Weekly Book Chat {Socially Awkward}

From GReads (TGIF):
Q. Social Networking: Do you use Twitter or Facebook to promote your blog? How has it benefited your book blogging experience? If not, how do you promote your blog?

I don't use Twitter much, nor Facebook at all - although I see value in both, I don't have the time to really make good use of either of those social networking sites. But I do visit & comment on a lot of blogs, mostly through a few of the memes I participate in - that's social ... right?! Since starting up 5 months ago, commenting has been the only means I use t get the word out. Growth has been slow but steady and I'm pretty happy with that plus with my efforts here to make this a place of value to others, and an enjoyable endeavor for myself.

From Alison Can Read and Parajunkee (Feature and Follow):
Q. What is the best and worst book you've read in the last month?
Favorite book read in February was Mistress of Rome, Kate Quinn. I LOVED this historical romance - deep characters and an insanely intense plot. Yes - I liked this book even more than Divergent by Veronica Roth & Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman - both of which would tie for 2nd. The book I liked the least would be The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan. The dictionary style way the book was written - with a word, and then a story from their relationship matching the definition - was cute, but ultimately, I found many of the stories rather forgettable.

*** The James Tiptree Award winner, honor list, and long list of recommended reading was announced on Mar 10, 2012. The award is presented annually to a work of science fiction or fantasy that explores and expands gender roles. The winner is Redwood and Wildfire by Andrea Hairston.

*** The winner of The 2012 PEN/ Hemingway Award for First Fiction, announced on Mar 8, 2012, is Open City by Teju Cole.

*** The recipients for The Solstice Awards, granted to up to three persons, living or dead, who have consistently had a positive, transformative influence on the genre of science fiction and fantasy, was announced on March 13, 2012. The winners are Octavia Butler and John Clute. I am a budding Butlerite and am excited to read even more of her work now (sadly, Butler passed away in 2010).

*** The print version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica is no more (via NPR). Content will now be published digitally. The final print edition (2010 - 32 volumes) is on sale at their website for $1,395 - wowza!

*** The winner for the Man Asian Literary Prize was announced on Mar 15, 2012 as Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin. She's the 1st woman to have won the prize - as well as the 1st South Korean.

*** The 5 finalists for the 12th annual Young Lions Fiction Award - which honors American writers age 35 or younger who are "carving deep impressions in the literary world" - were announced on March 14, 2012. I've only read The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore by Benjamin Hale - which left me thinking "wow ... really ... hmmm ... wtf ... dude ... really ... crazy!" In other words - read it people so we can converse! I think I might try to read the other books before the winner is announced on May 14, 2012.

*** The shortlist/ 10 finalists for the 2012 Best Translated Book Awards for fiction & poetry was announced on Mar 11. Winners will be announced on April 29, 2012.