reviews, recommendations, rants and raves

Well...a big ol' thanks to everyone for the fabulous response to the "book club" idea. I have to admit that I was a little worried about how this would go over, but I'm absolutely thrilled at the amount of interest.


One thing I really do want to stress, because the last thing I would ever want to do is make someone feel bad for not spending half of their life with their nose in a book, is that your recommendation can be any book at all. A book you read and liked ten years ago, a book that kind of unexpectedly grabbed you...anything at all. No rules, no guidelines...anything.


So here's the way this is set up. You'll notice the list on the sidebar labeled The RC Book Club. This has all the recommendations I've received so far, in alphabetical order. The post you're reading now is going to be linked directly underneath, under the title of reviews, recommendations, rants and raves. This link is the other part of the interactive book club. It's the place to post new recommendations, reviews of books you've read off the list , raves (if something really blew your socks off), rants (if they didn't) and so on. All you'll have to do is click on the link to bring up the comments page. Periodically, I'll update the suggestions and put them back in the list on the front page of the blog. I'm crossing my fingers that this page will take on a life all it's own.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, my entire computer repertoire consisted of checking my email and spending way too much money on eBay. One of the (too many to count) wonderful things blogging has done for me is give me some fun, productive computer skills. (This is all a really nice way of saying that there may be some bugs in this at first, so be patient with me).

Are we ready? Let's go!

books and blog(ger)s

I was at the library to feed my addiction stock up on things to read and I had an idea. Hopefully even a good idea. I'm overdue for it - haven't hit my self-decreed quota of one reasonably passable idea a week. And it's Friday...


While you all try to wrap your minds around me having ideas, I'll give you the back story. I was looking for a book that pixelpi had recommended highly (which, unfortunately is checked out). Meanwhile, I'm waiting for a book from jen as a prize for being the fastest (though not necessarily the biggest) jen geek in Blogville. I had just finished reading laurie's account of her straight from hell kitchen renovation that had originally been printed in the newspaper she writes for. (I think still). Merry Daze has a blurb up about a book she's reading that our very own laurie wrote. Flowerpot got an encouraging piece of news in the mail this week about the manuscript that she's written. All of these things were flitting in and out of my mind. Meanwhile, I was wandering around the library with no real idea of what I wanted to read this week, since the book I had my heart set on wasn't available. Books and blogs, all wrapped up in my brain. Blogs and books. So I started thinking...


What about us doing some kind of book list here? Then I carried it a little further, because I just finished a book that was set in my neck of the woods. I'm always fascinated by the different places we all live, and the huge range in our environments, so I thought what if we were to recommend things to read that would give other bloggers an insight into us in some way? An insight into where we live, or what we do, or where we've come from? A book that's influenced your life? Or even just a new release that wowed you. Wouldn't that be really interesting? Obviously, you wouldn't have to be a blogger to participate. Just as obviously, you wouldn't have to play at all. But I think it could really be fun. Really all it is is sharing opinions. It's not like there will be quizzes or anything.


If you'd like to give it a shot, put your book title in the comments section. Then I'll make a list and put it on the sidebar. If this is a go, then I'll figure out how to update it as people have other books to recommend. If no one gives a rat's tail, we'll move on and I'll keep trying for that elusive weekly quota. But I know that I at least need some new ideas.


And since I've brought this up, I'll start. The book I'm recommending is called The Center of Everything, by Laura Moriarty. It's set in Kansas, very near my own area, and it's a really lovely coming of age story, beautifully written. I enjoyed it a lot. And it's not a long book.


I have to go on record as saying that the town depicted in this book is nothing (thank god) like my own beloved liberal collegeville. But the tone is dead on small town midwest.


And now I wait for the verdict.


Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.