Blog Analysis of Chicken Spaghetti

Author Susan Thomsen contributes book reviews, lists and awards within her blog, Chicken Spaghetti found here: http://chickenspaghetti.typepad.com/chicken_spaghetti/. The simple design of the blog maintains the reader’s focus on the written content. Though very few visuals are provided throughout the site, most images are eye-catching book covers of the books being reviewed.

Chicken Spaghetti is organized and user-friendly. From the homepage, readers can navigate to other well-marked pages within the blog. Users are able to easily find old posts since they are listed chronologically on the homepage. The sidebar of the blog contains a link to the author’s contact information and biography. Additionally, links to the blog posts are organized by page titles, recent posts, categories, and archives. All of these subcategories can be found in the sidebar.

The content of the blog contains reviews of children and adult books; the author’s “favorites” lists; and lists of awards containing links to other blogs and award sites. Susan Thomsen also contributes narratives of her experiences as a volunteer reader in first and second grade classrooms. Occasionally, blogs posts contain quotes from other authors, along with her reflections about the quotes. She shares summaries of news and current events in the field of literature. Susan’s husband, Norman Trepner, is a guest contributor who provides an annual post entitled “Norman’s Best Books.” Here, he reviews his favorite fiction and nonfiction books read during the previous year.

Beginning in 2005, Susan Thomsen has contributed blog posts on a regular basis. She provides a section at the bottom of each blog post for readers to respond by commenting in a comments section. She interacts with readers by taking the time to respond to most comments.

Overall, the book review blog, Chicken Spaghetti, is an informative resource for reading book reviews, book lists, and awards. The site is modest in design and easy to use. With its catchy name, both children and adults will find the blog useful and interesting.

*Created as an assignment for a Texas Woman's University course.