Interesting Links for 8-27-2010

What I Am Reading

I’m currently reading Infamous by Suzanne Brockmann which reminds me once again why my husband is willing to read romance novels by her. Brockmann is extremely talented and has established herself well enough to get away with the first person POV of a dead man in a romance novel. I can’t wait to get to the end, and I’m dreading it being over.

Fair Ladies by Theodora Goss (on Apex Magazine) is a melancholy, compelling story about young men and changing times. Very powerful.

http://apexbookcompany.com/apex-online/2010/08/short-story-fair-ladies-by-theodora-goss/

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Interesting Links for 08-20-2010

This week vanished too quickly, and I’ve had little time for research or reading on line. What this means is that the links are incredibly spare, but that also gives you the opportunity to read all of them rather than having to choose based on your own limited time.

What I Am Reading

I have finished Elizabeth Bear’s All the Windwracked Stars, and not surprisingly, I’m happy to discover there’s more in the series. That’s not to say she didn’t manage to pull this one off, because she absolutely did, but there’s more to be told in this world, and this place and time. I find it amazing to end the book with the feeling of more to come when it starts at the end of the world. Her talents as a storyteller continue to delight me.

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The Demon in Me by Michelle Rowen

I was first introduced to Michelle Rowen through a blog contest. While not generally a fan of chick lit, when I won Bitten and Smitten, I found Rowen’s combination of chick lit, vampires, and comedy to be great fun. It’s not every day that I can read a paranormal romance aloud and have my two young boys rolling on the floor, but that’s what happened with several passages including ones about shoes…and throwing them if I remember correctly.

When I saw that she’d begun a new series, I was so determined to get it that I accidentally ended up with not one but two copies. Because of that, one of the commenters will receive my second copy based on a random draw. Now before you get the idea that getting rid of a copy says anything negative about my enjoyment, let me be clear: The Demon in Me is rather different than Rowen’s first series, but all in good ways. Read the rest of this entry »

Note: Only comments on my main blog count for the contest.

Are You Predisposed to Like What You Choose to Read?

I’ve been thinking about this on and off for a long while, but the question still bugs me. When I pick a book out of my TBR pile and open the first page, I start with the assumption that I have this book for a good reason. That could be because the premise caught my eye, because I like the author, because someone recommended it to me, or even because I won it in a contest. The reason doesn’t matter. I assume it’s not there at random, and therefore I wanted to read it. Okay, it’s a sign of the extent of my TBR pile (1.5 bookcases and growing) that I can’t always remember why a book is there. This may be part of the reason I approach things as I do, but even when I was gobbling down 20+ books a week, I approached them looking for what this one offered me as opposed to demanding entertainment.

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Interesting Links for 08-13-2010

Welcome to Friday the 13th. Hope you’re all having a magical, rather than mundane, day.

What I Am Reading

Nearing the end of Elizabeth Bear’s All the Windwracked Stars, and so far it’s holding up well. I’m interested in seeing how she’s going to pull this all together in the end.

Just finished Public Affair, Secretly Expecting by Heidi Rice (part of a Harlequin reader reaction program I’m in). This one is from one of their “hotter” lines, which clearly plays a big part in the story, but at the same time, there’s a surprising complexity in the history of both main characters, affecting how Juno and Mac interact, and driving their interpretation of circumstances. I enjoyed this story a lot.

Life

Not sure where to place this one, but I wanted to share. It has suggestions for writing, for project management, and for a focus on success. Well worth the time to read this analysis of Pixar’s process:

http://www.copyblogger.com/pixar/

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Interesting Links for 8-6-2010

Sorry folks. Forgot to crosspost this for those of you who link to me on blogger.
What I Am ReadingElizabeth Bear’s All the Windwracked Stars is proving to be a complex and rather fascinating read.

A Stroke of Dumb Luck By Shiloh Walker, on Tor.com, is a fun urban fantasy story that does an excellent job of establishing the world all the while maintaining tension:

http://www.tor.com/stories/2010/07/a-stroke-of-dumb-luck.

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Demon Hunts by C.E. Murphy

Plot Summary:

Demon Hunts by C. E. Murphy begins with a newly, if not confident, then grounded, Joanne Walker. She and Billy have teamed up as the official unofficial paranormal arm of the Seattle Police Force with Morrison’s blessing. They’re investigating an unusual serial murder with the characteristics of human bites and no forensic evidence, only Joanne and Billy can’t sense anything either. Joanne stretches her abilities, and curses her earlier balking, to discover new ways to use her shamanistic powers and learn about her role in this crazy life with the help of friends old and new.

If you want specifics and to discover the end…well, you’ll just have to read it yourself.

My Comments:

Through no fault of its own, it took me a while to read Demon Hunts, but once I started reading, I moved through the story quite quickly.
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