Category: Books Page 138 of 160

Accomplished 2016 Poetry Collection

If I may, I’d like to take a moment of Parental Privilege. (and I guess I may, this is my site, right?)

Last week, we received a hot-off-the-press copy of Accomplished, a compilation of poems publised by teh American Library of Poetry.

It’s a collection of a few hundred poems by students from across the country, submitted to a poetry competition. My daughter has a poem in it — not one of the winners, but one of those selected for publication (which is good enough). She’s dabbled in writing here and there — sometimes more than dabbled. She’s won the NaNoWriMo Young Writer’s Program once, and competed a few times; done some writing workshops and whatnot — but this is the first publication. I couldn’t be prouder. Hopefully, there’ll be more.

No, I won’t be reviewing the collection — just too much poetry. And no, I won’t be reviewing my daughter’s piece — for one thing, the disclaimer I’d have to include would be too long to read; also, I’m not sure that I’m smart enough to get the whole thing she was doing. I will say there were some pretty good poems in there (even from the younger grades) — I didn’t read the whole thing, but I did (and will) sample widely. Sure, there are some “eh” ones, too — but you can see why these made the cut.

Anyway, just wanted to publicly tell my gal that she made her old man proud.

Saturday Miscellany – 12/3/16

Whoops, been silent here for a couple of days and then this thing goes up more than 12 hours late — no, I haven’t abandoned this blog. Just didn’t have a lot of time near my keyboard. Anyway…here are the odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to amecipraba, Larissa N. Takahassi, julianrichmonds, Manuel Antao, BrokenTune for following the blog this week.

November 2016 Report

So, here’s what happened here in November, 2016.

Wait, what? It’s December?!?!

Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to:

The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (Audiobook) The Lost Child of Lychford The Last Star
4 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars
Washed Hands Trapped Audiobook The Chemist
4 Stars 3.5 Stars 2 Stars
The Hanging Tree The Patriots of Mars Every Heart a Doorway (Audiobook)
4 1/2 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars
Chapel of Ease All Our Wrong Todays Hunted Audiobook
4 1/2 Stars 5 Stars 5 Stars
INVIVO Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord Titanborn
1 1/2 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars
Korian and Lucy, Part II Shattered (Audiobook) Lost in Wonderland
3 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars
Bear with Bear            
3 Stars            

Still Reading:

Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 4 Sons in the Son      

Fewer books than I would’ve thought — and a greater variety in ratings than I’ve used (needed) lately.

Reviews Posted:

How was your month?

Saturday Miscellany – 11/26/16

Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

    This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:

  • The Operator by Kim Harrison — if there’s a version of Earth in the Multiverse where this blog is a force in publishing, Harrison’s Peri Reed Chronicles is a best-selling juggernaut (hopefully, it’s neither the one that Walter-nate or Dr. Zoom is from). Anyway, book 2 is out now, and you should read it.
  • The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher — I’m not sure I need another memoir from Fisher after Wishful Drinking, but then again — why not? I’ve also read most of her novels — Fisher’s a far better writer than an actress, and is one of the funniest authors around. I have no idea what she’ll say in this one beyond the Harrison Ford stuff, but it’ll provoke more than a few laughs.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to annmariemcqueen1.

Saturday Miscellany – 11/19/19

Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to resterrestern (a very thought-provoking blogger) and juliahuynhs (a blog that makes me think of leaving my Hobbit-hole) for following the blog this week.

Introducing Inkitt’s iOS app

A couple of months ago, I was emailed by someone from a publishing company called Inkitt — never heard of them before, but the book they gave me was pretty cool, and I made a note to keep my eye out for more by them. They describe themselves as:

a platform where budding writers can share their novels and inquisitive readers can unearth fresh content. But under the hood, we are democratizing publishing: Inkitt is built on an algorithm which analyzes reading patterns to predict future bestsellers. Using this unique data- and readers-driven approach to uncover highly addictive stories, Inkitt’s goal is to remove the middle person so that a blockbuster book is never rejected by a publishing house again. In other words, if readers love it, Inkitt publishes it.

I kinda dig the idea — I’m not sure it’ll give us the highest quality books, but it should give us some entertaining reads.

Their next step? Launching an app — today, I should stress — for iPhones, iPads, etc. (the Android version is coming soon, I’m assured, so I can use it). Check out this video…

Introducing Inkitt for iOS: Read great novels by up-and-coming authors on your iPhone and iPad from Inkitt – The Hipster’s Library on Vimeo.

In less than 2 years, Inkitt has attracted over 700,000 unique readers: the iOS app will give book lovers and publishers greater access to Inkitt’s digital library of over 80,000 stories by up-and-coming authors.

“As more people read digitally we want to make it easier and faster for people to access great literature wherever they are, whether on the go or relaxing at home,” says Inkitt’s Founder and CEO, Ali Albazaz. “Inkitt’s iOS app will better enable emerging authors to share their work with test readership groups and give readers globally the opportunity to turn the page on one of the world’s next best sellers.”

Key features include:

  • Access to 80,000 stories in every genre: fantasy, sci-fi, romance, thriller, horror, adventure, action and more
  • Personalized suggestions: hand-picked novels based on reader’s preferences
  • App customization according to user preferences (e.g. font size, colors)
  • Online/Offline: readers can save novels to their offline library to access them without an internet connection

It looks like a pretty cool app — I will be grabbing the Android version ASAP (and probably mentioning it here). Give it a go.

Oh, before I forget, here’s some screenshote of the app. But first, one more time, here’s the download link: https://inkitt.app.link/reading-app-iphone-ipad


(parts of this post were cannibalized from a press release from Inkitt — hope they don’t mind too much, but they said it better than I could paraphrase)

Saturday Miscellany – 11/12/16

Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

    This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:

  • Night School by Lee Child — a new Reacher finds him in the late 90s and up to his usual shenanigans
  • Cyber World: Tales of Humanity’s Tomorrow by Jason Heller, Joshua Viola (eds.) — simply a great anthology of cyberpunk (or just cyber-whatever) stories. My post on it from this week. (link corrected…you’d think I could manage getting my own links right)
  • The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer — a Jason Bourne-esque thriller from the lady who wrote some series you may have heard from. I’m not sure I’m going to read this one, but man, I’m intrigued.
  • Remnants of Trust by Elizabeth Bonestell — this, and its predecessor, look to be a great combo of SF, military tale and mystery. Why haven’t I been reading these?

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to My Thoughts for following the blog this week.

Saturday Miscellany – 11/5/16

Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

    This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:

  • Curse on the Land by Faith Hunter — Great second book in the series. If you missed me blathering on about it, or the book tour stop from a couple of weeks ago, you should check them out.
  • The Lost Child of Lychford by Paul Cornell — possibly the most disturbing thing I’ve read this year (with the exception of US election coverage), a more developed post is coming.
  • Shadowed Souls by Jim Butcher and Kerrie L. Hughes — looks like a great collection of UF short stories — includes a new Dresden Files story — and a Simon Canderous tale. w00t!
  • Burke’s Last Witness by CJ Dunford — Fahrenheit Press’ new release looks like an interesting take on Burke and Hare. Check out the book trailer

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Canary (love the blog’s tag line) and William Duarte for following the blog this week.

October 2016 Report

So, here’s what happened here in October.

Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to:

Madam Tulip and the Knave of Hearts John Bunyan and the Grace of Fearing God The Purloined Poodle (Audiobook)
4 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars
I Was a Bitch The Dispatcher Raining Embers
3.5 Stars 3 Stars 3 Stars
Blackbeard's Daughter NYPD Red 2 Venators: Through the Arch
2 1/2 Stars 2 Stars 3.5 Stars
Operation Cure Boredom This Damned Band Midnight Riot (Audiobook)
3 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars
Elphie Goes Trick or Treating Curse on the Land Blind Spot (Audiobook)
3 Stars 4 1/2 Stars 5 Stars
The Operator Tricked Audiobook The Farthest City
4 1/2 Stars 3.5 Stars 2 Stars
The Breedling and The City in the Garden Good Behavior Scattered Screams
3 Stars 3.5 Stars 2 Stars
The Golden Spider Mutation Max Hamby and the Blood Diamond
4 Stars 3 Stars 3 Stars
Cyber World            
4 Stars            

Still Reading:

Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 4 Sons in the Son Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord
Reservations The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (Audiobook)      

Reviews Posted:

How was your month?

Saturday Miscellany – 10/29/16

Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

    This Week’s New Release that I took note of:

  • The Terranauts by T.C. Boyle — Like every T.C. Boyle book for the last decade and a half or so, this looks like something I want to read and probably won’t.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Laine The Librarian for following the BookLikes version of blog this week.

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