WG: Linky linky

Yay!  One of my FAVORITE things that Dewey did is back to remind us of how awesome she was – linking to our friends!  Here is the Weekly Geek topic this week:

When Dewey started Weekly Geeks, one of the first projects she encouraged us to do was link our book reviews to each other. Sadly, I’ve fallen of the wagon on this one. For people like me who need a refresher and for all the new Weekly Geeks this is a topic that could use repeating.

Let’s look at Dewey’s original post : Dewey’s post.

Here’s what we’ll do:

1. Write a post encouraging readers to look through your archives (if you have your reviews in a particular place on your blog, point them there), and find the books that they have also written reviews. Tell them to leave a link to their review on your review post. For example, I’ve written a review for Gods Behaving Badly and Jane Doe leaves a link to her review of Gods Behaving Badly in the comments section of my review.

2. Edit your reviews to include those links in the body of the review post.

3. Visit other Weekly Geeks and go through their reviews. Leave links for them.

4. Leave a note somewhere on your blog to let people know this is your new policy.

5. Write a post later this week letting us know how your project is going!

This is a big undertaking but as Dewey put it, it’s ‘community building’. Have fun!

Ok, so I’ve been doing the linking thing since Dewey started it.  I used to have the policy posted on the blog but then I was linking to everyone else for so long that I kinda just figured everyone knew that I was doing that, so no need.  You guys tell me – should I have the policy posted?  Or is it implied by the fact that I always link to other people when I can find other reviews?

Either way, here’s my review directory.  If I have reviewed something that you have also reviewed, and you don’t see your review on the post, just comment on that post and let me know and I’ll add it right away.  Simple, no?  And don’t be shy – I love linking to you guys, and of course in turn I also love to see MY reviews linked on other blogs!  See, that’s what’s so great about this idea – community.  We all love and support each other.  Yay.

Time to herd those cats once again!

Renay is hosting the Herding Cats challenge again this year!  And even though I bailed on this one last year (as I did with the vast majority of the challenges I signed up for), I’m doing WAY better with keeping up on challenges this year and I couldn’t resist this one.  Plus, it’s super low-key and I don’t feel pressured to read any certain number of books, which is fantastic.  Here are the “rules” (copied directly from Renay):

Herding Cats II: Attack of the Hairballs (April 1st, 2009 – December 31st, 2009)

Last year this project garnered excessive amounts of attention, more than I ever expected. It really was just an epic plot to get Dewey and owlmoose and not_cynical to read two tons of my recommendations (note: it almost worked!). It became more, like do-I-seriously-have-50-plus-participants more. Answer: yes. Reaction: oh shi

Here are the guidelines to Herding Cats II:

1. Make a list of five books you love. Directions:

• Five. I’m as serious as a beached whale.
• All titles must be books you’ve read in 2007, 2008 or 2009.
• Please don’t list a series; just the first book. If you really want to list a book in the middle of a series, you can, but it has to be that specific book.
• Feel free to share why you’re putting the book on your list, because I am nosy.

2. Post your list:

• in your own journal, in the comments here, whatever is fine. Share the link to the list here.
• Lists should be public (no locked entries, no logging in to view).

3. Browse the new book list. Stay a while. Read a few (eta: if you want; not even reading is required this time around if you don’t have time to commit to a new challenge but still want to share your favorites).

4. If you review your books, you can share the reviews. You know, if you want. No pressure. Definitely not.

The home page for this project is at http://www.echthroi.org/getliterate/herdingcats/ (or http://tinyurl.com/cdxk45). If you twitter, feel free to #herdcats over there.

So, here are my five books…

1.  The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle (review here)

2.  We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (review here)

3.  The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (I don’t have a review posted for this one, but I’m reasonably certain that I read it in 2007 right before I started blogging.)

4.  Looking for Alaska by John Green (review here)

5.  Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (review here)

And as of this point I have no clue what I’ll be reading from the master list… but you can bet the books will be fantastic!

Review: Blue Water

Title:  Blue Water

Author:  A. Manette Ansay

Published:  April 11, 2006

# of Pages:  288

ISBN:  978-0688172879

Rating:  5/5

On an ordinary morning in Fox Harbor, Wisconsin, Meg and Rex Van Dorn’s lives are irrevocably changed when a drunk driver slams into Meg’s car, killing the couple’s six-year-old son, Evan. In a town in which everyone knows everybody else, it’s no surprise that Meg and the driver, Cindy Ann Kreisler, were once the best of friends. Now, as Meg recovers from her own injuries, she and Rex find themselves unable to cope with their anger and despair, especially after Cindy Ann returns — with a mere slap on the wrist — to the life she lived before the accident: living in a beautiful house, enjoying her own three daughters, all of whom walked away from the accident unharmed.

In their rage and grief, Meg and Rex buy a boat to sail around the world, hoping to put as much distance between themselves and Cindy Ann Kreisler as possible. Adrift in the company of other live-board cruisers, Meg tries to believe that she and Rex have left their bitterness behind. But when she returns to Fox Harbor for her older brother’s wedding, she is forced to face the complex ties that bind her to the woman who has wounded her so badly. For, as Meg knows better than anyone, Cindy Ann has secrets and sorrows of her own, dating back to the summer of their friendship.

Impassioned, insightful, and beautifully written, Blue Water is the story of people learning to face the unthinkable — a compelling affirmation of the human potential for forgiveness, redemption, and grace.

Blue Water is a quiet novel, mostly a character-driven novel, but for me, it made a huge impact.  The characters are drawn perfectly – they are highly imperfect people, every single one of them, with plenty of flaws, but through the novel you really got to know them inside and out.  The book moves along slowly, and the interesting thing about it is that what you expect to be the pivotal, confrontational, HUGE moment, kind of isn’t.  It just happens, but it feels so natural – like how events would occur in real life… everyone continues to exist, and lives change, and people get up, go to work, etc., even though what you were waiting for throughout the entire book actually happened.  It’s hard to explain, because I hate giving away plot spoilers, but trust me, it’s fantastic the way Ansay wrote that part of the story.

I loved Blue Water.  Loved it.  And I can’t say why, exactly, because it’s hard for me to understand it myself.  But when I put the book down, after I turned its final page, I was just overcome with emotion.  Not necessarily overly happy or overly sad – I just FELT for these characters.  These are my favorite kinds of books – the ones that leave you thinking, leave you feeling, long after you finish them.  If you enjoy character-driven novels with enormous plot lines in the background, Blue Water is not to be missed.