Review: Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

If you're looking for my review, it has been moved to my new website! Check me out at Minds Alive on the Shelves.

Review: Pirate Latitudes by Michael Chrichton

My New Website!

If the comment moderation was the bad news, here is the good news: I've got my own website! For quite a while I have wanted to move my reviews to my own website, and now I've got the chance. Come on over and check out my new digs:

Alive on the Shelves.com

You can find all my old reviews at the new site, but they are better organized - there's a reading list with links to each review and I've revised my tags and categories so you can find the reviews you're interested in more easily.

I'll be posting reviews in both places for a while and I am planning some giveaways to christen the new site. Come on over and make sure you're on my RSS feed!

I hoped it wouldn't come to this...

Sadly, I have had to turn on word verification for the comments on this blog. After having to go in twice today to delete the same get-rich-quick spam comment, as well as deleting multiple comments from a Japanese porn site that likes my book reviews, I'd had enough.

We've got one major spammer going to prison, let's hope others end up in the same place. I would love to see an internet free of spam and malware.

A lovely idea for the holidays: The Dewey Tree

Those of you who frequent a number of book blogs may be familiar with Dewey, a well-known blogger who passed away this time last year. She was a force in the on-line community - sponsoring and supporting a variety of the events we all participate in. Lisa at Online Publicist came up with a lovely idea to comemmorate Dewey and spread the charitable spirit around the holidays.

Here's how it works

"Here's what you do: Gather up the books you can live without. It can be 4
books, 10 books, or 20 books! Find a worthy group you would like to donate your overflow books to. It can be your local library, a literacy campaign (mine will go to the literacy center I volunteer for), or overseas. There's a great list of
book donation sites here on the ALA. Find a charity that speaks to you!*Then take a picture of your donation and email it to me (onlinepublicist [AT] gmail [DOT] com). It can be a pic of the mailing label on your package, one of your kids giving a box of books to a librarian, or you handing books over to your literacy center. Be creative and have fun!"

I will definitely be pulling together a pile of books. I can think of several local charities that might be able to use them (my local library is kind of funny about donations). I sometimes forget that although I consider books a necessity, for others they are a luxury, a luxury they set aside when there is barely enough for food and shelter. I hope these find their way into the hands of someone who will really enjoy them.

For more information, check out Lisa's post on The Dewey Tree.