My new addiction to online Scrabble has me thinking about how much I love words, those pesky little lettered things that roam errant across the page, resisting containment even by the author, each sentence a pregnant cumulonimbus promising disaster, by turns jocular and contentious, the period an upstart proclaiming its unearned dominance.
Synopsis: A jungle adventure turns into a nightmare when six tourists find themselves trapped in a clearing, unable to leave without being shot by Mayans, and finding a gory secret that brings new definition to the word flesh-eating. Review: I had to finish The Ruins during the day time, because I really did not want to face the heebie-jeebies again tonight. This book is scary, y’all–one of the scariest I’ve read in quite some time. It’s scary like I like, too, not just gore and…
It’s Buy a Friend a Book Week and I want to buy a book for one of my readers. To enter the contest, you just need to answer a simple trivia question about the Superfast Reader: What’s one of Superfast Reader’s other hobbies, besides reading? I’ll collect entries through the Contact Form below or by email until Thursday, 3pm EST. The winner will be chosen randomly from participants with the correct answer, and I’ll buy you the book of your choice up to $15USD. Good…
I posted last week about a mistake I made when I first started Reading is my Superpower. It was part of a blog project at Daily Blog Tips, and here is the final list:
Synopsis: After the death of the tortured aunt who edited her grandmother’s best-selling diaries, a second-generation Danish-British woman seeks to find out the truth of her aunt’s parentage, which may be linked to an infamous murder case. Review: The complexity of Anna’s Book (originally published as Asta’s Book) is reminiscent of A Dark-Adapted Eye, and both books are now tied as my favorite of the books crime novelist Ruth Rendell has written as Barbara Vine. Both books deal with a tangled family history as revealed…
I found this meme over at Bookfoolery and Babble, and heaven knows I love lists. These are the 10 books that form the backbone of my library, the 10 books with which I would never part, the 10 books that I will always reread at every stage of my life. That’s not to say that I could live without any books but these, but that I need these books to be me.
I’m often asked what I look for when I evaluate books for the movie biz. First and foremost, I look for the elements that are important to my employers–things that they are specifically looking for in terms of genre, execution, etcetera. I read for a couple of different places, and each has a slightly different mandate. In general, in order for a book to become a movie it has to have a strong, forward-moving plot line, and a premise that you can easily picture on…
Thanks to the marvelously kind & wonderful Hevan Chan, my site now has the most amazing banner EVER! He is incredibly talented, obviously, and I’m so appreciative of what he’s done for Reading is my Superpower. Thanks, Hevan! I’ll miss working with you every day…
Last night’s work read was a children’s book written by a celebrity. Daily Blog Tips is hosting a blog project about mistakes. I used to blog for my day job, and I made a ton of mistakes when I started out. I also made some mistakes when I first started this blog back in October.
Synopsis: Young Leilani has a deformed hand and a brace on her leg–and she’s just told her alcoholic ex-con neighbor that her differences are why her deranged doctor stepfather and whacked-out druggie mother are going to kill her unless she’s abducted by aliens when she turns 10. Review: I read this book because it was recommended by Wesley Smith, a leading voice against utilitarianism bioethics, which is the concept that death is the optimal choice for anyone living a less-than-perfect existence, physically speaking. Rather than…