Bonus Post: 2019 Book Fairs

Greetings book lovers! I was recently contacted by the good folks over at Kotobee to spread the word about their curated list of all the books fairs happening around the world in 2019. If you're not aware, book fairs are gatherings where book lovers, publishers, authors, illustrators, and booksellers gather to talk all things books. I've been lucky enough to go to a few since living in NYC (where a lot of cool things happen admittedly) and I highly encourage you to check out the list to see if any are happening near you. This might also encourage you to do a little bit of traveling with the excuse that you have a cool conference to attend. ;-)

You can explore the list by either using the scroll feature or clicking on the continent of your choice to see what's being offered there. This is a diverse list, ya'll. I've already seen a few that peak my interest. ::clears calendar::

If you're interested you can check out the list directly by going to this link.

Thanks for visiting the blog and I hope to see you on Friday for a new book review. XD

Infographic courtesy of Kotobee

NaNoWriMo starts today!

I was once again contacted by my pals over at Inkitt to let you guys know about a new program that they're launching. The following gives you a taste of what it's all about as well as links to further info on signing up. :-)

Have you ever thought about writing a novel? There are millions of people in the world who have ideas floating around in their heads that they want to write down but never find the time.

Inkitt, the world’s first reader-powered book publisher, will be launching their first ‘Writers Write Program’  on November 1st to help you turn your idea into an original novel. The 30-day program is completely free and filled with special benefits such as:

• Free, 30 min private sessions with professional writing coaches (including the editor of The Martian)

• Events and tips with bestselling authors like Andy Weir, Lauren Kate, and Gayle Forman
• A variety of community features such as the choice to get a writing buddy who you can exchange manuscript feedback with

“Our intention is to enlarge the writing community by encouraging more people to become writers,” said CEO of Inkitt, Ali Albazaz. “The program is completely free so for us this isn’t about making money; it’s about encouraging talented and committed writers to keep going and finish what they started.”

If you are serious about taking on the challenge or want to finish (or start!) a manuscript then make sure to get your spot in the program now. There is less than a week left before it starts.

LEARN MORE

More info about NaNoWriMo can be found here.

Bonus post: Inkitt is global!

You might remember me posting about Inkitt and their new app for iPhones and iPads. If you don't then let me give you a little background on their site. The basic premise behind Inkitt is that anyone is welcome to submit their writing. Inkitt is a readers-driven publisher which means that once on the website readers (that's us!) are able to take a look at a wide variety of books and based on reading behavior (there are some mathematical calculations involved) Inkitt will decide if the novel is worth publishing. This means that tons of new and emerging writers are getting an opportunity to get their work out there and we're getting to see some new talent. Here are the Community Guidelines if you're interested in submitting something of your very own or you want to know how it all works. If, like me, you're not only interested in the mainstream publishing industry but also self-publishing then this is a really unique idea.

As of today, January 7th, you can access Inkitt globally. Huzzah! You can download it through the App Store by going to this link or if you have an Android (all the best people do) then you can go to this link and search for Inkitt. I highly encourage you guys to check them out (I'm not being paid to say any of this by the way. I just really like what they're doing and want to help them out.).

Inkitt for Android - 4 key features:

1. Access to thousands of novels from all fiction genres: fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, thriller, horror, romance, drama, action, adventure, YA and more
2. Personalized reading suggestions: hand-picked novels based on a reader’s favorite fiction genres
3. Customizable look to match user preferences (e.g. font size, color combinations)
4. Online/Offline: readers can save novels to their offline library to access them anytime

Beyond being a platform connecting aspiring authors with book lovers, Inkitt’s mission is to become the world’s fairest publishing house: Its in-house developed algorithm analyzes reading behavior to determine the potential of a novel to become the next bestseller. Using this unique data-driven approach, Inkitt wants to ensure that great works by new and talented writers never again stay in the dark.

Since July, Inkitt has published 7 novels: Catalyst Moon: Incursion by Lauren L. Garcia (Fantasy), Just Juliet by Charlotte Reagan (YA Romance), I Was A Bitch by Emily Ruben (YA Romance Mystery), Esper Files by Egan Brass (SciFi) and Caged by Onaiza Khan (Psychological Thriller), King’s Lament by Lilia Blanc (Fantasy Romance) and Three Fat Singletons by J.M. Bartholomew (Humor Romance), six of which became bestsellers on Amazon.

To get an idea of what the app looks like here are a few screenshots:

As always, thanks for visiting the blog and I hope to see you back here on Monday. Happy reading!

Bonus post: Spreading the word about Inkitt

A little over a month ago, the guys over at Inkitt reached out to me to let me know about their website and about some of the novels being published there. The basic premise behind Inkitt is that anyone is welcome to submit their writing. Inkitt is a readers-driven publisher which means that once on the website readers (that's us!) are able to take a look at a wide variety of books and based on reading behavior (there are some mathematical calculations involved) Inkitt will decide if the novel is worth publishing. This means that tons of new and emerging writers are getting an opportunity to get their work out there and we're getting to see some new talent. Here are the Community Guidelines if you're interested in submitting something of your very own or you want to know how it all works. If, like me, you're not only interested in the mainstream publishing industry but also self-publishing then this is a really unique idea.

As of today, November 16th, you can access Inkitt through an app on iPhones and iPadds. Huzzah! You can download it through the App Store by going to this link. I highly encourage you guys to check them out (I'm not being paid to say any of this by the way. I just really like what they're doing and want to help them out.).

Just in case I missed anything or I didn't do their site justice you can watch a video all about what they're about here:

As always, thanks for visiting the blog and I hope to see you back here at the end of the week. Happy reading!

Well, you can't say it's not informative

If the goal of a biography is to both inform the reader about their subject (in this case an author) and encourage them to read their subject's entire body of works then John le Carré: The Biography by Adam Sisman accomplished that goal. If you're looking for a fast-paced thrill ride then you're paging up the wrong book (did I take that metaphor too far?). Firstly, this is one of those weird occasions where the biographer's subject is still living. (I just checked and the last biography I read was I Am Scout back in May 2014 and it was also about a living (at the time) subject.) It is abundantly obvious that Sisman did his homework which is due in large part because he had the cooperation of the man himself. I must first inform you that John le Carré is not the author's true name. He is actually David Cornwell, an Englishman and former member of MI5 and MI6. (This isn't a spoiler as apparently it's a well-known fact and I'm just slow on the uptake.) A large part of Cornwell's life had been shrouded in mystery because of his prior career but in truth it was just a minor aspect of what made him into the author that he has become. Sisman explores at length Cornwell's family life and his upbringing and how that came to mold his character (and the characters in his novels). In particular, David's relationship with his father is harked upon multiple times in both Sisman's biography and in the works of le Carré. Honestly, a chronological timeline of all of Ronnie's movements wouldn't have gone amiss as that man was all over the place. I found the pacing of this book extremely slow and I felt it necessary to take frequent breaks so that I wasn't bogged down by the facts (it felt at times like I was being set up for a quiz on dates which I always fail). My overall feeling was that the book was very dry and as a result I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I had hoped I would. :-/ However, it served the purpose of instructing me on the topic of the author known as John le Carré so there's that. So I guess I'll give it a solid 4/10 because I did find it somewhat disappointing.

I'm definitely going to check out more of John le Carré's books though. In fact, I have a copy of Smiley's People that's been lurking for entirely too long on my shelves...

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

Now did John Murray say that or was it John Murray? Wait, maybe it was John Murray.

As you'd expect from a book which has the word 'dynasty' in the title The Seven Lives of John Murray: The Story of a Publishing Dynasty was chock full of DATA. SO MUCH DATA. As you'd expect, there's a lot of history wrapped up in a publishing agency which was opened in 1768 and lasted until 2002. Full disclosure: I had never heard of John Murray Publishing (or so I thought until I unearthed this blog entry I had written in 2010). You might not have either but you've definitely heard of some of the authors they've published throughout the years. For instance, John Murray II (you're maybe getting the meaning behind the book title right about now) published Lord Byron, Jane Austen, and Sir Walter Scott. John Murray III brought Charles Darwin on board for his work On the Origin of Species which you may have heard about... Throughout its many years, the agency was well-known for its educational material such as medical textbooks, history books, and general science books. When the company was taken over this was what was deemed most viable although the Murray Archive which contained scores of correspondence and manuscripts from a variety of authors and other personages (what?) was valued at £45 million. O_O If you're interested in publishing or simply like to know historical facts about a company that lasted more than 200 years then you can't go wrong with this book.

This next book was recommended to me by a dear friend/adopted Grandpa who told me it was right up my street. (He's probably right.) The book is called Curse of the Narrows by Laura M. Mac Donald and it chronicles the horrifying disaster that occurred in Halifax, Nova Scotia on December 6, 1917 and the days that followed. When a munitions ship collided with another ship at harbor the results were absolutely catastrophic. Not only was there a massive explosion but a tsunami and snow storm were also triggered. Mac Donald utilized resources left from the explosions's official historian as well as other primary documents from the period to craft this nonfiction work. I can't wait!

An American Ambassador in Berlin during the rise of the Third Reich

I knew going into this that it wasn't going to be a book that I could immediately walk away from once it was finished. About a quarter of the way through, I was already making notes about what other books about the period I was going to add to the TRL (To Read List if you're new here). Erik Larson continues to be a master at narrative nonfiction and In the Garden of Beasts is an engrossing story that you can't help but feel you're experiencing right alongside the protagonists. William Dodd was placed in Berlin as Ambassador by Roosevelt himself and most of those back in the State Department felt he was a poor choice. He didn't fit the mold by any means and I think that is why he was a good choice. He was a man of few means but of many (eloquent) words. He said what was on his mind and only afterward wondered if he should have been more "diplomatic" in his dealings with those in power in Germany. Years later, the Nazis taunted that he had no real impact while he was there and that he was much disliked by the German people.  If he was so unimportant and insignificant why did they feel the need to publicly deride him as he was on his deathbed? Also, there was Dodd's daughter Martha who changed beaus about as often as most people change their clothes. A lot of the material used in the book came from her memoir and letters (as well as a variety of other sources such as Dodd's diary).  Larson portrays the view that most Americans had of Germany pre-WWII which in hindsight makes us look idiotic, naive, and callous. We were too engrossed in our domestic affairs to truly see the atrocities that were already occurring and the power that was being amassed under Hitler to put a stop to one of the most horrendous wars of all time. If you're curious about this time in history or if you simply want to learn more about a simple man trying to accomplish big things with little to no support from his government then you should definitely check this one out.

Have you ever been looking over the books on your shelves and seen one that you had no recollection of obtaining? Well, that happened to me but I've finally recalled why/when I got this one. The book is The Seven Lives of John Murray: The Story of a Publishing Dynasty by Humphrey Carpenter and I picked it up in 2010 when I was going to London to study Library Sciences. Apparently I didn't get around to reading this one but found it interesting enough to keep. This is the biographical tale of one of the biggest publishing houses in the world from 1768 - 2002. It was begun by Carpenter but unfortunately he passed away before its completion and therefore it was edited and finished by Candida Brazil and James Hamilton. According to the back cover, there were many controversies and sagas surrounding this most esteemed publishing house which involved Jane Austin, Byron, etc. Ummm yes please!