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 [...]
Category Archive for 'reviews'
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 [...]
fairy tales 3: picture books
Posted in picture books, reviews on Jun 24th, 2010
More on fairy tales here and here. Miss M’s absolutely favorite princess may be Snow White, but her absolutely favorite fairy tale book is Barbara McClintock’s Cinderella (a bargain for a dollar at a used store; little did I know how much she would love it). Filled with delicate illustrations and replete with details, this [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
A Conspiracy of Kings: a review
Posted in reviews on Apr 18th, 2010
Caution: Review contains spoilers for previous books in the series. You have been warned! This is the book that I have been eagerly anticipating since last year. Megan Whalen Turner’s stories abut Eugenides, the Thief of Eddis, now King of Attolia, are among the most delightfully surprising I’ve ever read, delving deeply into character and [...]
March reads: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (my review here) Drive by Daniel H. Pink: Subtitled ‘The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”, this book confirms what I’ve always suspected as a writer and mom. Pink explains that the carrot-and-stick approach taken by businesses to get the most of their employees only works under [...]
Dystopian SF meets extreme Survivor in The Hunger Games, and its sequel, Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins. In the far-future, the United States no longer exists. Instead, a nation called Panem has risen from the remnants, in which twelve districts are ruled by the oppressive Capitol. As punishment for their rebellion 75 years ago, the [...]
Play: a review
Posted in inspiration, reading, reviews on Mar 11th, 2010
Play is something I’ve become in very interested in since having kids and ditched my left-brain-focused career plans for a more creative vocation (that would be writing stories *grin*). I picked “writer at play” for my tagline, not because I am a super-playful person but because I need the reminder to keep from turning the [...]