Comments for Weekly Geeks 2009-22: Catching Up On Reviews

Weekly Geeks 2009-22: Catching Up On Reviews: 06/14/09

This week the Weekly Geeks site is asking us to revisit Dewey topic #12. That's the call to catch up on reviews. In the past I haven't participated during the review catch up weeks and this week I still don't plan on catching up. Rather than completely ignoring the post, I would talk about my "to be reviewed" pile. And it is a pile both physical (sitting next to where I blog) and virtual (as a list called "needs review") on GoodReads. If you're a Weekly Geek and want to hook up on GoodReads, just mention Weekly Geeks when you send in your request via the site.

On my "needs review" list I have 68 books. At my current rate of a book review a day, that's two months a week of reviews I could write without reading a single book. If I were to "catch up" on that pile I would probably alienate a whole bunch of my readers (who have made it clear they are most comfortable with only one review a day) and would probably burn myself out of blogging. The reviews I wrote would also be of low quality since my blogging time is limited by work, parenting and the need for sleep.

My review list further divides up into three groups: books that I own, books that were sent for review and books that I am borrowing. The books sent for review get the highest priority. If I am going to catch up on anything, it will be those books. I feel ill early in the year and thus fell behind on my more serious reviews.

Books I Was Sent for Review:

For the books sent for review I am reviewing the finished ones every other day. If you have questions about any of these books, let me know and I will address them in my reviews.

The books are:

• Gambling for Good Mail by Evelyn Cole
• Vigilante Witch Hunter by Gary Turcote
• Bark up the Right Tree by Jessie and Ruth Tschudin
• Dark Side of the Morgue by Raymond Benson
• Secrets Unveiled by Sheshena Pledger
• City Above the Sea and Other Poems by Stephen Alan Saft
• Sparks: How Parents Can Ignite the Hidden Strengths of Teenagers by Peter L. Benson
• Fiction: A Novel by Ara 13

Books I've Borrowed:

My second highest priority are books I have borrowed. I am including BookCrossing books in this pile. These are books I either owe other BookCrossers or are ones I want to wild release. The basic rules of Bookcrossing are read, review and release. I like to do all there in that order even though none of those rules are enforced. Feel free to ask me questions about these too.

The books are:

• The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh
• The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days by Fern Reiss
• Fool by Christopher Moore
• Real Sofistikashun: Essays on Poetry and Craft by Tony Hoagland
• Ambulance Girl by Jane Stern
• Going Postal by Mark Ames
• Handy Farms Devices by Rolfe Cobleigh
• The Angels of Morgan Hill by Donna Van Liere
• Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold
• An Ornithologist's Guide to Life: Stories by Ann Hood.

Books I Own:

This graphic represents about two-thirds of the books I own that I've read but haven't reviewed. As I can re-read them any time and am not under any time pressure I don't go through these books as quickly as the others. I mostly save these books for days when I need to review something "easy." Feel free to ask me any questions about these books. Just remember you'll have to a wait a little longer to see your question answered.

Some of the many books I own and need to review:

• I Spy Fantasy by Jean Marzollo
• I Spy Christmas by Jean Marzollo
• The Water Hole by Graeme Base
• Harriet's Recital by Nancy Carlson
• Yertl the Turtle by Dr. Seuss
• I Feel Skitty by Tracey West
• Kin Holly Black
• Skim by Mariko Tamaki
• The Great American Marble Book by Fred Ferretti
• That's Not My Dinosaur by Fiona Watt
• Do You Want to Be My Friend? by Eric Carle
• A Rebel in Time by Harry Harrison
• Thump, Quack, Moo by Doreen Cronin
• A Busy Day at the Farm by Doreen Cronin
• Old Mac Donald Had a Farm by Jenny Tulip
• Poor Puppy by Nick Bruel
• Journey Around the World by Sarah Albee
• Grumpy Cat by Britta Teckentrup
• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
• Pancakes! Pancakes! by Eric Carle
• Quick Quackers by B. Wiseman
• Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
• How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long
• The Twenty One Balloons by William Pene Du Bois
• Harold at the North Pole by Crockett Johnson
• Harold's ABCs by Crockett Johnson
• Harold's Circus by Crockett Johnson
• Spooky Hour by Tony Mitton
• The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry
• If You Give a Pig a Party by Laura Numeroff
• If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff
• Myths, Magic and Legends Sand Art by Suzanne Lord
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• If You Can't Say Anything Nice... Say it in Yiddish by Lita Epstein
• Nana Volume 3 by Ai Yazawa
• Alaska's Three Bears by Shelly Gill
• Beware of Tigers by Dave Horowitz
• Doctor Who and the Three Doctors by Terrance Dicks
• Kittens First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
• The Case of the Climbing Cat by Cynthia Rylant
• Can Kittens Take a Catnap? by Clair Palfreman-Bunker
• Goldilicious by Elizabeth Kann
  
  

weekly geeks

Comments (0)

Permalink

Comment #1: Monday, June, 15, 2009 at 01:49:36

gautami tripathy

I had Fiction by Ara 13 in Jan, I think. I liked it. What do you think of it? Did it work for you? What is metafiction for you? Do you want to read any other book by Ara 13?

Comment #2: Monday, June 15, 2009 at 11:39:03

Pussreboots

I read Fiction in part because it was metafiction. I did a senior thesis as an undergrad on metatexts in films so I was curious to see what Ara 13 did with metafiction. The book did work for me including the source material for their religious beliefs. I plan on reading more of his books after I get through my current pile of to be read books.

Comment #3: Monday, June, 15, 2009 at 05:41:40

Dreamybee

Fiction sounds like it might have been entertaining. Did you enjoy it? Amazon mentions "sophisticated savages, whose beliefs originate from a peculiar source." Did this aspect of the story work for you and did you enjoy it, or did it seem unbelievable and a bit of a gimmick?

Comment #4: Monday, June 15, 2009 at 12:03:04

Pussreboots

I enjoyed Fiction and was disappointed when I had finished the book. It was a quick read. The savages didn't bother me because they were clearly not based on any particular stereo type or ethnic group. They see the priest as much a savage or child as he sees them. The book worked well in conjunction with another book I was reading, South-Sea Idyls.

The "pecular" source of their beliefs is a little far fetched but still an enjoyable part of the novel. Their society and belief system is very tightly based on that source and it was fun to guess the source material.

Comment #5: Monday, June, 15, 2009 at 06:48:17

Gnoe (Catchup ;)

Aaah, Grumpy Cat looks like a great book! :) I really love cats and I like them to be grumpy — to others, that is ;)

I'm curious about Skim: is it manga or YA? Sorry, I don't know where to find the google-button :P

Like you, I prefer to review BX-books before I release them. That's why The End of Mr. Y is on my TBReviewed pile...

Comment #6: Monday, June 15, 2009 at 12:12:11

Pussreboots

Grumpy Cat is one of my daughter's favorite books right now. She is nuts about cats. It's a really sweet story about an unlikely friendship between a loner cat and a kitten.

Skim is a graphic novel written by a Japanese-Canadian. It was a finalist in the Cybils for the YA Graphic Novels category.

Every month I get new BookCrossing books because I attend a local meeting. I try to bring home fewer books than I release at the meeting but it doesn't always work out that way.

Comment #7: Monday, June, 15, 2009 at 06:51:40

Gnoe (Catchup ;)

I forgot to mention my awe for your '1 review a day' discipline... I wish I could do that! I wouldn't have any backlog then :\ But it takes so much time to write a review (and more as time passes), especially in antoher language! How do you do that? Anyway, I glad to read I'm not the only one who has to sleep every once in a while ;)

Comment #8: Monday, June 15, 2009 at 12:25:04

Pussreboots

You'd still have a backlog. I thought I'd get through my backlog by reviewing 365 books a year and yet here I am with a backlog of close to 70 books. The reviews do take more time to write than the books do to read. And yes, I do sleep.

Comment #9: Monday, June, 15, 2009 at 11:45:32

Louise

There are a lot of children's books in your list above. I am curious to know if you read those 1) because you are a kiddie-book professional or 2) Just like to read kid's book or 3) you read them to your own kids/kids in your family/on your job (perhaps you are a teacher or something).

The reason I am asking is because I see many book bloggers blogging about children's books. Many do it because they have children on their own, but some also seem to just like reading them. I don't understand that from a reader's point of view, although many of them definitely looks cute (and I like cute) and although I am sure any chilren's book has something to say, even to adults.

Comment #10: Monday, June 15, 2009 at 12:28:23

I have a large number of children's book on my list to review for a number of reasons. The first is that I am reading them to my children. I like to review their books when I need a mental break from reviewing the longer books. The chapter books and young adult books though on my list I've actually read for fun. They are short and for the most part easy to read. I read them when I need a break from reading harder books.

I don't have a bookish job, although I'd take one in a heartbeat. I'm actually a web designer / web producer by trade.

Comment #11: Monday, June, 15, 2009 at 12:28:39

Rikki

Looking forward to the Dr. Seuss reviews. I love Dr. Seuss.

Comment #12: Monday, June 15, 2009 at 12:39:33

Pussreboots

I will get to Dr. Seuss as soon as I can. In the meantime you can read some previous Seuss reviews: Hop on Pop, Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go! and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

Comment #13: Monday, June, 15, 2009 at 15:42:55

Eva

Which of your review books would you recommend the most?

I haven't read any Evelyn Waugh; is The Loved One a good place to start?

I love the title of An Ornithologist's Guide to Life! Did the stories live up to the title?

My three-year-old niece loved Purplicious when we got it from the library. Is Goldilicious good too?

Comment #14: Monday, June 15, 2009 at 12:56:55

Pussreboots

My favorites from the to be reviewed are The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh, Fiction by Ara 13, Goldilicious by Elizabeth Kann and Ambulance Girl by Jane Stern. Those are the ones that I would recommend picking from if you want a book to read.

The Lovd One is the second Evelyn Waugh I've read. The other one was The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold. Both were excellent and entertaining. I don't think she needs to be read in any particular order.

For the most part, An Ornithologist's Guide to Life was a thought provoking read. Some of the stories are lighthearted but there is a consistent theme of loss and the importance of family. The book was inspired by the death of the author's daughter at a very young age so there are some heartbreaking moments in the book.

Goldilicious is a delighful book. I especially like seeing Pinkalicious and her brother Peter finally shown playing together. Both of my kids love the book. The youngest is almost 3.

Comment #15: Monday, June, 15, 2009 at 16:46:39

uncertainprinciples

I absolutely love That's Not My Dinosaur. Oh, and Dr. Seuss! In fact, I just gave in to temptation and bought the Dr. Seuss boxset. In my defense, it was down to £20 from £110!

Do you have a favorite Dr. Seuss book? If so, which one? If you could buy only one Dr. Seuss book, which would it be?

Comment #16: Monday, June 15, 2009 at 21:41:33

Pussreboots

I have two favorites depending on what mood I'm in: One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and The Lorax. For the former, I still own my childhood copy. For the latter, I bought a new copy for my son. I plan to re-read and review The Lorax for the Herding Cats Challenge.

Comment #17: Tuesday, June, 16, 2009 at 13:26:51

bookwormans

I really enjoyed Evelyn Waugh's "Brideshead Revisited". Have you read that and if so, how did "The Loved One" compare? What was your impression of "The Loved One" overall?

Comment #18: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 10:43:15

No, I haven't had the pleasure of reading Brideshead Revisited but I plan to. I have to admit that I picked up The Lovd One for the Chas Addams cover. The only other one I've read is The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold. While very different thematically, it did have a similar dark humor to The Loved One. The book reminded me a little bit of the HBO series Six Feet Under for its location (Los Angeles) and its focus on embalming.

Comment #19: Tuesday, June, 16, 2009 at 14:08:28

Kara

I have one book due for review which is about a month overdue and it is weighing heavy on my mind :( Not sure how you can live with all those titles staring you down!

"Grumpy Cat" has many fans on here I see, and I recommend it as well. I also liked "Smelly Bear" by the same author.

Comment #20: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 14:50:22

Pussreboots

The only pile that gets to me is the backlog of books sent to me for review. I want to keep a good working relationship with the publicists and authors who have been kind enough to include me in the process.

Smelly Bear looks adorable. I will keep it in mind for future book gifts.

Comment #21: Tuesday, June, 16, 2009 at 18:33:24

Jennie

I love Cronin's farm series, but Thump, Quack, Moo seems to be taking it a bit far. Do you agree?

Have you read other books by Christopher Moore? How does Fool hold up?

Comment #22: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 19:47:42

Pussreboots

I think the whole series is over the top. Thump, Quack, Moo is one of our favorites. The kids like it because we have a local corn maze to go through in the fall.

Regarding Fool, if you like Lamb then you will probably like it. I found the book disappointing. I've read all of his books except for You Suck which is on my to be read pile. You can read my review of Fool here

Comment #23: Thursday, June, 18, 2009 at 18:28:51

Vasilly

When it comes to Numeroff's series of books, which one did you enjoy more? My favorite is still If You Give a Pig a Pancake.

Had you read any books by Lowry before reading The Willoughbys? What did you think of all the references to classic children's books? Did you read it with your favorite or by yourself? If you read it with your family, did your children enjoy it?

Alexander and the terrible, horrible no good very bad day is one of my favorite books of all time. Saying that, did you enjoy? Do you think it should be a classic? Why or why not?

Kevin Henkes is a favorite author in this house. How did you enjoy Kitten's Full Moon? Have you read Henkes before? If so, how does Kitten compare to the other books you've read by this author?

What did you think of The Invention of Hugo Cabret?

Comment #24: Thursday, June 18, 2009 at 21:29:15

Pussreboots:

Oh boy! You've asked a boatload of questions.

To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the Numeroff series. My favorite though is If You Give a Cat a Cupcake because the illustrations are really cute. My son's favorite is If You Give a Moose a Muffin, a book I haven't read.

I've read two other Lowry book, The Giver and Number the Starsbut I have a bunch of others in my to be read pile. I just really wanted to read The Willoughbys so I bumped it to the top of the pile. I like Lowry's writing style and found her parody of the worst of the cliches of children's literature very funny. My husband has also read The Willoughby's and he enjoyed it too. We haven't read it to our kids yet but will some day.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bady Day almost is a classic just by its age. It's 37 years old and still in print, pretty darn good for any book.

Kitten's First Full Moon is the first Keven Henkes book I've read. We got it because it features a cat. My daughter's personal library is mostly cat books.

I loved The Invention of Hugo Cabret. By itself is a very creative and beautifully drawn graphic novel. It's ties to early film history though made it extra special for me. I was a film studies student and my favorite era to study was the early days of the silent films.

Comment #25: Friday, June, 19, 2009 at 14:55:10

bookwormans

pussreboots,

Thank you for asking me a question on this week's Weekly Geek post.

I have posted my answers here.

Comment #26: Monday, June 22, 2009 at 12:55:01

Pussreboots

You're welcome. Thank you for the link.