To Bee or Not to Bee

The Secret Life of Bees opens today. Great book, but does that mean great movie? I’m sure you’ve all heard the saying, “You can’t judge a book by its movie”. There have been plenty of movies based on books that I have enjoyed immensely, though. The Notebook had me weeping as much through the film as the book and I can say the same about The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I saw both of those on TV years after reading the books, so maybe that makes a difference. The DaVinci Code had me captivated in book form…the movie? Not so much.

What about you?

Do you look forward to movies based on your favorite books or do you stay away?

Will you see the movie before or after reading the book?
	Never - the movie can not compare!
	I will see the movie if I enjoyed the book.
	I will read the book if I enjoyed the movie.
	Only years later while curled up on the couch eating bon bons and watching LifeTime.
	Other - explain under comments.
pollcode.com free polls

Follow Me!

Blogspot has added a new gadget called Followers. It's similar to Twitter in that you can become a follower of BayShore Blog and it'll let me know that someone is at least reading it. You can join either with your google account or anonymously and you'll know when I update the blog. Since this was just added, at the moment the followers list shows a great big zero. Is there anything more depressing than that?? Even if you are already a follower on Twitter or a friend on IndieBound , Shelfari , Goodreads, Library Thing , JacketFlap, LinkedIn, MySpace, ShoutLife or Facebook, please follow BayShore Blog!

1,000 (or less) Things To Do (in Oconto) Before You Rest (or Crash)

This weekend will be the weekend of all weekends in Oconto!

Today we start out with the homecoming parade and then the game against Mishicot – Go Blue Devils!! Tonight is also opening night for The Machickanee Players in which my husband plays the part of our eldest son. His character bears a strong resemblance to my son anyway.

Saturday, after wrapping up Banned Book Week by testing your knowledge , it’s time for the Harvest Festival and Balloons Across America Celebration. Food, arts and crafts, children’s activities, what more could you ask for? The Business Scavenger Hunt, of course! This gives everyone a chance to check out all the local businesses and win great prizes. During the scavenger hunt, stop in to meet Margaret W. Jones, Ph.D. visiting all the way from Massachusetts to discuss bullying and sign copies of her new release, Not of My Making . This will give you a chance to warm up with a coffee or cocoa! The second Machickanee Players show and the homecoming dance wrap up Saturday’s events.

Sunday while the teens are sleeping off the excitement of the night before, this gives you the opportunity to see the matinee of God’s Favorite by Neil Simon and curl up with a good book. The Lucky One is my book of choice this week, how about you?

No, You Can't Read That!

Not long ago a mother and daughter were browsing through the teen book club shelf where the daughter, who must have been 15 or 16, found something that caught her interest. After reading the back of Story of a Girl she handed it to her mother who promptly said "No!" and placed it back on the shelf.

Tomorrow begins Banned Books Week and my opinion on banning books has always been that only a parent has the right to decide what their children may read – not teachers or librarians, booksellers or other parents. I have heard many stories from fellow booksellers about irate parents who marched their teenager back into the bookstore to return a recently purchased book they didn’t approve of. The booksellers got an earful for selling such a book to the impressionable angel they view their child to be. If a child is old enough to walk into a bookstore alone, choose a book, pay for it and leave, the parent obviously feels he/she is old enough to make her/his own decisions. How can that parent honestly be upset at the bookseller for not doing the parent’s job for them? Who are we to decide what your child is capable of handling?

Back to the parent that wouldn’t allow her high school student read Story of a Girl, which is about a thirteen year old who was caught having sex with an older boy by her father and how that affected her life. This parent has every right to make this decision for her daughter. Obviously I believe this story is suitable for someone of her age since I allowed our teen book club to choose it. In fact, they choose many books this particular parent does not approve of. However, I think they make wonderful choices. After reading Crank a long discussion ensued about teen drug use and these kids were very open and honest. Not a discussion most would have with their parents or teachers.

There was a conversation between booksellers about which books to recommend to boys to get them to read more. One bookseller stated she simply has to place a book into his hands and whisper, “your mother wouldn’t approve”. Of course, the comment was made in jest, but it does prove a point.

Celebrate your freedom to read this week by picking up one of the

top 100 challenged books in 2000-2007

Marketing Genius?

Can gamers, collectors and bookworms coexist peacefully? Scholastic hopes so. They have recently published The 39 Clues which is being billed as a “groundbreaking multi-platform new series for children ages 8-12”. This series includes 10 action adventure books, 350 collectible cards and an online game to compete for prizes. The first book in the series, Maze of Bones , was written by Rick Riordan who you may recognize as the author of the Percy Jackson series. The book comes with six collectible cards and packs of sixteen cards are available to purchase separately. Kids can register their cards online where they can also track their points and their clues. Finding clues and earning points results in prizes including the grand prize of $10,000.

Personally, I am not a big fan of the cash prize involved, especially for kids and some have complained that this is no more than a marketing scheme to sell the trading cards. However, I am all for any new tactic to get kids to read, which I believe this series will accomplish. Another big plus for the 39 clues is that each book in the series is written by a different author. I had difficulty trying to get my own son to read, but once he discovered one book he liked, he read every other book by that author. This was great, but let’s face it – no author can write as fast as the average person can read. Once he ran out of titles by “his” author the struggle started all over again. This series will introduce kids to 10 different authors, which should provide them with enough variety of books until they become teenagers and develop strong opinions of their own on what they should read.

What do you think?

Brilliant marketing ploy or great new series?

A Whole New Community

Exciting news! IndieBound has launched its social networking site, the IndieBound Community and now anyone can sign up to become part of the community. Not only can you connect with other book lovers, you can also become a fan of your local independent stores and share stories about them. If your favorite indie store, book or any other, is not listed you can add them. By adding your community stores and becoming fans, you can earn points to be entered into drawings for great prizes. Show your local independent businesses that you support them and share stories about your favorites. What more can anyone ask? Don’t forget to become friends with BayShore Books !

The Book (list) Thief

School is back in session along with the need for students to get their hands on the necessary text books. I came across this amusing article about professors at a university in Amherst supporting local independent booksellers by providing them with their required reading lists. The university bookstore, which is run under contract by the nation’s largest collegiate-bookstore chain, was left in the dark. The director of this campus store was caught posing as a parent of a student inquiring which textbook a professor required for her class.

I couldn’t help but stand up and cheer for the professors who see the importance of supporting independent businesses and sharing that knowledge with their students. The same would apply to high school teachers as well. Doesn’t it make sense for all teachers to send their students to an independent business less than two miles away rather than a chain almost thirty miles away? How about providing the nearest independent bookstores with required reading lists and preferred foreign language dictionaries in plenty of time to stock up?

Speaking of required reading lists, I just received a list for a local high school English class and have to admit, a few titles made me cringe at the memory of my own high school years and the dreaded reading lists. The Good Earth , Pride and Prejudice , Jane Eyre . Some were gifts presented to me by my knowing teachers; others were not the enjoyable experience they had promised.

What about you?

Any books you are still fuming about having to endure?