Tag: books

Reading inbox-outbox: Week of 5 October

~ EMM

Sorry for the late post… I had this almost done and then forgot to post it yesterday. I had a big swim meet this weekend and was competing all day Saturday and Sunday. But now I’m back. So, here’s my recap of last week’s reading…

Inbox (books acquired)

  • The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen (Kindle) — This was a Book Riot deal of the day. I haven’t read the first book in the series yet, but I own it and I’m definitely going to read it before the movie (with Emma Watson!) comes out and it definitely sounds like it has all the elements of fantasy stories I love. So, I figured I might as well also own the sequel…
  • Ash by Malinda Lo (Kindle) — This was another Book Riot deal of the day, and I got it for $1.99. I don’t know anything about this book except the description and reviews on Amazon. It sounds like it’s a riff on Cinderella with a girl/girl romance that appears to have reviewers either loving or hating this book. I have no idea what to expect, but I’ve heard she’s a great author, so I’m going with that.
  • Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds (Kindle) — I have been wanting to read this since the release date, but the price was WAY too high for a novella. When I saw that it went on sale for $3.99 and I pounced (and squeeed). I now must find a way to squeeze this in to my carefully laid end of year reading plans… (why do I plan again? next year, no planning.)
  • Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg (signed, special edition hardcover) — My Powell’s Indiespensible shipment arrived and this was the feature book this month. It’s not something I’d heard of and it didn’t sound like something I would normally pick up to read. But, after I read the interview with the author, included in the box, I was much more interested in reading this book. Still… my TBR is pretty full for the rest of this year, so I probably won’t get to it until 2016…
  • Tuesday Nights in 1980 by by Molly Prentiss (advance review copy, paperback) — This also arrived in the Indiespensible shipment. Another lit-fic book that I wouldn’t probably otherwise have read, but the jacket copy makes it sound like I might enjoy it. This won’t be published until April of next year. So, I have plenty of time to read this before its release date…

Outbox (books finished)

  • Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (Kindle) — Oh man, I loved this book. Rainbow Rowell just writes some damn fine romance. This is her first fantasy book and I just love her take on fantasy and magic. It’s written with all the respect of someone who obviously reads/loves the genre, but is still able to poke fun at some of the tropes and trends. After I finished it, I just wanted to go back and read it again. Definitely buying a hardcover copy to shelve on my “favorites” shelf next to Fangirl. ❤

Queue (what I’m reading next)

  • Well, I didn’t make it very far into Count of Monte Cristo (and neither did my friend), so we’re pushing the schedule back a week.
  • I did start All the Light We Cannot See and the writing is just so good. It’s a “war book.” So I didn’t think I would like it. But, the first few chapters are sucking me in. So we’ll see how that goes… I think I’m going to trade off between this and the Count…
  • And at some point I need to get back to My Brilliant Friend…

Hope you are enjoying your week! Happy reading!

Reading inbox-outbox: First four days of October

~ EMM

Well, we’re only four days in and October is already shaping up to be a pretty busy reading month. Dang.

Inbox (books acquired)

  • All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Kindle, library) — I’ve had this on hold for so many months now and I was so far down the list, I kind of forgot about it and I guess I didn’t freeze my hold. So, of course my hold would come up at the worst possible moment, when I’ve already got three other books I was planning on reading this month. I’m going to start this and see if it catches my interest. If it does, I’ll find time for it.
  • Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor (Kindle) — You may remember that I was thinking about buying this to read on my summer vacation. But I ended up sticking to reading books I already owned. Well, this week it went on sale for $1.99 and I finally bought it! I’m so excited to read this, but it must wait…

Outbox (books finished)

  • none…

Queue (what I’m reading next)

  • My buddy read of Count of Monte Cristo is on. The current plan is to read the first thirty chapters by next Sunday. So, I’ll be starting that this week…
  • But, on Tuesday the companion book to Rainbow Rowell’s novel Fangirl will be released. I’ve had this on pre-order since June. So, I’ll probably be dropping everything to bing read Carry On as soon as it hits my Kindle…
  • And, then there is the issue of my library book. I now have three weeks to finish All the Light We Cannot See….
  • And I just started My Brilliant Friend this week thinking I would be able to finish it quickly, but then I wasn’t feeling like reading this weekend…

So, it looks like I’ll be reading multiple books at the same time this month. Not something I normally do, but it should make things interesting. But fall is a great time for snuggling up with a good book and a warm beverage, right?

Happy reading!

NaNoWriMo 2015

~ EMM

Well, folks, it’s almost that time of year again. Less than thirty days until one of my favorite months of the year: November!

Yep. That’s right. November is National Novel Writing Month (affectionately known as “NaNoWriMo”). And this year it is even more special for me because this year I’ve been selected to be a co-Municipal Liaison for my home region! This means that, in addition to writing my own novel, I have volunteered to help organize events and provide encouragement to others participating in these thirty days and thirty nights of writing with literary abandon.

If you happen to be haunted by your own plot bunny and dream of someday turning that cute little bunny into a full grown novel, I *highly* encourage you to consider participating this November.

Why? I’ll tell you why I do it:

  • I’m busy. I have a relatively demanding full time job doing basically the opposite of writing. November is the one time each year where I allow my creative brain to take over. The rest of the year I tinker with stories I’ve already started. But November is for new things. November is for creating something out of nothing. For making magic happen.
  • Writing is a pretty solitary endeavor. But, the writing community is kind of amazing. I don’t know many writers “in real life.” I belong to a writing group. I chat with other writers on Twitter and read the blogs of fellow writers (and readers). But only other writers can relate to that weird process of creation that happens when you sit down to write a novel. And in November the writing community comes together and rallies around that creation process. Need inspiration? You got it. Need a buddy for word sprints? @NaNoWordSprints has you covered. Can’t think of just the right name for your character? There’s a forum for that!
  • World-building is tricky business. I write mostly fantasy and sci-fi novels and I’ve found that world building is so much easier when you can immerse yourself in the world you are building for a short period of time. When I drag out the first draft process over months and months I forget details. I forget the rules I made up for how the world works. I forget what the place looks like. And every time I go back to write I have to remember all over again. Notes are fine. I love notes and lists. But it’s so much easier if you never really leave…
  • I believe in the cause. Each year the organizers bring together almost 400k participants of all ages, from diverse backgrounds, located in about 600 regions, across six continents. They give these participants the resources, inspiration, encouragement, and structure they need to achieve their creative potential. They send creative writing kits to classrooms. They build local creative writing communities. They help people realize their dreams. It’s so easy to get so wrapped up in “being an adult” or “getting good grades” that you lose track of your writing dreams. Or maybe you just don’t think it’s possible because you don’t think anyone “like you” could ever publish a book. NaNoWriMo gives people an excuse. A chance. An opportunity. And they show kids that there are people “like them” out there making a career out of writing books, getting paid for doing what they love to do. Is NaNoWriMo going to end world hunger or war or poverty? No. But books are a way of getting inside someone else’s world for a little while and seeing what that’s like. Reading teaches empathy. And we could all use more of that. So, more books please!

And it’s that last reason that made me want to sign up to be a Municipal Liaison this year. The same reason I’m going to do something I’ve never done before on this blog, or anywhere, really. I’m going to ask you to donate.

Please go check out my donation page and consider donating even a tiny amount of money to this worthy cause. I know there are no end of worthy causes out there to support. I get it. But if this crazy idea of supporting people of all ages achieve their dream of “someday” writing a novel speaks to you in any way, I hope you might spare a few dollars (or more) for yet another good cause.

And, if you have a novel in you, I encourage you to get it out this November.

Are you ready?

Sign up.

Then, dust off your word processor, or find your favorite notebook and pen.

And throw out the rules! Bring on the plot bunnies! Lock up your inner editor! Let’s get the words out on the page!

I’ll be posting some more blog posts and maybe even some videos in October and November offering advice and encouragement. So stay tuned for that.

Let’s do this!

Reading inbox-outbox: September wrap-up

~ EMM

I missed my Sunday update. So, I decided I’d just do a mid-week September wrap-up post instead.

First, here’s the inbox/outbox update since my last post.

Inbox (books acquired)

  • Anathem by Neal Stephenson (Kindle) — I think we own a hard copy of this because my husband has bought/read almost everything by Neal Stephenson. But it’s a doorstop of a book, and the Kindle version was on sale for $1.99. So, I bought it.

Outbox (books finished)

  • An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (Kindle) — I purchased this book back in mid-March when it inexplicably went on sale for $2.99 *pre-release* (book release was 4/28). As of this writing, it’s $10.99 on Kindle. Amazon pricing is weird. But you didn’t need me to tell you that. You wanted to hear what I thought about this book. Okay. So. I’m conflicted. The tension and brutality in this book is done really well. Not as good as The Library at Mount Char, but as far as YA goes, it’s as good as I’ve seen since the Hunger Games series. But the magic and the characters and the romance plots weren’t as exciting for me. The book is told in first person POV, alternating chapters between the two main characters (a guy and a gal, as you might expect). This has become a kind of YA trope, and I’m not that crazy about it. But, as a narrative choice, it made sense for this story, mostly to facilitate plot development and world building. Still, I wasn’t ever really emotionally invested in either of the two main characters. And they *each* were at the center of a love triangle. There’s the forbidden romance between the two of them, and then there’s a person of their own class that’s also drawing their interest. The characters and their various romances didn’t really hold my interest. It was really the tension and the plot pulling me along through this book. I’ll probably pick up the sequel, but I’m not pre-ordering.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

  • I think my “Library Hungry” friend and I are going to start our buddy read of Count of Monte Cristo this month. So, join us if you want to read along. I think we’re going to try to do about 30 chapters / week (it’s a long book).
  • But I will be dropping everything on Tuesday when Rainbow Rowell’s new book (Carry On) comes out. I’ve had this book on pre-order since June and I am *so excited* to read it. It’s a spin-off from Fangirl, which is probably my favorite of her books.

So, that’s what I’ve been up to in my reading life for the past ten days. Here’s how September wrapped up for me, overall:

September reading stats

And now… on to October… fall is in full swing people! It’s my last month with good reading time before NaNoWriMo starts…

Reading inbox-outbox: Week of 14 September

~ EMM

I’ve got eleven books left on my 2015 TBR, plus two that are in-progress and temporarily abandoned for shinier objects. That means I need to finish a book a week just to get through this batch before the end of the year. Not all of them are backlist. Most are needed to finish the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. And a few are pre-orders that I am eagerly awaiting, but that haven’t been released yet. Still, predictably, what I “have to” read is different than what I want to read.

Inbox (books acquired)

  • Serpentine by by Cindy Pon (Kindle) — This book was just released last week, but I’ve had it on my wish list since June of last year. I can’t remember where I first saw it, but I was immediately drawn to it because it’s YA fantasy set in ancient China. That’s a genre kryptonite thing for me and it’s not something you see very often. At the time I added it, there was no Kindle offering. But now there is and it’s less than $5. So, I snapped it up. Bonus: this book has lending enabled! Hooray!
  • Radiance (Wraith Kings Book 1) by by Grace Draven (Kindle) — I found this when I went looking for a fast and fun romance set in a fantasy world. After combing through pages and pages of ebooks on Amazon and sampling the first chapters of several that seemed promising, this one grabbed me and sucked me in. It has a little Beauty and the Beast flavor to it, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a re-telling of the fairy tale. And it appears to be self-published. But, I’ll hand it to the editors (I know she had some because she names them in the by-line), this does NOT read like many of the self-published books I’ve tried. More below…

Outbox (books finished)

  • A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray (Kindle) — This hit quite a few of my genre kryptonite buttons: boarding school, feisty heroine, magic… But it ultimately fell a little short for me. I liked it. The characters were fun and full of life. I just felt like some of the plot turns were disappointing. There were places where I expected more (like the role of the Huntress, the rune stones, how the friendships ultimately play out, the romantic interest, the engagement, etc.), and they all either resolved too quickly, in a less than satisfying way, or not at all. The plot choice leading up to the resolution felt especially disappointing to me (I would expand on this, but I’m trying to avoid spoilers…). Overall, it felt like Gemma spent too much time trying to decide what she wanted to do with her powers and not enough time exploring them, understanding the new world, and solving the mystery behind her mother’s death.
  • Radiance (Wraith Kings Book 1) by by Grace Draven (Kindle) — This was a very fast read. The romance is done really well. The story features two strangers, both equally physically unattractive to the other, forced into an arranged marriage for political gain. Against the odds, they bond based on an initial respect for each other that builds to friendship and eventually to love. It avoids a lot of the fantasy romance tropes that annoy me (like insta-love, love triangles, and romantic plots that rely on miscommunication to cause “tension”). The author pulls off a pretty hot enemies-to-lovers, slow-burn romance that actually has pretty solid fantasy world-building and a non-romantic plot that mostly works to drive the action forward. I liked it. I’ll probably check out the next in the series when it comes out.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

  • I want to finish the two books I have temporarily abandoned: Thinking Fast and Slow and Between the World and Me, but I really don’t feel like reading non-fiction right now…
  • So, I may start one of the two YA fantasy books that I purchased back in March/April: Snow Like Ashes or An Ember in the Ashes … I have been holding off on reading these because I was trying to avoid reading anything that sounded too similar to my in-progress novel while I was working on finishing it…
  • Or, I may read My Brilliant Friend and hold off a little longer on the YA fantasy novels…

That’s what’s going on in my reading world this week… Hope you had a great weekend and have something excellent to read!

Reading inbox-outbox: Week of 7 September

~ EMM

I didn’t have a lot of time for reading this week. It was a busy week at work, and my mom is in town for a visit. Luckily, she likes to read as much as I do. So, we got in some quality reading time, and I managed to finish my library book while she finished the book she was reading (Attachments).

Inbox (books acquired)

  • The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley (Kindle) — This one was on my wish list and I saw that it went on sale, so I bought it. I think I added this to my wish list because I wanted to read more award-winning YA fantasy and sci-fi, and this one won the Newbery Medal. I’m looking forward to reading it, but I probably won’t get to it for a while.

Outbox (books finished)

  • Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Kindle, library) — So many people I know loved this book. Because of that, I came to it with very high expectations. And it’s good. I liked it. I just didn’t love it as much as I thought I would. I feel like the story moved a little slowly, the romantic plot was a little disappointing, and I didn’t really connect with the main character. But, the world-building was top notch and it was definitely different than anything else I’ve seen, so it gets major points for creativity. I think the problem is that, in terms of fantasy sub-genres, books about witches and wizards, unless they are paired with one of my “genre kryptonite” elements (like boarding schools), are just not really my thing.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

And that’s it for this week! Hope you are all enjoying this first week of Fall, my favorite season, the season of back-to-school and BOOKS! Yay!

Reading inbox-outbox: Week of 1 September

~ EMM ~ 1 Comment

I didn’t have as much time to read this weekend as I thought. But I did manage to finish the latest (and probably best yet) in the Throne of Glass series.

Inbox (books acquired)

  • no new books this week… and I’m quite alright with that after last month’s gigantic book haul…

Outbox (books finished)

  • Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas (Kindle) — This series just keeps getting better and better, and this may just be my favorite book in the series so far. There is so much to love here. So much I have been waiting for and hoping for and finally got in this book. Sorry if I’m being vague, but I really don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read this far, yet. And if you haven’t, get reading! Because, I loved everything about this book. I could basically gush forever. I can not wait until the next book comes out. Please tell me I can pre-order already…

Queue (what I’m reading next)

Hope you all had an excellent holiday weekend! I’m going to bury my head in a book again. See you next week!

Reading inbox-outbox: August 2015 recap

~ EMM ~ 3 Comments

I feel like I read almost nothing in August. That’s probably because I did. At least compared to previous months… But I was writing. I finished the first draft of a novel. That should count for something, right?

August reading stats

  • Total books finished: 2 (1 novels and 1 comic trade)
  • Favorite book read: The Library at Mount Char
  • Book(s) read by diverse authors (per my 2015 reading project): none… (I read two last month, so I gave myself a pass this month)

Inbox (books acquired)

  • The Diviners by Libba Bray (Kindle) — the price was right and I happened to be reading one of her other books…
  • The Inheritance Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin (Kindle) — I’ve been planning on reading this series for a while now. So, when I saw the full trilogy on sale for $9.99, I grabbed it. Now I can cancel my library hold.
  • Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Kindle, library) — This had a huge hold list, probably because it’s getting so much positive hype. I suspended my hold while I was on vacation, so I was top of the list when I got back.
  • Superheroes Anonymous by Lexie Dunne (Kindle) — The price was right and the premise grabbed me (see previous post)…
  • Graynelore by Stephen Moore (Kindle) — Another one that I mentioned in my previous post. This one may have some historical elements that I might be playing with in my NaNoWriMo story this year. So, I plan on reading this before November.
  • The Neptune Project by Polly Holyoke (Kindle) — This is a middle-grade fantasy book about kids who can turn into mer-people. I pretty much never read middle grade books, but… mer-people. And it dropped in price to 99 cents. And my library doesn’t have it on Kindle. So, I grabbed it.
  • Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling (Kindle) — I don’t watch TV until it’s available on Netflix streaming, and even then I don’t have time to catch up on all the amazing shows that have been aired in the past ten years. So, I’ve never seen The Office (I know…). But what little I have seen of Mindy Kaling has impressed me. She has a geeky charm like Felica Day that makes me feel like we could be friends. So, when this came up as a “deal of the day” on Kindle, I decided to give it a go even though I’m not usually into memoir, especially celebrity memoir.
  • Best Boy and The Boy Who Went Away by Eli Gottlieb (Hardcover and paperback, signed) — These were the Powells Indiespensible picks for this month, and they are both so completely out of my wheelhouse that I’m not sure what to do with them. I forgot to check what books I was getting before they shipped, and then it was too late because they were on their way. Oh well. Maybe I know someone that would love these books and they can be a gift?

Outbox (books finished)

  • The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins (Kindle, library) — I already wrote about this in a weekly recap, but you can also read my review on Goodreads. Bottom line is I really enjoyed this book, so much so that I added a hardcover edition of this to my Amazon wish list.
  • Promethea Book 1 by Alan Moore, J. H. Williams III, Mick Gray, Charles Vess (trade paper) — My brother-in-law let me borrow this from his treasured comic book collection. It’s one of his favorites and he thought that I might also enjoy it. He was right. I think this may be one of the most creative origin stories I’ve seen for a super hero. I really like it.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

  • I have four books in progress right now. A Great and Terrible Beauty, Uprooted, Thinking Fast and Slow, and Queen of Shadows. My goal is to finish at least two of those (probably Queen of Shadows and Uprooted) by the end of the long weekend.
  • I just agreed to do a “buddy read” of The Count of Monte Cristo in October with a friend. So, that will be exciting!

 

I hope you’re all enjoying “back to school” season! I love fall! Hooray!

Oh, the books I would buy…

~ EMM

I’ve decided. There’s not going to be a weekly inbox/outbox post this week. I just didn’t get any reading done. I’ve switched into writing mode again, and I’m hoping I might be here for a while.

It’s okay. I’ve already met my reading goal for this year (52+ books read! woah!) and it’s not even September.

But, while procrastinating today (I said I’d switched to writing mode, not saint mode… of course I’m still procrastinating…), I discovered a feature on Scalzi’s blog that I hadn’t really paid much attention to before…It’s the Big Idea and it’s a series of posts that writer-me LOVES, but also something that is threatening to topple my TBR.

So far today I’ve added 4 books to my wish list (none of which are available at my library, but 3 are priced at $3.99 or less…):

  • The Paradox by Charlie Fletcher — I really like the premise for this fantasy novel about old world magic colliding with advancing technology that is creating a new world where the old world is struggling to survive. It reminds me somewhat of what I’m trying to do in my own fantasy novel…
  • Graynelore by Stephen Moore — This one has several elements that I am drawn to right now: a MC who thinks they don’t have magic and then finds out they do, Scotland, faire, some sort of home-grown militia thing…
  • Superheros Anonymous and Supervillans Anonymous by Lexie Dunne — This reminds me a bit of the premise behind Vicious, telling the story of a mid-grade superhero. She’s not strong enough to whoop on the supervillans by herself, and she’s not indestructible, but she still has a role to play… interesting…

And that’s after reading just a few of these posts… I still have a more I’ve bookmarked to read later…

I’ve also been discovering a bunch of new YA authors while following #PitchWars, and added several of their new releases for 2016 to my wish list. Two I’m especially excited about:

  • Alterations by Stephanie Scott — oh wow! A YA re-telling of Sabrina (the movie, not the witch)? I am so there for this book. Sabrina is seriously my favorite Audrey Hepburn movie. I even like the refresh with Harrison Ford. Seriously need this book.
  • The Blood Rose Rebellion by Rosalyn Eves — Victorian England, magic, “nobles, revolutionaries, and gypsies,” and an underdog hero? Okay! This sounds great! Now if only they listed a release date.

I should probably get back to writing now. I don’t want to lose my momentum… I’ll catch up on everything inbox/outbox related at the end of the month. Until then… happy reading!

Reading inbox-outbox: Week of 10 August

~ EMM

Short post this week… I’ve been busy with work and writing. So, there hasn’t been much reading going on.

Inbox (books acquired)

  • The Diviners by Libba Bray (Kindle) — I picked this up because I saw someone I follow tweet about how they liked this book and it was on sale for $2.99. I’ve heard good things about this author, and I own one of her other books, but I hadn’t read anything by her yet… The premise sounded interesting (1920s New York City). So I decided to buy it based on a recommendation, a reputation, a premise, and a price point.

Outbox (books finished)

  • none…

Queue (what I’m reading next)

  • I started A Great and Terrible Beauty (also by Libba Bray) on Friday. So far, I’m enjoying it. The voice of the main character (yes, it’s first person POV) is unique, and the book starts off in India and quickly moves to an all-girls boarding school in Victorian London. So, even though I’ve professed to be “over” first person POV, this one is still working for me because it’s hitting several of my “genre kryptonite” points.
  • I ended up sending Mistborn back to the library un-read. Well, I read the first chapter. But don’t fret. It’s not that I didn’t like it. I just couldn’t get into it right now. I read enough to know that I’ll probably be hooked once I can sit down and focus on this sort of thing.

I think I might be slowing down the reading pace over the next few weeks (and maybe months?). We’re entering hard-core writing season (for me). For some reason, I always am more motivated to write in the fall/winter months. Maybe that’s because fall means it’s almost NaNoWriMo time, and that’s my second favorite month of the year.

I’ll also be busy with the swimming, even though there aren’t a lot of meets in the fall. I’m stepping up my training to build up my base for the short-course yards season that starts in January.

There will be reading, but I may decide to make this inbox/outbox post more of a monthly thing instead of a weekly one. But, never fear, I’ll supplement with other fun blog posts as the mood strikes me.

 

(Reminder: the format for my weekly inbox/outbox posts was adopted from Book Riot’s weekly column of the same name…)