Category: What I’m reading

What I read in July

As has become my custom, my first blog in a new month is about the books I read in the previous month. After not being able to read for a couple of months due to illness, I have relished every minute I have been able to read since my eye recovered.

Storm Damage

July was a busy month. We are still cleaning up the storm damage the trees in our yard experienced due to high winds on several occasions. Dead limbs are still falling out of trees when there is a breeze and sometimes bringing down healthy limbs with them. If you’ve never lived out in the country with dozens of large old trees, you can’t fully appreciate what I’m talking about. It has been exhausting. I often fall asleep when I sit down to read or to catch up on work on the computer.

July Books

All that said, I only completed two books in July — Don’t Go, by Lisa Scottoline and The Truth According to Us, by Annie Barrows. I am reading several other books and will share my thoughts about them later. As I have stated before, I enjoy reading more than one book at a time.

Don’t Go

Lisa Scottoline is becoming one of my favorite fiction writers. Her books usually tug at your heartstrings and lead you down multiple roads as a mystery is solved. Don’t Go did not disappoint. A murder takes place (or was it an accident?) and for the next 300+ pages you are trying to figure out “whodunnit.” Just when you think you have the mystery solved, Ms. Scottoline takes you down a different path.

The Truth According to Us

In The Truth According to Us, Annie Barrows gives us a glimpse of life in a small town in Appalachia during the Great Depression era. She includes the conflict that can arise when there is an effort to unionize the employees of a textile mill in The South. The overriding story line, though, is relationships and information that family members can hide from other family members. The Truth According to Us is about family secrets. The truth as we know it might not be the truth at all.

Most Wanted

As July drew to a close, I finally reached the top of the public library’s waitlist for Most Wanted, by Lisa Scottoline. I read the first half of the novel in early May before I got shingles, and I looked forward to reading the rest of the book to see how Ms. Scottoline twisted and turned the plot to ultimately solve the mystery presented in the book. I finished reading Most Wanted earlier this week, but it goes on my August list for next month’s first blog.

Until I blog again, I wish you an enjoyable book to read and productive writing if that is your calling. If you wish to share this blog on social media, please feel free to do so.

Janet

A good “how to” book for writers by K.M. Weiland

Due to having shingles in my right eye, I read very little in May and the first half of June; therefore, I decided to wait until July to blog about what I read in May and June. It’s a short list. In fact, I only read one complete book during that time. I will write about it today and save the three novels I’m reading until my “What I read in July” blog in August.

The first week in May I read Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success, by K.M. Weiland. The book surprised me in that it went into all aspects of writing a novel all woven together as they pertain to the outline.

In the book’s introduction, Ms. Weiland states, “Craft is all about organization, and that’s where the outline — the map — becomes so important.” She points out that outlines can help a writer determine point of view. She says that each writer must discern what methods of outlining or organization work best for him or her. An outline can take various forms from the formal outline we were taught in school, to notes, to a bunch of Post-It Notes. I found this reassuring, since the very word “outline” has struck fear in my heart since the third grade.

Ms. Weiland’s book goes well beyond the outline. She devotes one chapter to “Crafting Your Premise.” She defines premise as “a single sentence that conveys the plot and the theme.” Once the premise is established, you can start putting ideas and scenes on paper. As the outline takes shape, she says a writer should keep in mind things such as “motive, desire, goal, conflict, and theme.”

She addresses character backstory in Chapter Six. She gives a wonderful example. If you give a character a scar, you must know how he got the scar and why. Although most backstory will not make it onto the pages of your novel, you — the author — must know the backstory because it influences the character’s personality and how she or he reacts to conflict. She writes in some detail how an author should write backstory, keeping in mind that the reader is not very interested in what happened before the book but is generally much more interested in what’s going to happen next. A good writer knows how to strike a balance.

Ms. Weiland says that about a fourth of the way into the story, there must be an inciting event that changes the protagonist forever. She writes, “This event shapes your character’s existence throughout your book.” This statement made me immediately look at my manuscript for The Spanish Coin. The inciting event in my manuscript occurs about 15% into the story, so that might be something I will need to adjust.

Chapter Seven of Ms. Weiland’s book is devoted to the recommendation that you interview each character. By asking your characters probing questions you will discover secrets they hold, their beliefs, and what they are passionate about. Having this information will help you write multidimensional characters. Sample questions are included. I found the sample questions helpful.  Many of them, such as, “Does he like his name?” I wouldn’t have thought to ask.

Ms. Weiland also goes into detail about the importance of setting and how to make the setting come alive for the reader. In fact, she writes, “If you can bring the setting to life as a character in its own right, you’ll be that much closer to creating a story your readers will never forget.”

I don’t want to steal Ms. Weiland’s thunder or run the risk of quoting too much of the book here. Suffice it to say that I highly recommend Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success. I have only hit some of the highlights of this nuts and bolts book about how to write a novel.

Since this blog post turned into a book review of sorts, I will state that I was not asked to review the book and I am in no way being compensated for giving it a positive review. I wish I had read it before I started writing the manuscript for my hope-to-be-published historical novel, The Spanish Coin!

How’s that 2016 reading challenge working for you?

On March 11 I blogged about the 2016 Reading Challenge offered by the Mint Hill Branch of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library. I had already checked off three of the 19 categories and was optimistic about meeting the challenge of reading books from at least 12 categories this calendar year. Enter bronchitis, vertigo, shingles in my right eye, and now post-herpetic neuralgia from my eyelid to the top of my head. 2016 will be half over in a few days, and I have only checked off five categories.

To refresh your memory, here are the 19 categories from the Mint Hill Library:

A book that became a movie;
A book published in 2015;
A book with a number in the title;
A nonfiction book;
A Pulitzer prize winning book;
A book more than a hundred years old;
A book that might scare you;
A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit;
A book set in the future;
A book written by an author with your same initials;
A banned book;
A book from your childhood;
A book with a color in the title;
A book based on a true story;
A popular author’s first book;
A book set in a different country;
A funny book;
A mystery or thriller; and
A book with a one-word title.

I hope your reading thus far this year has far exceeded mine. With my vision returning to normal, it’s time for me to play catch-up!

Please feel free to leave a comment about the books you’ve been reading and if you find a reading challenge helpful or interesting.

Thank you for your patience while I have been ill and unable to blog on a regular basis. Look for my blog on Fridays. That’s my plan for a while.

What I read in April

I am still fairly new to blogging about my life as a writer, so please be patient as I make changes in my blog page as I learn new things. I’ve added a couple of new items this evening and will be working out the bugs in the coming days.

My first blog post each month will be about the books I read in the previous month.

Author Lee Smith’s latest book, Dimestore: A Writer’s Life, is an enjoyable book. It’s a memoir told through stories. Ms. Smith was born in the mountains of Virginia, and she has a lovely accent. As I read Dimestore, I could hear her saying the words.

In my “Some books I read in February” blog post, I reported finally starting to read Sue Grafton’s Alphabet Series of novels. I plan to read them in order, so I read B is for Burglar in April. I’m on the wait list for C is for Corpse at the public library. Apparently, I’m not the only person who is 20 years late reading her series.

Raising Ryland: Our Story of Parenting a Transgender Child with No Strings Attached, by Hillary Whittington made a lasting impression on me. It is written by the mother of a young transgender child. Labeled a girl at birth, as a toddler Ryland started letting his parents know that he really was a boy — not a tomboy, but a boy. This is a wonderful book that taught me a lot about this topic which has been making global headlines lately due to the passage of House Bill 2 (HB2) by the North Carolina state legislature. Raising Ryland should be required reading for the North Carolina governor and state legislators. It helped me have a better understanding of transgender people, and I highly recommend it. I don’t think I’ll ever forget this book.

I ended the month by reading Mrs. Roosevelt’s Confidante, by Susan Elia MacNeal. A historical novel set in Washington, DC during World War II, the book introduced me to a new historical fiction author. You can be sure I’ll read all of Susan Elia MacNeal’s books. This is Ms. MacNeal’s fifth book of fiction. She has another one scheduled for release in October 2016 titled The Queen’s Accomplice. If you like historical fiction set in the World War II era, I suggest you give Ms. MacNeal’s books a try. If you’re like me, you’ll learn some history while enjoying a suspenseful story.

To be a good writer, it is said one must be a reader. I’m not a fast reader, but I try to read a variety of genres and learn what good fiction is.

Please follow me on Twitter by clicking on the Twitter icon in the sidebar.

Janet

What I read (or attempted to read) in March

My blog topic today was supposed to be “What I read in March,” but a more accurate title is “What I read (or attempted to read) in March.”

Considering the fact that March had 31 days, it is particularly frustrating that I only read one complete book: Miss Julia Delivers the Goods, by Ann B. Ross.

Ann B. Ross’s Miss Julia Books

In case you aren’t familiar with Ann B. Ross’s Miss Julia series of novels, they are set in western North Carolina and revolve around the misadventures of Miss Julia, a widow with a big heart and a penchant for getting herself into predicaments. For Rocky River Readers Book Club on March 21, we were each asked to read a Miss Julia book of our choice. It had been several years since I’d read one, so I enjoyed getting reacquainted with this fictional character.

Books I Attempted to Read

Due to health circumstances beyond my control, including almost daily vertigo, I was unable to read very long at a time or with any regularity. The result was a number of half- or quarter-read books that had to return to the library.

A few of the books I started reading in March include: Raising Ryland: Our Story of Parenting a Transgender Child, by Hillary and Jeff Whittington; B is for Burglar, by Sue Grafton; The Family Tree, by Karen Branan; Forgotten Seastress, by Liz Trenow; Forsaken, by Ross Howell, Jr.; and King’s Mountain, by Sharyn McCrumb.

I look forward to finish reading each of these book eventually, but not until my head stops spinning and my eyes quit jumping.

Happy reading to each of us in April!

Reading challenges

Some public library systems or branch libraries within larger systems issue reading challenges to encourage diversity in reading. A branch of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library that I frequent, the Mint Hill Public Library, has issued such a challenge for 2016.

The library in Mint Hill invites patrons to “Celebrate 2016 by reading 12 different kinds of books.” Bookmarks are provided listing 19 kinds of books from which to choose 12 types.

I enjoyed selecting the 12 kinds of books I wanted to make a conscious effort to read this year to satisfy the requirements for meeting this challenge. No matter where you live, you might enjoy participating in this exercise. It will be a good way to make yourself read some books (or at least one!) that you might not have otherwise chosen.

Here are the 19 categories of books in the Mint Hill Public Library Reading Challenge:

A book that became a movie;
a book published in 2015;
A book with a number in the title;
A nonfiction book;
a Pulitzer prize winning book;
A book more than a hundred years old;
A book that might scare you;
A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit;
A book set in the future;
A book written by an author with your same initials;
A banned book;
A book from your childhood;
A book with a color in the title;
A book based on a true story;
A popular author’s first book;
A book set in a different country;
A funny book;
A mystery or thriller; and
A book with a one-word title.

How many of the 19 will you read in 2016? I’ve already checked off three categories — a book with a number in the title, a book with a color in the title, and a nonfiction book. I invite you to join me in this reading challenge.

 

Some books I read in February

On February 21 I posted a blog about some of the books I read in January. I think in the future I will blog about the books I’ve read in a given month at the end of that month or first couple of days in the following month. I have good intentions, but you know what they say about those!

“Exploring North Carolina” is one of my favorite shows on UNC-TV. The host, Tom Earnhardt, never fails to educate and entertain as he explores the varied and rich geography, geology, flora, and fauna of the state. Although the vast majority of my books come from the public library, Mr. Earnhardt’s book, Crossroads of the Natural World: Exploring North Carolina with Tom Earnhardt was a book I knew I wanted to own. It’s the kind of book from which one can learn something new every time it is read. As if I needed any encouragement to visit every nook and cranny of North Carolina, this book makes me wish I could spend all my time doing just that.

Now that Sue Grafton is nearing the end of the alphabet, I decided to start reading her books. I read A is for Alibi in January and plan to continue reading my way through her popular alpha series. I couldn’t help but notice how telephone communications have changed since A is for Alibi was published in 1982. It almost places the book in the historical fiction genre.

Another case that falls into the “so many books, so little time” category is John Grisham and his books. I finally got around to reading Gray Mountain. (Yes, Sycamore Row is still on my “want to read” list — which is growing far faster than I’ll ever be able to keep up with.) I thoroughly enjoyed Gray Mountain. I love the way Mr. Grisham gets his points across regarding social justice issues without beating us over the head. In Gray Mountain, he puts a human face on how surface mining has scarred so much of our nation’s coal-producing region.

I was delighted to win a copy of The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and the Rise of a New Justice Movement, by the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II with Johnathan Wilson Hartgrove. I participated in the Moral Mondays Movement in North Carolina in the summer of 2014, so I was eager to read Dr. Barber’s book. Even though I pride myself for staying informed about local, state, and national politics, Dr. Barber’s book opened my eyes to some historical connections that I had not made. This book shines a light on dirty politics in North Carolina but gives strong hope that this current grassroots movement will persist.

The Dark Road to Mercy, a novel by my fellow North Carolinian Wiley Cash, is primarily set in Gastonia, North Carolina and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It is the sad tale of two young sisters abandoned by their father and then left in a children’s home when their mother died. Long lost Dad shows up and wants his daughters. Thus begins a tale that will keep you wondering what’s going to happen next and what the final outcome will be. If you want to read what inspired Mr. Cash’s book, read his author page on Amazon.com. I’ll be on the lookout for his next book.

David Baldacci’s The Guilty was the next book I read in February. Mr. Baldacci did not fail to give the numerous twists and turns for which he is known. This whodunit is a true page turner. As a Southerner, I think the accents were at times overdone, and I was surprised he made the mistake of having a character ask another character, “What do y’all want” when obviously speaking to one lone individual. Also, I’ve never heard a Southerner use the term, “Yous.” On a positive note, he did spell “y’all” correctly, which is something some Southerners don’t do. The deeper I got into the fascinating story, the less I noticed the vernacular. Not sure how I’d feel, though, if I were from Mississippi.

Perhaps I am just sensitive about the accents because use of accents and brogues in dialogue is something I’m struggling with in my fiction writing. I’m dealing with Carolina backcountry settlers from Scotland, Ireland, and France and slaves from Africa in my historical novel manuscript titled The Spanish Coin. Since I’m a novice writer, who am I to criticize someone like David Baldacci? I’m striving to strike a balance between giving characters authentic voices and overdoing vernacular to the point that it distracts the reader from the story. It is a writing skill I must master.

Now I’m afraid this post is too long. Do I need to blog about what I’m reading more often than monthly?

What I read in January

My last blog post was about some of the books I read during the last quarter of 2015, and I promised my next post would be about my reading so far this year. Actually, this post will just cover four books I read in January.

After enjoying Allen Eskens’ debut novel, The Life We Bury, in 2014, I looked forward to his second book. I read The Guise of Another in January. It had more violence than I thought necessary, but perhaps I was just still in the Christmas spirit. It was an intriguing story and a page turner like his first book. I hope he keeps writing novels.

Somehow I failed to read David Ignatius’ The Director, when it was released last May. I remedied that oversight in January. I’m a big David Ignatius fan, and The Director did not disappoint.

Michael Eury is the author of several local history books here in Cabarrus County, NC. His latest rendering, Legendary Locals of Cabarrus County is a delightful collection of the life stories of Cabarrus Countians who have made a lasting mark on the southern piedmont of NC. Michael asked me to make recommendations for the people from Harrisburg that he should include in the book. I was thrilled to have a hand in that. The book turned out great!

My name finally rose to the top of the public library’s waitlist for Janet Evanovich’s Tricky Twenty-Two. Fans of Ms. Evanovich eagerly await the next installment of this chronologically-numbered Stephanie Plum series every fall. I try to get on the waitlist at the library as soon as her annual release is on order. When I need a laugh out loud book to read, give me Stephanie Plum!

As a writer, I want people to support their local independent bookstore. As a writer, I also want people to support their local public library system. No matter how you choose to get your books, just get them!

Happy reading! (Now, I need to get back to The Guilty, by David Baldacci!)

Books I’ve been reading

I had no idea that I had not written a “What I’m Reading” blog post since last September. Today’s post will hit the highlights of what I read over the last several months of 2015.

The Map Thief, by Michael Blanding, taught me about the dark side of map collecting. I loved geography from the time the subject was introduced to me as a child. I have fond memories of poring over my parents’ AAA map of North and South Carolina. I distinctly remember the time I pointed out to them that the yellow line running straight to the coast looked like the most direct route to me. That’s the day I learned that the straight yellow line was the state line and not a highway. I was hooked! Maps will forever fascinate me. Getting back to The Map Thief, though, the book presents the history of E. Forbes Smiley, one of the world’s foremost cartography experts; however, Mr. Smiley yielded to temptation and systematically stole valuable rare maps from various museums and libraries. All the stolen maps that were recovered and linked to their sources were returned to their owners, but many of the recovered maps are still in the possession of the FBI because the owners cannot be verified. It’s a fascinating book, but the details got a little tedious.

Pretending to Dance was the first book I’ve read by Diane Chamberlain. It this novel, Molly Arnette keeps a secret about her North Carolina childhood from her husband. After a trust was broken, Molly moved to California to make a new life with her husband. When they try to adopt a child, Molly fears her secret will come to light. It was a good read. I’ll definitely read more books by Diane Chamberlain.

Paula McLain’s book titled The Paris Wife is the highly-acclaimed historical novel based on the life of Ernest Hemingway’s wife, Hadley. Hemingway swept Hadley off her feet, married her, and whisked her off to Paris to a life for which she was ill-prepared.

The Narcissist You Know, by Joseph Burgo, Ph.D., will help you understand and cope with that person you know who thinks he is the center of the universe.

In Without You, There Is No Me, Suki Kim tells about her experiences while living in North Korea as an English teacher. The book gives a glimpse into a country that is almost completely cut off from the rest of the world. Although a nonbeliever, the author went to North Korea with a group of Christian teachers under the guise of being one of them.

Still Alice, by Lisa Genova gained popularity when it was made into a movie. I have not seen the movie yet because I like to read a book before it hits the theater. It is an intriguing novel about a 50-year-old Harvard cognitive psychology professor who is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. The book brings home how utterly sad it is for someone who is professionally trained in brain disorders to receive the Alzheimer’s diagnosis, knowing full well what the future probably holds for her.

Corrupted is the third book in Lisa Scottoline’s Rosato & DiNunzio’s series. A case from Bennie Rosato’s past haunts her until it resurfaces and she is compelled to try to set things right and get justice for a man she could not save from a juvenile detention center when he was bullied as a 12-year-old. A good read!

Lee Smith’s The Christmas Letters was the November 2015 selection for Rocky River Readers Book Club. It is a lovely telling of a family’s history through their Christmas letters. The letters go beyond what family members did since the last year’s Christmas letter, and includes what the writers are thinking and how they are maturing as family dynamics change. It is a relatively short book. You might want to put it on your list to curl up with in front of the fireplace on a cold winter weekend.

My next post will be about some of the books I’ve read so far in 2016.

Happy reading!

The Breaking Point by Jefferson Bass

The Breaking Point, by Jefferson Bass is one of those books you eagerly devour because you want to know how it ends; however, you don’t want to finish it because there isn’t another Jefferson Bass book to read until the next one is published.

If you aren’t familiar with the writing team of Jon Jefferson and Dr. Bill Bass, please add them to your reading list. Dr. Bass is a world-renowned forensic anthropologist. He created the Anthropology Research Facility at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. It is popularly called the Body Farm. Dr. Bass teamed up with writer Jon Jefferson to write a Body Farm series of novels. The novels explore the many ways in which a forensic anthropologist can find evidence in a dead body that will help solve the mystery of how that person died or who that person was. It sounds gruesome, but it really is not. The books touch on the details of such work, but only enough to educate the reader and give the books credence.

Although each book in the Body Farm Novel series can be read as a stand-alone, I recommend that you read the series in chronological order. Particularly, one should read Cut to the Bone (released in 2013) before reading The Breaking Point. There is a spoiler in The Breaking Point that will take some of the edge off the suspense in Cut to the Bone, if you haven’t read it.

Typical of the Jefferson Bass Body Farm novels, The Breaking Point takes the reader down a path with countless twists and turns. I believe it is my favorite book in the series because it puts Dr. Bill Brockton (the series protagonist whose life and work are based on that of Dr. Bill Bass) in several simultaneous predicaments from which the reader wonders if he can extricate himself. I won’t state here whether or not Dr. Brockton survives The Breaking Point. All the loose ends are tied up in the end yet, as in any good series, the door is left open for a new adventure.