Monday, February 16, 2009

Maine and Musing Monday...and Maine

This week's questions, from the pages of Just One More Page... Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about book reviews…
Do you read any non-blogging book reviews? If so, where (newspaper, library etc)? Do you have any favourites sources you'd like to share?


Review...reviews...reviews...
Do I read any non-blog reviews. Why, yes I do. From where? Well, I usually read the N.Y. Times reviews. Here is this week's as an example. Lots and lots of reviews, articles, blogs....you could spend the day here. Which is good, but also bad. Bad because if I spend the day there, I will not spend the day reading and certainly not reviewing my own completed reads.
Then, I also usually at least glance at the reviews at the Philadelphia Inquirer. Being a resident of south Jersey, Philadelphia is our nearest big city and I was once very fond of the Sunday Inquirer, which includes the Book Section. That is until they started fooling with it some months ago, discontinuing some of my favorite sections, moving others to weekdays, in an attempt to 'save money', they say. Well it had the effect of me usually not buying the Sunday paper as I once did and adding the book section to my Goggle Reader. It did save me money, I will say that!
I also read reviews on Publisher Weekly. Fiction, non-fiction, children's; again, lots and lots of reviews. Then, for a little overseas slant, I also glance at the reviews at The Guardian, a British newspaper. Good reviews, many interesting articles, a place to 'waste' a large chunk of time.

New York, Philadelphia and London...that about covers the world, right?
Well, it is enough for me. Or at least all I have time for. And you may notice a trend. All online, all free, all easy. I think that I have said it before, but either I am not the fastest reader in the world or I an really poor user of time, but there are just not enough hours in the day to do it all.

I personally blame my need to work for a living. Those 40+ hours are a big waste, reading wise. I NEED to win the lottery, so that I can retire to the little house I will then buy on the coast of Maine, where I can spend the day reading, visiting lighthouses. Maybe I will take up sailing...or painting watercolors...lobster for dinner, fresh off the boats down in the harbor...blue cloudless summer skies, stormy winter nights, waves crashing against the rocky coast as I sit by the fireplace...

What were we talking about? Reviews?? Yes, something about reviews I think. I got distracted...


courtesy of HistoryImages.com


25 comments:

  1. Retire to Maine, read and find lighthouses? Sounds good to me! I absolutely do read non-blogging book reviews, primarily from Entertainment Weekly. I trust them implicitely. They don't cover everything, but they hit the good ones!

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  2. I can not subscribe to another magazine. I have too much to read as it is. I will only read reviews if they available online...which, of course, makes no sense.
    I am aware of that.

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  3. Oh, yes, I do. I read PW and Library Journal faithfully. I read USA Today & the Washington Post online, looking of book information. Like you, I just dropped my subscription to the Arizona Republic. They don't care about readers. Why should I care if they fold. I know I should, but if they don't realize that literate readers read newspapers AND books, newspapers are totally missing their market. And, most of them are.

    I also read reviews on DorothyL and ARM, two online subscriptions (but they aren't blogs!).

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  4. Oh, yes, I do. I read PW and Library Journal faithfully. I read USA Today & the Washington Post online, looking of book information. Like you, I just dropped my subscription to the Arizona Republic. They don't care about readers. Why should I care if they fold. I know I should, but if they don't realize that literate readers read newspapers AND books, newspapers are totally missing their market. And, most of them are.

    I also read reviews on DorothyL and ARM, two online subscriptions (but they aren't blogs!).

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  5. I agree there are way to many places to read book reviews that there is not enough time to get to them all! Just reading the places you go makes me want to start opening new Internet windows like a crazy person and then read until my eyes bleed... oh, who am I kidding? The new Internet windows are already open.

    Sigh... resistant is futile.

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  6. well, when I get the house, right there on the water,you can all come and visit.
    I just need a few million $$$.
    Hey, I made .54 on Amazon Associates this month. I am well on the way!

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  7. I blame work too! Who ever came up with that plan!

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  8. Is it bad that even though I haven't really started my 'career' yet that I can't wait to retire to a little cottage filled with books? :-p

    I read newspaper lift outs too but they do take up a large chunk of my time. They're very insightful though.

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  9. No Mae, it is not bad! Our dreams are what raise us above the mundane.
    And what else would we daydream about to get through those hours at work?

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  10. LOL! I could have written that last paragraph...except for the part about visiting lighthouses. I'd be visiting cats. LOL

    I do read reviews, but like you said, work gets in the way and I don't have time to read as many as I'd like. I would be able to do that if I had those extra 40 hours each week :)

    Happy Monday!

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  11. It is a known fact that cats love lighthouses.

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  12. We try to get to the Maine coast twice a year. Ahhhh. Oh, um, reviews: I do read reviews from non bloggers all the time.

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  13. Hi!
    I read the section on books at the New York Times on line. Have a great day!!

    Sherrie

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  14. What a wonderful post! And thanks for all the great ideas on places to find more book reviews!

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  15. Great resources for reading book reviews. My mom was born in bar harbor, Maine and moved away eons ago. But she has a cousin who runs a b & b there. I'll have to go - sit by the sea, visit a few lighthouses. Thanks for the imagery - my brain took a vacation.

    My post is up now.

    Robin

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  16. Guardian and NYRB have in-depth reviews. I only glace skim through the other papers. I trust the staff reviews at indies.

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  17. pssh..maine is over-rated. what about haile plantation!?

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  18. ((have to add NYRB to my reader...}}

    Bandit, you have not been to Maine, so you can't really say. I need to take you up there some time.
    Second, Haile Platation (A community in Gainesville Fl, where Bandit lives) is nice. Very nice Village area. But it is in Florida and I do not do heat well and the summer there is very hot.

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  19. I have to agree. Life would be so much better if it weren't for work.

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  20. I agree. That annoying job that eats up 40 good reading hours a week! ;)
    Great post-and let me know when you move to Maine. I have always wanted to visit there.
    *smiles*
    Kim

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  21. yes...getting a Maine list ready.
    Robin, I wish I had a cousin with a B&B in Bar Harbor. We would be very close cousins if I did.

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  22. We vacationed in Maine for many years while the kids were still home - up until last year when no one could get away at the same time. I missed it so much. I think my husband and I may go back by ourselves in the next year or two. Keep buying those lottery tickets - that's what we do. I want a summer house so I can spend more than a week or two!

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