What May Well Be the Worst Bloggiesta Post Ever (Plus...My Week in Books)

It's the last day of Bloggiesta and I'm just getting around to writing my blogging improvement goals.

Something is wrong in Blogland.

I feel great waves of malaise sweeping through my world. Recently I've read posts by some of the blogging greats---Still Unfinished, Bookfoolery, Sophisticated Dorkiness, Estella's Revenge, Beth Fish Reads, River City Reading, Capricious Reader---who are all suffering from sort of as-yet-fully-diagnosed book blogging malady. 

Well, folks, here I am to offer a remedy. A home remedy, if you will. (I'll give you some time to grab a pencil. You might want to write this down.)

Here goes:

Blog if you want to. Blog when you want to. 

If you don't want to, don't.

Here is my gauge:  I use what Nabokov called "the tingle in the spine" as my measuring device. If I'm not feeling it while I'm reading, I'm dropping the book. If I'm not feeling it in my blog post while I'm writing, I'm hitting DELETE. If I'm not feeling it while visiting blogs, I stop. And vice-y verse-y.

At least that's my approach. Mind you, I'm not setting out to make a living off this blog. I'm not setting out to do anything, really, but share thoughts about reading.

That's all I've got, friends. But it works for me.

What I Read Last Week   I haven't read any Annie Dillard in years and years. But when I saw For the Time Being on a recommended book list a few weeks ago, I impulsively requested it from the library. I'm glad I did. Dillard buzzes around, stopping to rest on a Jesuit paleontologist, Hasidic thought, physical defects, beauty, and, somehow, even God. What a writer! I picked up The Family Under the Bridge for the recent Travel the World in Books Readathon. (I focused on children's books from around the world during the two weeks of the event.) Most of the books I read were picture books, but this one was a bit longer. What a surprise. A 1958 original copyright date, but a fresh story. Armand is a tramp in Paris who runs up against three fatherless children. The children's mother is working and is unable to care for them during the day. Armand reluctantly takes over. Imagine that. Homeless people. In 1958. A classic.

What Arrived Last Week Boog sells you on his book right from the intro. Children whose parents read interactively with them are six to eight months ahead of other children, he tells us. Reading interactively will push your children's IQ up an amazing six points. And then he shares with us what research has shown is the best way to read with your kiddos. I've just started this one, but I can tell it's going to be a keeper, a book I share with parents and other librarians.

What are you reading today?!

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

 It is now being hosted here.

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! As part of this weekly meme Book Journey loves to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme.