Welcome to Wednesday Wanderings! This weekend is both exciting and conflicting for book lovers with:
- Thrillerfest in NYC, http://www.thrillerwriters.org/thrillerfest/ with SOS supporters Allison Brennan, Anna De Stefano,. Heather Graham, Tess Gerritsen, Rebecca York, to a name a few.
Speaking of Tess Gerittsen, tune into TNT on Monday, July 12, 10 pm EST for the premier of Rizzoli and Isles based on her books. The previews are fabulous and funny with Angie Harmon (Law and Order) and Sasha Alexander (NCIS). For more info, log onto http://www.tnt.tv/series/rizzoliandisles/.
- Turn the Page 15th Anniversary Book signing in Boonsboro, Maryland, http://ttpbooks.com/ with Nora Roberts, Loretta Chase, Jocelynn Drake, Diane Whiteside, Donna Kauffman, Mary Blayney and local authors Katrina Shelley and Austin Gisriel.
- and Borders' RomCon in Denver, http://www.romconinc.com/index.php/convention.
I'll be at RomCon with more SOS supporters, including Jo Beverley, Anna Campbell, Sally MacKenzie, Cathy Maxwell, and Julia Quinn to name a few.
Make sure you stop by Wednesday Wanderings next week for a RomCon Recap and book giveaway.
Today we visit my friend Mary Gramlich, the Reading Reviewer, http://www.marygramlich.com/. We met in line during the book fair at RT/Daytona in 2006. We roomed together at the RT/Houston in 2007 and RWA/DC in 2009. Mary is a reader's best friend - she posts reviews from many genres on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, Books-A-Million, Historical Romance Club, and Mystic Castle.
And she supports SOS America! Each month she donates books from publishers for the SOS book giveaway. So let's meet Mary ...
- What inspired you to become an avid reader? What a great question! About 10 years ago I started to realize that my sons were growing older and I had some freedom to do what I wanted to do - read. I had read as a child but the books then never grabbed me like they did in my mid-40’s especially after I discovered romance. I started with a recommendation here or there from co-workers or friends. I love the historical romance for its pomp and glory, the contemporary romance for its real life drama and just about everything and have quite the collection of books that I will never part with and tend to read and read again. Books take me to a place of quiet after a tough day and have brought me amazing peace when things in my life are out of whack. Like every reader I have stories about this book or that book which helped me just get through the day.
- What inspired you to post reviews about books? I first started posting my reviews to help the authors sell the book as my mind was stuck on the idea if someone saw my review, liked it, and bought the book based on my review, how awesome would that be! However I was not pushing myself until my friend said “either do something with this or stop reviewing”. She helped me see what the next level could be and my reviewing career has exploded!
- What is the toughest challenge of writing reviews? Making sure I put into my words what the book was about in a coherent manner. I want to be a reviewer who is trying to make sure everyone sees how great the book truly is. By reviewing I am able to take it to the next step and help my authors be a success which keeps them publishing which is a great thing for all readers.
- What was your favorite "fan moment" when meeting an author? I love the conferences - the whole experience is just so magical and authors are downright the nicest people in the world. My favorite and most tongue tied moment came when I was right in front of Julia Quinn at the RWA convention in 2009. She was so warm and friendly and exactly as I hoped she would be. After I walked away, I started crying it was that lovely to meet her.
And Mary has a treat for SOS readers - she donated books that she recently reviewed. If you would like to request any of the books list below from Mary,
(1) Leave a comment if you read reviews or not;
(2) Check out Mary's website, http://www.marygramlich.com/
(3) Send your mailing address and your top three requests to sos.america@yahoo.com.
I will giveaway the books on a first come, first serve basis. Due to mailing costs, the giveaway is only open to US residents. But if you live outside the US, send me your mailing address and I will send you a special promo from RomCon!
Mahalo, Mary, for visiting Wednesday Wanderings and supporting SOS America!
Sherrill Bodine, Talk of the Town
Lyn Cote, Her Abundant Joy
Dee Davis, Dangerous Desires (ARC), Dark Deceptions
Cara Elliott, To Surrender to a Rogue
Michael Koryta, So Cold the River (tradesize ARC)
Margaret Mallory, Knight of Passion (ARC)
Leila Meacham, Roses (hardback)
Carla Neggers, The Angel
James Patterson, Worst Case (hardback)
JD Robb, Big Jack
Nora Roberts, Vision in White
R.C. Ryan, Montana Destiny
Vanitha Sankaran, Watermark
Sheryl Woods, Along Came Trouble
How hard is it to write a fair review if you did not care for the book?
ReplyDeleteDanielle
I do read reviews, although I will still read a book by my favorite author even if the review gives it an average rating.
ReplyDeleteI am wondering how fast a reader you have to be or if you have to take notes as you go along when you review. It definitely isn't as easy as it looks!
ReplyDeletePeace, Julie
As the recipient of one of Mary's reviews, I must stand up and say her reviews are very well thought out and, and even if she doesn't like something in a story, she doesn't bash the story or the author about it. She just states what didn't work for her. I've always enjoyed reading Mary's reviews and was flattered to have received one myself. Keep up the good work, Mary!
ReplyDeleteI have found it impossible to post a bad review and will not do so because I think my purpose is to talk about the positive in the book not the negative. I take some heat for this but to be honest I truly respect that just because I do not like this particular book does not mean you won't love it. My opinion does matter but the author puts so much effort into their book that I can't say what they have written is not a masterpiece just because it did not please me. The place where I am very lucky is that I have read so few books I have not loved it is easy for me to write positive reviews. If the book does not grab me I give it to a friend or co-worker who will tell me it was amazing.
ReplyDeleteI am a very fast reader but I underline the words, sentence or just a statement that grabs me and stands out or I would never remember what I wanted to say. There is a notebook sitting at my side with a pen at the ready but if you ever receive a book I have donated it has lines everywhere - sorry about that but my thoughts sometimes come really fast.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for giving me the attention here Kim it is greatly appreciated. I am going to let you keep all those bookmarks you stole from me last year at RWA.
ReplyDeleteHi Mary - Just wanted to stop by and wave. Keep up the excellent work!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, as usual! I like readings reviews if it's an author I'm not that familiar with. If it's one of my "must buy" authors, I don't bother. :D
ReplyDeleteHi, Mary - Thanks for all the great reviews! And I admire your attitude toward posting only positive reviews about a book. As you said, a good review may motivate other folks to buy it. What better way to share our love of a great story!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment Merline. Last night I had a very nasty person say I was untruthful with my reviews since I always gave them high marks. Well no I am not I just don't trash talk a book that doesn't do it for me because writing is hard and I want to respect the fact that what I like you may not. I love to read romance and sometimes after seeing other remarks I think people are reading the wrong genre.
ReplyDeleteIf you have any interest could you friend me on Facebook and join my blog as a follower marygramlich.blogspot.com
I just want to applaud Mary for not compromising being a good person. I was taught that if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Speaking as a reader, I have on occasion read a book I didn't like, but I won't trash-talk its author. It takes a lot of work to write a book. As Mary says, just because it didn't please me doesn't mean it wasn't a great book. I've even disliked one or two books that made it to the NYT bestseller lists, so clearly my tastes aren't the same as other people's. And speaking as an author, it really hurts when someone says something unkind about your book, especially since we usually don't defend ourselves or our work. It's so easy to type a few semi-anonymous words on a website, but we should all remember that we could be hurting some nice person very deeply.
ReplyDeleteHI Kim and Mary!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I enjoyed getting know Mary and kudos to her for all her hard work. :)
Hope you're having a blast, Kim!