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Monday Tally: Networks, Scandalous Teachers, Book Reviews

Monday Tally: Networks, Scandalous Teachers, Book Reviews post image

Awhile ago, maybe all the way back in 2011, I did a week link round-up post on Monday’s called “Monday Tally.” I’ve been reading a lot of great stuff online lately and wanted a way to share it, so I decided to bring this one back semi-regularly. Enjoy!

This is a little on the old side, but the Young to Publishing Group published a story about the Independent Book Blogger Awards, and quoted a “contentious young editor” — aka yours truly! — about blogs as a conversation space for readers.

Lia Lee, the little girl at the center of Anne Fadiman’s wonderful book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, died at the end of August. This profile neatly sums up Lia’s story and the legacy of the book (which you should absolutely read).

Steven Johnson, author of the really excellent Everything Bad is Good For You, is over at Barnes & Noble with a list of the best books on the science of networks. Johnson has a new book coming out this month, Future Perfect: The Case for Progress in a Networked Age.

Jennifer Miller, author of the underappreciated but deeply funny novel The Year of the Gadfly (my review here), offered a list of three back to school books about scandalous teachers. They’re all on my TBR list now.

This makes me sad: a bookseller at Waterstone’s was found to be an online troll, posting negative reviews of a self-published author’s book after the author left cards advertising the book on Amazon in the bookstore. Certainly, that’s rude author behavior… but it doesn’t justify falsifying reviews.

This profile of Mindy Kaling is really good — recommended if you’re a fan of hers.

Via The Millions — “Is This Book Bad, or Is It Just Me? The Anatomy of Book Reviews” by Darryl Campbell. I also write about this piece over at Book Riot — “Anatomy 101: The Four Parts of a Book Review” — because I thought it was actually pretty useful (once you get past the unnecessary dig at non-print reviewers).

I also wrote a post including some other bloggers that write well about nonfiction as part of Book Blogger Appreciation Week.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Jeanne September 17, 2012, 5:57 am

    Oho, so the Millions is now advocating we all jump into Marxist criticism? I think I’ll stick with Reader-Response seasoned with a smattering of Historical.

    • Kim September 23, 2012, 9:04 am

      Ha 🙂 Yes, a little bit I suppose. Now I want to go revisit my basic theory textbook!

  • softdrink September 17, 2012, 8:06 pm

    Oh, I hadn’t heard about Lia Lee. That article was a wonderful summary of everything…hopefully it inspires more people to read the book!

    • Kim September 23, 2012, 9:05 am

      I hope so too! I’m tempted to host a readalong of the book, just because I think it’s a shame more people haven’t read it. Plus, I’d like an excuse to reread it!

  • maphead September 17, 2012, 9:05 pm

    i LOVED Steven Johnson’s The Ghost Map. Glad to see Nonzero made his list. It’s been sitting in my living room just begging to be read. Maybe seeing Johnson’s list will finally recommend me to finally do so.

    • Kim September 23, 2012, 9:06 am

      Nonzero looks awesome. I hope you read it and tell me if it’s worth the time 🙂

  • Jennifer September 18, 2012, 8:15 am

    I love me some Mindy Kaling, thanks for the heads up. (Her book was laugh out loud funny) Off to check out you BBAW post. I’m always looking for nonfiction blogs, thanks!

    • Kim September 23, 2012, 9:06 am

      Her book was so lovely, I really enjoyed it! She’s really funny and smart, which I am always drawn to.