Week 5 Assignment: building Base Knowledge II

Assignment 1:

I chose to review, on a regular basis, SF Site and Daily Beast/The Book Beast.

SF Site:
This site is one I would not have ventured to read on my own and this is why I chose it. I have never freely chosen to read fantasy or science fiction unless required to read it. After reviewing some of the book reviews on this site, I have made a small, very small list of titles I would like to read. The ones I have on the list are ones that don't go all out on creating other universes with strange names. This small list may lead me to read more in the genre if I can really find a niche that I enjoy.

SF Site has a Content page that has a lot of author interviews and book reviews. This site also prides itself on the quality and quantity of link sites to related subjects in the fantasy and sf world. Some of the links are to SF conventions, TV shows and movies, etc.

The SF News is great for listing the SF awards, the upcoming dates for award title selections, and, eventually for the actual winners. Some of the awards mentioned are Asimov's & Analog Poll Winners, Aurealis Awards, Nebula awards, etc.

SF Site offers a search engine to search the site by using a local version of Google. It is easy to find what you think you found previously. The site also gives archival information on past entries. I would highly recommend this site to SF savvy readers in case they are unaware of it. I surely was, but I am not a SF reader. Maybe one day I will be!

Daily Beast--The Book Beast:

The Daily Beast is published by the publisher of the formerly paper edition of Newsweek. It is short stories concerning news, entertainment, politics, etc. The part that I am concerned in getting acquainted with is the section on books entitled The Book Beast.I subscribed to receive this through e-mail. It has become an obnoxious presence in my inbox. They send out multiple ones each day. The subscription I receive attaches to the main page of the Daily Beast and I have to then search for the Book Beast. I only wanted to receive information on the book section. It is more annoying on my I-phone.

Despite its annoyances, the Book Beast is an incredible site filled with author interviews and book reviews. Each week they focus on reviewing 5 new fiction and 5 new nonfiction titles. I really enjoy the videos of people reading books. The reader can make or break whether one wants to listen to a book versus reading it visually.

Assignment #2:
I have been very familiar with the New York Times Best Seller List and People magazine for quite a few years as most librarians have. However, the resources available online today make these two sources a place where choice is not abundant. It is not what is popular that I want to read but what fancies me at the moment I want to read. The clear choice for me as to which resource to use for book reviews has been Early Word for the past two years. Not only do they reveiw adult books, but children's books too. The links to other resources is the best there is to offer. I was aware of NPR for the Indie Next Best Seller list, but did not look at this resource as much as I would like to do so in the future.
Early Word runs articles  about any book out there in the marketplace. I just read an article on a new online source for books called Bookish.com. Fancy they did not add it, as of yet, to their links.
I love the children's and teen area of Early Word. It tells you so much of what is here and what will come that one needs to know about.
For me, Early Word is a one stop shopping (hopping) place to be. There is so much to investigate and so much to use on this site. I highly recommend it above all other sites for general book knowledge.

Assignment #3:

I chose to suggest the title: A Constellation of Vital Phenomenon: A Novel by Anthony Marra. It is a historical fiction war story that is character-driven. The story develops heartbreaking relationships during the 2004 Chenya war with Russia. The vivid imagery and lyrical prose will overcome the bleak and violent tone. Readers who enjoyed The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway or The March by E. L. Doctorow will enjoy these war stories and their literary style combined with the character-driven storyline.