The Weekly Review: Week Ending 6/13/2009

I know that I post a lot during the week and that sometimes you might miss some of those posts. So I'm going to start recapping the posts on this blog that I don't want you to miss as well as point out the other great stuff happening around the blogosphere.

This week, I reviewed In the Sanctuary of Outcasts a memoir by Neil White about his year in a prison that was housed in a leprosarium. That's right. Actually, in my review, I questioned why it took so long for the story to be published, and Neil was kind enough to email me the reason why. He has given me permission to post it here:

Thought I'd tell you why it took so long. First, I wasn't really sure I should ever publish it (as opposed to writing it). The publishing of the book and all that goes along with it -- publicity, applause, seeking of accolades -- goes quite counter to the lessons in the book. Hope I haven't made a mistake. Second, it took me nearly 13 years to fully understand the meaning behind the experience (I'm slow that way). Finally, I didn't want to let the story go until I had made it as perfect as possible as a tribute to Ella, Harry and the other patients. There are other reasons, too, but those are the main ones. Just FYI.

I was really thankful Neil took the time to email me and tell me and I completely respect the reasons why.

I also reviewed After the Moment and Ghostwriter.


I also posted the Summer of Hitchcock schedule and our first discussion of North by Northwest takes place tomorrow!

I asked what you think about the anticipation for books, wondered who your Oprah is, and asked what you think about a novelizations of movies and an author who novelized the movie sequel to her book--that she didn't write.

But alas, I'm not the only one out there blogging! Here's some other stuff going on around the blogosphere.

Books

I enjoyed this post over at Jen Robinson's blog about encouraging kids to read at their grade level. I ponder this from time to time, because I definitely read books I probably shouldn't have read when I was too young to read them. I enjoyed books for my own level as well, but in the end, you can't stop a reader from reading whatever they get their hands on! But that's sort of off topic and probably suited to a post of its own.

Roger of Horn Book weighed in on the whole blogging thing...and I'm finding that I probably have enough to say on this topic to write my own post. But the truth is it will probably echo all the things I already always say here. But I think it's coming anyway.

Daniel of Boswell and Books talked about de-childing the teen section of their bookstore which I found fascinating. I love this blog for all the little insights it gives me into bookselling. Do you have a favorite or recommended bookseller blog?

Nicole of Linus's Blanket asks the all important question of whether or not you "disclaim" in your reviews. As you know, I do try to let readers know about what they might find offensive. I think this is something bloggers can do for our readers, and so why not? We all have different tolerance levels for certain things, and this is a much better solution than a rating system for me.

Jen shared a great post on the importance of procrastination by Katherine Howe. Procrastination is definitely something I can get behind!

More praise for Laurie Halse Anderson from Carrie who reviewed her book Twisted this week. Might want to check this one out!

Shelly shares a post about social anxiety from Jennifer Austin Leigh which you might find helpful.

Meanwhile, Angie shares some thouhts on being a rereader.

And words could never describe how much I love this post from Sassymonkey at Blogher. I get so tired, downright weary of genre discrimination and shame. I also, for the record, get tired of hearing disclaimers when people say they like chick lit. You don't have to call it mind candy, you don't need to say it's escapism. You really really don't. But you know what? This all sort of ties into that post I mentioned wanting to write earlier.

Books Bought Based on Blogger Reviews
Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci

Social Justice
Laura of Texas in Africa has been on a roll with this week with many thought provoking posts. You might be interested in this guest post about some of the current problems with Invisible Children.

The children's advocacy blog asks why we are still clueless about modern slavery. (Interesting thoughts)

Faith

Loved, loved, loved this Rabbit Room post, called The Crazy You Get From Too Much Choice. Using books as an example was perfect for my life at this time.

Found Rachel Held Evans in the comments section of Flowerdust and I'm so glad I did. She's really smart and I like the way she thinks. I loved this post that so beautifully articulates how we delight and bask in the joy of when the other side messes up and how really that says more about us than them.

Other News and Events
Wouldn't you know that the first time I come up with a catchy name for something it's for someone else's party? Natasha is hosting a blogging marathon next weekend to get all the work you need to get done on your blog done. Since pretty much every weekend is a bloggiesta around here, I will definitely be joining in! Read all the details at the Maw Books Blog.

Edward Champion is hosting a roundtable discussion on his blog and I'm taking part! The book looks really interesting to me and I'm happy to be part of an event that hopefully, you know, helps us blend communities a little.

Also, Colleen of Chasing Ray announced a One Shot Event where basically a bunch of bloggers post a review of a book from a certain region or by an author of that region on the same day. This time it happens to be Southeast Asia and it looks like a fun event to me.

I do feel like I'm wondering how in the world I'm ever going to do anything else with all the new blogs I've discovered recently.

Book Acquistions

I don't participate in Mailbox Monday, but I do like to talk about some of the new books I've bought from time to time. This week, I'm particularly excited about Shutter Island and Flash Forward. Shutter Island has been made into film (starring Leo Dicaprio Jen!) You can watch the trailer here. And Flash Forward is a TV show on this fall. Yay!

Question
This blog used to be a place where I sort of journaled out things I was thinking through and wrestling through in my faith. I don't really feel one hundred percent comfortable doing that here anymore, but I still find myself often wanting to write about those things. I've been thinking of setting up a separate blog for it. It would just be a small blog where I could think out loud and anyone who wanted to read could. I'd probably not even update it every week. My question is...does anyone care? I mean, would you read it? I think some of you who have read from the very beginning might be more interested in that than the books. In any case, if you have some feelings about it, let me know.