Cruisin' the Book Blogs

A while back we stopped pointing out the LitBlog Co-Op's quarterly selections (and stopped making sure that each shortlist was ordered for the library.) They seem to range from the boring to the really abstruse... This does not in the least mean that we wouldn't buy any of these titles—or for that matter, any title at all—if you asked us to. Ask at the desk for a "blue card," or enter your request from the catalog.

Some of the other book blogs we lately cruised include Literary Kicks, a website with a long track record (they brag about having been at it since 1994*) now modernized with a blog. The top entry at the moment is about a new adult novel by classic YA author S. E. Hinton, Some of Tim's Stories. They have a sweet essay, Great Chick-Lit of the 70's (or, the Books That Raised Me). Sarah Weinman's Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind is a rewarding mix of publishing industry and crime fiction news, and she has great links in her sidebar. (Well, most of the litbloggers do a good job of leading you outward with links to other bloggers...) Another entertaining blog to track for publishing gossip is M. J. Rose's Buzz, Balls & Hype.

The Waterboro (ME) H2Oboro Lib Blog is as usual full of fascinating links. For example: this definition of 'classic' from the Ex-Classics Web Site: "What is a classic book? Some people confine it to ancient Greek and Latin works; others use it to describe books by Isaac Asimov or Barbara Cartland. Our definition is a book which has been read, enjoyed, and had an influence on people over two or more generations. In the final analysis, there is no other test than survival." And a piece from the Guardian's book blog with the irresistible title, How we ditched sex and fell for thrillers. "About 20 years ago readers became sated with sexy novels - sex was after all no longer the mystery it once was. And that's when the thriller entered the literary mainstream..."

Want more? New Listings from the Online Books Page. Really delicious-sounding YA titles from propernoun.net which we mostly don't have and are going to have to do something about ordering. Grumpy Old Bookman gives us a start on following the discussion raging in both print and the biblioblogs about the dismal direction things are going with newspaper book review sections. One of the participants on The Millions, a literary blog with several authors, maintains a reading queue in the sidebar; and as the author explains, the next book he will read is chosen from this vitual To Be Read pile using a random number generator. (A strangeness worth several exclamation points!!!) Mostly you can start anywhere in the book blog world, follow links from the articles or sidebars, and soon find yourself somewhere congenial.

* P. S. We too claim a long-history-in-web-terms. Our home page went up on September 22, 1994...