Friday, July 22, 2011

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Literary Blog Hop

Another Friday means fun blog hopping! Welcome to my blog!





Book Blogger Hop




This week's Book Blogger Hop question:

What’s the ONE GENRE that you wish you could get into, but just can’t?

My response: sci-fi/fantasy. When I was younger I had no trouble reading books in this genre, but as I have gotten older these books just don't appeal to me. I started finding that many sci-fi/fantasy books just have poor, clunky writing or they are written in a pseudo-intellectual style that is pretentious at best and unreadable at worst, and I don't have patience for it. There are a lot of authors that I wouldn't mind trying to read but the genre prevents me. Maybe I'll challenge myself to read some of these books next year (assuming I can get rid of the to be read pile this year)!








This week's question:

Name 3 authors that you would love to sit down and spend an hour or a meal with just talking about either their books or get advice on writing from?

My response: this is hard, but at least I am able to choose multiple authors, usually I just have multiple answers to a question asking for one response!

1. M.T. Anderson. He does a lot of research, it seems, and creates vivid characters. I'd love to hear about how he does both.

2. Haruki Murakami. I love the way he makes the ordinary merge with the strange, and I'd like to delve into the symbolism.

3. Christopher Buehlman. His writing is stunningly beautiful. I would love to talk with him about his writing process and learn about how he chooses just the right words, and how he self-edits.






Literary Blog Hop



This week's prompt:

Discuss Bibliotherapy. Do you believe literature can be a viable form of therapy? Is literary writing more or less therapeutic than pop lit or nonfiction?

Like any form of therapy, I think bibliotherapy can be useful to someone who is open to it. I agree that reading about someone who is in a similar situation can be helpful and can make a reader feel less alone in the world. Books can also be a way to cope with strong emotions by channeling them; a person who is grieving a loss might be able to release pent-up emotions through reading a book that made them cry, for example. Books can also provide an escape from a dull or unpleasant life, or provide a vicarious sense of accomplishment in a life that has ongoing drama or struggles, for example, reading a mystery that has a clear solution at the end could be comforting to someone who is dealing with open-ended questions or problems that have no apparent solution.

I am not sure if literary writing is more therapeutic, but I think bad writing shouldn't be read by anyone. I would always rather see people reading good writing than poor writing. However, forcing someone to read a book just because it's deemed "literary" won't help them at all if it's something they can't connect with, be inspired by, etc. I think if someone is able to feel better by reading books they enjoy, and that's providing a therapeutic value, that's better than making things worse by possibly frustrating or boring them. However, a gentle nod toward well written books of the type they might like is always a good thing. 

12 comments:

  1. I love fantasy/sci-fi, but I see what you're saying. They do tend to be "written in a pseudo-intellectual style." I'll have to pay more attention to that with the next book I read in that genre and see if it bugs me.

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  2. Great bibliotherapy answers- well thought out.
    I read sci-fi/fantasy when I was a kid and I read some kids' books with my children now, but I don't read adult sci-fi/fantasy. I don't have the patience for it. Yet I enjoy my son's books. Why is that?

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  3. Loved the bibliotherapy answer. I definitely read to escape real life sometimes. It typically helps!

    I am new to Follow Fridays but I love the concept. I am a new blogger trying to get going but it is a lot of work. LOL!

    Happy Follow Friday!
    New Follower!

    ~Kristin

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  4. I love FEED by MT Anderson. I haven't finished any of his other books. New follower!

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  5. I think that with any genre you need to pick and choose, weed out the bad and look for the good. I think some sci fi/fantasy is hard to follow because there is no basis in any sort of reality you can hold on to, and it's difficult to retain everything when you're not sure what's what and they make up impossible to pronounce names that you can't wrap your head around.

    Not familiar with your author choices, but good reasons!

    New follower, hopping around, come visit me at Full Moon Dreaming!

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  6. Not familiar with your author choices, hope you can meet them someday. I sometimes have to wonder if people clump all the subgenres into Sci fi/fantasy. I don't read that too much either, but urban fantasy--my fave genre is shelved there. So I have to wonder if that means I am a sci fi/fantasy reader or not.

    Really it sometimes just gets too complicated to dissect!

    Here's my Friday Hops

    Have a GREAT weekend!

    Old Follower :)

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  7. I agree with sci-fi! Too much for me. I'm a new follower. My answers are up at Coffee Table Reviews.

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  8. Hi: I'm hopping through - I think, based on comments on my blog, your blog, and other people's blogs, that sci fi is the number one answer. It's also funny how many people (all women) say that they liked it as a kid but not now... interesting. Ruby

    http://yearofreadingmybooks.wordpress.com/

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  9. I had such a difficult time reading Feed by MT Anderson that I actually had to DNF it. I think I'll have to try it again sometime as I've heard great things about it. And I personally love sci-fi/fantasy - if you're ever looking for a place to start maybe I can help you think of some books that are helpful to ease into the genre.

    Bibliotherapy. I didn't know that was a word, but I heartily believe in it.

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  10. Good points re bibliotherapy. New follower stopping by and wishing you a fun weekend.
    Meeting Murakami would definitely be great!

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  11. Booksellers as the therapists of the future? or bloggers! They're pretty good at nudging you in the direction of what you might like and is well-written... And that would partly sort out the isolation problem!

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  12. hey there! i'm a new follower! hope you will stop by my blog as well and follow me! looking forward to your posts!

    today i have the fever cover reveal, full spread up! also a 'stand up to cancer' giveaway!

    http://lindsaycummingsblog.blogspot.com/

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