My nightstand lately is quite the hodgepodge of reading material. I’ve just finished two of these and I’ve got a full book review I’m working on for The War of Art. What are you reading?
Sophia Rising | The War of Art | The Alchemist | Conscious Capitalism | The Complete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy
I came across this mesmerizing little video and I’d like to think this is what our books do when we’re away. Kudos to the creators! I’ve been so busy reading and writing and I’ve got good things cooking over here, including a soon-to-be-annouced workshop schedule and a Summer Writing Series. So stay tuned and sign up for all the listings and upcoming dates!
I am a visual person and a sucker for good packaging. I am not above picking out a good wine strictly by the label. Well, the same goes for a book. So it’s no wonder that I could spend an unhealthy amount of time on the website The Book Cover Archive. My time would be better spent actually reading those books rather than ogling and analyzing their covers. But I can’t help but think how lovely these would be as wallpaper…the second best thing to having the actual books on my shelves.
It’s a lifestyle choice, right?! So I’ve not yet jumped on the digital e-reader bandwagon. My mom has a Kindle (circa 2009) and I haven’t been too impressed (more of a *meh* response) and really I make too many notes in the margins of most of my books for an e-reader to even be an option. But that’s usually because I read mostly non-fiction. However, lately, I’ve been adding a lot more fiction to my nightstand / to-read-wish-list, and I think that an e-reader would be most beneficial for this genre (or at least a higher turnover rate). I read at a moderate pace and I usually have multiple books in progress, so I think that an e-reader would be beneficial for this too. Still, in the con column though is the price of an e-book. Yeowzer. Ten to Fifteen dollars?! I’m a total sucker for buying second-hand books for way cheap (or even better — borrowing from my sister because she probably bought it brand new!) However, in the pro column, I found out that you can check out digital books from our library. So… I’m still a little torn. Pro — many books, tiny space. Con — no color cover art to help me choose my selection. 🙂 Really, my biggest con is something I can’t quite articulate. Somewhere in my brain, physical books = comfort. Maybe I just need to try it. Any thoughts? (Hey, Amazon — would you like this self-proclaimed analog lover to test your new, fancy paperwhite? Email me for my deets!) *cheeky, I know*
Last night the Salt Water Writers met for another rousing week of exploration and fun with our writing. Last night we spent some time on first lines. It was a great exercise that proved to be a (not-so-gentle) catalyst launching us into other-worlds with actions already going on. I continue to be so impressed with our writers original voices. It is such a joy to write with these people.
I scoured the interwebs for great first lines and boy, there were a lot of lists. It’s too hard to narrow down in my book. But The Telegraph took a stab at it:
‘It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.’ | George Orwell: Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)
“The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting.” | Stephen Crane: The Red Badge Of Courage (1895)
“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.” | J.D Salinger: The Catcher In The Rye (1951)
“All this happened, more or less.” | Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse Five (1969)
