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We got AOL about 10 years ago (not for long, though), and I couldn't decide what username to use. I kept changing it daily. One day I just muttered, "I should just call myself name du jour" (like "soup du jour"). That name stuck, and I've used it ever since. The only problem is that I have to...

That explains much. Most people don't like people who have their faults. (That's why Holden called everyone else a "phony.")

Great article! But the author evidently never discovered Harpers. It would save her mind, if she did. It's the best magazine in print. No telling what you're going to find in it - it runs the gamut from political and social commentary to ridiculous emails corporate executives shot off to...

I've got one: The Mists of Avalon. I thought it was poorly (dare I say "badly"?) written. The dialog was silly - outlandish, really - the motivation of the characters could change on a dime without explanation, and the whole book should have been trimmed. I couldn't finish it. And I can say...

I was trying to think of who wrote the story, "Pigeons from Hell." I think it was H.P. Lovecraft. I read it when I was 12, and you're definitely right. Aside from that, anything by Stephen King disturbs me. He's got a truly sick mind.

I kind of felt that way about it too. I've seen those "inspirational insights" done better elsewhere. I didn't find it deep or anything. But it was good, I thought. Just a three-and-a-half to four-star rather than a five-star, in my opinion.

I think 16 year old boys are just like that. The author depicted one with all his warts intact, is all. And if you've ever lived in a house with a teenaged boy (I have two) most of their conversation is repetitive. They also whine. The trick with that book was to look beyond what he said into...

This is one of the ones at the top of my list too. The thing I keep asking myself: Why did I read it three times???

The only time that ever happened to me was when I ordered one of those "personalized" books for kids. They love those by the way. Even though I ordered it, it still made me giggle to see all our names in print!

Her diatribe is the stuff of legend, isn't it?

Does it matter though? If you check your email at any address and reply, the address is "real". And it kind of IS the point of this thread, which is related to reviews and reviewers. The side conversation is the fact that bad reviews strike home hard with the authors. Sometimes they react to...

No. She was just knee-jerk angry. She answered my note right away, so she obviously checked her mail at that address at that time - and I wrote to her months later. If she'd gotten harrassed, though, it would have been a simple matter to get a new email. She was just putting up her dukes and...

No, it was a real email address because I dropped her a note. She had calmed down by that time, and was really very charming and nice, and was philosophical about the whole thing. I suspect she was just frustrated and having a bad day when she posted it.

For me, it's kind of a balance between saying what I think, and knowing as many authors as I do. It's a hard balance to strike, sometimes. When I was younger, I didn't have any qualms about trashing people's efforts. Then I got older, and met the people I might have been inclined to trash...

Well, we got somewhat off-topic, so let me pull us all back. You're right: Traditional publishing is usually reserved for previously published authors, people with an "inside" in the industry, or famous people with ghost writers. Probably less than 1% of new authors gets published. The...

Before the Internet, we were all more or less dependent upon professional literary critics, best seller lists, and word-of-mouth to determine whether or not a book was worth reading. You may not agree with a critic, but he or she had "qualifications" of some sort. Now everyone with a keyboard...

I have a bizillion bookmarks from when I owned a bookshop, since closed. Furthermore, authors sent me about a thousand more of THEIR bookmarks with the shop's logo. I use them, then leave them in the books I return to the library just to get rid of them. I'm trying to get rid of the ones I...

I was on Amazon last night, and evidently caught them testing a new feature. It's gone this morning, but I've seen them do this before. I expect to see the feature back in a week or so. In addition to "People who bought (viewed) this book also bought (viewed)" they listed the percentage of...

You ARE compulsive. I make a list on scratch paper, then invariably forget to bring it with me to the library. Every library experience contains that moment where I'm groping for a title and author's name (I'll typically forget both), then am forced to aimlessly wander through the shelves until...

I would have to say the "Threads: The Reincarnation of Anne Boleyn" version of Anne Boleyn. She's basically got good intentions, but is judged by the things that happen to her more than the things she actually does. The one line in the book that summed her up: "Each time tragedy struck, I was...