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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Mr. Three Hats is not Native American as you may have assumed by his name."
And so sets up the foundation for this "book."
As a newly minted librarian, I occasionally stalk WorldCat, LibraryThing, GoodReads and Amazon for new or interesting materials w...moreMr. Three Hats is not Native American as you may have assumed by his name."
And so sets up the foundation for this "book."
As a newly minted librarian, I occasionally stalk WorldCat, LibraryThing, GoodReads and Amazon for new or interesting materials written by, for or featuring librarians. This book was so badly reviewed on LibraryThing and on Amazon, that while I knew I should have known better before getting it via ILL, I still ordered it anyways. Because it can't be that bad, right?
Wrong.
First, this book is self-published by PublishAmerica. Self-publishing in itself is a wonderful thing. I'm a huge fan of crowdsourcing and open source publishing models, such as Lulu.com. However, self-publishing definitely becomes a negative when the author, whose spent hundreds if not thousands via PublishAmerica getting their masterpiece into print form, do not engage an editor! Seriously! There are so many typos, inconsistencies, subject-verb disagreements that I wondered if this person even bothered to read what they wrote themselves. One trick one of my undergrad profs taught us in our intro to creative writing class is to read your work out loud. Slowly. As humans, we are all definitely fallible when it comes to writing in regards to grammar and consistency since our brains process much faster than our fingers. There is your protip for the day.
Secondly, the weird topic jump within single paragraphs was beyond annoying. She would begin the paragraph on subject X, suddenly verve to subject Y and then rant and rave for pages espousing her opinion on why the people of this town were illiterate, inbred, shiftless, lazy, public service sucking humans.
Thirdly, style. This ties into point the first with the lack of editor. She would drop in and out of time period, technology, and culture inconsistencies. For example, the book is apparently "written" by the author's sister who worked at the public library in Denialville, MI and then BOOM, died of lung cancer. The sister's greatest wish evah was to have her beloved book published. The problem with this premise is that in the introduction, the book leads the reader to believe that the sister has been dead for some time but the "sister" talks about technology and current events of the now. So apparently her sister is a time traveler?
Fourthly, the bigotry of the author. On anyone that is not her (white, "upper middle class", educated). Literally. Wow. Hate much? Here are some prime examples:
"Mr. Thee Hats is not Native American as you may have assumed by his name." "Personally, I cannot imagine why any one [note separation of words here] without a high school diploma would begin to think she or he had what it took to raise a child properly." "Maybe having sex shouldn't be so easy since so many poor, ignorant people are having it worth any birth control." "I know, to a lot of you, this sounds like eugenics. I have to wonder if those of you against eugenics are aware of the human suffering brought about by poor planning."
When the book was published in 2008, there was a huge hubbub about the author getting fired from the library she worked over the content in said masterpiece. The reasoning is that it is not so much that she published a book, but that her "fictionalizing" of the patrons in the book were actually fairly identifying characteristics of actual living persons. The author, whose pen name is a pseudonym and the premise (sister dying of lung cancer who originally wrote the book) was false, was discovered because she used images on her book cover the library she worked at as well as she aptly describes specific events and activities that are only available in that geographic area. According to other reports, she also bragged about the publication of the book to everyone and sundry. These are all smart moves if you're writing under a pseudonym and attempting to keep your actual identity on the downlow.
One should also keep in mind that librarians and those who work in libraries prescribe to a code of ethics and professionalism, which Miketa completely tossed out the window in the name of her "writing." I think that part bothers me more than the awful writing and editing.
Why you should read this book? I cannot think of a single identifying reason, in any instance, why I would recommend this title EXCEPT for a perfect example of how NOT to self-publish.
If you're looking for vignettes about working in libraries, check out the often updated and constantly hilarious LiveJournal community, The Society for Librarians Who Say M-F (http://community.livejournal.com/library...).(less)
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Per my review for the first book, I expected the second book to be more polished than the first.
It wasn't.
I simply cannot sympathize with Harper Connolly's plight nor can I even say I really like her. The characters are so wooden, the plot convol...morePer my review for the first book, I expected the second book to be more polished than the first.
It wasn't.
I simply cannot sympathize with Harper Connolly's plight nor can I even say I really like her. The characters are so wooden, the plot convoluted and the writing so stilted that I cannot even begin to fathom why people like this series even as a guilty pleasure.
My reluctance to read the Southern Mysteries is now even more intensified because if I cannot even invest time into Harris' secondary series, why should I invest in her first?
It's a shame, as I said before, as I like the premise of the series but it's just so badly done! I now wonder if Harris is hurting for cash and is using the fan base of her primary series to fund her other series' as a means to gain popularity?(less)
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So many of my friends have been reading the Sookeh + VamPAR Bel books (and I admit, I watch True Blood), that I thought I'd give Harris spin for some guilty pleasure. I choose the Harper Connolly mysteries as the entry way since I knew that much of t...moreSo many of my friends have been reading the Sookeh + VamPAR Bel books (and I admit, I watch True Blood), that I thought I'd give Harris spin for some guilty pleasure. I choose the Harper Connolly mysteries as the entry way since I knew that much of the Southern Mysteries book were veering left and right of True Blood.
With all of that being said, these books are merely mediocre. The writing is kind of stilted and I feel as though Harris spends so much time describing the characters more than she does providing plot or actions to push the plot through. There is just something wooden about Harper (protangonist) that I am hoping that book 2 is better than book 1.
But what I do like is the premise - it is the back story that Harris concocts that seems a bit far-fatched (yes, yes, considering all the shenanigans with VamPAR Bel and Sookeh, this should not surprise me but I mean, c'mon, laying down that much backstory in the first book in a planned series seems a bit much.).(less)
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
After the witches, Nac Mac Feegles are my second favorite set of characters in Discowrld and "I Shall Wear Midnight," the last Tiffany Aching book the very short series hopefully does NOT mark their last appearance in the Discworld. TPerry's books al...moreAfter the witches, Nac Mac Feegles are my second favorite set of characters in Discowrld and "I Shall Wear Midnight," the last Tiffany Aching book the very short series hopefully does NOT mark their last appearance in the Discworld. TPerry's books always contain a subtext element of commentary about the modern world and with ISWM, the only commentary I could find was the comment on love. And of peace. And of hope. I don't think we could ask for a better ending than that.(less)
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