In honor of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, I decide today would be a good day to put up my review of America (The Audiobook): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction by Jon Stewart and the Daily Show Cast.

If you like Jon Stewart and the Daily Show, you’re going to like America (The Audiobook), which is a performance version of their book. I don’t think the book delivers up anything especially different from what the show usually does, but that’s not a critique since I’m a fan of the show and Jon Stewart more generally. While I don’t always agree with his politics, I appreciate that he’s willing to point out the hypocrisy in the system, regardless of political party.

The audiobook is an abridged version (boo!), but still covers quite a bit of ground. Topics include:

• Ancient Rome: The First Republicans
• The Founding Fathers: Young, Gifted, and White
• The President: King of Democracy
• The Supreme Court: 18 Legs, Four Tits, One Mission
• Running for Office: What Are You Thinking?
• The Media: Can It Be Stopped?
• The Future of Democracy: The Constitutional Robocracy and You!

I have this book in print, but decided to listen to the audio despite the abridgment after Kathy (Bermudaonion’s Weblog) said the audio was so great. Stewart is the main narrator, but a number of other former and current Daily Show staffers narrate sections too. It’s a performance more than a reading, and works really well.

This was an easy audiobook to listen to because it was funny and each section was relatively short. If I got distracted, the narrator switched and brought me back in. Overall, quite enjoyable and recommended if you like this sense of humor.

And with that, I’m heading back to watching a live feed of the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear online. I’m just loving the Medals of Reasonableness – we could use a lot more of that these days. As Mick Foley just noted, “Civility is cool.”

Audiobook Review: America (The Audiobook) by Jon Stewart is a post from: Sophisticated Dorkiness, © 2010.

Welcome to the first day of The Classics Circuit for author Wilkie Collins! Over the next month you’ll be seeing posts reviewing a number of Collins’ books and talking about his life. You can follow this link to see a full list of classics tour spots over the next month.

I somehow got the honor of writing the first post of the tour which is really exciting! Instead of reviewing a book, I’m going to write a little about Wilkie Collins and his contribution to literature through the serial novel. And, I’m going to talk about how you can experience a serial novel today for free! Read on for details.

The History of the Serial Novel

The serial novel got its start in the 19th century when writers would publish their stories in installments in popular magazines. At the time, books were extremely expensive, so only the wealthy had access. Publishing in magazines opened up literature to a much more general audience. This is also part of the reason novels published serially are so long — the more chapters an author wrote, the more he or she was paid, so there was incentive to write a lot.

Charles Dickens is the author credited with advancing the serial novel and publishing a number of authors. Not everyone wrote well in the style, which required that “each installment must advance the plot and offer excitement and suspense.” Not all authors could write in the style because the pace of weekly writing was too demanding. But authors like Wilkie Collins appreciated and even thrived with the challenge.

Wilkie Collins and the Serial Novel

Wilkie Collins was one author who helped popularize the serial novel. Over the course of his career, Collins wrote 25 novels, along with short stories, plays, and non-fiction works. Collins had many of his novels published serially, thanks in part to his friendship with author Charles Dickens, whom he met in 1851. The two authors got along well and had a productive relationship.

Collins first started publishing serially by co-writing couple series of short stories with Dickens and other popular authors of the time — A House to Let in 1858 and The Haunted House in 1859. The Woman in White was published in that magazine in 1859, the same edition of the magazine as A Tale of Two Cities. This was Collins’ major break into the industry, and after that novel he was a household name. He continued to contribute serial novels to that magazine and others into his career. His other most famous work, The Moonstone, was published in 1868.

During the time they were developing the serial novel, Dickens and Collins learned a some of lessons. For example, they learned that the suspense of the novel needs to build over time. In one of his novels, The Dead Secret, Collins gave up the mystery in the first installment, which left readers without much reason to come back. He didn’t make the same mistake with The Woman in White which was probably what made it so successful.

Experience the Serial Novel Today

Although some recent authors have been publishing their work serially, the way I’ve been replicating the experience of a serial novel is through an e-mail/RSS service called DailyLit. At the site you can arrange to have an excerpt from a book e-mailed to you daily for a morning dose of good literature. For each book you can specify when to have it delivered, how often to have it delivered, and how long you’d like the excerpt to be.

About a month ago I started getting excerpts from The Woman in White. I figured reading a book that was originally published serially was a good way to start trying DailyLit. I’m on e-mail 40 of 286, so I’ll be finishing the book sometime next year We’ll see how trying to write that review will go!

So What’s Next?

I hope this e-mail sparked your excitement about Wilkie Collins and you’ll be looking for the rest of the stops on the tour for some books you can try reading. Or if you have the experience of reading a serial novel or using Daily Lit, let me know. Thanks for stopping by!

Wilkie Collins and the Serial Novel is a post from: Sophisticated Dorkiness, © 2010.

I wasn’t sure what to write about for Sunday Salon today because my reading life has felt pretty stagnant this week. But then @thebrainlair tweeted a blog post from Jim Burke at The English Teacher’s Companion called Remember to Read which gave me some inspiration. The post is about why English teachers need to make time to read, even when their class obligations make it seem impossible. Burke writes,

But not reading every day — and I do not mean to equate reading with vitamins or apples! — is like not watering the plants in my garden regularly and expecting them to remain healthy or even flourish. If we do not read — a poem here, some portion of a book or article there–we will find ourselves drying out and beginning to resent our work, our kids, our life — all that prevents us from doing what we love, from being ourselves.

I feel like this particular piece of advice is not just applicable to English teachers — it applies to just about all students who wonder how they’ll find the time for personal reading outside their reading and writing obligations as a student. (I know people who aren’t students struggle with this too, but I’m a student so that’s the context I’m thinking in right now.)

I’ve been thinking about this balance — school life and personal life — most of the weekend because I started classes last week. This semester is going to be very reading intensive, which makes me worry about the time and energy I’ll have for personal reading. But Burke’s post inspired me  — he included a whole list of tips and tricks he uses to find time to read in order to make reading for pleasure a habit of daily life (which I encourage you to go read!).

I already implement some of his suggestions. For example, I always carry a book with me when I’m out so I can sneak in a few pages before class or while standing in line. And I try to read a chapter or two of a book for fun before I go to sleep. Right now I’m in the middle of Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc. I’ve always had an inconsistent habit of reading before bed, but now that reading time is scarce it’s much more important.

Another way I’ve been squeezing in some extra reading time is by reading aloud with Boyfriend. The idea started when we were driving home from a wedding last month. We couldn’t find a radio station and didn’t have an audio book, so I ended up reading Bonk by Mary Roach out loud in the car. We both really liked this, so we’ve been making time to read a chapter at a time when we have a few minutes.

We’re almost done and have started looking for our next book. I’m pushing for The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn R. Sacks, a memoir on living with schizophrenia. He’s leaning towards Out of Our Heads by Alva Noe, a nonfiction book about the biology of consciousness.  Once we finish Bonk, I think we’ll just take a vote to pick our next book.

So that’s what I’ve been doing this week, reading in small doses and trying to get my head back into school mode. I’ve got a post in draft about my books for this semester, plus some thoughts on book reviewing (via Weekly Geeks) and a review of Say Everything by Scott Rosenberg on tap for this week, so stay tuned!

How do you squeeze reading into your schedule? What’s your best tip for making reading a habit when it feels like there’s no time? Or for students, how do you balance work and pleasure reading without burning yourself out?

The Sunday Salon: Remembering to Read is a post from: Sophisticated Dorkiness, © 2010.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Hello world! is a post from: Sophisticated Dorkiness, © 2010.

I did a poll about a month ago asking for suggestions on what I read. I got a lot of awesome comments and was inspired to finish Lipstick Jihad by Azadeh Moaveni, High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, and I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley (review in progress). They were all awesome, so I thank you or the votes and ask for your help again…

What book should I be sure to read in April? Leave a comment and let me know!

1. The Magician’s Book by Laura Miller
2. Clumsy by Jeffrey Brown
3. Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer
4. Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin
5. The Hours by Michael Cunningham
6. Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

Photo by flickr user -bast-

Poll: What Should I Read in April? is a post from: Sophisticated Dorkiness, © 2010.

Last week I was awarded the Excessively Diverting Blog Award by AustenProse, thank you!  This award was created by the bloggers at Jane Austen Today who describe the award like this:

The aim of the Excessively Diverting Blog Award is to acknowledge writing excellence in the spirit of Jane Austen’s genius in amusing and delighting readers with her irony, humor, wit, and talent for keen observation. Recipients will uphold the highest standards in the art of the sparkling banter, witty repartee, and gentle reprove. This award was created by the blogging team of Jane Austen Today to acknowledge superior writing over the Internet and promote Jane Austen’s brilliance.

Here are seven blogs that I think also deserve this award:

• Anastasia at Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog: I started reading Anastasia’s blog when she joined the Blog Improvement Project.  Anastasia does a great weekly feature called eBook Wednesday that I always look forward to.

• Care at Care’s Online Book Club: Care writes the most amusing stream-of-consciousness blog posts I read online.  Her posts always make me smile.

• Sarah at Behold, the thing that reads a lot: Sarah’s blog is another one I found through the Blog Improvement Project.  I knew I would love reading it after I read her post on a critical analysis of chick-lit.  It’s a very smart post from a very smart blogger.

• Eva at A Striped Armchair: Although I’m only participating vicariously, I think Eva’s World Citizenship Challenge is a great idea.  I’ve seen reviews for a lot of unique books that link back to this challenge, which I think is great.

• Becca at The Inside Cover: Becca is a journalist and book blogger from Southern California.  She hasn’t been posting a ton lately, but I always love her posts and hope she comes back soon!

• Softdrink (Jill) at Fizzy Thoughts: I started reading Jill more regularly while we both started helping out with the new Weekly Geeks.  I love most of her posts, but I found this recent one particularly funny.

• Belle of the Books at BelleoftheBooks: This is another blog I found via the BIP, I think.  I love her blog name, and a lot of the reviews she posts — this review convinced me to consider a genre I usually avoid, it’s that good

Congrats everyone! You can claim your award by copying the HTML code of the Excessively Diverting Blog Award badge then posting it on your blog with the name of the person who nominated you and a link back to their blog.  You can then nominate seven (7) other blogs that you feel meet or exceed the standards of the award as listed above.

Also, a quick thank you to Steven at Book Dads and Shelley at ChainReading who both awarded me the Primos Dardos Award a long time ago and I failed to acknowledge properly.  I always feel awkward and self-indulgent posting blog awards, even though I don’t get them very often, but I’m working on it

The Excessively Diverting Blog Award (and more) is a post from: Sophisticated Dorkiness, © 2010.

Jeanne at Necromancy Never Pays (what a great blog name!) sent me some questions last week to answer as part of that five questions thing that is going around.  Jeanne asked me some great questions, so enjoy!

1. Have you ever bought a novel or recommended it to others based on a strong opinion or conviction you held and believed the author shared?

Quite awhile ago, my best friend bought me Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Jane Gilman.  We had this mini-tradition of randomly picking out books at used bookstores for presents, so she picked this one because it was a memoir and because she liked the cover.  The book ended up inspiring my own long meditation about what it means to be a feminist and whether I could consider myself one.  I’ve recommended the book to a number of people who seem to be facing the same issue because of the way it helped me sort out my own questions about that topic.

2. Are you a person who is easily swayed by the opinions of others, or would you say you’re stubborn?  Has a book ever swayed you or gotten your back up?

I would say I’m easily swayed when I don’t know much about a topic, but pretty stubborn if the topic is something I have thought a lot about.  I like to think I’m willing to consider arguments that are well-formed, so authors that write convincingly have a good chance of convincing me that they are correct. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of a book that’s really infuriated me, but I used to get incensed at political editorials in my college newspaper.

3.  If you were a fiction writer, what message would you be tempted to weave into anything you wrote?  (Or do you see any message when reading one of the writers you like best?)

I’d be really tempted to write about strong women making independent choices.  I’m not much of an active feminist, but I do get frustrated with books that make it seem like women want nothing more than to be in relationships or are extremely passive (Bella in Twilight, for example).  I like women who are interesting and exciting and make life choices for themselves.

I’m not against books about relationships though.  I think the thing feminists should be working towards is giving women a choice and then supporting all women after they make that choice.  In that way, I really enjoy Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte because Jane is given the choice about her relationship with Rochester.  Even though part of me doesn’t like Rochester because I think he’s manipulative, I have to like the end of tke book because that’s the moment when Jane makes the most independent choice she can.

I think I got on a little bit of a feminist-y rant thinking about the Gilman book, sorry!

4. What was the first book that changed your life?  What was the last?

I don’t know what book first changed my life, but the book that changed the way I think about reading was Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.  Before reading that book, I knew about symbolism and analysis and stuff, but I didn’t realize how many layers a good piece of literature could have.  I’m not sure about the last book, that’s a tough question!

5. Have you ever read any work of fiction that made you wish you could limit the number or the kinds of readers (for ex. no one under 12, not unless you’ve read the first book or know the historical context, etc.)?

You know, I don’t think I have!  I’m not much of a “don’t read this” sort of person — I think most books have an audience, and if it’s not me then it’s probably someone else.  I can think of a few books with explicit sex that I wouldn’t want kids to read before they are old enough, but nothing major comes into mind.

Wow, good questions!  I didn’t do a great job answering them, but I hope it was interesting for you.  Look for a new book review here tomorrow (I hope…).

Want to play?  Leave a comment that says “Interview Me” with contact information, and I’ll send you a list of five questions to answer on your blog.  I’m a journalist, so they’ll be good

Five Questions Interview is a post from: Sophisticated Dorkiness, © 2010.

I rarely get books in the mail because I don’t usually do ARCs and don’t often enter in giveaways online.  I  don’t do ARCs because I like to read what I feel like reading without feeling obligated to get to a book specifically because I agreed to review it.  I’m not sure why I don’t enter more giveaways, but anyway, I digress.

About two weeks ago I found out I had won books from two different giveaways — Gods Behaving Badly from Serena at Savvy Verse & Wit (via the Hatchette Book Group) and The Magician’s Book from Melanie at The Indextrious Reader (also via the Hatchette Book Group).

Yesterday, both books came to me via UPS, how great is that?  I now have a towering stack of books to read, but that’s ok.  I’m back in my quiet apartment in Madison, and school doesn’t start until Tuesday, so I bet I can get through a couple before then.

Photo by flickr user zyphbear

Book Mail is a post from: Sophisticated Dorkiness, © 2010.

I’ll be gone from Thursday – Sunday volunteering with Minnesota YMCA Youth in Government.  I get to spend four days hanging out at the Minnesota state capitol (pictured left), hanging out with some of the best high school students I can imagine working with. I’ll be without internet, a state I find almost tragic, but I think I’ll survive

A note for the Blog Improvement Project — if your comments or links don’t show up right away, WordPress might have put them aside for me to moderate.  I’ll sort through it all when I get back!

Photo by flickr user tboard

Blog Vacation, Be Back Monday! is a post from: Sophisticated Dorkiness, © 2010.

It’s been what, like six days since I last posted?  I didn’t meant  abandon Sophisticated Dorkiness for that long, but once I finished my book blogging paper (which you can download and read by clicking on the link), I just lost all motivation to do anything that involved thinking.  So, no books read and no blog posts written, just lots of tv and movies and sitting around playing games on my DS.  But now that the holidays are starting to wear off, I think I’m back to using my brain a little bit more.

In the next couple days look for a wrap up for Fall Into Reading 2008, a couple of belated book reviews, and some closing thoughts from this blogging year.  Also, the 2009 Blog Improvement Project is starting in just over two weeks, so check out the project page to see if it sounds like something for you.

A belated “Happy Holidays” to all my favorite readers and bloggers (yep, that means you ).

Back to Blogging, With a Paper! is a post from: Sophisticated Dorkiness, © 2010.