Dabbling in Diverse Formats: How I Use Ebooks and Audiobooks

I typically prefer to read books in their traditional print format, but over the past few years I have become more willing to explore other formats on occasion. Today, as Armchair Book Expo delves into diversity, I want to share how I use ebooks and audiobooks.

Ebooks

• Reading digital ARCs. I first started reading ebooks regularly when I started blogging in 2011 and joined NetGalley. Back then, I read on a Nook. Now that my Nook is long-dead, I either use the Kindle app on my Android phone, or I read in Adobe Digital Editions on my laptop. I have come to prefer Edelweiss over NetGalley, and I read far fewer ARCs now than I have in the past, but it's still nice to be able to carry an entire library with me without weighing down my purse.
• Downloading hard-to-find library books. If a book is unavailable in print from my local libraries, or there are many holds on the print edition, sometimes I will download the book through Overdrive or one of the library's other ebook portals just in the interest of gaining access to it quickly. 
• Discovering new and old favorites on OpenLibrary. Internet Archive maintains an amazing database of scanned books, including many vintage kids' books, at OpenLibrary.org. These can be downloaded in .pdf or .epub format, or read directly from the website. This has been a great source of lesser-known titles by favorite picture book authors and illustrators, and OpenLibrary's titles are the only ebooks I will read to my kids, because they have the look of the real book, including marginalia and library markings. 
• Previewing picture books. The last way that I use ebooks is to preview certain picture books. I tend to be skeptical of popular picture books, so before I go to the trouble of tracking down a print copy, I will check to see if I can download a digital copy and get a taste for the story. If I don't like it, I don't bother putting the physical copy on hold. If I think it has promise, I'll track down a print copy to read all the way through and share with my kids.

Audiobooks

• Traveling. If I have to sit on a bus or a train, I will download a bunch of audiobooks. I don't always concentrate that well, so I try to make them books I've read before so I can drift in and out. When my kids were a little bit younger and would nap consistently in the stroller, I also used to listen to audiobooks while walking with the stroller. I got a lot of extra reading done that way last summer! As a family we also listen to audiobooks on car trips. My husband usually chooses, and I have found quite a few new favorites this way. 
• Reading nonfiction. I am not very good at reading nonfiction on the page, so if there is a factual book I want to read, I'll try to get the audiobook edition. Audiobooks always slow me down, which is frustrating with fiction, but really necessary for me to do if I am going to comprehend nonfiction. I figured out that this would work for me by listening to podcasts. I realized I enjoyed the content when someone read it to me, but not as much when I had to work through it myself. 
• Getting into books more easily. If I'm having trouble getting started with a book, sometimes it helps to listen to the first chapter or so instead of reading it myself. This helps immerse me in the world of the story and in the author's writing style, and it sometimes makes it easier for me to pick up the print copy afterwards. I will also sometimes listen to an audiobook if I need to finish a book (for a challenge or a discussion or something) but am struggling to enjoy it. 
• Enjoying a particular narrator. I am particular about who narrates an audiobook, but when I find someone whose voice I like, I will be more likely to listen to the audiobook all the way through and even to look for other books read by the same person. Some of my favorite readers have been Elizabeth Sastre (Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild) Judy Kaye (Sue Grafton's books), Robert Sean Leonard (the books he narrates are not always that interesting to me, but he was m favorite on House MD), and Joel Johnstone (The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt.)

Are you an ebook or audiobook reader? What do you like (or dislike) about these formats?

  

3 Fun Ways to Connect with the Online Book Community

Armchair Book Expo's second topic for today is about collaborating and connecting with the online book community. As I have drifted away from the library world, I have really enjoyed finding new and different ways to connect with like-minded book lovers. Here are three of the fun ways I have discovered new connections.

First Line Monday

Every Monday, the members of this Facebook group post the first line of whatever they are currently reading. Many different genres and types of books are represented, and it's a great way to learn about new titles that would otherwise not be on my radar. Because it has such a specific focus, and we only post once a week, the group is very relaxed and friendly, and completely free of spam and unpleasant arguments. Even if I don't have a line to share, I always pop in to see what everyone else is reading.

Tuesday Night Book Loving Mamas Chat 

Every Tuesday night on Instagram, a group of book loving moms, led by @buildingliteracywithbooks, post a series of questions related to reading. Participants hop from one account to the next answering questions until they complete the loop. I've only answered the questions twice now, but everyone has been so welcoming, and it's been a fun way to see how other moms use books with their kids.

Bout of Books

This is a read-a-thon that happens three times a year. I've participated 5 times, and even though I'm often one of the only children's book bloggers, it's a great motivator for getting reading done. There are usually two chats during the week, which is a great way to meet people, and the atmosphere of the read-a-thon is very relaxed and fun. Sometimes I read a lot, and sometimes only a little, but I always enjoy it.

What Do I Want From a Book?

Today, Armchair Book Expo is asking "What Do Readers Want?" After giving it some thought, I've made a list of the ten things that the books I enjoy all tend to have in common.

Believable and sympathetic characters.

For me to connect with a character, she needs to be someone I can root for. I don't necessarily need to have anything in common with the character in order to feel a connection with her, but there has to be something relatable or fascinating about her to keep me interested for the length of an entire book. I don't think the character even necessarily needs to be likable, as long as there is something about her personality, history, or transformation throughout the story that intrigues me. I also like characters who feel real, and who have a few flaws and foibles that make them feel human.  In the case of child characters, they also need to act like kids rather than mini-adults,

Realistic dialogue.

Dialogue is a big part of character development. Awkward or false-sounding dialogue really grates on my nerves and brings me right out of the story, so it's important for characters to sound real and for their dialogue to flow smoothly. I don't mind an author using local color to help a character come across more realistically, but I prefer that thick accents and regional slang don't become so overpowering as to obscure what the characters are saying. Characters' speech should also align with who they are as people. Well-written dialogue makes it clear who is speaking, not just through dialogue tags, but through the style of each character's speech.

Memorable descriptions.

Samuel Johnson identified an engaging author as one in whose work "New things are made familiar, and familiar things are made new." When I think about the kinds of descriptions I most enjoy in books, this is what I mean. I love it when an author shows me something I have seen many times from a new angle, and I like it just as well when an author can introduce a new concept to me in a way that makes me quickly understand it. There is such a thing as too much description (don't get me started on The Yearling), but authors who describe things well, especially using metaphors that arise from the world of the story itself, tend to become my favorites.

Interesting use of language.

Directly connected to a talent for description is an overall fresh approach to using language. I like it when an author uses certain turns of phrase that represent his or her overall writing style, and which can be easily identified specifically with that author. I also appreciate it when authors avoid cliches, especially the really common ones, such as the dreaded "She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding." 

Attention to detail.

I'm the kind of reader who gets really hung up on little details, sometimes to the point that I can't keep reading if something seems out of place, until I've figured out the problem. I am especially bothered by anachronisms in historical books, and complete misrepresentations of religious and cultural customs which can easily be researched with minimal effort. When an author appears not to have done his or her research, it feels like they don't care about the book, or its readers, and that makes me less inclined to care about the book, too. 

Appealing and convincing setting.

Setting is not always important to me. I can sometimes happily read a book with a very generic setting if it has little bearing on the plot. But if a specific setting is named, I need it to be described well enough that I can picture it. For me to really want to spend time in a setting (especially over the course of a series), it needs to come across as a place I would want to visit. I also find that settings meant to sustain entire series become more engaging if there are hidden depths for readers to discover as the books wear on. 

Strong plot structure.

Obviously certain genres (mystery, romance, etc.) have their own specific plot structures, and I do appreciate it when books adhere to those requirements. When it comes to novels outside of those genres, however, I prefer to read books that are at least a little unpredictable.  I don't like to be confused by the events of a book, so it's good for the story to be well-organized, but I also don't want to be able to see where it's going before I even hit the halfway point. I also like it when seemingly irrelevant details mentioned early in the story end up being important to the outcome.

Attractive and meaningful illustrations.

If a book has illustrations, they should be appealing to look at, but not merely decorative. Illustrations - even just line drawings - should add something to the book. This might be context for the events of the story, additional information to support the text, diagrams to help decode difficult concepts, or beautiful illuminations of key scenes. Illustrations shouldn't just be a substitute for lazy writing, or filler, but as much an integral part of the book as the text.

Subtle messages.

All books have messages of some kind, but I like it best when these are not overt and are left open to interpretation. I don't want a book to manipulate me into having the "right" attitude about a social or political issue. I'd rather the book tell its story well and leave it up to the plot and characters to steer me toward careful thought about the issues at hand.

Respect for the reader.

Finally, I like it when an author clearly trusts the reader and believes that the reader is smart enough to understand the story being told without lots of hand-holding, over-explanation, or commentary about the story. In general, if a book feels condescending, or tries to tell me how I should interpret it, I give up after just a couple of chapters.

Cruel to be Critical? Best Practices for Writing Critical Book Reviews

About a year ago, I received a very lengthy comment to my blog's Facebook page, calling me out for writing "harsh and critical" reviews. (The specific review that prompted the comment has since been moved to Goodreads.) After I responded, the commenter deleted the entire thread (including her last reply, which I never got to read!) Though the comment has disappeared into the ether, it has stuck with me because of the way it assumed all critical reviews are harsh.

A critical review, according to the definition I have always used, is an objective assessment of the merits of a particular book. It is neither unduly complimentary nor gratuitously mean. It simply takes stock of the text (and illustrations, if applicable) and honestly describes for its audience what works and what doesn't. This does not mean the review consists only of criticisms of problems; rather, the review provides sufficient information about the book's strengths and weaknesses to help the reader decide whether it suits his needs. This is the type of review I strive to write. Today, as Armchair Book Expo focuses on best practices in the online book community, I want to share my best practices for writing critical reviews, which I hope will explain how I see my role as a book reviewer and dispel the myth that to be critical is to be cruel.

My first piece of advice for writing an effective critical review is to critique the writing, not the writer. Though sometimes books make us feel connected to their creators, the fact is that authors are completely separate from their books. Your comments about the quality of a particular book should be confined to discussion of the book's merits and should not delve into an author's personal life. There is no need to speculate about an author's life experience, to insult his intelligence, or to wish that serious harm would befall him. Instead, consider the elements that make up a good story - characterization, plot, and setting - and the author's use of literary devices in developing these elements. By focusing solely on the text of the work in question, you eliminate any chance of the author taking your review personally, and you present yourself as a thoughtful critic of literature and not as a careless reader with a chip on her shoulder.

On a related note, in critical reviews, you should write about the book, not about yourself. The commenter I mentioned in the introduction to this post spent a lot of words telling me that all she really wanted to know was how a book made me feel. Then she waxed poetic about how I needed to "read like a child....voraciously" and to focus more on the pleasure of reading than "the fact that there was a typo on page 12." The problem with writing reviews that focus on your own feelings, however, is that they tell the reader more about you as a person than the book itself. Of course, books (both good and bad) elicit strong responses from reviewers. What is valuable in a book review, though, is the qualities of the text that bring out these strong emotions, not a lengthy description of the emotions themselves. In the same way, it is important not to allow personal biases to influence your book review. Writing something like, "I teach fourth grade, and this book is not for fourth graders, and therefore I can't recommend it" only tells the reader of your review why the book does not suit your unique purposes; it tells him nothing about how it might suit his own needs.

Another way to ensure that you are writing a respectful, critical review rather than a harsh one, is to use the text to support your criticisms of the book.  Whatever the problems in a book - historical anachronisms, flat characters, awkward sentence structures, poor use of rhyme, etc. - the critical book reviewer should be able to explain them by pointing to the paragraphs where the problems occur. Instead of making sweeping generalizations about a book based on your overall impressions, look through the text to find examples of the things you find troubling. Sometimes, seeking out these citations makes you realize that the problem you thought you had encountered was not as prevalent as you imagined; in other situations, looking through the book for evidence of a problem you noted helps you uncover a larger pattern that warrants coverage in your review. But just as you could not condemn a criminal defendant without sufficient evidence, neither does the critical book review simply slam a book for its failings without backing the comments up with textual support.

Finally, it is important that that you use a professional tone when you write a critical review. The most insightful comments about a book can easily be overlooked when a book review is fraught with foul language and sexual innuendo. While it can be disappointing to spend time reading a book you didn't enjoy, a critical review is about calmly, fairly, and objectively figuring out why a book does or does not work well, and not about venting your frustrations and anger about having spent time on a book that wasn't worthy. It's perfectly acceptable to dislike a book, but if you want to write a review warning others away from it, it's best to make clear arguments to that effect and to avoid appearing as though you are ranting or throwing a tantrum.

Armchair Book Expo 2017: Introducing... Me!

Armchair Book Expo begins today! To kick off my participation, here are my answers to 3 of the 10 introduction questions. (I will be writing on today's other topic in a separate post.)

I AM:

• a trained children's librarian. 
• a published author. 
• an occasional story time performer.
• a reviewer of children's books. 
• mom to two little girls. 
• expecting baby #3 this Fall.
• a homeschooling mom. 
• always reading. 

I LOVE: 

• middle grade fiction.
• cozy mysteries.
• picture books.
• libraries.
• used bookstores and book sales.
• author presentations.
• poetry picnics.
• reading aloud.
• Edelweiss and Netgalley.

MY SOCIAL MEDIA: 

• Instagram
• Goodreads  
• Facebook
• Twitter 
• Pinterest