Weekly Geeks 2009-34: Writing Reviews

This week’s meme from Weekly Geeks is on “Writing Reviews”: Shannon Hale (author of Austenland and The Actor and the Housewife, as well as many other books) recently posted on her blog about reviewing books. Take a moment to go read her post, in which she talks about going beyond saying simply whether or not [...]

Guest Post by Author Linda Gillard: The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett

I am fortunate to be able to feature another guest post by Linda Gillard, whose talent and sense of humor always comes bursting through in her posts. Linda is, of course, the award-winning U.K. romance novelist whose novel Star-Gazing (see my review here) is the loveliest book I’ve read in ages, and she has two [...]

BBAW Awards – Why Was I Short-Listed?

This could be one of those enduring mysteries, like Who built Stonehenge? But if you would like to try and decipher the mystery yourselves by reading the posts I submitted for consideration, click here for the award for Best Literary Fiction Blog and here for the award for Most Concise. Note to readers: This is [...]

Review of “The Dangerous Sports Euthanasia Society” by Christine Coleman

This charming and entertaining story is full of memorable characters of all age groups, somewhat of a rarity in fiction today. The book begins with the escape of Agnes, age 75, from her window in The Harmony Home for the Young at Heart where she has been installed by her son Jack and new girlfriend [...]

BBAW – Book Blogger Appreciation Week – Take Time to Vote, Part 2!

I also got on the shortlist for “Most Concise.” In the interest of full disclosure, I submitted the following reviews for consideration for this award: Assault in Norway: Sabotaging the Nazi Nuclear Program by Thomas Gallagher A Dog About Town by J.F. Englert Doomsday by Connie Willis How I Learned Geography by Uri Shulevitz Smoke [...]

BBAW – Book Blogger Appreciation Week – Take Time to Vote!

I submitted the following reviews for consideration for this award: The Color of Water by James McBride The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay Star Gazing by Linda Gillard The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon

Review of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

Courtney Stone, a devoted Jane Austen fan, wakes up one day to find herself in 19th Century England, in the body of Jane Mansfield, a young lady living a life right out of an Austen novel. At first convinced it’s a dream, and then realizing she’s not going to wake up from it anytime soon, [...]

Sunday Salon – Review of The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson

Stieg Larsson, the late Swedish journalist and author, completed three thriller/mystery manuscripts before he died unexpectedly at age 50 in 2004: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest. Together, they form The Millenium Trilogy. After I completed The Girl With the Dragon [...]

Review of Whiskey Gulf by Clyde Ford

First, this disclaimer: when my husband and I took a trip to San Diego last year, and he wanted to tour the U.S.S. Midway, I sat with a book outside and waited. With that in mind, it’s a good bet I’m not going to find a book fascinating that includes passages like this one, part [...]

How Do Authors Select Character Names?

Have you noticed how many books lately feature characters with very unconventional names? I have seen an Alaska, a Mississippi, and a Velva Jean, to name a few. I’ve always been fascinated by the selection of character names by authors. Where do they come from? What would I name characters? There are a couple of [...]