Sunday Salon: The End of Rosie's Riveters and the Start of Something New

I started the Rosie the Riveter series some months ago to highlight females who grab our attention- who create an emotional response within us.  By the time the Riveter series ends, we'll have learned about almost thirty women in history or in literature whom we find riveting.  It's been a wonderful series, and I know I always look forward to posting and discussing the women and the books in which they feature on Thursdays.

However, there hasn't been as much interest in participating in the Riveter series lately, and I think people are intimidated by the subject- how can they find a woman worthy of Rosie the Riveter status?  It's difficult to do!  Also, now that the Women Unbound Challenge is underway, there are reviews all over blogosphere that focus on important and amazing and horrible and insane women.  So I think Rosie has done her job!  And it's onto something new.  Therefore, I am no longer taking any more requests to participate in Rosie's Riveters than I already have- everyone who has already signed up for it and has not gone yet, you will get your turn :-)  After everyone has had their turn, Thursdays on BookLust will now feature a new regular series! 

With all the troubles the book industry faces, and disappearing book reviews in newspapers and magazines across the world, I just really want to use this blog to highlight important and fantastic books that slip under the radar.  Granted, I have no idea how many people actually read my blog, so the impact is completely minimal, but every little bit helps, right?  And if you find a book here that really hits you, that you never would have come across otherwise, and that you then become an evangelist for, well that would be pretty great.  And that is what the new Thursday segment is all about!

Is there a book you gush about to people, and they've never heard of it, and you are aghast that it isn't more well-known?  Is there a book you adore so much that you are heart-broken that it is now out-of-print?  Is there a book you always look for on the shelf of a used bookstore or a library, and then breathe a contented sigh of relief when you see it?  A book that you see and touch and handle with reverence? 
W.B. Yeats, in his poem "A Poet to His Beloved," wrote:

I bring you with reverent hands / the books of my numberless dreams.

And that quote inspired the name of this new guest post series, With Reverent Hands!  Let's give some attention to those wonderful books that sit unjustly gathering dust on the shelf because no one knows how fabulous they are.  The ones that keep you up at night, or make you shiver with delight.  The ones that you love so much you want everyone else in the world to read them, too, even though they may be hard to find or a little obscure.  The ones that are worth the effort. 

So, start thinking about your favorite book that no one's ever heard of, or the one that people are too intimidated to read because it's so long or too ancient or has an odd cover- any book, really, that you believe has been overlooked.  And get ready, in about two months, for With Reverent Hands.  Note- this segment is about books that should perhaps be considered classics, but aren't.  Thus, it won't be spotlighting Jane Austen, as all her books are very well-known.  But it could feature a lesser-known work by, say, Charles Dickens that everyone passes by, to their own detriment.  Or maybe you think everyone reads Neil Gaiman when they should really be reading Gillian Bradshaw.  Whatever book you find worthy, let the world (or, well, the five people who read this blog) know!

And once again- if anyone has button-making skills and can make one in the next couple of months for With Reverent Hands- I'd be extremely grateful!

Updated:  In a couple of weeks leading up to the start of With Reverent Hands, I'll ask people to sign up to participate.  Thanks for all the interest already- so great to see :-)

PS:  This week I'm participating in Seriespalooza, hosted by Galleysmith.  So this week's reviews (after Fun House, which I am finishing up) will all be of books in a series, and most probably, due to the trilogy or never-ending series bug that hits so many authors in the genre, all fantasy.  Sorry about that!