"Charlotte went up to a little table of imitation mahogany with a drawer. She put her hand upon it. The little table was ugly, no doubt, but it had done nothing to her." - Lolita, Chapter 21
Welcome To The Shelf: Patterns, Phones, and Poems
No part of saying "this is how much I'll spend on books each month" makes any sense to me. You don't budget; you just buy. The more books the better! Fill up every bookshelf in the house and when you're done, buy another bookshelf.
Literary QOTD: In that order
Presently, the lady herself–sandals, maroon slacks, yellow silk blouse, squarish face, in that order–came down the steps, her index finger still tapping upon her cigarette.Lolita, Chapter 10, Vladimir Nabokov There are plenty of books that might convince you of your mediocrity as a writer, but none so much as Lolita. Reading it is like taking a master class in flowery prose, a lengthy...
Review: Project Hail Mary
I am not a fan of first person POV in the best of times, and the way Weir uses it is super choppy. I did this. I did that. Something happened. The closer I got to the end, the more I found myself skipping lines at a time. That said… great book. Great premise along with an almost unbelievably intelligent and lucky protag. It follows the pattern set up in The Martian while also reminding me...
Vise Manor: Review by Sarah Orren @ Reedsy Discovery
"Reminiscent of the movies Clue and House on Haunted Hill, Vise Manor is a clever sci-fi thriller that kept me up well into the night to see what happened next." - Sarah Orren, Reedsy Discovery
Review: We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor
I mentioned in a previous Thursday Roundup that I had started reading We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor but that after encountering the line the butthurt is strong with this one had completely given up. That's still true. Cringe is one of those things that's hard for me to get past, but after talking it over with a few friends, I was encouraged to give it another shot. I'm happy to...
Review: Come Closer by Sara Gran
I was doom-scrolling Twitter the other day and like a sudden ray of light through a storm, I saw an ad for Sara Gran's Come Closer. Normally, I don't pay attention to book ads on Twitter, but this one came with a quote from Bret Easton Ellis, who I don't understand as a person or an artist but whose opinions on books I'll listen to occasionally. Regarding Come Closer, Easton writes "What begins...
You and I, Arjuna, have lived many lives.
There is so much to learn from this book beyond what writing is about. So much of my personal style is derived from Grimwood’s that I often read this book, or just chapters, before I start writing something new, or when I’m stuck. If I can’t start a chapter, I’ll load up my Kindle and read a few from Replay, just so I can remember that yes, writing is easy, so long as you are direct and honest.