Mortaine's Blog

Feb-April 2012 Books

mortaine — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:25:18 +0000

I fell behind, so I’m going to try and catch up on posting my reading log:

#2: Hunger Games, book 1. It has its flaws, but I liked it well enough.

#3: Vampire Cheerleaders #1. Dear lord, this manga was full of weird. Read it in a Barnes & Noble on my Nook. Basically, they’re cheerleaders and vampires and very, very, very bad people.

#4: Rosario+Vampire #1. A *nice* vampire at a boarding school for monsters. Interesting.

#5: Vampire Knight #1. Another boarding school/vampire manga. Not sure I like this one, though it’s very popular.

#6: Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card. Reminded me quite a bit of Ursula Le Guin, in the “anthropological science fiction.” I have to be honest, though– I didn’t connect very deeply with any of his characters, and lacked emotional investment. Towards the end, it felt preachy. I would explain more, but that would require spoilers.

#7: Maid-Sama #7 – reread this manga in preparation for:

#8: Maid-Sama #8 – the last of this series that’s been published in the U.S. I have bought #9-12, but they’re in French, so reading them is a little slower.

In progress: Dance with Dragons (approx on page 500), The Physicke Book of Deliverance Dane, and Kushiel’s Dart (audiobook).

And, as long as I’m resurrecting my blog: what are you reading these days?

January 2012 books

mortaine — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000

#1: Four and Twenty Blackbirds – Cherie Priest

How to Knit a Sock

Mortaine — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 18:00:12 +0000

There are a few basic reasons to knit socks, and they have to do with the kind of knitter you are. First, there’s the product-oriented reason. Handknit socks are a work of wearable art. They’re comfortable,…

Gwendolyn Brooks

Mortaine — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 18:00:10 +0000

I met Gwendolyn Brooks briefly, when I was about 14 years old. I grew up in Evanston, Illinois, and I went to Evanston Township High School, where we had a very active and thriving creative writing club. Our club went on a field trip into Chicago where we attended a “write about artwork” workshop at the art museum, and then Brooks did a reading and spoke to us about what it is to be a writer (though not necessarily an author).

The Gift of Fear Book Review

Mortaine — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 18:00:09 +0000

The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker has been given to me by well-meaning friends more than once, but I finally sat down to read it this month. This is not an easy book to read– at several points, I had to…