SAXTON B. LITTLE FREE LIBRARY
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Keeping you up-to-date on what's happening at your library. We invite you to join in the conversation!
JANUARY 21, 2009
It Drives Me Crazy

In fact, there are a lot of things that drive me crazy, but the one that I am thinking about this week is errors in books. Having taken a few days off at the end of last week, I curled up with cat, blanket, tea, and a very unliterary paperback romance novel. 

The novel had been sent to me by the publisher to read, and soon I should be receiving an e-mail survey about the book. So, I HAD to read it, right?
 
With this good excuse in hand, I settled in for a predictable story about a strapping young cowboy who rescues the local strong willed woman. Half way through, I stopped, having to re-read the sentence again. There were words in it that didn’t belong. 
 
This was not an advanced, unedited reader’s copy. I scowled at the missed editing and chastised myself for it. There have been a million times I’ve missed a word, misspelled something simple, added an extra a, an or the. There are probably 100 cases in this blog you can point to. I decided I was being silly.
 
But then… just as our heroine had been kidnapped by the nasty sheriff, Lee, her life in danger as he held the gun to her temple and told her he was really the son of the local banker who had been trying to steal her land, because of bad investments! She calls out, pleading with him, “Don’t do this Reed!” 
 
Reed? Wait a minute. Reed is our hero. The lovable ex-cop turned cowboy, who is there because his mother just had a stroke and he doesn't trust his father, but that is becuase as it turns out, it's not his father.  Reed is actually the illegitimate son of said banker.  But since his mother has now told this secret...well, you get the idea.
 
Although I knew, of course what she was trying to say. It was most distracting. Worse, it happened again in the 10 pages or so before the book was concluded.
 
I finished the book and wonder what my survey will ask. I hope to get the opportunity to tell them proof reading is important!

Add a comment  (4 comments) posted by Su

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Comments

ChaoticMasterpiece said, on Jan. 22 at 7:54PM
I just wanted to say that I found this by accident but read it anyway. I can't tell you how many times and how many books I have found this same problem in. It really frustrates me. I know, my spelling and grammar are not perfect...but I'm not writing a book that HAS editor's and proof readers? I wonder, is someone not doing their job? So, I try to look past it, however, it still frustrates me to no end. You're not the only one who has noticed these errors.

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Mercedes said, on Jan. 31 at 9:53AM
I agree! This is a total pet peeve of mine. Books aren't exactly cheap so what are we paying for if the manuscript can't be carefully edited? Very frustrating and I seem to find more and more these days.

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twotowers said, on Mar. 7 at 10:39AM
The Library has very good selection on Physics. if you would like to read the very latest in contemporary physics,read the Black Holes war by Leonard Susskind. It is very readable virtually free from equations. Can you imagine the three dimension universe as a two dimensional hologram? No? read the book!

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carol said, on Mar. 7 at 11:03AM
Thank you for the compliment and for the plug for the book The Black Hole War by Leonard Suskind. Did you know you can post a review of this book to our library catalog? You need to log in to your account, find the book and then post the review. Share your thoughts with others who might be thinking of reading this book. If you are having difficulty finding the place to review, you can also send it to us at any the staff email account and we'll post. All reviews from our catalog become part of our Saxton Reads! blog.

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