Random Notes

Carl V. at Stainless Steel Droppings is showcasing some really amazing altered book art on his site (see: Book Week: Day Two). I know altered books are controversial with book people – if you love books, the idea of cutting them up or obscuring the text in any way can amount to wanton disfigurement, pure and simple. But some of Carl's examples are breathtaking. I don't think I would ever have come up with the idea of carving a book.

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I'm sure everybody has probably discovered Weekly Geeks by now. It's a new kind of challenge hosted by Dewey at The Hidden Side of a Leaf, and it has a different theme every week. It started off this past week with "Discover New Blogs Week," with the following guidelines:

1. Look through the list of blogs on the Mr Linky ... and see if you can find five that are new to you. If you can’t, find as many new blogs as possible and then some you don’t read super regularly.
2. Visit those new blogs. A comment would be nice; people like comments.
3. When you’re ready, at some point by Friday if you want to be included in the blurbs next week, write a post in your blog featuring those new blogs you visited.
4. Don’t forget to come back here and leave a link to your post, so that I can get it into the blurbs!

I haven't had time to do a lot of sampling, but I did find a few new book blogs that look interesting.

Mysteries in Paradise is devoted to reviews and talk about mysteries and crime fiction – one of my favorite genres.
Books & Other Thoughts has many fine reviews of children's and YA titles, and a nice inviting tropical design.
The Book Mine Set is owned by John Mutford. Well, technically this wasn't a new find – I've visited John's site before. He's Canadian and hosts the Canadian Book Challenge. His blog is a great way to learn a bit about Canadian literature, and there are always lots of amusing comments to read, too.

Well, I know that's not five, but I'm still exploring.