Ablog is an informational site on the internet that consists of daily or weekly entries. Blogs cover many themes from food to photography, parenting to entertainment. There are millions of blogs to choose from and many have won awards.
And some of these award-winning blogs have been made into interesting and entertaining books.
Allie Brosh is the author of the blog and book Hyperbole and a Half. With simple drawings and a self-deprecating wit, she describes both her adult and childhood experiences. For example, at age four, she became obsessed with the goal of eating her grandfather's entire birthday cake. The way she achieves this goal is hilarious. Brosh also explores her life with two adoptive dogs (one she describes as "below average" in intelligence and the other "neurotic"). She also writes about her struggle with depression. Brosh's writing is honest and humorous, and I've become a fan of her blog.
Scary Mommy is Jill Smokler's blog. A mom of three children, she writes on topics such as pregnancy, childbirth, parenting and relationships. Smokler's first book, Confessions of a Scary Mommy, became a bestseller. She has also written Motherhood Comes Naturally (and Other Vicious Lies). In her books, Smokler honestly chronicles the highs and lows of parenthood.
Matthew Inman is the author of a hilarious, popular blog The Oatmeal. His blog includes drawings and commentary on subjects such as food, grammar and cats. Inman has written a graphic novel about cats entitled How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You. If you live with a cat, you know they are loveable, mysterious, curious and sometimes frightening creatures. Inman's book explores the interesting relationship between cats and humans.
Brandon Stanton is the author of Humans of New York blog and book. He is a photographer who takes fascinating portraits of strangers on the streets of New York City. Stanton's pictures really are worth a thousand words and he also provides the reader with short stories and captions about the people in his photographs. I can spend hours looking at the photographs on Stanton's blog.
Frank Warren had an idea for a community art project. He invited people to anonymously send him postcards with secrets that they had never shared with anyone. Warren started to post the cards to his website - thousands of cards from around the world. Warren's blog and book, entitled PostSecret, contain photographs of the many cards he has received that offer glimpses into people's lives, revealing their dreams, guilt, vulnerabilities, regrets and eccentricities.
A Google search for a recipe will turn up thousands of cooking blogs. Many of these blog authors have written books. Heidi Swanson is a photographer and cookbook author who has created the award-winning culinary blog 101 Cookbooks. In her book Super Natural Every Day, Swanson writes about vegetarian cooking with whole, nutrient-rich super foods. She includes many of her own beautiful photographs in the book.
Please visit your local library to check out these titles, and ask staff for more good reads.
A Good Read is a column by Tri-City librarians that is published every Wednesday. Lori Nick is a library technician at Terry Fox Library in Port Coquitlam.
