Translations, aka, my reading list just grew

I still haven't read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. I was iffy about the series and a friend of mine--we have similar tastes when it comes to fiction--told me not to bother with it. But several of my coworkers have read the whole thing and keep raving about it...so I don't know.

What I do know is that I'm thrilled we're going to see more Scandinavian writers translated into English. I love it when my reading horizon spreads just a bit more.

The NYPL is working against me.

I am so close to reading 14.8 books this month. So very, very close. You know what would help? If the NYPL would transit my books already. Seriously. Why does it take a week plus to get my books from one branch of the NYPL to another branch? If my father can mail me a letter via USPS from Silverdale, Washington, to Brooklyn, New York, in two days, why can't the NYPL get me my books within three business days?

Am I asking for too much? I don't think so.

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

Just read the entire book--thank you, NY MTA and my roommate--and I have to say as much as I loved the entire novel--and all the twists--would someone--Dennis Lehane, maybe--please resolve the last 3 1/2 pages for me.

I mean, I think I know what happened, fairly certain how the ending actually ends, but it doesn't say for sure, 100%, definitely. And that bugs me.

Damnit, am I going to have to see this movie?

Challenges

I know it's still 2009, but I've started to ponder 2010. Specifically, book challenges in 2010.

I think I might not do any.

It's scary, saying that, because I love book challenges. I love reading something new, something in a genre I don't normally read, something I've never heard of before... but I never seem to complete them. Looking at my sideboard, I can see that I have finished one challenge, and only one. I didn't even start the challenge I made for myself!

So yeah, I'm thinking next year, I'm not going to do any reading challenges. I'll just track what I read and go from there.

This actually appeals to me, even though I know it's a horrible idea. There's no guarantee that anything uploaded to Wikipedia is correct and there have been several recent issues with the founders blocking people because they don't like what they have to say, but for some reason I kind of want to do this.

The founder of online encyclopedia Wikipedia said on Wednesday he had entered into a partnership with computer company Hewlett Packard that will allow users to create and print magazines.

Following on this trend, there is an interesting article at Bookslut today, which says that we are living in an era where anyone can--and does--publish, either in the more traditional forms or via social networking sites.

Also at Bookslut today, a link to a BBC article. It seems the Spanish government is preparing to exhume a mass grave where it's believed that the body of Federico García Lorca, poet, might be located. While normally this would not be something I'd jump on, one of the main characters in The Return is a fan of Lorca's work; there is a scene in the book where she goes on a tour of his home. I'd never heard of Lorca before, but based on what Hislop wrote, I think I'll have to add some of his poetry to my reading list.

From Bookshelves of Doom, Gentlemen by Michael Northrop; sounds too good to pass up.

New authors, old series

So, first it was Sebastian Faulks, who wrote Devil May Care, a new book in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. Now we have Eoin Colfer, who was tapped to write the sixth book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.

What series and what author do you think will be next?

ETA:Sassymonkey wrote "[T]here's a new Winnie The Pooh book too (clearly not written by Milne)," which for some reason reminded me of all the Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice continuations (I won't read them, no matter how good you tell me they are).

ETA 2: Thank you Tor/Forge, for reminding me about The Gathering Storm, which has Brandon Sanderson finishing/completing Robert Jordan’s Book 12 in the Wheel of Time series.

ETA 3: Looks like I'm not the only person musing on this subject these days. Bookninja put up a post on this subject as well (found via Books, Inq.), which linked to a recent article written by the Washington Post.

Thoughts on the FTC

I've been reading and rereading other people's posts on the announcement from the FTC regarding book bloggers and endorsements. There have a lot of thoughtful, detailed posts on the subject, ranging from bloggers who have said they will no longer review books received from publishers to those who say they already have a disclaimer on their site to the ones who think the whole thing is a joke and there is no way the FTC can actually enforce this ruling.

I'm not 100% sure what I think.

One the one hand, I do think that acknowledging where I got a book is fair. I'm fairly confident that I do that now with any ARCs I receive, although I suppose that I'll need to be extra sure going forward. As it stands, most of the books I read now are from the library (I read about a book on another blogger's site* or I saw it at B&N but didn't want to pay for it**). Do I have to acknowledge where I get books that aren't ARCs? Won them in a giveaway? Received as a gift? Borrowed from someplace other than the library?

And what about those of us who have no ads on our site? Or don't link the book to Amazon, etc.?
And also, an ARC--by nature--has no value, so how exactly am I supposed to value it? And I don't think anyone has touched on electronic copies of texts...

There's also the fact that blogging, even about books, is a hobby for a lot of people; we want to talk about books that we like with other people, who might also like the same books we like, that like a different book, or with people who just like books. It's not a paying job for us.

Really, I guess I'm left with more questions. I don't understand how the FTC will track this (requiring publishers to submit a list of all the people they've sent books to seems ridiculous and impractical) and I don't get how I--or any other non-paid book blogger--can be required to send back a book, especially when in some cases we haven't asked for it.

I just don't get it.

*I've actually been meaning to start this, because I always forget where I find books. But if I do that, am I endorsing someone else's endorsement?

**I know that they are worth it, but books are expensive! I have a really hard time justifying to myself the cost when I could spend that $22.95 on food for a week.

What do you do with your books?

This morning, the Federal Trade Commission announced that its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials would be revised in relation to bloggers. The new guidelines (PDF) specified that bloggers making any representation of a product must disclose the material connections they (the presumed endorsers) share with the advertisers. What this means is that, under the new guidelines, a blogger’s positive review of a product may qualify as an “endorsement” and that keeping a product after a review may qualify as “compensation.”

These guidelines, which will be effective as of December 1, 2009, require all bloggers to disclose any tangible connections.

There's more at here at EdRants, including an interview with the FTC's Richard Cleland.

The part that really struck me was where Cleland said that book bloggers would have to send the books back, because keeping them was a form of compensation.

Yeah, that's going to happen. I can see it now.

A meme

It's nice here in Brooklyn, really really nice.  So nice that staying indoors is hard; I want to be outside, enjoying the sun, but at the same time I want to be indoors, not getting sunburned.  Le sigh, welcome to my life.

So, instead of posting things I will link to them instead.

Like this diversity in reading meme from Dani.  I'd take it myself, but fail so miserably.  I've noticed over the past few years that I've become a reader of mostly white men and women from the U.S.  I'm going to have to address that issue, and soon.  Maybe May is the month I start reading 2666.

I had a few thoughts this morning on the way to church about The Forest of Hands and Teeth... which if you haven't read, skip this next part because it will be full of SPOILERS.  

1) I wondered when the different communities lost contact with one another.  They had to know the others existed, or had existed, and the Guardians were keeping the path stocked with food at the request of the Sisters... but when did they lose contact?

2) It's interesting how the two communities that we see evolved after the plague hit.  Mary's community eventually became ultra-religious while the other community, the one Gabriella was from, seemed to be much more modern and liberal.  They had shops and a marketplace set up, while in Mary's community everything was provided by the Sisterhood.  Gabriella's community also had access to the truth, in the form of the old articles that Mary discovers in the attic, while back in Mary's community, they're taught (by the Sisterhood) that the Unconsecrated happened as a result of sin.  It makes me wonder if the founder of Mary's community wasn't a religious person, who saw the plague as a sign of humanity's sins.   I wonder what the other sixteen (or however many there are) communities were like.  And how many of them survived.  And what they knew about the origins of the plague. 

3) When is the sequel coming out?  Because I dearly want to know what happened to Angus.

END SPOILERS

Oh, an article in the New York Times about the Kindle: how can you tell what someone is reading if you can't see the book they're reading?

Mhh, I think I'll go outside now.  Or maybe I'll just take a wee nap here on the couch.

Decisions, decisions.