Variations on a theme: books of photography

Most days I feel that my job is pretty incredible.  I wake up, have a few cups of coffee, make the very short commute from the dining room table to my office, check my email, update the review database, post reviews, email publicists about the reviews, check in with my reviewers, promote the site and the blog, read a book or two, write up a review, write a blog entry, open packages from publicists with new books, joke with the delivery men about the insane number of books I receive, add the books to the database, assign the books to reviewers, read some more books, update the San Antonio Book Review Facebook page, leave the office, eat dinner, and unwind from a long day's work with yet another good book.  But that's just most days.  I have a few days where I think my job isn't just incredible -- I think I have the best job in the world, and the theme of today's books ought to explain why.

Photography has always struck me as magical.  In the right hands, a camera is as much an artist's tool as a brush or a chisel.  Contrary to the superstition that arose when cameras were first introduced to developing nations -- that a camera could steal a person's soul -- I believe that a good photographer put a little of his or her own soul into each picture.  Whether the subject matter is human or animal, nature or the vast expanse of space, photographs have the ability to capture and inspire viewers.  Here are some of the books of photography currently sitting on my shelves.

Two books, one benchmark: The Bechdel Test

In 1985, Alison Bechdel drew a strip for her comic Dykes to Watch Out For entitled "The Rule."  It would become something of a standard to which movies, television shows, books and graphic novels would be held against.  The rule was simple.  As laid out by a character in DtWOF, she only watched movies that meet three requirements:

1. It has to have at least two women in it,
2. Who talk to each other,
3. About something besides a man.

There are folks who will vociferously protest the need for more books and movies to meet these three qualifications -- we are, after all (as many say) a modern society, and isn't it enough for women to have the vote and to work?  Haven't we moved past the casually sexist attitudes of the past?  Can't we just let it go already?

I say to this, no, we can't just let it go already.  Little boys get Tonka trucks and action figures; little girls get Bratz dolls and Barbies.  Young men are exhorted to find their calling, to make a mark on the world, to take charge, to sow their wild oats, to be strong and smart and capable.  Young women are still encouraged, both implicitly and explicitly, to use their "feminine wiles" to get ahead in life, to not be disagreeable, to find a man before it's too late, to put their careers on hold to make and raise a family.  While there is nothing inherently wrong or sinister about following stereotypical gender lines, it is true that when it comes to literature, there are far more male protagonists for men to relate to than there are for women.  Additionally, a good number of female supporting characters in novels with male protagonists are written solely for the purpose of furthering the male lead's story, be it as a romantic interest, foil, or mother figure.

What's in my reading queue this week, and what new titles I'm psyched about

My "books to read" pile is a bit shorter than usual this week, coming in at only a book a day.  It's an interesting variety of books -- one popular fiction novel, a cookbook, two historical nonfiction books, a book on poker, a book on the Bible, and a book on monsters (titled "On Monsters," appropriately enough).  Higher education wins the week, with Oxford University Press and Harvard University Press as the publishers of two of the seven books.  Chronicle Books, Atria, FSG, Knopf, and the Jewish Publication Society round out the rest.
Saturday is for practicing my poker face...

Linkety Literary Link -- other folks' thoughts on books

I've had my nose buried in books for the better part of last week, and while I was busy getting lost in the pages of the books mentioned elsewhere on this site and on San Antonio Book Review, other people have been busy burying their respective noses in different books, interviewing authors, reporting on book festivals, and reviewing books I've yet to lay my greedy bibliophilic paws on.  Here are some recent entries from different websites that caught my eye:

Thomas Cullen reviewed The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers for the LA Times: "Are they inhuman? Are they superheroes?"
On the Huffington Post, Jesse Kornbluth, the editor of HeadButler.com, wrote a review of Dani Shapiro's Devotion: "Devotion is for Everyone Over 30 Who Know Less and Less Every Day"
Elsewhere on HuffPo, Hillel Italie shared the list of nominees for the National Book Critics Circle prize: "Man Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel and National Book Award finalists Jayne Anne Phillips and Bonnie Jo Campbell were among the nominees"  Read on...
Vikas Bajaj reported for The New York Times on the Jaipur Literature Festival: "At Festival in India, Books are the Buzz"
On Salon.com, Laura Miller gives a thumbs up to I.O.U.: Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay by John Lanchester: "John Lanchester's new book is the most fun you'll ever have learning about worldwide economic collapse"
On NPR, Terry Gross interviewed Jonah Lehrer about his book, How We Decide: "'How We Decide' and the Paralysis of Analysis"
ETA: The Oatmeal schools his readers on proper semicolon usage: "How to Use a Semicolon: The Most Feared Punctuation on Earth"

BibliovoRX: read one book and thank me in the morning

At a loss for new reading material?  Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the wide range of choices?  Never fear, for Dr. Bibliovore is here to assess, diagnose, and treat your literary lurgy with just the book to set you to rights.  Whether you're a parent of young children, an amateur chef, a reality TV junkie, or an armchair activist, there's something here that's right up your alley.

If your roommate is on a nostalgic kick for the Beatles and has played A Hard Day's Night on repeat so often you hear it in your dreams, then pick up a copy of:
The Cambridge Companion to the Beatles, edited by Kenneth Womack

One of two things will likely happen when your roommate spots you lounging on the sofa with your nose in this book.  Either she'll beg to borrow it from you and you'll have a few blessed hours of peace and quiet while she's off reading it, or you'll become a source of wisdom regarding all things Beatlemania and a converted fan in spite of your best efforts.  No matter what the outcome, you will soon be able to control the volume of the speakers simply by casually saying things like "Did you know that 'Can't Buy Me Love' was recorded in only four takes?"  She'll be more than willing to hit pause while you help fill in the gaps in her knowledge.  Side effects may include memorization of minutiae, overwhelming fondness for the band, and a sudden need to fend off requests to team up with your roommate for Beatles themed trivia nights down at your favorite bar.

Fun with Mad Libs, the science fiction way

Ever think to yourself after reading the inside flaps of a couple dozen books in the same genre that it seems like you're reading the summary of the same five books over and over?  Probably not, because if you've picked up the book in the first place, it's unlikely you'll stop reading before you hit the title page.  But if you, like I do, have the occasional nutty moment when it comes to books, you may have noticed this, and there's a reason for it.  The short summary on the back of a book cover or on the inside of a dust jacket is essentially the "elevator pitch": the book is trying to sell itself to you in between the ground floor and the fifteenth.  To that end, there are several effective tactics that get employed.  See if you can guess what those tactics are -- and what book this summary was pulled from -- in the science fiction Mad Lib below the jump.

a grab bag of first sentences

The process by which readers judge a book often begins before they've laid hands on the book in question.  They hear friends and coworkers discussing it, they hear the author interviewed on NPR, they see posters advertising its forthcoming arrival....  Depending on your personal mileage, it's entirely possible to get sick of a book before it even hits the shelves.  Who among us hasn't experienced some level of burnout in response to over-hyped books?  I know that I have, especially in response to a certain series of romantic fantasy novels that shall go unnamed.

Even if a reader makes it to the release date without having already formed a solid opinion on the book, there's still the matter of the front cover.  Despite the old saying, modern society is overly fond of superficial trivialities such as outward appearance, and the design of a book cover can spur her to either purchase it right then and there or to avoid ever reading it altogether.  Relax, bookworm, if you judge books by their covers then take comfort in knowing you're not alone.  There's a very good reason I'm a sucker for Chronicle Books, and it isn't their affordability.

But what really cinches the deal for me is the first sentence -- not necessarily from the acknowledgments or prefaces or introductions, but from the very beginning of the meaty, juicy bit of the book.  That's a make-or-break thing for me.  A good opening sentence not only sets the tone for the rest of the book, it determines how I read it.  Do I devour it whole and go back for seconds?  Pace myself with chapter sized nibbles?  Indulge in a lengthy read with paper and pen at my side?  Here are my immediate reactions to a dozen first sentences, pulled from a wide range of genres.

4 books that I'm currently obsessed with

The actual number of books I'm obsessed with at the moment is much, much higher than what I'm sharing here.  I read at least one book a day.  On my days off, I can (and do) read around ten.  I hop between genres to make sure they don't all blend together.  Too many whodunnits in a row makes me lose track of which character killed who for what, and after a day of nonstop romance books, I just want to bury my head beneath the covers and swear off relationships forever.

That said, there are those rare few books that stand out of the crowd so dramatically, it's impossible to get them out of my head even after reading another dozen or so in the same genre.  My current favorites, after the jump!

how to write an effective book review*

The thing about book reviews is--

No, that's not quite right. There are many, many things about book reviews. To begin with, they play a key role in the book business. Authors write the books, editors clean up the books, agents pitch the books, publishers print the books, and publicists get readers excited about the books. This is where reviewing comes in. Reviewers get their paws on books first, and once they've read the book from cover to cover, they sit down and write up a review. Whether the reviewer works for The New York Times Book Review, Sacramento Book Review, San Antonio Book Review, or bookreporter.com, reviewers are a very important cog in the publicity machine. A glowing review may end up on the back cover of the book jacket. A negative review can drive down sales.