My year's reading ends with a writing book. I think that I've reached a certain level for this topic. Books about writing tempt me endlessly, but I've read so many that they're all starting to sound the same. I believe that this means I should stop reading books about writing and just write more, or at least rely more heavily on the great ( Read more... )

I hereby declare this book to be the most useful one I read all year. It briefly gives clear directions for cutting 10% of the words from your prose, systematically, so that the writing improves in clarity and accuracy. I tested the process on my latest short story, and in less than 24 hours I painlessly removed over 600 words from a 5,200-word ( Read more... )

This book is a manual that shows exactly how not to plan and execute an exploratory voyage to the Arctic in the middle of the nineteenth century. For example, a point that is made exceedingly clear by the developments of the story is this: when stocking your ship with food for such a voyage, do not purchase canned goods from the lowest bidder, ( Read more... )

This very short book--103 pages--would be a perfect thing for a brand-new writer to read about the process of writing a novel. It's encouraging, and it covers the basics of fiction clearly, so it would make an excellent starting point. I wouldn't recommend it for people who have read a lot of writing books, because it contains very brief ( Read more... )

This was a re-read for me, of a collection of stories mostly by Powers, and some written by both Powers and James Blaylock. I will be brief, and say that if you haven't read these stories, then I pity you. Poor, poor you! I advise you to rectify the situation immediately, for the sake of your happiness and self-esteem. I'm sure that your ( Read more... )

I wrote an enthusiastic little blurb about Ubik, and then my delightfully intrepid 17-month-old, Felix, managed to make it disappear instantly! Watch as I attempt to reconstruct what I just wrote, only minutes ago ( Read more... )

This lovely book, about a painter with an impossible portrait commission, pretty much forced me to drop everything nonessential and read it for two days. The prose is beautiful, and I was drawn in by the fairy-tale qualities of the story. Mrs. Charbuque wants her portrait painted, but the artist, Piambo, is not allowed to look at her. He must ( Read more... )

(which I feel unprepared to write about in detail yet)

The Synthetic Man (ETA: Also called The Dreaming Jewels), by Theodore Sturgeon
More Than Human, by Theodore Sturgeon
Martian Time-Slip, by Philip K. Dick

I will say this: these books are excellent. Everyone should read them!

That's all for now.

This is the kind of horror novel I was looking for. I like an increasing sense of tension, with hints of creepiness and small but really effective doses of grim description instead of buckets of gore all over the place ( Read more... )

My return to reading horror novels seems to be sticking, so here's my review of another one

(my first attempt at reviewing the writing of someone I've already met, a task that's scary in its own special way),

which, luckily, I liked.

Like Death is set in Ash Creek, a year after a six-year-old girl named Miranda has disappeared. Scott Raymond ( Read more... )