Help Me Choose A Book?

I'm trying to decide on another ebook to buy for my Kindle and obviously this is a really big decision. I have a few books I'm thinking of, but feel free to recommend something not on the list. (Don't worry too much about whether it's in ebook form... I'll check.)

more of the same

I've read* 23 books so far this year and 6 of them have landed a spot on the favorites list. Or, as I call it, the Ace List. This is a pretty big percentage (26%) and maybe that's because I'm easy to please, or because I have a good idea of what books I'll like before reading them, or maybe this has just been a really good six weeks.

In any case, upon finishing each of these novels, from Anna and the French Kiss to Gayle Forman's upcoming Where She Went, I didn't feel content with just letting it be. I wanted, like I always do, to talk about the books. To recommend them to others and discuss how absolutely great they are.

And I haven't done that. I mean, I kind of have, but it's been haphazard and half-hearted since leaving Ten Cent Notes because I just don't know how to go about things anymore. Writing reviews, recommendations, even blog posts about book-related things, seems a bit daunting. And I know I'm over thinking things the way I always do, but I almost can't stop myself. I don't want to insult people, I don't want to be unprofessional, I don't want to screw things up for myself. I don't want to mess up and the truly scary thing is that I'm not even sure where the line is... what's the difference between a nicely-stated viewpoint and insulting another person? Sometimes the difference between the two is just so thin.

The truth, blog-friends, is that I miss book blogging. Not just reviewing, but all of it. I miss sharing my thoughts on books, miss taking about YA-related issues, miss the discussion posts and opinions and the community that went along with it. What I miss most of all though, is just talking about books. Sharing the books I love and telling you why I love them and convincing others that, yes, they really are that good. I miss being a book person, and having a bigger role in the complex mechanism of publishing and books than a reader normally has.

I feel like I'm cheating on my writing-self by having a blog about reading. Maybe I shouldn't feel that way, but I do. I heard so many times that you must choose between being a (public) reader and being a writer, that once you choose to pursue publication you give up the right to share opinions freely the way a non-writing reader might -- I've heard these things and listened to them and let that choice work its way into my brain. And I hate it for more than one reason, but mostly because blogging and reviewing was something I loved. It made me happy. I'm willing to give it up in order to be a writer; I haven't blogged in the past few days because, honestly, maybe I am giving it up. Completely. Or at least, that's what I thought. It's really difficult to make a firm decision when there really are no hard and fast rules, when you're choosing between two things that you feel shouldn't even be a choice.

Should I stop the critical/negative reviews and only feature books I love, ones I can fully recommend? Yeah, okay, yes. I get that, I get it 100%. But what about the rest of it? Talking about different issues in books, discussions and opinions and lists of favorites? Should I stop those too? At the risk of offending someone whose book I don't love quite as much, should I stop everything, put the kibosh on discussing my reading and books online, in public? I don't know. That is the hardest decision, especially for me: someone who values honesty and respect and love and kindness over so much else. Someone who tries so hard to be nice and supportive and, in a word, good.

I wish this post had a nice, tidy conclusion, but it doesn't. Partly because things rarely are that nice and tidy and partly because I'm too hungry to think of the appropriate ending unless that ending involves bread or soup.

*or started to read at least, since I haven't finished one of them.

ennui is a really fun word, but also weird

In case you haven't noticed, and you obviously have, I don't quite know what I'm doing yet. I haven't quite figured out the rules of this blog - what I will talk about, what I won't, what the focus is. I'd love for this to be a blog that is, still, focused on books and YA lit, but I know the problems I ran into last time and I'm wary of posting anything that could cause problems. I still don't know where the line is.

And I know that if this is going to become just another book blog, then what was the point of me giving up Ten Cent Notes (where I had a solid readership and had put years of effort into the blog) in the first place? I have to remind myself constantly that I started this new blog for a reason, a clean start, a fresh perspective. However, as much as I'd love to look at things from the writer's POV... nobody wants to hear that. Or if that's not true here's what is:

I don't feel comfortable having a writing blog, because I am not a writer except in the loosest definition of the word. I'm not okay with giving you writing advice because, really, why should you listen to me? Talking from the perspective of a writer often means talking about writing, and while I love talking writing with friends and family (because my mother is obligated to listen to my writing-related rants), I'm less enthusiastic about blogging about it because I'm pretty sure it's only interesting to me.

So, uh, I'm not quite sure what I'm doing. I'm thinking about blogging about TELEVISION TELEVISION TELEVISION because I love television, but even that's something that I feel like would only interest me. And I do feel like, honestly, that small foothold I had into the world of YA lit has dissipated now that I'm not running a book blog and only occasionally talking about books on the blog. That really sucks, because I love YA and I love talking to other bloggers and being part of that community and feeling like I have a reason to talk to authors, like I'm not breaking some invisible wall between me and them. (True, this wall may only be in my mind, but it's still there.) I miss that and I'm not yet used to not talking books every day and sharing my opinions with people and writing book discussion posts about things that are bugging me or things I wish would change.

I'm sure it's just the fact that starting a new blog and quitting another puts you in an in-between, transition-y stage, and it hasn't been that long, really, but right now I do feel like books are the only interesting thing I have to talk about and omg omg what am I doing?


That's the question I'm trying to answer. So things are still going to be a bit rough around here for a few weeks while I figure it out.
But I don't know.
I'll figure it out eventually. Hopefully soon. The unending ennui is killing me slowly.

here's a question, blog

As you can maybe tell, I'm still working on the whole figuring out what this blog is going to be thing. With a book blog, it was easy: book reviews, discussions, lists, favorites. This time around, it's a bit more difficult. I want to talk about books but how much is too much? I want to talk writing, but don't want to talk about my querying process and don't especially feel qualified to give writing advice.

So I must turn to you, blog, and ask WHAT DO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT? Or, erm, what do you want me to talk about?