It has been a long time since I last posted a set of links, so I apologise that some of them are a bit old, but if you haven’t seen them then they are still worth looking at!
Scribbit has a great post about how blogging has changed over the years.
The Wonder of Whiffling takes an interesting look at words in the English language. I’d love to read the book, but the website has a few quotes to keep me going until I get a copy!
I love looking at bookshelves, so enjoyed having a glimpse at Neil Gaiman’s bookshelves.
There is a lot of wisdom for both new and old bloggers in this 50 Blogging Lessons To Know If You’re Starting Today post.
Toast It Notes – Are they madness or genius?
I found this free tool for checking the load speed of your blog. I discovered that mine loads really slowly, so am working on that! It highlights exactly which parts of your blog are causing the problems, so it is a very useful tool.
Books I’ve been persuaded to buy
Between Mom and Jo, by Julie Anne Peters recommended by Amanda from Zen Leaf.
I only discovered Amanda’s blog during BBAW. This was the first book review I read on her blog. I knew that she would become a favourite when her first post persuaded me to part with my money. She describes it as “the best book about GLBT issues I’ve ever read.” I love the fact she describes it as being emotional and stereotype-breaking. I hope that I enjoy it as much as she did.
City of Refuge by Tom Piazza recommended by Wendy from Caribous Mom
City of Refuge looks at the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Wendy says that it “leaves the reader with hope and a glimpse into the enduring spirit of a community.” She gave it 5 stars and as we have a similar taste in books anything she likes has a strong chance of ending up in my TBR pile. This one went straight onto the list!
The Monk by Matthew Lewis recommended by She from A Book Blog. Period.
I was very intrigued when She described The Monk as an “18th century version of a screwed up soap opera. No… Jerry Springer.” I hadn’t heard of it before, but I hope to read it very soon.
Did any of these books attract your attention too?
30 replies on “Links I’ve stumbled across this month”
Always love your links! You have me lusting for The Wonder of Whiffling, and fondly remembering The Monk. Happy reading!
Thank you Frances! It is great to know that you have fond memories of The Monk – it seems like the perfect book to read at this time of the year, so I hope to squeeze it in soon.
I really like this feature! Ooh, Neil Gaiman bookshelves…
Aarti, I love Neil Gaiman’s bookshelves too! I wish I had ones like that – I have wobbly stacks of books everywhere.
I’ve read the Monk; it and the novels by Ann Radcliffe were very much pioneers of the Gothic novel and are deliciously suspenseful and exaggerated. Enjoy!
Claire, I look forward to reading it and will add Ann Radcliffe to the list too- thank you for letting me know about her.
I found The Monk hee-larious. It would be excellent for playing some kind of drinking game where you drink whenever you come across a cliché of the Gothic genre. It’s amazing. I hope you enjoy it!
Emily, I’m not sure about the drinking game, but I love the idea!! I’m really looking forward to reading it!
Oh yeah, I am all over City of Refuge. I’ve seen a few reviews and they were all wonderful. I’m going to have to sit down later tonight and look at some of your other links. Thank goodness for you and these posts. You keep me up to date!
Sandy, I’m pleased that you find my links useful and will try to post them more regularly in future.
I loved City of Refuge. If I had known you were looking for a copy I would have sent you mine.
Nicole, That is so generous of you – I wish I’d known, but thank you for the thought.
Great links! I’d love to spend a day or few perusing Neil Gaiman’s library.
And that toast thing? Also pretty awesome! LOL.
Megan, Yes, I’d love to spend a few days there too!
I have been wanting to read a book about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers and City of Refuge by Tom Piazza both look very good.
Samantha, I haven’t heard of Zeitoun before – thank you for bringing it to my attention.
I’m glad you got Between Mom and Jo, and I hope you like it as much as I did. I got City of Refuge from Chris and I hope it’s good, and I also put The Monk on my list from that same review!
Amanda, Between Mom and Jo looks really good – it is also quite short, so I hope I can squeeze it in soon. I look forward to comparing notes on the other two.
Ah! I am so glad I persuaded you to buy The Monk! I’m super excited to read what you think about it 😀 😀 😀 I hope you enjoy it.
She, Thanks for bringing it to my attention! I look forward to reading it!
City of Refuge is an amazing book, I really hope you love it as much as I did!
Heather, It is good to know that you loved it too! I look forward to reading it!
OK, I now want all of these, too! I’m now going to chase some of these links. Thank you.
Care, Sorry for addinf to your wishlist! I hope you like them!
I’ve just opened up four tabs for reading — great set of links! City of Refuge does look good, but I haven’t bought it or borrowed it yet.
Beth, I hope that you manage to find a copy of Ciy of Refuge – I’m sure it will be great!
Thanks for sharing this, loads of interesting links to read when I get the chance! Andy
Andy, I hope that you enjoy them!
that shot of gaiman’s shelves is awesome! Thanks for the link round up — very fun!
Rebecca, I’m pleased that you enjoyed them!