Monday Tally is a weekly link round-up of some of my favorite posts discovered over the week. If you have suggestions for Monday Tally, please e-mail sophisticated [dot] dorkiness [at] gmail [dot] com. Enjoy!
Top Picks
Monday Tally can get long (because I spend way to much time on the Interwebs), so I decided to highlight a few of my favorites up near the top (with full explanations down later in the post):
- Book bloggers catch on with publishers (via the Los Angeles Times)
- Nicholas Sparks, and High School Journalism (via Life is a Patchwork Quilt)
- How to Keep Inspired When Blogging Gets Tough (via ProBlogger)
Events and Happenings
Jenny (Jenny’s Books) is hosting Diana Wynne Jones Week from August 1 to August 7. I loved her fantasy when I was a kid – the Dalemark Quartet (consisting of Cart and Cwidder, Drowned Ammet, The Spellcoats and The Crown of Dalemark) was probably my favorite. I can’t wait.
Estella’s Revenge E-Zine is back, and looking for writers!
Things to Think About
The Los Angeles Times did a nice story about how book bloggers are catching on with publishers, and features a few of my very favorite book bloggers. This is a feel-good, highly recommended story.
Marie (Boston Bibliophile) asks what is a graphic novel – a good question, with some thoughtful responses.
Boston.com had an interesting piece about science and what it tells us about vacation habits. For example:
How long we take off probably counts for less than we think, and in the aggregate, taking more short trips leaves us happier than taking a few long ones. We’re often happier planning a trip than actually taking it. And interrupting a vacation — far from being a nuisance — can make us enjoy it more. How a trip ends matters more than how it begins, who you’re with matters as much as where you go, and if you want to remember a vacation vividly, do something during it that you’ve never done before. And though it may feel unnecessary, it’s important to force yourself to actually take the time off in the first place — people, it turns out, are as prone to procrastinate when it comes to pleasurable things like vacations as unpleasant ones like paperwork and visits to the dentist.
Valerie (Life is a Patchwork Quilt) went to school with your favorite and mine, Mr. Nicholas Sparks, and shares some of his early journalism. So, so funny.
I got to guest post on The 3R’s Blog about a new proposed genre, nonfictional fiction. It’s pretty brilliant, if I do say so myself ; )
Follow the Reader sums up the recent discussion about the reach of book bloggers – another good read.
Tony Schwartz, author of The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working, urges workers to take back their lunch, a move he thinks will increase overall productivity.
Ereader News… I’m Obsessed
So much happened this week! B&N offered cheaper nooks, then Amazon dropped the price of the Kindle… grr!
Another angle of the ereader discussion – social reading. This story looks at a Kindle feature called “popular highlights” which shows users what other people have highlighted in ebooks. Good, or more examples of how the internet is making it impossible for people to concentrate, as Nicholas Carr argues in his book The Shallows.
Consumer electronics research found that 20 percent of people surveyed plan to by an ereader this year. How many of those people are book bloggers, I wonder?
In the wake of Obama firing McChrystal (because of “The Runaway General” in Rolling Stone), Simon and Schuster released a chapter of Truman by David McCullough about Truman firing MacArthur – a good example of a smart ebook release?
Frank McPherson (via Mobile Content Today) suggests that ereaders will survive by comparing ereaders and tablets like the iPad to feature phones and smartphones.
Making a Better World
The Isthmus, a local weekly paper, had an awesome cover story about mentoring. A close friend works for Big Brothers Big Sisters in the Twin Cities, and I’ve been wanting to join the Madison organization for awhile.
Can gamers and gaming help build a better world? One researcher thinks so, and give a pretty convincing speech on the topic.
The Blogger’s Toolkit
Beth Fish Reads has a helpful post about how to write audiobook reviews. There were many of these because of Audiobook Week, but this was one of the most helpful to me (especially with tips about how to get quotes from audiobooks)
Problogger suggests some ways to keep inspired when blogging gets tough. I love the idea of blogging buddies and blogging alliances (suggestion #5).
A guest post on the 3 R’s Blog goes through the process of clearing out your blog closet, ie managing your Google Reader. I’m compulsively drawn to posts like this as my GR feels constantly out of control.
Food!
Bethany (Dreadlock Girl) shares a recipe for a chocolate peanut tart. Yum.
The New York Times writes about a new trend – food co-ops – where groups of people get together and exchange meals. This sounds like an awesome idea.
Journalism News and Notes
The Buffalo News decided to require all online commenters to use their real names and provide a phone number of verification – the same standards they use for print letters to the editor. Editor’s argue it is for a return to civility online.
Boston.com takes on some of the recent clichés in journalism, including my current pet peeve: BP’s embattled CEO Tony Hayward.
Books for My TBR
- Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon (via Jill at Fizzy Thoughts)
- Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan (via Jen at Devourer of Books)
- Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (via Trisha at eclectic / eccentric)
- The Shallows by Nicholas Carr
- The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working by Tony Schwartz
- In the Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White (via Rebecca at Lost in Books)
- Captivity by Deborah Noyes (via Lisa at Lit and Life)
That’s it for Monday Tally! Any favorites?What do you think of the Top Picks? Feel free to send any great links my way!
Comments on this entry are closed.
Great collection of links. A few posts in there that I missed and have to go check out now.
I see you received a copy of Bad Things Happen and I just want to say that I hope you LOVE it!
Amy: No, I didn’t get a copy, I just added it to the long, long list of books I want to read (or listen) to. I think the library has a copy, so it might be sooner than I expect.
Love the article on Google Reader! I may have to try this Feedly business if my GR starts getting out of hand again. I sensibly did a massive purge recently, as well as some reorganization, because things were piling up a bit last week. :/
Thanks for the DWJ shout-out!
Jenny: I tried Feedly once, but I don’t think I gave it a chance. It looked really cool though. I need to do a GR purge and organize soon, I’m just not motivated yet.
I can’t tell you how much I love your link lists. It’s like I have to do none of the dirty work myself! And it’s the perfect amount of links to read while enjoying my morning cup of coffee.
I hope you like Fun Home!
Trisha: Thanks! It’s fun to put together (except for formatting, and when I accidentally close it before it’s saved like I did this week, argh!).
As always, too much to remember to comment on! The blogger-buddy concept has me reminded that I had arranged for one at the first bloggiesta of the year and that blogger hasn’t posted anything since March. I suppose I need to do another ‘Hey-Where are you? Everything OK’ comment… So I’ll go do that right now.
Care: Awesome, I’m glad the post reminded you about it 🙂
Superlative post! And I’m not saying that because you posted the Estella’s Revenge E-Zine shout out (thank you!). Really great stuff here. I’m also obsessed with ebooks and read EBookNewser religiously.
Andi: I just found EBookNewser via another e-mail newsletter I get, and so I far I love it.
Thanks for the link to the article about vacationing! I would much rather take a day or two off at a time and spread my breaks out over the year but the hubby always wants to take off a week at a time. I just look at that as that much more prep, so much more driving–I don’t even look forward to them. I can, tho’, actually become giddy with the thought of a three day weekend even if I’m not going any place!
Lisa: I totally agree. I like the idea of a few longer weekends, rather than one big time off, at least for the time being. I don’t like planning bit trips, but I imagine it’s even more hectic for you with all the little ones!
Kim, thanks for linking to my blog post about going to school with Nicholas Sparks! Quite a few links here that I’m going to have to look at, especially the cliches in journalism.
Valerie: I liked that article because it nicely points out some obvious cliches journalists use that, often, don’t actually mean anything. Embattled CEO is just absurd.
Great link post! Wow. And thanks for the shout out. I’m not sure about those food co-ops — not everyone is a good cook!
I have quite a few links to check out here.
Beth F: Yeah, that is one of the comments that came up in the article — not everyone in a co-op was cooking the same caliber of food. But if you got a good group, I think it’d be fun.
Yay to mentoring! My 16-year-old son was matched with a Big Brother when he was 7. Brian went to my wedding three years ago, we went to his last year, and he attends every one of my son’s basketball games, including out of town games. He’s an official member of our family. Love that you want to do that, Kim!
Read the link about book bloggers and publishers. How neat to see familiar book blogs mentioned! Woo hoo!
Gotta go read more links…
Lynne: That’s so cool about your son! I am a little worried about doing the mentoring thing while I’m still so unsettled, but I want to someday. I worked with younger kids when I was in high school and really loved it.