[stylist] More on a book discussion/review

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Ashley,

I think both formats would be a nice addition: book reviews and formal
book discussions. No one has to participate; it's all up to whomever
wants to participate in either format.

And true, not all genres and books in general will be liked by everyone,
but it's important as a writer to explore outside ones comfort zone and
concepts of what constitutes a good book.

While in school, I had to read a ton of books I might not naturally
gravitate towards, but a lot of the time, I ended up enjoying the book,
or after discussing it, I recognized certain aspects and qualities, and
always, I learned and grew. I've opened my reading experiences
considerably and have been given a lot of jewels in return.

The entire point of most book discussions is to expose readers to new
and different authors/topics/genres in order to appreciate, learn and
grow. I rarely come across book discussion groups that are specific to a
single genre or topic, and I've never heard of (though this doesn't mean
it does not exist) discussion groups only reading one author.

This is not to say everyone will enjoy certain subjects or genres or
authors, but we can learn to appreciate form, voice, style, etc.

I never, ever read detective fiction, or mystery fiction, of any kind
(strictly within this genre, I mean) but I took a detective fiction
class for a lit. elective, and surprisingly, I loved it, and I really
enjoyed most the novels we read. Before this class, I wouldn't have
considered most these books, but now I check out a true
mystery/detective story every now-and-then.

Some of the detective books I really enjoyed are:
Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
Glitz by Elmer Leonard
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosely

Before my mid-twenties, I thought most nonfiction was lame and boring,
which is funny considering I'm currently a nonfiction writer for most of
my work. I'm actually reading a biography right now that's really
engaging, and it struck me how odd it was that I once thought nonfiction
boring. Now in my thirties, I love, love nonfiction and search for
nonfiction (tends to be creative nonfiction but not always) with a wide
range of topics and styles.

A couple of creative nonfiction books I love are:
Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
Naked by David Sedaris
Man Killed by Pheasant by John T. Price
In Pharos's Army by Tobias Wolf

Not every book we pick up, even if a genre or topic we usually like,
will be enjoyable, but you don't know what you're missing if you
automatically exclude certain books. Literature does a lot- it inspires;
it can challenge; it can inform as well as entertain; it stimulates
creativity and thinking.

Whether we develop any of the ideas discussed for Stylist or not, I urge
all of us to pick up a book (a relative phrase of course, smile) that we
might not usually consider. You may just be surprised.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

 Message: 9
Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2011 18:27:08 -0500
From: "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] Thinking about a book-lovers listserve
Message-ID: <A0185CC16A124814814BBAD250DCA996 at OwnerPC>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
	reply-type=original

I don't see us having discussions about the same book. I do like the
idea of 
a book review. But not all of us like the same books genre.
Yep people could comment on the book if they read it though.