This week’s meme: Would you say that you read about the same amount now as when you were younger? More? Less? Why? I have always been a voracious reader. I think the only time in my life I didn’t read much was in my early 20s when I was working 2 fulltime jobs right out of grad school. But I’m sure I still read every day. In other news, here’s a great interview with Battlestar Galactica creator Ron Moore on what the WGA strike means…
Synopsis: 18 original designs that illustrate different techniques for knitting with beads. Review: Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. I am now dying to get my hands on some beads and work with Scarlet Taylor’s fabulous patterns in Knit With Beads. It’s the follow-up to a book I have not read, but these aren’t advanced techniques, as far as I can tell. Anyone proficient in intermediate knitting techniques like cabling and lace will be able to follow the lesson segments and pick up beading techniques quickly and easily.
My birthday was on Sunday, but it extended through today with a box of books that Superfast Husband bought for me! Check out this tantalizing list of books–I don’t know what to read first (after I finish The Fionavar Tapestry)! The Axe, Volume 1 of The Master of Hestviken and Gunnar’s Daughter by Sigrid Undset Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder Dreamsongs by George RR Martin Come Along with Me and Just An Ordinary Day by Shirley Jackson And…
Synopsis: Book 2 of the Fionavar Tapestry finds five Canadian students returning to an alternate universe where they continue to fight an epic battle against a demonic demigod and step further into their unique destinies. Review: As with any good second book in a trilogy, The Wandering Fire deepens the Fionavar mythology and heightens the stakes for all involved.
You may be aware that members of the Writers Guild of America are on strike, sending late night talk shows into reruns and threatening the remainder of the television season. I am one of them. You may have no idea why. Here’s a short video that explains what’s at stake:
Synopsis: Five Toronto college students are pulled into an alternate world where they discover their true destinies at the outset of a war that could affect all worlds, including their own. Review: Yep, another hard-to-synopsize epic fantasy book. The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay employs one of the standard fantasy templates–ordinary people drawn into an extraordinary world–making the book “execution dependent.” That means that Kay has to work twice as hard to make the story feel fresh and exciting.
Synopsis: A headstrong Upper West Side yearns to escape her family’s Jewish Bronx origins and become a Broadway star. Review: This is the third or fourth time I’ve read Marjorie Morningstar, and every time I find myself absolutely riveted for the first two-thirds, then bored and indifferent for the final third, only to be knocked out by the epilogue. The book is rich with details and some astonishing set pieces–such as Seth’s bar mitzvah–but it’s hollow at the core. It’s as if author Herman Wouk…
First of all–happy NaNoWriMo & good luck to all who are participating! I’d be with you if my baby’s due date weren’t smack dab in the middle of the month. This week’s meme: What with yesterday being Halloween, and all . . . do you read horror? Stories of things that go bump in the night and keep you from sleeping? I do like a good scare, though I much prefer the Gothic kind of horror to any other kind. My love for Stephen King…
I mentioned that I had to go on maternity leave for my reading jobs, so my On Reading posts will no longer mean that I read a book for work. I could be a stickler for consistency and just stop doing them, but they’re just too much fun–especially when I catch the fever for a really great meme like the one accidentally started by the Accidental Novelist, and picked up by Poodlerat. Here are 13 opening lines (or two) to books that are beloved by…
Synopsis: 100 young men begin a walk that will not end until there is only one survivor, who will win everything he wants for the rest of his life. Review: I’ve read The Long Walk a bunch of times. It’s one of the best of the books Stephen King wrote under the name of Richard Bachman, a short, tight novella that contains a universe of human drama. The other one worth reading is, of course The Running Man, made into that great rainy Saturday movie…