writer at play
Posted in reading on Aug 26th, 2010
I’m feeling a little antsy about having so many half-read books on my nightstand. Usually, I only have two books going at the same time (one fiction, one non) but a quick glance through my pile of bookmarked volumes gives me: NurtureShock and How Children Learn–about child development, one a classic and the other a [...]
The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg: An impulse grab at the library, but oh, so worth it. Set in a pseudo-Renaissance world, this features an unlikely trio of failed mage-turned-librarian, a court dandy and a lowborn mage with great powers and heretical ideas secretly investigating the magical assassination attempts on the king. Sequel comes out [...]
Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense by David Guterson: A high-school English teacher ponders the seeming contradiction of homeschooling his own kids. Realistic and thoughtful about some of the arguments against homeschooling, but ultimately a feel-good book for homeschoolers. Incarceron by Catherine Fisher: Why, strangers on the Internet can find a perfect literary match for [...]
Posted in reading on Jul 5th, 2010
Via SF Signal: Sharon Lee and Steve Miller are giving away electronic versions of The Dragon Variation (an omnibus edition of three novels set in their Liaden universe) to thirty six readers who have never (not ever) read a Liaden book. More details on the contest here. I’ve been meaning to try this series for [...]
Posted in reading on Jun 27th, 2010
Last week I downloaded the Kindle app for my PC. This is actually a big deal for me. See, I’ve been following (sorta, on the periphery, drifting in and out) the news about the explosion of e-books sales. Recently Amazon and B&N dropped the prices of the Kindle and Nook to less than $200. Writers [...]
You can find the first part of my May reads here. On to the last four books; The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith: I love this series. These are comfort books for me; a chance to experience a slower simpler lifestyle, to immerse myself in the deep calm still thoughts of a [...]
Whoa. I read eight books in May and reviewed none of them. I’m going to add my (hopefully) brief comments in a two-part May reads series. The first four books I finished last month were: A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin: This book brought out my Goldilocks complex. It was a shade [...]
Posted in reading on May 30th, 2010
Up here in Vermont, Memorial Day weekend is the kick-off to sale season–yard sales, book sales, plant sales, tent sales. And cookouts. And fairs. And festivals of all kinds. And monster truck rallies. And lawnmower races. Ahem. But this post is not about all of those things. It’s only about book sales. Specifically the one [...]
Posted in reading on May 10th, 2010
April was a lighter reading month, but on the upside I got more writing/revising done! A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner (my review) Elantris by Brandon Sanderson (my review) I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by [...]
I feel it a little unfair to Sanderson that I read his debut novel Elantris after being swept away by his splendid Mistborn trilogy. While Elantris suffers (but only a little!) in comparison, it has all the trademarks of Sanderson’s writing: an unusual magic system, political intrigue, and a preoccupation with religion. Elantris was the [...]