tips for bloggers

Posted on May 2, 2011 by pagesofjulia

How presumptuous am I, to be offering tips unsolicited? I know. And none of us is perfect. But I mean these in the most constructive way possible. As a reader of blogs, I see things that make me cringe or turn away. We all want our blogs to be read, right? So in a collegial spirit, these are tips on what perhaps we should avoid, in the hopes of happily reading one another’s blogs. And thanks for reading mine. 🙂

Things that annoy me about other people’s blogs sometimes

  1. Wordless Wednesday pictures that have captions made out of words (“this is a such-and-such tree at such-and-such time of day in such-and-such locale”) – I think this defeats the wordless-ness.
  2. too much paranormal/fantasy/romance (any combination of the three) – this is purely a personal preference, what can I say. nothing personal, but I might not be back if this is a very strong theme. perhaps it would be more fair and general to say that I personally prefer reading blogs that cover a variety of genres rather than just one or two kinds of books.
  3. book “review” or write-up that is half or more (or any lengthy amount) someone else’s blurb, or quotations from the book – if that’s all you have to say, just advise that I go find the book. I can read numerous blurbs on the interwebs, Amazon, etc. – I’m on your blog because I want YOUR thoughts.
  4. light text on dark background! grey text! pale text on a vibrant background picture! etc. if I cannot read your text you are driving me nuts!
  5. poor grammar, lack of punctuation, lots of typos, run-on sentences – surely I am a hypocrite somewhere on this page. but I do try to proofread before I publish. I think it shows respect for what I’m doing, and some pride in my work. no one else is going to respect your work if you don’t show some respect for it. I recommend a few minutes to proofread!
  6. blogs about blogging… sometimes get a bit too meta for me. ahahahaha, NOW I am being hypocritical! really though, think twice. and, chastened, I shall try to take my own advice.

Not annoying:

  1. the “I make a tiny amount of money if you buy this book” disclaimer – now that I’m informed, I’m fine with you making tiny amounts of money.
  2. a conversational style, including slang and whimsical, purposeful misspellings. as long as this is your personal voice (and not some cutesy trendy conformism) I’m pleased at your individuality. case in point: books i done read is really charming, funny, and one of my favorite blogs.

How about you? Anything that bothers you (or doesn’t) about the blogs you read? All tips appreciated. 🙂

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how to blog, cont’d

Posted on March 19, 2011 by pagesofjulia

So I’ve been wanting to share with you another how-to-blog kind of post I found quite a while ago. In fact, this one is so good I feel the need to make very little comment.

I found this post by Thomas at My Porch at about the time it was posted, at the end of 2010; I don’t know how I came across it, but I liked it so much I have been following this blog ever since. The parts that dictate what blogs he does, and doesn’t, find interesting were the best parts for me; I took his tips to heart because they made so much sense to me. I’ve reproduced the relevant bits over here in short:

Blog posts I am most likely to read?

1. Anything to do with a list. Even if I don’t agree with the criteria or the subject, a post about lists will always get my attention. Lol. I, too, enjoy lists, and here I’ve just been given permission to go crazy with them.

2. Anything with pictures of books. I prefer the stacks of owned books. For some reason piles from the library fail to inspire me. I did indulge on this one this week, but I don’t very often do stacks of book, let alone the just-acquired stacks so popular in blog posts. Frankly, I can’t get excited about someone else’s shopping, whether at a bookstore or a library. I want to hear about these books when you read them; until then I don’t much care.

3. The more personal and newsy the better. I love hearing about your hobbies, your travel, your cooking and baking, your pets, and even your kids (unless it falls into the “children are our future” camp of over adulation). This is the one I have most taken to heart; I felt encouraged by this statement. I, too, care about the personal aspects. I’m not trying to read your diary; I’m interested in a reading blog first and foremost. But, I think our reading lives do bleed into our personal lives and vice versa, and if I get to read some personal musings (like what Sheila does, over at Book Journey), I feel a bit better-connected.

Blog posts I am least likely to read? These are mostly good for an lol.

1. Anything with vampires. I just don’t dig the paranormal and I find this genre tedious.

2. Young adult fiction being read and reviewed endlessly by grown women. I am not dissing YA, and I am not dissing those who have a professional interest, those who review them for a YA audience, or those who review one or two of them in passing. But this year I was a judge for the YA category in a blog beauty pageant and it really soured me on the legions of twenty-something females who appear to be frightened of leaving their tween years behind them. One expects them to have Justin Bieber posters on their walls and fluffy pom-poms on the ends of their purple pens.

3. Reviews of audio books. I read and enjoy reviews of TV shows and films, but I just pass over audio book reviews. Interesting. I don’t do a lot of audiobooks, so fair enough; but I’m not sure I’m against reading about them especially. As long as it’s still about the book, it’s a book review to me – unless you’ve spent a bunch of time discussing the reader’s voice, I guess.

4. The one million Booker Prize recaps. I used to pay attention to these, but there just seem to be too many of them these days.

5. Anything by bloggers who seem to be completely devoid of any sense of humor.

6. ARC reviews. I won’t say that I never read them, but I prefer to see what bloggers read when they get to choose for themselves. (Full disclosure: I have reviewed one ARC. But I would have picked up the Maggie O’Farrell novel anyway.)

Biggest shortcomings as a book blogger?

1. My over the top, intolerant, un-nuanced pronouncements that make me feel temporarily smug (see the answers to the previous question).

2. My inability to recap plots in a way that isn’t boring or overly reductive. Here, here. I’m also conflicted about plot summaries. Part of me feels like if you’re interested in this book, you have 1,000 plot summaries at your fingertips (if you know how to read blogs, I’m assuming you’re also comfortable with google, amazon, b&n…). Why do I need to re-summarize it for you? But then, I would hate for any post or review to seem gapingly incomplete. I, personally, go back and forth on the necessity of plot summaries at all. Perhaps you’ve noticed?

3. I am sure there are more…but I am too lazy to think of them.

4. I get lazy.

One thing I wish every blog included?

Geographic location of the blogger. I don’t need to know the street you live on, but I really like knowing where a blogger lives. And unless you live in Gibraltar it would be nice if you could be a little more specific than just noting the country. Again something I took to heart – I immediately went back into my blog and confirmed that I do have my hometown of Houston, Texas clearly stated. I share this feeling; I like reading about what kind of weather you’re having, for instance, and then I need to know where you are, don’t I? It’s snowing, really, where? (It’s about 80 degrees here right now.)

Things that puzzle me (good for more lols)

1. British bloggers tend to get lots of influenza. What’s up with that? I worry about you all.

2. Mailbox Mondays. Who is sending all of these books? Is there an international directory of mailing addresses that I don’t have access to? I don’t necessarily want to get books, but I sometimes want to send books. But I feel like sending books unsolicited would seem a little creepy. How does one ask for an address without seeming to be a stalker? Thomas, thank you for addressing the elephant in the room. I have never understood either. However, I work in a giant world of books and really would not want them to start flowing in through the mailbox, too, so I am NOT soliciting, thank you.

3. Feeds.

4. Mincemeat.

5. Why I am using up months’ worth of blog post topics in one out of control stream of consciousness.

Well, anyway, some of that got a little silly, but I couldn’t resist borrowing Thomas’s humor for a laugh over here! (Take it as a compliment, please, sir.) Since we addressed the question of How To Blog earlier this week, I wanted to include some of the tips I found and appreciated at My Porch. Do you have any agreements or disagreements with his ideas?

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How To Blog (I’m still learning, myself)

Posted on March 15, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Today I was fascinated by a post I found on Eva’s blog, A Striped Armchair. (By the way, welcome back Eva! Missed you!) A commenter asked her about how she composes posts – mostly, how quickly, and with how much editing. This question caught my attention because I was asked the same thing recently (out loud, in the real world, but still). My answer is similar to Eva’s: I mostly write off the cuff, and almost always publish in the same session as I compose. But that’s in the nature of my blog; I intended it to be about my personal responses to the world, mostly books, but occasionally other stuff, too. I (try to) always check first for typos and broken links, but generally I then click “publish” and move on. This is not my full-time job.

Interrelated to this question, for Eva, is the question of whether she “reviews” or “recommends” books. This question spoke to me as well. I conceived of a reading blog initially while taking a class in Readers Advisory services – meaning, the service librarians provide in helping readers find books they might enjoy. This art-science involves listening to what readers have enjoyed in the past, and seeking books that share similar qualities. It definitively excludes making a personal judgment or statement about these books. I enjoyed my Readers Advisory class (the second I’ve taken in fact) and love the idea of the service; but as it turns out, my blog never really went that way. Because this is my personal space, I like to keep my voice, and it just feels natural to tell you how I feel about the books I read.

I follow about 40 blogs, ideally checking in every day. These are mostly reading blogs (a few writing blogs, and one or two miscellaneous/funny ones I just can’t resist). And the ones I enjoy most are the ones in which I can hear a (preferably hilarious and/or thoughtful and reflective) personal voice describing that reader’s reaction to a book or a life event. I find real people and personal reactions far more interesting than clinical book reviews. Perhaps that’s part of why I’m comfortable letting my personal perspective live in my blog.

Eva directs her readers to another post here, in which The Boston Bibliophile debates the appropriateness of a personal voice in a bibliophile’s blog. I don’t disagree one bit with her conclusion to keep her personal life out of her blog. I mean, golly, in a world of blogs, personal websites (I have one of those, too), facebook, twitter, and the rest, I fully support someone seeking a little privacy. And maybe The Boston Bibliophile has other reasons for keeping that blog a bit anonymous; she does mention that she has another, private, more personal blog for friends & family. All of that makes sense to me, for her.

But for me, it makes sense to do it this way. For example, to respond to one of The BB’s questions, yes, I think one’s religious sensibilities does color our reading of at least those books that overtly involve religion. Every book I read is filtered through my own set of experiences, beliefs, and understandings of the world; how could it possibly be otherwise? Since I’m not speaking for a corporation or anything, I feel most comfortable recognizing my own perspective when I write about books. I find other bloggers’ “reviews” (or recommendations) most interesting when they involve the personal. But, I’d never seen The BB’s blog before today. Maybe I’ll find it fascinating; I’m not judging, but merely responding to the two above posts.

Thank you to Eva and The Boston Bibliophile for giving me the chance to consider my style here at pagesofjulia. These are my pages, and I’m comfortable with the influence of julia on them, but it’s always a good idea to think one’s position through!

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Midweek Miscellany & hemingWay of the Day: on Spanish whisky

Posted on March 2, 2011 by pagesofjulia

I have a sprinkling of things to share with you today.

One. I have updated my blogroll (look right–> and down some) to include all the blogs that I (try to) visit every day. And you will see ABOVE the blogroll, a short list of My Very Favorites. Check ’em out.

Two. I have a very favorite blog post of the day to share with you, too: it’s a review of a book called To Bed With Grand Music by Marghanita Laski and you can find this delightful post here. I am super intrigued by the idea of this book, and it’s completely due to the discussion of it by the Book Snob, so thank you Book Snob! This one goes on the list. Check that out, too.

Three. I am still reading By-Line: Ernest Hemingway, and still loving every minute of it. I may have to put it down at some point to pick up An Incomplete Revenge, the next Maisie book. But fortunately, as a collection of short pieces, By-Line is a pretty good book to put down and pick back up. I should also confess to now being in the middle of no fewer than five books. Hm. (The others are Whatever You Say I Am by Anthony Bozza; The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien; Dust by Martha Grimes; and The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte. Eclectic, a bit.)

Four. Now for my daily quotation out of By-Line.

Beer is scarce and whisky is almost unobtainable. Store windows are full of Spanish imitations of all cordials, whiskies and vermouths. These are not recommended for internal use, although I am employing something called Milords Ecosses Whisky on my face after shaving. It smarts a little, but I feel very hygenic. I believe it would be possible to cure athlete’s foot with it, but one must by very careful not to spill it on one’s clothes because it eats wool.

(from Hemingway’s dispatch on Sept. 30, 1937 from Madrid, in covering the Spanish Civil War. incidentally the subject of perhaps my most favorite novel ever, For Whom the Bell Tolls, for which Hem pretty obviously collected his material during the very time when this dispatch was written.)

Does this make you laugh? It does me. I’m having a good day of laughing while I read; I usually laugh at the posts of Useless Beauty, books i done read, TERRIBLEMINDS, and Hyperbole and a Half, too. It’s a good day when you laugh out loud while reading.

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book ideas from other bloggers (thank you!)

Posted on January 26, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Well! Perhaps it is taking the easy way out, but today I feel compelled to share with you no less than THREE books I found on other blogs that I want to read.

On Reading Matters I discovered A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn. Kim describes it as “a highly intelligent literary crime novel… that brims with a slow burning anger” about apartheid, set in South Africa in the 1950’s. She makes it sound beautiful and meaningful and, well, I can’t think of a better phrase to get me interested than “intelligent literary crime novel.”

Then I came across The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha at Jenn’s Bookshelves. This is the story of a family who loses a beloved son, and the mother’s coming to terms with his killer who is on death row; and there is some hint of mystery on top of what Jenn has shared in her review. It sounds captivating.


Finally, I read Raych’s review over at books i done read (which, by the way, is a hugely fun & hilarious blog I’ve recently discovered and really enjoy) of Black Juice by Margo Lanagan. This is a collection of short stories, about which Raych shows ambivalence, which in my opinion is wise. I’m not against short stories, collected or otherwise, but I’m… cautious. I like her, well, juicy description of these stories as “DARK and WEIRD and SAD AS HELL” (her caps, not mine) and I’m intrigued.

I guess it’s a bit odd that I read so many blogs (probably between 30 and 40) and pick up relatively few ideas for books I really want to read. (And considering my history, I may or may not get around to any of these three. I have to be a little bit fanatically interested before I actively seek out a book; there are just too many attractive options stacked up in my immediate vicinity.) So, I wanted to share these three.

Mr. Playboy is still entertaining me. 🙂 Have a lovely Wednesday and perhaps (fingers crossed) I’ll get to do a Book Beginnings post with you on Friday! Hope hope!

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Daily blog helpers, and bravery.

Posted on January 20, 2011 by pagesofjulia

This morning I discovered, from WordPress, two blogs that offer us help when we’re stumped for a daily post. This is not often my problem, as you may have noticed I sometimes post multiple times in one day… I’m sorry if this is against the rules… I just post when I feel it. Of course, the other side of the coin is, I sometimes don’t post on the weekends or on holidays. I often just have too much going on, involving too much moving around, to sit down in front of the computer! You’re so kind to be patient with me.

For this reason I don’t feel the need to sign up for the Daily Post Challenge, although it’s a nice idea. I do, however, appreciate their starter topics everyday. If a blogger were to have writer’s block, then, there’s a blog for that! I liked a recent topic I found and will respond to it shortly.

First, though, I wanted to tell you about the next daily blog helper. This one is called A Daily Challenge, and the challenges offered are not reading challenges (whew! daily?!) but more like life challenges. Trying one of these tip-of-the-day style challenges would give one something to blog about, is the idea. I’ll hold that one in reserve.

At A Daily Post I found this topic interesting. It asks us to “describe a time when you witnessed bravery: a) in your profession b) with your own eyes c) in someone you admire.” An answer to option a) immediately came to mind. I remember telling the Husband and later parents and who knows who else this story, because it touched me.

I work in a cancer hospital, and I see all sorts of things go on, many of which are not pretty. I see a lot of inspiration and bravery and helpfulness; I see people do good. I also see people behaving in silly, inconsiderate, rude, or nonsensical ways. (I work at forgiving or understanding these behaviors, because gosh knows what people are going through. I do hope we could all maintain enough humanity to be kind to our fellow humans when we’re sick, but who am I to judge? never having been through something this painful.) I see a certain amount of disfigurement and physical unwellness; it took a little practice at first not to blink. I confess that the first time I saw a woman with obviously only one breast, it startled me. (The use of prostheses clearly saves us bystanders from a certain amount of embarrassment; but I think it was brave of that woman to walk around in her body without apologizing.) So, I see a lot of things, happy and sad, loving, brave, and sordid. I try not to judge and I mostly succeed in not bringing it home with me.

However, I saw something, oh, several months ago that sticks with me. I was walking down a hallway, headed to lunch. A youngish couple was walking down the hall, the father pushing their teenage daughter in a wheelchair. (Old enough to have a teenage daughter, but still quite young by cancer-hospital standards.) The girl was hunched over the vomit tray in her lap, with a towel pressed to her mouth. I couldn’t see her face in this position, but something about the set of her shoulders told me she was in pain. Her parents were chatting cheerfully about what the rest of their day held.

This moment in time took my breath away. Such a simple thing. Was it the patient’s youth? I don’t think it was; I do see young patients (much younger than this one) and it’s very sad, but that’s not what made her family special. I think it was her parents’ cheerfulness, their pretense that things were normal and okay. The impression I got from their demeanor was of such bravery. This couple is presumably having their lives torn apart by what’s happening to their daughter and the extreme pain she appeared to be in. And their response was to normalize it and be cheerful. I imagine that this is a special service they’re doing for their daughter. It might be easier to cry and moan and descry the unfairness of it all; but this is the last thing their daughter needs from them. To me, this was a moment of extraordinary bravery and unselfishness, a favor done for a child by her parents. I’m doing a lot of interpreting here; but I saw what I saw. This is what the vignette spoke of to me.

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