My bud Puss Reboots provided this week’s Booking Through Thursday question.

How much do reviews (good and bad) affect your choice of reading? If you see a bad review of a book you wanted to read, do you still read it? If you see a good review of a book you’re sure you won’t like, do you change your mind and give the book a try?

It depends on the review and what it says.

If Publishers Weekly pans something, they give really good reasons: rambling plot, not much happens, stock characters. Those are warning signs for me to not add something to my wish list.

In this age of book blogging — which I fully support and think is a great way to build buzz about a book, especially the organic kind of buzz — it’s important to read reviews carefully. “Everyone else loved this, so I thought I’d read it and they’re right! It’s great!” may be something that as a writer I’d love to hear but as a reader with WAY too many books here to catch up on and a wish list of 1600 more, I need more critical thinking.

To be honest? I’ve done exactly what I’m being critical of. I need to dig deeper within myself and give you guys more. If we all try to elevate our game, we can easily prove wrong the people who are so critical of book blogs.

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To celebrate the publication of my latest review, this time of L.J. Sellers’ debut novel, The Sex Club, I’m giving my copy away.

Leave a comment here (with contact information of some sort) if you’d like to win my book. Be sure to visit the review at Front Street Reviews, too ’cause I’m proud of it. I’ll announce the winner on Saturday, 12 January.

Yep, like always, this is a world-wide contest. Yep, past winners can enter again.

Did you see this contest mentioned somewhere? Tell me where and I’ll give linky love back to my helpful pimpers. Starting with my bud Breeni at BreeniBooks and continuing to the fun folk at A Book Blogger’s Diary, Angela at Prize-a-tron, and Laura Williams’ Musings. Are you next?

Thanks to all the folk who entered my contest for my copy of The Sex Club, the debut novel by L. J. Sellers.

The winner is Shelly!

I’ve dropped her an e-mail via her profile at the above link, but if you see her, please offer her your congratulations.

As for the method of choosing our winner, I did the same thing as last time: I asked #1 to pick a number between 1 and 29, the number of comments/entries left. The person who’d left that comment was my winner. (and if you’re looking over the comments and asking what would have happened if he’d picked me, I’d have had him pick again. It’s a good book and I’m sorry to part with it, but I’d rather share its goodness with someone.)

I hope the rest of you will check out this new author, and keep hanging out here with me and the fictional crew.

What a great question from our friends at Booking Through Thursday to help me get back into the swing of things!

1. How did you come across your favorite author(s)? Recommended by a friend? Stumbled across at a bookstore? A book given to you as a gift?
2. Was it love at first sight? Or did the love affair evolve over a long acquaintance?

To answer the first question, all of the above. I’m always glad to talk books with people, and that includes reading book reviews (usually PW, but I found Pam Houston through the NYT Book Review) and book blogs. Not to mention the book sites I used to hang around (and have been trying to visit more often lately; I miss those guys!) — after awhile, you know whose recommendations to trust.

Some of my favorite discoveries that spring immediately to mind:
Well, I mentioned Pam Houston and the New York Times Book Review.

Jeanne Ray was a hand-sell at a bookshop on Sanibel Island, Florida.

Kim Harrison… not sure. I think from my friends at one of those book sites. (I’m not naming it to help preserve its sanctity, but those of you who know it should take a bow)

Jennifer Estep was a discovery I made because I won a copy of her book and offered to review it for Front Street Reviews.

Linda Fairstein is a really good example of the books I’ve discovered just because their plots intrigued me, so I decided to take a risk on them.

Overall, I’d have to say that’s how I find most of my favorite authors. I find a book with an intriguing plot (NOT hook, but plot) and read it. If I love it, I go find other books by the same author. If not, I move on. I’ve got literally hundreds of books waiting for me in my office. I’m not going to hold up a discovery so I can read the backlist of an author I’m lukewarm about.

Which pretty much answers the second part of this question. It’s either love at first sight or I’m moving on. There’s just too much out there, waiting for me to discover it.

Now, if I find a book by an author I was previously lukewarm about but the plot’s intriguing? Well, I’ll give them another shot, sure. Intrigue is intrigue and I like to have my curiosity satisfied; what can I say?

Wow. What a year it’s been. Lots of new characters here at the blog, particularly Roadie Poet and Springer. You’ll definitely see more of RP; I’m into him, too.

But this is about the books I’ve read over the past twelve months. I’m not quite at 100 read for the year, but there are five days left and a trip in there (more on that trip to come), and I know it’ll be close. I can do it.

So let’s take a few minutes and look at some of the highlights from my reading year:

It took me five books before I fell in love with something this year, and when I did, it was a doozy. Clay’s Quilt, by Silas House. I even blogged about it here, so go back and see what I had to say.

Then I began my year-long reviewing blitz, as I think of it. First was LL Cool J’s Platinum Workout. Check out the name of my post when I told you about it! Now that I’m reviewing a bit more steadily, it seems funny to see how excited I was.

I also read two good ones: The Potter’s House by Rosie Thomas and The Wild Girl, by Jim Fergus. I’d loved Fergus’ debut, One Thousand White Women, and this follow-up was not a letdown. The Potter’s House was a neat read with a kicker of an ending.

Unthinkable? I don’t think so. Joshua Braff’s debut novel knocked my socks off. Will there be more from Braff? I don’t know, but I certainly hope so — so long as it’s of this same quality.

I revisited a now-favorite writer, Jeanne Ray, this time with Step-Ball-Change, a dance move that always makes me smile when I hear it used in real life, like it has been lately in my household. And right after, I had my first taste of James Alan Gardner via Expendable, which gave new meaning to the phrase, “Oh, shit.”

2007 was the year to catch up on my Linda Fairstein books. I’m now up to Entombed. I can see it from where I sit; that’s a good sign. Hopefully it’ll get read in 2008. You’d think after reading four or so of her novels in a fairly short period, I’d burn out, but nope. I can’t wait to see what trouble lies ahead for Alex next.

My first Tess Gerritsen, whose blog I really like, my first Nancy Martin (who is a local!), my first Susan McBride, my first Allana Martin, catching up with oldies by Marcia Muller and Edna Buchanan… it was a big year for reading mysteries, so I softened it up with some of my favorite graphic novelist’s works: Joann Sfar writing with Lewis Trondheim.

Nevada Barr‘s books run hot and cold with me, but the discovery of debut author Jennifer Estep sure soothed my crankies. As you guys know, I’ve become a huge Estep fan and can hardly wait for the 2008 release of Jinx.

My favorite book title of the year? Lily Bret’s You Gotta Have Balls. NOT what you’re thinking, folks. This was a fun, breezy read that my book club chose, probably so I’d stop having fun with the title. And did I have fun!

I did some cross-cultural reading, with Victor Villasenor’s Rain of Gold. This huge, fat book was a great read, although I’m not sure if his follow-up works could come close to matching the scale of this debut. And I kept up the cross-cultural stuff, sort of, with the self-published phenomenon, Rashi’s Daughters: Book One: Jehoved. Another book club pick, I can see why this did well. It’s well-crafted and I’m eager to see if author Maggie Anton’s shift to a major publisher fixed the nits I had with her writing, itself. So yes, my book club will be reading Book Two: Miriam at some point.

Speaking of book club, we also read Mary Doria Russell’s A Thread of Grace. Read what I had to say about it here.

At long last, I got into Kelley Armstrong‘s Women of the Underworld series, reading the first two. I spent some time with Rachel Caine, again, and, of course, finished off the Harry Potter series.

More reviews, this time for Colleen Gleason‘s first two books. Make that another sequel I hope to get my hands on during the upcoming year…

And more local writers: Lila Shaara’s beautiful Every Secret Thing and Rebecca Drake’s The Next Killing (the review for which is up at Front Street). Friends, too: Ann Pino’s My New-Found Land was great fun, and KL Going’s The Garden of Eve is a quick, thought-provoking middle-grade book. I can hardly wait to catch up enough to sink into Going’s St. Iggy. And my e-published friends, who have shown me a whole brave new world and new ways of reading. Robyn Rotham and Red Garnier; you guys rock. What a great way to be exposed to e-books.

But the read of the year? The one that has impacted me the most deeply? Nope, not The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green, even though I can’t believe I said that. You guys know what my best of the year pick is — Nikki Sixx’s The Heroin Diaries. I still say it’s a marketing failure, given that it’s got its own soundtrack. And I still say it ought to be required reading in high schools. There’s nothing like a funeral to make you feel alive.

Happy reading in 2008, everyone. Let me know if you read any of these; I’d love to know what you think. As always.

Oops. Almost forgot this week!

Booking through Thursday asks:

1. What fiction book (or books) would you nominate to be the best new book published in 2007?
(Older books that you read for the first time in 2007 don’t count.)
2. What non-fiction book (or books) would you nominate to be the best new book published in 2007?
(Older books that you read for the first time in 2007 don’t count.)
3. And, do “best of” lists influence your reading?

Let’s go backwards.

Yes, best-of lists influence my reading. If a book shows up on 90% of the lists, I’ll often refuse to read it, figuring it’s overhyped and I probably won’t like it. The list of books I’ve been stung with like this is pretty long.

As for non-fiction, you guys know me. Other than the occasional rock-and-roll-themed book I’ll review for Front Street Reviews, I avoid non-fiction.

So… that brings us to fiction. And to be honest, I have no clue, other than Jennifer Estep‘s books, and the latest Colleen Gleason, what else I’ve read this year that was actually published in 2007.

I’d do better to give you a round-up of what I’ve read in 2007, and I’ll be doing that before the 27th, so if you’re in town, stay tuned. If you’re going to be travelling, add me to your reader so it’ll be there when you get home.

Merry Christmas to my celebrating friends, happy Eid to those who are about to end their celebrations, and safe travels to all.

And if you need something to fill your time, there’s a cool interview posted at Front Street you shouldn’t miss, as well as Bunnygirl‘s Holiday Flash Fiction Carnival.

I figured I’d take a few minutes and update my From the Stacks challenge. I’m doing quite well. Sort of.

Here’s my original post.

As of Thanksgiving, I’ve read:
Auralia’s Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet
The Hook, by Donald E. Westlake
Death of a Saint Maker, by Allana Martin
The Heroin Diaries, by Nikki Sixx
Something else that was really badly written that I didn’t finish
Stolen, by Kelly Armstrong
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger (I must be missing something; I don’t get it)
My New-Found Land by Diana Channing (ed by Ann Pino)

I decided I needed to read the first Kathy Reichs, which I have here in the house, before Death du Jour. And The Historian? I’ve decided to save it for the end of this month.

I need to pause here and say that Allana Martin’s Death of a Saint Maker (links above) was quite the pleasant surprise. I’ve added her other books to my lists at my favorite book trading sites and as soon as I’m further caught up on what’s here, I’ll be picking those up, too. If anyone would like my copy, holler. I’ll send it out to you, complete with promo bookmarks from other authors, many of whom hang out here. Really. If you want the book, leave a comment. If I get more than one, I’ll either pick someone I particularly like, or I’ll let The Opening Act pick the winner.

I’ve got until January 30 for this challenge. I may not make my 100 books for the year (I’m at 92 right now; I’m thinking it’s not gonna happen) but I think it’s safe to say that even if I don’t finish the other books I’d stuck on my initial list, I’ll at least read five — which was all the challenge called for. *wink*

As for the Jewish lit challenge… nada yet, you’ll notice. I’m reading a debut mystery for review at Front Street Reviews right now, but I might fix that whole Jewish reading challenge drought very soon. We’ll have to see what sort of mood I’m in when I finish this.

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway for Jeffrey Overstreet’s Auralia’s Colors. I hope you’ll stay tuned ’cause I’d like to give more books away; I have too many books and too many points at the book trading sites as it is.

Our winner today is WindyCindy. I dropped her an e-mail, but hotmail doesn’t always like my https://westofmars.com address, so if you know WindyCindy, please ask her to get in touch with me by the 18th (that’s a week from now) so I can send her book out.

And don’t forget to check out Overstreet’s reaction to my review. Click here for that. Pretty cool stuff, all around.

If you still want a copy of the book, use my link and pick yourself up one… It’s one you may not want to miss.

Thanks again to all my entrants. And to #1, who picked the winner about as randomly as a random number generator could (“Dude, I have 55 comments. Pick a number between one and fifty five.”).

For those of you itching for the end of Springer’s saga and word of how last night’s totally fictional benefit show went, stay tuned. It’ll continue with this week’s Thursday Thirteen and then one more fictional snippet. And then… Springer might be retired from the blog for a bit. I like the dude; let’s see if he’s got a book in him.

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To keep the celebration of Hanukkah going and to point your attention toward my review of Jeffrey Overstreet’s ground-breaking debut novel, Auralia’s Colors, over at Front Street Reviews, I thought I’d — reluctantly! — give my copy to one of you.

Simply leave a message in this post and on Dec. 11th, the last night of Hanukkah, I’ll pick a winner at random and share this great read. You can be anywhere in the world. You can celebrate any religion, sleep with either gender (or both), have any color skin, be right-handed, be left-handed, be like me and be ambidextrous … the possibilities are endless.

The only thing I ask is that you read the book and tell me what you thought of it.

One more thing: I’ve registered it at BookCrossing. There’s no need for you to make a journal entry, although it’s fun to watch where a book travels and what people think of it.

Really. Read it. That’s enough.

Have a wonderful Hanukkah. May the week be full of light and miracles.

(and for those of you waiting for more about Springer, keep reading. There will be more about this year’s Musical Hanukkah Celebration. If you’re lost about Springer, click here. The link in the Hanukkah Celebration will only take you to last year’s post, so with this link, you can read from the beginning.)

Edited on Wednesday to say: check out Overstreet’s reaction to my review here

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Do you have a favourite book, now out of print, that you would like to see become available again? (I have several…)

Again, I was going to pass on this one, and again, it was Karen! to the rescue.

Let’s stop and pretend, because we all know I prefer to pretend than be bored by real life. *grin*

Well, maybe we don’t have to pretend. Let’s dream, instead. Of a future that, when a book’s print rights expire, will include a way for those rights to be resold, maybe on a royalty-only basis (but a HIGH royalty basis. Like ridiculously high) to a system that is essentially digital and POD. Yes, I said the dirty word: Print-on-Demand.

Because let’s face it: for almost every book on the planet, there’s someone who’d like to have it. Maybe they can’t or won’t pay a collector’s price for it. Maybe they don’t want a collector’s edition in the first place. What they want is an old friend they can return to, time and again.

If it’s done digitally and with a POD format, people can have these books when they want them. Books can be available forever.

And authors can have the option to re-sell the rights to a publisher who might want to promote the book and make a really slick copy that would be sold through bookstores around the world. Yep, the POD option would go away … until the rights expire again.

Let’s face it: most of us readers may be willing to wait for it to come out in paperback. But how many times have you sat down to pick up a book you’ve really wanted and bought whatever you find at a used book site? I’ll admit, I do it all the time (that’s why I have this small trading problem).

This means I don’t think that people would wait for a book to return to its POD status. And who said it’d be cheaper that way, anyway? Not if an author would get the stupidly high royalty that I personally think we’re entitled to!

No, it’s not a perfect model I’m putting forth here. Remember, I’m dreaming here. Because let’s face it: most books go out of print because the demand’s dried up. Maybe one or two would sell on my imperfect model. But maybe enough would that a publisher would sit up, take notice, and buy the rights and promote the book and earn a few bucks.

And maybe publishers will promote all their mid-list and new authors, too. I know. I know.

Like I said, it’s only a dream.

It seems fitting to post this today, since Hanukkah just started.

I run my book club. I think I’ve mentioned that before.

It’s a Jewish book club. Which is why the Jewish Literature Challenge was a no-brainer for me to sign up for. It runs from Hanukkah to Passover (that’d be now until April, for anyone like me who’s too lazy to consult a calendar.)

Upcoming for our group are books including:

Kabbalah, by Rabbi Lawrence Kushner
Disobedience, by Naomi Alderman
The Kommandant’s Girl, by Pam Jenoff

(I’d like to pause here and point out that all three books came to my attention around last year’s Debut a Debut reading contest!)

A Day of Small Beginnings, by Lisa Pearl Rosenbaum
Rashi’s Daughters: Miriam, by Maggie Anton
The Last Days of Dogtown, by Anita Diamant
Dirty Sally, by Michael Simon
and
Getting Old is Murder, by Rita Lakin.

Now, this is our list of potential reads. Clearly, in four months, we’ll only read three or four of them. The challenge asks us to read at least five books, so I’m looking over my list of what’s coming up on my personal stack. I see a Daniel Silva or two — good stuff. I see Orson Scott Card‘s Sarah (thanks Breeni!) and A Blessing on the Moon, by Joseph Skibell. And as I walk around my office and look at the piles in here, I see more, more, more.

In short, because of book club, I’m always on the lookout for new Jewish lit to bring to the group. As I’ve mentioned before, we read as varied a body of work as we can. (this makes me think of my recent Booking Through Thursday, where I talked about palate cleansers.)

I’m open to suggestions, always. Both for book club and not.

Just remember… I prefer fiction. Go figure.

(and don’t forget to enter the contest for my copy of Auralia’s Colors!)

I wasn’t going to answer this week’s Booking Through Thursday question. I have so much other stuff to bring you guys, and the past two days have been crazy busy with running nonstop that I didn’t want to give a pithy one-word answer.

Here’s the question:

Do you get on a roll when you read, so that one book leads to the next, which leads to the next, and so on and so on?

I don’t so much mean something like reading a series from beginning to end, but, say, a string of books that all take place in Paris. Or that have anthropologists as the main character. Or were written in the same year. Something like that… Something that strings them together in your head, and yet, otherwise could be different genres, different authors…

Really. I wasn’t inspired.

But then I came across the answer given by my friend Karen! and I knew I had my reply. Karen reads more than I do; she read 200 books in 2006. (By contrast, I *only* read 144.)

Her comment was that when she reads a lot of one particular kind of book, everything tends to run together in her head.

And you know what? I have to agree. It happens to me, too. And it’s sad.

As writers, we all want our works to stand out in our reader’s brains. We want our readers to tell their friends to read OUR books. Comparisons to other authors are flattering, absolutely. But when you confuse something we slaved over for something that someone else slaved over… well, that means we’re not doing our jobs as well as we should be.

And that we readers aren’t doing our jobs as well as we should be, either. No matter how many books of one genre we want to devour, we owe it to ourselves and to the authors to switch things up. Cleanse the palate, as it were.

So instead of rolling with an author, a series, a genre, take a break. Eat some lemon sorbet or crystallized ginger. Cleanse that palate and then return to what you’re hooked on.

I bet whatever it is that’s caught you on fire will be that much better for it.

And who knows. Maybe you’ll find something else that sets you on the same sort of fire.

Happy reading!

Today’s Booking Through Thursday comes from Conspiracy-Girl:
I’m curious how many of us write notes in our books. Are you a Footprint Leaver or a Preservationist?

To me, writing in a book — especially a novel (or for those of you who’ll get it: fiction novel) — is tantamount to taking a Sharpie and writing on my face. While I’m awake.

I mean, really. Okay. You’ve got to make notes. You’ve been struck deeply by this book. I get that. That’s a good thing. That’s what we want.

But don’t forget that you’re holding a representation of something that someone spent a lot of time crafting. That someone else spent (hopefully) a good deal of attention on, editing. Not to mention the typesetters (do they still use those?), the agents, the muckety-mucks who hold meetings and discuss how they’re going to help this book succeed (does that still happen? Hey, I warned you I was cranky. Oh, no, I didn’t. I deleted that part of the post. Sorry. Okay, then. Watch out. I’m cranky.)…

So now you’re writing on something that a whole slew of people worked on. People have hopes, dreams, and mortgage payments riding on this. And you’re turning it into your own personal notepad.

Really, take a Sharpie. Deface me.

Of course, I hear Trevor in the background, mocking me. He thinks that if you write in a book and then want to do an online trade with it or something… well, it’s possible no one will want it; most people don’t want books that have been written in. Maybe instead of trading for it, the person who wants to read it will go out and buy it instead.

That helps sales. That’s a good thing.

So maybe… when you write on my face with a Sharpie, slip a buck in my pocket for royalties, will ya?

Okay. In an effort to alleviate the crankies, I’m gonna go work on the follow-up to Trevor’s Song now. Writing always makes me feel better, and I ran down to the mall today, only to be ignored by the help in a certain cosmetics store. That took up valuable writing time. And some of you complain that I don’t reveal enough of myself in my Thirteens. Hello? Do you really want more of these vile crankies?

This week’s Booking Through Thursday is another good one.

Would you say that you read about the same amount now as when you were younger? More? Less?
Why?

I’ve read less this year than in the past two. Between writing and agent hunting and … well, okay. My feed reader (over 370 subscriptions!), I’m not reading as much as I did in 2005 and 2006, both of which were banner years. This year, I’m hoping to read 100 books. It’s not looking great, sad to say.

The problem with this smaller number (as if 100 is small!) is that I’ve got literally hundreds of books sitting here, waiting to be read. I need to read those before I’ll let myself buy more — but don’t you know that my plans for Sunday, since the Tour Manager will be out of town and I lose my Sunday morning to work, is to drop the kids off at Sunday School and then dash out and buy … a book. And then, I’m going to sit at the temple and read it!

It’s The Heroin Diaries that I’m planning to buy. I know you’re not surprised to hear that from me, of all people.

So, yeah. The next time you send me a book and it takes years for me to get to it, blame it on Nikki. Or the heroin. Or Trevor. He likes hanging with other bass players, especially ones more messed up than he is.

I discovered this challenge after November first, so I haven’t been in a huge hurry to catch up and get my voice added.

At any rate, it’s my favorite sort of challenge: catch up on Mt. TBR (that’s To Be Read, and mine is not just a single mountain but an entire range these days).

The From the Stacks reading challenge encourages you to pick five books from the mountain and read them. The time frame is November 1 to January 30 — and they’ll be handing out random, small prizes along the way.

For me, getting a little more caught up is prize enough.

Thus, my five picks:
Auralia’s Colors, by Jeffrey Overstreet
I’m reading this now and will review it for Front Street Reviews. Stay tuned. I’m on page 33 and so far, it’s a great read.

My New-Found Land, Bunnygirl’s book. I’ve blogged about it before. Here, in fact. Even though my copy’s not autographed, I have the feeling that if you’d like me to part with my copy, it’s not going to happen. Sorry. (unless an autographed copy happens to show up in my PO Box? Maybe?)

Death du Jour, Kathy Reichs. Yep, I’m WAY behind on kicking this series off.

The Hook, by Donald E. Westlake. I loved his book The Ax. Will I feel the same about The Hook? And will it inspire any Deadly Metal Hatchet adventures?

Death of a Saint Maker, by Allana Martin. This book’s been here so long, I don’t remember where it came from or why. Yes, I’m that far behind.

And for a bonus read, I’ve had The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova here every bit as long, too. I’ll admit it: I’m daunted by its size. I need to get over that, as it’s one of a number of thick books awaiting me.

It’d be nice, too, if I could finally finish July 7th, Jill McCorkle’s novel that’s been on my nightstand for awhile now. I really like reading it, but it falls victim to exhaustion more often that not, sad to say.

One final plug: have you seen my reviews up at Front Street Reviews? Reviews for Jennifer Estep‘s Hot Mama are now up, as is Rebecca Drake‘s The Next Killing. And if you haven’t seen my thoughts on Colleen Gleason‘s first two Gardella Vampire Chronicles, it’s still there, too. Let me know what you think of this bounty of reviews!

Another good one from the good folk at Booking Through Thursday!

What with yesterday being Halloween, and all . . . do you read horror? Stories of things that go bump in the night and keep you from sleeping?

This one is so good because for about a month now, I’ve been slowly working my way through Shock Rock II, a collection of short stories about … well, rock and roll. Some of the stories are predictably delish and so far, only one’s not been able to meet the standard of writing set forth by the others. The collection will end with a collaboration between Kevin J. Anderson someone previously unknown to me and Rush’s amazing Neil Peart.

This book was published in 1994, making it a one of my favorite sorts of reads: A Hidden Treasure.

While Shock Rock I and II seem hard to find, you writer friends who publish with Samhain and Ellora’s Cave and those other cool e-publishers might want to check out Jeff Gelb’s erotic horror fiction, a collaboration with Michael Garrett. Check out this review.

As for the second part of that question… do they keep me from sleeping? Maybe. Something’s sure giving me vivid dreams and nightmares lately, but is it the phase of the moon, the time of the month, stress, or the stories? Who knows? Who cares, so long as the fiction’s good? Sleepless nights mean more writing time!

Booking Through Thursday must come up with these questions just to watch me squirm.

Someone named Cereal Box thought up this one: So . . . what books have you abandoned and why?

I don’t like to be negative here on the blog about books I don’t like. You’ll see an occasional comment here, but you’re more likely to see them crop up in a comment trail.

I do this because of the whole “Do unto others” credo. I would hate to see an entire post devoted to trashing Trevor — or something else I’ve written. Heck, I have seen some of those posts directed at me and while they’re discouraging, the ones that get personal and cross the line into slander/libel are worse.

Many of you have noted that I’m doing my best to build a community here, a place where writers can hang. (I know, I could and should be doing more, but I’m doing my best, I said!) I’d rather have something happen by omission — and leave you wondering if the omission is just because I’m my typically overwhelmed self rather than because I have nothing good to say.

Chances are that if I know you, it’s the former. I’m overwhelmed. Because if I know you, there is always something good to say!

And an aside to anyone who read my Thursday Thirteen from yesterday (feel free to scroll down and read it; I was actually quite proud of the band in this one), I found this post from Blabbermouth. The singer of As I Lay Dying who grabbed his pictures — and had his guitars already loaded in the truck — when he had to flee the fires.

He’s a better man than the ShapeShifter guys — or else he’s not as close to his official band photographer as my boys are!

My book club this month is reading Mary Doria Russell‘s A Thread of Grace. (Click on the first link to see Ms. Russell’s website, and on the second to buy the book)

I’m not quite halfway through it, but I need to rave about it — with a caveat. The book is brilliant, it’s absorbing, beautifully written, it’s haunting, it scares me silly, it’s so vivid. This book wraps itself around your emotions and doesn’t let go. It’s a definite don’t miss.

Now, for the caveat. It’s a book about people who lived during the Holocaust, people in Italy who helped hide the Jews from the Nazis. It’s an important book because this is something that’s not spoken of particularly often; one of those hidden parts of our past. While I’ve noticed more Holocaust list focusing on the people who helped save the lives of Jews, not even Thomas Moran’s Man in the Box had this much power to it.

That’s exactly what concerns me about it. Not for me, but for the members of my book club. For a Jewish book club, we read a scarily (to some) scant amount of Holocaust Literature. There’s a reason for that: most of the women in my book club were young girls during World War II. One is married to a man who lost his brother to the Nazis.

Over the years, as I’ve led them through choices good (Noah Gordon) and bad (nope, not gonna name the bad), one thing they’ve always asked me to avoid bringing them was books that are heavy about the Holocaust.

To be fair, I wouldn’t have suggested this one except that I’d heard from another woman what a wonderful book it is. She’s not in our book club, but I know her both from the gym and the temple. If she suggests something, I’m going to do her the honor of listening and presenting a synopsis of the book to my group. In this case, I’d tracked down a copy through PaperBackSwap and showed it to the group. You can argue that we knew what we were getting into when we agreed to read this. And it was a democratic choice.

Yet I worry. This is the sort of powerful book that can rip open wounds. If I’ve learned anything about the Holocaust during my lifetime, it’s that merely being a Jew gives you wounds from that event. To be much closer to it than I am and then to be faced with a book like this, which describes the cattle cars so vividly…

Maybe there is a balm yet to come in the remaining pages of my copy of A Thread of Grace, and I am worrying for nothing. Given my history of wasting time and energy on worry, this is entirely probable. I won’t know until I read the rest of the book.

I won’t know until November 1, the next time my book club meets, how everyone reacted to this. So until then, I’ll worry that I’ve unwittingly suggested a book that’s opening raw wounds on these women I consider my friends. Because I know I’ve ripped open a few of my own.

This week’s Booking Through Thursday question made me smile.

What’s the worst typographical error you’ve ever found in (or on) a book?

I was reading an ARC of Jennifer Estep’s upcoming release, Hot Mama, and found conscious used instead of conscience. I figured she’d turned in the edits, but e-mailed her to ask if she’d caught it, anyway. Just to be safe. I don’t want Jennifer to look bad; her books are terrific. Go read them if you haven’t.

For more on Typos, I send you to my good friend, (fictional) music reporter Chelle LaFleur.

Here is her first editorial on the subject.

This is her second editorial about typos.

I felt bad about posting two Chelle rants so close together, so I offered up this explanation of why.

And there you go. All about typos.

This week’s Booking Through Thursday leaves me in a bit of a tight situation. Read on and you’ll see why.

* Have you ever met one of your favorite authors? Gotten their autograph?
* How about an author you felt only so-so about, but got their autograph anyway? Like, say, at a book-signing a friend dragged you to?
* How about stumbling across a book signing or reading and being so captivated, you bought the book?

I’m a writer. We all know that around here. That’s why this blog exists. So of course I know other writers, which means I’m basically obligated to buy their books, whether or not I want to. I try to not buy them unless I can get an autograph, but with the Internet being what it is and this community I’ve built, it’s hard to do. Especially those e-books; how do you get an author to autograph one of those?

One thing I particularly like to do is buy extra copies of books written by authors I know, and then share them via BookCrossing, PaperBackSwap, or BookMooch. Of course, I have a few real-life friends to whom I hand books all the time.

I believe in buzz. That if I share a friend’s book with someone who otherwise wouldn’t pick it up, if they love it, they’ll go out and if not buy it, they might buy the backlist. Or the next release. It doesn’t matter, so long as I’m helping a friend’s sales.

I know better than to expect them all to do the same once it’s my turn. I can and do hope that they will. But even if they don’t, I believe we writers are all in this together and helping you will, in the long run, help me.