Category Archives: On Reading

Surviving the Dog Days: Bookworm Carnival #2

On Reading August 13, 2007 Superfast Reader 23 Comments

I hate, hate, hate summer, and the last few days here in NYC have been August at its worst: super humidity, subway-killing flooding from the thunderstorms, and general heat-induced crankiness from my fellow citizens. Now is always when I want to hibernate, and it’s in that spirit that I suggested the theme for this round of the Bookworms Carnival. Thanks to all who participated! I’ve enjoyed checking out your posts as they’ve come in, and I’m excited to share them now. Stay cool– Articles: John…

Tell Me That the Reading Won’t Stop

On Reading August 11, 2007 Superfast Reader 14 Comments

Well, I’m in my third trimester. Not long to go, really, even though it’s hard to conjure “November” in steamy August. And I feel like I need to read everything I’ve ever wanted to read, right now, just in case I never get to read again, or at least until Superfast Baby goes off to school. So, reader parents (particularly moms)– Please tell me that I’ll read. Please tell me that if I go into labor and I’m halfway through a book I will get…

Margaret Drabble Reads My Mind

British Literature, On Reading August 6, 2007 Superfast Reader 6 Comments

I was making my way through The Radiant Way by Margaret Drabble, thinking I was really enjoying it, when I realized on about page 75 that it was utterly failing to hold my interest. I couldn’t figure out why, because I generally love these kinds of books–portraits of women rooted in a time and place, books like The Group by Mary McCarthy or Diary of a Mad Housewife by Sue Kaufman. This book has strong, faceted female characters and the prose is layered yet lucid.…

July Round Up–Top 5 Most Popular Posts

On Reading July 31, 2007 Superfast Reader 3 Comments

I’ve decided to start a regular end-of-the-month round-up post, to feature the 5 most popular posts each month. So, for July 2007, the most-viewed posts were:

My Greatest Fear

On Reading July 31, 2007 Superfast Reader 2 Comments

I have horrible, horrible vision. Like, it gets blurry two inches in front of my face, and I’ve worn contact lenses since I was 10. When I have my glasses on my husband likes to say that he can see the back of my head. It’s kind of true. I’m scared to death of LASIK because of the chance, however infinitesimal, that I could go blind. If I went blind, I would not be able to read, and my life would be like this (re-edited)…

Check Out My Redesign!

On Reading July 31, 2007 Superfast Reader 5 Comments

I just spent the last 90 minutes hacking the Cutline Theme to bits to create what I think is a much more user-friendly layout. It feels much cleaner to me. Of course, it still features my kickass banner by Hevan Chan. I’d definitely love feedback/suggestions…

Bulwer-Lytton Awards Announced

On Reading July 31, 2007 Superfast Reader 4 Comments

And the winner is: Gerald began–but was interrupted by a piercing whistle which cost him ten percent of his hearing permanently, as it did everyone else in a ten-mile radius of the eruption, not that it mattered much because for them “permanently” meant the next ten minutes or so until buried by searing lava or suffocated by choking ash–to pee. Jim Gleeson Madison, WI My personal favorite is the Children’s Literature winner: Danny, the little Grizzly cub, frolicked in the tall grass on this sunny…

How On Earth Do You Write a Novel?

On Reading July 30, 2007 Superfast Reader

I’m attempting to write a novel. Well, I’ve attempted to write several novels, at least five that I can think of. This time, I’m attempting to finish a novel. At least a first draft. In the past, I’ve tried free writing on the computer and in a notebook, but I always get bogged down somewhere around 50 pages.

Story vs. Language

On Reading July 30, 2007 Superfast Reader 6 Comments

From my shared items (available in the top left corner of the blog, as well as by RSS), I thought I’d highlight this post from the Guardian. It opens:

Blogging Tips Meme + Little (Grrl) Lost by Charles de Lint

On Reading July 27, 2007 Superfast Reader 3 Comments

Eva at A Striped Armchair tagged me for the Blogging Tips Meme. I’ve blogged on this topic before for Daily Blog Tips’s Blogging Mistakes contest. It’s a subject I’m interested in, and some great tips have been collected so far. Itâ€™s very simple. When this is passed on to you, copy the whole thing, skim the list and put a * star beside those that you like. (Check out especially the * starred ones.)

reading is my superpower

i read all the books