From the category archives:

Books and Reading

Kobo eReader, and What I’ve Been eReading

August 30, 2010 Books and Reading

I was given a Kobo eReader for my birthday and yes, it’s definitely been keeping me busy!
I was able to move my library of ePubs bought from the Sony Reader Store onto my Kobo eReader – it was something I could have done before on my iPhone, by moving the ePubs to the Stanza app, [...]

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Camping … Or Should I Say, Writing and Reading

July 22, 2010 Books and Reading

I’m hurrying to finish up an indexing deadline today, because tomorrow we are off on our camping trip!
I mentioned on Facebook that we are going with every car charger known to man, so hopefully the fact that the site doesn’t have an electrical outlet won’t be particularly bothersome. (I know, I know – electrical devices [...]

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Fabulous Reading Streak – Ending, or Just Beginning?

July 20, 2010 Books and Reading

Last night I finished This Body of Death, by Elizabeth George, and breathed a happy little sigh. I realized I’ve been on a wonderful reading streak, during which I’ve read one enjoyable book after another.
True, This Body of Death wasn’t quite as good as earlier George mysteries, but it was still a lovely read, [...]

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Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy (Or, Breaking One of My Rules of Reading)

July 12, 2010 Books and Reading
Thumbnail image for Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy (Or, Breaking One of My Rules of Reading)

On Friday night, I broke one of my rules of reading.
I started Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
I didn’t even realize I’d broken one of my rules until I finished the book on Saturday afternoon with a happy sigh, and immediately raced to my bookshelf and pulled out The Girl Who Played with [...]

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The Passage, by Justin Cronin

June 30, 2010 Books and Reading

I was hesitant about reading The Passage, by Justin Cronin; I loved the premise of the book (a secret government project to create super warriors ends up unleashing a deadly vampiric virus onto an unsuspecting world – I ask you, how could I resist?), but I was uncertain because of the dystopian nature of the [...]

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Alison Dare, “Live”: Alison Dare vs. The Halogen Light Monster

June 16, 2010 Books and Reading

Yes, Alison Dare was at our house, where she handily defeated the evil, many fanged, incredibly ferocious halogen light monster!

When Tundra Books asked if I’d like to take part in The Double Dare Blog Tour, I was definitely intrigued – what they proposed was a “photo post”, with all participating bloggers snapping a picture of [...]

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Reading The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown

May 31, 2010 Books and Reading

I’ve been reading Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol.
I found the book extremely exciting; it’s definitely a real page turner.
I really enjoyed all the research, too. I was very tempted several times while reading to stop for a moment and go to the computer to Google some of the things that Brown talks about in the [...]

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[TSS] Reading Breaks

May 16, 2010 Books and Reading

I am nearing the end of a very big indexing assignment – it’s been taking up most of my work time for the past two weeks, and I’m scrambling to finish in time for the Tuesday morning deadline.
One thing I’ve been learning about working productively is the value of taking breaks. And since I’ve been [...]

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Bird by Bird Reading Group

May 4, 2010 Books and Reading

I recently posted on Facebook that I felt like doing a re-read of Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.
One thing lead to another, and I ended up forming a reading group. We’re still in the beginning stages, getting the word out to anyone who might be interested.
If you’re interested in [...]

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The Books-Lying-Around-Open Syndrome

April 9, 2010 Books and Reading

I’ve always cheerfully owned up to being one who bookmarks by dog-earring books.
But the other day, I realized something.
I usually only dog-ear novels. It’s a totally different story when it comes to nonfiction.
I was coming downstairs, groggily in search of my morning coffee, when I noticed I’d left a book I was reading on the [...]

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Audiobooks by Candlelight

April 5, 2010 Books and Reading

Ward and I recently added a new routine to our nights.
Actually, I started it. One night I was looking at all our candles sitting in their holders in our living room, and I thought, It would be so lovely to light them and sit here just absorbing the peace and beauty of it all.
So I [...]

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Thoughts on Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere

March 25, 2010 Books and Reading

I have now joined the legions of Neil Gaiman fans, having just recently romped joyfully through a reading of Neverwhere, all in one sitting. It was 2:00 a.m. when, sighing happily, I read the last page and closed the book. It’s been a while since I’ve had a read like that.
Thank you to everyone who [...]

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Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks

March 12, 2010 Books and Reading

I really love it when things show up in my life that are such a good match to something I’ve been pondering, or thinking about doing.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about keeping a journal, and I talked about my idea that I might have luck, finally, with journaling if I just let [...]

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Weekend of Reading: Warrior Heir, Devil’s Kiss, The Forever King and Inkheart

March 8, 2010 Books and Reading

For the first time in a long while, this past weekend I found myself without a deadline to complete for Monday; I also wasn’t fresh from a deadline completed on the previous Friday (an event which usually requires a day of do-nothing downtime).
Which is why this past weekend turned into a weekend of reading for [...]

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My Magazine Dilemma

February 25, 2010 Books and Reading

If you’ve been following along here at Ms. Bookish the past month or so, you know that we’ve been spending a lot of time decluttering. Not that we’ve been all that successful, because while our downstairs is beautiful and serene and almost clutter-free, all we really did is shove everything into boxes and move it [...]

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In the Middle Of: The Book of Tomorrow, by Cecelia Ahern

February 24, 2010 Books and Reading

I always have four to five books “on the go” at any given moment, some of which I admit I don’t actually finish.
But I’m pretty sure I’m going to finish The Book of Tomorrow, by Cecelia Ahern (the author of P.S. I Love You). I found the beginning slow to start, with a lot [...]

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Encouraging Your Children to Read

February 11, 2010 Blogging and Blog Events

I was just over at Molly’s blog, and I really enjoyed reading her post answering today’s Booking Through Thursday question:
How can you encourage a non-reading child to read? What about a teen-ager? Would you require books to be read in the hopes that they would enjoy them once they got into them, or offer incentives, [...]

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[TSS] Reducing My Stacks of Books: Ideas Needed

February 7, 2010 Books and Reading

One of the things my husband and I have been planning is downsizing our home once our daughter is in university next year; when that happens, it will be just my husband and I, and our six-year-old, and our current house is really too big for just the three of us.
So we’ve decided to use [...]

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Reading My First Nora Roberts

February 1, 2010 Books and Reading

Nora Roberts is such a prolific author, but I’ve never read a Nora Roberts novel before.
It’s partly because I always think of her as a romance writer (although I haven’t read any of her J.D. Robb mysteries, either – not sure why that is); while I do enjoy the occasional romance, I prefer romance with [...]

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[TSS] A Little Bit Holds Happy

January 17, 2010 Books and Reading

These past six months or so, I’ve really been getting a lot of use out of my library card. Ever since I signed up for Library Elf, that wonderful service that sends out reminder emails about books coming due or overdue, I’ve even managed to keep my library fines down to a minimum (you don’t [...]

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Winners!

January 14, 2010 Books and Reading

Here are the winners of my December Giftaway!
Top commentators
The draw was actually from 25 names, as several people were tied for the number 20 spot. The top commentators in December were:

Jemi Fraser
rhapsodyinbooks
Steve Kubien
Dorte H
Cat Woods
Kathy
Margot
Memory
Barbara
bunnyb
Ladytink_534
Audrey/brizmus
Beth F
Jackie (Farm Lane Books)
Janel
Rebecca
Aarti
Alessandra
Cara Powers
Cass
Michelle
Molly
Nicole
Petunia
Cathryn

And the winner is:

Number 2 on the top commentators list is [...]

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Audiobook Appreciation

January 11, 2010 Books and Reading

I’m done with this most recent clump of deadlines! I don’t think I’ve worked at quite a pace like this for a long while – it’s been three to four weeks of fourteen hour days. I am very, very thankful for my audiobooks – I think they kept me sane in the midst of all [...]

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A Parisian Holiday: French Milk, by Lucy Knisley

December 14, 2009 Books and Reading

I moved on from reading Eye of the Crow to something completely different: French Milk, by Lucy Knisley is a memoir, written in graphic novel format, of a month-long holiday the author took with her mother in Paris, France.
I came across this novel when I was reading around the blogosphere (when I do this kind [...]

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[TSS] International Book Giveaways – Dec 13

December 13, 2009 Books and Reading

This week’s post includes giveaways I discovered up until Friday – I had to compile this before Saturday because of our tapas party yesterday (which went really well – I had such fun!). So next week’s list should include all the giveaways that were posted on Saturday (hopefully).
This international book giveaways round-up post is a [...]

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The Boy Sherlock Holmes: Eye of the Crow, by Shane Peacock

December 11, 2009 Books and Reading

Despite appearances, I’ve actually had some time to read lately. Maybe “had some time to read” isn’t totally accurate – it’s been more like “squeezed some time to read” but regardless, it’s the end result that counts, right?
And I’ve been lucky, because everything I’ve picked up to read recently has turned out to be a [...]

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Comfort Reads (42nd Bookworms Carnival)

December 9, 2009 Blogging and Blog Events

Comfort reads: perfect reading for a cold winter’s night!

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[TSS] International Book Giveaways List – Dec 6 Edition

December 6, 2009 Books and Reading

I’ve implemented some formatting changes in this edition of the International Book Giveaways list – I hope it’s just as convenient for everyone to use this list as before. The new formatting allows me to put together the list a lot quicker than before, which should mean I won’t skip some Sundays like I’ve had [...]

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Linking Around: The Holiday Edition!

December 5, 2009 Books and Reading

What better thing to do on a lazy Saturday afternoon then doing some fun linking around (nope, I’m not out there battling other holiday shoppers – yet)? And it’s such holiday fun!
Holiday Card Exchange. Haley, at The Life (and Lies) of an Inanimate Flying Object is holding a Holiday Card swap. You fill out her [...]

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December Giftaway!

December 3, 2009 Books and Reading

I just realized it’s already December 4 3 today, and I haven’t posted the details of this month’s giftaway yet.
Here’s how this month’s giftaway will work:
The gift:
Gift recipients will each receive two (2) paperback or trade paperback books of their choice. Selection is from books available at Amazon.com (if you live in the US), [...]

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Winners of the Sept/Oct Giftaway!

November 25, 2009 Books and Reading

I know … we’re already near the end of November and I FINALLY got around to drawing for the winners of the Sept/Oct Giftaway. I am that good at procrastination, I am indeed.
The two winners are:
Jill, from Rhapsodyinbooks
and
Margot, from Joyfully Retired
While winners get their choice of five books from my giftaway shelf, because I haven’t [...]

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