Title: The Bookaholics' Guide to Book BlogsAuthor(s): Rebecca Gillieron and Catheryn Kilgariff
ISBN: 9780714531519/ Marion Boyars Publishers, 2007
Genre: Internet, Blogging
Rating: B
First Line: To my way of thinking, the best book bloggers are individuals who have no grist or motive other than a love of books and a desire to share their finds with others.
It should be obvious why I bought this book: I'm a blogger, and I blog about books. I wanted to see what these two publishers had to say about a subject I hold close to my heart.
The Bookaholics' Guide to Book Blogs is divided into chapters according to the various types of blogs: Booksellers' Blogs, Publishers' Blogs, Fan Blogs, Writers' Blogs, etc. As I read, I found several blogs that are familiar to me, but I also found many more to check out. Gillieron and Killgarriff both believe that book bloggers have a very important function in the world of book publishing today:
I would like to see the voices of the book bloggers heard even louder. I think there is a major problem, despite the pages of feverish comment on literary prizes, radio shows, interviews and profiles, in that the media manages to talk about books in a way that goes over the heads of the vast majority of people. The book bloggers have developed loyal audiences, and I compare them most closely to newspaper columnists who may be your favourite to read each week in the Sunday paper. You get to know a personality and a style, and you find nuggets of new information each week, which makes you go back the following week for more. The book bloggers have another twist which makes them more loveable-- they write their thoughts for free.
There are dozens of nuggets of information in this small book, and best of all, a list of all the book blogs' URLs in the back to make it easier for you to find them. I found this book very easy to read (despite several typos!), and a very informative look into the future of book publishing and selling from the viewpoints of two UK publishers.
If you've reviewed this book, please leave a link to your review in the comments, and I'll add it to my review!
