Going in a new direction

My favorite books are the kind with a little bit of adventure, a little bit of comedy, and a lot of romance. I tend to stay away from books that tell me how to do something or explain why others do what they do. So it's strange to be looking into books about genealogy research. I started doing this type of research recently so I'm finding books that can help me along in the process. These books claim they can tell me how to conduct research, how to cite sources, and how to write this information into a publishable format. I have base information on all of these tasks to work with, so hopefully when I get one (or more) of these books, I'll be able to just skim through and get the additional information I need.

And on the "current reads" front? I suddenly got busy. Not an excuse, because I know how important and relaxing it is to escape in a book. So, my goal for this week is to crack open a book or two so I can finally have a new review out in a few weeks. Let's hope I can find the time!

Almost finished!

I'm nearly finished with at least two of the three books I'm reading at the moment. Then I'll finally be able to write my book reviews and get back to making this blog more enjoyable for anyone that's still following it. Now I'm off to finish the books!

Life happens

Now that I have a significant amount of free time because of the end of my project at work, I can finally return to reading. I'm still working on three books: The Selected Writings of Gertrude Stein, Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, and Tom Brokaw's Boom!. It seems like a lifetime since I've picked up a book, but I'm going to pick one up today. Work is extremely slow and I don't have to worry about getting things done for the next few days.

And after finally logging into Entrecard today, we have another book review at Book Review Bin. You can check it out in the left column under Book Reviews.

Have a great week!

Ultimate Reviews

I'm just curious: does anyone read NY Times Book Reviews to choose the next book you want to read? Do you pay attention to any reviews at all before deciding to delve into a book? Personally, I have never read a book review before picking up a book. Movies - sure. Always read reviews before wasting your money. But I think that book reviews sometimes ruin the book. At least movie reviews keep out most of the surprises.

Reviews on a bad book?

It's inevitable - someday, somehow you will pick up a book that sounds interesting. Once involved in the story, you realize that the plot is weak, characters are flat, and you didn't even enjoy reading the gratuitous sex scene. It was a BAD BOOK. You want to warn your fellow reading community that this is not worth their time, but how can you effectively write a book review without getting caught up in your anger for a blatant misuse of the English language? Well, I have found an excellent handout about writing book reviews. It provides an outline for writing a review as well as tips to keep a balanced perspective in your review, even when you felt like burning the book after reading it.

You can find the handout HERE.

Family History Books?

I am diving right back into family genealogy research after I abandoned it a few months ago. I thought I might be able to muster up some new leads online. I have yet to utilize the message boards, so that's my task this time. But what I really want to know is the best way to use the information once I collect it. Should I write a book? Would anyone care about my family history? Besides my own family members... probably not. As far as I can tell, we're not terribly interesting.

If anyone knows any good books about genealogy out there, besides titles that focus on how to conduct the research, any suggestions would be appreciated! If I get my hands on a good one, I will be sure to post a review about it.

For all the writers

If you are a writer, are you on Twitter? There are a number of perks a writer can get from using Twitter... you can read more about it at my other blog, Truths of A Shy Writer.