Good Books Lately: The One-Stop Resource for Book Groups and Other Greedy Readers by Ellen Moore and Kira Stevens

 

I found this in a bargain bookstore, and I thought it was a book about good books. I must admit that I didn't look very closely at what it was about, and because I was in a hurry, I just went ahead and bought it.

 

When I realized it was about book groups, I was surprised, but still interested in what the book had to say. I had almost given up on ever finding a 'physical' book group a long time ago, at least, one which I thought would suit my tastes. But I thought I'd read the book just for the sake of learning something new.

 

It was either the biggest mistake or the best thing I could have ever done! I got so excited while reading the book, and so envious of all the things that were happening in book groups that I always wanted to have but never got the chance to, and I got so fired up that I decided that if I couldn't find a book group, I would form my own.

 

I wrote a post that asked for local readers to join my group, quite a specific one, in fact, and I forwarded it to all my friends through email and even on facebook. Sadly, I only got *one* reply(!) and I thought that perhaps I should forget about a 'physical' book group. So I racked my brain, trying to think of the next best thing I could do.

 

The result is an online real-time book club, where readers can choose a specific book to read each month, and then discuss it together in a real-time chat room on a specific day and time.

 

The first chat is scheduled for January 9th and 10th, depending on your time zone, and since I launched it last Monday, 7 people have already signed up for it!

 

The best thing is, since I set up the online book club, I've gotten 3 more members for my 'physical' book club, which makes 5 of us! Although I originally wanted 10 to start of with, I think 5 is a great number too, and we're meeting up this Saturday for a getting to know you session.

 

To think that neither one of my book groups, online or in real life, would have happened at all if I didn't pick this book up and read it!

 

More books about Book Groups:

 

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville

 

This book was recommended to me by Amazon.com's 'Recommended for You' program, apparently because I'd been adding a lot of fantasy books into my wish list.

 

Un Lun Dun is about the world of UnLondon, where all the lost, broken, and unwanted things of London end up. There's a war brewing in UnLondon, and the citizens are counting on Zanna, the chosen one, to save them from the enemy, a sinister cloud called Smog.

 

Zanna's just an ordinary girl from London, she's scared and confused and not really sure what she's supposed to do. The only thing anybody knows is that Zanna was written in the Book of Prophesies as their savior from Smog, but is the Book really accurate?

 

Thankfully, Zanna's not alone, her best friend Deeba, goes along with her to the world of UnLondon to help defeat the evil Smog. What comes next is some interesting encounters with strange and wonderful characters, a surprising twist of events, a hero's quest, and a whole lot of excitement.

 

I found this book really entertaining, and very, very, creative. Mieville's mind really works in wondrous ways, and I'd probably never be able to come up with half the ideas and concepts she came up with in the book. I found the book to be reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's style, and well, everyone knows how much I love his books. Even the illustrations in the book were drawn by Mieville herself.

 

This is my first book by Mieville, but it's definitely not going to be the last. I'm looking forward to reading more from her.

 

More books from China Mieville:

 

 

I got tagged by Jo-Jo, who got tagged by Jessica, who got tagged by Wendi, who got tagged by AusJenny, who got tagged by Wyn who started this meme!!

Whew! This is fun already and I haven't even started! Thanks so much for tagging me, Jo-Jo!

Ok, here it is:

1. What book is on the left hand side of your computer or closest to the left hand side?

Singer from the Sea by Sheri S. Tepper

2. Are you reviewing it, is it your favourite, or is it there for some other reason and specify.

Well, I haven't started reading it yet, but I'm planning to read it soon. My first book by Sheri S. Tepper was Beauty, which I loved and I thought was amazing! Then I read Grass, which I also loved and reviewed here. So Sheri S. Tepper has become a favorite author of mine, and I bought this book, and another, The Visitor, both of which I haven't read yet. I'm planning to read this one soon, and I'm sure I'll love it too. =)

3. Go to page 38 and write down from the 2nd paragraph, the first 4 sentences.

'They were not looking at the Marshal, who was his usual impeccably
dress-uniformed self, the black of his bemedaled and gold-braided jacket serving for proper setting for his long, vertically grooved face, each set of grooves delineating one small fold beneath his chin. The man everyone was staring at was beside him, and Genevieve was staring too.

"Oh, my," she said to herself. "Oh, my." She almost started to applaud the casting before realizing he was not an actor but a real person.'

4. Tag 4 friends and pass them this avatar.

Beth F. @ Beth Fish Reads

Gautami @ Reading Room

Kylee @ Kylee's 2009 Blog

Ulat Buku @ Ulat Buku in the City

Today's BTT question is:

I receive a lot of review books, but I have never once told lies about the book just because I got a free copy of it. However, some authors seem to feel that if they send you a copy of their book for free, you should give it a positive review.

Do you think reviewers are obligated to put up a good review of a book, even if they don’t like it? Have we come to a point where reviewers *need* to put up disclaimers to (hopefully) save themselves from being harassed by unhappy authors who get negative reviews?

I've answered using Thursday Thirteen's meme below. This is fun! =)

Thirteen Things about Betty and Honesty in Reviewing Books: 1. I have reviewed free copies of books, CDs, DVDs, and graphic novels from authors and publicists. 2. I used to feel obligated to give them good reviews. 3. Some I disliked so much that my conscience won't let me give glowing reviews. 4. My conscience also won't let me tear them to shreds. 5. So I give them the most honest and constructive reviews I can, so that the review will help the author/musician/producer to improve their work too. 6. I point out bad things as gently and clearly as I can. 7. I also make sure to highlight the good things. 8. When I first started reviewing, I tore a book I didn't like to shreds. 9. And was promptly flamed for it by fans of the book. 10. It was scary! 11. I learned my lesson and do my best not to give such scathing, unhelpful reviews. 12. I think the important thing is to give helpful reviews, no matter your feeling about the review material. 13. I once reviewed Paolo Coelho's The Alchemist, which was then featured on his blog! That's all this week! =)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
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Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!
  

My 2 Teasers:

"“Here comes a highfish," said Jones, and the girls jerked back in horror at the
approaching jackknifing body, its ferocious teeth and unmistakable shark fin.
Where its ocean cousins' side fins were, it had grown dragonfly wings." ~p.72, China Mieville's Un Lun Dun

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 Teasers in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is a short meme:

WHAT ARE YOU READING RIGHT NOW?

I'm reading Un Lun Dun by China Mieville. It's about Zanna, who is the Chosen, and Deeba, her friend, who stumble into the world of UnLondon, the alternate reality world of London.

WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING, and WHAT DID YOU THINK OF IT?

I just finished Unmasqued by Colette Gale, an erotic novel about The Phantom of the Opera. It was my first erotica, and I quite enjoyed it. You can read my review if you want to know more about it.

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WILL READ NEXT?

I plan to read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen next for an online real-time book chat I'm setting up soon. My idea is to have a group read every month, where interested parties can read the book together and sign up for the chat where the readers can discuss and talk about the book in real time, kinda like a book club except we meet up and discuss the book online.

This idea is borne out of my frustration of not being able to find a 'physical' group to form a book club with. I sent out countless emails to friends and posted in several Malaysian forums looking for readers interested in joining a book club and I only got ONE reply!

So anyway, I decided the next best thing is an online real-time book chat that works somewhat like a regular book club. And you don't have to join every month too, only the ones you're interested in. Anyone interested in this?

WILL YOU READ ANY HOLIDAY-THEMED BOOKS SOON?

I don't think so, I don't have many holiday-themed books and anyway, we're not really big on Christmas here.


Please leave a comment with the link to either your own Musing Mondays post, or share your answer here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Unmasqued by Colette Gale

 

I found this book while browsing

Amazon.com's Bargain Books.

 

I'm not so much a fan of The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, but I love both the movie and the musical so much that they more than make up for the book.

 

I was intrigued by this book firstly because it was a retelling of The Phantom of the Opera, and then I became more intrigued by the fact that it was erotica, and then finally, the controversial Amazon.com reviews convinced me that I had to buy this book. Along with Colette Gale's other erotic novel of The Count of Monte Cristo (of which I hated the movie but loved the book).

 

This is the first erotica I've ever read and although I blush to say so, I really enjoyed it. There are considerably more sex scenes and details in those scenes than in your regular trashy romance novels, but in Unmasqued I felt that they served the story well.

 

I never felt that the sex scenes were forced or added for the sake of it, although sometimes I did feel like it was a little too much information. But in fact, most of the scenes and the characters' actions and reactions in them only served to help us see the (sick natures of the) characters' personalities more clearly.

 

I felt also that it made sense that the characters were having sex, and a lot of it, as it's set in a theater in France in those days when actresses and singers weren't really looked upon respectably, and were more likely to be someone's mistress than not. I felt as if I was reading something out of Michel Faber's The Crimson Petal and the White or some other similar book.

 

Sex scenes aside though, I loved, loved, loved the book! I loved how Gale stayed true to the original story's plot, yet twisting it and allowing us to see it from a new light from a whole new different perspective. The poor Phantom has always been portrayed as the bad guy and Raoul the hero, but what if things were what they seemed?

 

It's really not so different in real life after all, is it? There are two sides to every story, and most times depending on who tells the story, the hero and the bad guy are interchangeable. I've always had the hots for the Phantom, and Colette Gale's Unmasqued has made me fall more in love with him. I love her version of the story, and although there are many who would disagree with me, to me, this will always be the 'true' story of The Phantom of the Opera.