Editeyes

The books I read in 2009 were varied, leaving me quite satisfied about that aspect of the year.

I got an iPod for Christmas 2008, so I was able to listen to a lot of audiobooks, though I had a weird spell starting in August when I repeatedly rejected my audiobook choices. Later, I returned to 2 of 5 of these books and found them quite agreeable. In the interim, I dove into my fallback escape genre–mystery–swallowing whole a number of these by Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwall, and P.D. James. Then I listened to The Thirteenth Tale read by Bianca Amato, and I was back in the throes of audiobooks. But wait, I get ahead of myself. The year started with some wonderful non-fiction, many in the spiritual vein, and I also read some great poetry this year.

Of all that I read in 2009, here are some that I recommend to others:

The Barn at the End of the World by Mary Rose O’Reilly

A Love of Impermanent Things by Mary Rose O’Reilly

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Standing in the Light: My Life as a Pantheist by Sharman Apt Russell

Comfortable with Uncertainty by Pema Chodron

The Life of Pi by Tann Martel

Interpretive Work by Elizabeth Bradstreet

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon and the Journey of a Generation by Sheila Weber

Jewel by Brett Lott

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

So Far from God by Ana Castillo

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer

Into the Wild by John Krakauer

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larrson

Dog Years by Mark Doty

The Sister by Poppy Adams

The Thirteen Tale by Diane Setterfield

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Neffenegger

A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore

Stopping on the Edge to Wave by James Baker Hall

See How we Almost Fly by Alison Luterman

The Human Line by Ellen Bass

Mules of Love by Ellen Bass

As you can see, many of these books were published years ago, and I’m just getting to them. I’m so glad that I did, especially Ana Castillo, Jon Krakauer, and Neil Gaiman. I read without direction last year and the result was not bad.

This year, however, I’ve decided to be more purposeful. I’ve made 4 lists of books that I intend to read from:

• 10 books already on my shelves
• 10 books of poetry
• 5 classics I haven’t yet read
• 10 books I will re-read

Next time I’ll post these lists. In the meantime, let me know a few of your favorite reads from 2009.

Tags: Books by ph
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The book launch for Between Two Women was one year ago this past weekend. It was a fabulous party and wonderfully validating. And it was my first promotional event!

In the year since, I can’t say I’ve been a highly successful book promoter, but I’ve learned a lot, and it is quite clear that book sales rise in direct proportion to book promotion. That’s a fairly obvious conclusion, and it points to the fact that promotional efforts have to be given full attention and lots of time and effort. My attention has been sporadic. Like my exercise program this year, there have been bursts of enthusiastic effort followed by thinking and not doing.

In my more energetic moments, I’ve found some excellent resources, including the following books:

• The Frugal Book Promoter by Carolyn Howard Johnson
• Plug Your Book: Online Marketing for Authors by Steve Weber
• Speak and Grow Rich by Dottie Walters & Lilly Walters
•  Sell Your Book on Amazon by Brent Sampson

My absolute favorite, however, is Freocious Promotion for Timid Authors by Hope Clark and Gwynne Spencer.  I like this book because these women understand that book promotion feels like a chore and it’s scary. To that end that offer practical, easy to implement and inexpensive practices.

Whenever I start feeling down in the dumps about what a lousy promoter I am, I grab this book, read a few pages, and suddenly I’m re-invigorated. I start scribbling notes about things I can do immediately to get my promotional efforts back in motion.

Then I set the book down and get to work!

Make sure you get Ferocious when you start thinking about book promotion.

Tags: Books, Going Public by ph
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Last summer, fellow writer Kate Evans turned me on to GoodReads, a website where readers befriend one another and share book titles and reviews. It’s also a place where authors can maintain a page about their published works and invite friends to events.

Here is a review that I just posted on Good Reads for The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski.

Wroblewski has certainly managed to mix an unusual array of elements in this thoroughly enjoyable book. Employing a setting in the lake country of Northern Wisconsin and a time period some forty years ago, he evokes a sense of displacement–not in the manner of sci-fi but simply offering a time and place that is at once familiar and foreign. The farm where the story is set has a mysterious aura, for the original settler built a wonderful home and barn and then for unknown reasons suddenly departed, selling the place from afar. Then Wroblewski adds a novel breed of dog and a voiceless boy to the mix–a boy who not only communicates non-verbally with the dogs but who also has a strangely believable connection to other spheres as well.

I won’t spoil the story by saying more than that. I’ll just conclude by saying Wroblewski is a fine and compelling story teller as attested to by the huge popularity of this book. I listened to the audiobook version and though it took a bit longer than usual to hook me, by the midway point I was fully invested in the characters’ lives and the intriguing narrative.

Check out GoodReads, and if you do, please invite me to be your friend.

Tags: Books by ph
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