I've been commissioning illustrations from Vicky Scott, a fine, fine illustrator, about book and reading terms that are familiar to us all. First, we did “Abibliophobia:” And now, “Comfort Reading:” When I posted the latest illustration on Facebook, Heather S. asked the question perfectly: “What are your 'comfort blanket' books?” What books would you make a blanket out of if you could, and why?
G'day! Whatcha reading, mate? I love this thread, even though it's hella expensive because I want to read all the things you're reading. Me, I'm reading in small snippets because I'm traveling with my family, so I've got some American magazines and some novellas that I'm reading in tiny bits. What about you? What are you loving right now? Anything you think everyone should read right now right now? Anything you thought wasn't too terrific? … Continue reading Whatcha Reading?
Jenny D. wrote me this email a few months ago, and I asked if I could share her story with you because it made me laugh so hard. Sometimes the way in which people who aren't familiar with the romance genre approach it can be unintentionally hilarious. I had a hilarious/infuriating romance novel-related interaction today, and needed to share it with someone who would appreciate it. =) So my eight-and-a-half months pregnant self is waddling through … Continue reading Reader Encounters: Accidentally Hilarious
When we started the RITA® Reader Challenge this year, MissB2U asked me to write up a guide to reviewing – which is a totally obvious thing to ask for, and I'm surprised I hadn't thought of it earlier. When I wrote the list of suggestions for reviewing, I meant mostly to help people figure out how to articulate the way a book made them feel, or how it made them think. Reviews can be difficult … Continue reading Reviewing a Series: RITA Reader Reviews and Otherwise
I love hearing what you're reading right now. Not only am I incurably nebby, but my TBR list gets longer because you have good taste in books (dang it). Right now, I'm both reading and listening to books. I'm reading Never Deal With Dragons by Lorenda Christensen, and even though I'm barely into it, I like the silliness of the opening scene. The heroine, Myrna Banks, is a mediator between humans and dragons, and when the book … Continue reading Whatcha Reading?
I have many collections on my e-reader, most of them organized by month. As I've mentioned before, I schedule my reading for review by the month the book is released. If something is coming out late May or early June, it's in the “June 2013” folder, and if it's late June, early July, it goes in “July 2013.” I do this in case I get so excited about a book that is So Awesome OMG … Continue reading Who Lives on Your Reader?
When I announced the 2013 RITA® Reader Challenge last week, MissB2U asked: I would be interested in any pointers from you or other reviewers here on the basics of writing a review. New skillset! Yea! I am a little embarrassed that I haven’t discussed this before, especially since we’ve been doing the RITA® Reader Challenge for years now. So, without further ado: reviews! Guidelines and suggestions only, because I don’t think there are any firm and … Continue reading Writing Reviews: Some Guidelines and Suggestions (There are No Absolute Rules)
In the open Whatcha Reading? thread last weekend, many of you said you were in a reading slump – which sucks. I hate when that happens. Bryn emailed me and asked: Reading today’s postings made me think: wouldn’t it be nice to have a list of books from my fellow readers that helped them break out of their reading slump? If you are ever so inclined I’d love to see the titles that helped my fellow … Continue reading Fixing a Reading Slump
In the back room at Turn the Page books is this poem: Why I Have A Crush On You, UPS Man by Alice N. Persons. I had to share it here. Since that's a link to a picture, and isn't readable by screen readers, there is also a version of it read by Garrison Keillor. I don't have permission to reproduce it here so I didn't, but oh, please, click either link and enjoy. … … Continue reading Weekend Notes from Maryland
Were you a Sunfire romance reader? I totally was. And even after I cracked the code of the cover art – whomever the heroine was pictured with in the cover art was usually NOT the dude she ended up with – I still read them. I loved Caroline, and read that book so many times I looked up the author, which led me to one of my msot favorite YA reads ever, The Girl with the Silver … Continue reading Sunfire Romances and Scholarly Projects
If you follow me on Twitter, you might remember that I ended up in Twitter jail for tweeting so much about Tools of Change two weeks ago. You likely already heard a lot about the conference. The last day of ToC, I received a message that a friend of mine suffered a death in his family, so immediately after leaving Tools of Change, I traveled some more for the funeral, and thus this recap is … Continue reading Tools of Change 2013: My (Somewhat Delayed) Wrap Up
