My favorite finds from around the web:
• How the internet is killing the book review. “That the Internet democratizes the giving and receiving of opinion is usually a good thing. But the democratizing of book reviews, such that even self-published and low print-run books published by small presses can garner dozens of reviews by promoting “blog tours” or sending copies to readers with the expectation that they will post an Amazon review, has led not to better information for readers, but to a preponderance of inaccurate gushing.”
• If Jane Eyre came out today would it be marketed as genre? “Jane is never coded as a femme fatale: she’s plain, pale, diminutive, poor, young, in every way unimpressive—but her spirit is indomitable. That teaches the reader—any reader—something valuable about life. One does not have to look like one walked out of a Voguespread in order to speak up for oneself, and that is hardly a gender-specific lesson.” From Lyndsay Faye, author of the new retelling-of-sorts Jane Steele.
• The reading habits of ultra-successful people. “Want to know one habit ultra-successful people have in common? They read. A lot.”
• Some relationship advice from Pope Francis. “In addition to addressing questions of pastoral care, Francis muses on sex, communication, commitment and love in general — and for a 79-year-old man who has taken a lifelong vow of celibacy, the pontiff has some pretty solid relationship tips.”
Favorite instagram:
When we moved to our new-to-us home nearly two years ago we resolved not to wait for the next house this time and one of the first things we did was plant this jasmine. It took two years but it’s paying off big-time this spring. (Follow me on instagram @annebogel.)
On the blog:
One year ago: The things you don’t read about on the internet. This has been top of mind lately. “When my therapist and I talked about the four levels, we were talking about in-person, three-dimensional relationships: the people you see at work, or yoga class, or Thanksgiving dinner. She wasn’t talking about blogging or social media. But lately I’ve been thinking about the four levels and the online world, and it’s been eye-opening: the internet is a place where our behavior and our relationship status diverge all the time.”
Two years ago: When you have a long runway. “Little introverts aren’t great at explaining themselves in short, pithy sound bites; instead, it often takes them a long time to put their thoughts together. They have long runways.”
Three years ago: Am I being crazy? Am I being stupid? Am I missing something? “I find myself asking my mentors 3 questions on a regular basis. They’re not the most sophisticated questions, but they sure are helpful.”
Four years ago: Your kids need to hear joy in the lifestyle you’ve chosen.
Five years ago: 1 ridiculously simple tip to make your marriage better.
Have a great weekend!
14 comments
I completely agree with the internet book review post. I rarely find book reviews that say anything negative about a book, which is a bit frustrating because I’m looking for honest opinions.
I also believe the internet encourages groupthink in regards to book reviews. Once a few bloggers/news outlets start gushing over a book, everyone else joins in. While this is certainly justified for some books, I’ve also wasted my time on a few “popular” books that just weren’t that great.
I agree with everything you said 100%. And I have now just added you to my reader! Love the respectful honesty.
Thanks so much!
Don’t get me started the online book reviews. When a book already has 50+ 5-star reviews on Amazon the SAME day it’s released, that’s a sure sign of authors who ‘bought’ reviews to boost their sales and popularity.
There is a difference between consumer driven book reviews and professional book reviews. I like that the internet has democratized reviews a bit. As someone who buys books for the community, I like knowing what real people think of a book, especially if it’s panned by the critics. The real problem is some people lack the information literacy skills necessary to critically evaluate the source of their reviews. For someone looking just for personal recommendations, finding a tribe of similarly minded readers can help exponentially – as is seeking advice from a professional readers’ advisor at your local library.
“Finding a tribe of similarly minded readers can help exponentially.”
Yes! Great point.
Comment love coming from over here. You’ve said more eloquently what I was thinking. I realized a long time ago that just about any book or movie about which critics raved was likely not at all going to be my cup of tea. They’re usually artsy-fartsy, terribly depressing, and/or just plain weird. I appreciate being able to read reviews from “regular” people because they tend to be more in line with real life rather than earnestly looking for some artistic angle.
Loved the Jane Eyre read! I just finished Jane Steele yesterday and IT WAS SO GOOD.
Hi Anne –
I know this is the wrong place for this comment/question but I wasn’t sure where else to post.
I’ve been reading your blog for quite some time (love, love, love!) and recalled that you had several posts on completing the Whole 30 program. I am on day 19 of my second go around and I was interested in rereading your thoughts on the experience. I, like you, really only missed a couple of things. Cheese (mainly cooking with it) and wine. In the newer Whole 30 book Melissa calls it the “wine ritual” which I think is exactly what I miss. I’m curious as to how you reintroduced wine in your eating plan and what the overall outcome has been for you. I could stand to lose about 15 pounds and have no delusions about wine helping me to do that. However, I am hoping that I can reintroduce it as an “indulgence” and by limiting other things (breads, sweets, etc.) which are obviously not as enjoyable to me, manage to control my weight as well. Just curious about your thoughts. I appreciate the feedback.
On the book review article–I totally agree with the author’s sentiments, and nothing annoys me more than buying and reading a gushed-over book and finding it lacking. But I also love the internet for having given me access to a wider community of book lovers than I’d ever encounter in my daily life. When deciding what to read next, there are now several people’s opinions I trust–most of them I’ve never met–and I never ever buy anything without reading a preview. (Though I recently read a book where the first chapter was excellent and the rest of it blew, which made me feel cheated. But that’s an exception; I think generally the book review will at least let me know if the writing is any good, a must for me.) So as with most things, pros and cons to online reviews.
I am really challenged by the concept of “ultra-successful people.” It just isn’t important to be ultra-successful when it is measured by money only. Ultra-kind, ultra-patient, ultra-helpful, extra-likely to pick up someone else’s trash, maybe those would be worth studying. A story like that seems almost to be an assignment to fill up space and generate content.
Fascinating stuff – especially the first two articles. As a book reviewer myself (for Shelf Awareness) and someone who blogs about books (on my own time), I definitely related to some of the sentiments in that post.
3 things:
1. As a constant reader, I love the quote from Warren Buffett “Read 500 pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.”
2. I have a long runway!! This explains so much… Why I get so frustrated when people don’t hear me out and only listen to a portion of what I say (so I constantly feel misunderstood). I appreciate even more now that my husband and sister listen well and take time to let me go down that runway before take off. I now know I need to edit what I say very quickly for people who just don’t care to stick around!
3. The 4 levels of relationships… wow. Last week I couldn’t put my finger on why I felt so uncomfortable for days. I shared in my bible study group (mostly casual and acquaintances at this stage) an answer to a question that was very personal to me. I overshared! As a normally very private and reserved person I force myself to share more about myself at times in the name of being authentic. I often come away from coffee with some people or small groups feeling so let down, and I regret speaking much at all. It haunts me for days. Now I can see I had tried to overshare with people and that uncomfortable feeling was because of it. I’ll stick to sharing that part of me with the close and intimates in my life. The reality is, I don’t have many of the close and intimates around. And that is ok! I value the ones who are there.
I know the last two were comments about previous years’ blogs – but as a new to this blog reader I am loving that you go back and share those. You would have no idea what impact (my) number 2 and 3 have had on me this week. Thank you!
Glad to hear it! Thanks for letting me know.