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Book Corner

March Book Corner

March 2, 2015

It’s been a while since I posted and I’m really sorry about that. Life became pretty crazy between the holidays and getting sick. It’s unfortunate because there’s been a lot happening but I’m planning to cover all of that soon.

First though I’m going to start off with a new book recommendation. I’ve been avidly using my Kindle First through the Amazon Prime program (Join Amazon Prime – Listen to Over a Million Songs – Start Free Trial Now) although actually getting to the books has become a little difficult. I did read The Glassblower by Petra Durst-Benning last month though and was pleasantly surprised by it. The book is the first of a German trilogy that has actually been out for a few years now however the English translation was just published in November.

I’ll be honest, I don’t know how historically accurate this book is but I hope that it holds up to its time period and location. Again, this isn’t going to be a review and I don’t give away any spoilers, I just enjoy talking about the book(s). The first book centers around three sisters from a family of glassblowers in a small village in German and their quest to make it in the world on their own. It’s nice to see the different types of female archetypes represented by the sisters but I do feel like more could have been done with the eldest sister. Her storyline at the end of the book fell a bit flat for me and its not something I think can or will be redeemed in the sequels.

As for the historical part, it actually hit home with me as there is evidence that my mother’s family were German glassblowers before immigrating to America. So as I was going through this book I was wondering if this was how many ancestors had lived, worked and survived. It was like I was able to take a look into my own history and get a better understanding of my family.

Overall I was pleased with the book and am excited for the second one, The American Lady to be released in English next Tuesday and the third The Paradise of Glass will be available in September .

Now I have one other thing I would like to say. I’ve become addicted to Audible, especially being able to add narration for a fraction of the cost on Kindle books that I already own. My time to set aside and read has become limited and being able to pick up in my car on Audible on my way to and from work has been a huge help. I never thought I would be a fan of audio books but the convenience has me hooked. Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks

Book Corner, Writing

NaNoWriMo

October 6, 2014

I’m finally going to be participating in NaNoWriMo. For those of you that don’t know, it stands for National Novel Writing Month. I’ve wanted to participate for a few years now but I never really got into the mindset to do it in time. This year I’m putting a plan together and my friend and I are going to be working on what I would love to be able to call our first novel. It’s not a plot that we’ve just come up with, it something we’ve been developing for the last year. Now it’s finally time to get it all down in a more book friendly format.

I also know that once November is over that we’re done. To get it to publish worthy status we’ll have a lot of work cut out for us. Please to proof and edit not only the spelling and grammar but also the story itself.

Prior to graduating college I never even considered trying to be a writer. I always made top marks in English class and I worked on my high school newspaper, but writing a book always seemed like something that was out of my reach. A little over two years ago I did start writing and I’ve found that I love it. Developing characters, places, stories; its all something I wish I would have picked up on at a much younger age.

Another thing I’ve been doing post college is reading. I was never an avid reader when I was younger, and the thought of summer reading for school was always something I dreaded. In fact, my senior year of high school I never even bothered with it. How I wish I wouldn’t have been so stubborn now. I’ve been trying to absorb books like a sponge when I can, no matter the style or subject. I’ve been reading everything from series you find in the teen section at your bookstore to the classics that I never got around to and everything in between. The more I read, the better I feel like my writing is; so I try to set aside time every day for both.

I know we’ve got a long road ahead of us, but I’ve set my mind to it and I won’t settle on anything less than getting that first book published.

 

Book Corner

October Book Corner

October 1, 2014

One of the biggest things I’ve been trying to get back into is reading. There was a time when I could blow through fifty books a year with no problem. I may have read that many in the last three years combined. I miss reading so its definitely something I’m going push myself to do more of. At least once a month I’m going to blog about the books I’ve read over the last few months or weeks, depending on how long it takes me to catch up to where I’m at.

This month I don’t want to talk about a book or series of books so much as I want to talk about an author. I occasionally use my friend’s Audible account when she’s purchased something that I’d also like to take a listen to. Earlier in the summer she recommended that I read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. At the time I’d never heard of it or knew about the movie being made so I went ahead and started listening. Let’s just say that I couldn’t stop. I finished the audio book in about two days, staying up way too late in order to do so. I listened at work, in the car, everywhere I could. I loved the way the book is set up, and I don’t want to spoil anything for people that haven’t read it yet, but the way the story evolves is brilliant and keeps you on your toes. Just when you think you’ve got everything figured out; well, you’ll see.

Far too many times I’ve found books to be too predictable, with me figuring out the big secret very early on. These three books proved a challenge to that, and most of the time I was left until the author chose to reveal all the secrets. It’s why I couldn’t put the book down, so to speak, and immediately read the other two as soon as I had the chance. The next one I read, or listened to was Dark Places. I have to say out of the three books this one was my least favorite, but that in no way means that I thought to book was bad. The last book I read was Sharp Objects and again I found myself unable to to stop listening.

I don’t want to do a review or give away anything from these three books but I highly recommend you check them out. All three are on my to reread list and I’m going to have to snag the Kindle versions asap!

If you would like to keep up with what I’m reading or share books with me, feel free to add me on Goodreads.

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