The future of bookchat
In The New York Times, arts reporter Motoko Rich uses the recent contraction of mainstream book review coverage as a springboard to discuss ye olde Blogs vs Newspapers debate.
To some authors and critics, [review cutbacks] amount to yet one more nail in the coffin of literary culture. But some publishers and literary bloggers — not surprisingly — see it as an inevitable transition toward a new, more democratic literary landscape where anyone can comment on books. In recent years, dozens of sites, including Bookslut.com, The Elegant Variation, maudnewton.com, Beatrice.com and the Syntax of Things, have been offering a mix of book news, debates, interviews and reviews, often on subjects not generally covered by newspaper book sections. [URLs removed from quote and hyperlinks added]
There follows the expected back and forth, with litblogger Ed Champion arguing that blogs counter “the ‘often stodgy and pretentious tone’ of traditional reviews,” while National Book Critics Circle president John Freeman says, “We have a lot of opinions in our world. What we need is more mediation and reflection, which is why newspapers and literary journals are so important.”
One prominent litblogger, Maud Newton, gives the Times a welcome sense of perspective:
“I find it kind of naïve and misguided to be a triumphalist blogger,” Ms. Newton said. “But I also find it kind of silly when people in the print media bash blogs as a general category, because I think the people are doing very, very different things.”
And while it’s not mentioned in the article, this very funny cartoon also offers some perspective on the bookchat wars.
The Governor’s Wife by Kate Rizor
Author: Kandice Reed
The Governor’s Wife gets a favourable review.
I really enjoy novels by small publishers and am in the process of researching new ones all the time. I think that small publishers have the time to find good, beautiful kinds of novels.
That is the case with Kate Rizor’s ‘The Governor’s Wife’. This novel isn’t like anything. I would like to compare it to another book but it just won’t do. There’s a soul in this book that moves on its own and leads to a beautiful end.
I’ve read one other review on this book and it really didn’t do it justice. This book is an easy read, they wrote, people looking for something uncomplicated. And yet when I read it, I couldn’t help but admire the author’s way of just getting in there and letting the characters speak and feel and move.
It starts with mayor hopeful Governor Thornburg at a restaurant, white-knuckling it as he asks his wife for a divorce. They’ve grown apart but at the table, you know it’s been happening a while. You feel like you’re there. You can see her react and for a moment express vulnerability. And then she storms out.
This first scene knocks any cynical reader on their backside. She is kidnapped on her way home.
Ten years later, she is on the streets of Detroit and life is hard. She’s definitely dirty, mired in the filth of a cough that won’t ease up and a health care education that has no place for her. On a chance shoplifting charge, she ends up being recognized as the governor’s missing wife. She’s been gone ten years!
Andie, as she’s called on the streets, is rough and not at all used to home comforts. She doesn’t want to go but the governor is persuasive and she thinks there is another life she hasn’t yet experienced. She doesn’t remember a thing!
The novel moves on, dancing as these two characters first circle, then embrace one another against the cold hard world.
Although it sounds like I’ve given it all away, I assure you I haven’t.
There’s something about this book that moves me and makes me want to shout from the tallest building that everybody must get themselves a copy.
This book is a five star all the way. The cover is drop dead gorgeous and so are the characters.
Good job, Kate. I hope you keep at it and turn out another one. I’m there!
About Author
Kandice loves lots of things. Reading is one of those. With her BA in Literature, she refuses to just read what’s on the list. She seeks out novels and stories she can make into articles.