This week’s question is suggested by Puss Reboots: How much do reviews (good and bad) affect your choice of reading? If you see a bad review of a book you wanted to read, do you still read it? If you see a good review of a book you’re sure you won’t like, do you change your mind and give the book a try? Reviews don’t get me excited. I prefer to read them after I’ve read a book, to see how my experience matched up…
Synopsis: In a world characterized by politics and intrigue, a sorceror unites a legendary rogue, a dandyish fighter, and an outlaw woman in the fight to… oh, I’m not really sure what, honestly. Review: Seriously, what is The Blade Itself about? I was lost from really early on. The characters were interesting, but there didn’t seem to be much of a story, just a bunch of incidents loosely threaded together. I never got the connections or what the stakes were, or what anyone’s goals were.…
Synopsis: When an elderly woman’s childhood friends show up, miraculously unaged since she last saw them 60 years prior, she realizes she has a chance to correct the tragic mistakes made by her father those many years ago. Review: The brief on this book made it sound like a family adventure, and for the first half it read like a charming piece of Americana. Small town life, stowaways in a boxcar, the stock market crash of 1929. But the mood was shattered by a passage…
How did you come across your favorite author(s)? Recommended by a friend? Stumbled across at a bookstore? A book given to you as a gift? Was it love at first sight? Or did the love affair evolve over a long acquaintance? You can find my favorite authors listed in the first sidebar column. Here’s a rundown of how I met them all: CS Lewis–My father read the Chronicles of Narnia to me when was a little girl. For my 6th birthday, I had a cake…
I read books to her for the first time tonight. We read Goodnight Moon and The Going-to-Bed Book by Sandra Boynton. She made her happy baby noises so I think it was a success. I adore Goodnight Moon, which I’ve read to countless children while babysitting. It’s so tranquil & hypnotic. The Sandra Boynton book was very silly & sweet, with delightful word combinations that are perfect for tickling and cuddling.
…for the nominees for the WGA Awards. I was nominated once… Original Screenplay: Black Snake Moan Juno Ratatouille The Savages Waitress Adapted Screenplay: 3:10 to Yuma Into the Wild No Country for Old Men Rescue Dawn Zodiac
What new books are you looking forward to most in 2008? Something new being published this year? Something you got as a gift for the holidays? Anything in particular that you’re planning to read in 2008 that you’re looking forward to? A classic, or maybe a best-seller from 2007 that you’re waiting to appear in paperback? I’ve got four new books I’m waiting for: Dreamsongs Volume 2 by George RR Martin–more short stories and his novella “The Hedge Knight,” set in the same world as…
Taking a break from book reviewing to bring some reflection and contemplation to Reading is my Superpower. I don’t generally blog about personal stuff, but the baby is still asleep and I’m showered and enjoying coffee and feel like blogging. I rang in the New Year on the couch with Superfast Husband and Bean watching the ball drop on New York 1. I have never gone to Times Square for New Year’s Eve and never will. Big crowds just aren’t my scene, and these days,…
From Booking Through Thursday: It’s an old question, but a good one . . . What were your favorite books this year? List as many as you like … fiction, non-fiction, mystery, romance, science-fiction, business, travel, cookbooks … whatever the category. But, really, we’re all dying to know. What books were the highlight of your reading year in 2007? It was a good year, reading-wise. Here are my highlights, with links to my reviews. The Ghost Writer by John Harwood East of Eden by John…
Merry Christmas, everyone! The Superfast Three are snuggled up in our apartment with my parents and my younger brother watching Fargo and waiting to get hungry for round 2 of the Irish ham we enjoyed last night. I got a few books for Christmas this year, fewer than usual because I asked for clothes to accommodate my postpartum body. So the stack was small, but noteworthy: From my dad: An Exaltation of Larks by James Lipton. It’s a compendium of the specific term to refer…