books and reading

I got a little bit carried away …

… and thanks to BookMooch, half price days at the Chandler Booktique at TSCPL, and one order from Better World Books, I’ve acquired all these in the past month. All my packages have arrived, and I’m planning to NOT get any more books for a while. But what a lovely stack! Isn’t it marvelous? Looking

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Writing, or reading? Can I do both, maybe?

Here’s a three-minute overview of my past nine months of writing (or trying to write) fiction — specifically, a romance novel. First, start with the germ of an idea, and “pants” through several chapters. Realize there isn’t enough conflict, change some things, and start over with basically the same characters but different circumstances. Work on

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My review of The Happiest People in the World by Brock Clarke

For the record: I received this book (an actual hardcover book!) for review from Algonquin Books, through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program. This does not affect the content of my review, but since I truly did love the book, I’m incredibly thankful to have a “real” copy and not just an ARC. I’ve delayed this review

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My favorite books of 2014

This was a slightly disappointing reading year, in that I only read about 35 books. Part of this is because I participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November and didn’t read much of anything as I tried to focus on writing. I also didn’t listen to as many audiobooks this year as I

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Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten books I want to reread

(Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.) Most of my November writing will be for NaNoWriMo, but I saw this topic today and had to join in. Links are to my reviews or to “appreciation” posts about the books mentioned. The Stand — Stephen KingI read this when I was about

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Yep, I’m doing Dewey’s Read-a-thon!

I took the day off from work, but since the boys were also out of school, and Jeff left a to-do list for me, I haven’t had a chance to do what I’d originally planned to do today: to get some more of my books in order before the read-a-thon, and do some of the

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Book review: Home Leave by Brittani Sonnenberg

  (I really love this cover!) I received an advance reader’s copy of Home Leave, the debut novel by Brittani Sonnenberg, through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. Many thanks to LT and to Grand Central Publishing (Hachette Group) for the opportunity to read and review it. Description from Grand Central’s site: Chris Kriegstein is a

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Book review: The Appetites of Girls by Pamela Moses

When I saw this book on LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers list this past spring, I knew it would be right up my alley (she said, while having an afternoon snack). So, thank you to LibraryThing, and to Putnam Books (Penguin Group), for the chance to read and review an advanced copy of The Appetites of Girls,

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