Booking Through Thursday of February 26, 2009: Collectibles
Hardcover? Or paperback?
Illustrations? Or just text?
First editions? Or you don’t care?
Signed by the author? Or not?

I am definitely a reader, not a collector. I much prefer paperbacks and buy many of them used. For some of my favorite series, I will buy new but will still wait for the paperback version to be released. Most of the historical mysteries, fantasies and thrillers don’t include illustrations, of course, other than their covers.

I do like to have a matching series of books from the same publisher if possible, but that’s not always practical, especially when I’m buying the books from different sources at different times. My favorites sources for books include Half Price Book stores and Amazon Marketplace (where you can buy new and used books from many stores on Amazon.com).

The problem is, if I really enjoy a book and think I will reread it again, I will keep it instead of recycle it. That’s where the shelf-space problem arises. Since our house is too small and crowded to keep our already-ridiculous collection of books, many of them are stored in the attic, waiting for the wonderful solution.

As far as first editions and autographs, I’ll leave those for the true collectors.

Booking Through Thursday, December 25, 2008
“What are the most “wintery” books you can think of? The ones that almost embody Winter?”
(Personally, “A Winters Tale” by Mark Helprin pretty much nails this for me, and “Smilla’s Sense of Snow” was right up there…)

More recently, Van Reid’s “Daniel Plainway: or the Holiday Haunting of the Moosepath League” brought the deep snow and low temperatures of 19th-century Maine in December to my armchair here in Texas. Third (of four) in the series of comic historical mysteries and equally as enjoyable, oh how I wish there were more to come!

Maureen Jenning’s series of detective mysteries set in turn-of-the-last-century Toronto feature not only wonderful characters but an incredible atmosphere. “Poor Tom is Dead” is the third in the series with Detective Murdoch, and the Canadian winter is described in all its merciless glory.

Here’s to staying warm with a good book!

The latest question on Booking Through Thursday is this, as suggested by JM:
“I receive a lot of review books, but I have never once told lies about the book just because I got a free copy of it. However, some authors seem to feel that if they send you a copy of their book for free, you should give it a positive review.

Do you think reviewers are obligated to put up a good review of a book, even if they don’t like it? Have we come to a point where reviewers *need* to put up disclaimers to (hopefully) save themselves from being harassed by unhappy authors who get negative reviews?”

I had an unpleasant experience with an author recently on a mailing list, so I can definitely answer this question. NO, we as reviewers are absolutely NOT obligated to post a positive review of a book simply because we were given the book at no charge. That is the chance an author or publisher takes when distributing the book first to reviewers and then to general readers — not everyone is going to like it.

HOWEVER, it is the responsibility of a reviewer to be fair. Critical as it applies to reviewers means “expressing or involving an analysis of the merits and faults of a work of literature, music, or art” — meaning both good and bad should be considered, and a fair review will include what you liked as well as what you disliked about a book. It’s easier to complain than to praise, as we all know, but trashing someone’s work is bad form (as well as making yourself a target).

Honesty is always the best policy, as long as diplomacy and courtesy are also included in the procedure.