One of the things I like to do between epic reads is to cleanse the mental palate for a day or so before diving back into a deeper work of fiction. Sometimes that’s with shorter, adult-level fiction. Other times, I like to pretend I’m a kid and simply enjoy a … Continue reading →

Oh, to be sure, there is much we do not understand. The years pass in their hundreds and their thousands, and what does any man see of life but a few summers, a few winters? We look at mountains and call them eternal, and so they seem … but in … Continue reading →

What can be said that has not already been said about A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin’s opening volume of his A Song of Fire and Ice epic? The books and the television series that it has spawned have permeated American pop culture. At least half the people I … Continue reading →

My feelings about The Well of Ascension, the second book in Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy, were hard to pin down. The vast majority of the book is a solid 4-star read. But, the final few chapters are as good as it gets in fiction. During most of the novel, I … Continue reading →

Want to plan, draft, and revise a novel in five days? That’s exactly what Scott King did. And, he outlined his journey in The Five Day Novel. Over the years, I’ve grown a small collection of writing books. Not many. Just enough to remind myself that I need to keep … Continue reading →

“You thinking about home already, lad, and you just set out in the world? The world will put a hook in your mouth. You’ll set off chasing the sunset, you wait and see…and if you ever go back, your village’ll no be big enough to hold you.” This is one … Continue reading →

It’s hard to avoid the Bird Box craze these days. Ever since Netflix dropped its new movie based on the book by Josh Malerman, memes of a blindfolded Sandra Bullock have taken over my social networking feeds. People (in the real world) are even taking a challenge by getting into … Continue reading →

There’s been a lot of backlash against Marie Kondō and her KonMari method of tidying in the last week or so as the crowd of folks making their way through the program get to Lesson #2: Books. And, rightfully so. Many of us take our book collections seriously. I’m an … Continue reading →

I remember when Eragon by Christopher Paolini blew up. I was in college. I remember friends and family telling me I must read this book. They told me it was written by a teenager. They said it was better fantasy than even seasoned authors were writing. They were wrong. At … Continue reading →

Artemis, by Andy Weir, follows a foul-mouthed, 20-something Saudi woman named Jazz. The story takes place in the only city on the moon, from which the book is named. She grew up without a mother, spent her childhood around welders and other laborers, and lives in the dregs of the … Continue reading →