I have read the
following
I want to begin by saying everyone should
read this book and reflect on the current state of affairs regardless of
political leaning. Challenging ones self
to consider different viewpoints and critically reflect on history is a skill
many have lost. The author does lean too
heavily on beaten horses and neglects to address many other examples within the
twentieth century that aren’t just the Nazi party and recent Russian history. He does however provide ample evidence to
show correlation without just claiming A is B like many people do when
discussing the current state of affairs.
He also provides a simple breakdown of what we can do as individuals and
groups to prevent repeating history. One
major problem with this books formatting is by not giving the author’s
credentials till the end readers are left wondering is this just a liberal rant
or does he know his stuff. I suggest
reading the about the author before diving into the book so you’re confident in
the narrator.
Insanity (Insanity #1)
This was a
fun junk food read. The book is gripping once you accept it as a reading cheat
meal. Once I got to chapter 41 I was sucked in and couldn’t put it down. Most readers wont give a book that long
however. The author created wonderful characters that you end up caring
about. The images vary in how well the
are described. The section about the belgum cat festival is the most heart-wrenching
scenes in the whole book. I didn’t buy
they were in an asylum considering the amount of freedom the patients really
had. The author fell into the trap of
many self-published authors. There wasn’t
enough editing and not enough eyes to catch things like on the nose narration,
telling instead of showing, or the problem with the omnipotent Carter
Piller. Carter Piller made it too easy
for Alice because he spoon fed her everything and told readers everything instead
of letting us go on a journey. That being said I was drawn to these characters
the way I am candy corn, I want more. With some fine tuning this author has a
bright future, you cant teach how to have a good imagination but you can teach
how to efficiently revise and edit.
Snowflower
and the Secret Fan
by Lisa See
by Lisa See
A beautiful
book that will take you through a series of emotions. This fictional story reads like memoir and
for that reason you’re not scared for the narrator when she’s put in dangerous
situations but you get to feel the emotions as she is forced to deal with the
mortality of others and relationships. The
author does a great job of giving readers enough context to know whats going on
without coming across like a textbook. The
author does a fantastic job of really making you feel for the characters, even
making you feel anger toward characters.
I’m excited to read more by Lisa See.
The
Skystone (Camulod Chronicles #1)
While I found the book slow to get
into since it was outside my typical reading and requires google open for
questions I got sucked in about a third of the way through. The characters are wonderfully
developed. The interpersonal relationships
are captivating. They are people you
want to care about, you want to succeed, and you’d like to see in the real
world. The characters embody a quality
we have lost in modern culture, the ability to disagree and challenge each
other to be better without taking offense to the disagreement. There was action till the very last page in
the form of battles and interpersonal tension.
The foreshadowing was obvious to those familiar with Arthurian
legend. This book was a great set up for
what I expect to be a wonderful series.
I have worked on the
following
I have been working on vignettes for
characters. I have also been working on
createing a character toolbox. I’m almost done creating my biography situation
prompt sheet which I will se to create characters for the toolbox.
I’m working on the
following
I will be participating if fiction wars for
the fall 2017 season. I am also preparing for this years NaNoWriMo
Thoughts
What do you
do to prepare for a competition? What about NaNoWriMo?
