After first noticing BlogShares on KateSpot, I thought it might be fun because it’s a bit like playing the real stock market without having to put up any of my own money. Since I can’t do anything with, ahem, the Blog That No Longer Exists (a.k.a. The Black Page of Anger), I registered BookBlog as a player and spent my initial $500 in a matter of minutes.

For those of you interested in playing, I suggest you get in on the ground floor while the price per share for BookBlog is only $0.10. It’s terribly undervalued since there seems to be a glitch in counting all of its incoming links at the moment.

Is that insider trading?

I was able to relate to Mirabelle's job in Shopgirl, of all things. I used to work (and later manage) the Womens Accessories department. I remember arranging evening gloves in one of the display cases. But, I never found it boring. It was never the busiest department, but I always managed to get through the night.

Have any of you had mind-numbing positions like Mirabelle?

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this month's selection of Shopgirl. Originally, I read this book two years ago. It was given to me as a gift and I really enjoyed the story. I was (and still am) amazed that Steve Martin was able to capture my attention and interest with this novella.

What did you think of the story? Was there anything you liked or disliked about it?

If you enjoy bargain book hunting, check out Edward R. Hamilton Bookseller. They carry thousands of current and remaindered titles. The web site only lists a portion of the books available through their mail order catalog, which you can request online. The best part: shipping (US only) is $3.50 regardless of how many books you order.

[ link found via the discussion forum at BookCrossing ]

When I first created BookBlog, I never expected interest in it to go beyond its members. Since others have noticed us and our spirited conversations about our monthly selections, I thought I’d write a quick post sending out some link love to those kind enough to mention us on their own pages.

Bloggers:

Duane Simolke's Acorn Universes
Living Reflections from a Dream
metamorphosism
Morgaine LeFaye
Nam Nam

Other Web Sites:

The Complete Review
The Electric Ecclectic

Members:

[Andy] Introspection
[Cliff] This is Life
[Erin] Gigglechick
[Jaynee] Cootiehog
[John] Mudd View News and Reviews
[Kate] KateSpot
[Kathy] Wonderland
[Mary Carmen] Indie Rock Librarian
[Rich] Brain Squeezings
[Sarah] Fiendish Plot
[Tripp] Conjectural Navel Gazers

Well, well, well. If you check out this post and scroll down a bit, you'll notice that we received a comment from Scott Heim, the author of Mysterious Skin. Way cool.

I think everyone can agree that Andy's selection was a difficult one on multiple levels. In addition to being a book forcing us to do a lot of looking into a dark place, Mysterious Skin required openly discussing many things we're not used to talking about in normal conversation. By choosing subject matter as taboo as pedophilia, Andy had hoped to challenge both what we normally might pick to read and what role literature plays in expanding our view of realities beyond our own insular lives. I'd have to say he accomplished his goals with flying colors.

Thanks, Andy, for exposing us to a book that epitomizes the purpose of BookBlog.

I was surfing around last night and came across a site called Book-A-Minute, which offers ultra-condensed versions of books (AKA book geek humor). For those of us who weren’t able to slog through all 1,000 pages of Don Quixote, this pretty much sums it up: