Today's Armchair BEA topics are ethics and non-fiction.
ETHICS:
Interesting article on Armchair BEA about ethics in blogging. I haven't thought a whole lot about ethics in blogging just because I would hope that I would be ethical in everything I do. The article mentions the connection between bloggers and authors. If we are "friends" with an author through Twitter or Facebook or the like, should we disclose that in our reviews? Does it change our reviews? I had never really thought about that before. I disclose when I've received a book for review per FTC guidelines but the relationship aspect of it I don't.
A comment left on that article says that a relationship between bloggers and authors is bound to happen. It's just par for the course and I agree. There will always be interaction between book bloggers and authors. Authors want to promote their books to the people who are going to buy them and bloggers are going to promote books for the authors they like. How should that relationship be noted, if at all?
There are many different aspects of ethics but plagarism is probably the biggest in the book blogging community. My blog is not big enough to have ever had this problem but blogger friends have had portions or even whole posts used without their permission. This is unacceptable, of course, but hard to stop. The internet is so big that how do you even know that your work is being used? I think the only way to stop it is to make it such a bad thing that no one would want to be caught doing it.
NON-FICTION:
I was one of those kids in school that hated summers because summers meant no learning. I took home worksheets to fill out and wrote papers on different topics. I liked learning. Still do. So non-fiction is one of my favorite genres because of that love of learning. My favorite topics change but my love of non-fiction doesn't. I currently love Christian living non-fiction and anything related to entrepreneurship but am read a variety.
Most of my favorite bloggers never review non-fiction books but my reviews of non-fiction have some of the highest page views. This review of a Taste of Home cookbook is the highest viewed post on my blog. I think that is because so few people review non-fiction.
If you read and enjoy non-fiction, I'd be curious as to your favorite book or topic. As I said, I love it and am always looking for suggestions. Leave a comment or leave me the info here.
And if you posted about either of these topics as part of Armchair BEA, please leave a link so I can visit.
I'm a big fan of non-fiction and tend to lean toward memoirs, foodie books (memoirs, cookbooks, etc.), and I also like a little pop science thrown in occasionally. While non-fic isn't the majority of what I read, it's usually in the highlights every year. :)
ReplyDeleteNon-fiction is my way to learn these days. I don't really care for memoirs because I tend to stop liking the person I'm reading about ;-)
DeleteI don't read ANY Non-Fiction. I like seeing that others DO though :)
ReplyDeleteAs for the blogger/author relationship-- I agree, they are bond to happen and develop. And It should be stated in your review if you know them personally. I don't think having twitter interactions count, In my opinion. I could be wrong though :)
In making my way around in today's discussion, lots of people don't really non-fiction or if they do, they read very little.
DeleteI'm still not sure how I feel about being swayed by interaction with an author. Going to have to think about that some more for sure.
I read a decent amount of non-fiction(just don't review it), and I was one of those kids who loved learning and would do worksheets over the summer too. I read a lot of theological books and I also read quite a few memoirs.
ReplyDeleteYay! Love knowing that I wasn't the only one that liked to continue to learn over the summer. I was an oddity in my class for sure ;-) It is harder for me to review non-fiction but I try to review everything that I finish, if possible.
DeleteYes! Nonfiction and learning go hand in hand and I LOVE both! I'm so glad to read that you also didn't like summer vacation, lol. Nerds unite!
ReplyDeleteI yap about my love of nonfiction here: http://therelentlessreader.blogspot.com/2013/05/nonfiction-love-armchair-bea.html
Nerds unite for sure! I just love learning and hope to pass that on to my two little boys. There's nothing that you can learn about in a book and that's so amazing to me!
DeleteI'm always a little nervous about parts of posts being taken without my knowledge. You're right--how do you know?!
ReplyDeleteI'm all over the map when it comes to non-fiction. I tend to gravitate towards memoirs or narrative non-fiction but also love other little subgenres. Right now I'm listening to The Omnivore's Dilemma by Pollan and next month I'll read A Walk in the Woods by Bryson and Naked by Sedaris. Looking forward to both of them!
I love Michael Pollan books! I forgot about him when I was writing my own Armchair post today. I am a bit of health/earth/animal conscious person and I do enjoy non-fiction books on those topics.
DeleteCeCe @ Steaming Mug of Books
I'll have to look up Pollan then, if you both recommend him! Thanks for the suggestion. I love lots of different non-fiction too. Variety is good!
DeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to my topic post:
http://mwgerard.com/armchair-bea-ethics-non-fiction/
Thanks for the link!
DeleteI didn't hate summer, but I read all summer anyway. I mainly enjoy historical nonfiction, but I really enjoyed The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson.
ReplyDeleteI also used to read some Christian books. I liked The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis when I was in high school but I haven't read much lately!
Will have to look that one up. Thanks for the suggestion!
DeleteI've never read any of his Christianity books, I'm sad to say. A friend of mine has read and re-read them though. I should give them a chance.
Great post! I love your take on ethics -- some things (like plagiarism) should just go without saying. Doesn't everyone learn that it's wrong to steal, and that plagiarism is stealing? Anyway...
ReplyDeleteI don't read a lot of non-fiction, but I usually enjoy it whenever I pick up a non-fiction book to read. I love memoirs, particularly of the humorous variety, cooking essays, cook books, travel diaries, and books about science and culture. I participate in a book club with my workplace's diversity office, and it currently provides all my non-fiction fodder. Cheers--
(my post: http://readingwithanalysis.wordpress.com/2013/05/31/the-ethics-of-blogging-armchair-bea-2013-day-4/)
I'm surprised how often plagiarism happens in the book blog world. Sad.
DeleteYes to humor! Especially good when I'm looking for non-fiction. Good point.
I'm a big fan of memoir and historical books. I go through phases of picking hollywood bios, military bios, music bios, lol, I pick a theme and stick to it until I'm thoroughly exhausted with it!
ReplyDeleteAny recommendations for your favorite Hollywood bios? I just don't read that many because I usually end up not liking the person I'm reading about. *shrugs* I already knew that I was weird though ;-)
DeleteAnd then there's that awkward feeling if you're friends with an author but end up writing a negative (or partially negative, even) review of their book. I've been in that situation a couple times.
ReplyDeleteThankfully that hasn't happened but I feel like it will happen since I'm getting more critical in my reviews. ;-)
DeleteI do read non-fiction, but I don't review them...
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to me how many bloggers read it but don't choose to review it. It is a bit harder for me to review but I get so many page hits on it...must be something that people are looking for and few people can find?
Delete