Book reviews

How to Find Book Blogs to Follow

Posted on by Julia Tomiak / 18 Comments

I get overwhelmed easily.  You might not expect to hear that from a mother of four energetic, noisy children. Or maybe you do.

But if I see too many options at once, or contemplate too many tasks together, my head starts to throb.  Right between my temples.  Panic sets in.

The book blogging world overwhelms me

Have you ever navigated the complex and unending line of book blogs on the internet?  You could spend hours.  And these people read A TON of books; upwards of 150 a year. I love books too, but I’m lucky to read 15. ( I tell myself that I savor my reads more.)  
So, the good news is, if you’re looking for reading suggestions, you have LOTS of options.  The tough part: how to find a book blogger, besides me, of course, who provides helpful information for your needs/interests.  
Luckily for me, book blogger Joy Weese Moll introduced me to Book Blogger Appreciation Week, which was established a few years ago to celebrate and promote book bloggers and the helpful information they provide.  I have spent a lot of time browsing book blogs this week, trying to find a few more to follow, and I’ve formulated some criteria.

How to find a book blog you can enjoy

Here’s what I’ve decided I need from a book blog:
  • concise, yet informative, posts about the content, style, and overall feel of a book
  • a personal reaction to books
  • a well organized blog so that I can find books I’ve already read easily and look up ones I’m interested in
  • uncluttered, clean style without too many ads or distracting side bars

My suggestions 

I’ve discovered the following blogs this week and would like to share them with you.    Check them out and see what you think!
  • Sarah Reads Too Much  You can find Sarah’s reviews by author and genre, and she has read a lot of the books and authors that I’m interested in.  Today’s post is on To Kill a Mockingbird, one of my favorites!  She says she absolutely loves it, which makes me want to visit her blog more!
  • The Well Read Red Head  If you can’t tell from my pic up in the right hand corner of my blog, I’m a red head.  (strawberry blonde, to get technical).  Also well read.  So how could I not like this blog?  Kelly shared in a BBAW interview that The Time Traveler’s Wife is one of her favorites.  I had to check her out.  She’s a blogging veteran, but new to book blogging.
  • The Relentless Reader  Ok, I actually found Jennifer before this week, but she also participated in BBAW, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know her a little better.  She also loves To Kill a Mockingbird, and she includes other “bookish” posts on her blog, like 20 Proven Benefits of Being an Avid Reader.
  • A Room of One’s Own  Jillian’s blog has an impressionist painting as its background, and a lovely quote from Thoreau in the banner.  Her posts tend to focus on classic and children’s literature, and she  brought it to my attention that September 22 is Hobbit Day!  How about that!
Thanks to Book Blogger Appreciation Week, and Joy, for leading me to these gems!
What do you look for in a book blog?  Do you have any that you can recommend?  

Julia
Improving vocabulary

Why Obfuscation Is the Perfect Vocab Word for “Paper Towns”

Posted on by Julia Tomiak / 9 Comments

John Green’s PaperTowns is about a boy named Quentin and his quest to find the girl of his dreams, Margo Roth Spiegleman.   He already knows her; she lives next door.  But she has this thing about running away and disappearing.  
And Quentin wants to bring her back.
 
He learns a lot along the way.  About himself and the girl.
About midway through the book, one of Margo’s “close” friends confesses:

“She had [the notebook] with her all the time.  I never saw her write in it, but I just figured it was like a day planner or whatever.   God, I never asked about it.”

“She wouldn’t have answered anyway,” I said.  It was dishonest to act like Margo hadn’t participated in her own obfuscation.

Wow, that’s a mouthful.  Try to say it. 

New Word Nerd Word:

obfuscation \,äb-fəs-‘kā-shən\  noun from Latin –ob in the way + fuscusdark brown; confusion, darkness, obscurity

The word itself sounds elusive, just like Margo.  And nerdy, like Quentin, her pursuer.  A perfect choice by Mr. Green once again.

Word Nerd Workout

Use obfuscation in a sentence.  That’s tricky, I know, so I give you permission to use another form of the word, like obfuscate or obfuscatory.  Since I picked it, I’ll use the noun form.

The Republican candidate for Governor spent a significant amount of time generating obfuscation around his relationship with the CEO of Warden Products International. 

Have I obfuscated you today?  Hope not!  Looking forward to your sentences!

Other Word Nerd Words:

Julia
How to encourage reading

What Makes a Great Character: Hermione Granger

Posted on by Julia Tomiak / 11 Comments

My daughter loves to raise her hand to answer questions.  She puts it high up there.   
She also likes to tell her brothers what to do.
 
And before we leave for a car trip, she organizes her essential belongings into one of her many bags.
I like to call her “My little Hermione.”
J.K. Rowling gives us many wonderful gifts with her Harry Potter series:  a fantastically detailed magical world, an epic story of good prevailing over evil, and best of all, engaging characters that grow and mature as the plot thickens and convolutes.

Why I Love Hermione

Although Harry has many admirable qualities, Hermione earns my deepest affection.  I loved following her from her spunky, yet tender (note the crying in the bathroom before the Cave Troll appears) preadolescent years into her young adult struggles with loyalty, sacrifice, and yes, still some bossiness.  But let’s be honest, Harry and Ron need her direction, don’t you think?
Hermione has flaws, as every good three dimensional character should.  She irritates her classmates and even her friends with her intense work ethic and exceptional intellect.   She sometimes lacks tact.  According to the books, she has buck teeth and frizzy hair.  (Emma Watson portrays a far prettier Hermione in the movies, but we’ll forgive the producers this oversight.)  And am I the only one who can’t fathom what she sees in Ron? 
On the other hand, she has many strengths, such as brains, integrity, uncompromising loyalty, and a superb ability to cast spells.
But here’s the best thing about Hermione Granger:  she refuses to shrink from her talents.  Shouldn’t all girls possess such profound confidence?  (Click here to tweet this if you agree!)
Yet Rowling makes it clear that Hermione couldn’t survive on her own.  Her friendship with Ron and Harry thrives on interdependence.  What Hermione lacks in humility, Harry certainly makes up for.  What Ron lacks in knowledge, Hermione fills in.  When Harry and Ron both suffer from lack of common sense, Hermione steps in to set them straight.  It’s also nice to see Hermione and Harry develop a deep but strictly platonic friendship. 
Cheers to Hermione for showing girls of every age that it’s okay to be smart and that you can like a guy and not want to kiss him.

Some of my favorite “Hermione quotes” from Mugglenet.com:

  • “Just because you’ve got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn’t mean we all have.”
  • “Twitchy little ferret, aren’t you Malfoy?”
  • Hermione drew herself to her full height; her eyes were narrowed and her hair seemed to crackle with electricity.  “No,” she said, her voice quivering with anger, “but I will write to your mother.”
  • “Harry–you’re a great wizard, you know.” “I’m not as good as you,” said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let him go. “Me!” said Hermione. “Books! And cleverness! There are more important things–friendship and bravery and–oh Harry–be careful!” 

Hermione has it right again; friendship, bravery and caution are very important things indeed.
Why do you think Hermione is a great character?   What other strong female characters have you found in literature, especially in books for kids or young adults?  Thanks for adding to the discussion!

You might also like: 

Julia
Improving vocabulary

How John Green Can Improve Your Vocabulary

Posted on by Julia Tomiak / 9 Comments

Last Week’s Winners

Thank you to everyone who gave the August Vocabulary Review a try!  The answers were:
  1. oleophobic = oil resistant, and Apple puts it on iPads to resist the oil on our fingers.  (Maybe iPhones and iTouches too)
  2. ersatz = inferior substitute
  3. winsome:pleasing :: supercilious: haughty, arrogant, conceited
Although many of you were close, I’m going to share “Link Love” with two bloggers who had the most correct answers:
*Word Nerdy Note:  Emily now has two wins under her belt!  Good job Emily.

Look for a quiz the last Tuesday of the month to test your Word Nerd prowess and see if you can beat the two win record!

This week’s Word Nerd Word

I recently finished the YA novel Paper Towns by John Green.  You can count on Green for humor, as well as a good dose of geeky.  Maybe that’s why I like him so much.  His characters regularly spout off multisyllable words as they evaluate their lives as well as good pieces of literature (another reason I’m a fan.)  Here’s a useful piece of vocab for you:

Ben came over after dinner and we played Resurrection, pausing every half hour or so to call Radar, who was on a date with Angela.  We left him eleven messages, each more annoying salacious than the last.  

Salacious \sə-‘lā-shəs\  adjfrom Latin salax, fond of leaping, lustful, and salire to leap; arousing or appealing to sexual desire or imagination; lascivious

Teenaged boys leaving salacious messages?  Never!

Word Nerd Workout:  Think of a something from the media (a TV show, movie, or song, for example) that  could be described as salacious.  I’m thinking these suggestions will help the meaning of the word stick in our heads.

My example:  True Blood  (Although I’ve never watched it.  Honestly.)

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Other Word Nerd Words:

Julia
Book reviews

What I Like (and Don’t) About Little Bee

Posted on by Julia Tomiak / 6 Comments
I never thought I’d have much in common with a girl from the jungles of Nigeria, but it turns out that Little Bee, the title character in Chris Cleave’s novel Little Bee, and I share a profound respect for the English language.  However, while we both use language to share ideas and emotions, Little Bee also depends on language to survive.
Cleave gives us two narrators in Little Bee.  The first, and the novel’s namesake, begins her story as she leaves an “Immigration Removal Center” near London.  To contrast, Cleave also gives us Sarah, a London suburbanite mired in unhappiness.  When the different worlds of these two characters collide, everything changes.  Western culture meets third world reality, and the results are sobering.
Early in the story, Little Bee addresses the difficulties of mastering “the Queen’s English.”  She says,

“Every word can defend itself.  Just when you go to grab it, it can split into two separate meanings so the understanding closes on empty air…  You are like sorcerers and you have made your language as safe as your money.”

I love this reverence for the power of words, with a special nod to elusive and double meanings.    Little Bee understands that she must learn how to wield this power to find safety as a refugee in England.  And although she makes mistakes, like calling a cab driver a “cock” because he has hair like a rock star, her words break through the shield of Western complacency to expose us to the reality of her life.  About our horror movies she says,

“Horror in your country is something you take a dose of to remind yourself that you are not suffering from it.”

Ouch.  But that’s why Little Bee’s voice works so well; she’s honest.
Cleave could lecture to us, but he doesn’t.  Instead, he juxtaposes the words of two very different people and allows us to draw our own conclusions.   As both a reader and a writer, I admire that technique.  But I had issues with other aspects of the novel.
Unfortunately, I could not relate to Sarah or the other “Western” characters, even though I share much more with them than Little Bee.  Too often, they came across as self-centered, and even whiny.  Also, I couldn’t understand a lot of Sarah’s decisions, especially a big one at the end of the book.

Additionally, at key moments, the plot felt contrived.   I understand from reading the author’s notes at the end of the book that Cleave intentionally made the critical beach scene “morally ambiguous”, allowing readers to judge the choices of the characters.   However, I don’t believe anyonewould have escaped alive.  But then, if they didn’t, we wouldn’t have a story, would we?

I appreciate the book for Little Bee’s thought provoking insights into western culture, globalization, and human nature, and also, of course, for its acknowledgement of the powerful influence of words.  But I struggle with several aspects of the plot, most notably the circumstances of Andrew’s death and the closing scenes.  I find myself wondering which pieces matter more, characterization, plot, or the writing itself (which is excellent.)
If you have read Little Bee, what did you like best and least about it?  If you haven’t, can you share which aspects of a novel mean the most to you?  Thanks for discussing!

More book reviews:

Julia

Improving vocabulary

August Word Nerd Vocabulary Review

Posted on by Julia Tomiak / 8 Comments

I can’t believe it!  Summer is ending.  But we’ve learned some great words with our beach reads, haven’t we?  To prove it, you all are going to ace this quiz I’ve created.  Give it a try, and dare a fellow reader to beat you.

Word Nerd Workout

Answer the following vocabulary questions; if you get every one right, I’ll share “link love” and shout out about your word nerd savy all over Facebook and Twitter!
  1. I wish Honda put an oleophobic coating on all of its minivan windows. 
    1. What does an oleophobic shield do?
      1. filters the sun
      2. resists oil
      3. absorbs sound
    2. What fine product does have such a coating?   __________________
  2. My friend Leslie refuses to watch the Twilight movies; she finds Robert Pattinson an ersatz Edward compared to the one she imagines in her head.  (Note: I disagree with her.)  What does ersatz mean?

    1. taciturn
    2. immature
    3. inferior substitute
  3. Complete the analogy.  winsome:pleasing:: supercilious: ___________________

Thanks for playing!

If you want more questions, check out quizzes from:

Julia