone during vacation break and the other returns to find they are unable to reconcile what has been created a revolution erupts. Don DeLillo... Midnight in Dostoevsky by Don DeLillo

Two young students invent an imaginary world to evade their inconsequential one, when one continues left alone during vacation break and the other returns to find they are unable to reconcile what has been created a revolution erupts.

Don DeLillo makes a fine use of the characters Robby and Todd to demonstrate the human need for control by dictating our interpretation of the world. He also reveals what little power actually resides in these ego-driven interpretations which are often flawed and ultimately insignificant. Life continues regardless of what we think and argue it to be and the old man unchanged by the boy’s arguments concerning his identity continues to take his walks unperturbed, hands clasped behind his back.

http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/fea...urrentPage=all ]]> Blueseaurchin http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/blueseaurchin/analysis-of-midnight-in-dostoevsky-by-don-delillo-856/ Premium Harmony by Stephen King http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/blueseaurchin/premium-harmony-by-stephen-king-854/ Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:57:37 GMT *Premium Harmony by Stephen King* *Premium Harmony* King’s cynical portrayal of husband who happily trades in his wife’s death for a free purple ball, a soda, and the freedom to smoke in peace. *The Purple Ball* The couple in this story are caught in a power play about insignificant... Premium Harmony by Stephen King


Premium Harmony
King’s cynical portrayal of husband who happily trades in his wife’s death for a free purple ball, a soda, and the freedom to smoke in peace.

The Purple Ball
The couple in this story are caught in a power play about insignificant issues such as difference between a few cents, Little Debbies, purple balls, and cigarettes. Life revolves around the more bizarre and insignificant aspects of our society. A need for a certain color ball, a t-shirts which say “My Parents Were Treated Like Royalty in Castle Rock and All I Got Was This Lousy Tee-Shirt, and a husband itemizing the purple ball and the soda the managers offers him on the house, when his wife just died, but then noticing that the offer does extend to the cigarettes.

The Mechanical Rabbit
By the end of the story, the husband, same as the mechanical rabbit King invoked in his first few lines, fails to be changed by his wife’s death. His life remains as meaningless as before he lost his wife and in the end the reader is left with a grim picture of a husband enjoying his cigarettes in an air condition car, indifferent to his wife and her dead dog in the back seat. From this vantage point, the reader can only imagine he will continue to lead this apathetic meaningless mechanical life and the plastic rabbit continues to run in circles. ]]> Blueseaurchin http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/blueseaurchin/premium-harmony-by-stephen-king-854/ One Blood: Biblical answers to racism http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/sfg75/one-blood-biblical-answers-to-racism-839/ Tue, 15 Sep 2009 04:20:12 GMT This book is a quick march through racist theories, both pseudo-Christian and evolutionary in origin. Ken Ham effectively demolishes the "curse of Ham" theory by pointing out that it was actually Canaan who was cursed and that Noah was pointing out that in future generations, the children of Canaan would be some of the most corrupt people on the earth. Sodom & Gomorrah bears this out. Ham quotes a book by a Mormon apostle and a publication of the Jehovah's Witnesses who believed this item in the early 20the century. Ham then marches on to point out in Acts 17 that we are all "one blood" and that individual differencs are negligible.

Evolutionary racism is well documented in more than a few scientists' scribblings about the pygmy colonies being the "missing link" and that skins and skulls were prized possessions. A Pygmy was actually placed in a zoo in New York as this claim was made. Efforts by concerned scientists and preachers to free the man were met with derision and there are some very shocking quotes form daily publications on the matter.

While Ham acknolwedges that natural selection and mutation do occur, he disagrees that one breed can effectively become another. The fact that your poodle didn't like like its ancestors is not of a concern as the animal "kind" does not change. What is more unproven to Ham, is the idea that your poodle came from a lizard or some other species that evolved. Gradual changes through time?, yes. Species changing from other species over time-no.

A very interesting chapter contained material about who was Cain's wife? Ham points out that some would say that Cain met his wife in Nod and that other people existed outside of Adam. Ham goes on to relate how this is not doctrinally correct and that the words "all mankind" make that still true to this due. Throw in the fact that neanderthals are a sub-group of Homo Sapiens and the point is well taken.

The history of the racist movement in evolution was very shocking but well documented. I enjoyed this part a lot and could just imagine Professor I.B . Bluffin sitting in his chair, amazed that people would think a pygmy was equal to him.
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]]> SFG75 http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/sfg75/one-blood-biblical-answers-to-racism-839/ Smiling beggars sometimes... http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/joderu95/smiling-beggars-sometimes-827/ Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:28:50 GMT The latest tactic employed by the local "pan handlers" is to make a deliberate and very unconvincing wave often coupled with a big smile.

I don't buy it.

One of them even has a sign that reads something like this:

"It costs you nothing to wave hello."

It costs him nothing not to subject me to that nonsense. Can't this guy just stay home or in his park and not clog up the street corners just on those especially pleasant days? ]]> joderu95 http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/joderu95/smiling-beggars-sometimes-827/ Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/gilgamesh/crime-and-punishment-by-fyodor-dostoevsky-826/ Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:11:22 GMT This book was on the side of moderately thick, but as I read it, I did not feel that way about the book. The story is interesting, and the flow is constant without losing the reader's interest. Well written. Delves into reason killing, but (self) punishment cannot be removed. HS level +. ]]> Gilgamesh http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/gilgamesh/crime-and-punishment-by-fyodor-dostoevsky-826/ Nightmare http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/peder/nightmare-823/ Sun, 30 Aug 2009 20:10:57 GMT *Nightmare* Two nights ago I was sitting in my office at work, whiling away the minutes, when the receptionist rang and said the applicant had arrived. I went down to the reception area and met the most stunningly beautiful young woman I had ever seen. She was sleekly dressed in an exquisite... Nightmare

Two nights ago I was sitting in my office at work, whiling away the minutes, when the receptionist rang and said the applicant had arrived.
I went down to the reception area and met the most stunningly beautiful young woman I had ever seen. She was sleekly dressed in an exquisite business suit, had designer-cut and coiffed hair, and was beautifully made up with eye-shadowed doe eyes, blusher, the works. She looked as if she had come straight from the cover of Vogue magazine.
I almost fell down dead flat with amazement.
I was escorting her back to my office, in general conversation as we walked along, when I asked if she would like coffee, tea, water?
She said water.
So I indicated my corner-office door, just ahead at the end of the corridor and suggested she should go in, have a seat, make herself comfortable, and I would be back with the water.
I doubled back down the corridor to the cooler we had just passed, but it was empty. So I hurried off down the longer corridor to the left, to the other cooler, where I fumbled around for a while finding cups, but eventually started the long walk back hurrying with her water.
Along the way, I passed through the back area of our industrial floor, full of broken boxes, crates, old greasy machinery and what not, and was grieved at what a poor impression my company quarters must be making on the potential new employee.
There was a meeting in progress in an open conference room along the way and I got roped into that for a while. Leaving, I started hurryng faster.
But I ran into my boss further along the corridor and he wanted to speak a while about some problems at work. So I stopped, all the while getting more impatient at the delays. When I broke free from him I looked at my watch and found to my horror that it was after quitting time.
The applicant had been sitting the whole afternoon in my office, all alone, and must have left by now! I near had a heart attack with dismay when I realized how rude I had been to leave her alone, and I started running down the corridor to try to catch her before she left.
I was beginning to climb out of my bed to chase after her before I realized I was in my own bedroom, but I still had the feeling she was there someplace to be found and I wanted to continue after her. Realizing not, finally, I sat down slumped on the edge of the bed to shake my head back into reality.
And then my muse spoke to me, "Just stop it will you . . . " and left me with a piece of her poetic mind.
I got up and groggily wrote down her words. ]]> Peder http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/peder/nightmare-823/ Just Stop http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/peder/just-stop-822/ Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:32:59 GMT *Just Stop* My Muse rebuked me just this morning as she woke me from my nightmare Stop being so all-consuming wrapped up Just Stop

My Muse rebuked me
just this morning
as she woke me
from my nightmare

Stop being
so all-consuming
wrapped up
in your own self
your own wants
your own thoughts
your own doubts
your own fears
your own horrors
your own agony
your own
nightmares
just
stop ]]> Peder http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/peder/just-stop-822/ Modern Cities Disguise II http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/peder/modern-cities-disguise-ii-819/ Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:22:06 GMT *Modern Cities Disguise* Modern cities disguise within their gleaming aluminized walls and silver blinded aqua windows reflecting back the heat and light of day with mirrored views of cloudless sky plains of horizontal tops of desks with legs beneath torsos above computers on between... Modern Cities Disguise

Modern cities disguise
within their gleaming aluminized walls
and silver blinded aqua windows
reflecting back the heat and light of day
with mirrored views of cloudless sky
plains of horizontal tops of desks
with legs beneath torsos above computers on
between the vertical sinews of shafts and cables
and tendons of steel and cubicle walls
connected aloft by aetherized conversation
segments undulating among the antennas
lining the edges of their rooves
rooted below by tubular steel tunnels
absorbing throbbing lifeblood pulsing up
from densely packed transporters
snaking below building to building
showing at street level only in
corpuscular migrations of living atoms
along narrow canyons up and out of burrows
flowing into doored caverns along the way
rising up in towers squishingly compressible
down to densely packed raspberry pancakes
oozing juices freshly prepared and served
burning hot and smoking which we flee
and then turn stand rooted to stare
like so many wives of Lot
shocked in horrored wonder
at the Moloch we have built
knowing already we'll build again
because
all of that is what we do. ]]> Peder http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/blogs/peder/modern-cities-disguise-ii-819/