Maintenance Monday
Enough with the Pimping!
You know those people who say they won't read or watch something because it's too popular? Well, I have a theory: I think we're ALL a little bit like that, it's just that some of us have a higher tolerance for hype than others.
What am I talking about? Okay, so I'm sure you know people who do NOTHING but talk about a certain series or certain author or certain television show ALL THE FREAKING TIME. They love it. It can do NO WRONG. You hear so much about it that you're an expert on that series/author/television show, even though you don't participate in the fandom.
In my experience, there's a breaking point to all of that: I reach a point that I hear SO MUCH that I start actively resisting said series/author/television show, and if I keep hearing SO MUCH then I start resisting out of sheer spite.
Does that sound familiar to anyone?
The topic came to mind recently, and I'm not sure what triggered it. I know when it comes to my tv shows, I've made a point to keep a lid on it, simply because I get so tired of OTHER people telling me how AWESOME their shows are ALL THE TIME and how I'm totally missing out if I don't watch their stuff, but on the flip side, if I did the same thing to THEM with MY shows, they'd not consider them at all, or list all of the reasons why MY stuff is inferior to THEIR stuff. And so on and so forth. Fandom is a fickle thing, so I'm relatively careful to keep my mouth shut so that I don't overwhelm someone with my interests.
That said, how does that translate here? After all, you know I have favorite authors. And it occurs to me to wonder if anyone here has felt overwhelmed by pimpage. In my mind, I've treated you all good: I rarely talk about authors or their series unless it's in a book review or in a book bag, and in both cases, it's a natural thing, right? It's not like I devote a post to babble about how much I love a certain author's work, right?
But because I hate UBER-PIMPAGE so much, I thought I'd double-check: have I overwhelmed any of you to the point that you're going to actively resist a recommendation? Or, if you're going to actively resist a recommendation, is it because you're one of those people I mentioned earlier and/or you're already so turned off by said recommendation that by time you get my review, it's a lost cause? I'm genuinely curious, because like I said, I've been turned off of stuff before, and I don't want to be the person who does that to you.
Now if you're curious, there is an author I've turned away from due to UBER-pimpage and way too much hype and press: Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse books. Granted, I have reasons to be tired of her based on the direction of the series itself, but between hearing so much hype about the television show True Blood (which I can't watch because I don't have HBO so all the gushing serves to remind me I-can't-stinking-watch-it), and hearing people who never read urban fantasy hold this series on a pedestal over other (and IMHO, sometimes BETTER) UF series grates on my nerves a bit. I'll admit, some of this reaction is irrational. Some of it, like I said, I can point to specific things I really don't like.
But in the end, it all adds up to the fact that when I bought book eight of the Stackhouse series, a book I'd not read even though I'd read the entire series to that point back-to-back-to-back, I couldn't make myself read it, I was so turned off of the series. The thought of actually picking it up and reading it makes me a little ill. :-/
It's not a fun experience.
So, who have you been turned off of? What did it? And have I--horror of all horrors!--been instrumental in turning you away? If so, I apologize, but I need to know so that I can control myself better in the future. :)Book Club Selections
May: Natural History by Justina Robson
June: Sunshine by Robin McKinley
July: Summon the Keeper by Tanya Huff
Justina's Guest Blog: Read it here, especially once you finish reading Natural History!
Book Sale: In order to buy new books, I have to sell old ones. Help me out? :) Details are here.
Follow me on Facebook, and find me on Paperback Swap!
Giveaways & Challenges
@ calico_reaction, we've got two giveaways making the rounds!
You can have your choice of Ann Aguirre's Blue Diablo or Hell Fire. Open to anywhere the Book Depository ships! Click here to enter. Deadline: May 31
On June 1st: there's going to be a VERY special giveaway posted at calico_reaction. I'm not going to say anything about it, except that if you're a fan of women writing SF, or maybe just well-written SF no matter what the gender, you should mark your calendar. :)
@ Jawas Read, Too!, the "Summer of Series" reading challenge is going strong! May focuses on Daniel Abraham's The Long Price Quartet, and I've gotta say: I've read the first three books, and I highly recommend the series so far! For more details, click here.
Got a giveaway or reading challenge you'd like to promote? Please comment.
Upcoming Reviews: Glimmerglass by Jenna Black and Natural History by Justina Robson
Currently Reading: Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs
2010 Reading Total: 43 out of 50 (once I hit 50, I'll move that number up to 75).
2010 Comics Total: 163 out of 365. #164 will be tonight! Poll Time!
So if you participate in the book club, or if you at least look forward to those reviews, you know that no matter when I finish reading a book club selection, you don't get the review until the end of the month. Lately, I've been posting it on the second-to-last day, that way if something happens and I absolutely CANNOT post it that day, then I have the very last day of the month to get it up. I do this so that if you're reading the book, you won't be tempted by spoilers and you won't feel rushed to finish because I've already posted the discussion.
But am I being too courteous? Just wondering. I don't plan on reading the book club selection of the first of the month and then posting the review by the 5th. That'd be mean. I always time my reading towards the end of the month, giving myself at least a week to finish it. But let's use this month for example: I finished Natural History today, May 24th. If it were not a book club selection, the SOONEST a review would go up would be Wednesday, May 26th. Now, given this IS a book club selection, would this bother you?
No, I'm not going to post my Natural History review until this weekend. But I'm putting feelers out for the future. :)
So let me know. Please, don't answer the poll unless you participate, or plan on participating, in the book club. :)
Poll Posting Book Club Reviews
Thanks for your time, and have a great week!
You know those people who say they won't read or watch something because it's too popular? Well, I have a theory: I think we're ALL a little bit like that, it's just that some of us have a higher tolerance for hype than others.
What am I talking about? Okay, so I'm sure you know people who do NOTHING but talk about a certain series or certain author or certain television show ALL THE FREAKING TIME. They love it. It can do NO WRONG. You hear so much about it that you're an expert on that series/author/television show, even though you don't participate in the fandom.
In my experience, there's a breaking point to all of that: I reach a point that I hear SO MUCH that I start actively resisting said series/author/television show, and if I keep hearing SO MUCH then I start resisting out of sheer spite.
Does that sound familiar to anyone?
The topic came to mind recently, and I'm not sure what triggered it. I know when it comes to my tv shows, I've made a point to keep a lid on it, simply because I get so tired of OTHER people telling me how AWESOME their shows are ALL THE TIME and how I'm totally missing out if I don't watch their stuff, but on the flip side, if I did the same thing to THEM with MY shows, they'd not consider them at all, or list all of the reasons why MY stuff is inferior to THEIR stuff. And so on and so forth. Fandom is a fickle thing, so I'm relatively careful to keep my mouth shut so that I don't overwhelm someone with my interests.
That said, how does that translate here? After all, you know I have favorite authors. And it occurs to me to wonder if anyone here has felt overwhelmed by pimpage. In my mind, I've treated you all good: I rarely talk about authors or their series unless it's in a book review or in a book bag, and in both cases, it's a natural thing, right? It's not like I devote a post to babble about how much I love a certain author's work, right?
But because I hate UBER-PIMPAGE so much, I thought I'd double-check: have I overwhelmed any of you to the point that you're going to actively resist a recommendation? Or, if you're going to actively resist a recommendation, is it because you're one of those people I mentioned earlier and/or you're already so turned off by said recommendation that by time you get my review, it's a lost cause? I'm genuinely curious, because like I said, I've been turned off of stuff before, and I don't want to be the person who does that to you.
Now if you're curious, there is an author I've turned away from due to UBER-pimpage and way too much hype and press: Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse books. Granted, I have reasons to be tired of her based on the direction of the series itself, but between hearing so much hype about the television show True Blood (which I can't watch because I don't have HBO so all the gushing serves to remind me I-can't-stinking-watch-it), and hearing people who never read urban fantasy hold this series on a pedestal over other (and IMHO, sometimes BETTER) UF series grates on my nerves a bit. I'll admit, some of this reaction is irrational. Some of it, like I said, I can point to specific things I really don't like.
But in the end, it all adds up to the fact that when I bought book eight of the Stackhouse series, a book I'd not read even though I'd read the entire series to that point back-to-back-to-back, I couldn't make myself read it, I was so turned off of the series. The thought of actually picking it up and reading it makes me a little ill. :-/
It's not a fun experience.
So, who have you been turned off of? What did it? And have I--horror of all horrors!--been instrumental in turning you away? If so, I apologize, but I need to know so that I can control myself better in the future. :)Book Club Selections
May: Natural History by Justina Robson
June: Sunshine by Robin McKinley
July: Summon the Keeper by Tanya Huff
Justina's Guest Blog: Read it here, especially once you finish reading Natural History!
Book Sale: In order to buy new books, I have to sell old ones. Help me out? :) Details are here.
Follow me on Facebook, and find me on Paperback Swap!
Giveaways & Challenges
@ calico_reaction, we've got two giveaways making the rounds!
You can have your choice of Ann Aguirre's Blue Diablo or Hell Fire. Open to anywhere the Book Depository ships! Click here to enter. Deadline: May 31
On June 1st: there's going to be a VERY special giveaway posted at calico_reaction. I'm not going to say anything about it, except that if you're a fan of women writing SF, or maybe just well-written SF no matter what the gender, you should mark your calendar. :)
@ Jawas Read, Too!, the "Summer of Series" reading challenge is going strong! May focuses on Daniel Abraham's The Long Price Quartet, and I've gotta say: I've read the first three books, and I highly recommend the series so far! For more details, click here.
Got a giveaway or reading challenge you'd like to promote? Please comment.
Upcoming Reviews: Glimmerglass by Jenna Black and Natural History by Justina Robson
Currently Reading: Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs
2010 Reading Total: 43 out of 50 (once I hit 50, I'll move that number up to 75).
2010 Comics Total: 163 out of 365. #164 will be tonight! Poll Time!
So if you participate in the book club, or if you at least look forward to those reviews, you know that no matter when I finish reading a book club selection, you don't get the review until the end of the month. Lately, I've been posting it on the second-to-last day, that way if something happens and I absolutely CANNOT post it that day, then I have the very last day of the month to get it up. I do this so that if you're reading the book, you won't be tempted by spoilers and you won't feel rushed to finish because I've already posted the discussion.
But am I being too courteous? Just wondering. I don't plan on reading the book club selection of the first of the month and then posting the review by the 5th. That'd be mean. I always time my reading towards the end of the month, giving myself at least a week to finish it. But let's use this month for example: I finished Natural History today, May 24th. If it were not a book club selection, the SOONEST a review would go up would be Wednesday, May 26th. Now, given this IS a book club selection, would this bother you?
No, I'm not going to post my Natural History review until this weekend. But I'm putting feelers out for the future. :)
So let me know. Please, don't answer the poll unless you participate, or plan on participating, in the book club. :)
Poll Posting Book Club Reviews
Thanks for your time, and have a great week!