Happy Sunday, everyone!

I only have time to post a few things today. And unfortunately, posting will be semi-light this week, because I have to go out of town to a funeral. But here are the reading highlights from my week.

I finished FINNY on Tuesday. My review will appear this Thursday on the TLC blog tour.

I’ll try to get the third installment of Literature 101 on “setting” up on Wednesday, but I can’t guarantee it. If it doesn’t appear this Wednesday, it’ll definitely go up next week.

I’m wrapping up some judging for BBAW this week, too! Can’t wait for the festivities to begin.

Oh, and my wedding anniversary is today, and my darling husband of eight years got me a Kindle! It’s back-ordered at the moment, but I can’t wait to get it! What book should I read on it first?

Hello, everybody. How are things this fine Sunday?

Well, this week was the most successful reading week I’ve had in a while. I finally finished a book! I finished Eat, Pray, Love late last night. I really really really enjoyed it. I’ll post my review this week.

I’m starting, now, to read Finny – a promising debut from Justin Kramon. I’m participating in the TLC blog tour for Finny, and my review will go live on Thursday, August 19th.

After, Finny, I’m thinking I might try the first of The Mortal Instruments series: City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare. My sister-in-law recommended it to me. It’s apparently a six-part series, of which only the first three have been released. Have any of you read it? Would you recommend it to me?

This week I also decided to join a Bleak House readalong hosted by Amanda of The Zen Leaf. I’ve had my copy forever, and I’m really looking forward to reading this one with some blog friends. The readalong starts on August 25, so there’s plenty of time to join in the fun.

Did you see the first Literature 101 post on genre? If not, head on over to check it out. There’s a pretty good discussion going on in the comments, too. Also, this week’s post will be on plot. Make sure to check that out on Wednesday.

Finally, here are a couple of things that caught my attention in the blogosphere this week:

• Reading and Reviewing: The Blog.  I can’t remember where I read about this, but this is the blog of a photographer and reader who posts cool pictures to go along with her book reviews.  You should really check it out.
• Trish’s post on Why I Hate Amazon and Will Never Ever Ever Buy From Them Again.  I may be in the minority here, but I’m an Amazon lover.  I place an order with them, usually for books, at least a couple of times a month.  And I’m asking for a Kindle for my birthday.  I might even get the Amazon credit card.  Amazon is simply convenient, fast, cheap, and easy – especially since I have a little one at home and can’t get out to the bookstore much.   And, I personally think that Amazon can negotiate with the publishers as it pleases – within legal limits of course.  If Macmillan doesn’t want to sell its books at the prices Amazon wants it to, it should move on and sell them somewhere else (as it is doing).  Or, if it wants to sell on Amazon, it should be willing to accept Amazon’s terms.  And, if there is a dispute over pricing, it makes sense that Amazon would stop selling those products.  That’s how it works in every other business.   Anyway, I’ll get down off of my soap box.  And I will point out that I regularly buy books from several different vendors, including local indie shops, Borders, Barnes and Noble, and Powells.com, in addition to Amazon.com.  (I buy A LOT of books.)  Do you shop at Amazon?  What do you think about the Macmillan scandal?

Okay, there’s a lot more, but that’s all I have time for today.  I have to go make a strawberry pie.  Happy Sunday!

Ahh.  Sunday reading thoughts.  I love it.  I haven’t ever participated in The Sunday Salon before, but I have a feeling I’m going to love it.  (I don’t even care that the official website is no longer accepting new members.)

I’ve been in a bit of reading flux lately.  I’ve had a very hard time finishing a book.  I’m currently in the middle of three books: THE PASSAGE; THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN; and EAT, PRAY, LOVE.  Even though I started EAT, PRAY, LOVE last, I’m hoping to finish it today.  I was hesitant to pick it up, because I’ve heard it described as chick lit memoir.  And I don’t really like either chick lit or memoir.  But Gilbert’s writing is very fresh and interesting.  I’ve been captivated.  (And, I admit, I kind of want to see the movie.  I love Julia Roberts.)

Let’s see . . . other bookish things.  Oh, yes.  I’ve been meaning to direct you all to a lovely story I read a while back in the Summer Fiction issue of The New Yorker.  It’s by Jonathan Safran Foer, and it’s called “Here We Aren’t, So Quickly.”  Maybe it spoke to me because I’m a divorce lawyer, but I thought it was the epitome of what a good short story can be.  Unfortunately, you can’t read the full story online without a subscription to The New Yorker.  But if you can get your hands on a copy of the June 14 & 21, 2010 issue, you should.

My little Daphne is almost six months old, and she is finally showing some interest in books.  Of course, she’d really rather eat them than read them, but we’re making progress.  So far, her favorites are Baby Faces and Colors. My favorite is The Pigeon Loves Things That Go.

Finally, a little plug for my upcoming series, Literature 101. The first “lecture” will be on genre and will be posted this Wednesday. If you’d like to know more, I introduce the series on my post, 10 Literary Concepts Every Reader Should Know. I hope you’ll join the class!

Have an excellent Sunday.

One of the things I miss most about college is discussing literature in a very academic and structured way. And, sometimes, when I’m reading on my own, I miss things – symbols or themes or the technique that goes into the writing.  Reviewing these ten literary concepts has helped me give structure to the way I think about the books I’m reading.  I hope they’ll help you too.

1. Genre
A French word meaning kind or type. The major genres in literature are poetry, fiction, drama, and essays. Genre can also refer to more specific types of literature such as comedy, tragedy, epic poetry, or science fiction.

2. Plot
An author’s selection and arrangement of incidents in a story to shape the action and give the story a particular focus. Plots are often divided into three sections. The first part is the rising action, in which complication creates some sort of conflict for the protagonist. The second part is the climax, the moment of greatest emotional tension in a narrative, usually marking a turning point in the plot at which the rising action reverses to become the falling action. The third part, the falling action (or resolution) is characterized by diminishing tensions and the resolution of the plot’s conflicts and complications.

3. Setting
The physical and social context in which the action of a story occurs. The major elements of setting are the time, the place, and the social environment that frames the characters. Setting can be used to evoke a mood or atmosphere that will prepare the reader for what is to come.

4. Point of View
Refers to who tells us a story and how it is told. The various points of view that writers draw upon can be grouped into two broad categories: (1) the third-person narrator uses he, she, or they to tell the story and does not participate in the action; and (2) the first-person narrator uses I and is a major or minor participant in the action. In addition, a second-person narrator, you, is also possible, but is rarely used because of the awkwardness of thrusting the reader into the story.

5. Narrator
The voice of the person telling the story, not to be confused with the author’s voice. With a first-person narrator, the “I” in the story presents the point of view of only one character. The reader is restricted to the perceptions, thoughts, and feelings of that single character. An omniscient narrator is an all-knowing narrator who is not a character in the story and who can move from place to place and pass back and forth through time, slipping into and out of characters as no human being possibly could in real life. Omniscient narrators can report the thoughts and feelings of the characters, as well as their words and actions.

6. Characterization
A character is a person presented in a dramatic or narrative work, and characterization is the process by which a writer makes that character seem real to the reader. A hero or heroine, often called the protagonist, is the central character who engages the reader’s interest and empathy. The antagonist is the character, force, or collection of forces that stands directly opposed to the protagonist and gives rise to the conflict of the story.

7. Tone
The author’s implicit attitude toward the reader or the people, places, and events in a work as revealed by the elements of the author’s style. Tone may be characterized as serious or ironic, sad or happy, private or public, angry or affectionate, bitter or nostalgic, or any other attitudes and feelings that human beings experience.

8. Symbol
A person, object, image, word, or event that evokes a range of additional meaning beyond and usually more abstract than its literal significance. Symbols are educational devices for evoking complex ideas without having to resort to painstaking explanations that would make a story more like an essay than an experience. Conventional symbols have meanings that are widely recognized by a society or culture.

9. Metaphor/Simile
A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things. A simile makes an explicit comparison between two things by using words such as like, as, than, appears, and seems. Metaphors and similes assert the identity of dissimilar things. Metaphors, similes, and other figures of speech can be subtle and powerful and can transform people, places, objects, and ideas into whatever the writer imagines them to be.

10. Theme
The central meaning or dominant idea in a literary work. A theme provides a unifying point around which the plot, characters, setting, point of view, symbols, and other elements of a work are organized. It is important not to mistake the theme for the actual subject of the work; the theme refers to the abstract concept that is made concrete through the images, characterization, and action of the text. In nonfiction, however, the theme generally refers to the main topic of the discourse.

BACK TO SCHOOL: LITERATURE 101

Each of these terms could be the subject of its own post. So, I’m going to do just that, in a series called LITERATURE 101. Every Wednesday for the next ten weeks, I’ll post a “lecture” about one of the above terms. Each lecture will consist of lengthier definitions and discussion of sub-terms, lots of examples, and maybe a little homework. The above list will serve as the syllabus. I hope you’ll join the class.

This idea is kind of evolving as I go along.  What would you like to see in these mini “courses”?

The definitions in this post were taken from Bedford St. Martin’s Glossary of Literary Terms.

Okay, I have a list of favorite blogs that I read religiously. I also have a pretty full Google Reader with many other blogs I check in on on a regular basis. However, I feel like I haven’t discovered any new blogs for a while, so I’m looking to you.

What is your favorite book blog (or two or three)?

What delightful book blog(s) have you discovered recently?