“Come on ride that train, and ride it! Woo-woot! Come on ride that train, and ride it! Woo-woot!” An oldie and a… ah, well. The point is, now you’ve got a dancing song in your head and you’re ready to celebrate the launch of The Night of One Hundred Thieves with me by boarding The…
The Sale Is Here. The Pre-order Is Here. The Reading Is Coming. The Festival Is Coming. The Launch is Here! Whew! No wonder I have hives. (Actually, I think that’s seasonal allergies.) The Night of One Hundred Thieves is a fantasy/medieval magic realism novel about thirty-two thieves and one magical ring. They all want it.…
Smile, Sisters, and Drama, by Raina Telgemeier. All three are Middle Grades graphic novels, the first two memoir and the last realistic fiction. They were published in 2010, 2012, and 2014 (not respectively). They have all been NY Times bestsellers and have won numerous awards. Smile For me, a sad part of reading a graphic…
Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte. First published under the pen name Ellis Bell in 1847. Widely considered one of the best novels in the English language, it is Emily’s only novel; she died the following year at age thirty. I read it in conjunction with the other Bronte sisters’ novels. See previous reviews here: Jane…
This is the third Bronte book I have read of the seven total novels the three sisters produced. I still have two of Charlotte’s, one of Anne’s, and Emily’s only one, which is the very next book I am starting. This has been an entertaining ride, so far. Anne is the youngest of all of…
Another Best Books list, this time for the best history books of all time. This is one my husband and father-in-law would really enjoy. Personally, the titles are about to put me to sleep, so I think I’ll keep this list tucked away for when I need to do some research or am traveling somewhere.…
A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd and published by Scholastic Press in 2014. I loved this book. Going in I had absolutely no expectations, but was very, very pleasantly surprised. I liked it from the first and all the way through the end. Between the combination of magic and word-loving, the prose was light…
The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic, by Jennifer Trafton and published in 2011 by Puffin Books. Illustrated by Brett Hellquist. So, this book has great reviews. On Amazon, it maintains five stars. On Goodreads, four. The truth is, I want to give it at least four stars, but I just don’t think I can.…
The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volumes 1 and 2, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and compiled by Barnes & Noble Classics. The material was originally published between 1887-1927. This version, with an introduction by Kyle Freeman, appeared in 2003. For a collection of works, this one is tremendously steeped in history and widely adored. Therefore, to…
Well, not really. She just happened to write a sequel (back in the day) to To Kill a Mockingbird which she thought little of. She, and the world, believed the manuscript was lost and Lee decided to quit the writing life, all in the 50s. Sure enough, some sixty years later, her lawyer finds the…
Whew, baby! Just realizing that I have a back-logged guest post from before I went all disappeared from the flu and bronchitis. Many apologies to Sandra Danby, whose post was supposed to coincide with the release of her first novel, last month. I am intrigued that she wrote a book that seems very similar to…
There’s just no way for me to keep up with every book and writing and indie publishing site on the internet. There are too many, to begin with. And stuff on the internet tends to be transient. It’s in its nature. So I don’t have time to follow every blip on the screen. I tend…
I have been struggling with a whole category of writing advice, for the past year-and-a-half. That’s about to come to an end, and I’m going to coin a new term in order to end it. I’m also going to ask that you let me capitalize whatever I darn well want to, just so I can…
Shirley, by Charlotte Bronte. Published first in 1849 under the name Currer Bell, I picked up the 2006 version by Penguin Classics and later realized it was yellowed on the shelf for a reason: it is no longer in print. Not that my version is special, it’s just not available in its exact version. I…
Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys. Available from Norton, and first published in 1966. I read Wide Sargasso Sea, not just because it is considered a great book, but because I read Jane Eyre earlier this year and am currently reading through all the Bronte sisters’ writing. If you are not familiar with Wide Sargasso…
Continuing the list of “best books,” with a pretty long list of best travel writing. (Man! I love travel!) Note, once again, that I have not read all these. They are books I would like to read, and the list is compiled from a number of other best books lists. Some of these are fiction,…
When I was just a wee writer, having “published” my first book in elementary school with rubber cement and wrapping paper, I kept a box of “Write On!” next to my typewriter. A brief search on the internet reveals that you can’t buy Write On! anymore. At any rate, Write On! was a heavily shellacked,…
Sorry folks, I have been off sick. Pretty sure a fever (how appropriate!) north of 103 gets you off work, even if you work from home. But I don’t need my throat to work, so here I am. Back again. The following review is for Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson, published by Simon and…
Technically that’s not true. Kickstarter hasn’t kicked my butt yet, and may not at all. But if I’m going to hit the end of this campaign swinging, I needed a super catchy title. “Kickstarter Kicked My Butt” seemed to fit the bill. I mean, do people want to read about someone being squashed by a…
It’s funny how many times in the past week I’ve had this conversation: Me: I’m doing a Kickstarter campaign. Them: [blank look] Me: You know what Kickstarter is? Them: No. [apologetic look] Me: [deep breath, settle in for slightly boring explanation] Do you know what crowdfunding is? Them: Oh yeah! Kickstarter. I know it. Somehow,…
the starving artist 