Captain’s Log, Stardate 03.24.2006
Blog Book giveaway:
My Monday book giveaway (QUEEN ESTHER AND THE SECOND GRADERS OF DOOM) is here.
My Thursday book giveaway (REASONABLE DOUBT) is here.
You can still enter both of them. Just post a comment on those blog posts.
On Monday, I'll draw the winner for QUEEN ESTHER and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned.
Where it started: So I was IMing with Heather and she told me about Technorati, and I went searching for which blogs linked to mine. You know my favorite meme “15 things about books”? I found out that it started here. Isn’t that way cool?
So guess what I’m going to blog about today?
Another 15 things about books:
31) The last book I finished was Virginia Smith’s JUST AS I AM, and it TOTALLY ROCKED!!! GET THIS BOOK! I loved the heroine Mayla as she feels out her new faith and how it changes her life—which involves purple hair, facial piercings, gay friends and an atheistic roommate. I laughed and I cried and had a great time reading this book.
32) I will be giving away an autographed copy of JUST AS I AM on Monday March 27th! I’ll also be posting a wild interview with Ginny Smith (who probably didn’t realize what she was getting into when I asked to interview her—oy!)
33) I also just finished A FAMILY FOREVER by Brenda Coulter. Another great book! The heroine Shelby is prickly and hormonal and illogical. Basically, she’s just like me. LOL.
34) In my TBR pile right now is WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE by Margaret Daley, ALONG CAME LOVE by Carrie Turansky, PINK by Marilynn Griffith (I’m actually about 1/3 through it), SHOWDOWN by Ted Dekker...among others. Dang, there’s a lot.
35) I will be giving away an autographed copy of ALONG CAME LOVE on Monday April 3rd! My victim—er, interviewed author Carrie Turansky is such a sweet, generous woman.
36) I just do not have enough money to buy all the books I want to buy. I need to read both Christian and secular chick-lits to keep up with the market, I want to buy and read my friends’ books, I want to read the bestsellers, the Christy winners, etc. I need to win the Lottery.
37) I just do not have enough time to read all the books I need to read. See above.
38) I love reading with a candle burning, which is stupid since my eyes are glued to the book and don’t even see the darn candle. I like using my candle aromatherapy holder, which has a shallow bowl holding my lavender/eucalyptus aromatherapy infusion, so I guess the aromatherapy is effective even if I don’t see the candle.
39) I cannot read just before bed. I’m too tired to fully get into the book, even if it’s a riveting page-turner, so essentially it’s a waste of my time, I should be sleeping instead, right?
40) When I specifically carve out reading time during the day, I read a lot faster than I originally thought I did. It’s just hard to not feel guilty and to truly believe that my reading time is no longer just “recreation” but now it’s part of “work.”
41) Lately I’ve been able to read with music playing, which I never used to be able to do. Isn’t my brain supposed to be able to process less things simultaneously as I age, and not more?
42) I just read a book that had all the classic things beginning writers are told not to do—slow opening, passive voice, gobs of backstory. I was ready to tear my hair out. The book interested me because the story premise was cute, but the writing drove me bonkers because as a writer, I’m tuned into all those supposed “marks of amateur writing.”
43) I’ve read two books in the past week that I couldn’t finish past chapter five. I’m surprised I lasted that long, usually I can tell I don’t want to finish a book by the end of chapter two. I just don’t have time to read books that either don’t interest me or are difficult for me to read.
44) I finished BLUE LIKE JAZZ by Donald Miller a week or two ago. It was quite good, insightful into the values of my generation. What I really liked about it was how it challenged Christians to act out their faith more, to overcome our ingrained judgmental reactions.
45) I was lucky enough to score an advance copy of Rachel Hauck’s LAMBERT’S CODE, which doesn’t come out until June (yay, me!). I’ll review it closer to its release date. It was very good. I didn’t quite relate to all the issues discussed because I don’t have children, but it was extremely well-written. I would hold it up as a fine example of excellent writing craft to any beginner or intermediate writer.
Blog Book giveaway:
My Monday book giveaway (QUEEN ESTHER AND THE SECOND GRADERS OF DOOM) is here.
My Thursday book giveaway (REASONABLE DOUBT) is here.
You can still enter both of them. Just post a comment on those blog posts.
On Monday, I'll draw the winner for QUEEN ESTHER and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned.
Where it started: So I was IMing with Heather and she told me about Technorati, and I went searching for which blogs linked to mine. You know my favorite meme “15 things about books”? I found out that it started here. Isn’t that way cool?
So guess what I’m going to blog about today?
Another 15 things about books:
31) The last book I finished was Virginia Smith’s JUST AS I AM, and it TOTALLY ROCKED!!! GET THIS BOOK! I loved the heroine Mayla as she feels out her new faith and how it changes her life—which involves purple hair, facial piercings, gay friends and an atheistic roommate. I laughed and I cried and had a great time reading this book.
32) I will be giving away an autographed copy of JUST AS I AM on Monday March 27th! I’ll also be posting a wild interview with Ginny Smith (who probably didn’t realize what she was getting into when I asked to interview her—oy!)
33) I also just finished A FAMILY FOREVER by Brenda Coulter. Another great book! The heroine Shelby is prickly and hormonal and illogical. Basically, she’s just like me. LOL.
34) In my TBR pile right now is WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE by Margaret Daley, ALONG CAME LOVE by Carrie Turansky, PINK by Marilynn Griffith (I’m actually about 1/3 through it), SHOWDOWN by Ted Dekker...among others. Dang, there’s a lot.
35) I will be giving away an autographed copy of ALONG CAME LOVE on Monday April 3rd! My victim—er, interviewed author Carrie Turansky is such a sweet, generous woman.
36) I just do not have enough money to buy all the books I want to buy. I need to read both Christian and secular chick-lits to keep up with the market, I want to buy and read my friends’ books, I want to read the bestsellers, the Christy winners, etc. I need to win the Lottery.
37) I just do not have enough time to read all the books I need to read. See above.
38) I love reading with a candle burning, which is stupid since my eyes are glued to the book and don’t even see the darn candle. I like using my candle aromatherapy holder, which has a shallow bowl holding my lavender/eucalyptus aromatherapy infusion, so I guess the aromatherapy is effective even if I don’t see the candle.
39) I cannot read just before bed. I’m too tired to fully get into the book, even if it’s a riveting page-turner, so essentially it’s a waste of my time, I should be sleeping instead, right?
40) When I specifically carve out reading time during the day, I read a lot faster than I originally thought I did. It’s just hard to not feel guilty and to truly believe that my reading time is no longer just “recreation” but now it’s part of “work.”
41) Lately I’ve been able to read with music playing, which I never used to be able to do. Isn’t my brain supposed to be able to process less things simultaneously as I age, and not more?
42) I just read a book that had all the classic things beginning writers are told not to do—slow opening, passive voice, gobs of backstory. I was ready to tear my hair out. The book interested me because the story premise was cute, but the writing drove me bonkers because as a writer, I’m tuned into all those supposed “marks of amateur writing.”
43) I’ve read two books in the past week that I couldn’t finish past chapter five. I’m surprised I lasted that long, usually I can tell I don’t want to finish a book by the end of chapter two. I just don’t have time to read books that either don’t interest me or are difficult for me to read.
44) I finished BLUE LIKE JAZZ by Donald Miller a week or two ago. It was quite good, insightful into the values of my generation. What I really liked about it was how it challenged Christians to act out their faith more, to overcome our ingrained judgmental reactions.
45) I was lucky enough to score an advance copy of Rachel Hauck’s LAMBERT’S CODE, which doesn’t come out until June (yay, me!). I’ll review it closer to its release date. It was very good. I didn’t quite relate to all the issues discussed because I don’t have children, but it was extremely well-written. I would hold it up as a fine example of excellent writing craft to any beginner or intermediate writer.
Comments
On the whole I usually finish books that I start. But at least the subject matter has to interest me. And that's why I'm usually reading it. There are a few writers, however, that I just can't read. I don't know what it is about the book or the writing style or whatever but somehow they make me feel "creepy"? or something. It's really weird. Three of these writers have gotten very good reviews but for me, I just don't know why I can't get through the books.
Don't ask how many books are in my TBR piles. I won't even venture a guess. I just know that I'll never be able to read them all. For one thing, I guess my tastes have changed with the years, at least in some areas.
As far as music goes, I'm just the opposite. I loved reading with a symphony or other orchestral work playing (no songs, for the most part). For the last 10 years or so, I've suffered from sensory overload. That's why I sometimes desperately need total quiet. Even watching a long movie can make me really antsy at times.
And right now, I definitely do not have enough money to buy the books I want to buy. I really wonder sometimes why I'm still doing it at all.
Oops, got to stop. My whole right arm, from fingertips to back muscles, is one big pain--the worst I've had in quite a while. Maybe I've been writing too much.