Go Small or Go Home - GONE!

To be precise, it's gone to Smashwords.com and is now available!

As part of this year's "Read an e-Book Week" I have just released Go Small or Go Home at SmashWords.com.

What's "Go Small or Go Home" about?

When massage therapist and aspiring miniatures artist Tess begins treating stressed but attractive hockey star Forrest, her art career soars due to his gallery-owning mother, but her creativity plummets under the weight of rules and deadlines. Soon, she's lost the freedom and joy she'd always found in art. Is having her dream career worth losing doing her art her way, or can she somehow have both at once?

From March 7-13th, you can get my book, and a great selection of others, for free or at a discount from SmashWords.com and their "Read an e-Book Week" catalogue. There are other great books available at the "Read an e-Book Week" site.

I am happy to be making a second book available, and I hope you'll check it out. In time, it will be available at amazon.com and other online retailers; when that happens I'll be sure to let you know. In the meantime, pick up the book this week for free at SmashWords!

Books I've read since November 27, 2009

Rather than hiding away my book-reading on its own page I thought I'd start a new thing whereby I post my short reviews as their own post and then post them on The Book Book blog as well. I'll also write a single-sentence summary of each book's concept, which is good practice for summarizing my own novels.

I actually didn't think I'd read much, but I've read three full novels. Interesting how that sneaks up on you!

Stephanie Bond, "In a Bind" (ebook from www.fictionwise.com) A week of supposed no-strings sex threatens to become something more. I'm not usually into straight-on romance novels and this one had some of the characteristics that tend to annoy me (immediate sex, misunderstandings that a few casual questions would have cleared up) and also my main hot button: cheaters who get to prosper. (I really want to see a cheater truly get what s/he deserves for once... maybe I need to write that book myself?) But I did enjoy it, because I thought the main characters were interesting and real. The heroine was struggling with her guilt over what she was doing and I believed her. The ending didn't tie up absolutely every loose end, which worked for me as well. If I'm in a romance-reading mood, I'll check out more of her books.

Faith Bleasdale, "The Love Resort" (paper book, discount table) A romance novelist who runs a resort so she can see the beautiful people and put them in her book is disappointed by the caliber of her guests so handpicks six gorgeous people to visit but is then disappointed by their behavior. That's not much of a sentence, but I think that's at least partly because the book seemed all over the place. The handpicked people are of course not what they seem, but not in a particularly interesting way for me. Some of the characters were interesting but a lot felt cliched to me. The romance novelist made me crazy, there was again a thread of prospering cheaters, and the writing itself really lacked polish for me. The ending felt tacked on and overall I wasn't thrilled with the book.

Nancy Warren, "Speed Dating" (ebook, downloaded for free, but I forget where). An accountant and a race car driver pretend to be dating to fool the driver's ex-wife but it may become more than pretense. Another romance. Being an ebook, it's difficult to tell for sure, but I think this is a novella not a full novel. While I liked both characters, their development wasn't as rich as I'd have liked, and their relationship went from "she likes him but he won't commit" to "we're together" so fast I scrolled back in the book to see if I'd missed something. I hadn't. I'm not clear on what stopped him from committing and what changed his mind, and from what I know about romances (admittedly not a lot) I SHOULD be clear on those things. But I enjoyed a lot of the situations in which the characters found themselves and since Mr. W likes NASCAR it was interesting to read a book set in that world.

To fulfil my 52 books in 52 weeks, I still have 13 books to go. Eep. I CAN do it, given my speed. But will I? I guess we'll see. But I definitely need to get reading for it to happen!

How do you decide what to read?

I have my list of books to be read (in the sidebar), and yet I often find I don't "feel like" reading any of them.

Well, big surprise.

What do I like to write? Books about smart funny women taking control of their lives.

What populates my reading list? Thrillers and horror novels.

Why? In most cases, because they were being given away for free online.

There's certainly something to be said for reading something that's outside your comfort zone. I've learned a lot from books like that and have even enjoyed some of them. But why am I trying to force myself to plow through a list of books, especially the freebies, that don't interest me?

I'd love to post a pithy answer but I haven't got one. It makes no sense. But it's not a big surprise, I'm sure, to regular readers... I'm forever saying, "Because I HAVE to, that's why," and then analyzing that and realizing how silly it is.

For the record, I CAN learn, because I no longer set unrealistic running-speed goals "because I want to go that fast". Of course you do. And you might eventually. But not today. :)

SO... I will do a one-chapter exercise on my reading list. I shall read the first chapter of the book, and if I don't care, I won't go on.

And yes, as a writer that's a scary test! Someone could well ('could'... of course they already ARE, that's how agents operate) apply it to my work. And that's fine. I think I can survive it.

All I ask is that the books that get my spare time can also survive it.

How do you choose what you're going to read? Friend's recommendation? Online reviews? Reading the back cover blurb? And do you have any recommendations for me?

Which Jodi Picoult book would you recommend?

I haven't read anything of hers (I know, 'tis shocking) and there's a 50% off sale on everything at www.fictionwise.com where I get lots of my ebooks, so I thought I should get one.

But which one?

Note that I don't have kids, so one that's really "mommy-focused" might be less effective on me. (Unless I think about my cat instead of a kid, but I'm not sure that'll work.)

The sale ends April 1st, so let me know which one you'd recommend. Also, feel free to recommend anything else you think I should read! Check my books I've read in 2009 and my upcoming reading for an idea of what I like, although you can basically sum it up with "interesting characters who aren't constantly lying to get out of situations, and nothing too scary". :)

Thanks!
Heather

Guest blogger: JA Konrath/Jack Kilborn

A quick glance at the books I've read makes it clear I'm not much of a horror reader. Why, then, was I so interested in having JA Konrath (and his alter ego Jack Kilborn) post here as part of his month-long blog tour to promote his newest book?

I read JA Konrath's blog and adore it. It's called "A Newbie's Guide to Publishing", but he posts so much that any writer can learn from. I have several of his posts pinned to my bulletin board for daily inspiration, and he's kick-started my writing more times than I can count.

For today's post, I asked him to list a few of his favourite books and why he likes them. And here he is!

--
My name is JA Konrath. It's also Jack Kilborn.

Kilborn, my pen name, has a book coming out in April. It's called Afraid, and I tried my damnedest to write the scariest book of all time.

I love horror novels. Heather kindly aked my to write about my three favorites, so here are my top picks:

LEGION by William Peter Blatty. This is the sequel to his huge bestseller, THE EXORCIST. While I enjoyed that novel, this one surpasses it on the creepy meter. The villain kills in horrible, possibly supernatural ways. The subplot involving talking to people who have died is positively chilling. Plus the finale brings back Father Karras, the priest who exorcised the demon from the previous book. Great scares, a compelling story, and a terrific finish make this one of the best horror novels of all time.

MASTER OF LIES by Graham Masterton. This is also known as BLACK ANGEL in the UK. The first chapter is the most page-turning, horrifying, nightmarish opening to any book, ever. The rest of the novel is terrific, but I defy anyone to read the first chapter and not be shocked. It will stay with you for the rest of your life. How many books can boast that?

PRESSURE by Jeff Strand. This already came out in a limited edition, and is getting a large paperback release in July. It starts out as a friendship between two classmates, one of whom is a bit, well, off. Then it escalates into the bromance from hell. Seriously, this thing packs a punch. But it also really moves you, because you care some much about the hero. This book isn't for the faint-hearted, but if you think you're tough enough, this may be the greatest serial killer novel ever written.

Of course, I encourage all fans of horror to check out the paperback release of Afraid, which comes out in both the US and the UK in just a few weeks. You can read the first fifty pages at www.JackKilborn.com. But only do it if you're feeling really brave....
--

Am I feeling brave? Well, since I usually can't watch an entire episode of CSI without having to hide my face at least once, I'd say maybe not. But maybe YOU are! :)

Heather

Why I love ebooks

On non-running days, I use the elliptical trainer in my building's gym. I find it dull. Deeply dull. There is a television in the gym now, but the only thing more dull than the elliptical, in my opinion, is what's on TV at around 3pm, which is when I often go.

I take the Palm, set up one of my ereader programs to autoscroll my book, and I can work out and read at the same time without ever having to turn a page (which, at my reading speed, happens a lot).

I don't think I'll ever want a dedicated ebook reader, since I love having my entire life in my Palm, but I also don't think I'll ever be without an ebook reader of some kind. I've hardly read any paper books this year, and I expect that will continue.

Now, if only ebooks were cheaper than paper, as I still feel they should be... :)

Read an E-Book Week!

This week (Mar 8-14) has been designated Read an E-Book Week. The official website has lots of books available for free or cheap download (including, of course, mine) and also information on new and upcoming devices for electronic reading.

Interesting idea and I hope they have much success in encouraging people to read electronically!

2009 (and 2008): Books I've Read

I plan to read at least fifty-two novels new-to-me in 2009. (In 2008, I didn't start tracking until late in the year, so I've pasted those books at the bottom of this post just for my reference.)

The links go to where I've reviewed the books here and also to The Book Book blog, where I'm one of many writing book reviews. Feel free to comment there or here if you agree or disagree with my reviews!

Key:

• library=either 'regular' or eBook library
• coll=book from my collection for the Read Your Own Books challenge

Statistics for 2009:

• 40 new-to-me books read (goal = 52)
• 50 books read in total
  
• 35 eBooks, 15 paper books
  
• 27 from my unread collection (goal for 2009 = 30)

December: (thus far, 3 books: 3 new-to-me)

• Stephanie Bond, "In a Bind" (purchased at www.fictionwise.com) Reviewed December 10, 2009 on my own blog and on The Book Book blog (ebook, coll)
  
• Faith Bleasdale, "The Love Resort" (discount table at Chapters) Reviewed December 10, 2009 on my own blog and on The Book Book blog (ebook, coll)
  
• Nancy Warren, "Speed Dating" (downloaded for free, I've forgotten where!) Reviewed December 10, 2009 on my own blog and on The Book Book blog(ebook, new)
  

November: (8 books: 8 new-to-me)

Ah, other months, where did you go? I HAVE been reading but not tracking. So everything I know I've read between June and November will go in here.

• Kathleen Tessaro, "Innocence" (discount table at Chapters) Not as good as I'd hoped, unfortunately. I liked her "Elegance" but this one felt watered down. I read it two weeks ago and can barely remember it, which is never a good sign. (paper, coll)
  
• Jessica Brody, "The Fidelity Files" (bought at Chapters.) I saw mention of this on Facebook and it sounded interesting so I bought it. It WAS interesting. A woman hires herself out to test men's fidelity. Well written, no random/coincidental occurrences that weren't also plausible, and a bit of a mystery running through it. (paper, coll)
• Karen Miller, "Empress (Godspeaker Trilogy Book 1)" (ebook purchased from ereader.com) I liked this a lot. The ending was very "here's your hat, what's your hurry" but since it's a trilogy I assume the story continues in the next books. (ebook, new)
  
• Wendy Markham, "Mike, Mike, and Me" (ebook purchased from fictionwise.com) I liked the writing here but oh, the main character made me crazy. When she said something about how she was a childish jerk I had to restrain myself from standing up and cheering. (ebook, new)
  
• Holly McQueen, "The Glamorous (Double) Life of Isabel Bookbinder: A Novel" (eBook purchased from ereader.com) Oogh. A huge pile of coincidences and unrealistic behaviour and not much else, I'm afraid. (ebook, new)
• Garrison Keillor, "Love Me" (discount table at Chapters) Not at all what I expected, but I did like it. A middle-aged man comes to terms with who he is and who he won't be. It's dark and sad and hilarious in places and the ending surprised and saddened me. (paper, coll)
  
• Holly Shumas, "Five Things I Can't Live Without" (eBook purchased from fictionwise.com) Really well done. This did NOT have the typical "everything falls into place without struggle at the end" issues I see with a lot of women's fiction... the character really worked for what she wanted and even at the end there's still work to be done. I will read more by Holly Shumas! (ebook, new)
  
• Gitty Daneshvari, "The Makedown" (eBook purchased from fictionwise.com) The blurb describes it as an unattractive girl making her hot boyfriend less attractive so he won't leave her. It IS that, but it's a whole lot more. It's about self-confidence and self-knowledge and I was surprised by its depth. Another author I'll look for again. (ebook, new)
  

August: (1 book: 1 new)

There were more in August, but the biggie is finishing "Infinite Jest"!

June: (1 book: 1 new)

Actually, there have certainly been more, but I kind of forgot about this tracking thing. :) Nothing on my to be read list looks like I've already read it, so I figure I was rereading stuff and I won't stress about it.

• Marian Keyes, "That Charming Man" (paper, new)

May: (5 books: 4 reread, 1 new)

• J.K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (paper, reread)
• J.K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (paper, reread)
• J.K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (paper, reread)
• J.K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" (paper, reread)
• Kelly Hewins, "Waiting for Spring" (downloaded for free, I've forgotten where!) (ebook, new)
  

April: (thus far, 8 books: 4 new-to-me books, 4 reread)

• Simon Finlay, "Hal Spacejock" (eBook, coll)
• Simon Rich, "Free-Range Chickens" (eBook, coll)
• Veronica Chambers, "The Joy of Doing Things Badly: A Girl's Guide to Love, Life, and Foolish Bravery" (eBook, new)
• Helen Hooven Santmyer, "...and Ladies of the Club" (paper, reread)
  
• Cormac McCarthy, "No Country for Old Men" (eBook, coll)
• J.K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (paper, reread)
• J.K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (paper, reread)
• J.K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (paper, reread)
• 
  

March: (13 books: 12 new-to-me books, 1 reread)

• P.G. Wodehouse, "The Jeeves Omnibus" (eBook, coll)
• Sarah Mlynowski, "Me Vs. Me" (eBook, coll)
• Laurie Notaro, "The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death" (eBook, coll)
• Charlie Huston, "A Dangerous Man" (eBook, coll)
• Charlie Huston, "Six Bad Things" (eBook, coll)
• Arthur Conan Doyle, "A Study in Scarlet [Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection #1]" (eBook, coll)
• Jennifer Archer, "The Me I Used to Be" (eBook, coll)
• Terry Pratchett, "The Color of Magic" (eBook, coll)
• Tess Gerritsen, "The Surgeon" (eBook, coll)
• Emma Bull, "War for the Oaks" (eBook, coll)
  
• Iris Johansen, "And The Desert Blooms" (eBook, coll)
• Kristin Harmel, "The Art of French Kissing" (eBook, coll)
• Heather Wardell, "Seven Exes are Eight Too Many" (free from my files :) - just felt like re-reading it!

February: (8 books: 7 new-to-me books, 1 reread)

• "The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep" by Lawrence Block (eBook, coll)
• "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer (eBook, library)
• "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer (eBook, library)
  
• "Royal Assassin" by Robin Hobb (eBook, coll)
  
• "Assassin's Quest" by Robin Hobb (eBook, coll)
• "Caught Stealing" by Charlie Huston (eBook, coll)
• "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer (eBook, new)
• "Falling Under" by Danielle Younge-Ullman (paper, reread)
  

January: (4 books: 4 new-to-me books)

• Jacqueline Carey, "Kushiel's Justice". (paper) Fifth in a series of books about a courtesan's adventures, and second in the sub-series narrated by her foster son. (Since this is midway through the series, I'm not writing a formal review.) While I preferred the earlier books, this new narrator is growing on me, and the final book promises to be exciting.
  
• Debbie Macomber, "The Shop on Blossom Street". (eBook, coll) A two-time cancer survivor opens a knitting store, and she and her three first customers work together during a knitting class to make their lives better. Decent book, and far more enjoyable to my mind than the Friday Night Knitting Club.
• Chuck Palahniuk, "Choke". (eBook, library) Dark, weird, occasionally beautiful.
  
• Peter Crother, ed., "We Think, Therefore We Are" (eBook, coll) (collection of artificial intelligence-related short stories, purchased at www.fictionwise.com). I will write a review of this shortly, but I found it inconsistent. A few stories were very good, one was spectacular, and the rest just blurred together for me.
  

---

November 2008 (started tracking November 17th)

• "Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs (Nov 24-) (ebook) - I stopped reading this on November 29th after the stupidest medical situation ever completely turned me off. I didn't like it from the start, though.
  
• "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell (Nov 21-24) (ebook)
  
• "Unleashing the Ideavirus" (link points to free download) by Seth Godin (Nov 19-21) (ebook)
• "Time Management for Creative People" (link points to download) by Mark McGuinness (Nov 19) (ebook)
• "Risque Business" by Tawny Weber (Nov 18) (ebook)
• "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein (Nov 17-18) (ebook)

December 2008

• "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer (Dec 29) (ebook borrowed from library)
• "You're Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop" by John Scalzi (Dec 6-8) (ebook)
• "1984" by George Orwell (Nov 25-Dec 4) (ebook)
• "The No S Diet" by Reinhard Engels (Nov 30-Dec 3) (ebook)

My 'To Be Read' Pile

I found an interesting challenge online, the Read Your Own Books challenge. Basically, you commit to reading a certain number of books you already own. I'm also committed to reading 52 books in 2009, so this will help with that as well.

At the beginning of 2009, I had 43 eBooks and 12 paper books in my 'to be read' pile. As I read books, I will move them from here to my books I've read in 2009 list, and will note there which ones fit this challenge.

On the eBook front, I have:

1. Ken McConnell, "Starstrikers" (found for free on the author's web site http://starstrikers.ning.com/)
2. Jane Lindskold, "The Buried Pyramid" (I think free from www.tor.com)
3. M.J. Rose, "The Reincarnationist" (was a free giveaway through, I think, www.mjrose.com, but it's not free any more)
4. Kate Rothwell, "The Rat Catcher" (free from the author at http://katerothwell.blogspot.com)
5. Lisa See, "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" (purchased at www.ereader.com)
6. Heidi Rice, "The Tycoon's Very Personal Assistant" (a freebie from www.ereader.com)
7. J.A. Konrath, "Bloody Mary [Jack Daniels Mystery Series Book 2]" (purchased at www.ereader.com)
8. Ed McBain, "Sadie When She Died [A Novel of the 87th Precinct]" (purchased at www.ereader.com)
9. Mark Twain, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (purchased at www.ereader.com, and to my shame I've never read it)
10. Joseph Conrad, "The Secret Agent" (purchased at www.ereader.com)
11. John Irving, "The Fourth Hand" (purchased at www.ereader.com, and I might have read it - will check once I get into it)
12. Julie Garwood, "Murder List" (freebie at www.fictionwise.com)
13. Arthur Phillips, "Prague" (freebie at www.fictionwise.com)
14. Alan Furst, "The Foreign Correspondent" (freebie at www.fictionwise.com)
15. Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" (purchased at www.fictionwise.com)
16. David Liss, "The Whiskey Rebels" (freebie at www.fictionwise.com)
17. Jonathan Lowe, "Ghost Rider: Stories by Jonathan Lowe) (freebie at www.fictionwise.com)
18. Jack London, "The Call of the Wild" (freebie at www.fictionwise.com)
19. Jack London, "White Fang" (freebie at www.fictionwise.com)
20. H.G. Wells, "The War of the Worlds" (freebie at www.fictionwise.com)

As for paper books, my local Chapters superstore has a large discount section, and I buy tons of books there. They're usually cheaper than a magazine, and I've found several new favourite authors there.

1. Mimi Thebo, "The Saint Who Loved Me" (discount table at Chapters)
2. Rebecca Wells, "Ya-Yas in Bloom" (discount table at Chapters)
3. Sheri McInnis, "Devil May Care" (discount table at Chapters)
4. Sarah-Kate Lynch, "Blessed Are the Cheesemakers" (bought at a used book store)
5. Kristen Harmel, "The Blonde Theory" (discount table at Chapters)
6. Nadine Dajani, "Fashionably Late" (discount table at Chapters. I'm afraid I won't like this because it centers around "I told a big lie and now I have to weasel out somehow", which tends to annoy me, but we will see.)
7. Martha O'Connor, "The Bitch Goddess Notebook" (discount table at Chapters. I started reading this book over a year ago and couldn't get into it. There was so much "ooh, there was a big thing that happened" and not enough "here are some details about the thing that happened so you don't just feel like we're stringing you along". But I will try it again.)

Below, I will list the books I get after January 15th, so that I can keep track of whether I achieve the Read Your Own Books challenge. (Only the books from the top two lists count for that challenge.) If you've got any recommendations for me, let me know!

In the meantime, though, it's time for me to get reading! (Actually, it's not. Raoul is calling me. TONIGHT will be time to get reading. :)

Newly added

• C.C. Finlay, "The Patriot Witch" (free ebook download)
  
• Cecilia Ahern, "PS, I Love You" (ebook purchased from ereader.com)
• Oliver Benjamin, "Holy Shit" (free ebook download)
  
  • When the gods come back to declare Judgment Day, no one believes they are who they say they are. So they're forced to fashion the end of the world in a modern style, ultimately enacting Armageddon in the form of a TV game show. Mankind's only hope could be a machine that promises instant enlightment, but it's not working properly. Or is it?
• J.A. Konrath, "Shot of Tequila" (free ebook after donating to his "save my gps" cause)
• Michelle Moran, "Nefertiti" (paper, won on "Bloggin' 'bout Books")
• Hooked on Murder [Crochet Mystery Series Book 1] by Betty Hechtman (eBook purchased from fictionwise.com)
• Jodi Picoult, "My Sister's Keeper" (eBook purchased from fictionwise.com)
• Sally Koslow, "The Late, Lamented Molly Marx: A Novel" (eBook purchased from www.fictionwise.com because the blurb sounds interesting)
• DeAnna Cameron, "The Belly Dancer" (eBook pre-ordered from fictionwise.com, available sometime early July)
• Kay Hooper, "Larger than Life" (eBook purchased from ereader.com)
• Katie MacAlister, "Hard Day's Knight" (eBook purchased from ereader.com)
• Cory Doctorow, "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" (ebook downloaded from Cory's site)
• Laura Dave, "London is the Best City in America" (ebook purchased from fictionwise.com)
  

50.35%, in case you're counting

That's how much of "Raoul"'s editing is finished. I didn't set a goal date, because I didn't want to make myself rush OR let myself go slower than I could (both of which have happened with set dates) but at this rate I think I'll be done by the end of the week. Then it's query-prep time, and then the first agents get queried and I go right back to planning the next book.

I love this job, I really do. :)

I've had my first feedback on "Life, Love, and a Polar Bear Tattoo". A lovely lady at www.ravelry.com read the book and recommended it on a "52 books in 52 weeks" group. I keep looking at her posting and grinning like a jack o'lantern. Someone (who's not one of my sisters or a good friend) liked the book! WOO!

Her posting made me cry, but it also made me join the group she posted in, and now I'm committing to reading 52 books in 2009. I read one this week (which I will review tomorrow) so I've got 51 more to go. Any suggestions?

What's YOUR favourite book?

Heather

Books I've read: 2008

I have a list of my current and past books in the left-hand sidebar. I'm going to pull them out each month and put them into a yearly post. This is 2008's. 2009's will include EVERYTHING I read, and I think it'll be neat to see it all in one place.

December

• "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer (Dec 29) (ebook borrowed from library)
• "You're Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop" by John Scalzi (Dec 6-8) (ebook)
• "1984" by George Orwell (Nov 25-Dec 4) (ebook)
• "The No S Diet" by Reinhard Engels (Nov 30-Dec 3) (ebook)

Once the big holiday rush hit, I haven't done as much reading as I meant to. I still have "Flow" in progress but it is a HARD read and it's taking a long time! :)

November (started tracking November 17th)

• "Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs (Nov 24-) (ebook) - I stopped reading this on November 29th after the stupidest medical situation ever completely turned me off. I didn't like it from the start, though. Review to come
  
• "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell (Nov 21-24) (ebook)
  
• "Unleashing the Ideavirus" (free download) by Seth Godin (Nov 19-21) (ebook)
• "Time Management for Creative People" (free download) by Mark McGuinness (Nov 19) (ebook)
• "Risque Business" by Tawny Weber (Nov 18) (ebook)
• "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein (Nov 17-18) (ebook)

Interesting that I read no paper books in November. I tend to read almost exclusively on my Palm - then I always have my book with me!

Books I Read in August

I've been updating the Books I've Read post on the right, but rather than just hide 'em away in there, I'm going to start posting them monthly. For this month, they don't have reviews on The Book Book blog, but I'll start that for September's books.

• "The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton. Flowery language and yet clear and easy to read as well. Interesting story, both for what it shows and for how much of the relationships it doesn't show - no sex, no courtship details. (eBook via Fictionwise.com)
  
• "I'm with Stupid" by Elaine Szewczyk. Strongly chick lit in tone. The plot, frankly, didn't make all that much sense, but it was funny in a lot of parts. I did wish for some sort of character change/resolution but I didn't get it, and the few spots where some WAS added felt forced and fake. (eBook via Fictionwise.com)
• "The Farseer: Assassin's Apprentice" by Robin Hobb. I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. The cruelty of people to Fitz, the prince's bastard son, was so clearly portrayed, and yet the people felt it was justified. Fitz was always a strong character, to my mind, clear and well-written. I will read more of this author! (eBook via Fictionwise.com)
  
• "The Blood Books, Vol. 1" by Tanya Huff. A fair bit of headhopping, but an interesting take on werewolves and vampires, set in Toronto and London, ON. It's actually a compendium of two of her books. (library)
• "Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said" by Phillip K. Dick. Set in the ""future"" of 1988, it's neat to see how Dick envisioned the future. The destruction and rebuilding of Jason Taverner made great sense to me and I found the style, while a little stiff, easy to read and follow. (eBook via Fictionwise.com)
• "Currant Events" by Piers Anthony. I used to adore his books, but then I started to feel they were all exactly the same. After years away, I picked this one up. Typical Xanth, all puns, but better and more entertaining than I remember some of the others being. (Kibrary)
• "K-PAX" by Gene Brewer. I hadn't seen the movie before reading this (I have now) and I really enjoyed it. The tale of a man who is either an alien or deeply delusional. There appears to be a sequel; I will look for it. (Library)
• "Banewreaker" by Jacqueline Carey. I have read and enjoyed her Kushiel books, but I found this one VERY hard to get into. I think, for me, it's at least partly because the Kushiel books are in first-person and this was in third with multiple points of view. I never quite knew the narrators as well as I did Phedre and Imriel in the Kushiel series. (Library)