Read-aloud words assault?

An earnest suitor, riding on the crosstown bus in New York City, reads aloud to his beloved. While she is besotted with the caress of his words, many on the bus register outright hostility. Why is reading aloud akin to hoisting a blaring boombox on that same bus?

Robert Gray was on that bus, and he shares our curiosity. While the bus situation was a bit extreme -- reading aloud like that is more of a performance than a shared pleasure -- there does seem to be divides in the literary community on standards of reading aloud. In poetry, there is a segregation between what Mr. Obie Joe calls the "slow" or formal poetry readers versus the spoken word poets whose words reflect both the paper and the poet.

Then there the readers, often nonfiction, who depend on a colloquial, barstool approach. Each anecdote they tell seem like a great story. Rick Bragg is like that, though he is also an unusually good reader of his own books, too.

The worst? Those who read with an affected or theatrical voice. Look, unless you have the silky smooth of Chip Kidd, just read in your regular voice. Like the suitor on the bus, leave it at home.

The unexpected gift of a blog

While reading Robert Gray's interview of a bookseller who blogs (www.fresheyesnow.com), Mr. Obie Joe is reminded of one of the oft-forgotten benefits of blogging: in talking, with clarity, about what you do, you start a conversation with others. Others could be customers, peers, media, and friends, all of whom have an interest in what you do and think. The impact can never be underestimated.

Gray spoke with Russ Marshalek, resident blogger for Wordsmiths Books in Decatur. Marshalek mentioned the automatic aspects of the blogs-- book reviews, news & events, etc. -- and then referred to the singular aspects. "I always enjoy it, though, when I hear from a publisher outside of the region that they've read the blog--the southeast in general, and Georgia in particular, is neglected by a lot of publishers as 'not being literary,' but it really is--and the more connected those book lovers in the region are to one another, the more of a unified voice is presented, and the more attention's drawn," he says.

And there it is: one of the gifts of blogging. Connecting with a new audience that might not have crossed paths with your book or your store is what a blog does. Don't be afraid to be completely original in your blog presentations and content. Wordsmiths was not wary of referring to their small part of Ga.; interestingly, it reinforced their current audience, and attracted national attention at the same time.