Martha
It had some good stuff, including some I didn't know (like recipes for triticale), but also some stuff I don't foresee ever needing (like recipes for triticale).
How to get my children to be readers, paraphrased, in random order:
Let them pick what they like to read (check).
Let them abandon a book if they don't like it (check).
Let them read for the fun of it instead of making them do exhaustive literary activities (check).
Give them time to read (check).
Keep recommending different books that you think they might like until you find something they want to read (check).
Keep a lot of books around (check).
Expect them to read– a lot (check).
Let them see you read a lot (yeah, that too).
I guess that's why my children are readers. ;)
3.5 stars.
We arrived at 2-variable equations & graphing in math yesterday, and the needed explanation was shortened considerably by starting with “Do you remember, in The Red Blazer Girls, the dot-previously-named-Frodo?” Of course, being a bit peculiar, we promptly decided that connecting a bunch of said dots meant we were drawing the line-previously-named-the-Fellowship.....
Simple YA romance, but I liked it
It was easy to predict but well-executed and fun to read. I was a bit surprised none of the therapy so central to her life made it in, even as a calendar entry.
I owned the original version of this book, and still liked the update well enough to buy it, also. When I'm writing and can't think what a character would be doing to express a particular emotion, this is my go-to resource. And now the new version gives me even more choices, as well as more tips on how to write effective emotion. Yay!
The writing was decent, and the motivations were much better than some dystopian sci fi I've read (especially the villain motivations), but somehow, it just didn't grab me.
I read this as a child, and thanks to wonderful librarians who figured out which book it was with very little information, reread it as an adult.
It was perhaps surprisingly good. The characters were enthralling, the vocabulary plausible, the mystery a good hook (but not much more), and the religion vitally integrated. 3 1/2 stars.
Technically well-written, but the story lacked spark. The characters fell in love for shallow reasons and the conflict was weakly convenient. 2.5 stars.
He does talk about the basics of writing, branding, publishing, and marketing, but he also covers a lot of intermediate and a few advanced topics. A good book to grow with, appropriately, since he talks a lot about growing as a writer. I like that he doesn't believe in “one size fits all” for writers.
I picked this up thinking, eh, it might be okay. And it was better.
First, the cons. The editing annoyed me. Too many sentence fragments for sure. A few too many technical errors, which I could have ignored better if I wasn't suffering from the fragments. And frankly, the twists didn't surprise me. The only time I was a little surprised was when a pack of wolves showed up out of nowhere. (Cool!)
The good stuff. The prose was written well enough. The characters were fun. The plot, while pretty standard, at least avoided major holes and was assembled in a decently suspenseful order. I'm making this sound more lackluster than it was. Really, about a chapter in, I told myself, “This is better than I expected,” and settled in for the ride.
Will it ever be one of my favorites? No. Do I feel like I wasted my time? Definitely not. It was fun, and really, some days that's all you need.
2.5 stars. Nothing was BAD, but nothing was great, either. Every problem was solved too easily, and the romance was too insta for me.
A nice synthesis of Blink and its opposite, Think. Rather just arguing about which type of thinking is better, it discusses under which circumstances one type of thinking is better than another, and why and how. And then it does it all over again for other types of thinking.
While hinting at classic fairy tales, it remains its own story. I like the characters & the writing, but I'm sure I've read a veeery similar queen-fainting-&-reason-why scene somewhere else.....
Finally, a Cartland heroine who has some gumption, but she still can't speak in one breath longer than half the book! And what is wrong with having a hero who HASN'T slept with all ladies he's met?
I liked the story, but it could have used some noticeable editing for objectionable content.