The Professor’s Blog has a nice list of 20 free literary podcasts. I didn’t know about most of them, but I plan to check them out.
Category: Blogging
Goodreads
My daughter invited me to join Goodreads several months ago, but I haven’t been very active on the site. I already review what I read here at this blog, so I didn’t see much point in reviewing books at Goodreads, too. Goodreads is, however, growing as a social network of readers, complete with Facebook and MySpace apps.
If you are a regular reader of this blog and would like be my friend on Goodreads, you can find my profile here. I have now posted all the books I have read and included links to my reviews here.
Jane Austen Blogs
Jane Austen is quite popular in the blogosphere, and readers have a wide selection of Austen blogs to choose from.
Jane Austen’s World includes regular posts about life during Austen’s times. I would recommended it not just for readers interested in the times, but also for students, teachers, and writers doing research. Posts have links for further reading, which is very helpful. The blog is visually appealing, too.
Austen Blog serves up Jane Austen news with a side of snark that Jane herself would appreciate. Be careful not to wind up on the wrong side of their Cluebat of Janeite Righteousness.
Austen-tatious is a blog for Austen fans by an Austen fan. The blog discusses all things Jane, including movie adaptations and popular derivative works, as well as Austen-related events in North Carolina.
Austenprose readers are treated to a passage from Austen’s writing each day in another visually appealing and informative blog.
Jane Austen Today examines movie adaptations, derivative works, web sites, and other modern-day media based on Austen’s works.
Following Austen is the blog of writer Lori Smith, whose book A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love, and Faith was released in October 2007. She also blogs at Austen Quotes, where you can get your daily fix of Jane in bite-sized chunks.
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict is the blog of Laurie Viera Rigler, author of the book by the same title.
Lydia Bennet’s Journal is one of Jane Odiwe‘s blogs. She is the author of Lydia Bennet’s Story.
I’m reading Emma through DailyLit right now, and I’m really enjoying it, although I must point out that I find it aggravating that the excerpts sometimes cut off in the middle of a sentence, and the transcriber makes errors like putting apostrophes in possessive pronouns (e.g. her’s). It makes me shudder every time, and I don’t understand it — I saw no such errors in their transcription of Moby Dick.
As a fan of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, I have decided it’s time to read all of Austen’s novels, and Austen blogs certainly inspire me to complete this quest. In fact, some of these “sequels” and other derivative works look interesting, too.
Writers Who Blog
Would-be published writers blog all over the Internet, but what about established authors? I can’t claim this is a comprehensive list because I had to do some digging, as I couldn’t find a really good list anywhere else, except for this good list of Science Fiction/Fantasy writers who blog (some of the writers are reproduced below). The list that follows is limited to writers of fiction; there are quite a few nonfiction writers who also blog, but perhaps that compilation is for another time.
- Poppy Z. Brite (Drawing Blood, Antediluvian Tales, Exquisite Corpse, and many others)
- Cory Doctorow (Overclocked, Little Brother, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom)
- Neil Gaiman (American Gods, Stardust, Anansi Boys, Neverwhere and many, many more): My favorite writer blog.
- William Gibson (Neuromancer, Spook Country, Burning Chrome)
- Laurell K. Hamilton (Guilty Pleasures, Nightseer, A Kiss of Shadows)
- Joe Hill (Heart-Shaped Box, 20th Century Ghosts)
- Caitlin R. Kiernan (Threshold, Silk, Daughter of Hounds)
- Joshilyn Jackson (Between, Georgia, gods in Alabama, The Girl Who Stopped Swimming): I wonder if she lives nearby?
- Erica Jong (Fear of Flying, Shylock’s Daughter, How to Save Your Own Life): Jong blogs about politics at the Huffington Post.
- Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time series): Yes, I know he’s passed on, but he blogged for a fair amount of time, and friends/family are continuing his blog.
- Stephenie Meyer (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, The Host): For all intents and purposes, the movie section of her site is a blog.
- George R. R. Martin (A Game of Thrones, Dying of the Light, The Ice Dragon)
- J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter series): If your definition of “blog” is liberal, then her web site diary is one.
- John Scalzi (The Ghost Brigades, Old Man’s War, The Android’s Dream)
If the list seems to be dominated by science fiction and fantasy writers, well, then that’s because it is. I looked for other types of writers to include, but if they’re blogging, I didn’t find it. I suspect that sf/f writers would naturally be quicker to adopt this method of communicating with their fans because they tend to be “geeks,” and it stands to reason that more “geeks” blog than non-geeks. Present company included, of course.
Do you know of any I missed? Share in the comments, and I will update the list.
If You Liked…
If you’re looking for modern fiction to pair with classics, you might be interested in my post “If You Liked…” at my education blog.
By the way, if you have any trouble finding your way around here, let me know, and I’ll help you out. I’m moving away from categories in favor of tagging, so look for more specific information through the tag cloud in the sidebar rather than the archives page.
This is a Literary Blog
I have decided finally that the focus of this blog will be my reading, which should come as no surprise to regular visitors, as that has been it’s unstated focus for some time. I may still share non-literary information from time to time, but I wanted to warn you in case you no longer desired to read this blog if its focus is on books. I felt a change in theme was in order in honor of this blog’s new purpose.
To do:
Clean up CSS so that the sidebar looks right.Clean up archives and categories. New archives page and tag cloud in sidebar.Widgetize sidebar and put my extras back in sidebars (Currently Reading, DailyLit, etc.)Change favicon.Implement WordPress tagging and do away with Technorati tagging. Tag cloud in sidebar.Put credit for Literary Life theme in footer.
Not to do:
- Delete non-literary posts.
- Categorize old literary posts — too much work and not enough time.
Related posts:
Silence Isn’t Always Golden
Sometimes I scratch my head and wonder what to do about this blog. My other blogs have a much more narrow purpose, so they tend to be updated more frequently (although that isn’t always the case). The folks who read those blogs do so because they get something out of the content that I’m not sure they would if I hadn’t focused the content. In that regard, my most popular blog (and most frequently updated blog) is my education blog. Most people hit upon my Harry Potter blog looking for something particular, but I have few regular readers and no real regular commenters (which does not bother me, by the way). My genealogy blog has a core readership consisting of other genealogy bloggers. I have a blog for students that I think is mostly limited to their readership.
Sometimes I get really busy, and the blogs fall by the wayside. When that happens, the priority tends to be to focus on the education blog. This blog and the genealogy blog in particular are often victims of my lack of time. I know that it costs me readers, but I had to decide a long time ago whether that bothered me or not, and with this blog in particular, I decided it didn’t. I know a few people who don’t understand why I blog, and if they read only this one, I have to admit that they probably have a point. But this blog is a nice place for me to put stuff I don’t think fits elsewhere. I don’t have any real desire to completely delete this blog, but I hope everyone understands the reasons it isn’t frequently updated. I think if this blog had more “purpose” aside from serving as a place for me to review books, I would probably update it more frequently. I know having a purpose for my other blogs really helps in that regard.
I chose the title of this blog from the first line of a poem by Emily Dickinson that reads:
Much madness is divinest sense
To a discerning eye;
Much sense the starkest madness.
‘Tis the majority
In this, as all, prevails.
Assent, and you are sane;
Demur, — you’re straightway dangerous,
And handled with a chain.
In the sense that this blog is such a hodge podge — or more truthfully, and unfocused mess — I thought it was a good title. I was essentially saying that it wouldn’t be like other blogs, and it might not make sense, but maybe a few people would get something out of it sometimes.
I like blogging. I like having connections to people all over the world. I know some people think it’s weird, but I have to accept that it’s OK if a few people I don’t know all that well think I’m weird.
[tags]blogging, direction, purpose[/tags]
Kelly Richey’s Blog
Guitar goddess Kelly Richey has begun blogging. It’s a treat for me to read not only because I’m a huge fan, but also because she shares news and music.
I had a chance to meet Kelly when I saw her perform back in February, and she was so nice and down to earth. I still can’t figure out why the recording industry hasn’t cottoned on to her yet. Of course, it could be that she’s just happy doing what she is doing — seeing the country, playing intimate clubs — and not beholden to a record company who might curtail her artistic license.
Kelly does a great cover of “Hey Joe”:
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/ab8St0qZuD8" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
[tags]Kelly Richey, guitar, blogging[/tags]
Related posts:
Using Fantastico to Install Programs and Scripts
My host, Bluehost, allows users to install various software programs and scripts on their websites by using Fantastico, a one-click auto-installation service. Users can have WordPress and wikis installed via Fantastico. I have never used Fantastico, but Steve has. He recently had his personal site blocked because his site was using more than 20% of the server’s CPU. Bluehost gets very testy about this if you question them on it, as evidenced it their forums. I have never received one of these dreaded messages, despite the fact that I have more blogs installed on my site, and all of mine are installed on one account (huffenglish.com and danahuff.net are actually both on the same account). Steve has received the messages three times, I think. My conclusion, which may or may not be correct, is that he was dealing with inefficient installations from Fantastico. After I got Bluehost to unblock his account, which was a bit of a task, I upgraded him to the latest WordPress install and deleted any files that looked like they were related to his Fantastico install. I also deleted files and folders he wasn’t using for any reason. He has something like eleven folders on his crime blog domain, and he’s only using two. I let those alone, but I think he needs to clean up his site. You can sure tell he has ADD, and that’s no lie. So far, so good. No more CPU excess messages, no blocked websites. We’ll see if the trend continues. If it does, then I’m going to assume I’m right about Fantastico.
[tags]Fantastico, Bluehost, CPU, WordPress[/tags]
Recipes
I recently announced on my cooking blog that I will be discontinuing that blog, mainly because I lost interest in it. I thought from the beginning what would really work is a recipe blog. Folks aren’t interested in how much I spend on groceries; they want to know how to make something. I convinced my sister to participate with me, and you can read the Swier sisters’ recipes at Two Steamin’ Sisters. Yeah, about the title: if you have suggestions, we’re all ears. The blog’s title can easily be changed. Check it out!
[tags]recipes, blog[/tags]