Dinah Blow Your Horn
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I’m happy to announce that my second podcast episode Medieval and Contemporary Voices is up and running. I actually listened to it from end to end this time, so the music shouldn’t drown me out ala the Oscar awards this time. Still, let me know if there are any glitches I missed. You can find the podcast through my old blog or you can sign up for a direct RSS feed at this site.
- I was much taken with Roger Sutton’s recent thoughts on reviewing and how knowing the author of the book in your hand affects your judgment. Says he, "Blind reviewing could certainly shake things up, though. How would publishing would look if reviewing was done that way?" Oh, you have to admit that the thought is delicious. I find that sometimes an author’s name definitely has an effect on my blog reviewing, no question. For example, if I run across someone who has disappointed me in the past, I’m not likely to move them up in my To Be Read pile unless they garner some pretty extraordinary reviews. It might be fairer if this wasn’t the case, but sometimes you have to rely on what you know so as to cut through the treacle. Becky at Becky’s Book Reviews has a much longer and more intelligent response to this question.
- Matineer has posted the 10 Funniest MPAA Ratings Reasons. The Indian in the Cupboard comes in at number 9 with “PG for mild language and brief video images of violence and sexy dancing”. Curse you, sexy dancing! Thanks to Eric Berlin for the link.
- Editorial Anonymous is having the Best/Worst Query Letters Contest. Act fast, though. The contest is over by the end of today (Monday the 17th).
- This was a new one on me. The Reading Tub is a website of children’s book reviews where they take particular care in testing the books out on kids. Knowing, as I’m sure you do, that one kid reaction may vary from another, this is still quite an interesting idea. They don’t have the world’s largest selection, but the format is nice. I checked out their review of Firegirl, since it was one that I reviewed last year too. Someday I gotsta gets me a kid. I hear they’re quite useful in this respect. Thanks to Jarrett Krosoczka for the link.
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Somehow I almost missed the interview between authors Shannon Hale and the creator of the funniest-book-of-2007 Jeff Kinney. I do wish that she’d talked a little about her work on her own graphic novel and maybe compared notes with him, but Hale has a following like no other. If she’s talking him up, it can only lead to good things.
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Penelope Farmer, author of Charlotte Sometimes (newly reprinted by the New York Review of Books) has a blog called rockpool in the kitchen. Here’s what A Different Stripe had to say about it: "she tells the whole story of the connection with the band The Cure and their "Charlotte Sometimes," including her backstage visit with Robert Smith. Think Farmer got rich of off the use of her book in a song? This will set you straight." They also include a link to the video.
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Why does the Gail Borden Public Library in Illinois have to make the rest of the country look bad in comparison? When I have a program it’s cool if I can get a magician. When they have a program? They talk to a freakin’ space station. Thanks to Pinot and Prose for the link.
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Fellow SLJ blogger Brian Kenney found something of particular note. Cast your mind back a week or two ago to the Below the Radar posts that popped up oh so merrily merrily around and about the blogosphere. Perhaps some out-of-print titles caught your eye. Maybe this caused you to remember some books of your own that you wish were currently available. Well, apparently Marshall Cavendish is starting a new line of books by the name of Marshall Cavendish Reprints. The good news? They’re looking at books from ALL publishers. As Brian says, "Get your suggestions over to Marilyn Mark, Associate Editor of Children’s Books at mmark@marshallcavendish.com." You know I will. I will indeed…
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About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Kirkus, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on BlueSky at: @fuse8.bsky.social
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My comment disappeared, so I’m trying again…
Five years ago, I had to review Numbering All the Bones by Ann Rinaldi. After the fiasco of My Heart is on the Ground, I had my hackles up, and I told my book review editor as much. (As it turned out, I did find a factual error in how a character contracted cholera.) I’m supposed to keep my eyes open for accuracy anyway, but I read Rinaldi’s book with a particularly critical eye.
Oh, the old “My Heart is on the Ground” debacle. Good times. I remember studying up on that in library school. It was a great learning experience for an up-and-coming library student. By the way, is something going funky with my comments? Nobody’s written anything all week-end. I thought for sure my videos would get some. Most mysterious.