Tag: The Little Prince

ArmchairBEA 2013: Keeping it Real & Children’s/Young Adult Literature

Posted June 1, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in ArmchairBEA / 13 Comments

What do you mean by “keeping it real”? Does this come back to ethics or are we talking about relating to our audience? Like I said when I ranted a little about authors and ethics, I try to be transparent and talk about what works for me and what doesn’t. I want people to read my blog and get my honest opinion. Sure, I get ARCs and sometimes it feels like the publisher stops sending me books because of a bad review but I think that is just my imagination. The publicists I’ve talked to that work in the book industry have told me that they don’t have a problem with bad reviews, it is about getting exposure to the book and they know that some people won’t like it but at least the book is getting talked about. Now if you are talking about writing material that will keep readers coming back for more then I’m probably not the right person to ask. I like to review all my books and write bookish posts on topics I’ve been thinking about, I love comments but I’m not too worried if I don’t get any. I’ve said this before, this is just a way for me to express my passion for books and if I get readers, that is just a bonus.

So now let’s move on to Children’s/Young Adult Literature; genres that I often struggle with. First of all, children’s books like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Little Prince are wonderful philosophical novels but I don’t know how to write a decent review for them. Then you get great picture books like I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen which I love and want on my bookshelf but when it comes to the book blogging world, I don’t know how to approach them in a blog. I have a love/hate relationship with Young Adult books, I want to enjoy them and for some I have but I really want more from most of them. I’m really getting sick of all the dystopian and paranormal YA novels but people love them and good for them, I’m just personally over them. I know erotica is the new big thing but I think YA (and maybe even NA) will remain big sellers in the book world.

ArmchairBEA is a virtual convention for book blogger who can’t attend Book Expo America and the Book Blogger Convention. Banner by Nina of Nina Reads and button by Sarah of Puss Reboots

Monthly Review – December 2012

Posted December 31, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Monthly Reading / 0 Comments

Now that 2012 has come to close, I find myself not reflecting on my year of reading but eagerly anticipating the books I get to read next year. All my reflections of 2012 seemed to have taken place in November. So now I want the Literary Exploration reading challenge to begin.

But as this is the end of December, let me quickly cover the important events of this month. Literary Exploration decided to read a travel/road trip book for the month; the book picked was the beat novel On the Road. This book had a lot of mixed reactions; even people thinking their own travel diaries would be more interesting. I’m now very concerned about what has happened when my wife goes travelling For me I thought it was an enjoyable look at the beat generation and their ideals. Check out the conversations on Goodreads to find out what people said about this book.

A reminder that in January we will be reading Shadow of the Wind; I love this book and I’m really looking forward to seeing what the discussions will be like. I still haven’t decided if I want to reread it yet or wait till the series has finished before rereading it in its entirety. Either way, I look forward to hearing people’s thoughts.

As for my personal reading, I focused on reading non-fiction this month; well I started off that way but I got distracted. I’ve read some great books this month including; By the Book, a Readers Guide to Life which was a fascinating look at the author’s reading journey. Also I tried some dirty realism with Factotum by Charles Bukowski, a raw and gritty semi autobiographical novel which I highly recommend. What were your highlights of this month? Did you read anything great?

Monthly Reading

By the Book, A Reader’s Guide to Life by Ramona Koval
Day of the Oprichnik by Vladimir Sorokin
Factotum by Charles Bukowski
Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz
The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Through the Window by Julian Barnes
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

My Top Five Reads of 2012

Posted December 27, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top 5 / 0 Comments

I’ve already done a post about 2012 but I wanted to do another. The typical top five post of the best books you’ve read in 2012 but because I split my books into released in 2012 and all others, I think I need two top five lists here. So here are my top reads for the year;

Top Five Reads Released in 2012

5. Talulla Rising by Glen Duncan

4. Dare Me by Megan Abbott

3. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain

2. The Fault in our Stars by John Green

1. Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway

Honourable mentions need to be made to Colour of Milk, The Yellow Birds, The Cocktail Waitress, Tigers in Red Weather, The Dinner and The Age of Miracles.

Top Five Reads in 2012

5. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

4. Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

3. Swimming Home by Deborah Levy

2. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

1. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

With honourable mentions to When Gravity Fails, The Little Prince, Factotum, He Died With His Eyes Open, The Devil All the Time, The Master and Magarita and Ethan Frome.

Now it’s your turn to let me know of your favourite books, the new releases and the older books. It doesn’t matter; just what you discovered and loved.