This week's topic for the Literary Blog Hop, hosted by The Blue Bookcase, is this:

What outside influences affect your reading experience? Do you think these influences enhance or detract from the experience?

 I have to admit that at first I wasn't entirely sure what this meant.  Are we talking physical surroundings?  Environmental noise?  People who are clearly not readers interrupting you to ask you what you are reading (because if they were readers they would never interrupt you!)?

But reading Meghan's answer, I see now that the question pertains to something more subtle and less concrete than that. Meghan's story about seeing a Hallmark adaptation of a book that colored her future reading of the book illustrates that our life experiences with one book in particular or a subject in general can change the way that we perceive a text.  In reading theory, we call that the transactional theory of reading.  The idea that each of us brings different experiences, behaviors, and feelings to a piece of writing, and therefore we each go away from the text with something different.  There may be many places where people's perceptions or feelings about the books overlap-after all, any freshman English teacher can tell you the major themes of Lord of the Flies or To Kill a Mockingbird-but no two people will read and understand a book in exactly the same way.  This is especially true for literary works, where authors' use of symbolism, metaphor, and allegory can lead readers down many paths of understanding based on their own knowledge and experiences.  Non-Christians not living in the US may read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and have no clue that a lot of it is Christian symbolism.  Reading can never be context independent.

So, understanding reading as a transactional process, then my answer to the question of which outside influences affect the reading experience is ALL OF THEM.   Like Meghan could not divorce her mind from the different ending of the movie version of the book she was reading, none of us can put our own knowledge, experiences, and feelings aside when reading.  What to me was a very sexist book about the relationships of husbands and wives (I'm looking at you, On Strike for Christmas) was to my friend a charming story about wifely assertiveness.  A story about an Africa refugee from Nigeria might read very differently to someone of African descent than someone of Asian or European descent.     Our common understanding of theme and mood come from discussion, from sharing each person's own take on the book, from analyzing it from academic as well as personal perspectives.   As a reader, I can often see why an author chose a certain style, and appreciate it for it's artistic merit, but in the end how I respond to a book has more to do with me than with the author.

Literary Blog Hop: How Mushy is Too Mushy?

The Literary Blog Hop is hosted by The Blue Bookcase every other week.  This week's topic for discussion is:

Discuss your thoughts on sentimentality in literature. When is emotion in literature effective and when is it superfluous? Use examples. 


Well, other than it feels slightly like a test question from some literature class I may have taken in college, this is an interesting question.  First, I feel a need to question a basic premise inherent in the questions-namely, that emotion and sentimentality are synonymous.  

The Free Dictionary defines sentimentality as "The quality or condition of being excessively or affectedly sentimental.".  Apparently it is now OK to define a word using the word...at any rate, they go on to define sentimental as "Affectedly or extravagantly emotional.".  Therefore, while emotion is a component of sentimentality, all emotion is not sentimental.  My understanding of the word is as something rather sappy, perhaps manipulative.

Now, I can't think of any readers of fiction that I know personally who want to read books that do not elicit some emotion in the reader.  Most of us want to be swept away in a the lives of the characters, want to learn something about what it means to be human through experiencing the made-up world the author has created.  It follows then that emotion in literature is not only a good thing, but an expected, integral thing.  If literature is meant to mirror and examine the human experience, then it would be impossible to divorce it from emotion.

To me the most important word in the definition of sentimental is "affectedly".  That one word rather sums up my feelings on sentimentality versus emotion in literature.  By nature an affectation is not entirely sincere, and that is how most sentimentality in literature, or anything else, feels to me-insincere and unauthentic.  Strangely enough I can't think of a literary example for the moment, but I can think of some pop culture examples-Lifetime movies and Extreme Makeover Home Edition.

Now, I should say up front that I am a crier.  I love to cry at books or movies.  It doesn't have to be sad or tragic either-I'm an equal opportunity sobber.  I cry happy tears or sad tears or angry tears just as easily for fictional characters as I do for myself.  So the term tearjerker does not hold any negative connotations for me.  But I want that emotion to come from the strength of the story-not from artificial conditions created by a producer (I'm looking at you Ty Pennington!), or director, or author.  I want the emotion to come from someone speaking their truth, whether real or fictional.  I can just imagine the conversations around the table when a new Lifetime movie is being planned-especially if it happens to be around Christmas time.  It's like they have developed a formula for maximum tear potential.  Take one spunky woman down on her luck, give he a few kids to support, add hunky yet gentle guy who helps her love again, stir, and cry.  There are variations on this theme, but generally none of them feel authentic to me.  Then there is Extreme Makeover, Poor-Down-on-Their-Luck Family Edition.  I believe that everyone on that show probably does feel like they are saving the world one sad, miserable family at a time, but I'd rather they took their fake sentimentality and all of the money that show makes and donated it to Habitat for Humanity.

Maybe the reason that I can't think of a literary example is that I tend to shy away from books that appear to have that Lifetime movie quality.  I can think of plenty of examples of books that I love and admire that have strong emotion-The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, to name a few.  But other than On Strike for Christmas, a book I was forced to read by may book club which led to one of my most sarcastic posts ever, I can't think of any real counter-examples.  And that's the way I like it.

Book Blogger Hop-The Hunt

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word!  This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books!  It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read!  Hosted by Crazy for Books.

This week's question:

 "If you find a book you love, do you hunt down other books by the same author?"

Well, this seems like it should be a no-brainer.  If you love one book by an author, chances are pretty good that you will also love their other books.   I have read authors where the one book I read as a fluke, however.  Anne Rice comes to mind.  I read Interview with a Vampire and thought it was interesting.  Then I read Feast of All Saints, one of her historical fiction books, and LOVED it.  But when I tried to read the rest of the vampire and witch books I was so disappointed.  

The only time that I have actively avoided a book by an author who's other book I loved was Audrey Niffenegger.   The Time Traveler's Wife is one of my favorite books of all time, and when Her Fearful Symmetry came out I was afraid to read it.  Not because it is about ghosts (though it is), but because I was so afraid that it couldn't be as good as TTW.  I finally told myself to put my big girl pants on and give it a try.  And I was right, it wasn't as good.  But it was good, and had I persisted in my avoidance I would have missed out.

 

Book Blogger Hop-April Fools

The Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-for-Books, is a change for book bloggers of all stripes to get the word out about their blog.  My hop post this week will be short and sweet...the question of the week is...

 "Since today is April Fool's Day in the USA, what is the best prank you have ever played on someone OR that someone has played on you?"

 

My answer is short and sweet because I have never had an April Fool's joke played on my, nor have I ever played one on someone else.  Well, unless you count the students at school who come in every April 1st and say "There's a bug in your hair!  April fools!" or "Your shoe's untied!  April fools!  Of course, as a teacher I feel obligated to look down and laugh, but really April Fools Day in my world is one long string of "tricks" that are older than me (which, of course, the kids think they made up-adorable).

 

 

The Literary Blog Hop: To Like or Dislike the Hype

The Literary Blog Hop is hosted by the brilliant bloggers at The Blue Bookcase.  This week's question is:

Do you find yourself predisposed to like (or dislike) books that are generally accepted as great books and have been incorporated into the literary canon? Discuss the affect you believe a book’s “status” has on your opinion of it. 

 I think that my feelings on this topic have changed over time.  When I was in high school and college I was much more likely to assume that whatever classic literature they were asking us to read must be of great value, because otherwise why would we be asked to read it.  So I searched for nuggets even in things I hated, like The Scarlet Letter or The Old Man and the Sea.  But as I've gotten older, and I've learned more about the history of teaching reading and literature in our schools, I've come to realize the many, many, many voices that were never heard.  Women, people of color, gays and lesbians-all, with the notable exceptions of the Brontes and Jane Austen, were either left out of the literary conversation all together or had their stories told by others (most often not very authentically).  So, as the years have gone on, I've been less likely to read something that is strictly from the cannon and choose other, more diverse voices instead.  I suppose if I'm not careful I'll swing too far the other way, but for now I'm content to stay away from some of the capital A authors in favor of looking at life through the eyes of a more diverse group of small a authors.

Capital A Authors:

 Small a authors:

 

Book Blogger Hop-Where To?

 The Book Blogger Hope is a weekly meme hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-for-Books.  Here is some information about the hope right from the horse's mouth:

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word!  This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books!  It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read!

This week the Hop asks us to consider what book or series we would physically put ourselves into if we could.  My first thought was Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, because I have always wanted to see the top of the world, but only if I don't actually have to be cold or anything (one of the many reasons I will never see the top of the world-I'm a wimp!)

So next I thought about all those books that I love that take place in England, because that is a place that I desperately want to visit that I might actually get to some day.  But then I realized how many of them have a time period that is not conducive to women's rights, or, you know, basic hygiene.  Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley is the one I feel most strongly about, but only if I can be one of the priestesses and living in Avalon.

After some consideration, I think that my final answer of the moment is to visit the world of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, though preferably after the great "defeat Sauron/Destroy the ring" thing.  Though before the elves leave-that is one of my motivating factors, to meet me some elves.  After that I can build myself a normal size house at the edge of Hobbiton and live peacefully with the Hobbits in the shire.  Yep, days of quiet contemplation in an idyllic spot sound like exactly what I need today.

Literary Blog Hop-How Seriously We Take Ourselves!

Welcome Literary Blog Hoppers!  The Literary Blog Hop is hosted every other week by The Blue Bookcase.  If you're interested in participating, check out their very smart blog!

This week's question is "Can literature be funny? What's your favorite humorous literature?"  While my answer is a resounding YES, which I will get to in a minute, I'm more curious at the moment about the question, because I think that at the heart of it lies the reason that many people are turned off by literary works and find the people who read and talk about them pretentious.  Do we really take ourselves so seriously as a community that we have to ask whether it is OK to laugh at what we read?  Must we be immersed in grave, serious subject matter all the time for it to be worthwhile?  If one aspect of literary merit is the use of language, doesn't it take just as much skill to write a witty turn of phrase as a serious one?  And if another aspect of literary merit is what the work says about the human condition, then sometimes laughing at ourselves is the best way to do that.

From the above mini-rant you can probably guess that I believe that literary works can be humorous.  As for examples, let me start with William Shakespeare.  Even in his tragedies he often had humorous characters.  Then there is Pride and Prejudice and Emma, by literary darling Jane Austen.   Mark Twain also used humor to his advantage, not just in his books but in the way he talked about his life and his writing.  Considering that my definition of literary includes some genre fiction, I'd also include Douglas Addams of the Hitchhikers Guide series and Neil Gaiman examples of literary authors using humor.  Roald Dahl is hilarious!

Lighten up, people!

Literary Blog Hop-Wish You Were Here

It's that time again!  The Literary Blog Hop is a hop designed for book bloggers who read and review primarily literary fiction hosted by the lovely bloggers at The Blue Bookcase.
This week's prompt was a real challenge for me...

Robyn asks: What setting (time or place) from a book or story would you most like to visit? Eudora Welty said that, "Being shown how to locate, to place, any account is what does most toward making us believe it...," so in what location would you most like to hang out?

Ok, so this presents a couple of conundrums for me.  First of all, I've read A LOT of books in my time, as I'm sure most of you have as well.  I'm pretty sure that I've read a novel that takes place on just about every continent and in most climate regions of the world, making it hard to narrow down.  Really, I could pick just about anywhere and I could probably find a book I've read that takes place there.

Second, unlike some of you I do read some genre fiction, fantasy and science fiction specifically.  So, does my place have to be real?  I mean, would choosing Narnia be totally cheating because it doesn't really exist? (Because if I was going to choose a fictional place, it would definitely be Narnia.  Come on, talking animals?  Fugedaboudit!) 


Finally, there is the time factor.  I mean, sometimes a place would only be interesting if you were there for the historical events that surrounded it.  I mean, most Civil War battlefields are only flat spaces covered with grass now.  I could visit them, but what would I see?  


So, how to answer the question?  Funnily enough, the place I have chosen is from a fantasy novel that has a historical context, and there is some question of how much of that historical context was reality rather than fiction.  And that place is....drumroll...Cornwall in England.

Cornwall is the supposed site of King Arthur's reign, and there is a group in North Cornwall that believes they have identified Arthur's castle and Merlin's Cave near Tintagel.  This area is the setting for Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon, which is my favorite re-telling of the Arthurian legend.  With it's strong feminist focus and themes of the Christianization of the old world and fate vs. free will, it made quite an impression on me as a high schooler.  I've read it several times since then, and every time I want to jump on a plane to England and visit all of the places mentioned.  Tintagel, the Tor, the rugged coast, the woods where the Horned God and the Goddess met and renewed the world...all magical.  The fact that I am a bit of an Anglophile doesn't hurt.  If I ever make it to England, Cornwall will be but one of many places I want to visit.  But there are actually tours designed to take you to the sacred sites of the ancient world in the UK, and as nerdy as I feel being excited about that, if I ever get over there I'm signin' up!

 

Tintagel Castle, possible site of Camelot

Glastonbury Tor, also prominent in the legend

Literary Blog Hop-Required Reading

This week's topic for the Literary Blog Hop, hosted by The Blue Bookcase, is one that is near and dear to the hearts of every person ever to take a literature class.  Near and dear, that is, if you like to talk about books that you hated.  Here's the question:

Discuss a work of literary merit that you hated when you were made to read it in school or university.  Why did you dislike it?

Anyone who reads this blog even semi-regularly already knows of my hatred of all things Joyce (I'm looking at you, Portrait of the Artist!), so I will skip my usual diatribe against narcissistic stream-of-consciousness.  However, that means I can't really think of a book I had to read for one of my classes that I disliked enough to qualify for this question.  So, let's discuss a different but related question near and dear to my heart-why are certain works chosen over others to teach in high school and basic college classes?

This question occurred to me while thinking about books that I could write about for this post because in going through the ones I remember in my head, I realized that almost all of them have male protagonists or were written by men or both.  Now, granted, I was in high school and college in the 80s, but you'd think somewhere along the line I would have read a few women.  Let's examine the list of titles I can remember:

• To Kill a Mockingbird
• A Separate Peace
• Lord of the Flies
• Julius Caeser, Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet
• A Tale of Two Cities
• The Iliad
• 1984
• Jane Eyre
• Heart of Darkness
• Death of a Salesman
• J.B. (Archibald MacLeish)
• L'Etranger (The Stranger)
• La Peste (The Plague)

From that list, which spans mostly high school, there are only two female authors, and two female protagonsists-Jane Eyre and Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird-though Lee certainly goes out of her way to make sure we know that Scout is a tomboy, not one of those prissy girls.  Even the books I read in my French classes were male-centered.  While I enjoyed and appreciated most of these books well-enough, some diversity would have been nice.  After all, I enjoy vanilla ice cream too, but if all I ever ate was vanilla ice cream I'd never get to know flavors like rocky road or triple chocolate fudge ripple.

I thought that maybe this lack of female voices in my high school English classes was just a function of my age, so I decided to check out the books being taught the most today.  While my research is in no way scientific or exhaustive, by looking at the most popular SparkNotes I can say that students are looking for information on the following books more often than others.  And they are:

• To Kill a Mockingbird
• The Great Gatsby
• The Adventures of Huck Finn
• Lord of the Flies
• The Scarlet Letter
• Of Mice and Men
• The Crucible
• Catcher in the Rye
• Frankenstein
• The Odyssey

Seems like American high school students are still be treated to vanilla ice cream an awful lot of the time.

Now I can hear some of you saying, "Those are just the high school books.  You can read so many more diverse books in college."  Which is true-if you go to college.  And if you are in a major that requires more than basic English classes, where some of the above titles are actually repeated in more depth. So, why has so little changed in the 22 years since I graduated from college?  With the wide range of excellent literature out there, why are American high schools still stuck in a dead-white-guy rut?  Anyone have suggestions for title we could add to these old standbys? 
 

Literary Blog Hop, or How My Mother Made Me the Reader I Am Today

Welcome to my little corner of the blogosphere!  It is once again time for the ever-entertaining and enlightening Literary Blog Hop, hosted by the lovely Blue Bookcase.  This week's question-

How did you find your way to reading literary fiction and nonfiction?

I don't ever remember a time when I didn't read.  I like to think that part of that is just my general temperament, but I suspect that like most good things from my early life, it had a lot to do with my mother.  My mother was unable to work outside of the home when I was growing up-partly as a result of vision loss that makes it impossible for her to drive, and partly because in the 1970s if your husband could support the family you were expected to be a stay-at-home mom.  This reality really frustrated my mother, who is easily one of the smartest people I know (and I'm not just saying that because she's my mom, honest!).  To stimulate her intellectual self, she read, A LOT!  She has always read, and still reads, at least three times what I do in a week.  I grew up watching her devour books and keep going back for more.  I always enjoyed reading for pleasure, but having her in the house meant that the variety and number of books I had access to was truly enormous.  She has very eclectic reading tastes, and I could get my hands on just about anything, from classics to mysteries to memoirs to literary fiction.  As a teen my favorites were fantasy and science fiction novels (which are two genres she rarely reads-teenage rebellion?  hmmmmm...), but if I ran out of aliens or elves to read about, I could always find something to challenge my mind.  

Come to think of it, my mother has had just as large an impact on my adult reading life.  As a single parent for most of my 20s, working two jobs to support myself and my daughter, my mother passed on to me all of the books that she bought.  For years I almost never bought my own or went to the library, because I had a boxful waiting for me at every visit.  Now that I am in a position to buy my own books, I have so many hand-me-downs that I could read for about four years without ever having to buy or borrow another book (not that I will, though my Goodreads Bookswap addiction may soon require an intervention).   All in all I'd say that my mother made me the reader I am today, and for that I will be forever grateful!

Book Blogger Hop

Welcome to another edition of the Book Blogger Hop.  Frankly I'm not sure why I'm participating this week, since I haven't even finished a book in about three weeks (and yes, I feel deficient!).  I guess the "waking up at 5:10am for no real reason" may have affected my decision.  I'm already up, may as well do something bloggy!

This week's question comes from Tina who blogs at Book Couture.

"How do you spread the word about your blog?
(e.g. Social Networking sites, Book Blog Directories, comments on other blogs...)"

Back when I started my blog,  I mostly did it as a replacement for my paper and pen book journal.  It was a creative way to complete a class assignment.  I didn't really expect anyone other than my professor, my classmates, and my wife to read it.  But then, I got followers.  The first few were friends, but then others-people I didn't even know.  I decided I liked having people read what I wrote, so I started joining other people's blogs.  Which is where most of the readers come from, as far as I can tell.

However, I do post my new reviews on Facebook, and I will often have my FB friends comment there about my reviews.  I also joined the book bloggers ning, Book Blogs.  Other than that I don't have much time for self-promotion.  I don't tweet, I'm not anyone's affiliate, I don't run memes-this year it's all I can do to get a blog post written once a week or so.  But once this crazy fall is over, look out!

Welcome Friday Hoppers!  Glad you made it to my little corner of the blogosphere.  The Book Blogger Hop is a chance to check out new (or new-to-you) blogs hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-for-Books.  Here's what she has to say about it...

ABOUT THE HOP:

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word!  This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books!  It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read!  So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPING through the list of blogs that are posted in the Linky list below!!

The Hop lasts Friday-Monday every week, so if you don't have time to Hop today, come back later and join the fun!  This is a weekly event!  And stop back throughout the weekend to see all the new blogs that are added!  We get over 300 links every week!! 


Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.

 

This week's question comes from: Sarah @ SarahReadsTooMuch

Do you judge a book by its cover?

 

The answer is yes and no, as I imagine it is for a lot of us.  If the book is by an author I love, I don't really care if the publisher gave it a stupid cover-I'll read it.  Ditto with books that good friends have recommended to me.  Usually if someone knows me well enough to give me a serious book recommendation, they know me well enough to know that I will like it regardless of cover art.  When browsing for myself, I will admit that certain kinds of covers turn me off.  I think part of the reason I don't prefer romance novels is because the covers always look so cheesy.  Same with high fantasy novels, or some women's fiction.  Call me a snob, but there you have it!

 

I do not, however, ever choose a book JUST because of the cover.  I have read some books with beautiful covers that are real duds.  Clearly, it is in the best interest of the publishers to have their book jump out at you, your local bookstore being the crowded marketplace that it is.  They also seem to know that we as consumers are drawn to certain kinds of art on book covers, because once a book becomes popular with a particular style of art on it, suddenly every book on the shelves with similar genre or theme is doing copycat covers. Ultimately, the cover is irrelevant to the writing, and since it's the writing I'm purchasing the book for, the cover becomes an added perk if it's attractive or thought-provoking, and something to ignore if it's not.

 

Happy Hopping! 

It's the Friday Book Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Book Blogger Hop!  This meme is hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-For-Books.  Here's a little bit about the meme from her site:

ABOUT THE HOP:

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word!  This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books!  It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read! 

 This week's blogger question-

Do you use a rating system for your reviews and if so, what is it and why?

I have never used a rating system on my (almost) year old blog.  When I started out I had no idea how to even make that sort of thing happen on my blog-html is still not my friend, but at least we can tolerate each other now!

Now that I don't have one, I'm glad.  Thinking of books that way doesn't always work for me.  I guess it comes down to what the rating system actually rates.  If a rating system rates how much a person enjoys a book, and says so up front, then I can sort of get my head around that-after all, I do rate books on Goodreads that way.  But where the system starts to break down for me is rating scales that try to compare books based on literariness, if you will.  I don't care how much someone likes the Twilight series (and I devoured it just like the rest of the world did), you can't give it "five stars" or the equivalent if comparing it to books like Kite Runner or To Kill a Mockingbird.  So, no rating system for me-you'll have to read my long, sometimes rambling, sometimes ambivalent opinions in my reviews!

Welcome Book Blog Hoppers!

Welcome to Book Addict Reviews!  I hope you find everything to your satisfaction!  This great meme is hosted by Crazy-for-Books to give bloggers a chance to find each other.


Tangent:  Does anyone else think it's strange that the editing program used by Blogger does not recognize "blogger" as a word?  But I digress...


This week we have a question to answer, and that question is...

Tell us about some of your favorite authors and why they are your favorites!



Well, this is a tricky question!  There are so many authors I like for so many reasons.  There are my favorite authors from when I was a kid, my favorite science fiction authors, fantasy authors, etc...My favorite authors for serious literature and my favorite authors for popcorn book (books that, like popcorn, don't have much substance but are still oddly satisfying).  So, I'm going to be completely random and select the first three that pop into my head...

Margaret Atwood-I love her because her books are always full of poetry.  Her use of language is so fluid and descriptive.  She really just finds the perfect turn of phrase.  Also, the whole feminist literature thing is pretty much a turn on for me.  Reading The Handmaid's Tale in college literally changed my life, not in some corny self-help way, but just in the way I looked at the politics of marriage and reproduction.

Stephen King-His books are the best brain candy EVER!  I started reading him in high school, and when I read Carrie and Pet Semetary I found out how delicious it is to be scared by a story.  I really think that his characters are some of the best written in popular fiction, and way more relateable than some characters in books considered more high-brow.  Even if he'd only written The Stand and the Dark Tower series, he'd be my hero, but the fact that he is so prolific makes him a great writer to love!

Jen Lancaster-Jen is the only non-fiction author who's books make me squeal with glee!  I love her sense of style, her sense of humor, and her sense of self.  Bitter is the New Black made me laugh so hard I wet myself (I won't tell you if I mean that literally or not!).   Like my other friend crush, Kathy Griffin, I am just sure that Jen and I are destined to bump into each other on the streets of Chicago and become fast friends and she will invite me back to her house to meet Fletch and the animals and we will trade witty, sarcastic remarks about pop culture all night long (OK, I know that sounds stalkerish, but I promise there are no restraining orders in my future).

It's the Friday Book Blog Hop!

 Welcome hopper!  Glad you stopped by!

Crazy-for-Books  hosts this weekly meme.

ABOUT THE HOP:

In the spirit of the Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on!  This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books!  It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed!  So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPING through the list of blogs that are posted in the Linky list below!!

The Hop lasts Friday-Monday every week, so if you don't have time to Hop today, come back later and join the fun!  This is a weekly event!

Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.

If you start following someone through the Hop, leave a comment on their blog to let them know!  Stop back during the week to see other blogs that are added!  And, most importantly, the idea is to HAVE FUN!!