About « Books Worth Reading

About

I am a discerning reader. If a book doesn’t have me by page 50, I move on. And even if I finish a book, it doesn’t make it into my collection unless it’s a book that moved me, wowed me or taught me. I look for books that provide a new insight or say something old but in a new and compelling way. I seek classics that truly deserve the label because the stories and characters are timeless.

I started reviewing and rating every book I read in 2001. I read broadly, but my tastes lean toward the dark, the speculative, the spiritual and the fantastic. In this blog, I post reviews for recently published, noteworthy books as well as books that are classics of the genre, are in the news, have been adapted into a movie or are otherwise in the spotlight. Reviews of every book I read and my specialized reading lists are linked in the right column and are hosted on All Consuming. I also use this space to share news and interesting tidbits about books, publishing, writing and authors, focusing mainly on the speculative fiction genres.

I welcome reading lists and book recommendations as well — but only for books that are worth reading.

Please note: Well-thought-out and well-written responses, even if they don’t agree with me, will be retained. Comments containing an excess of foul language or that are blatantly attacking will be deleted.

- Shannon [shannon.turlington AT gmail.com / shannonturlington.com]

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Pingback by cooking-games.bookrecipe — September 7, 2007 #
Have you read “Poisinwood Bible”, or “Cane River”?

Comment by Poodle — October 31, 2007 #
Yes, I just finished Poisonwood Bible but haven’t posted my review yet. Have never heard of Cane River…

Comment by Shannon — November 1, 2007 #
Shannon, I like your blog. What a well rounded list of reading. May I humbly suggest my novel for your possible reads? It’s called An Island Away, you can find an excerpt and more through my blog at http://www.bentpage.wordpress.com. Thanks for your consideration.

Comment by Daniel — June 26, 2008 #
First of all, thanks for putting my blog on your blogroll. I found your site and then noticed it was on there. I’ve also enjoyed looking through a ton of your reviews. Very insightful!

I’ve started to write a book, based mostly off of my blog. Could you send me an email giving me your opinions of the stories on the site?

And have you written any books?

thanks!
dave, http://www.TheHistoryBluff.com

Comment by Dave Newell — July 18, 2008 #
Dave: You’re welcome. I’m always looking for new blogs to read.

Yes, I have written several books, all nonfiction, mostly about the Internet/computers. But that was in a different life…

Comment by Shannon — July 22, 2008 #
It’s funny how you can never fully appreciate a dystopian book properly until you have experienced a bit of life’s injustice. I got into these books when I was in my early 30s and have searched lists and recommends for more of them. I’m trying to put together a list of key elements that are used as the foundation to most dystopian novels and I think I am almost there. It’s funny but I have almost come up with a straw man for the Star Wars trilogy.

Anyway, you could also try;
- We. Yevgeny Zamyatin
- Farenheit 451. Ray Bradbury
- We the living. Ayn Rand
- A Canticle for Leibowitz. Walter M. Miller
- Mockingbird. Walter Tevis

Enjoy.

Comment by Mike — September 9, 2008 #
Thanks for the great suggestions, Mike. Please continue to visit–I read and review a lot of dystopian novels and would enjoy hearing your thoughts.

Comment by Shannon — September 9, 2008 #
Hi –
I am the affiliate Manager for Bookhabit.com, http://www.bookhabit.com allows writers to upload their books to our website and make them available for sale. The affiliate program went LIVE on October 12th. Do you join affiliate programs? Adding the Bookhabit widget allows you to offer your readers extra functionality.

Here is a link to the affiliate info and sign-up page. I look forward to your feedback and questions.
http://www.bookhabit.com/affiliate.php

Regards,

Sam Swanson
Sam@bookhabit.com

Comment by Sam — October 25, 2008 #
Thank you for linking to my blog. It’s a pleasure to share the reading of great books with others.

Comment by Daniel — October 29, 2008 #