This archive contains book reviews written by myself and guest writers. Topics are all over the board: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plus size related, writing related books and more.
“Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.” ~ Anna Quindlen
Book Review by Charlotte West The Grammar Girl’s Quick and Easy Tips for Better Writing, by Mignon Fogarty is a must-have for your reference library. Ms. Fogarty brings a breath of fresh air to the stale, dry world of grammar. Her style is comfortable and humorous, and always clear. She includes plenty of real-world examples…
A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King Reviewed by Grace M. Cho One of the first adult books I remember reading when I was a kid was Stephen King’s Night Shift. It captivated my ten-year-old imagination so much that I was inspired to try my hand at writing a horror story about a grave-robbing…
Review by Louise E. Sawyer Are your fictional characters vivid and memorable? When I read John Grisham’s novels I am amazed at how well I get to know his major characters. I either love them or hate them and I find myself smiling or anxious. The three sections of Character & Viewpoint cover Inventing Characters,…
Book Review, by Judy Downing Villains are useful creatures. Without the evil Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter’s trials and tribulations would have been reduced to a sometimes petulant young man struggling to survive his lessons and gain acceptance from his peers. George Wickham, a very different kind of villain in Pride and Prejudice, opens Elizabeth Bennett’s…
Book Review, by Annie Haws This is a delightful approach to a necessary “evil”. As the co-authors (independent editors themselves) remind us, writing and editing are two very different capabilities, which ought not to be engaged in simultaneously. Write first–get out that first draft–THEN edit–not before. The aim of this book is to guide authors…
The Artist’s Way is for Writers too! Since I became serious about my writing back in 2006, I have met a lot of other writers through different ways: blogging, Facebook, writers’ groups and writers’ forums. Through this network, a certain book has kept popping up on my radar from time to time during the last…
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg has been a mainstay in the writing community for twenty years and if you do not love this book there has got to be something wrong with you, right? Not necessarily. As in my case, it is all where you are at in life. Years ago, I borrowed…
We read a lot of books over our lifetime. It’s not always easy to remember what we did last week let alone the plot of a book we read a few years ago. Not every book moves to an easily embedded memory. Keeping a reading journal helps with memory retention and gives you a reference…