Tag: TBR

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Book Dump: 5/9/2017

Michelle Kubitz

More from my unmanageable stack of books!  Here’s some of the books that are on my To Be Read (TBR) pile:

  • When Beauty Tamed the Beast – Eloisa James.  I’m a sucker for a couple things in my choice of books: Snappy book titles and plays on fairy tales.  And yes, sometimes if there’s a bodice ripping or some smut involved, I’m even more enamored.
  • This one is a classic mystery – The House at Satan’s Elbow – first published in 1965 by John Dickson Carr.  I chose this one to be a TBR for a few reasons … first off, the cover.  I love the classic minimalism of books from the 60s and 70s.  Secondly – the title.  Zing!  Third – a classic mystery.  To be a successful writer, one must study the craft.
  • Where the Dead Lie by C.S. Harris – Again, a plethora of things going for this one … a snappy title and be still my heart!  This is book #12 in a series.  Twelve is a nice, bingeworthy number of books.
  • Nick Cave.  I just talked about Mr. Cave’s music and tragedy the other day.  And the Ass Saw the Angel is his only novel.  Looking forward to acquiring a copy of this.

What’s on your TBR list?

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Book Dump: 4/25/2017

Michelle Kubitz

Have an unmanageable stack of books to eventually read?  So do I!  But that’s OK – we’re in this together.  Here’s some of the books that are on my To Be Read (TBR) pile:

  • Apparently I need some Christina Henry in my life.  The book pictured above Lost Boy, comes out in July 2017.
  • Sandra Block … apparently I need to discover this author as well. Here’s a case where I was drawn in by the strength of cover design alone.
  • Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget. Block’s books may have the cover, but the title of Sarah Hepola’s memoir is witty, poignant, and utterly compelling.
  • Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng.  This pick was added due to the millions of good things I’ve heard about Ng and another engaging title.

What’s on your TBR list?

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Book Dump: 4/11/2017

Michelle Kubitz

Have an unmanageable stack of books to eventually read?  So do I!  But that’s OK – we’re in this together.  Here’s some of the books that are on my To Be Read (TBR) pile:

What’s on your TBR list?

Random

My latest TBR pile

Michelle Kubitz

040516_Books

I told my dad about my goal of reading a bunch of Louis L’Amour books in 2016.  He replied that he had “a few” L’Amour books and some other ones I might be interested in.  After nearly 38 years of knowing my dad, I’m not sure why I didn’t translate “a few” books as two grocers flats worth of books, but I’m grateful all the same.

Fiction, Random

TBR Pile – The “You Gotta Be Kidding Me” Version

Michelle Kubitz

20150331_202433A couple random nuggets of knowledge about me:

1) I am an incredibly fast reader.  I’m not as fast as my one college professor who had taught himself to read three lines of text at a time, but I am speedy.

2)  I am the mother of a 32-month-old and an 18-month old.  My eldest has currently decided that now is a good time to potty train.  This is while his younger brother has decided that it’s a delightful time to show whose genetics won out in his creation and has turned into my mother’s revenge.  I love both of my children, but most days I feel like I’ve conducted a three-ring circus by the time the babysitter has shown up at our house at 8 A.M., and host a repeat engagement when she leaves again at noon.

3) When in doubt, I read books on topics that might educate me.  Thus – my new To Be Read (TBR) pile.  I have everything covered from potty training to no-cry discipline techniques (although it is funny to hear my almost three-year-old tyrant mimic my “NOW!” to the Cat).  And most importantly (and probably something I could write a book about) – how to encourage curiosity in one’s child.

4) I’m not all “kid” and no Play – apparently, I reserved a copy of V.E. Schwab’s “A Darker Shade of Magic.”  I don’t even remember what it’s about, so … it must be good if I’m finally getting it from my reserve list at the library.  Right.  Right?

Random

Stacks

Michelle Kubitz

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”- Stephen King

TBR

Forgive how dark this photo is – but here’s my “TBR” (to be read) stack of books.  In some cases, they are books to re-read, but they are safer down here in my office than they are at the hands of my two toddlers.

Editing, Fiction, Friday Fare, Internet Articles, Process, Random

Friday Fare: Links from the around the ‘Net

Michelle Kubitz

FridayFare On Fridays, I post a round up of the various posts and articles that have been of interest to me during the week:

Kristi Belcamino, a fellow Minnesota author, gave a shout out to this website for creating graphics.  I’m looking forward to trying this out and integrating into my social media efforts.

Fidgeting = productivity?  The Wall Street Journal had this article regarding how “creative playtime” may spark new ideas.  The note that I made to myself after reading this was that while I didn’t necessarily agree with this idea (I don’t think that I can play with a Slinky and still type at the same time –  not that coordinated), I have found that music is important for sparking creativity.  If I feel like I’m in a slump, changing a playlist can make my mind skip in a productive direction.

And because I’ve re-discovered that my other creative outlet is cooking and because my sons and I are all getting over colds, I riffed on this chicken noodle soup recipe this week.  It was pretty damn good.

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Listening to: As I’m writing this, I’m listening to a playlist of Alison Krauss from YouTube, starting with her duet with Robert Plant (“Killing the Blues”), wanting to listen to this song on constant repeat, and then getting some gratification that I’m not the only one who appreciates Gordon Lightfoot.

Reading:  Truthfully?  I’m reading some Highlander/time-traveling smut right now, so I’m not going to be proud about announcing my reading choice right now.  I’m working on a Dean Koontz novel, still need to finish “Skellig” (heading to Chicago and spending an unexpected extra night has thrown a lot of my life off).  Stay tuned … on Tuesday, I’m going to share a shot of my TBR (to be read) pile.

Fiction update:  My work life is ramping up again and it’s causing me a little bit of anxiety.  I have five proposals due before April 13th.  How do I balance this with my own internal deadline (pages in the hands of beta readers by April 1st?).  What I did was print out a fresh copy of my manuscript and I’m taking another run at reading and making edits as I go.  Mentally, I liken this process to my winter driving adventures during my 16th year of life, when I would have to back my Pontiac Sunbird into the field approach across the road from my parents’ farm and take the driveway at a run if I hoped to get up to the top of the drive.  I usually had about a 50% success rate.  Let’s hope that I’m more adept at driving / editing some 20 years later.