What influences me most? Either an author whose work I know and like, or the recommendation of a friend with similar reading taste. If I’m browsing online, I’ll take a look at the book description and read random reviews. If I’m in a brick-and-mortar bookstore, I’ll read the cover blurb, flip through the book and read a sample paragraph or two, and then finally look at the cover art.

Good cover art can make me pick up a book, and bad cover art can cause me to leave it on the shelf, visit after visit. I realize good and bad are subjective, but I tend to avoid overly cliched or prurient cover art, excessively romantic art, and am annoyed by covers where the author’s name is bigger than the book title. I also pretty much avoid books where the publisher thinks the author is too special to print a blurb on the back anymore.

Here are some random examples of books I have picked up because the art was excellent – and books I have not picked up because the art is so unappealing or downright annoying.

Books I’d Buy	Books I Wouldn’t
Wicked by Gregory Maguire Cutout-style graphics are striking, colorful, bold and related to the story – subtitle use is excellent.	White as Snow by Tanith Lee She’s a good author who I haven’t read in quite some time, but this cover seems insipid, pale & florid.
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson The Mars series has one of the best hard SF cover designs I’ve seen. I admit; bought the books because of it. Nice use of black and color, great font choices & sizes.	Winds of Fate by Mercedes Lackey This cover tells me it’s a hyper-cliched sword and sorcery romantic fantasy, with bonus pretty ponies! Plus the swirly purple background is annoying.
Green by Jay Lake Great thematic cover art, the unconventional upside down warrior woman is compelling, and the cover shouts “adventure” at the reader.	Shadowlight by Lynn Viehl Neither toned pecs & abs, Fabio hair, nor mesmerizing eye closeups do much to sell a novel to me. (Although Ms. Viehl writes a heckuva blog: Paperback Writer.)
A Fistful of Sky by Nina Kiriki Hoffman Utterly lovely color art that’s relevant to the story, great font choices, very compelling title – very innovative contemporary fantasy cover.	Midnight’s Daughter by Karen Chance Enough with the butt shots of paranormal fantasy heroines – this is only one of many such. Plus, the author’s name overshadows title.
Sunrise Lands by SM Stirling I’m a total sucker for the iconic hero or heroine riding off into the sunset. This cover executes it well. Yes, the author’s name is too large.	Game of Thrones by George RR Martin This cover is plain to the point of being blah. I will admit: I own and enjoyed this book, it’s Martin!

Click over to Cracked.com for a really hilarious read on bad fantasy and science fiction book covers; most of the art is badly dated but the commentary is priceless.

WHEREAS, privacy is essential to the exercise of that freedom, and the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one’s interest examined or scrutinized by others; and

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is protected by our Constitution; and

WHEREAS some individuals, groups, and public authorities work to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label “controversial” views, to distribute lists of “objectionable” books or authors, and to purge libraries of materials reflecting the diversity of society; and

WHEREAS, both governmental intimidation and the fear of censorship cause authors who seek to avoid controversy to practice self-censorship, thus limiting our access to new ideas; and

WHEREAS, every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of American society and leaves it less able to deal with controversy and difference; and

WHEREAS, Americans still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression, and can be trusted to exercise critical judgment, to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe, and to exercise the responsibilities that accompany this freedom; and

WHEREAS, intellectual freedom is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture; and

WHEREAS, conformity limits the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend; and

WHEREAS, the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year as a reminder to Americans not to take their precious freedom for granted; and

WHEREAS, Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the Smug Puppies blog celebrates the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week, September 26-October 3, 2009, and be it further

RESOLVED, that Smug Puppies encourages all libraries and bookstores to acquire and make available materials representative of all the people in our society; and be it further

RESOLVED, that Smug Puppies and its author, Jeri Sisco, encourage free people to read freely, now and forever.

September 28, 2009
Poulsbo, WA

Note: this is copied and adapted, with permission, from the ALA’s Banned Books Week proclamation.

I prefer SF/F, but came away with nothing new. Why?

• 75% of what was on the shelves was series fiction – and most of the books were book 2, 3 or 4 in that series.
   

• 25% of the books (also mostly series) appeared to be paranormal fiction, many featuring the backside of some butt-kicking heroine who would be fighting vampires, demons, shapeshifters, etc.
   

• 10% of shelf space was media tie-in books – Star Trek, Star Wars, Forgotten Realms, etc.
   

• 3 or 4 books were vintage SF – a Charles Gibson, Timothy Zahn, Gregory Benford. Excellent books, but I’ve read them.
   

• Of the several books remaining, most were by known authors I dislike (William Dietz, David Weber)

I can understand why publishers might want to publish series – they get stickiness, a set of readers that stay with the author through the series of books. I’d suggest, though, that serial works see a diminishing level of return, depending on book quality, publishing frequency and author prominence.

On the flip side, you get readers like me, who would love to browse a bookshelf and pick up a standalone book, but who are not interested in a middle book in a series (which is often all that’s available) nor a long term commitment to a given author.

I’d suggest that the sales lost in the latter case exceed the potential market retained through the life of most series, with rare exceptions.

Come on, booksellers, publishers – how about more standalone books? I can’t remember the last time I saw a one-off fantasy book. And while we’re at it, could we try to put out a little more space opera/hard SF and a little less vampire romance?

The Endless Series
I like stories that wrap themselves up in a single book. I enjoy multiple novels set in the same universe, chronologically (see: Vorkosigan, Miles) but I’m not crazy about never-ending story arcs. In some cases I can tolerate trilogies if there is some story resolution within the larger arc, giving definition to the individual novels, but I can’t think of a longer series I’ve enjoyed. In a sprawling series, I dislike the proliferation of characters at the expense of character development, the lack of forward momentum on the plotline giving a “perils of Pauline” feel to the story, and the introduction of more questions than answers into a story (see: Wheel of Time series). I especially detest the cliffhanger ending; the lack of resolution actually has the opposite effect on me, I’m much less likely to buy the follow-up novel because it makes me highly annoyed with the story and the author.

Diverging Points of View
When writing a sprawling series, it’s very difficult to tell a story of broad scope and scale through a single hero’s point of view. As the story grows more complex, and groups of characters split, divide, and go their own way, the point of view splits, divides, and follows different groups of characters, interwoven throughout the book. (see: Clancy, Tom) This creates multiple interlocking story lines that are interdependent upon each other, that converge and impact each other, and that affect each others’ pacing. When used sparingly it can be effective; when overused it can kill a story. All too often, if there are too many groups of characters that the reader is not sympathetic to, or story lines that are faltering, it drags the whole story down with it – plus, the author can create a sense of chaos by trying to follow too many different points of view simultaneously.

The Mary-Sue Heroine
The Mary Sue is a term originally coined in fan fiction but extended to regular fiction to describe the hero or heroine who is too perfect to be possible in the universe at hand. It’s used to describe an over-the-top and clichéd character whose features, such as exotic hair and eye colors, mystical or superhuman powers are greater than those of the other characters. This character often has exotic pets, possessions or origins, or an unusually tragic past, often glaringly out of keeping with the inner consistency of the universe. The character is often improbably lucky in romance, adventure, battle or popularity, and the rules and customs of the universe bend for him or her. (see: Wright, Jim) In this particular series, the main character is believable, but a couple of the supporting heroines keep developing Mary Sue type qualities in deus ex machina ways. “Oh, we need X talent? Oh, in spite of what it seemed like, she has the talent, she’s had it all along, she’s just been a covert operative hiding that capability.”

What are your reading pet peeves – what makes you so annoyed that you are not likely to finish a book, continue a series or continue buying from an author?

Name a book you have read MORE than once
I re-read many, many books, given my voracious reading speed! Here are some of the more frequently re-read: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Dune, The Clowns of God, Ender’s Game, Lucifer’s Hammer, anything by Lois McMaster Bujold, CJ Cherryh, Neil Gaiman, Robin McKinley, Robert Heinlein, Greg Bear, Connie Willis, Elizabeth Moon or Dick Francis.

Has a book ever fundamentally changed the way you see life? If yes, what was it?
There are a few. The Clowns of God and Anne Lamott’s books have given me a fresh perspective on faith, Memory is an incredible tale of resilience and Heinlein’s books have influenced my political beliefs.

How do you choose a book? (E.g. by cover design and summary, recommendations or reviews?)
Primarily, I choose books by authors I enjoy or recommendation, secondarily by the jacket summary, and finally by cover design and reading random pages. Good cover art won’t sell a book to me, because I realize how little it sometimes has to do with content, but bad cover art will veto a choice for me because I’d be embarrassed to read it in public.

Do you prefer Fiction or Non-Fiction?
Fiction – reading is my mental vacation. When I read non-fiction it’s very focused, either based upon a recommendation or a specific professional or personal line of research.

What’s more important in a novel, beautiful writing or a gripping plot?
Both – if either is lacking, the book falls flat. I’m having a tough time finishing Perdido Street Station because the writing is amazing but the plot and pacing take a backseat to style.

Most loved/memorable character (character/book)
Cordelia Vorkosigan. Jani Kilian. Heris Serrano. Aragorn. Eowyn. Paul Dekker. Nicholas Seafort.

Which book or books can be found on your nightstand at the moment?
Ghosts of Vesuvius. Expanded Universe. Perdido Street Station.

What was the last book you’ve read, and when was it?
The last book I finished, before NaNoWriMo started, was Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys.

Have you ever given up on a book half way in?
Occasionally. But I’m more likely to keep reading, hoping it will improve at some point throughout the book – and then, at the end, flip it into the “trade” stack in disgust.

Thanks to Ilya for the meme!

That perspective is important to remember this week, Banned Books Week. I fully support this event, and I read banned books!

Rather than stumble through my thoughts on free access to books and other materials, let me point you to a thoughtful letter from a librarian, via Janiece, who explains it more eloquently than I ever could.

Of the top 100 books on the list of most frequently challenged books, below, I’ve read only 27, noted in bold – not a particularly noteworthy percentage.

1 Harry Potter J.K. Rowling
2 Alice series Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3 The Chocolate War Robert Cormier
4 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
5 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou
6 Scary Stories Alvin Schwartz
7 Fallen Angels Walter Dean Myers
8 It’s Perfectly Normal Robie Harris
9 And Tango Makes Three Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
10 Captain Underpants Dav Pilkey
11 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain
12 The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison
13 Forever Judy Blume
14 The Color Purple Alice Walker
15 The Perks of Being A Wallflower Stephen Chbosky
16 Killing Mr. Griffin Lois Duncan
17 Go Ask Alice Anonymous
18 King and King Linda de Haan
19 Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger
20 Bridge to Terabithia Katherine Paterson
21 The Giver Lois Lowry
22 We All Fall Down Robert Cormier
23 To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee
24 Beloved Toni Morrison
25 The Face on the Milk Carton Caroline Cooney
26 Snow Falling on Cedars David Guterson
27 My Brother Sam Is Dead James Lincoln Collier
28 In the Night Kitchen Maurice Sendak
29 His Dark Materials series Philip Pullman
30 Gossip Girl series Cecily von Ziegesar
31 What My Mother Doesn’t Know Sonya Sones
32 Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging Louise Rennison
33 It’s So Amazing Robie Harris
34 Arming America Michael Bellasiles
35 Kaffir Boy Mark Mathabane
36 Blubber Judy Blume
37 Brave New World Aldous Huxley
38 Athletic Shorts Chris Crutcher
39 Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo Anaya
40 Life is Funny E.R. Frank
41 Daughters of Eve Lois Duncan
42 Crazy Lady Jane Leslie Conly
43 The Great Gilly Hopkins Katherine Paterson
44 You Hear Me Betsy Franco
45 Slaughterhouse Five Kurt Vonnegut
46 Whale Talk Chris Crutcher
47 The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby Dav Pilkey
48 The Facts Speak for Themselves Brock Cole
49 The Terrorist Caroline Cooney
50 Mick Harte Was Here Barbara Park
51 Summer of My German Soldier Bette Green
52 The Upstairs Room Johanna Reiss
53 When Dad Killed Mom Julius Lester
54 Blood and Chocolate Annette Curtis Klause
55 The Fighting Ground Avi
56 The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien
57 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Mildred Taylor
58 Fat Kid Rules the World K.L. Going
59 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things Carolyn Mackler
60 A Time To Kill John Grisham
61 Rainbow Boys Alex Sanchez
62 Olive’s Ocean Kevin Henkes
63 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Ken Kesey
64 A Day No Pigs Would Die Robert Newton Peck
65 Speak Laurie Halse Anderson
66 Always Running Luis Rodriguez
67 Black Boy Richard Wright
68 Julie of the Wolves Jean Craighead George
69 Deal With It! Esther Drill
70 Detour for Emmy Marilyn Reynolds
71 Draw Me A Star Eric Carle
72 Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury
73 Harris and Me Gary Paulsen
74 Junie B. Jones series Barbara Park
75 So Far From the Bamboo Grove Yoko Watkins
76 Song of Solomon Toni Morrison
77 Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes Chris Crutcher
78 What’s Happening to My Body Book Lynda Madaras
79 The Boy Who Lost His Face Louis Sachar
80 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
81 Anastasia Again! Lois Lowry
82 Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret Judy Blume
83 Bumps In the Night Harry Allard
84 Goosebumps series R.L. Stine
85 Shade’s Children Garth Nix
86 Cut Patricia McCormick
87 Grendel John Gardner
88 The House of Spirits Isabel Allende
89 I Saw Esau Iona Opte
90 Ironman Chris Crutcher
91 The Stupids series Harry Allard
92 Taming the Star Runner S.E. Hinton
93 Then Again, Maybe I Won’t Judy Blume
94 Tiger Eyes Judy Blume
95 Like Water for Chocolate Laura Esquivel
96 Nathan’s Run John Gilstrap
97 Pinkerton, Behave! Steven Kellog
98 Freaky Friday Mary Rodgers
99 Halloween ABC Eve Merriam
100 Heather Has Two Mommies Leslea Newman

Those of you who support ALA’s Banned Books Week — please join me in finding a few new books on this list that interest you, check them out from your public library, read them and talk about the ideas contained within.

Celebrate your freedom to read!

It’s been many years since I read 1984 – and I read it at the same time as Animal Farm, which obviously differs as it’s about the animals. Duh! Still, the themes blur a bit.

I’m not nearly so well behaved as the teacher.

The core concept of 1984 is “doublethink”. Per Wikipedia, it’s “a form of trained, willful intellectual blindness to contradictions in a belief system.” Patriot Act anyone? Waterboarding is not torture? And Guantanamo Bay detainees are not subject to the constraints of the Geneva conventions?

The protagonist of the story, Winston Smith, works for the “Ministry of Truth”, which rewrites history to serve the contemporaneous party line. Oops, there were no weapons of mass destruction. And disbarred ex-president Clinton was the most wonderful leader since JFK.

The novel unwinds against a backdrop of a perpetual war – perhaps generated by the ruling party itself. Enough said.

I think I’ll re-read the book – it might provide more insight than newspaper reports of current events.

What is the most striking book you’ve read in the last year or so, and why? And for extra bonus points, if you’re a writer wannabe like me, which writer’s style do you most admire?

I read so fast and so voraciously, it’s hard to remember very far back — but I think the most striking recent book I’ve read was Dust, by Elizabeth Bear. While I’d love to be able to write like Connie Willis, my style doesn’t really go that direction; I’d say that a better target for me is Kristine Smith.

The Naked Sun, by Isaac Asimov, postulates a world, Solaria, where face-to-face human contact has become a thing of the past. Residents live singly on huge estates, surrounded by technology and thousands of robots, and interact with their fellow humans only via telepresence.

The story is a murder mystery, solved by a human detective partnered with a humanoid robot. The taboo against face-to-face contact is so strong that one of the characters commits suicide rather than have a forced physical encounter with another human (who, ironically, is the humanoid robot).

It made me think – there are some science fiction visions of the future that are within the realm of possibility, given our environment today. (Isn’t that the nature of SF – creating plausible futures?) But some seem more probable, even start to seem eerily similar, as our culture changes and grows.

Gregariousness and technology adoption are both broad spectrums. Some folks spend all their time at busy brick-and-mortar workplaces, out and about with friends and family, involved in athletics, living in the real world. Others work at home in virtual offices, order their food & clothing online and have it delivered, work out at home, and for them, getting out is a rare occasion. It’s a generalization, but the folks at the out-and-about end of the spectrum tend to not spend a lot of time online; the folks at the other end spend a great deal of time online, and their computer screen becomes a window to their work, their daily practical logistics and their social life.

As a virtual office worker, I’ve become more reclusive, tending toward that latter end of the spectrum. I can see how it would be easy for a technologically oriented society to continue the trend toward isolation with a virtual interface to the world.

While I believe that online activities and friendships are valuable and rewarding, I really don’t want to become a geek-hermit. I need to get out of the house, do hands-on activities, and spend time with real-life friends and family more often.

I don’t think I want to visit Solaria, even as a tourist.

The Road is about a father and a son wandering through the bleak landscape of post-apocalyptic, nuclear winter America. They are headed for the coast, seeking warmer weather. The world is destroyed, the sun is gone, the few humans left are savage and desperate.

I have been interested in reading it since it came out, but have never picked it up because of its grim and gloomy subject matter. I also read one of his previous novels, All the Pretty Horses, and found it to be a pretty depressing book.

I was absolutely blown away by Cormac McCarthy’s writing. The writing is like a book length prose poem, beautiful, haunting and exquisitely sad. The man is a master of the English language, using the rhythm of unconventional grammar and beautiful words like an artist.

It’s not an action novel, nor even really a SF work. While there are fearful moments, and glimpses of absolutely horrific images, it’s not action-oriented nor suspenseful. It’s literature, an examination of abiding love in the face of unimaginable despair.

After I finished it, I felt a deep quiet, a need for time to reflect. McCarthy’s words will stay with me for a very long time.