ByGD
I never understood the idea of “small dreams” until I started receiving unsolicited advance reader copies (ARCs) of soon-to-be-published books in the mail, and felt like I had arrived. It wasn’t quite the same as being paid to read, to but not having to pay to read felt pretty close (Yes, libraries. But late fees.)
Of course, roses have thorns, etc. and I soon discovered that even small dreams have their downsides. Read More
ByGD
I bought Brown Girl Dreaming for my daughter for Christmas, and now I am reading a poem to her each night before bed. Last night I read “South Carolina at War.” I’m going to copy the entire poem here, which is a lot of text to pull from a copyrighted book. But I can’t say what I need to without first making sure you know the whole story. Read More
ByGD
The Architect’s Apprentice has the most beautiful cover. It’s a book cover that promises a rich and intricate story, full of mystery and love and loss in exotic and far away lands. We live in an age of lies, but author Elif Shafak delivers on the cover’s promise. Read More
ByGD
It might seem like I blog a review of every book I read, but I don’t. For example, as a research exercise for my NaNo-reboot project, I read 10 romance novels in January, and I didn’t review a single one here. I did rate them on Goodreads and basically kept saying,
It’s pretty good … for a romance.
ByGD
As so many significant events in my life, it happened at the library. It all started with a stack of bookmarks printed with a list of middle grade books. My oldest daughter had just finished second grade, and had already cloistered herself in the world of high fantasy. The books on this list were varied in genre with a diverse cast of main characters and a disproportionate number of Newbery medals gracing their covers. The bookmarks were labeled “Global Reading Challenge,” so I challenged my daughter to read all ten before the summer was over. Read More