Thursday Progress

I have no progress to report. Except I've finished 3 books within the last 2 days and am now scouring my Goodreads list for what I'm in the mood for.

Recommendations?

Upcoming guests

I have several authors who will be guesting on my blog in October. Because October is a time for reading! (When isn't?)

I'm not a fan of James Patterson. I did read several early Alex Cross books and enjoy them but once he started writing with others, the quality didn't just decline, it plummeted. But I like this article from CNN on How to get your kid to be a fanatic reader

I wonder what we can do to get everyone to be a fanatic reader? Hmm, the possibilities. Because let's face it, reading is fun and frankly the book is always better than the movie!

Thursday Progress

Been so busy, phew!
Updating Goodreads profile
Blogging
Gathering guest bloggers (interested? Send me an email)
Twitter...find I'm recently addicted to Twitter, granted that ebbs and flows but recently...addiction
Writing...posted Shadow State for $0.99 on Amazon and B&N:

Fighting to prevent the Nazi’s from gaining a wehrwölfe army, Christoph and Elsa tread a serpentine path between an ambitious party man and their primal need for each other.

Hidden for centuries in the German countryside, the Arminius Clan has amassed power, wealth, and respect. All that changes when the Nazis come to power. Christoph von Berangar, Alpha, makes his way to Berlin to claim his mate. But then one of his wölfes is captured, and experimented on by the Nazis.

Elsa von Skyler, leader of one of the Arminius Packs, is forced to experiment on the captured wölfe. Along with her father, an esteemed doctor at the Charité Hospital, they do this only to facilitate the wölfe’s escape. Together, she and Christoph form a plan to rescue their fellow wölfe, but when things go awry, will Elsa survive? Or will Christoph’s fervor to protect his mate compromise them all?

I love my library

Yes, yes, yes, I also work there that isn't the point! My library offers free audiobook and e-book downloads in addition to free checkouts for print books, CD audiobooks, and DVDs.

That's how I listened to Julia Quinn's The Lost Duke of Wyndham and how I checked out both Patient Zero and In the Garden of the Beasts.

Everything I want tor ead at my fingertips. Perfection.

To Be Read next

I'm taking this week to read and recharge the brain. I'm going to see the new Pirates movie, despite the lack of Orlando Bloom, I do adore Johnny Depp. Catch up on some TV shows I've DVR'ed (Borgias, Hawaii Five-O, NCIS: LA).

But mostly I'm going to read. I have several books started that I need (and want) to finish. A couple new zombie entries like Pride And Prejudice And Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After

When we last saw Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy—at the end of the New York Times best seller Pride and Prejudice and Zombies—they were preparing for a lifetime of wedded bliss. Yet the honeymoon has barely begun when poor Mr. Darcy is nipped by a rampaging dreadful. Elizabeth knows the only acceptable course of action is to promptly behead her husband (and then burn the corpse, just to be safe). But when she learns of a miracle antidote being developed in London, she realizes there may be one last chance to save her true love—and for everyone to live happily ever after.

What? I can't seem to help myself!

Plus I have Patient Zero to read and In the Garden of the Beasts to finish. (They're both overdue and I have to return them to the library.) And I've just finished my first ever Julia Quinn book, The Lost Duke of Wyndham so now must read the next book in that series...and possibly all her other ones. Plus I think the guy on the cover of Lost Duke looks like a young Eric Roberts. But no, that wasn't why I originally picked the book up! I swear!

Going to be a great reading week!

So many books

So little time. Between work, writing, sleeping, and every other thing I do in my life, it's hard to find the time to read. I have a book on my nightstand and an audio in my car...and THREE on my MP3 player. How's one to keep up?

What are you reading?

I'm reading 3 things at the moment:

Listening to The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart in my car. It's book #2 in a children's series and is smart, if oddly told. Very omniscient with flipping amongst the characters. I guess I'm used to a more narrow POV but it's not bad and the reader is excellent.

In eBook I'm reading unTied Kingdom by Kate Johnson. Alternate worlds where England is a 3rd world country with no concept of computers or technology. I'm not very far in but am enjoying what I've read.

At my nightstand is a paper copy of Caught Off Guard by Kira Sinclair. I've read the first chapter and enjoyed it but between my allergies and late nights, can't seem to keep my eyes open by the time I get to bed.

What are you reading?

Favorite unusual historical books

So what are your favorite unusual historical books? Where do they take place? Who is the author and was it just one, a series, or what the author normally writes?

Inquiring minds want to know. Please share. Besides, I'm always looking for a good book!


Unusual Historical: Russia, during the Crimean War: Kiss of Scandal


This week's Friday guest is Robyn Bachar. She'll talk about the thrill of publication & the stress of marketing. Blood, Smoke and Mirrors available from Amazon, B&N, and Samhain Publishing.

Log off and read a book

Read this on BBC last week. It's called Divided Attention Disorder? Log off and read a book. I took a couple excerpts from it, and agree. A couple of weeks ago I read the rather detailed plot of To Kill a Mockingbird on wikipedia rather than read the book. (I'd seen the movie, years ago.)

If you work in an office it's quite possible that you suffer from a condition called DAD. Now don't panic it's not serious and nothing a good book or a long walk won't cure.

My Internet browser has 24 tabs open. Among them are three separate attempts to reply to the same e-mail. My online banking session has timed out, and in the corner of my screen a Twitter feed is a never-ending scroll of news and links. Which I click. And click.

What's wrong with me?

What's wrong, is that I may have Divided Attention Disorder, or DAD. DAD encapsulates the growing phenomenon whereby the constant stream of online information could actually be changing the way our brains work.

I first read about this in a magazine while waiting to get my hair cut. The article is quite lengthy. Ironically the only reason I had the attention span to read all of it was that my local barber-shop has no mobile phone reception.

The most unnerving thing that I've read about DAD is the theory that the rewiring of our brains caused by all that time online is affecting the rest of our lives. It is, apparently, encouraging us to seek instant gratification at the expense of deep thinking.

To assess the state of my brain I read a book. It's an Ian Rankin novel. The hero, Inspector Rebus attempts to solve a number of murders in Edinburgh against the backdrop of a G8 meeting.

I haven't read fiction in a while. Something has changed about my response to what I'm reading. Before, I loved to create a mental picture of Edinburgh, of its streets and courtyards. But now in my brain a voice is whispering: "Look it up on StreetView and see for yourself". The story alludes to Inspector Rebus' colourful past: "Google the plot of other books," says the voice.

"SHUT UP!" I scream inside my head.

Eventually, my old brain wins out. After about half an hour, I'm lost in the book. I've
forgotten that it's even possible to communicate through a web of interconnected
computers.

It's a relief to know that my brain is not permanently changed. I can't wait to tell everyone - on Facebook and Twitter.

So the bottom line is: reading helps us relax, reconnect with ourselves and the real world, and entertains us as well. But then we readers knew that, didn't we.

And don't miss my Friday Guest: Dr. Laina Turner-Molaski