Book Blogger Appreciation Week starts today, and participants are asked to spotlight a few of our favorite non-shortlisted blogs. With a short detour to congratulate my bloggy friends Frances and Richard for their well-deserved short-listings in the "Best Writing" category (you're both awesome, guys!), here are a few book blogs I always look forward to reading. The list is, of course, too long to include everyone who should be here!
- EL Fay at This Book and I Could Be Friends always posts essays that are insightful, thought-provoking, and, what's more, fun to read. She's been dipping into social analysis of various apocalyptic and vampire novels recently, and I've heartily enjoyed her posts (and our conversations) about the social and racial subtexts of vampire and zombie stories.
- Dorothy at Of Books and Bicycles branches out into lots of neglected genres, such as eighteenth-century novels of sensibility and biographies of Romantic poets, and she writes about them so enjoyably that I find myself seriously pondering picking up books I never would have considered without her. She thinks carefully and astutely, and I always enjoy reading the results. Also, I really relate to this post she wrote about being torn between reading for depth or breadth. Always a tough call.
- Cynthia at Catching Days is not a "book-blogger" per se, although she often writes about books; she's more of a creative writer who blogs about the literate life. I love her meticulous, observant approach to the world around her, and the way she prizes the details. She's also been doing an interesting series on the daily routines of different writers - it's always interesting to peek into other peoples' daily structures.
- I'm sure I won't be the only person giving a shout out to Claire at Kiss A Cloud, but hers is one of my favorite book-blogs - not only does she write beautifully about the reading life, but her visual aesthetic makes her entries a joy to look at, and her warmth and intelligent enthusiasm have been a lovely part of my book-blogging experience thus far.
- And finally, I always look forward to reading the thoughts of Sarah at what we have here is a failure to communicate. She writes thoughtfully and well, and her taste is eclectic enough that I've learned about many books I'd never have known about, through her site. I knew for sure she was a kindred spirit when I read her recent review of Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, and she expressed her "deep, wonderful feeling of delight": my thoughts exactly.
And now, I'm off to explore other peoples' recommendations! Enjoy Day One of BBAW, everyone.
I've never read any of these but I've noticed that Kiss a Cloud has been mentioned in a bunch of other blogs today. I will have to make sure to visit all these blogs.
Thank you so much for the mention, Emily! I'm so glad you read my blog, and I'm always happy to get a comment from you. And I'm especially glad you are out there writing as well -- I love checking out your blog!
Wow, thanks for the mention Emily! I'm so glad to have met you through blogging, and I look forward to sharing more books with you. I'm also eager to check out the blogs that you've listed here. :)
Thank you so much for your kind words! I am actually reading a Swedish vampire novel right now I first heard about on Regular Rumination. I'll be writing about it on Thursday, when we blog about books we were introduced to on other book blogs.
Thank you so very much, Emily! As you know, I'm head over heels in love with your blog. Your posts are always so articulate and intelligent and most of the time your thoughts reflect mine. XOXOXOXO!!
Well, I'm late to the party but I really appreciate being invited. Thanks, Emily. I was out of town for all of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, but if I had been here, your blog would certainly have been on my list. I am in awe of your reading choices.
Also, I'm enjoying catching up on your posts after being gone and crazy busy. I look forward to coming back tomorrow to make more comments.