“In late 2006, I wrote the first book review on Goodreads,” Otis Chandler writes on the website’s blog.
“It was a simple, two-paragraph review of ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ by Bill Bryson (5 stars – I recommend it) and I had no idea how popular a book recommendation and review site could become…I think Goodreads reviews are the best book reviews anywhere!
“Today, we have reviews that share personal experiences, reviews that include actor photos for dream casts of the book’s characters, quick-but-sharp summary reviews, and so many enthusiastic “you have got to read this!” reviews. There are reviews that push your thinking, and ones that create deep discussion…What’s your favorite Goodreads review?”
To read more and see the whole infographic, go to Adweek.com HERE
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At io9, Charlie Jane Anders offers us
10 Authors Who Wrote Gritty, Realistic Fantasy Before George R.R. Martin
“When George R.R. Martin released ‘A Game of Thrones’ in 1996,” she writes, “he helped to change the game with his grounded approach to fantasy tropes. At the same time, people sometimes talk as though Martin was the first to bring realism to epic fantasy. So here are 10 other authors.”
For example:
Mary Gentle: Her novel Grunts is an epic fantasy story from the point of view of the Orcs who have to go into battle and die by the thousands for a cause that they barely understand. At the time when it was published, in 1992, its darkly comic approach of viewing the story from the point of view of the ‘villains’ was considered revolutionary, and it became famous for a joke about Orcs raping Elves that probably wouldn’t be considered funny today. But there’s also funny scenes of the Orcs eating their own wounded, and the war crimes trials that ensue. It’s hard to get less uplifting, and nastier, than Grunts.
To read more, go to the io9 website HERE
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World Poetry Day Quiz
“Poetry is truth in its Sunday clothes,” said the French priest and poet Joseph Roux.
Throughout the ages, great minds have expressed themselves through this beautiful and often challenging medium.
“For World Poetry Day“, Sam Rigby writes, “BBC Culture has put together a quiz to test your knowledge.”
No, I won’t tell you how I did.
But you can take the quiz at BBC.com HERE
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QUOTE of the DAY
Personally, the way I do a story is by planting a seed in the ground and waiting for something to grow. I never know in advance if I”m awaiting a cabbage or a redwood. What grows, grows. I just tend it. So yeah, I am very much a “gardener”.
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