book discussion – Page 2 – A Book & A Beer

The Slump of the Blogger – Discussion

Posted on May 21, 2018by J.W. Martin

You might have noticed I didn’t really post last week. Maybe you didn’t.

All bookworms know about reading slumps. I’m willing to bet that most of us have been through one or seven. But have you found yourself in a blogging slump?

I hit one. And I didn’t like it.

It was another busy week at work, so maybe that’s really all it was. I hadn’t been reading much either, so I didn’t have any ammo for a review. And every time I sat down to write a post, I just didn’t ‘feel’ like writing anything. The ideas I had jotted down in my idea vault all seemed useless and uninteresting.

I would think about doing a meme, and look up a few that could apply to that day. Nothing. Then I looked at memes that could exist on any given day. Still nothing.

I didn’t feel like I had anything to say about anything that would be worth reading.

Feels like I’m through it now. Finding the time is still a challenge, but the desire to post something is back—still not sure if it’s worth reading, though.

What do you think about blogging slumps? Are they real? Do they happen to other people? Am I strange? Okay, I know, but am I stranger than normal?

Discussion

DISCUSSION – “A View From the Kid’s Section”

Posted on March 2, 2018by J.W. Martin

Before I get into this post, let me state for the record that I have no problem reading YA books. Some of my all-time favourite books are YA. However, it’s pretty funny sometimes when I’m having a conversation with other readers, who don’t normally read YA.

Example:

MELISSA: “The book I’m reading right now is based on women that worked in a factory dealing with toxic chemicals. It talks a lot about the side-effects they had to deal with and their fight for basic human rights.”

JEN: “I’m reading a story about a woman who’s struggling with having to put her mother in a retirement home. Joe, you’re always reading something. What’s the current book about?”

ME: “EVIL MERMAIDS!!”

MELISSA: “Oh, like a metaphorical—”

ME: “NOPE! Evil Mermaids. They’re called Sirens, actually. They collect human hearts. It’s AWESOME!”

Love it. And I’m not sure I’ll ever stop reading YA.

Fun fact about this post: The above conversation didn’t happen that way. Parts of it though…

All Discussion

The Power of a Review

Posted on February 21, 2018by J.W. Martin

I’ve often wondered if any of my reviews make a bit of difference. I like writing them, so it’s never really slowed me down, but that nagging question is always there in the back of my head. Do they matter at all?

Well, in a way, I kind of answered that question today.

I stumbled upon Zombies!: Tales of the Walking Dead on Amazon. As you can probably guess, it’s an anthology of zombie stories. My first thought was ‘AWESOME!’ I’m a sucker for zombie stories. No matter how many zombie movies/shows are out there, I watch ‘em!

But then I took a step back. I wasn’t familiar with too many of the authors. Of course I knew Barker, Poe, and Lovecraft, but the others I didn’t really know. Something about the author selection also made it feel kind of dated. An older book isn’t a bad thing but, for some reason, my subconscious put that as a negative. I was seconds away from closing that window and moving on with my day.

Then I noticed it had a review. Only one, but a ‘verified purchase’ review. The reviewer was only known as Weedwacker.

Weedwacker revealed that Zombies!: Tales of the Walking Dead was actually a reprint of a now out of print anthology called The Mammoth Book of Zombies with one added story. WW went on to say:

What you will get with this book is more sophisticated writing and higher caliber story-telling than what is typically compiled in modern zombie anthologies. Some of these stories are kind of funny, some are creepy, some are bizarre and sometimes sad. All of them are entertaining.

I was sold. Bought a copy that moment. I owe thanks to Weedwacker (whoever you are) and so does the book’s publisher!

Reviews matter.

Fun fact about this book: I still don’t really know if MY reviews matter, but still, it’s a good little story.

Discussion

Reading in Black & White

Posted on August 31, 2017by J.W. Martin

This past Saturday, while taking a family trip to a localish conservation area, my wife and I were chatting about the respective books we were reading. During that conversation, my wife said something very interesting that has stuck with me ever since.

She just recently realized that while she was reading, the visual she formed in her mind were always in black & white. If they book called out a color to something specific (blue eyes, green grass, etc) she would see that one element in its described color for a second or two, but the rest of the scene remained something out of I Love Lucy.

That made me think about how the movies play in my head when I’m reading. I knew it was all in color, but the more I thought about it, the more I wondered how others see things.

My view is very cinematic. I’m constantly seeing different camera angles. It’s like my reading is being directed by Christoper Nolan.

Tag: book discussion