After We All Died by Alison Cobb. One of my creative writing classes assigned part of this collection of poetry and poetic prose, and the instructor recommended I read the rest after she read my speculative fiction short story (alluded to last month). This poetry is not about the future per se, but it is… Continue reading Reading Roundup: February 2020
Category: Monthly Reading Roundup
Reading Roundup: January 2020
First, a story. In one of my fall creative writing classes, I volunteered to get my story workshopped early in the term. The only problem: I hadn't written a story yet. I seesawed between topics and ideas for a week until finally--the day before it due--I found my story. Then I wrote like a woman… Continue reading Reading Roundup: January 2020
Reading Roundup: December 2019
The Other's Gold by Elizabeth Ames. I started this book last month and almost posted it as a blind item this month, because at first I thought I would have nothing nice to say about it. For the first 150 pages or so, I didn't. I took to reading a chapter each night before bed… Continue reading Reading Roundup: December 2019
Reading Roundup: November 2019
I read the first two-thirds of Inland in fits and starts, which is how I usually read: sitting on the bus, standing outside of my dance studio before it opens, occasionally over lunch if I take one away from my desk. I read the final third in one thirsty gulp like one of the principal… Continue reading Reading Roundup: November 2019
Reading Roundup: October 2019
The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith. My free First Read of the previous month. This book opens unconventionally in a swamp, with our heroine a literal toad who eats bugs and sheds her skin. I buckled up for a wild ride at that point, but the story settles into a conventional enough historical romance… Continue reading Reading Roundup: October 2019
Reading Roundup: September 2019
Exhalation by Ted Chiang. The short stories in this book are fascinated with how technology affects the human condition--but technology is very broadly defined, from sci-fi innovations (such as a device that records your memories as video) to the ancient technology of writing. I was delighted with the opening story, which--like my favorites in the… Continue reading Reading Roundup: September 2019
