I took off for New York at peace with the idea I was going to leave my best friend at home. The one I spend 70% of my days hanging out with. The friend who gently, but firmly, corrects my spelling and delivers my email. The friend who not only listens to my every...
Let’s be honest, during the holidays, I'm too easily distracted by turkeys, big balloons, holiday lights, and snowmen to be much of an effective writer. One thing I am good at is making myself a cup of hot cocoa and curling up with a good book to read. Thus, today I'm...
I’d never heard of the expression bucket list until the movie, The Bucket List, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, came out. After that, of course, I had to sit down and make my own bucket list. What I discovered is that I’ve already accomplished most of the...
As a blogger who reads and reviews (discusses) books and a writer who is constantly submitting her books for review, I can’t tell you the number of times the expression, “So many books, so little time!” has come up in my correspondence with other bloggers and...
For avid readers there are many books that are enjoyable, many we might even consider brilliant, but only a few that actually leave a lasting impression on us—for me, Seraphina is one of those books. With her novel, Seraphina, Rachel Hartman joins the ranks of JRR...
Welcome to a discussion of Bitterblue, by Kristin Cashore. After reading my thoughts, please respond by adding additional comments, opinions, and feel free to heartily disagree with me. (If you haven't read Bitterblue...spoiler alert, you might want to check back...
The Graceling Realm Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore Kristin Cashore is the author of one of my all time favorite books—GRACELING. Book 1 of the Graceling Realm series. Not only is GRACELING beautifully written, but I absolutely love the heroine of the story. Katsa is...
So, I’m sitting in front of my computer wondering what to blog about, and it occurs to me that I have nothing new to say. Nothing! Absolutely nothing! And that’s when it hits me—the perfect idea for a blog. (Okay…not perfect, but at least an idea!) It goes back to a...
That's right, I've combined two categories. No, wait--I've combined two categories and subtracted one. Let me explain... A few nights ago, while watching the Opening Ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics (not from the awesomeness of London, but from the comfort of my...
What intrigued me about Across The Universe wasn’t the promise of yet another YA love story or even a murder mystery set aboard a generation ship. No, what intrigued me was a premise that, in my own geeky way, I’d often wondered about. What if we could be...
I prefer to subscribe to blogs by email. Yet, I must admit to sometimes deleting the emailed posts before I even read them. Hey, life is busy, time is short and choices must be made. However, I have yet to delete one of John Guy Collick’s posts. In fact, the moment...
I love opening lines, and have been sucked into reading many books simply because of a line like the one below. “Dinnie, an overweight enemy of humanity, was the worst violinist in New York, but was practicing gamely when two cute little fairies stumbled through his...
Full disclosure: Kimberly Pauley was in my writer’s group for (sadly) only a short time before she moved to London. She started writing Cat Girl’s Day Off while here in the Chicago area, and so I’d already read the first few chapters. Understand that I in no way felt...
About a week ago, I noticed one of my Twitter followers was a scalloped potato recipe. Linda’s scalloped potato recipe, to be (sort of) exact. I don’t know Linda, but I was able to get to know her scalloped potato recipe a little better by clicking on a link to it. I...
One of the best things about eBooks is that I can highlight scenes and lines that are stunning, insightful, or simply delicious--and then easily find them again. On that note: The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern. Reading Morgenstern's story, I felt as if I were...
It was a chilly, rainy, Easter Sunday. We’d been to church and back, and my family, all nine hundred and ninety nine of them—okay, maybe only seventeen—were tromping around my house hunting for Easter Eggs. I was pleased because this year was going to be different....