WinterLyre sent me the following link to a NY Times article by Ben Schott: Confessions of a Book Abuser. Seems Mr. Schott is one of those readers who dog-ears, doodles, and bestows marginalia on his books, much to the dismay of an Italian hotel chambermaid.
My late grandmother was one of those whose books were pristine, even after multiple readings. Even the spines of her paperbacks were barely marked or striped in the least. Candy is a reader much like my grandmother - when Candy loans me a book, I feel like I need to keep it hermetically sealed inside a glass podium like in a museum, and certainly far, FAR away from the grabby fingers of Freebird, the Toddler Who Eats Books With Glee. I have a picture of him contemplating the nuances of potential flavor in Candy’s copy of To Love and to Cherish, and I still am hesitant to send it to her, even though I didn’t let him get her paperback anywhere near his growing appetite for edible romance.
I am, alas, not a neat reader. I don’t read compulsively with a pen in my hand anymore, but I do dog-ear pages, most often for review - a fact I’ve mentioned here many times. Lots of teeth at the top = lots of passages or moments that made me irritable or confused. Lots of teeth at the bottom = passages or moments I loved. The amount of top teeth vs. bottom teeth can give you a good sense of the grade at casual glance, yet there are those who would look at the teeth, top and bottom, and scream at me for being a heartless wench who abuses my precious reading material.
Such an accusation would honestly make me chuckle because I harbor immeasurable feelings of guilt for giving away and donating those books sent to me as ARCs or review copies that are far, far outside the realm of romance novels.
Certainly a few dog ears are nothing, as Schott mentions, when compared to book burning parties or cutting into books to create safe places for hiding valuables. But is marking or folding pages a habit that drives you batty, or one that helps you enjoy a book?
What kind of reader are you? Do your books, like mine, show abuse, wear and tear as signs of being real, like the Velveteen Rabbit? Or are your favorite books eligible for resale as “new & unread” because there’s no sign that you or anyone else cracked the pages, even though you could probably quote passages from key scenes?
This is the gayest thing ever. No, seriously. Remember when we thought the gay cowboy thing was the gayest thing ever? This is, like, exponentially gayer than that. Even Graham’s Number is inadequate to describe the magnitude of The Gay (and the OMGWTF) of this video.
Warning: Lyrics are very mildly Not Work Safe, but the video in and of itself is very tame. If you have earphones in the office, now would be the time to use them.
Our faithful readers forward on the most interesting bits of news to us regularly, which is awesome, but thanks to being out of town for the last couple of weeks, I’m way, way behind on my e-mail. And as I was going through my inbox this morning, I noticed that we had a huge collection of interesting links. Instead of inundating you with 6 or 7 little posts today, I thought I’d be all efficient and shit and plop everything into one post. Messy, but fun! Not unlike sex in a bathtub full of jello!
Item the First: Jane of Dear Author and Lilith Saintcrow both pointed out to me that Smart Bitches is listed as an option in the new Romantic Times BOOKReview survey.
No, seriously. For realz. Checkit:
How tickled pink are we? Well, shit, just look at the color scheme, and imagine a shade pinker than that.
Item the Second: Another survey, this one with a more academic bent! Bitchery regular Bronwyn is (among other things) conducting a survey of the on-line romance community as part of her doctoral dissertation at the University of New England. This is the first academic study I’ve encountered that’s a fairly large-scale, organized attempt to study the on-line romance community, and the results should be interesting. Check out more details about the study here: “Online communities of romance readers and writers and their perspectives on the genre”. You can also take the survey.
Item the Third: Many of our readers forwarded on the link to the Fabiofone.
One word: Aieeeee.
Item the Fourth: In keeping with our recent discussion about scrotums, it seems that people are getting bent out of shape by the use of another blunt but scientifically correct term. In short, some Seattle-ites are getting their panties in a wad over a pet store called ”High-Maintenance Bitch.” Hahahaha. Hat-tip to Bev for forwarding this item to us.
Item the Fifth: Reader Hillary sent us a link in which some dude person paints insects in the place of heroes on romance novel covers. Fashunating--though I can’t help but feel that a horse’s ass might be a more appropriate substitute for most novels.
Item the Sixth: Malle Vallik alerted us to the fact that there’s a blog dedicated to Harlequin Presents and all its delicious cheesiness. Feel like discussing your love of the sheikh romance, or what being a “mistress” actually means in the Presents universe? Head over to I (Heart) Presents.
In keeping with this hodge-podge, consider the comments to this an open thread. What’s on your mind? What’s on your lap? Have a meme you want to respond to, but don’t have your own webspace to post it on? Full of interesting links saved up that you want to share with us? GO FOR IT.
Via La Peril: Penguin publishes books with blank covers so you can create your own masterpieces. Check out the PenguinBlog’s Flickr photostream for many, many interesting covers.
I was thinking about how this would translate to romance novels and the sorts of covers we could come up with for our favorites. Some are easy enough. My cover for Laura Kinsale’s Midsummer Moon, for example, would feature a hedgehog peeking out from under a sheet of paper, paws ink-stained. For My Lady’s Heart would be a battered suit of green armor laying on the ground with a falcon perched on it.
But others are a lot more difficult. To Love and to Cherish, for example, would be well-nigh impossible. There’s no visual hook; it’s about two people becoming best friends and lovers under very difficult circumstances. Maybe a close-up of a sheet of paper with Christy’s appalling poetry tucked into the trunk of a tree?
And then, of course, there are covers I could slap on the books I didn’t like--but then, most of the existing covers do a more than adequate job of conveying the awfulness of the contents.
Thinking about the covers I’d come up with for some of the sketchier paranormal romances makes me chuckle, too--but a lot of it would resemble bad furry fanart, which really is no laughing matter.
What are some of the covers you’d come up with for your favorite and not-so-favorite romance novels?
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Rbelle strikes again, forwarding me a link to either a man who is either a wee bit unhinged, or who has the makings of a modern day romance hero, albeit one who lives with his mother, has no phone, but does have a nice heirloom sword.
I keep rereading this article, imagining all the variations that could be spun out from this story. It could be a bizarre fantasy erotica plot, or a rather tame-by-comparison Blaze, or maybe even an historical, though how to substitute the porn video in an historically-appropriate context might be a stumper. Man definitely needs a kilt, though. To go with the sword.
Either way, it’s the stuff absurd romance could be made of.
A website that reviews romance novels from a couple of smart bitches who will always give it to you straight. No bullshit. No gushing--unless the author really deserves it.
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Nathan Kamp is on my “list”. You know, the one I have of people with whom I can have sex and my husband won’t get mad? From what I understand, though, Mr. Kamp is not only hawter than hawt but…
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Well the first picture made my morning. In fact, I have no idea what the rest of the post was about, for me it was all about that picture. :)
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