A Pile of Guilt: Do you fret over your TBRs?

Forgive me bloggers, for I have sinned.  The cause of the recent rainy weather is my TBR pile–it’s BLOCKING the sun, preventing it from shining. 

In an act of desperation, I recently moved my TBR pile from my desk, where it was taking up prime real estate, to a dark corner of my office, out of view.  Why did I do this?  Simple.  The guilt over the leaning tower of TBRs was eating away at me, gnawing on me each time I plopped into my chair.  I tried rearranging and restacking them, to no avail.  They didn’t go away or look less daunting, so I banished them to the corner.

How did I find myself in such a conundrum?  Way back in February, at my request, a book blogging friend sent me a box of books as I prepared to launch Book, Line, and Sinker.  I wanted to have some books to review and feared I wouldn’t have enough material.  This kind blogger sent me a box of 20 books and I was overjoyed.  I pawed through the box, reading dust jackets and flipping through pages.

I picked out a book and blazed through it.  And then I started jotting down other bloggers’ suggestions for books and I even started getting review copies from some publishers and authors.  And the 19 books began to collect dust because I was reading everything else first!  Even though the blogger has told me repeatedly that it’s no big deal, I still feel terrible!  

Then, as if I didn’t have enough stuff to do, I created an insane challenge in which I thought I’d read 30 books this summer.  So far, I’ve made my way through 6 (and want to KISS the person who suggested Gargoyle–it was UNBELIEVABLE).  I’m going to keep plugging away but will be content to finish all 30 by Labor Day 2010! 

So, the 19 books are still lurking in my TBR pile only now they’ve found themselves piled below 12 others that are lined up for reviews in August and September.  Will I ever get to them all?  I have a book review each week for the next 8 weeks but should be able to squeeze in some of the 19 between now and September. 

Are you guilty over your TBRs?  How do you handle it?!  I need an intervention or at least have to say a few Hail Marys to assuage my guilt!

Review: Two Years, No Rain by Shawn Klomparens

Title: Two Years, No Rain

Author: Shawn Klomparens

Genre/Pages: Fiction/320

Publication: Delta Trade/Random House;  6/23/09

Rating: 3 BOOKMARKS

 

Weatherman-turned-children’s television host Andy Dunne has been living a literal and figurative 580-day drought, with no relief in sight.

Shawn Klomparens’s Two Years, No Rain, tells the story of Andy Dunne, a man in his early 30s who, to borrow one of his weather terms, is a ‘desiccated’ husk.  His personal life and job reporting weather for a satellite radio station parallel the parched weather and landscape of San Diego. 

Andy excels at repressing emotions and spends a good deal of the novel denying himself the right to the most basic and primal emotions.  He buries grief over personal loss, ignores the pain of his wife’s infidelities, stands idly by as their marriage disintegrates, and patently ignores his health.

Andy applies for and gets a job that propels him to television fame.  The job opens the door to a trip to Hong Kong and the unburdening of Andy’s guilt and regrets.  While on the island, a typhoon strikes and, ironically, the weatherman isn’t conscious to see a good part of it.

Relationships, loss, avoidance, regret, and infidelity are strong themes in this novel and each is weaved throughout.  Klomparens pens a realistic world for Andy with well-developed friends and family, though I thought the characterization of Andy’s love interest, Hillary, was a bit soft.  I learned more about his niece than I did about Hillary.  Their relationship was based mostly on hundreds of text messages and illicit late-night phone calls because of their respective marriages. 

After Andy’s marriage falls apart, Hillary’s marriage to Jason deteriorates.  It’s no coincidence that Hillary’s husband shares a name with Andy’s twin brother–Klomparens uses Hillary’s Jason as Andy’s foil–reflecting the unspoken competitive relationship that Andy and his twin shared. 

The novel is chock full of symbols and metaphors—stormy weather, withering plants that flourish with proper care and attention, the text messages between Andy and Hillary, dry weather, an empty house, ‘new’ and ‘old’; page has depth and more to offer than meets the eye.

Darkly humorous, I enjoyed several laughs during the novel.  Ultimately, Two Years, No Rainis really a quest on which Andy struggles to finds peace with his losses, regrets, career, and relationships–only then can the literal and figurative rain come.  This would be a great read for a book club and there’s a discussion guide on Klomparens’s website. 

Thanks to Lisa and Trish at TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to review this novel!

Book Blogs + Book Reviews=Book Sales?

As my book blog is poised to turn 6 months old, I’ve been reflecting on its purpose and potential.  People are visiting, reading, and commenting on my posts, but does that translate to book sales?  Do book blogs generate enough buzz to actually sell books? 

The book blogging community is such a supportive one, but are we reaching the masses?  Recently, I started posting my reviews on Amazon to reach a wider audience.  But is this enough?  Are their other avenues that I’m missing?

I read about 60 book blogs during the week.  In six months, I’ve read 13 books that were either reviewed or suggested by other bloggers (five of which were for my Summer Reading Challenge).   In total, I’ve been motivated to read eight books purely on bloggers’ reviews.  But my reading of these books didn’t generate new revenue for the authors because I  borrowed them from my local library.

I would love to know if book blogs, reviews, and tours have a quantifiable impact on book sales.  Do authors notice a spike in sales and interest if they market their books through blogs?  Do you think your blog (and book blogs in general) help sell books?  Inquiring minds want to know!

Review: The Sitting Swing by Irene Watson

Title: The Sitting Swing

Author: Irene Watson

Genre/Pages: Memoir, Inspirational/215 pages

Publication: LHP; July 16, 2008

Rating: 2.5 BOOKMARKS

A journey to find freedom from codependency and unhappiness, Irene Watson’s The Sitting Swing is one woman’s story of recovery.

Raised by Ukranian immigrant parents in almost absolute isolation from society until she was six, Watson recounts her stark childhood in the unforgiving Canadian province of Alberta and how her upbringing shaped her personality and perception of life and relationships.

After losing one child to illness, Irene’s mother isn’t about to let her second child wander too far from her vigilant watch.  As a result, Irene’s attempts at independence are stifled and her personality development is retarded by her mother’s domineering parenting.

The memoir recounts Irene’s struggles to learn English, make friends, and her numerous attempts to escape from under her mother’s thumb.  As an adult, she finds herself repressing her feelings and struggling with her marriage.

A few years shy of 50, Irene, a therapist herself, checks into a 28-day program with little hope of taking away more than just some rhetoric to pass on to her patients.  Initially, she works against the program and is high skeptical of its efficacy.  In the end, she opens herself to the lessons and counselors, finding the tools she needs to make peace with her past and change her present.

This book was a quick and interesting read, though I typically don’t read inspirational nonfiction.  Without minimizing Watson’s childhood struggles, I have to confess that I kept waiting for the big reveal–a major and catastrophic event that brought her to Avalon for help. 

Watson’s diction–chatty and conversational at times–detracted from her story.   Maybe she was aiming for candor, but this memoir could be markedly improved if she would have detached from her audience and relayed the story without casually addressing the reader.

Don’t ask me how, because I don’t know, and I’m not sure I would want to bore you with the details if I did…Let’s zip forward ten years… (Watson, 18-19)

Ultimately, Irene Watson finds the tools she needs and is able to recognize the past for what it is.  From there, she can let go and move forward in her marriage, life, and career.

Thank you to Dorothy at Pump Up Your Book Promotion! for this review copy!