Oh, that cover! There are a number of cover options for Tanya Huff’s Confederation sci-fi series, and they’re all pretty terrible–though also kind of awesome in that 70s pulp cover way. They look like novels you’d step right past in the supermarket checkout line. Thankfully, I came across the series in a list of recommended…
On the blog: A quickwrite slice in response to Wislawa Syzmborska’s poem, “Possibilities” In reading: Permanent Rose continues the Casson family saga. This one has plot developments for days, a new character in David, a reformed bully from Indigo’s school, who is the only one to see and help Rose at some key moments when…
Back to school means back to more intentional work in my writer’s notebook. I’ve been sharing two or three different poems a day and writing alongside them with my students. Wislawa Szymborska’s “Possibilities” has been one particularly rich text to write beside. I’ve gotten the seeds for several possible pieces from this poem. But this…
You’ve got to love a picture book that praises the magic of books and stories, and for me, it’s a bonus that it’s written by a former professional athlete. The story is fairly straightforward: looking into his magic hat, the magician in Malcolm Mitchell’s story is able to find that just right book for every…
A new Kyo Maclear title is always cause for celebration. Operatic is quiet and delicate but powerful. It’s about all the things you might expect a graphic novel set in middle school to be about–identity, friendship, crushes, bullying. It’s also about opera. Maria Callas, to be exact. Much of the story unfolds in Mr. K’s…
David Litt’s memoir, Thanks Obama: My Hopey, Changey White House Years, begins with his work as a campaign worker in Ohio and follows his career as a speechwriter to the President. It’s witty, insightful, self-deprecating, full of interesting information about the Obama White House, and, despite the ups and downs of working for the government,…
It’s really a miracle that Pete Fromm survived the winter he accepted a job to maintain a salmon breeding pool way off the grid in Idaho. His job takes 0-15 minutes each day (once it’s freezing, he has to clear away ice, and once the salmon hatch, he has to check on them and count…
This morning, I’m inspired by Terje’s celebration of her 1000th blog post and her suggestion to try “just because” slices: How about instead of deep thoughts and wise words, without looking for hidden meanings, we simply celebrate the slices of life as they are, the small and the big, the ordinary and the special, the…
On the blog: A slice about reading serendipity and my favorite bookish podcast and why I almost never ask anyone what they’re reading right now In reading: Normally on a week when I only finished one book–which is strange and unusual in itself–I would just skip my Monday post. But I am trying to re-establish…
I look forward to Tuesday mornings all week. Not only is Tuesday slicing day, so I know I have some wonderful blog posts to read and comment on, it’s also the day the new episode of my favorite podcast, What Should I Read Next, releases. In today’s episode, Anne Bogel talks to Will Schwalbe, author…
On the blog: Three things I need more of right now (includes very cute kitten photo!) In reading: I don’t think I’ve ever met a Barbara O’Connor novel I didn’t love, and Wonderland has plenty to recommend it. It’s told in three voices, including Henry’s, a greyhound who has run away from a dog track…
More rain. A couple of cloudy days have reminded me how much I love a rainy day. There are many beautiful things about the place I live, and I know for many people, so many sunny days would be very appealing. But I like rain, and there isn’t much of it here. Only 18 inches…
