I have recently joined a science fiction/fantasy writers group in the area. I thought that since my first novel was magic realism, the second was fantasy, and the third will also be fantasy, it would behoove me to get a little more into the culture, to learn from it and to basically not be totally…
The middle grades Secret Series by Psuedonymous Bosch: The Name of This Book is Secret (2008); If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late (2009); This Book is Not Good for You (2010); This Isn’t What It Looks Like (2011); and You Have to Stop This (2012), in order. Illustrated by Gilbert Ford. Published by Little,…
The Total Money Makeover (2003, Thomas Nelson) and Complete Guide to Money (2011, Lampo Press), both by Dave Ramsey, the Financial Peace money guru. Let’s just do this up front: you either love the Dave Ramsey system or you hate it. You either jump in with both feet and hang on for dear life, or…
We are fast approaching the inaugural (their fancy way of saying first-ever-hopefully-of-many) Read Local Book Festival. The festival is a weekend-long event with general proceeds going to the libraries, and embraces local authors, bloggers, publishers, bookstores, and libraries from around the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and beyond). It would be a great time for…
APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur or APE: How to Self-Publish, by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch. I received an e-copy of this book, probably more than a year ago, for some sort of promotion. This book took me forever to read, for two reasons. First, it is an e-book, and I hardly ever pick up my…
The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green, published in 2012 by Penguin. I was simply seeing this book everywhere. Everyone seemed to love it. So I added it to the Best Books TBR (to be read) and put it out of my head. Until a friend posted on Facebook that her copy was looking…
The Ruby Redfort series by Lauren Child, 2011-2014. I read the first two of six total books. The first four are titled Look Into My Eyes, Take Your Last Breath, Catch Your Death, and Feel the Fear. The other two titles are not yet released, but will be in the next couple years. The reason…
“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…
the starving artist 