Sunday Salon - 24 May 2009

Good morning fellow Sunday Saloners - all 380 of you!

I was struck this week as I compiled the 5th edition of the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge Blog Carnival, how a specifically focussed community can develop around a blogging project. There are a dozen or so regular contributors to the monthly carnival and I look forward to seeing which Agatha Christie novel they have recently blogged about.

Apart from Sunday Salon, which also is a great community, I belong to a number of others (have a look in my side bar).
What these communities have in common is that their members blog about the books they are reading. Like me, many began their blog in order to write about the book they are reading. And that's my message to you to today - if you are not using your blog to reflect on your reading, then you should. Try to do a bit more than say "today I finished XXXX. It was great/dreadful/boring/motivating". Tell another reader just a little about the book (no spoilers please!), and then what you got out of it, or what you felt about it. There are heaps of guidelines about writing book reviews around on other blogs, but mine are readily available here.

This week's posts

• And the Winner Is!
  I held a competition to win a copy of THE GOOD HUSBAND OF ZEBRA DRIVE.
• Review: PUBLISH OR PERISH, Margot Kinberg
  Margot sent me a copy of her debut novel earlier this year.
• Agatha Christie Reading Challenge Blog Carnival #5
• Forgotten Book: THE LITTLE WORLD OF DON CAMILLO, Giovanni Guareschi
  This week's contribution to Pattinase's Friday's Forgotten Books, a community where a dozen or so bring a skeleton, generally crime fiction, out of the closet and remind each other what good reading it was.
• Join the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge
  I bit the bullet and created a Mr Linky where people can actually join the challenge.
• ACRC Update - 20 May 2009
  My celebration of the fact that I've now read the first 11 Agatha Christie novels in order.
• Why you shouldn't read crime fiction late at night...
  A reminder that many Agatha Christie videos are available on YouTube in small episodes.
• Review: THE SITTAFORD MYSTERY, Agatha Christie
• Why do I blog?
  A meme
• Weekly Geeks: 2009-18, Home Town tour
  Another community that I belong to. A chance to talk about Adelaide and also about crime fiction.
  

Breaking News

• Agatha Christie Reading Challenge Blog Carnival #5 posted
• The Complete Miss Marple - world's thickest book
• Dial M for Marple
• Anthony Award nominations announced
• THE SLAP wins Commonwealth Writers' Prize
• Stephen King recommends you read SHATTER
  

Last week's poll had 33 participants.

Most pointed out through comments that they didn't consciously choose a book by the gender of the author, but it was suggested more than once that if you mainly read particular genres, then you have a greater chance of reading female rather than male authors. But we can all think of examples that are the exception to the rule.

To think about this in terms of my original post Is Writing Still a Man's World? then the answer is No.
If you play around with the poll results, then 33 people read 165 books. Of those, 83 were written by female authors which is just over 50%. What does that prove? I'm not sure..

This week's poll: Which of the 2009 Anthony Award Nominees for Best Novel have you read? Do check the list of novels. Even if you don't generally read crime fiction you may have read one or more of them.

Currently reading

• now - THE BAD POLICEMAN, Helen Hodgman
• next - RITUAL, Mo Hayder
• after that - THE MYSTERIOUS MR QUIN, Agatha Christie
• in the car - SEARCH THE DARK, Charles Todd (#3)

If you are looking for some crime fiction recommendations, check Smik's Reviews

• A-Z AUTHOR LIST
• ALL Reviews in ranked order
• Latest Additions
• 2009 Reviews
• 2008 Reviews

If you are looking for some crime fiction blogs to follow then check Crime Fiction Journeys for over 100 blogs that I can recommend.

Happy reading!