Category: Literature

My Vacation: Literary Highlights

Posted September 5, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 13 Comments

I’m not sure if I need to write about my experiences overseas because there wasn’t much literary happening. There was a lot of nerdy fun and sightseeing but that really isn’t that interesting to share, especially on a book blog but I will give you my literary highlights. As most people know I went to the United States of America for about six weeks, while there, I visited Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Yellowstone, New York, Boston, Toronto and Las Vegas. This was a pretty busy vacation and I didn’t get to go to every bookshop I hope to; in fact I only managed to complete three books in those six weeks. Here are some bookish highlights;

Coronado, California

While this little island off the coast of San Diego is best known for the Hotel del Coronado which appeared in the classic film Some Like It Hot, it has one other attraction. Coronado was a vacation spot for L. Frank Baum; in fact the Hotel del Coronado was the inspiration for the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz. In Coronado I visited the holiday house of L. Frank Baum as well as bought a Wizard of Oz anthology from a nice little indie bookshop called Bay Books.

City Lights Books

If you ever find yourself in San Francisco don’t forget to visit City Lights, it is an amazing store. Not only is it an amazing independent bookstore, it is also a literary landmark. You won’t find the beat generation hanging out there anymore but you will find plenty of books. The store specialises in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics; it even has its own publishing company.

Library Hotel

One of the highlights of the trip was this amazing hotel; I don’t think I could bring myself to stay anywhere else when in New York. Each room is numbered by the dewy decimal system and have a different subject; we stayed in the Health and Beauty room. They also have a reading room where you can spend time reading, drinking or snacking. I think it is awesome that they allow their guest read their books and if you don’t finish it before check out you can mail it back.

Strand Books

Another amazing bookshop was Strand books, yet another indie bookstore but this one offers 18 miles of used and rare books to browse through. It is a real treat to visit a bookstore that is so packed with books and bookshelves; it is the type of bookstore that I love visiting.

Trident and Brattle Books

While in Boston there were two great stores, Trident Books and Brattle Book Shop. Trident books were located around the corner from where we stayed and offered a wonderful place to browse through their books and enjoy breakfast. Seriously, a good indie bookstore with a café that does a great meal and tea is my idea of perfection. Then Brattle Books was the type of used bookstore you can get lost in. But the real novelty was the alley full of books.

Like I said before, I didn’t visit all the stores I wanted to get to. A combination of too many sights to see and weird locations did make it difficult. It was a great holiday and I returned with a large pile of books. Highlights from my bookish mail include Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer and You by Caroline Kepnes. I just have to find the time to read everything.

Plot, Character, Style, and Themes

Posted August 16, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 0 Comments

While listening to an episode of the Bookragous podcast they had a topic on Plot, Character, and Style and I thought that was interesting and maybe something I can explore further. For those of you that are not aware the concept was taught to one of the podcasters in how to help sell books. If you are not sure what to recommend, ask the customer to rate plot, character and style in the order of personal preference. This can help narrow the type of book to recommend which is a nice idea but my initial reaction was, ‘This wouldn’t work for me.’

When picking books, my preference is towards a book that explores interesting themes; I want a book that challenges me and offers me some new idea to explore. I know I’m different but recently in a review of Divergent I wondered if people read books for plots or themes. I suspect I’m the odd one out but I had it in my head that people like themes over plot. However, I think I may be the only person that picks up a book thinking it will explore some nice themes rather than plot, characters or style.

If I were to pick preferences, I would say style is the most important thing in a book, characters have to be interesting but plot doesn’t really matter as much. I would want the characters to be developed and complex; if you have a good style and characters you don’t need a plot at all. This obviously comes down to personal preferences, but this does bring me to one of my bête noires, likeable characters.

I hate it when people say they don’t like a book because the characters are not likeable. What is the point of that? Why would you want all characters to be likeable? I know this post is about to turn into a rant but I need to say it. In life we know that not everyone is going to be good or likeable, so why except differently in a book. We read to discover new worlds and experience new things; it is impossible to explore some themes or subjects if everyone is likeable.

Look at The Catcher in the Rye as an example; would this modern classic work if the characters were likeable? I have to admit that I read The Catcher in the Rye when I first started reading and I didn’t enjoy it because Holden was whiny and annoying. This is something I hate to admit because I’ve been an advocate for unlikeable characters and transgressive fiction as of late. I feel like I have come to a point in my life where I’m going to have to reread The Catcher in the Rye again just so I can get it right.

To get back on track, let me know in the comments below what your preferences are between plot, characters and style. Also do you think themes are important in a book or am I just a minority. We can also complain/debate about hating books because of unlikeable characters in the comments as well. I just wanted to explore my thoughts in a stream of conscious style; that is why this is a little all over the place.

Rant about my TBR

Posted July 26, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 24 Comments

I’ve been thinking a lot about my TBR piles lately. I have this weird love-hate relationship and at the moment I’m feeling very stressed over it. You know that feeling you get when you see the piles of books you have on your shelves to read and you get that feeling that you have books coming in faster than being read? How do you deal with that?

I recently watched a vlog about killing their TBR and taking a minimalist approach to their bookshelf. I love that idea but I can’t help but feel like that would never work (for me anyway). I buy or receive books and I have every intention of reading them but then more books come in and those are new, exciting and shiny and they distract you from the books you already have.

I’m not the kind of person that can just organise my reading and have a pile of books to read and not waver. When I finish one book I tend to pick up whatever I’m in the mood for at the time. I love this reading on a whim approach to reading and it takes me through some interesting journeys but it isn’t very efficient. What about all those ARCs that I should be reading or those new books on my bookshelf? I have to force myself to read my book club books at times and that isn’t really ideal but it needs to be done.

This is a bit like a rant at the moment but I don’t know the answer, what should I do with my TBR? I’ve thought about culling my bookshelf and even getting rid of books I’ve not read just so I can have room for new books but that sounds scary. I know I can buy the book again if I decide I need to read it but giving up books is hard, too hard in fact. I probably can look at my shelves and wonder about some of the books. I know I’ve brought books in the past, excited to read them but then I lose interest and they just sit there waiting. I know it is the hype that is problem but I tend to think that my reading tastes have evolved so much that I’ve outgrown those books as well.

I need to take a year off work and dedicate my entire time to reading the books on my bookshelf; I think that is the only way I’m going to get a handle on my TBR. I’ve tried giving up buying books for a year but that didn’t work, it just forced me to use the library more, and I still use it frequently. I know, as far as problems go, this is a pretty decent problem to have but I just felt like ranting and wanted to know if people had advice for dealing with a TBR that won’t stop growing.

Ten bookshops to visit while in America

Posted July 17, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 0 Comments

I’m going away on holidays to America and my main concern was making sure that I research which bookshops to visit while over there. I am away for a few weeks and while I don’t really plan to weigh down my bags with too many books, I still like looking at books. I have been looking around for which stores to visit and I thought I might list them here and possibly open it up to some suggestions. I’m going to be visiting San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Boston, Toronto and Las Vegas, so please recommend some stores and I will try to visit them.

The Last Bookstore, Los Angeles

This is a scary thought, I would hate to think that there is only one bookstore left on earth and it was all the way in LA. The Paris Review once wrote that this store was “an almost 20,000-square-foot cathedral of books”.

Skylight Books, Los Angeles

This is often voted as one of the greatest bookshops in America (along with Powell’s but I’m not going to Portland). It could almost be considered a literary landmark, but when I think of LA I think Raymond Chandler and that landmark would be Musso and Frank Grill (which I plan to visit as well).

City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco

This was one of my biggest highlights when I was in San Francisco last time, and I plan to go back. Last I was there a picked up a portable collection of Romantic poetry which I adore; still think Keats is my favourite. This is not only an iconic bookshop, it is a literary landmark.

Green Apple Books, San Francisco

This is a well-known bookshop that has been around for a very long time. I missed it last time I was in San Francisco; I don’t want to miss it again.

WORD, Brooklyn

Located in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, this is one store where their reputation precedes them. This may simply be because the Bookrageous podcast links every book to this store but I’m still very interested in checking it out.

McNally Jackson, Manhattan

I have heard good things about this store; mainly that it has ‘everything’. I plan to challenge this view and see if it has books on my wishlist that are normally very hard to find. If I wrote a book, I could even get it printed here.

Strand Books, New York

This one was recommended to me by a friend on Twitter. Eighteen miles of books, this is something I have to see. The store opened in 1927 so there is a bit of history there as well.

Library Hotel, New York

Not a book store but since I’m in New York, I’m going to stay in bookish class and felt the need to rub it in. Library Hotel not only offers you a great place to stay but you won’t be short of books to read.

Commonwealth Books, Boston

This used bookshop comes with leather chairs and a fireplace, what more do you want from a store? I would like to go, grab an old classic and spend the day reading. I’m not sure if it is a good strategy for selling books but it is one way to attract booklovers.

Brattle Book Shop, Boston

When I was researching book shops to visit while in America I came across this one in Boston; it looks awesome. One of America’s oldest and largest used book stores, it has to go to the streets.

There you have it, ten bookshops (sort of) that I plan to visit when I’m over in America. I know I will find more along the way and I could have mentioned a few others but I need to save room for museums and eating. Feel free to mention some more in the comments and I might see if I can make it there as well.

How Do You Sort Your Bookshelf?

Posted July 12, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 24 Comments

I was thinking about my bookshelves lately, I have a few of them and I never seem to have enough room for all the books on them. Should I cull books I am never going to read? I don’t feel comfortable with culling but sometimes it needs to be done. Does anyone else have a problem with culling? Or does any one know of a way to get over this fear.

However what I want to talk about is not culling. I was wondering how people organise their bookshelves? Do you separate non-fiction and fiction, sort by author, titles, genre or colour? How organised are you? Do you regularly resort your bookshelves. I’m terrible; there is no consistent order for any of my books. I do have a bookshelf in my bedroom that has mostly my TBR books but it is not in order either.

I’ve often thought about sorting my bookshelf but I prefer it this way. I like the sense of adventure I have when I go looking for books, going from one bookshelf to the next trying to find a book. In all honesty, I just like looking at my books; I tend to look at all the titles while in bed and wondering which books I should read and what I would think of them. I just like browsing the shelves and seeing what I have, sometimes I forget I have a book and it is a thrill to find it. So I want to know what people do, is there a benefit to organising a bookshelf?

Thoughts on Book Clubs

Posted June 27, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 6 Comments

I am not sure if you have noticed but I love books and I love talking about them to excess. I think my wife tends to get sick of my talking about books so I’m lucky to have a book blog where I can focus most of my bookish energy. If my book blog isn’t enough and I still need to talk about books, I often turn to social media. Also there is one other avenue that I use to satisfy my bookish obsessions and that is book clubs.

Now I have an addiction to the book clubs on Goodreads, I’m involved in a few of them but some how ended up being moderators for all of them. Most of them I started because I felt there was a gap in the wide range of Goodreads book clubs that needed to be filled. I would be happy if someone took over as moderator but I’m also happy to be a part of any Goodreads book club that is doing something unique. My primary focus on Goodreads is obviously the Literary Exploration book club, where we get a chance to read from different genres every month. This is the only book club I feel I have to read the book assigned every month.

However I’m also apart of a book club hosted by my local indie bookstore, I love the real life element of this book club. I know this may surprise people, the socially awkward introvert enjoying being out in public but I do all right if I talk about books. I like that the bookstore tends to pick books I don’t know about or had not thought about reading. As a literary explorer this book club has really pushed me into books out of my comfort zone. This has an added bonus; I love being the person that has a different opinion to everyone else. More often than not I’m the one that loves or hates a book while others think differently; I’m not always alone but I like that my opinion is different.

I enjoy hating a book almost as much as liking a book, I just love books and it doesn’t matter my opinion of the book. I find it freeing to write negative reviews and talking about what is wrong with a book. Almost to a point where the idea of a bitchy book club was talked about on social media, a place were people talk about the flaws of a book rather than what they liked about the book. This idea never took off; I doubt there are many people interested in this approach to a book club but I think it would of being fun.

There are negatives about book clubs as well but nothing to dramatic. I personally would love to see more critical thought put into a book when it comes to book clubs. Goodreads book clubs tend to be very basic and there is never any in depth analysis to the books being read. I would love to find a book club that explores literature in great detail; I am still trying to learn how to read critically and I think a place that can help develop these skills would do me a world of good. I have ideas for a club like this but I lack the skills, I’m a novice and I think that makes me wrong for the job.

I digress and need to get back on topic; I use book clubs as an avenue to feed my bookish obsessions but also to help develop my skills. I mentioned that I’m a socially awkward introvert and going to a book club that meets in real life has helped me communicate my bookish love. When I first started I was quiet and didn’t say much but the more I go, the better I have become at talking about books, expressing my opinions about the books. This has been a huge help, not only socially but I think it has had a positive effect on blogging too. I can talk about books with ease online but this book club has helped me develop different ways at looking at a book. I think other people’s opinions on books can be an asset in developing your own skills.

Now I want to ask the readers about book clubs, do they go to a book club, what works and doesn’t work, and anything else you wish to say on the topic. I am particularly interested in ways to find develop my critical reading skills, I know practise makes perfect but I would love to find a way that both nurtures and pushes me. Goodreads doesn’t seem to have that, or I haven’t found it there, so I wrote this post as a way to ask the question and talk about book clubs in general.

Contemporary Fiction Vs. Literary Fiction

Posted June 20, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 26 Comments

Genres are always tricky and there are often a lot of problems with assigning a genre. Recently River City Reading (a fantastic blog if you are not following it) was asking about historical fiction which was interesting but I have been thinking about something different. I am curious to know how people choose if a book is contemporary fiction or literary fiction. Most people may agree that literary fiction covers a wide range of different genres but when it comes to contemporary fiction there is a very fine line between the two.

I know that when it comes to genres, everyone have a different opinions and we can spend time arguing about each one. So I thought, why not create a space where we can argue contemporary fiction verses literary fiction. For me, I think contemporary fiction focuses on the modern life and all the moral and relationship dilemmas that we face as humans. Literary fiction can cover the same topic but executed a little differently. When it comes to literary fiction it is all about the proses, beauty and how thought provoking a book can be.

Which does bring up an interesting problem; should literary fiction be considered a genre. If you think about it, literary fiction tends to blend into all other genres, to the extent that I’d rather call it a category not a genre. You can have literary fantasy, literary detective fiction and it will go on and on. So why do people insist on making literary fiction a genre? I tend to think most people refer to contemporary fiction as literary fiction however I think they are separate.

Genres are confusing and often are easily mixed up, it would be great if we can throw them away all together but they still have a use. I thought I would write this post to ask people what they think, how do people separate contemporary fiction and literary fiction. Do you even try to separate them, or do you have a technique to work it out? Furthermore, do you think genres are essential and what would a world be like if we just separate everything as fiction and non-fiction?

My Next Reading Project – Middlemarch

Posted May 25, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 8 Comments

I’ve often said that big books scare me and I still think that is true but there are exceptions. I’ve found that if I have a reading project and slowly work through a big novel, I not only finish the novel but also tend to enjoy the experience. I’ve done a few reading projects in the past, including making my way through Infinite Jest, which took a few months and increased my pretentious level. More recently I completed War and Peace; I think that took about five months to complete but well worth it.

When I finish university for the semester I’m planning another reading project, this time for novel that isn’t as big as Infinite Jest and War and Peace. This time I’m going to tackle Middlemarch by George Eliot beginning in June. Middlemarch is a social critique so I’m going to have to get understand the historical and cultural context. To do this I’m going to try using a reading guide; I’ve never used one before but I think it is time I put them to the test. After asking around, I’ve settled on the reading guide Eliot’s Middlemarch by Josie Billington, which is part of the Continuum Reader’s Guides series.

I’m not sure what to expect but I’m looking forward to reading Middlemarch; I’ve heard some great things about this novel and I’m sure I’ll be a very proud man when I complete it. I am not entirely sure what to expect but I’m excited for the ride. Have people had as much success with reading projects as I have? I think they can be very useful for those big bricks. I like to slowly take my time and spend months chipping away at a novel like this; it allows me time to process in between. Like War and Peace, Middlemarch was originally published as a serial, so I suspect that I’ll get some repeated information, which is useful when reading a novel so slowly. I’m looking forward to this project and I hope the reading guide helps.

So this happened

Posted May 11, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 2 Comments

Do you remember the scene in The Collected Works of A. J. Fikry (known as The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry in the US) by Gabrielle Zevin where A. J. talks to a sales rep about the suspension of disbelief? In this scene they talk about how some novels require a suspension of disbelief. On one end of the scale you have literary fiction were everything is about real life situations, then three quarters of the way down the scale you have The Magicians with its references to magic and Fillory. At the end of the scale there is A. J. and his decision to adopt little Maya.

Do you remember this scene? I spent a sleepless night analysing this scene. Trying to understand the concept of ‘suspension of disbelief’ and what the author wanted to say on this topic. I’ve been enjoying The Collected Works of A. J. Fikry but this one scene really stuck with me. The only problem is, this scene doesn’t exist and I was analysing a scene that played out in my mind instead.

It got me wondering about this weird situation. Why would I be kept up all night wondering about a non-existent scene? That whole experience was odd and I’m not sure what to make of it. Do others have similar stories like this? It’s an entertaining story, worth sharing but I feel little a senile because of it.

My review of The Collected Works of A. J. Fikry will be out this week.

My Bookish Manifesto

Posted May 10, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 20 Comments

I love my blog, I’ve been very proud of it and I can’t think of anything better. I like to spend my time playing with it, slowly improving it and writing posts for it. I don’t make money off my blog but it is a real passion of mine and something I plan to continue for a very long time. Recently I read a fantastic article on advice to young critics, while this is focused on the TV and movie industry I think it is still relevant to what I want to achieve.

Feeling all inspired by this article, I started thinking about what I want to achieve in life. I want to be considered a critic and I would love to get paid to do what I love but if that never happens I will still enjoy doing it. I’m not satisfied to with my current skill level and I want to continuously be improving. I took the advice given in the article on board and decided to adapt it to reflect my intentions. Being as pretentious as I am, I’m calling this my book critic manifesto.

Read a lot of different books – make sure to explore a wide range of genres, going outside more comfort zones and reading from more nationalities, different translations and genres.
Read from the back list – avoid only reading from the novels that have only just come out. Read books from all periods of time. Go back further than the 18^thcentury and try to understand how books from the past have paved a way for the present.
Learn about the book industry – the politics and what goes on behind the scenes, it is important to have a finger on the pulse of the bookish world and understand trends and strategies deployed by the publishers.
Write every day – Commit to writing at least one post a day, it doesn’t matter if they get published or not, develop a habit. Writing takes practice and the more you practise the better you will be come. This is an essential step for self-improvement.
Find time to read every day – I can’t improve as a book critic if I’m not spending time reading, make the time. Listen to audiobooks while working, driving or exercising. Carry a book (or ebook) at all times and use any free time to read a little more.
Write it down – any good ideas or notes I have need to be written down before I forget. I’ve started carrying a notepad with me and finding other methods to jot down notes and thoughts as they come to me.
Rewrite – Edit, edit and edit some more. First drafts are never going to be my best writing but I often don’t like to rewrite. I must disciple myself to put my best work forward and thing will mean rewriting.
Proof read – I’m lucky enough to have a great editor (my wife) who is supportive of my blogging. She generously takes the time to read over every post I write before it hits the blog. I have to train her to be tougher on me and tell me if I need to re-write something but with her help I will improve. However I need to make her life easier not harder, I need to make sure I’m not relying on her and I’m checking my work thoroughly before she sees it.
Read up on history and psychology – It is fascinating to see how helpful knowledge of history and psychology can help with critical thinking. I am to critique books, so I need to understand more about the historical context and the psychology behind it.
Study literary theory – I need to understand literary criticism better; I know I will never understand all the theories but a basic knowledge will be useful. I suspect that my primary focus will be Marxist and Psychoanalytical theory but I would also like to be able to read a book from a Feminist, Post-Colonial, etc. view point as well.
Learn about language – Read more books about language and grammar, they can be fun and I can learn a lot from them.
Interact with the bookish community – it is important to continually seek out people with different viewpoints, I don’t want to become an echo chamber. Interacting with people that read and review books differently to me will help me develop my style and avoid becoming stale. We don’t want to live in a world where everyone says the same thing and if I can spend time reading different opinions I hope to avoid being similar to the crowd.
Learn about creative writing – I sometimes wish I could write a story but I feel I’m better suited as a critic and a reader than an author. I do need to learn the tools of the trade so I can understand why an author does what they do and develop an appreciation for the craft.
Develop my voice – I feel like my style is very conversational and personal; this is how I relate to the novels and this is how I feel. With practice I can perfect my style but I must always remember what I’m trying to achieve and how I want to come across in my writing.
Avoid only writing reviews – I don’t want to fall in the habit of only writing book reviews, if I’m writing every day I’m never going to keep up. I will write non-review posts, about my bookish thoughts or what ever is going on in the bookish world. Memes are great but I don’t want to rely heavily on them.
Meet deadlines – If I’m going to request an ARC then I must make sure that I read and review the book before the deadline or release date. Non-solicited ARCs don’t need to be read before a deadline or at all. I have written a review policy that clearly states that not all ARCs will be read but I need to make sure if I’ve committed to one that I read it.
Don’t be afraid to be different – I’ve found that I often hate books that others may enjoy, I do enjoy writing a negative review and I must remember that there is nothing wrong with that. However I must also remember that the job of an author is hard and I must always use tack and constructive criticism. I can’t be afraid to try something different and have a voice that differs from the rest, stand firm in what I think and be uncompromising in my writing.
Be the best you can be – I need to learn that sometimes a piece of writing isn’t working and I should dump it and start again. I shouldn’t be afraid to start over, I want my editor to be hard on me and I should be hard on myself too. I can learn a lot from others and I must be willing to take criticism. It is a helpful to my growth as a critic and also essential. If I’m not happy with a piece how can I expect others to enjoy it. Try and try again until you get it right.
Just write – I know that there will be times where I will feel like I’m not writing well or am suffering from a writer’s block. I need to remember that I don’t have to publish everything I write to my blog. I can write a bad piece and then dump it and try again, I might get some decent lines out of my bad writing that can help form a better piece.
Have fun – This is a passion not a chore.

This is still a work in progress and I plan to add more to this manifesto when I think of it. I feel like I have a goal in sight and I want to work towards it. This is not about getting a job or anything like that; this is about developing my skills to be the best book blogger/critic I can be. I’m passionate about books and I love talking about them, I will improve and this is how I plan to do just that. If you have any good advice that I can add to this, let me know in the comments below.