First things first: The Starving Artist has passed 100 posts and 800 followers! Also, we have passed one of the great, blog-tipping-points where–after a year and a half–the blog finally has its own momentum and we get actual comments (maybe some Shares, Tweets, Likes) on every post. Woo-hoo! Now, if I can only usher it…
The Ender Quartet, by Orson Scott Card, which includes Ender’s Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind, and was published by Tor between 1985 and 1996. There are plenty of other series-related materials, which I did not read. I figured 1,668 pages was enough. In fact, 706 pages might have been…
Parade’s End, by Ford Madox Ford. First published as a series of books, Some Do Not…, No More Parades, A Man Could Stand Up–, and The Last Post, in the 1920s. I read the Vintage edition of all four stories together, published in 1950/1978. All authors have their overused words. For Rowling in the Potter…
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and published by Simon & Schuster in 1925. Notes and preface by Matthew J. Bruccoli. Let me just say, one of the best things about reading this book was its history in the forward. Not that I would wish this on anyone, but knowing that The Great Gatsby–widely…
It has been a month of the unexpected, driven by the weather and that nasty flu bug. I’m sure we were in the same boat as lots of people. Work-wise, it was Self Help month here on the blog, and I read only two books the whole month (the second, in one day). See here…
We are leaving behind the Superbowl, not to mention Puxatawny Phil and our New Year’s resolutions, and are headed dead-on for Valentines Day (February 14) and the Oscars (March 2). In celebration of the Oscars and of movies in general, I am going to spend the month of February reading great books that made great…
Besides being buried under the holidays, I managed to take some new head shots in December. They are needed for book promotion in 2014, so I came in right under the line. But only when my husband–a newly signed actor–needed his head shots, did I join him and our camera in the back yard for…
With NaNoWriMo, I honesty haven’t been taking in too much to entertainment, even reading (which is like half-entertainment, half-work). My plan for these last two months was several books, but I haven’t even finished one all month (unless you count the first book of Parade’s End, which I guess we should). We did, early on,…
I have started in a writing group, this month. (See “It Could Have Been Worse.”) I have entered another contest. I have been rejected by the establishment as a self-publisher. (To be addressed in a future blog, titled “The Rejection of the Nuances.”) I have signed up for NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. (See the…
Plays 5 (or Plays FIve), a compilation of five of Tom Stoppard plays, published by faber and faber in 1999. Also, Lord Malquist and Mr. Moon, by Tom Stoppard, from Grove Press, published first in 1966 and with an introduction in 2005. Note that I have recently reviewed Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Stoppard’s most…
Before I get to my movie and TV reviews, I will share a few thoughts on e-books. When it comes to my Kindle, I go kicking and screaming. I really still like the actual book (as much as I still enjoy opening up a canister of new film and giving it a whiff and keep…
“Hamlet,” or “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark,” William Shakespeare, app. 1600. Read, not the version shown here, but from my leather-bound William Shakespeare: The Complete Works, published by Gramercy Books in 1975. Bonus reviews of four Hamlet movies and Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. William Shakespeare (assuming that was his name…
This has been a slow month for lots of things pertaining to this blog, and yet one of the most eventful months of my life. My husband has started his new career as a nurse, my youngest child has scooted off to kindergarten, and I have started working five days a week, 9am-230pm. As a…
“A Doll’s House,” by Henrik Ibsen (1879), read from Oxford World’s Classics Henrik Ibsen: Four Major Plays (1981), transl. by James McFarlane and Jens Arup. Also, “Ghosts” (1881), “Hedda Gabler” (1890), and “The Master Builder” (1892). I can’t say that I enjoyed these plays too much. Ibsen and I diverge too much in our basic…
With Kevin now graduated from nursing school, this has been a big month for us and the entertainment industry and catching up. We have spent a majority of our May evenings tucking the kids in and then slumping onto the couch to watch our newest favorite thing. We haven’t had a life like this in…
Time for an April synopsis! Before we get all entertainment here, let’s acknowledge that this was the month I received my first paycheck as a novelist and entrepreneur of Owl and Zebra Press. Createspace, Kindle, and Smashwords (which, between the three, distribute to all my other sales venues) take one, two, or even three months…
Well, since I am starting to read books for review on this blog, I am going to refrain from telling you about that, in the monthly review. There will still be other media and things that cross my path, however. Here are some reviews and things from March. Bernie (movie, 2011 ). We rented this…
Another holiday, another list of holiday recommendations. So, we’re going to start with the movies, ’cause apparently I have quite a few romantic comedies in my cherished DVD collection. In no particular order, and with no real weeding: Once (2006). One of my all-time faves, but sort of anti-romantic, as far as that goes. Can…
I’m going to jump the gun a little bit on my Christmas books and other entertainment list, since the holiday season is extended enough to allow you to actually check them all out. Here are my recommendations for books, movies and music to get you in the holiday spirit (and avoid further replays of Mariah…
To officially launch my blog, I would like to do an ode to the day, an ode to Halloween. Because, honestly, I like Halloween. I’m not big on witches and ghouls and evil in general, but I can’t help it: I LOVE dressing up and play-acting. I also love the cool weather, apples and pumpkins,…
the starving artist 