Beth Fish Reads

11 June 2010

There's a Whole Lot of Book Blogging Goin' On

June is turning out to be a great month to be book blogger. There is something for everyone happening this month. Here are just a few activities I'd like to bring to your attention.

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It is time to get ready for Book Blogger Appreciation Week! This year, I volunteered to be on the Executive Board for the event. The board worked hard to revamp the process of registration and nomination to help bring BBAW more in line with its roots. The whole idea is the brain child of Amy from My Friend Amy and is meant to strengthen the international book blogger community and show appreciation for all the hard work that goes into everyone's blog.

I encourage all of you to go and resister. Everyone who is registered will be entered into the Book Blogger Directory (kind of like the yellow pages for book bloggers) and will be able to vote for the winner in each category. You can and should register even if you do not want to win an award (there's an opt-out button on the form).

Please head on over to the BBAW Awards and Nomination page and read through the first four posts before filling out the form. BBAW is all about community and you (yes, you) are part of that community. In the spirit of fairness, those of us on the Executive Board have agreed to be ineligible to win an award.

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Today starts the third Bloggiesta weekend. This fantastic blogger work

weekend was developed by Natasha of Maw Books Blog. The timing is perfect for getting your blog in shape for BBAW -- lots of bloggers will be visiting your site for the first time, and here's your opportunity to get help fixing problems, work on your template, clean up your tags, organize your indexes -- you name the task, this is the weekend to tackle it.

Please do take the time to see all the fabulous mini-challenges and ideas at Maw Books Blog. You do not have to commit to the whole weekend. But I should warn you that many people plan to stop in for hors d'oeuvres but stay for the whole party. It's addictive to clean up your blog, especially when there is lots of help and camaraderie.

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Coming up a little later in June is Audiobook Week. This new event pays tribute to the fact that June is Audiobook Month (those of you on Twitter have probably see the hashtag JIAM -- now you know what it means!).

Jen of Devourer of Books is hosting this week-long celebration of audiobooks. You can participate on any level: simply save your recent audio reviews to post during that week or participate in daily post topic prompts. If you love audios as much as I do, you won't want miss out.

Stay tuned to Devourer of Books because Jen will soon have more information about how to get involved and what to expect. Even if you listen to only three audios a year, I encourage you to help us celebrate.

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For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere: The kids are out of school, the grill is out of storage, and the heat is on; it's definitely time to turn to all things bookish. For my Southern Hemisphere friends, you are entering the heart of winter and definitely need some cheering up; join in some of the blogging fun and put a smile on your face.

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10 June 2010

Bloggiesta Mini-Challenge: Work on Those Labels/Tags

NOTE: This is a repost from the last Bloggiesta. I'm still stewing over my labels! I won't have much time to participate this weekend, but I really do feel strongly about the issue of having easy-to-use tags. So here is what's becoming a tradition for the Bloggiesta weekend: the Labels/Tags Mini-Challenge.
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This is the home of the Bloggiesta Labels/Tag Mini-Challenge. I hope you'll take this one on because you know your labels need some help. If you don't know what Bloggiesta is, pop on over to Maw Books Blog and read all about it. It's not too late to join in the fun.

Why Should You Care about Your Labels?

Each of your posts should be clearly tagged or labeled so that visitors can easily find the material that is important to them. Your labels should be broad enough to direct visitors to a number of related posts but narrow enough to make them useful.

What do I mean? Let's say you have a series of posts about attending author events (signings, readings, and so on). I come to your blog because I want to read these posts. The first thing I'll do is look for your labels gadget (Blogger) or categories/tags list (Wordpress). Then I'll scan the list looking for "author events," "author signings," or "author readings."

In the best case, you have all such posts grouped under one recognizable label ("author events," for example). Once I click on the link, I'm all set to read. You might also have a label called "author signings" so I if I'm interested in only those posts, I can find them easily too.

In the worst case, you have these posts labeled only by the author's name. When I see that label, I have no idea if I'm going to get a book review, interview, spotlight post, or wish list post. I don't want to waste my time clicking on a number of author links in the hopes I'll find what I want, so I'll likely give up and move on to the next blog in my reader.

Another bad choice is to have a label that isn't clear. "Authors in the wild" is cute, but what does it mean? Will all your visitors know that this is the link to your author events posts?

When thinking about how to label your posts, always remember that they guide your readers to the content of your blog. You want this to be as easy as possible for your visitors.

How to Label?

Ah, well, this is up to you. If you are totally confused, do some blog hopping and look at different bloggers' labels or tags. What do you like, what do you dislike? Here are just a couple of types of posts and a few ways to approach your labeling.

Review posts: Some people add a label for every author reviewed on their blog. This can be useful, but you can end up with hundreds of labels for which there is only one post. Some people label their reviews by genre and medium, which is almost always a good idea. You might want to think about labeling reviews by year of review or year of publication.
Memes/Awards: You can label your meme posts by the meme's title. This is helpful to your readers, who might remember you had an interesting book in a Mailbox Monday or a Friday Finds. If your meme post is also a review or opinion post, it might be a good idea to give it additional labels so that visitors who usually skip memes won't miss something good.
Opinions/Conversations: Opinion posts and conversation starters should be clearly labeled because these are just the types of posts that people revisit. They think, "Didn't I see a good post about the importance of using the library on this blog last year?" If they find the label "library" in your label list, they'll soon find the post they want.

How Labels Can Work with Tabs

I don't use author names or book titles in my labels because I don't want a lot of labels that cover only one post. Instead, I have tabs at the top of my blog that direct readers to my reviews by author, title, and genre. This saves me from creating a lot of labels.

On the other hand, I failed to take this to its final step: One of my goals this Bloggiesta is to label my tabbed pages (with "reviews by author," for example), so visitors who don't see the tabs can find the list by checking out my labels gadget.

Your Mini-Challenge

I admit that I created this mini-challenge because I really need to clean up my own labels. In fact, this should be my main Bloggiesta task. I have published about 200 new posts since the last Bloggiesta, and I really should review each and every one!

You might not want to examine every post, but you really should think about the state of your labels. Ask yourself if they are currently useful and how they could be better. So here's the deal:

Set and state a goal (fix labels on all posts, fix labels on review posts, set up labels for the second half of 2010)
Meet goal
Blog about this mini-challenge (in a separate post or as part a Bloggiesta progress post or in your wrap-up Bloggiesta post)
Come back here leave the link to that post in Mr. Linky

If you leave a link in Mr. Linky, you'll be eligible for a great bookish prize.

A Little Help

If you are using Blogger then you have access to a label gadget. Open it up, look at your options, and see if you have the settings the way you want them to be. Here are four links with some advice on using and editing labels:

If you are using Wordpress then you have both categories and tags. I don't use Wordpress, so I can't give you technical advice, but I can direct you to some articles that explain the difference between the two. Categories are larger (reviews) and tags are specific (historical fiction, fantasy). Here are four links that should offer help:

Good luck and remember that everything you do during Bloggiesta will benefit your blog and your readers. Be sure come back to Mr. Linky so you'll be eligible for a prize! (Not sure what the prize will be, but it'll be international.)

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Guest Post: Aviva Goldfarb on Life with a Cookbook Author

Last Saturday I introduced you to Aviva Goldfarb and her terrific new cookbook SOS! The Six O'Clock Scramble to the Rescue. In that post, I shared Aviva's recipe for Mango Black Bean Salad and told you about a great giveaway to win both a copy of the book and a 3-month subscription to Aviva's Six-O'Clock Scramble program, an online dinner-planning service.

Today I have the pleasure to welcome Aviva to Beth Fish Reads. I asked her to tell us about how her family--especially her children--have adjusted to living with with a cookbook author.

My Poor Lucky Family: Life in a House Where Each Dinner Is an Adventure

When I tell people that I write cookbooks and share recipes for a living, they frequently respond that my family is so lucky that they have a mom who loves to cook! I’m pretty sure that overall my family would agree. But it’s not always a slice of heaven to have a mom who makes something different every night.

My husband has a huge appetite and loves to come home from work to enjoy a fresh meal. When he’s thinking of working late, sometimes I lure him home by mentioning what’s on the menu:

Andrew: I have so much to do. I might have to work late tonight.
Me: Oh, too bad you can’t make it because I’m making Soba Noodle Soup with Snow Peas, Coconut-Lime Crusted Tofu, and an arugula salad with oranges and toasted walnuts.
Andrew: Actually, maybe I can just finish up my work at home after dinner.
Me: Thought so.

My kids, on the other hand, often ask me what we’re having with a note of apprehension in their voices.

Solomon or Celia: Um, mom, what’s for dinner?
Me: I’m trying a new recipe tonight! It’s Fiesta Casserole with turkey and vegetables and a cornbread crust. It sounds so good!
Kids: Uh, are you making bread, too?
Me: No, not tonight, but we will have a tomato and cucumber salad!
Kids: Oh, okay, I’m not very hungry anyways. [Usually said while backing away.]

When dinnertime rolls around, the kids are usually good sports about at least trying whatever new dish I set in front of them, and often they find it’s a lot better than they feared. Because I’ve been creating and testing recipes for most of their lives, they’ve learned to keep an open mind, even if the dish doesn’t look at first something they would enjoy eating.

One of my favorite parts of testing recipes with my family is when the kids discover that they like something they didn’t necessarily expect to enjoy. One of my eleven-year-old daughter Celia’s favorite things in the world has always been pasta with just a little olive oil or butter and Parmesan cheese. So whenever she sees me making an “interesting” sauce, she can barely mask her disappointment. That’s why I was so thrilled a few weeks ago when she helped herself to her third serving of Fettuccine with Artichokes, Roasted Peppers & Pine Nuts.

Our son, Solomon, used to be an incredibly picky and light eater, which would be very frustrating to any parent but especially one who loves food so much that she made cooking her profession. Over the years, through repeated exposure to so many foods, Solomon, who is now thirteen, has become a wonderfully adventurous eater. I knew we had come far from his food-averse days when he had a second helping of my healthy and hearty Lentil Stew with Bacon, over which he had drizzled a few drops of a Costa Rican hot pepper sauce we love, called Marie Sharps.

No matter what we’re eating, my family always makes dinner time together a priority. These days, dinner is usually the only time that all four of us are in the same room, at least without anyone being distracted by screens or phones. This sacred time together gives us a chance to connect with each other and detach from our to-do lists, homework and other daily pressures.

I’m pretty hopeful that all the healthy and delicious meals I cook for my family are going to be a part of their warm childhood memories, rather than the cause of many mental scars. And I’m sure that no matter what I’m serving, we are all nourished by this time together.

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I can imagine that there are some evenings of great doubt for the kids. One of the things I love about your recipes (as I mentioned last week) are the tips you give at the end. Often they include great advice for families with less-adventuresome eaters. I am fortunate because my husband loves to eat and is willing to try pretty much anything. That's a good thing because I don't often make the same thing twice.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway and visit Aviva's website.

SOS! The Six O'Clock Scramble to the Rescue at an Indie
SOS! The Six O'Clock Scramble to the Rescue at Powell's
These links lead to affiliate programs

Aviva Goldfarb is a mother of two and the author and founder of The Six O'Clock Scramble®, an online weekly menu planner and cookbook (St. Martin's Press, 2006), and is author of the new cookbook, SOS! The Six O’Clock Scramble to the Rescue: Earth Friendly, Kid-Pleasing Meals for Busy Families (St. Martin’s Press, 2010).

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09 June 2010

Review: The Turning: What Curiosity Kills by Helen Ellis

Mary, born in Alabama to poor and neglectful parents, thought the biggest change she'd ever experience had happened eight years earlier, when she was adopted by an upper-middle-class couple who moved her to New York and enrolled her in a private school. Not only did Mary get a loving mother and father but she also got a same-age sister. Life is now stable and full of promise--Mary's biggest problems are that her new last name is Richards and that classmate Ling Ling Lebowitz has a mean streak.

Then one day a cat brushes up against Mary, and just like that, her sense of reality is changed forever. What does it mean that there is now a strip of orange cat fur growing in a swirl around her foot?

Helen Ellis's The Turning: What Curiosity Kills is the first book in a new urban paranormal series for young adults. Sixteen-year-old Mary discovers that she is special, but being able to turn into a cat is not quite the special she was hoping for. The good news is that her major crush, Nick, can also turn, and he seems to be more than willing to be her guide. The bad news is that her sister is deathly afraid of cats. The good news is that Mary has to hide her condition for only five years. The bad news is that she has to hide her condition for five years.

According to Nick, the turning lasts two weeks every winter and then again for the entire summer. If they manage to stay alive for five years, they will be released from becoming cats and will be able to lead a normal life. What Curiosity Kills sets up the series: We are introduced to the major players, both feline and human; figure out that there are at least two gangs vying for control of the Upper East Side; and learn a bit about the lore behind the turnings.

Ellis's The Turning series will appeal most to middle-school readers, but cat lovers of any age will enjoy the premise. Adults will appreciate the novel's wry look at life on the Upper East Side. As Ellis told us in her guest post on Monday, Mary and her friends know a Manhattan that visitors to the city rarely see. After reading this book, you might have a new respect for the city's cats.