Well, it is December 1st, which means National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is over and it’s time for a recap!
Book Blog
Is It OK to DNF a Book?
Earlier this week, in my review of Under the Whispering Door, I revealed that I am on Team DNF. Today, I’d like to elaborate on why.
Book Review: Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
At its heart, Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune is a redemption story. And while I can’t say that the main character Wallace was unworthy of redemption, I started the book in serious doubts as to whether I wanted to spend hundreds of pages watching him earn that redemption.
I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year!
With the pandemic being what it is and the Seattle area already experiencing very cold weather, I’ll probably be snugged up at home for most of November anyway. So why not spending my time writing the first 50k or so words of a new fiction project?
Book Review: Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejidé
I feel like this is a book that should be taught in creative writing workshops. It’s an example of how narrative doesn’t have to fit neatly into the dominant idea of “craft”, how prose can be as lyrical as poetry, how difficult stories can be told beautifully, so that they lodge hooks into your heart.
Two Books About Speaking with the Dead
I recently read The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu, and as I was reading it I was struck by how it explores some of the same themes as Katherine Addison’s The Witness for the Dead, but in a completely different way.
Book Bingo Blackout!
Earlier this month, I read the last of 24 books for Adult Summer Reading Book Bingo, hosted by Seattle Public Library and Seattle Arts & Lectures.
Book Review: Hype by Gabrielle Bluestone
Hype lets us indulge in guilt-free schadenfreude because most of the victims of Fyre Festival and similar scams don’t suffer any lasting harm.
Five Mini Book Reviews
I’m currently tearing through books at a slightly alarming pace. Blame Book Bingo.
Book Review: Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz
What causes people to leave cities behind? And are they ever truly “lost”?