February 5, 2012

Good morning and welcome to another edition of Sunday Salon. Visit the dedicated Facebook page to get links to other readers’ posts.

My January reading was the slowest of any time over the last four years. I only finished five books – half of my goal to read ten books per month. Not a great way to start a new year. I am really hoping that I can turn things around in February!

My final book for January ended up being The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney (read my review) which I enjoyed for its twisty plot and quality of writing. The novel is set in England and centers around the mystery of a missing girl, a family of gypsies and a private investigator. Penney narrates the book from two points of view and dips back and forth in time. Readers who enjoyed The Tenderness of Wolves will most likely not be disappointed in this one – although I preferred Penney’s debut myself.

I started February with Running the Rift by Naomi Benaron (read my review). This is an amazing book, although a heartbreaking one. Benaron won the Bellwether Prize for Fiction in 2010 for this novel and I think it was well deserved. Set in Rwanda in the years leading up to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, Running the Rift follows the life of a talented runner named Jean Patrick. Very few books actually make me cry, but this one did just that. Benaron knows how to develop characters and by the end of the book I really cared about Jean Patrick, his girlfriend Bea and their families. If you like world literature, historical fiction and literary fiction…this is the perfect book for you.

My current read is a classic. Lord of the Flies by Nobel-prize winning author William Golding was first published in 1954 and was Golding’s debut novel. The book is not without some controversy having been challenged frequently for its violent portrayals of young boys who sink into savagery after being stranded on an island together. Lord of the Flies has been adapted to film – first in 1963, then in 1990. Have any of you seen the movie? Here is a trailer from the 1990 version:

Lord of the Flies is a relatively short book (200 pages), so I hope to finish it up by tomorrow. I have no idea what I will read next. I have a huge stack of books for February, as well as several that I had hoped to read in January. I am going to let my mood guide me.

In other bookish news, the folks over at World Book Night have extended the deadline to enter to be a giver to February 6th…so you have one more day to enroll! I was really excited to get an email telling me my application was chosen. Apparently, nearly everyone who completes an application will be allowed to participate. So don’t wait!!! I think this is going to be a fabulous event to look forward to in April!

Today is a sparkling, blue-sky day in Northern California. It is nippy out there this morning, but temps are supposed to get into the 60s later today. It feels more like early spring here than the middle of winter! I’m anticipating a hike with Raven and my hubby later, some reading, and a little quilting. How about you? Whatever you are doing and wherever you are, I hope it involves a great book!

January 29, 2012

Good morning and welcome to this week’s edition of The Sunday Salon – check out links to other readers’ posts by visiting the Facebook Page.

Last week I lamented being in a reading slump – and although I am reading, it has continued to be slow for me. I have pretty much given up on my goal to read 10 books this month. Oh well.

At any rate, I did finally finish Swamplandia! by Karen Russell – a book in which the characters were terrific, but the plot was just so-so (read my review). I had really wanted to love this novel, so I turned the final page with a little bit of disappointment in it.

My current read is The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney. I was first introduced to Penney’s writing in The Tenderness of Wolves – a debut which I loved (read my review). In her latest novel, Penney takes the reader to England where a family of gypsies have some family secrets. A private investigator is hired to locate a missing woman – and his investigation takes him into the heart of the Janko family where a mysterious family illness seems the least of their secrets. I am actually really enjoying this one although it has taken me days to read it. I should finish it this afternoon.

The next book on my stacks is Running the Rift by Naomi Benaron which I got for Jen and Nicole’s BOOK CLUB (discussion of this book will take place on Jen’s blog on Tuesday this week). I am really going to try to finish this one in the next two days so I can fully engage in the discussion. It looks like a great book which is set in Rwanda and won the Bellweather Prize for Fiction.

In other bookish news, Mandy of The Literary Life of a Well-Read Wife has posted a terrific reference for book bloggers – a directory of book bloggers on Pinterest! If you are like me and spend far too much time on Pinterest, you’ll appreciate this quick way to find other book bloggers. Mandy is asking people to drop her an email if they want to be added to the directory. Looks like I will be spending at least part of my day today browsing over at Pinterest!

Since my reading has been flagging these days, I have turned my attention to other things. My husband and I went to see the movie The Grey on Friday – this is a pretty intense movie starring Liam Neeson. Although on the surface it looks like a graphic movie about survival, I think it is actually more about faith (or the lack of it). Even the title, which clearly alludes to the grey wolf (a big part of the movie) could be interpreted as something deeper – faith is not always black and white, but grey. The movie was inspired by the short story “Ghost Walker” by Ian Mackenzie Jeffers which I would love to read but cannot seem to locate anywhere. Animal activists have been protesting The Grey for its poor portrayal of the wolf (in fact, a couple with their wolf-hybrid were outside the theater where we saw the movie). I would agree that the wolf is shown to be far more vicious and more of a myth than fact in the movie – but I think the animal is largely symbolic of death and the fight for survival. Either way, The Grey kept me on the edge of my seat and gripping Kip’s arm through 90% of the film. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

I’ve also been focused on quilting and finishing some of my projects. This week I finally got my Sister’s Collaborative Quilt completed – and I am loving it!

What are you up to today? Whatever it is, I hope it involves at least one great book!

January 22, 2012

Good morning – and welcome to The Sunday Salon where bloggers talk about books all day long. Check out other blogger posts by visiting the Facebook Page.

Well, it was bound to happen sometime. I have been blogging books since 2006 (although my blog started in February of 2005, I didn’t discover the book blogging community for another year after that), and I have never, ever, ever had a reading slump. I have read about other people’s slumps, but never experienced my own. Now, I think it is time to admit that my reading has slumped. I find myself reading for ten minutes and my mind begins to wander, I put the book down, and go do something else. This has been going on for DAYS now. I just can’t seem to get motivated to read – and this is a very foreign feeling for me. What’s up? I have no idea.

My current read is Swamplandia! by Karen Russell and I love her characters although the plot is a little wonky and out there. Russell writes well. But I am only 167 pages into this 300 page book and I have been reading it since last Sunday – seven days and 167 pages??!?!? Ridiculous. I don’t want to stop reading this book, but I wonder if I will ever finish it. And there are a lot of other great books staring at me from the shelves. What would YOU do?

This trouble with reading falls, ironically, on the heels of a post I published earlier this week called Blogger Impact where I talk about how much I love reading!!! How weird is that?

I hope by next week, I will be out of this slump and will be able to talk more about the books I am reading.

In the meantime, check out my post about books I recommended in celebration of Martin Luther King Day. And if your curiosity  was aroused by my review of The Street Sweeper, why not jump on board the Chunkster Challenge train and earn a chance to win a copy of the book (contest ends January 29th).

Raven is recovering from her birthday yesterday (she played hard and had steak for dinner), and I plan on sewing a little today and trying, once again, to tackle Swamplandia! Wish me luck!!!

Have a wonderful week!

January 15, 2012

Good morning, and welcome to this week’s edition of The Sunday Salon – check out the Facebook page for links to other readers’ posts.

I have had a good week in reading this week – finishing up three books and beginning a fourth for the month. As I mentioned last week, I found The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman an incredibly powerful novel which explores the themes of racism, identity, antisemitism and the importance of our collective and individual histories (read my review). I am really excited to be able to offer a giveaway of this book over at The Chunkster Challenge blog at the end of this week (we’ll be also publishing a guest post by Perlman over there later in the month). This book is definitely worth the time to read. I love that I read such a wonderful novel as my first book of 2012!

My next read was a bit of a disappointment. Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman has been in my stacks for awhile now and I finally decided to dust off the cover and crack the spine. This book was shortlisted in 2009 for the Orange Prize for Fiction and I had high hopes for it. The book is about the real life criminal case of the Scottsboro boys – nine African American teens who were falsely accused of raping two white girls on a train in Alabama. The case itself is an important one, and I was eager to see how Feldman would fictionalize the story. Unfortunately, the book fell flat for me – in large part because of the main character who was not all that well developed (read my review). Not everyone agrees with me, so don’t let my opinion deter you from checking out this book.

Yesterday I finished reading The Artist of Disappearance by Anita Desai which is a collection of novellas all set in India (read my review). Desai is a well known author who has published more than a dozen novels and collections. She was born in India, although she currently makes her home in New York. The three novellas which make up this latest collection explore Indian culture and are firmly grounded in the country of India. The stories explore themes of identity and the loss of culture in a modernized world. There is quite a bit of metaphor and symbolism which make this a thoughtful read.

My current read is Swamplanda! by Karen Russell – a book I purchased last year and have been eager to read ever since it was longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2011. Set in Florida, the novel is about an eccentric family named the Bigtrees who own an alligator-wrestling theme park. I absolutely love quirky characters and I expect to thoroughly enjoy this book. Stay tuned for a review by mid-week.

I need to do some catching up if I am to hit my goal of ten books this month. Here is what is in my stacks for the rest of this week:

• In the Time of the Feast of Flowers by Tina Egnoski
• The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney
• Alice in Bed by Cathleen Schine

I should mention that we have chosen our four books for the Chunky Book Club which will be: The Fall of Giants by Ken Follett, 11/22/63 by Stephen King, The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer, and The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna. Check out the schedule for the discussions here.

I’ll be reading a bit today…also doing a little quilting later on after Kip and I take Raven for a hike in the woods (she is DYING to go run her little brains out!). What about you – what are YOU doing today? Whatever it is, I hope it involves a great book!

January 8, 2012

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Sunday Salon – put up your feet, grab your beverage of choice and settle in to talk about books (check out the Facebook page for more Sunday Salon links).

I got a late start to the morning today. The fire had gone out in the woodstove and the house was cold. I did not want to crawl out from beneath my sheets and down comforter…but, my wonderful hubby tempted me with a pot of freshly brewed coffee, and now here I am!

I have spent the whole week reading one book. The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman is a doorstopper of 640 pages. It is one of those books which require a little patience because Perlman builds his story slowly, revealing his characters in alternating narratives, giving us backstory and motive, and uncovering connections between characters which at first do not seem obvious. I think it took me nearly 200 pages to be fully invested in the novel – and then I was completely hooked. This is a haunting, savage novel. Last night I stayed up very late hoping to finish it, but eventually sleep won out. I have about 80 pages left and I am planning on sitting down later this morning and reading them. I need to think about my review. I want to do justice to this book which is very powerful. Watch for my review later today or early tomorrow.

Vasilly and I are giving Perlman’s book a feature on the chunkster blog this month. Perlman is slated to write a guest post by mid-month and we’ll be giving away a copy of the book as well. If you love the fat books and want a book which is largely historical, but also quite literary, this may be just the book for you!

Earlier this week I posted about books due for release this winter. These are the books which have most grabbed my attention…and I am eager to read them! What about you? Are there books which you cannot wait to scoop up in the first months of the new year?

I am already thinking about what I plan to read next this month…and I think it will be Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman which made the 2009 short list for the Orange Prize. This will be the first book I am reading for Orange January (which is great fun – learn more about it here). I have had this book on my to-be-read shelves for a very, very long time. I think it is time to get it read. I have heard some great things about the book and read some lukewarm reviews…so I am curious as to how I will like it!

Are you devouring any great books this month? I hope you are finding 2012 to be a good year in books so far! Have a fantastic week ahead!

January 1, 2012

Happy New Year! It is hard to believe, but 2011 is over and we are launching into a new year of reading. I did not participate in Sunday Salon last week because of Christmas, so today’s post will cover my reading over the last two weeks – as well as discussion of what is coming up this month and what I plan to read this week. So, pour your beverage of choice and put up your feet – it’s time to talk books (visit the Sunday Salon Facebook page for more Sunday Salon posts)!

Before I discuss the books I read in the last days of 2011, I wanted to point you toward my Best Books of 2011 post. 2011 was a terrific year of reading for me and I struggled to narrow down my choices. But ultimately, I chose books which moved me deeply. Later today, I will be posting a recap of my reading year.

I thoroughly enjoyed Midsummer Night in the Workhouse by Diana Athill (read my review) which is a collection of short stories. This is a slim book whose stories are easily read in one sitting. Athill’s writing is very accessible – fluid and funny, and intimately observant. In this collection, she includes stories which are connected by the themes of love with its joys, messiness, and heartbreak. Readers who enjoy the art of the short story should add this collection to their to-be-read stacks…it is classic.

I was swept away and found myself completely immersed in Justin Torres’s stunning novella We The Animals (read my review). This one made it onto my short list of best books of 2011 for its gorgeous writing and characters who stole my heart. We the Animals is a debut novel – and Torres is an author I will be watching. I should mention that this is not an easy, nor an enjoyable read – it is brutal, sad and heartbreaking. But, the writing and the characters are so well done…and there is a twist at the end which I definitely did not see coming.

My final book of the year was River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh (read my review). This was a slow read for me, but it is a dazzling historical novel. Ghosh juggles a lot of characters in this book which centers around the Opium Wars. Some of the characters are from the first book in the trilogy (which I recommend you read before this one), and some are new (both historical and fictional). I was surprised that it took me nearly 10 days to finish this book, but I think it had less to do with the novel, and more to do with my crazy schedule over the last two weeks. At any rate, although River of Smoke didn’t make my best of 2011 list (like I thought it would), it is still a novel I highly recommend.

Last night I picked up Elliot Perlman’s new novel: The Street Sweepers. I have never read anything by this notable author and I am really looking forward to this one. It is a fat, chunky book and we will be highlighting it over at the Chunkster Challenge blog this month (which includes a giveaway opportunity for those people signed up for either the 2011 or 2012 challenge and a guest post by the author). I hope to make a sizeable dent in the book today and tomorrow and be able to post a review towards the end of the week.

This month is Orange January and I have some great books on my list to read including:

• Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman (2009 Shortlist)
• Annabel by Kathleen Winter (2011 Shortlist)
• Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (2011 Longlist)

I hope you’ll consider joining us over at the Facebook page…and also check Jill’s blog each day this month for opportunities to win some fabulous books (the first giveaway post is here). If you are not sure what to read, check out the Orange Prize Project blog for reviews of books which have either won or been nominated for the Orange Prize. Want to join the blog? Drop me an email at caribousmom (at) gmail (dot) com and ask for an invite!

Other books in my stacks for this month are:

• Come in and Cover Me by Gin Phillips
• Alice in Bed by Cathleen Schine
• The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney
• American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar
• In the Time of the Feast of Flowers by Tina Egnoski
• The Artist of Disappearance by Anita Desai

This month promises to be a fun one over on The Chunkster Challenge. Besides our giveaway of Eliot Perlman’s novel, we’ll be announcing the books for the Chunky Book Club (I hope you’ll consider voting in our Chunky Book Club poll which closes on January 10th). It is also not too late to sign up for the 2012 challenge. Watch for more giveaways of chunky books throughout the year as well.

Whew – this was a long post! I hope you stuck with me until the end!!!

What are you doing on this first day of 2012? I hope whatever you are up to, it involves a great book (or two!). Have a wonderful day and week ahead!

December 18, 2011

Good morning and welcome to The Sunday Salon  – grab your beverage of choice, put up your feet and let’s talk books. To visit other Sunday Salon posts, check out the Facebook page for links.

The weeks are flying by – only a week until Christmas and then another week and we will be welcoming in a brand new year. I love the start of a new year and have already been thinking about my plans and goals for 2012. What about you? Have you thought about what your year will look like in terms of books, personal time, and travel? Do you set a reading goal for a number of books to be read, or are you more casual about your reading? Is there anything you are going to do dramatically next year which you did not do this year?

One of the things I am actually getting really excited about for 2012 is The Chunkster Challenge. Vasilly has joined me over there and we are coming up with what we hope are fun ideas to make the challenge more engaging. We have also decided to host The Chunky Book club – a book club designed to read the chunky books (one every three months). We’ll be doing some book features and giveaways too. Here are some links we hope you’ll check out:

• Join the Chunkster Challenge in 2012
• Read about the changes and new features
• Find out more about the Chunky Book Club and VOTE for the books we’ll read in 2012

Since last week, I have been busy Christmas shopping, working, and reading. I am very close to my goal of 96 books read in 2011…and I may even surpass my goal which would be great.

I finished reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (read my review) which I really loved for its amazing imagery and magical story. So many people are raving about this book, and I can see why. I was excited to see it has been optioned for a movie and am eager to see the outcome and who they will choose for the actors. If you haven’t read this one yet, I highly recommend you do!

I also finished reading The Puppy That Came For Christmas by Megan Rix (read my review) which wrapped up the 2011 Memorable Memoirs challenge for me. This is a heartwarming story which I mostly enjoyed. It is a quick read, and I think most animal lovers will find something to like in this memoir. Readers who are drawn to memoirs will find this a light read that explores loss, infertility, and the power of animals to heal our hearts.

My 94th book of the year and my current read is a collection of short stories by Diana Athill which was published in October. Athill was born in 1917 and her writing is feisty, observant and funny. I should be done reading this delightful collection in the next day or so. I hope to have a review posted by mid-week. In the meantime, let me share an excerpt with you from a short story titled No Laughing Matter which is about a young woman’s first love:

At first she was not always sure whether she was thinking of clothes or a party or men (or a man) because the dazzle of love could be on any of them, not coming out of them but streaming into them from the source in herself out of which the flames and the water and the imminent happening had come. Now, in her first year at the university, it was Stephen who received it.

I have a lot of wonderful books on my stacks for the rest of the month and it is hard to choose which to read next…but I think I will have to pick up We The Animals by Justin Torres. This is a slim book which apparently packs a big punch according to some bloggers who I completely trust. I think I will probably finish this book in record time so watch for a review later this week.

I hope you are having a joyous holiday season and finding some time to sit and read a great book. To keep in the spirit of the season, I thought I would share with you a photo of Raven dressed in her elf hat and looking for mischief:

Have a wonderful week ahead!

December 11, 2011

Good morning and welcome to this week’s edition of The Sunday Salon – grab a cup of coffee, put your feet up and lets talk about books. Join the discussion on Facebook to get more links to Sunday Salon posts.

This week I finished reading The Devil’s Ribbon by D.E. Meredith which I thoroughly enjoyed (read my review). If you like Victorian mysteries with a lot of twists and turns and a good dose of historical fiction, you will like this one. I breezed through it.

My next book in the stacks was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins which I read for a book club read. I think I am one of the last people in the world to pick up this young adult novel. I loved the fast pace and excellent plotting of this book (read my review). And I am excited that the movie will be released in the Spring of 2012. After I finished reading The Hunger Games, I went out and bought the next two books in the trilogy. I know some readers were disappointed with books 2 and 3, but I’m going into them with an open mind.

I finished reading Maman’s Homesick Pie, a memoir by Donia Bijan which will be discussed on Nicole’s blog this Tuesday. I found Bijan’s writing to be wonderful – and I especially liked that she included recipes in her memoir (read my review).

My current read is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern which I am thoroughly enjoying. This is a really magical book. Morgenstern jumps back and forth in time, which I initially found a bit confusing (although she clearly marks her chapters with dates). Now that I am half way through the book, that is no longer bothering me. Instead, I am just loving the mood and feel of the book…and the story which is a bit twisty and mysterious. My yahoo book group will begin discussion on the book on December 16th and it looks like quite a few people will be joining in on that. Watch for my review of The Night Circus by Tuesday.

The next book up in my stacks, I think, will be The Puppy that Came for Christmas by Megan Rix which will finish up The Memorable Memoir Challenge for me. It looks like a quick, fun read. And then I am going to delve into some really great looking literary fiction for the remainder of the year!

I have some planned posts coming up in the next few weeks which include a special project I will be starting in January to read more books from the literary prize lists, as well as my Best Books of 2011 post that I hope to publish the last day in December. I also like to do a recap of my reading at the end of the year…and it looks like I will easily reach my goal to read 96 books this year!

REMINDER: Don’t forget to enter my giveaway of the 10th Anniversary edition of The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Entries close on December 12th (tomorrow) at 5:00 pm PST.

What are you doing this fine day, only a couple of weeks before Christmas? Whatever you are up to, I hope you find some time to sit with a good book! Have a wonderful week ahead.

December 4, 2011

Good morning and welcome to The Sunday Salon – an online blogging event which celebrates reading. Visit the Facebook page to get more links to Sunday Salon posts.

This week was a rough one for me. I fell ill with the flu last Saturday and ended up flat on my back and very sick for most of the week. Even reading was difficult. I actually spent most of my time sleeping, drinking juice and watching bad television movies. I am happy to say that I am on the up side of this bug and feeling 100% better now.

As promised last week, I did get my review of The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides posted. I really loved this book. And I was thrilled when the publisher contacted me (after seeing my review) and offered to provide an audio version of the book for giveaway on my blog. The give is only for United States postal addresses (it will be mailed to the winner from the publisher). If you are interested in entering, visit this post by December 9th at 5:00 pm PST. The book is about three characters – all college age students – who are going out into the world in the early 1980s. Eugenides is terrific at character development…and if you loved Middlesex (as I did), you will certainly appreciate this latest effort by him.

I also devoured Men in the Making by Bruce Machart, which is a short story collection (read my review). I really adore this author – he depicts male characters very well, and has a talent for creating atmosphere and place in his stories. From what I understand, he is in the process of writing his second novel and I am very eager to get my hands on it. Have you read anything by Machart? He first came to my attention years ago when a short story of his was published in Glimmertrain, and then I read his debut novel, The Wake of Forgiveness, last year as part of the Barnes and Nobel First Look Book Club (read my review). Suffice it to say, I’ve become a fan!

I found the perfect book and movie to pass my sick bed time with Mr. Popper’s Penguins (read my review). The book is a classic children’s book from 1938 and it is delightful. The movie (which premiered in theaters this summer and is being released in DVD this month through Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment) is very, very loosely based on the book. But despite the fact that the movie is really different from the book, it still was fun to experience them together. If you are looking for fun family entertainment for the cold weather, consider picking up a copy of the DVD (or renting it). I giggled over Jim Carrey’s performance…and Angela Lansbury was classic.

I will be posting a review of The Devil’s Ribbon by D. E. Meredith later today. This is an historical mystery set in London in 1858 which centers around the conflict between the Irish and the English, and takes place during a cholera epidemic. Although it is the second in a series, it absolutely can stand alone (I did not read the first book). I really enjoyed this novel. It has just the right amount of historical detail mixed with mystery. The characters are spot on – perfect dialogue and enough quirkiness to make it interesting. Have you read Devoured, the first book in this series? If so, should I pick up a copy?

Last night I started reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins for a Yahoo book club discussion. It was late, and I had thought to just read a few pages to see what it was like…but, before I knew it I was nearly 100 pages in and not wanting to put it down. I’ll be flying through this book and should have a review up by Tuesday. I know I am late to the game here because this book was published some time ago. There are more books in the series…and methinks I will need to buy them! Have you read The Hunger Games and the books which followed? What did YOU think?

I should also mention that I have another book give away going right now…this one is for the 10th Anniversary edition of The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Here is another book which got tons of buzz (pun intended) but which never made it into my reading stacks. I really should read this one, don’t you think? If you want to enter to win, you must have a United States postal address and enter by December 12th by visiting this post.

Finally, I closed the survey about paid content and disclosure and have posted the results. I did not find any real surprises in the survey, but there were a couple of points which came up that I think could generate more discussion. I hope you’ll stop by my post and leave your comments. I think book blogging continues to be an evolving medium and it will be interesting to see where it will lead us in 2012.

I hope you have a wonderful day ahead of you and that you are finding time to enjoy the beauty of the holiday season. This is a busy time of year, but hopefully you are finding time to just sit with a good book and relax a little!

November 27, 2011

Good morning and welcome to The Sunday Salon where bloggers post about their reading and invite conversation. Check out the Facebook page for other links.

My post this morning is going to be short and sweet. I think I should have left off my gratitude about good health on this post because no sooner had I posted that, then I came down with the flu. I’m laying low today with the television (I love bad movies on Lifetime when I’m sick) and my latest read and hoping that my fever will break and I’ll start feeling better soon.

In case you missed it, I posted about transparency in blogging this week in the wake of the Friday Reads debacle. I hope that I will continue to get bloggers filling out the survey on that post. Here is another link in case you missed the first one: Click here to take survey

My goal is to get a picture of how many bloggers are accepting payment for content and what their disclosure practices are…as well as why bloggers might NOT be accepting payment for content. Some people have asked whether paid advertisements in their sidebars are considered paid content…really I am asking about payment for actual content a blogger is writing (like reviews, giveaways, author interviews, etc…). I am planning to share the results of the survey (without giving any identifying factors for those who answered the survey questions) sometime after December 1st. Please note, you can complete the survey anonymously. If I share any comments from the survey, I will respect your privacy and not reveal who said what. I am not pointing fingers, but hope to get an idea of how we view disclosure and transparency. I hope you’ll consider participating.

I do not have any reviews to share with you today, although I did finish reading The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (and loved it), and I should finish Bruce Machart’s short story collection today. With Thanksgiving, and then getting ill, I have not had time to craft any reviews this week. I hope you’ll visit again in a couple of days to see what I thought of these two books.

Until then, have a great day – I hope whatever you are doing today involves a great book!