Category Archives: Am reading

Getting over the Don’t-Wants

Posted on July 5, 2020 by

Maybe you’ve never heard the term, but you know the feeling: Low energy, little interest in doing anything that isn’t absolutely essential (cleaning, eating, sleeping), general listlessness. But stop right there — I don’t deserve anyone’s sympathy. I know I … Continue reading →

Posted in Am reading, Am writing, Gothic, Witch Week | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Creative thinking

Posted on April 28, 2020 by

REMINDER: This was written in February, aka BCEW (before COVID evicerated the world). I can’t think of many novels about new ideas — about how the thinkers came up with them, rather than the consequences to the world — but … Continue reading →

Posted in Am reading, Australia, Fiction, New Zealand | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Have you forgotten something?

Posted on March 31, 2020 by

Despite being set in two different centuries, nearly 100 years apart, the books in today’s post share one element: a blinkered Euro-centric view of life “down under”. Read on to see what I mean. In A Town Like Alice (1950, … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Australia, Fiction, Historical fiction, History, New Zealand, Travel | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Furthest south

Posted on March 10, 2020 by

To kick-off my themed posts over the next few weeks: I give you books set in New Zealand and Australia, many by Kiwi and Aussie authors. If you’re following me on Twitter or Facebook, you’ll know why. Here, though, I’ll … Continue reading →

Posted in Am reading, Culture clash, Fiction, Historical fiction, New Zealand, Travel | Tagged | 1 Comment

In the near future

Posted on February 26, 2020 by

Lory at The Emerald City Book Review recently wondered if her readers had reading plans for the year. Excellent question, if only because it gives me a chance to prep you for what’s to come on this blog. My usual … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Australia, Fiction, Historical fiction, History, New Zealand, Travel | 11 Comments

Quickly, now

Posted on February 12, 2020 by

A big trip is coming up, and before departure I’m racing through some last minute e-books from the NYPL (see below). Can’t send them back un-read! I’m also pulling out a nearly abandoned manuscript to revive/revise for a writing retreat … Continue reading →

Posted in Am reading, Am revising, Fantasy, Fiction, Humorous, short stories | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Weird combinations and scary dreams

Posted on January 27, 2020 by

Yep, I’m definitely craving odd-ball books these days. Here are 2 more for your consideration: Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman (2006, 2013, NYPL e-book). Another collection of Gaiman’s writings, most of which come a là macabre. The book includes short stories … Continue reading →

Posted in Am reading, Fantasy, Fiction, Gothic, Historical research, Horror, Humorous, Macabre, Science fiction, short stories | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Flotsam and Jetsam

Posted on January 19, 2020 by

4 books reviewed here, and from them you’ll get a sense of my odd taste in reading these days. No particular reason for it — each one spurred by happenstance, satisfying a yen, or whatever. Lud-in-the-Mist, by Hope Mirrlees (1926, … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Fantasy, Mystery, YA Lit | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

“As the sun pulls away from the shore …

Posted on January 7, 2020 by

… and our ship sinks slowly in the west ….” I finished Moby Dick more than a week ago, on my last night on the road home from a holiday family visit in Oklahoma. The wide horizons of the Midwest … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Seafaring | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Shore leave ends

Posted on November 23, 2019 by

Last night I finished The Secret Commonwealth (Vol 2 of Pullman’s follow-up series to His Dark Materials) and sent it back (virtually, and virtuously) to the NYPL. By now, another patient reader has begun this dark and compelling tale. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Am revising, Fantasy, NaNoWriMo, Seafaring, short stories | Tagged , | 7 Comments