The Bookaholics’ Guide to Book Blogs
Title: The Bookaholics’ Guide to Book Blogs
Compiled by: Rebecca Gillieron & Catheryn Kilgarriff
Publisher: Marion Boyars Publishers
Length: 254 pgs.
I promised a review of this lovely book, and here it is; and trust me: the redundancy of a blogged book review of a book about book reviewing blogs is not lost on me. I suppose it goes without saying that I loved it. I love the front cover, I love the blogging snippets, I love the things Rebecca and Catheryn had to say (and yes, I am speaking of them with first name familiarity because I’m taking the liberties of pretending to know them after reading about their likes and dislikes regarding my favorite corner of the world: blogs and books and book blogs).
Catheryn Kilgarriff is the publisher at Marion Boyars Publishers and Rebecca Gillieron is the Senior Editor. This particular publishing company sounds relatively small, by their own descriptions, and cozy, and wonderful, and British. Of course, I am now obsessed and plan to purchase anything and everything I see published by Marion Boyars when shopping at brick and mortar stores. I also have dreams of one day being published by them, even though I live in Texas and the logistics of it may seem ridiculous. Simply, they made me fall in love with their little office and want to live and breathe everything that they live and breathe. Coincidentally, I already followed many of the blogs mentioned in the book, but the ones I didn’t already receive emails from on a weekly basis I hunted down so I can in the future.
Having been printed in 2007 and being about the internet world and e-books, it’s a little more than a bit outdated, but still completely worth the read. The book is not so outdated to feel foreign, just outdated enough to say, ‘Yeah, that doesn’t work any more’ or ‘That’s not quite a true statement these days.’ When those phrases pop up in my mind, though, they surprise me because it’s just barely on the verge of being old news, like their whole chapter on the future of e-books. I kept thinking, ‘Wow, I remember thinking that several years ago, but…’ the future is here, my friends, the future is here.
I think its wonderful how true Rebecca and Catheryn are to the things they like and appreciate. For example, the cover art for their book is actually from a blog they discuss in great detail and length called Dovegreyreader. The very end of the book even includes all the links for their favorite mentionables.
My favorite quote:
“For book reviews pages are not read simply for pleasure, they do not serve only to sway the purchasing power of the reader towards a particular author or trend. They are – in an ideal world at least – essential tools of cultural dialogue which stimulate informed debate, encourage new writing and shape the literary world.”
I read that, immediately unlined it, and nearly shouted: Yes, oh yes!
If you write a blog, read blogs, or love books or any kind of literary criticism, you should give this title a go.
Anakalian Whims 