- I get a little freaked out when other bloggers link to me. I used to get excited when other people would mention a post or review because it usually meant something resonated with them. But in the new, brave world of the internet the inmates have taken over the asylum and a blogger is just as likely to be on the receiving end of a rage-a-thon by someone who has decided to take your online opinion and use it as fodder for an epic rant. Fortunately my thoughts are not usually deep enough to stir up the emotion needed to make it worth the time for anyone to get worked up over them- but I'm still irrationally twitchy when I see someone else wear the bullseye for a day or two. Fortunately I was linked to, in a good way, in a post by Alex Bledsoe in which he talks about the covers of his books (which have been noted to have a different vibe than the books themselves) and he quotes a small bit of a review I had written for his latest book, "Wake of the Bloody Angel." Whew! No need to duck and hide today.
- I've been questioning the veracity of online reviews for awhile. Not the blogger-reviewer type (though I'm sure we've all seen some we thought were iffy) but Amazon reviews. I get a lot of solicitations for self-published books and they almost invariably point me to their Amazon page and a slew of 5 star reviews that proclaim their book is the best thing they've ever read! I don't know about you but when I see a page full of 5 star reviews, and nothing else, I move on. No book, not even some of my favorites, are exempt from 1 and 2 star reviews. I've become so jaded that I won't buy a book from any publisher, unless it's by an author I know I like, if I can't read reviews that run the gamut from at least the 3-5 star range. And it appears that my suspicions are well founded. Apparently the new big thing in self-publishing is buying positive reviews. Sheesh.
- Neil Armstrong died this week. I was so sad to read of his passing. I was born in 1969, just a couple of months after Neil made history as the first man to walk on the moon, and always thought it was cool that I shared a birth year with such a momentous event. I think, perhaps, that my love of sci-fi movies owed a little to the fact that I was able to connect the dots with the moon landing and the year I was born. R.I.P Neil. You were my hero.
- I read a cute article today about how the Kindle is killing the "commuter book recommendations;" you know, that thing you do when you glance at the dust jacket of other commuters to see what they're reading? I love looking at what other people read, but the author of the article also touches on the best aspect of the Kindle- hiding what you're reading from everyone else! I haven't had any desire to read "Fifty Shades of Whatever" but if I do decide to read some mommy porn I can at least rest assured that no one else is going to know.
- Speaking of Kindles. I love my eReader and I'm always surprised when someone tells me they don't have one. My husband isn't so infatuated and I find that baffling. Anyway, Book Chick City is hosting a giveaway for a Kindle Fire/Kindle Touch and you should stop by if you don't already have a handy-dandy reader of your own.
Random Thoughts (With Links)
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