Friday 22 February 2013

Feature & Follow Blog Hop

Here at Behind the Walls of Nightmare we're pleased to join the Feature & Follow Blog Hop sponsored by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. If you're new to this great Friday activity, check out Parajunkee's latest post and find out more here.

This week's featured blogger is Jelly's Insider, who describes herself  as a "professional reader and unprofessional blogger." Check her out!

This week's question: We always talk about books that WE want. Let's turn it on its head. What books have you given other people lately?

I suppose I could mention that I recently gave my wife copies of a number of Stephen King novels because she's working her way through his canon again (I think she may be planning to write a book about his work), but that might seem a little mean of me. I'm not sure I'd have what it takes to plow through 900-page novels myself these days!

A better example might be the Jeffrey Brown books I gave my son for Christmas this year. Tim is a budding illustrator in his own right, and he is a big fan of Jeffrey Brown and his graphic memoirs. Wanting to fill in his collection, he asked for Little Things: A Memoir in Slices, and Funny Misshapen Body.

Brown takes the everyday, mundane things we all encounter in our daily lives and the embarrassment, frustration and confusion we all feel and transforms them into humorous, insightful and reflective works of art. My son was so pleased with his gifts that he contacted Brown, who is now an instructor at a college in the U.S., and told him how inspired he was by these books. Jeffrey Brown was gracious enough to reply (right away!) and offered Tim encouragement for his own career. How great a gift did that turn out to be!!


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20 comments:

  1. Unknown22 February 2013 at 07:43

    I don't know that I can work through more than a couple Stephen King novels in a row! I still haven't read Under the Dome or anything more recent!
    Thanks for stopping by and following. Following you back via GFC!
    Megan @ Love, Literature, Art, and Reason

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    1. Michael J. McCann22 February 2013 at 08:34

      Thanks very much for stopping by and following back, Megan. Boy, I read 500 pages of Under the Dome and conked out. I think my wife may be the only person to make it all the way to the end, but I'm not sure. She really likes his stuff, though!

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  2. Unknown22 February 2013 at 07:51

    Stephen King has always been one of my favorite authors and anything he releases is an automatic buy. How wonderful that Mr. Brown responded to your son and it was such a positive experience for him. Thanks for stopping by this week. Following you back via GFC.
    Traci @ Mad Hatter Reads

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    1. Michael J. McCann22 February 2013 at 08:35

      Thanks for returning the favor, Traci! I'll definitely be a regular visitor to your blog.

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  3. Annette Mills22 February 2013 at 08:15

    Used to read everything Steve wrote. After the books turned into 900 page tomes, I've not kept up. Although I really enjoyed 11/22/63....

    New follower. Thanks for visiting!

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    1. Michael J. McCann22 February 2013 at 08:38

      Hi Annette, it was my pleasure to visit your blog. Glad you could venture behind the walls of nightmare! As a matter of fact, I was supposed to get a copy of 11/22/63 for my wife for Christmas and dropped the ball.... Glad to know you thought it was good.

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  4. Unknown22 February 2013 at 09:33

    New follower!
    King is definitely a prolific writer, to put it midlly, but I just adore his books.

    http://carabosseslibrary.blogspot.com/2013/02/follow-friday_22.html

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    1. Michael J. McCann22 February 2013 at 09:39

      Hi Valentina, thanks for following my new blog. Prolific is definitely the word for it! I'm making a lot of jokes about the length of his books, but I really do have a great deal of respect for him as a storyteller. I'm heading off to Carabosse's Library right now to check in on your post!

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  5. The Brunette Librarian22 February 2013 at 09:47

    Can't go wrong with giving your wife a book :) You could always borrow it back!

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  6. Unknown22 February 2013 at 11:02

    I have some Stephen King books, but I'm yet to read them. He's a good writer. I enjoy Dean Koontz Horror books, though. Especially the 80s and 90s ones.

    New GFC Follower
    My FF @ The Creative Forum
    Happy Reading :)

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    1. Michael J. McCann22 February 2013 at 12:24

      Thanks for following, Kaykay. I've returned the favor at The Creative Forum. Looks great!

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  7. Unknown22 February 2013 at 12:18

    I've never heard of Jeffrey Brown and so immediately looked him up on Goodreads. I'm intrigued! I'll have to check out his books. That he replied to a fan right away and offered encouragement makes me want to read his work even more.

    I'm your newest follower. Thanks for stopping by Cherie Reads!

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    1. Michael J. McCann22 February 2013 at 12:28

      Thank you so much for following back, Cherie. I enjoyed your blog, and definitely will be back!

      I'm very glad you checked out Jeffrey Brown. As the father of a young man whose life has been anything but easy so far, I really appreciated Mr. Brown's kindness. I feature my son's photos and illustrations on my blog The Overnight Bestseller from time to time, and I hope he'll be inspired by Mr. Brown's response to life's challenges.

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  8. Uncorked Thoughts22 February 2013 at 12:47

    Aww, that's quite a nice gift!

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    1. Michael J. McCann22 February 2013 at 13:17

      Thanks, Leah! Welcome to our hiding place behind the walls of nightmare! Hope you enjoy it here.

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  9. Unknown22 February 2013 at 13:16

    New follower! Thanks for stopping by my blog!
    My FF

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    1. Michael J. McCann22 February 2013 at 13:19

      Hi Kristin. It was my pleasure to follow your blog, Second Book to the Right. It looks great! Thanks for joining us behind the walls of nightmare.

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  10. Michael J. McCann23 February 2013 at 11:34

    Thanks very much, Kelly! I've followed back. Looking forward to reading your posts.

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  11. Micheline3 March 2013 at 09:50

    Hi Michael, new follower here via GFC! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog earlier & following :) Stephen King is definitely a solid choice, especially seeing as your wife seems like quite the fan. Can't go wrong with gifting books I say ♥ Another plus: giving books to family members means the books are never far off if you ever want to borrow them! Thanks for sharing!

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