• Book Reviews

    The Summer Slump

    Every year, I give myself a healthy, attainable reading goal. Some years it’s easier than others, but I typically can get through fifty to sixty books in a year, so I always hit it. And every year, like clockwork, I hit a Summer Slump. Like, I can barely get through one or two books a month kind of slump. And not even good ones! We’re nearing the end of August now, and I’m shifting into soup mode, and I am ready, ready, ready to get OUT of this meh reading period! I’m BARELY keeping up with my reading goal. I’m usually a few books ahead by this time, and Storygraph…

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  • Book Reviews

    A Really Sappy and Slightly Obsessive Book Review – Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

    I don’t want to jump the gun by saying this in April, but I may have already read my favorite book of the year. Funny Story by Emily Henry isn’t out yet (and I didn’t snag an ARC), so this verdict could change in a few weeks when I bask in the goodness of an inevitably gushy and devastatingly gorgeous romance, but there is already a very strong, very different contender for Favorite Read of 2024. My Storygraph review of Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is “BRB FORCING THIS BOOK DOWN THE THROATS OF EVERYONE I’VE EVER KNOWN,” and since I finished the book on January 12th, I’ve mostly…

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  • Book Reviews

    To Sophomore Slump or To Not Sophomore Slump

    Don’t you love when you pick up a book and it’s *chef’s kiss* golden? The characters, the story, the tone. It’s everything. And then you get to the end and you find out…oh my god, there’s a SEQUEL? So you, of course, pick it up immediately, and it’s just…meh. It’s not the same. It’s hardly what you’d hoped for, and it doesn’t bring you the same kind of joy the first one sparked in you. It’s disappointing to say the least. And part of the blame belongs on you. You have your expectations on the moon, and you’re still riding the high the first one gave you. It’s not fully…

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  • Writing

    Pros and Cons: Handwriting First Drafts

    There are many different ways to write a book—I think that was clear in my Pantsing vs. Plotting post. That’s more on the process side, but there’s also what kind of devices you use to write with: computers, various programs within computers, handwriting in notebooks, an Alphasmart (thanks, Ally Carter), etc. I’ve started a few stories on my computer, but I’ve only ever finished novels (the first draft) by handwriting them. For me, it’s easier to keep track of certain things, write notes in margins, and quite frankly, it’s pretty therapeutic. I’m not opposed to writing on a computer, of course, but it’s not the long-game for me the first…

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