Most blogs have one. In fact, it’s a default page or widget in most blogging software. It’s the first thing I look for and check out when I encounter a new blog. Yep, it’s the “about” page.

The “about” page is pretty important to a blog. It gives readers and potential readers a snapshot of you and your blog. It also serves as a good reference in the future for readers to refresh on the details. Okay. It’s important. Good.

Content.

Location? Vocation? Pictures? Blog intro? Reading habits/philosophy? Contact info? Book reviewing policies? Links? There is a fine line to walk here between being informative and privacy concerns.

My “About” Page.

Here is how mine reads as of right now:

My name is Jessica, and I am a book addict. I read and read and read (as much as my career, family, and church will allow).

If you would like me to review one of your books, please leave a comment on this page or email me at thebluestockingsociety (at) gmail.com.

Not bad. Not too spectacular. To get ideas on how to add a little pizzazz to my “about” page, I did a quick tour of my blogroll.

Examples.

Matt at A Guy’s Moleskine Notebook has a list “about” page that lists his interests and activities and 100 things about him.

Eva over at A Striped Armchair has a lengthy “about” page which includes a general introduction to her and her blog and her reading tastes. Also, she links to memes she’s posted that tell a little bit more about her.

Chartroose over at Bloody Hell, It’s a Book Barrage! has a nicely crafted, alliterate “about” page.

Raych over at Books I Done Read has a rant of an “about” column that conveys all of the necessary information about her blog.

Dorothy W. over at Of Books and Bicycles has a brief “about” page similar to mine above.

Rebecca of Rebecca Reads and Karen at Sassy Monkey Reads both have conversational “about” pages that explain their personal book blog philosophies.

Christine over at She Reads Books has a comprehensive “about” page organized by topic for easy access, and she even includes a privacy statement.

Dewey over at The Hidden Side of a Leaf has an informative “about” page that was a little hard to find but full of useful information about her blog (and her extensive blog-community events) and her personal life. She has a little bit of the list thing going on there at the end, too.

Rants and Reads at The Novel World admits to struggling with her “about” page, but provides good information there.

The above examples are not exhaustive. There are many good examples out there, but these are the ones that kind of stuck out in some way to me.

Resolution.

Based on my own thoughts and my review of several blogs, I’ve established that I would like to revise my “about” page. Specifically, I am going to add more personal information like location and possibly vocation. Also, I’m going add a little intro to my blog. And, finally, I’m going to be more specific about my ARC/review policies.

I think it’ll be a work in progress, an evolution, if you will. The first phase in the evolution should occur in the next day or two. Be sure to check it out.

Questions.

What are your feelings about the “about” page? Do you have one? What do you include? What do you leave out? How often do you update or change it? (Including links to your “about” info would be helpful on this one.)

Do you check out other blogs’ “about” pages? Are you disappointed when there isn’t one? What would you like others to include?

Today’s thought-provoking meme:

Think about your favorite authors, your favorite books . . . what is it about them that makes you love them above all the other authors you’ve read? The stories? The characters? The way they appear to relish the taste of words on the tongue? The way they’re unafraid to show the nitty-gritty of life? How they sweep you off to a new, distant place? What is it about those books and authors that makes them resonate with you in ways that other, perfectly good books and authors do not?

I like stories about people. People I can believe in and admire and love. People that are real (without being actually real). That doesn’t mean that they have to be perfect. In fact, it’s quite the opposite; it’s the flaws that make my favorite characters work. All of my favorite authors, Steinbeck, Austen, Enger, Wolff, Ondaatje, Greene, Dahl, create flawed, real characters and toss them into tough situations to see what they’ll do.

I like an author that has a “way with words.” All of my favorite authors do, though I would say the most poetic is Ondaatje.

And finally, I like sweeping. No, not the floors. I like a book that sweeps me off to a new and different place. In order for a book to reach the top echelons of “my favorites,” it must be able to absorb me, lure me in, keep me there, and leave me wanting to stay a little longer.

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On Chesil Beach, by Ian McEwan, is the best book I’ve read in a while. It was beautiful and breathtaking and melancholy and almost perfect. (I include the “almost” because it didn’t do my laundry.)

The novella takes place in 1962 on Edward and Florence’s wedding night. While the foregoing sentence is technically true, it actually covers a great deal more than that because of the flash backs. Still, the pivotal moments occur because the virgins have some unspoken issues that they will be forced to deal with on this momentous night. Here is the first line:

They were young, educated, and both virgins on this, their wedding night, and they lived in a time when a conversation about sexual difficulties was plainly impossible.

The plot and character development were done so deftly that I was always in the moment and yet always looking forward to the next point. Perhaps what I liked most was that Edward and Florence were normal people. They had no excessive horrors in their lives or personalities. They were everyman and everywoman with their own set of issues and fears and strengths and weaknesses. This book was ultimately human.

The writing was simple and yet complex in its beauty. I particularly liked this passage:

She watched him coming along the strand, his form at first no more than an indigo stain against the darkening shingle, sometimes appearing motionless, flickering and dissolving at its outlines, and at others suddenly closer, as though moved like a chess piece a few squares toward her.

Ian McEwan was impressively adept at writing both the male and female perspectives realistically. There is no easy answer to the questions before the newlyweds, and McEwan shows how differently they both perceive the same situation. McEwan also portrays their young love very realistically. He describes the two lovers retelling their first meeting, which was “by now enriched by a private mythology.”

Okay, I could go on and on. Just read this book! One note of caution, this book does deal with sex. While I personally thought the subject was treated respectfully and realistically, not voyeuristically, this book may not be for everyone.

On Chesil Beach, by Ian McEwan (35) * * * * *

And now for some linking love: Booking Mama is having an awesome giveaway here. A great website with meme listings by day of the week can be found here. I recently won and received a copy of The Fires from Books on the Brain. Thank you! The 24-Hour Read-a-thon is quickly approaching. Alan Cheuse makes suggestions for sating that literary addiction here. My Poetry Tuesday meme for the week is about your favorites!! Come on, who can resist telling about your favorite things?

Who is your favorite poet?

What is your favorite poem?

What is your favorite/least favorite poetry experience?

What is your favorite poetry collection?

What is your favorite epic poem?

 * * *

My answers:

My favorite poet.  Hmmm . . . .  This is almost as hard as picking a favorite author.  I love William Butler Yeats because of the complexity of his poems.  I love Walt Whitman for the nature imagery and his language.  I love Billy Collins for his accessibility.

My favorite poem.  Nope.  I can’t do it.  I can’t pick one.  See other Poetry Tuesday posts for some of my favorites by Mary Oliver, Walt Whitman, and William Butler Yeats.

My favorite poetry experience.  I don’t have a lot of what I would classify as “poetry experiences,” but I do have a fond memory of memorizing Juliet’s “a rose by any other name” speech from Romeo and Juliet in ninth grade.

My favorite poetry collection.  As of right this second, my favorite poetry collection is Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry.  Good times.

My favorite epic poem.  Yep.  I don’t know much about this one because I haven’t read many epic poems.  I want to read The Iliad and The Odyssey and The Aeneid and Paradise Lost.  I have read Beowolf.  I liked it.  I’ve read all of Dante’s The Divine Comedy.  Inferno is definitely my favorite.  That’s it.  Inferno is my favorite epic poem.  The end.

 * * *

Last week’s group poem was a big hit:

A book or two, or how about three

ducks whittled out of balsa wood

The Goose Girl is based on the fairy tale of the same name.  I knew the basic plot of the fairy tale (princess goes to marry a prince in a foreign land, her lady-in-waiting switches places and tells everyone she is the princess, the princess becomes a goose-keeper, eventually the true princess is restored to her rightful place and the lady-in-waiting is killed), but Hale’s retelling of the book was intruiging and magical and heartfelt.  I was swept along with Ani/Isi (the goose girl) and her tale of becoming a princess by being a commoner.  The character development was a little spotty with regard to most of the other characters, as with most fairy tales, but the development of Ani was amazing.  I felt her uncertainty and longing and the building of her character and sense of self.  (Also, I loved the prince.)

Some of the more fantastical elements, like Ani’s the communications with the wind, were a little much for me.  But I loved Ani’s mystical aunt and Ani’s communications with Jok, the goose, and Falada, her horse.  There was a bit of everything in this story: heartbreak, intrigue, murder, royalty, love, friendship, betrayal, loyalty, bravery, and self-discovery.  And, most importantly, they all lived happily ever after.  At least until the next book starts.  Sigh.  I’ll read this book again.  And again.

The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale (75) * * * * *

Other reviews:

A Striped Armchair

The Written Word

Melody’s Reading Corner

Things Mean a Lot

Persepolis is a memoir in graphic novel form. It takes place in Tehran, Iran from about 1978-1983. It covers the fall of the Shah, the Iranian Revolution, and the Iran/Iraq War from the perspective of a preteen/teen. It’s actually a pretty good history lesson.

This book got to me. The combination of the pictures and the honest reactions were, at times, very effective. It was a fast read, and I was immediately emotionally involved. Also, I felt like the perspective of the narrator was true to her age. In other words, it felt like a 10-14 year-old was actually writing the book and telling us exactly how she felt.

Though I liked this book, I’m pretty sure graphic novels are not going to become main fare in my reading diet. I tend to process the words and the pictures separately. I sometimes became confused and frustrated when the words and/or pictures weren’t clear. For example, the pictures are all drawn in black and white and it was sometimes hard to tell the mother from the daughter. The reckless use of dangling pronouns only added to the problem. I often had to go back and read whole pages to confirm who a pronoun was referring to and sometimes it wasn’t clear after a reread. (Also, a note: the book did have some profanities and dealt rather bluntly with torture.)

Whew. Now that I’m done ranting about pronouns, I will say that this book was well done. It was honest. It was funny. It was touching. The ending almost made me cry. I’ve put Persepolis 2 on reserve at the library.

Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi: (55) * * * *

Other reviews:

Rebecca Reads

Things Mean a Lot

The Hidden Side of a Leaf

Reading Adventures

Have you ever been a member of a book club? How did your group choose (ot, if you haven’t been, what do you think is the best way to choose) the next book and who would lead discussion?

Do you feel more or less likely to appreciate books if you are obliged to read them for book groups rather than choosing them of your own free will? Does knowing they are going to be read as part of a group affect the reading experience?

I am currently a member of two face-to-face book clubs. The first one consists of members of my church, though we rarely read religious books. The book selection process in this club is very casual to the point of almost dysfunction. People are supposed to come to each meeting with selections for the next meeting. Then we all vote. The other book club’s selection process is simple. We rotate months. In May, for example, I choose the book, let everyone know what the selection was, and then hosted.

As for my enjoyment of a book, I don’t think being “forced” to read a book for book club automatically affects how I feel about it. I love to read, and I love to talk about what I read, so I’m pretty available for whatever selection is chosen. I do think that book clubs are good for my reading habits in that I read books I wouldn’t have otherwise read. Plus, I just love getting together with other readers. I look forward to it every month.