(Source: timetravelingscamp)

I had the extreme pleasure of being a book giver for World Book Night this evening. Armed with special copies of The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, I was really excited at the prospect of putting free books into people’s hands. Unfortunately New Hampshire was exceedingly rainy today and I had some difficulty in getting all of my books to unknowing recipients. While this was a little disappointing, it does mean that I have 6 copies to give away here!

There are, of course, a few stipulations. World Book Night is an event (or rather, a celebration) whose intent is to spread a love of reading in books. It was made possible through all of the authors (30 books were chosen!) who agreed to waive the royalties for the books, the companies who paid to print the books, and the libraries and bookstores across America (and the UK and Ireland) who received and distributed boxes to givers.

The specific mission of the event is for book givers to seek out light or non-readers and to help further a love of reading. Given this, this is not simply a free book giveaway. The intentions of World Book Night and my intentions in the giveaway are to put a book in the hands of someone who may not have found it on our own. After that I can only hope that the receiver will search out more books through bookstores or libraries.

To be entered in the giveaway you must reblog this post (likes do not count; multiple reblogs will not help) with the following questions answered. 

1. Have you read The Lovely Bones? (the answer should be No. I want copies to go to people who have not read the book)
2. Do you read often?
3. Why do you want this book?

The giveaway will be open until this Friday, April 27th. Winners will be chosen through a random generator who I will then contact to get postage information (book rate US continental shipping will be paid for by me). Please feel free to share this with someone who you think might truly benefit from this. My intention is above all to share and spread a love of books. 

Was just talking to a mother about books and she told me that:

• His Dark Materials was too forced and that Phillip Pullman was trying to hard. At what, she did not say.
• Eragon was better written than The Lord of the Rings, although derivative.

I’m not sorry to say that I respectfully disagree with just about everything she said. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but wow, way to pick on books I’ve read so much that the pages started falling out.

Google has told the American Booksellers Association (ABA)  that the company will discontinue its reseller program allowing independent bookstores to sell eBooks through Google’s platform. Starting on January 31, 2013, Google Play will be the only way to purchase eBooks through Google.

Wow, way to continue on your recent trend of being corporate assholes google. I do not approve. Severing your relationship with Indies (not just in the US but in the UK, Australia and Canada) certainly won’t do you any favors. I’m so disappointed.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why people read the books that they read, and more specifically why I read what I do. In particular, I’ve found it really fascinating to think and discuss (with a lot of feelings bared to my friends) about how genre plays in to how we decide to read what we do. The thinking largely began out of my disappointment and often anger due to genre prejudice. Working in a bookstore and just talking to people in my life, I’ve found that there is a lot of prejudice against certain books categorized in specific genres (such as fantasy, science fiction, thriller, young adult, etc.) simply based on that categorization.

Some people for example, don’t read Young Adult fiction, because of the perception that because a book is defined as YA that it is only for young adults. This means that someone who is no longer a young adult but still really enjoys reading YA novels is often judged as being childish. Likewise, some people refuse to read Fantasy because they believe the world and characters to be too unrealistic or lacking in logic. Mystery or Thriller is sometimes judged as being too predictable and so on and so forth. In general, throughout all genres: prejudices abound. Sadly this means that people miss out on fantastic books purely because of their categorization.

The only real genre, if it can be called a genre at all, which escapes the pitfalls of book prejudice, is Literature (or rather: Fiction).  Perhaps this is because the category ‘fiction’ doesn’t say a lot about an individual book. Really, all the term Fiction indicates is that a book takes place in the present or in the past. Yet sometimes, the categorization of a book as Fiction implies that a book has cultural or historical importance. Take Pride and Prejudice: the book is essentially a romance novel, but because it is beloved and provides a fascinating glance into turn of the 19^th century manners, upbringing, morality and marriage, it is Fiction and not Romance.

Why then, are there categorizations? Well, how else would you find the books you like to read? As discussed with friends, there really isn’t a category for Elegant Prose, Fantastic Characters, Intriguing Concepts, or many other laudatory phrases. The problem that simply defining books by genre presents is that genre doesn’t inform why a specific book is picked by a reader and why that book may subsequently be loved and remembered.

I don’t after all choose a book simply because it is Fantasy or simply because it is Fiction, but rather because something about the specific book intrigues me (be it the characters, concept, writing style, applicability to real life or the balance of all together).

My questions to others are:

What genre do you typically read?

Why?

What attracts you to a book? (What makes you pick it?)

What makes you love the book?

waterstreet125:

bookspaperscissors:

Gabriel Martínez Meave

I might explode of how much I heart these.

theme appropriate on Flickr.

The Leprechaun hunt at Water Street Bookstore

So excited. The entire concept behind this event is so brilliant and I’m really pleased to be a part of it!