Last month, I found the topic of guys reading (or rather, not reading) coming up in both my online world and in real life.  Ted Balcom, a blogging colleague of mine over at Booklist’s Book Group Buzz, was discussing the lack of male participants in book discussion groups.  Earlier that week, a group of librarians and readers who attended an author interview I was moderating began a lively discussion during the Q&A portion, wondering why men don’t attend as many literary events as women do, what can librarians and teachers do to promote reading to males, etc.

Which led me to take a look around, and yep, almost all of the book blogs I follow and enjoy are written by women.  That’s not to say that Karen and I haven’t tried to profile boy blogs as well (we have, they just are not out there in the same numbers!). So this week, I’m bringing you a decidedly male book blog.

This week’s Web Crush is the aptly named Men Reading Books.  Their simple tag line is, “Book summaries and opinions written by guys about books that other guys might consider reading.”.   Short but interesting annotations of a wide variety of books, geared towards men.  Need I say more?

Men, are you out there reading?  What are you reading?  Where do you get your suggestions?  Tell us!  If you write a book blog for guys, we may even Crush on ya!  (we’re easy like that.)

Oh!  And for those of you who thought this site was going to be something different, um, you’re looking for this site.

From her home in Northern California, Dr. Amy Rogers is both fan and author of science and medical thrillers. On Science Thriller Boook Reviews she reviews books in this genre (plus a few other titles you might like) and rates them to help you decide what to read on your next vacation. What distinguishes her reviews is her focus on the medical/science aspects of the book. She uses little biohazard symbols to rate how important to the plot/well-handled the science is. As someone who never knew where fact met fantasy in Michael Crichton’s books, this kind of rating is invaluable. A great resource for readers who love it when a high-powered microscope or elegantly crafted algorithm help crack the case.

Booklist’s Book Group Buzz is THE place for you if you are in a book group, moderate a book group, or are interested in book group-type reads.  Here you’ll find group tips, reading lists, & lively talk of literary news from RA experts such as Ted Balcom, Gary Warren Niebuhr, David Wright, Neil Hollands, Misha Stone, Kaite Mediatore Stover, and oh, right, me, Rebecca Vnuk.

In fact, I will be leading an upcoming webinar called Book Group Buzzing.  It will consist of 3 book reps talking about new book club picks for the fall and then I’ll be talking about some trends.  Registration info at:
http://www.booklistonline.com/ ​GeneralInfo.aspx?id=63

Our Web Crush of the Week is actually going to be our final Web Crush here at LJ… we’re moving back to our home site, http://www.shelfrenewal.com.  Look for us to start posting there again after the holiday weekend!

So naturally, we’d like to direct you back there!  We like to think of our site as the original Web Crush, and hopefully, you’ll agree!

Please update your RSS feeds (or start a new one!) by subscribing to http://shelfrenewal.com/feed/rss/.

We’d like to thank everyone here at Library Journal for the past 18 months hosting our blog – it’s been a great time.  A big thank you to Wilda Williams, for getting us noticed, and to Francine Fialkoff for taking a chance on us and giving us room to shine!
See you all over at http://www.shelfrenewal.com!

Rebecca and Karen

Entomology of a Bookworm: The Study of a Self-Proclaimed Bookworm: Devouring the World of the Published Word is just that. (Though I can’t speak for the insect-related veracity of her claims.) After doing marketing and sales for an independent publisher, author Kerry McHugh turned her pen to wittily promoting her own literary sensibilities. Her easy-to-read blog features book reviews (of both new and past books), interesting tidbits for booklovers, publishing industry news, and e-book and e-reader updates. A chatty observer of all things booky, a recent post examined the etiquette of admitting that you’ve been reading someone’s iPad over his shoulder. Discuss.

In the Jan/Feb issue of Public Libraries, I profiled a number of sites where you and your patrons could find free eBooks.  Here’s another one for you:

Head to http://www.ereaderiq.com/free/ for a regularly updated list of all non-public domain freebies on Amazon.com. Granted, a large portion of them are self-published or odd duck titles, but there are gems to be found – last week the site alerted me to free Claire Cook, for example.  You can even sign up for email alerts whenever new free content is added.

Bookmarks Magazine’s reviews from around the web is a must-read, reliable resource for all popular materials librarians. (And nosy fans who just want to know what everybody’s talking about.) And because the site is run by smart, busy people, it’s organized just how you’d want–descending order by number of reviews in the last two months. Click on a title and you’ll see a product description, review if Bookmarks has published one, and links to the other sources that have reviewed the book. It couldn’t be more helpful. Thank you, Bookmarks!

This is great example of a book that we forget to recommend because we assume that everybody’s already read it. Here’s the truth. One: they haven’t. Two: the book’s over 15 years old. You will have the mortifying experience of having someone say, “I think I remember my mom reading that book.” But that’s ok. The book was good then, and it’s good now. Left behind at an Oklahoma Walmart by her boyfriend, pregnant 17 year old Novalee Nation camps out at the store until the baby’s birth exposes her. The good folks of Sequoyah adopt her and baby Americus, folding them into the fabric of their tight-knit community. In Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts, eccentric characters, the kind of warmth and acceptance you hope aren’t found only the pages of fiction, a little love, some self-discovery, and a natural disaster fill out this feel-good read.

As the Literary Sluts say, they’ll go to bed with any book.  They are a diverse group of 7 women, from a librarian to a former lawyer, who just love to write about the books they are reading.  They feature a monthly virtual book club, reviews of books old and new across all genres, and a laid-back, informal writing style.  Check them out at http://www.literarysluts.com.

In Robin Gold’s mis-named novel (I say that because the heroine’s weight, while refreshingly real, is really not the main thrust of the story), TV producer Delilah White, an aspiring Martha Stewart, is up for a promotion that could make her a star. She’s confident she’ll get it—she’s got personality, experience, and skills—but she finds herself thwarted at every turn by a rival determined to get the promotion for herself, at any cost.   When the two women find themselves in the Catskills for the weekend, Delilah realizes her nemesis is out to thwart her love life, as well. Scheming and sabotage abound in this funny story filled with appealing and realistic characters.