Welcome to Day Three of “The Brightest Moon of the Century Appreciation Week!” What?! You didn’t know that’s what was going on over at She is Too Fond of Books??! Didn’t you wonder what all the balloons, champagne and flowers were about?!?
Here’s the way it’s been playing out:
- Tuesday – my review of Christopher Meeks’ novel, The Brightest Moon of the Century
- Wednesday – Chris’ guest post, a Spotlight on Bookstores about Vroman’s Books and some insight into the world of publishing
- Thursday – giveaway of TWO copies of the novel begins!
Surprise! I didn’t tell you a giveaway was coming … I didn’t even let the author know until yesterday, when I received the books. You see, I got a note from him last week, saying that the book was available earlier than expected. I had really fallen for the main character in the novel (as well an earlier collection of short fiction, Months and Seasons), and I wanted to help promote this work.
The two copies I ordered arrived yesterday, and they’ll be winging their way toward two lucky winners after I announce their names on Friday March 20. How do you get in on the random drawing? Go back to my review of The Brightest Moon of the Century, and take a look at the two photos I’ve shown there. The author has included seven of these vintage black and white photos (his own work) in the finished copies of the novel. They connect with the book in a subtle way, and don’t distract from his writing. Leave a comment here, telling me what you think about illustrations/photos in books. You could give an example of a children’s book, novel written for adults, a book published expressly to promote the illustrations … you know the drill, I’m just looking for something more than, “I’d love to win!” ’cause I know you’d all love to win!
Now, go enjoy the rest of “The Brightest Moon of the Century Appreciation Week!”
Loved the review and the book. As for the quiestion do photos or graphics lend credence to a book, it depends on if the author can pull if off effortlessly. For the most part I prefer the author to give such a through description that I’m seeing what he is without help from any other source than his words. The pictures Christopher Meeks added to his book gives it an element of realism. Your not only listening to the narrative your visualizing your main character in those surroundings. My vote would be he let credence to the photos being in the book. In other words it works perfectly fine in this case.
Thanks for the opportunity to enter this drawing! Indigo
ravensquietscreams@gmail.com
I was wondering about those photos in the review…and whether they pertained directly to the novel. Fantastic! I am intrigued by a book that would include illustrations and photos. I’m an advocate for mixing mediums…photos and text in books, photos accompanying poems. I haven’t read any books with photos in them lately and I can’t think of any that made a lasting impression on me yet, either.
I guess I will have to wait until I read Obsolete Honor; I hear there are some photos in that one.
I don’t pay a lot of attention to illustrations unless they, in some way, connect me directly with the story, such as in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. I loved those illustrations and they were so well done I could picture the characters in a new way.
Of course, when I read to my grandson, I always hope there are good illustrations in the books. That’s getting rarer these days. I suppose they just don’t hold up (in my mind’s eye) to those Dr. Seuss books I read to my kids when they were little!
I also like to see lots of photos when I read an autobiography or a true crime novel. I will go back to the photos often when I’m reading one of those.
I’d really like to read Meek’s book as you have me very curious about how his illustrations work within his book!
I feel that photos and graphics enhance memoirs, biographies and other true stories. I recently read “Schulz and Peanuts” and I thought the insertion of the comic strip helped understand where the artist in that period of his life.
I just finished reading UNDRESS ME IN THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN and I wish it had some photos in it. Photos and drawings really add to some books – for others, it doesn’t matter.
I’ve posted this on Win a Book. Don’t enter me in the contest.
the interview was absolutely wonderful as far as photo’s go, i always drift to them first before i even start a book so i guess i do like them even though i never gave it any thought thanks for the giveaway
This book is on my wish list thanks to your review!
I like photographs and illustrations in nonfiction, including memoir and biography, but truthfully, I’m a bit ambivalent about their use in fiction, since I usually like to see things in my imagination when I read novels. That is, unless you’re taking about kids’ books – I always preferred those to have pictures.
This would be great. I really like pictures in books. Kid’s books of course have many, but it’s nice to see older novels that include pictures.
There is one called Out of My Skin by John Haskell that starts each new section with a photo that goes along with that “chapter” or “section”. It’s awesome.
-Lauren
lauren51990 AT aol DOT com
i love when there are illustrations i think it adds another depth to the story
I love pictures, illustrations and maps in books. I think they add to non-fiction and memoir books because I can get a better idea of the person or situation.
I can’t say I’ve read a lot of fiction with illustrations, except for maps, which I love. I have a terrible sense of direction so I am constantly flipping to them to remind myself how things lay in relation to each other.
Sometimes photos make sense, I was reading this biography about this Australian woman who married a Malaysian prince, and there I wanted to see pictures. If I only remembered the name
I don’t care for pictures in fiction books — I like it when the author describes the image so vividly that you can picture it in you mind. Or when the author creates a hazy pictures within the book it leaves room to reader interpretation and IMAGINATION! ! !
I don’t mind books with illustrations, though I can’t say that I am a particular fan of them. If the illustrations are lovely and expressive, I wouldn’t mind looking at them. I also wouldn’t mind if they helped tell the story or helped me see what the author was trying to tell me. Though, this is the case with fiction. I’ve always found that nonfiction books require illustration of some sort. I dislike (though don’t hate) reading nonfiction that leaves out pictures.
Valorie
morbidromantic@gmail.com
I like to go back to review, again and again. the pictures as I’m reading through a book. They really enhance the story.
Thanks for the giveaway!
kimspam66(at)yahoo(dot)com
I’m impressed you’re giving two copies of the book away, Dawn, and the focus on the photos is interesting to me because it’s something I added after advanced copies with no photos went out to reviewers. I’d just finished reading “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen, where I’d seen photos in a literary novel for my first time. They awed me. The photos did not grab center stage. Rather, they enhanced the story. Gruen’s book kept my imagination burning plenty, but the photos subtly underscored that the setting was a real place–a traveling circus in the Depression.
I’ve been a photographer, too, much of my life. Because I based “The Brightest Moon of the Century” on places I’ve lived, I had photos. I went to the book designer to see if he could add a handful, and he wasn’t upset I wanted to add more to the book, even though the book was supposed to be long done. He and I went over the best candidates from negatives I’d scanned. Each shot was selected as carefully as the scenes I wrote.
I just spoke to my agent, Jim, in New York, to find out what’s happening with another novel I’ve finished. He’s received nine rejections, but he says they’re some of the best rejections he’s seen. He said the editors really like the book, but that my offbeat protagonist makes them wary on how to market it. Hence, I’m hoping “The Brightest Moon of the Century” will make at least one editor empowered enough to see my style sells. This is where art meets commerce.
This is all to say if you like “The Brightest Moon of the Century,” each book bought is a vote for my style of writing. I have two other novels down the road, ready to go into production.
I personally love photos and/or illustrations — when a book has these I tend to go to them even before I read the book because I’m curious and want to have a feel for them before I even start reading. And then as I read I refer back to them. I think photos and/or illustrations can add a lot to a book and I really enjoy them. But then I also enjoy other additions such as maps and family trees, etc. — anything that makes the book more interactive.
vmlay@artsci.wustl.edu
I teach kindergarten. The illustrations in the books I read to my class are important to me. For beginning readers, After I read a book and add it to 1 of my 2 book centers, the students who are not reading yet use the pictures to retell the story.
The front cover is what always catches my eye first about a book…
No need to sing me up for this one. I blogged about your giveaway here:
http://teddyrose.blogspot.com/2009/03/this-weeks-giveaways-galore.html
I love illustrations and photos in literature. I think they only add to the whole reading experience.
hey, i like it a lot when there are pictures to see and not jus words to read. i am a very visual person and always find it better to look at pictures to associate along with the story. i think its a good way to remember the story as well. Works well with kids and with adults alike!
I love old books, classics, that have illustrations, like Alice in Wonderland, or whatever, especially when they’re black and white but then every now and then there’s a glossy, full-page colour illustration. I think that’s beautiful.
I think illustrations and/or photographs are not appropriate for just any book but can definitely enhance the quality of one if it fits, such as in “We Bought A Zoo” where there were pictures of the animals and the author’s family. As some others mentioned, maps are always a great addition to stories that take place in fictional places such as in Gregory Maguire’s Wicked.
I’ve read so many great reviews of this book (including yours) – I’d love the chance to win! Thanks
I really enjoy novels with illustrations. I especially love children’s books with them. I think Beatrice Potter has great illustrations in her books. Illustrations just add a little bit more to a book to feed your imagination. Even one or two are good…you don’t need a book full of them. One or two can set the mood and leave the rest to you to imagine and explore. A good illustrator can really make a not so good book into a better book!
I think novels with photos would be distracting to me. I like to think and make up my own pictures in my mind. I think that is why I will not go and see Twilight. I have a picture of what Edward should look like and it is not what the actor looks like.
Thanks
Debbie