Review? Haiku! (and giftcard giveaway!)

In honor of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, I’ve decided to host a giveaway! We all love reading and writing book reviews, but let’s face it, even the most straight-forward of us gets a little wordy at times. After reading Adventures in Reading’s post on book reviews vs. blurbs, I decided to see if I could hone my conciseness to a point by fitting my reviews into haiku form. This isn’t an idea that’s unique to me; my friend A was reviewing books on LibraryThing in this format for a while, and I know others have done it before her. Still, once I got started, I found it hard to stop! My efforts for recent reads are below:

Throwing Shadows by E. L. Konigsburg Five short stories are well-written but don’t capture all my attention. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer Young man dies in North. Hero or unprepared nut? Disturbing but good. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss Epic fantasy, well-told and quite absorbing but hints of pigboy. Dirt, Undress, and Difference by Adeline Masquelier Too academic for my poor brain. Casual readers, please beware! Dies the Fire by S. M. Stirling Electricity stops working. Then people fight and try not to die. The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrau Living off the land kind of sucks. Good series end, but it lacked some “oomph.” The Prophet of Yonwood by Jeanne DuPrau Prequel to Ember; who gets to say what God wants? Good, but could be skipped. The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau Ember folks emerge but can’t survive above ground. So, war’s bad, mmkay? The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau Underground city, whose power is failing. Not for claustrophobics.

The Triumph of Deborah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy Biblical story of women, freedom, and war, turned into romance. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo Wee mouse isn’t scared! But can he save the princess? Lovely, charming book. The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon Book-form comfort food but really starts to ramble. I’ll still read the next. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer Unresolved issues; Meyer takes easy way out. I’m glad it’s over. The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer Only Cosmo sees evil life-sucking blue demons. Good escapist fun. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli Stargirl is unlike anyone you’ve ever met. Sweet little fable. The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner Everyone loves it. It didn’t do much for me. Sadly underwhelmed. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner Gen: thief and whiner, on a quest to find gods’ gem. Not bad, but not great. The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde Humpty Dumpty fell… or was he pushed? Detective spoof is quite funny.

I’m happier with some of those than others, but I’m sure you all can do better! And I’m willing to put a $20 giftcard to Amazon.com on the line! (or possibly your local amazon affiliate – does anyone know if I can do this without having to set up a separate account at amazon.co.uk or whatever?)

Giveaway Rules

1) To enter, leave a comment below with a haiku-review of a book you’ve read. (Proper haiku format is five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables.) Be sure to include the title and author in your post. Feel free to write more than one haiku (they’re addicting!), but it’ll still only count as one entry.

2) You must enter a valid e-mail address on the comment form, so that I know where to send the gift certificate if you win.

3) For a bonus entry, blog about the contest, linking back to this post, and leave a comment here linking to your post.

4) Points will be given for creativity, clearness, and making me laugh. Unfortunately, points won’t actually matter for anything, since I’ll be drawing the winner at random from among the valid entries.

5) You must enter by noon EST on Monday, 22 Sept 2008. I’ll draw and announce the winner that afternoon.

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