Where the Past Meets the Present: Book Reviews

Today let's dive into the not-so-distant past to take a look at some thoughts from C.S. Lewis regarding book reviewers/critics (quotes from An Experiment in Criticism by C.S. Lewis, 1961):

 The Toll on the Reviewer:

"I am thinking...of overworked reviewers, getting through novel after novel as quickly as they can, like a schoolboy doing his 'prep'. For such people reading often becomes mere work. The text before them comes to exist not in its own right but simply as raw material; clay out of which they can complete their tale of bricks.... it destroys appreciation." 

Oh, how I can relate! I've swum toward a whirlpool (of my own volition), and now I've been sent into a spin that leaves me exhausted and rather breathless at times. I love to read. I love getting free books to read. I love sharing my thoughts (generally) about what I read. But reviewing has become more work than enjoyment at times because of the vast amount of books I request. And from what I've seen in other blog posts, I don't think I'm the only book reviewer who has experienced this. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!)

Do you think this "whirlpool syndrome" affects our ability to fully appreciate books and review them in the best way possible?
 
The Value of Reviews: 
 

 "The truth is not that we need the critics in order to enjoy the authors, but that we need the authors in order to enjoy the critics."  

 

"We love to hear how others enjoy what we enjoy ourselves. It is natural and wholly proper that we should especially enjoy hearing how a first-class mind responds to a very great work. That is why we read the great critics with interest (not often with any great measure of agreement). They are very good reading; as a help to the reading of others their value is, I believe, overestimated." 

"I remain, then, sceptical, not about the legitimacy or delightfulness, but about the necessity or utility of evaluative criticism." 

 

Wow! These observations/opinions kind of knock the wind out of me. I enjoy being a book reviewer. I love when readers tell me that my review was enjoyable to read and that it helped them. But how do reviews help? What is the purpose in writing them? Am I keeping others from reading books that I might not "like," but that might have value for other readers? Are my reviews only valuable to those who have read the books I'm referring to? In and of themselves, what is their intrinsic value?

In regards to this topic, I think it's obvious I have a lot more questions than set thoughts. I try to write "honest" reviews in the sense that they contain my honest opinion, while still balancing between what I liked about the books and what I didn't like about the books. I like to include what I thought the overall message/theme was and how that affected me. But is there something I'm missing? What does a "good" review entail and what is its purpose?

Do you enjoy reading book reviews? Do you think book reviews are only really enjoyable to those who have read the books being reviewed? Do you think book reviews can be dangerous in the sense that they might keep someone from reading a book they maybe should read?
 
To Review or Not to Review?
 

"I suggest that a ten or twenty years' abstinence both from the reading and from the writing of evaluative criticism might do us all a great deal of good."

 
C.S. Lewis' suggestion is a controversial one in my mind simply because I spend a lot of time reading books for review purposes. If I stopped reviewing books, I wouldn't have nearly the amount of reading options I now enjoy. (I might be at a higher risk of going broke, too, LOL!) I might miss out on books that I normally wouldn't have picked up or maybe even heard much about. I wouldn't have the pressure put on me to finish a book - which could be a good or bad thing.

But at the same time, would readers miss my book reviews? Do my reviews make a difference? And if they do, is that difference good or bad? If I took a break from reviewing books, I would have more time to catch up on the books I already own that I haven't yet read, and I might get to re-read more books, as well. I might even end up appreciating books more in a way that I have lost in the mad rush of a book reviewer's world.

If you are a book reviewer, what do you think about the suggestion of taking a break from reviewing? If you read book reviews, why do you read them - and do you think they're valuable?

Lots of food for thought and fuel for discussion today, but I think this is a topic that's worth being addressed by book bloggers. I'd love to have you answer some of the questions I ask or just add your two cents' worth wherever it fits! 

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Cara Putman Interview

I'm delighted to have Cara Putman as a guest on The Borrowed Book today. Cara lives in Indiana with her husband and four children. She’s an attorney and a teacher at her church as well as lecturer at Purdue. She has loved reading and writing from a young age and now realizes it was all training for writing books. She loves bringing history and romance to life.
 
An honors graduate of the University of Nebraska and George Mason University School of Law, Cara left small town Nebraska and headed to Washington, D.C., to launch her career in public policy. Cara is an author chasing hard after God as she lives a crazy life. She invites you to join her on that journey.

You’ve just had a new book to release. Give us a short blurb about it.

A Wedding Transpires on Mackinac Island is set on one of my favorite places to escape. Attorney Alanna Stone vowed long ago to avoid Mackinac Island. Although it may seem the perfect place to heal, for Alanna it holds too many memories of a painful past. But an exhausting high profile case and an urgent plea from her parents have brought Alanna home. Moving into the house next to Jonathan Covington doesn’t help her. Jonathan may have been her first love, but he was also her first lesson in betrayal. Now Alanna must protect her privacy and her heart. Then secrets and a murder intersect, and she’s thrust into controversy again as tragedy turns public opinion against her and potentially her family.

I love the setting on Mackinac Island, perhaps because it’s one place I’ve always wanted to visit. What made you choose this setting?

Mackinac Island is magical. It’s one of those rare places where you can step back in time without leaving this century. The first time we visited the island I wondered if the long drive could possibly be worth the destination. It’s a long 11 hours from where I live. But once we stepped on the ferry, leaving our car behind, I knew we were headed somewhere special. Boy, was I right. At that time I hadn’t started writing but when we returned in 2009 I was well on the way to writing with several books out. So this time I walked around looking for story ideas. I found them…so much so, I’m surprised the police chief let me leave after asking him how his department would handle a murder.

Your heroine Alanna Stone has returned to Mackinac even though she thought she never would. What happened in Alanna’s past to cause her to make such a decision?

Her senior year of high school, a classmate died in what seemed like an accident. But when everyone blames her younger brother for the other man’s death, Alanna takes it very personally. On such a small island, she felt she couldn’t escape the blame and questions, so she left. Only now she’s back and a mystery will force her to uncover what really happened.

How has the past affected your hero Jonathan Covington?

Jonathan spent his summers on the island as a young man. Now, he’s grown with an event planning business on the island. He and Alanna fell in love as teens, and he’s tried to forget her…would even say he’s moved on. Then she comes back to her parents’ home next to his cabin.

I think it’s interesting that you chose to make this story a mystery set in a place that brings up visions of romance. (It must be from watching that moving Somewhere in Time too much.) Why did you make that choice?

Somewhere in Time is definitely a romance. And it is so easy to walk around the island and sense the romance in the air. Yet when I plot my contemporary novels, they tend to have layers of mystery or suspense. I’m probably one of the rare visitors who makes her way to the police station to ask the police chief how he would handle a murder on his peaceful island.

What do you want readers to take away after reading A Wedding Transpires on Mackinac Island?

I hope that readers will discover with Alanna that running from the pain of the past isn’t the solution. Eventually, it’s uncovering the truth that will set us free.

What are you working on now and when will it release?

I’m working on a couple World War II proposals in between talking about A Wedding Transpires on Mackinac Island and a novella collection that releases in May (Rainbow’s End).

What words of encouragement would you like to leave with our readers who are attempting to get that first manuscript contracted?

Find the time to write even if it’s 15 minutes a day. I work off word counts, and 500 words a day over one year of disciplined writing will give you a first draft that you can then edit and polish. Thanks so much for hosting me.

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Write Right~Baby Farming

In the 1800s women's reproductive options were few. Married women in poor circumstances had no reliable contraception and little choice but to continue having babies, despite being unable to feed, clothe, or care for the children they already had. Being pregnant out of wedlock ruined a woman’s reputation. Abortion was illegal and even those not morally opposed to it were at risk for death by the procedure.

 

An unwanted infant could be tragic for mother and baby. Social services as we now know them were non-existent, and proper adoption agencies were few. One option was a foundling hospital (from whence came some of the orphan train children). Another was a baby farm.

Baby farmers were mostly women, often unscrupulous, who offered fostering and adoption services—for a price. They placed ads in the newspaper, making themselves appear legitimate, reputable, and legal. Desperate mothers would answer the ads in hopes their baby would be re-homed quickly, with very few questions. Sometimes the baby farmer also ran a “lying in” hospital and would promise (again, for a fee) to dispose of the infant once it was born. With the assurance of a good future for their babies, women with few options felt they'd found the perfect solution.

Some of the infants from baby farms were adopted by families (who paid for the infant), and others were fostered out. But many baby farmers employed a more diabolical method of disposing of unwanted or hard-to-place infants, "murdering children without rendering themselves amenable to the laws of the land, and who, 'for a consideration,' [were] ready to polish off any number of infants at the shortest notice. In these baby-farms there [was] a wholesale slaughter of the innocents constantly going on."(1)  To get rid of the infants, baby farmers often used opiates in lethal doses. One smothered the babies and threw them in a river.

The 1800s was a time of high infant mortality. Diseases like cholera infantum* ran rampant. The death of a baby or a small child wasn’t questioned like it would be today, and many of these crimes remained undiscovered. However, a few baby farmers were caught and hung.

Amelia Dyer was one of the most prolific baby farm murderers in England. In 1896 she was tried and hung for the death of one baby, although it was suspected she murdered hundreds more babies over many years. Read more about her here:

http://www.planetslade.com/broadside-ballads-mrs-dyer.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Dyer

In New York City, Madame Parselle (Catherine D. Putnam) ran a lying-in hospital where mothers (mostly unwed) could have their babies, after which she would dispose of them (for a fee). Several infants in her care died under suspicious circumstances.(2) In countries like the United States, England, France, and Australia, social service reforms to protect children began in the late 1800s, partially because of these baby farmers.

Unfortunately, baby farming still exists. In an article published on November 15, 2008, Fox News reported about an alleged network of baby farms in Nigeria. Anti-trafficking campaigners say that baby breeding is widespread and run by crime syndicates. (Article: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,452613,00.html )

*****

(1)  Victorian London - Publications - Social Investigation/Journalism - In the Slums, by the Rev. D. Rice-Jones, 1884 - Chapter 24 - The Slaughter of the Innocents

*For more information about cholera infantum, see my blog article dated March 28, http://theborrowedbook.blogspot.com/2012/03/write-rightmerciless-killers-asiatic.html

(2)  Save the Babies, American Public Health Reform and the Prevention of Infant Mortality, 1850-1929; Richard A. Meckel; The Johns Hopkins University Press; 1990; page 30.

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Upcoming Release Spotlight: Historical Romance "The Marshal's Promise" by Rhonda Gibson

Description:

Mail-order bride Rebecca Ramsey arrives in the New Mexico territory full of dreams-but they're shattered when she discovers her intended husband has been killed. If it weren't for U.S. marshal Seth Billings's housekeeping job offer, she'd have nowhere to go. Rebecca loves tending to Seth's home, but the strong and silent lawman is harder to figure out. What secret is he hiding?

Caring for Jesse Cole's would-be bride is the least Seth can do. If it weren't for him, the young man would still be alive. Seth had promised to look after Rebecca-and to keep her safe from Jesse's enemies. Now if only he can keep his heart safe, as well...

Book Takeaway:

Love doesn't always come in the manner we expected.

Why the author wrote this book:

I have always loved mail-order bride books and wanted to write one.

• Preorder Now:
• FictionFinder
• Amazon
• Kindle
• Barnes and Noble

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Where the Past Meets the Present: Of Heroes and Humor

Confession: I've only read one book by Jane Austen - Northanger Abbey, which I just finished over spring break for my 17th-19th Century British Literature class.

But here's another, perhaps less shocking, confession: I loved it!

And even less shocking: I love Henry Tilney!

Of course, I think I fell in love with him after seeing the PBS Masterpiece version of Northanger Abbey. JJ Feild does a great job playing the role!

*Happy sigh*

Anyway, for this "Where the Past Meets the Present" feature, let's consider what we as writers can learn from Austen's portrayal of Mr. Tilney:

• Realistic: Henry Tilney is a character with what I perceive to be a rather normal job as the second son in this era (a clergyman), a sense of humor that shows a bit of pride in his own cleverness and wit, and a reason for falling in love that is quite...ordinary ("...I must confess that his affection originated in nothing better than gratitude; or, in other words, that a persuasion of her partiality for him had been the only cause of giving her a serious thought" - Northanger Abbey). In other words, Tilney is remarkable in his own right, but he is realistically down to earth and not overly romanticized (well, perhaps not too much).

• Rare: Despite Tilney's ordinary qualities, he's also unique (in my opinion) as a hero. He enjoys a good story and is not too bad at making up his own. He's not brooding or out of reach - he openly admires the heroine, teases her, and offers advice. Love this line about him from his sister to the heroine: "He is for ever finding fault with me for some incorrectness of language, and now he is taking the same liberty with you." (Hmmm...he might fit in well with my family, LOL!)

When creating our own heroes, I think a good balance between realism and rarity can be a good thing. The hero should have his faults. He should be understandable and recognizable, in a sense. But he should also stand out for some reason or other, particularly in a romance novel, as there are just so many heroes out there (and it's easy to be cliche in some respect when it comes to romantic heroes).

I know, I know... Easier said than done! Hopefully I can take my own advice. ;)

I leave you with one more quote from the book to gratify our readers, followed by a question or two:

"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel must be intolerably stupid."

(Yep, yep! ;) And yes, dear Henry - our model hero - said that!)

Who is your favorite Jane Austen hero (or any other fictional hero)? What makes that hero your favorite?

(JJ Feild as Henry Tilney - image from the PBS Masterpiece website.)

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Winners!!

Happy Saturday, BB fans! Thanks to everyone who participated in our "puzzling" Friday giveaway! Keep all those facebook and Twitter notifications, coming!

This week's winner is:

Lisa Nelson - Because of Me by Fay Lamb!

Congratulations, Lisa! Please use the button in the upper right side of this page to email me with your email address. Then, sit back and wait for your book to arrive.

Thank you all so much for stopping by The Borrowed Book!

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Weekly Drawing

It's fun Friday at The Borrowed Book!

To enter:

Follow Us! Followers are automatically entered. Or...

Leave the time it took you to complete the puzzle in the comments section. Winners will be drawn from ALL of the times, so the person with the fastest time may not be the actual winner, but by leaving your time, you double your chances.

Want another entry? Tweet your puzzle time and mention The Borrowed Book, get another entry. RETWEET our Tweet, get two entries!

Post your puzzle time on BB's Facebook wall and...you guessed it...get another entry!

Post it on your OWN Facebook wall and you could get as many as FIVE entries.

It's all a way to spread the word about the great giveaways on BB. So c'mon! Help us spread the word, and have a little fun at the same time. :-)

This week's puzzle feature is brought to you by Fay Lamb and her newest release, Because of Me.

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