Thursday, October 16, 2014

Reading Again...Trying To...Hopefully

Okay, here's where I'm at as of my last post from August:



19.  Outlander-Diana Gabaldon

20. The Sisters Brothers-Patrick DeWitt

21. Sharp Objects-Gillian Flynn



3 novels

That's something right?  I read 3 novels in 2 months...I shouldn't be disappointed in myself, I know, I shouldn't, but REALLY?  I've gotta make some time...gonna read the HADES out of this next novel...oh yeah, starting...uh...soon, real soon...really...I am.



Next Up:  Jacqueline Woodson's Feathers

PUBLICATION!!!!

So, I am officially a published short story writer...at least of one story thank to the good folks at Word Riot.  Here is a link to the story...ENJOY!

http://www.wordriot.org/topics/short-stories

(more comments to follow, too ecstatic right now to type properly)

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Summer Reading Update--what what?

here's where I'm at as of my last post:



14.  And the Mountains Echoed-Khaled Housseni

15.  Divergent-Veronica Roth

16.  Insurgent-Veronica Roth

17.  The Wide and Starry Sky-Nancy Horan

18.  Gone Girl-Gillian Flynn



Currently Reading:  Outlander-Diana Gabaldon


Time to step it up a notch people!!!

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

The Little Reading Engine that Could



Trying for at least 30 reads this year...I think I can I think I can I think I can I think I can



2014



1.   The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner

2.   The Fault in our Stars by John Green

3.   Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal

4.   The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

5.   The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

6.   Panic Blood by Catherine Texier

7.   Let's Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

8.   The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

9.   The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope by Rhonda Riley

10. Dancer by Colum McCann

11. The Final Solution by Michael Chabon

12. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green


13. White Girls by Hilton Als (reading currently)







Thursday, May 8, 2014

The Beast that was April...

I SURVIVED!!!!

I should just leave it at that.  I should.  I could.  But I won't.

I won't because surviving a month like this one:

- during which I crammed in two jury trials in federal court where I fought the big bad State of Florida for discriminating against the little people

- during which I read three novels (The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope by Rhonda Riley, and Dancer by Colum McCann)

- during which I wrote probably the best piece of short fiction of my life and was nearly published FINALLY for a different short story I'd submitted in January and in which bayonets and a stampede over clearance priced alarm clocks are both prominently featured

-during which I released my first novel into the world for others to read...or not...published online under a pen name to keep my former ME distinct and apart from the current ME, at least when it comes to my writing style, subject matter, and audience (totally unnerving and exciting and vulnerability exposing)  http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00J4BKATC/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/189-2056223-8010662?pc_redir=1395314201

-during which I ran my first race in nearly a year (along with my three young daughters, a troop of boy scouts, and an enormous pack of recently mange free rescue dogs)

This is a survival you talk about, one you record in the dusty pages of your memory, alongside your recollections of the recent farmer's market and how it felt to pass it by without stopping and how it felt to realize you didn't care...you talk about a month like this past April so that later, when your free hours are even fewer than now, you will think fondly on the time as "not so bad" as if being "not so bad" is an objective state of being...but it's not...

Still, at least I survived...





Sunday, March 16, 2014

Out with the Old, In with the New--reading updates

So, here's how 2013 went down...


1. The Paper Men- William Golding
2. Tinkers- Paul Harding
3. Wild- Cheryl Strayed
4. The Long March- William Styron
5. Reading Lolita in Tehran- Azar Nafisi
6. Everyman- Philip Roth
7. Border Crossing- Pat Barker
8. Beasts- Joyce Carol Oates
9. Ironweed- William Kennedy
10. The Misalliance- Anita Brookner
11. The Rum Diary- Hunter S. Thompson
12. As I Lay Dying- William Faulkner
13. Point Omega- Don Delillo
14. A Lesson Before Dying- Ernest Gaines
15. Bel Canto- Ann Patchett
16. A Sport and a Pastime -James Salter
17. Blood Meridian-Cormac McCarthy
18. Loving Frank- Lisa Horan
19. Orphan Master's Son- Adam Johnson
20. Mother Mother Night -Kurt Vonnegut
21. Rapture-Susan Susan Minot
22. The Body Artist-Don Delillo
23. Mockingjay- Suzanne Collins 

Now, here's where I'm at so far in 2014:


January:

1. The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner
2. The Fault in Our Starts by John Green
3. Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal
4. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

 February:

5. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss 


6. Panic Blood by Catherine Texier





March:

7. Let's Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

8. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson


Currently reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt...a big ole book but from what I hear, totally worth it...CHEERS Y'ALL!!!