One of the many great things that blogging has given me — besides a whole new world of wonderful friends — is a wealth of new reading material. Not just the dozens and dozens of blogs I read every week, but also books. *happy sigh* I have gotten so many terrific book recommendations from so many of you and every single time, I was so glad that I took that advice.
One book recommended to me by my friend Melissa at Green Girl in Wisconsin is Choke Creek by Lauren Small, which I read this week. The best way for me to tell you how good it was is to say that I stayed up WAY past my bedtime reading it. Anyone who knows me knows that I go to bed pretty early because I am not a night owl at all. Wednesday night, however, I was still burning the midnight oil well past midnight. I simply could not put Choke Creek down.
You will definitely want to buy Choke Creek for yourself and not just because you’re going to spend a few evenings on your sofa while completely engrossed in this book. When you buy Choke Creek, you’re also supporting an author who decided to skip all that trying-to-get-a-contract-with-a-mega-publisher crap and instead started her own publishing company. In 2008. In the midst of this crazy economic downturn. Oh yes she did. Lauren wrote about starting Bridle Path Press in this guest post at Eco Women: Protectors of the Planet. It’s an interesting insight on the publishing industry and I encourage you to click over and read it.
A lot of bloggers talk about wanting to be published, but not many get that opportunity. I’m sure quite a lot of you read Jen Lancaster — were you not ecstatic when she hit the New York Times best sellers list last year? I know I was. And then there’s Dad Gone Mad, another blogger whose work I enjoy. His book is coming out this summer and I’ve already pre-ordered it on Amazon. True, in both of these examples, I’m talking about bloggers with huge fan bases — not regular ol’ bloggers like most of the rest of us — so it’s understandable that their work would eventually catch the eye of someone in the publishing industry.
So this is why I find Lauren Small’s situation so fascinating. She didn’t wait around for a contract with a big publisher; she went ahead and took care of things her own damn self. Amazing. I wonder how many other authors out there have done the same thing?
In a world where John Grisham, Stephen King, and J.K. Rowling reign supreme, I am a big fan of supporting all those amazingly talented writers who won’t ever reach that upper echelon of the publishing industry. It’s nice to know that people like you and me can publish our work, if that’s what we want to do.
So here’s what I want to know today: Who else should we all be reading? What other bloggers (besides Dooce, who’s in a category unto herself) have published books? Or do you know of a non-blogging writer who has a book we should all read? Let’s all put our money where our mouths are and start checking out some new writers.
Ooooohh–good question! I can’t wait to read all the great recommendations from your readers!
Interesting! Jen Lancaster is my favorite blogger slash author.
I’m definitely going to check out Choke Creek. Thanks! I LOVE getting book recommendations.
She’s not a blogger, but she is a friend of mine: Amanda Eyre Ward. Her books are amazing, the kind of thing I wish I could write:
Sleep Toward Heaven
Forgive Me
How to Be Lost
Love Stories in This Town (releasing this April)
I highly recommend them- excellent reads!
More book recommendations — goody.
Two poets I read:
Kristy Bowen in Chicago, started her own publising press and studio, and now publishes other authors as well as herself.
http://kristybowen.blogspot.com/
Kate Capello in Northern Cal was just published by Elixir Press.
http://drowningthefield.blogspot.com/
I think you are so right to have written this! Being one who is working on a book myself, I would want others to take a chance on my book and as Karma goes, I should be willing to take a chance on theirs.
I don’t follow many blogs, so I don’t have much insight there. And I have to admit…my #1 author is Stephen King. But! I read a wide variety beyond him.
I like some of the older “classic” but seldom heard of authors – Aldo Leopold & Edward Abbey especially. I also read a lot of sci-fi type stuff. I especially liked Kaoru Kurimoto’s Guin Saga. Right now I’m obsessed with Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden series. It combines 2 of my favorite subjects – the magic world (wizards and faeires and trolls and such) and Chicago.
My list of “to-read” is about 12 pages long. Having a kid has seriously set me back. *sigh*
Okay, well, I haven’t read their books, but I read their blogs.
So, Heidi Ashworth of Dunhaven Place just published her first book, Miss Delacourt Speaks Her Mind.
And there’s http://blog.annettelyon.com/ She just wrote something or other too. Obviously, I haven’t read it. I know, how awesome of me.
I just finished Rebecca Ramsey’s French by Heart and am checking out a book by Stacy Nykios next.
I’m so glad you did this post! I am in the mood for a new book (I’ve read all of mine way too many times) so this is helping me out a lot!
If you enjoy lyrical poetry that has amazing images and tells a story, try
Nina Romano’s Cooking Lessons.
Also check out books by: Tana French,
Graham Hurley, and for sexy suspense, Karen Rose.
Self-publishing is really the wave of the future–I’ve read some great articles on it.
I’m definitely checking out Choke Creek and I wholeheartedly agree that getting book recommendations from people whose blogs I read is a huge bonus to blogging.
Do read anything by Stanley Donwood, muse of Radiohead and a very talented artist and writer. His stories are bizarre and extreme, they leave you believing that his brain was wired very differently!
He is very clever and hilarious…and is a lovely friend.
High Brow lit..no, he calls it “no brow”…but that’s just him being self deprecating!
I especially like “The Catacombes of Terror” it’s set in Bath and is the most fantastic rip off of the detective genre – think Rockford Files with irony! It’s printed by him to look like a ‘Penguin’ book…but instead of the penguin there is his crying minotaur.
I agree I love Jen Lacaster books and was so excited when she made it on the best seller list!
I seem to do a lot more blog reading than book reading these days. I do take book recommendations from my favorite bloggers seriously. Thanks for yours.
That smile wasn’t supposed to be winking.
If that matters.