That Time of Year Again

So, it is upon us… Finals Week.

This means that Bookwyrm’s Lair will be on a short hiatus… kinda. I’ll be busy writing for school, so I won’t be putting any new content up myself, but the Beloved Husband has agreed to cover Friday’s entry. And then Picture Monday is easy enough to do. But next Wednesday’s and Friday’s entries are… unlikely.

Let’s just say, I make no promises.

See you on the other side!

Picture Monday – Before Adopting a Book, One Should Know…

Awesome Bookstore Find!

I found the best thing at Barnes & Noble last week!

It’s a Hobbit-sized copy of The Hobbit! It fits perfectly in my purse, so now I can have something fun to read wherever I go. To make it even better, it’s leather-bound, got gilt-edged pages, and high quality copies of the maps and Tolkien’s illustrations. And (best of all), despite its tiny size, it’s the full story – not abridged!

This was one of those times when I just had to buy it… you know those times when you just look at something and go:

Yeah… that’s pretty much what happened.

Them’s Fightin’ Words, Lady!

So, it’s rare that I decide to use my blog as a platform to rant about serious things – at most, I rant about nerdy things good-naturedly. This one has a distinct lack of the friendly feelings that characterize my nerd rants.

Last night, one of my college professors decided (given that Finals are almost upon us) to have what I have dubbed “The Plagiarism Chat”. The usual version goes something like, “Cite your sources. Plagiarism is bad – don’t do it. I’ll fail you automatically and then the school will expel you if the case is severe enough. “. Professors who feel really strongly might add, “I really hate plagiarism and I have a zero tolerance policy, so if I catch you, don’t bother giving me excuses – I will kick you out of my class”.

And, given that we’re seniors in college who are due to graduate in a few weeks, that’s enough. We get it.

This professor’s version was a little different. It went something like this:

“I’m using Turnitin.com to screen your papers. I know it’s really tempting to just lift somebody else’s work and use it in your paper as your own… especially when they’re a better writer than you. I mean, who here hasn’t copied and pasted somebody else’s material into their essays? I know you’ve all done it at one point in your lives.”

Um. Excuse me? Actually, that particular sin is one that I haven’t committed.

For the record, I have no problem submitting my paper through Turnitin, what bothers me is her wishy-washy “well, everybody does it” attitude about the whole thing, like it’s just some kind of academic faux pas that gets a slap on the wrist.

Not to mention she basically accused all of us of being intellectual thieves… yeah, I didn’t take too kindly to that. I honestly felt like standing up in my seat and roaring “You dare impune me honor, Madam!!”. Given that I’m five feet tall and skinny, it probably would’ve been pretty funny.

I suppose the reason that offends me so deeply is because of my relationship with books. I’m an English Major – I do a lot of reading and I do a lot of writing. And I want to be an editor once I get out of college, which means I’ll be doing even more reading and writing on a professional level. So, I know the value of intellectual labor, especially now that I’m doing college senior level work. I’m reading a lot of scholarly essays and articles and using those ideas as springboards for my own original work. I’m expected to think and write at a higher level, and come up with my own ideas. The thought of someone claiming my hard work for their own is infuriating, and the thought of stealing someone else’s is revolting.

At its most mild, it’s cheating. At its worst, it’s thievery – just like snatching somebody else’s car, purse, or ipod.

And it’s so easy to cite your sources! You just put quotes on either side and a parenthetical reference at the end with the last name of the person who said/wrote it and what page you found it on (if that applies). Boom! Plagiarism averted! That being said, I really don’t see the allure of plagiarism, especially once you reach the higher academic levels,  since you have to work harder not to get caught.

So, what are your thoughts on plagiarism? Do you think of it as something that’s pretty common (and thus somehow more understandable or not such a huge deal if done in small quantities), or do you think of it as a pretty serious academic crime that should be looked down on and punished severely?

And, to add a little humor to an otherwise humorless rant, here is Tom Lehrer’s song “Lobachevsky”, otherwise known as “The Plagiarism Song” from his album, Songs by Tom Lehrer.

Picture Monday – I Get… Invested in my Books

Seven Deadly Sins of Reading

So, I found this idea over at LaurenReadsYA, but the original idea comes from BookishMalayza on YouTube.

Sin #1: Greed - What is your most expensive book, and what is your most inexpensive book?

My most expensive books are my Easton Press Leather-bound Classics, which ran at about $45 per book. Back when I lived with my parents (and thus had no rent, grocery bill, utilities to pay, etc.) I bought one a month for a couple of years, so I’ve amassed quite a collection that includes titles like Dracula, The Time Machine, Little Women, Ivanhoe, Frankenstein, Don Quixote, Paradise Lost, and Dante’s Inferno.

My least expensive books come from Friends of the Library book fairs and go as low as $0.50 a pop. A lot of my paperback fantasy novels come from there, like my collection of Ursula K Le Guin’s Earthsea books and my Star Wars EU novels.

Sin #2: Wrath - Which author do you have a love/hate relationship with?

I tend to either love an author or hate him… I very rarely vacillate between the two. Maybe Charles Dickens? I recognize that he’s a master of his craft and has brought a lot to our literary traditions. I enjoy his wordplay and deft use of symbols and visual names, but… it’s such a depressing slog to get through his stories. Hard Times and Great Expectations had me frothing at the mouth in frustration, but I really enjoy the movie adaptations of Nicholas Nickleby (on the To-Read List, but I’m a little scared to start it) and A Tale of Two Cities. Besides, as an English Literature Major, I feel kinda obligated to like him.

Sin#3: Gluttony - What book have you deliciously devoured over and over again, with no remorse whatsoever?

Pride & Prejudice, Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels novels.

Sin #4: Sloth - What book have you neglected reading due to laziness?

Published: Nicholas Nickleby (from a mix of laziness and trepidation). Unpublished: My mom’s work of sci-fi from her earlier years. I’m sorry, Mom! I will read it, I promise!!! I’m almost out of school!

Sin #5: Pride - What book do you most talk about in order to sound like a very intellectual reader?

Honestly? Whatever book I’m reading in my senior level college English courses. This tactic has taken  me through Spencer’s The Faerie Queene, Dante’s Inferno, Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte D’Arthur, the poems of Lord Byron (which I hate), Shakespeare, and the works of William Blake. Add in a disdain for James Joyce, and I can sound as well-read and intellectual as you like… then just mention Doctor Who and I’ll devolve back into a frothing nerd.

Sin #6: Lust - What attributes do you find most attractive in male or female characters?

I like my literary men a little gruff and overprotective of the women in their lives (only a little, mind you, too much and I get grumpy). I also like them consistent - a character that blows super rude and then super sweet all in the name of inner conflict will chase me away.

Sin #7: Envy - What books would you most like to receive as a gift?

Oohhhh, the list I have. The Harry Potter box set (the nice hardcover one) is pretty high on my list. Leather-bound copies of the classics are up there too – I tend to drool over my friends’ libraries full of pretty books.

Book Fair Haul

So, we had our Friends of the Library Book Fair this weekend!

I actually didn’t know about this one til my little sis called me up and was like, “You wanna go with me and Mom tomorrow?”

“Me? Want to go to a book fair?” I asked. “Weellll… let me think… um, DUH!!” And so the engagement was made.

I actually got quite a few books this time.

• Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Od Magic by Patricia McKillip
• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (hardback, gilt-edged)
• Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
• The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
• Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein (for my dad)

All for $7; not bad, if I do say so myself!

So, my To Read List has just gotten exponentially longer.