The Flu, A Book Signing, and Projects Galore

About two weeks ago the three of us suffered a short but brutal bout of stomach flu.  The day that I came down with it was the day before a long anticipated book tour stop for Brandon Sanderson's, Words of Radiance. Go figure.

Despite being unable to crawl out of bed 36 hours prior to seeing him, I was determined (determined meaning damn stubborn, according to my husband)  to see him.  I managed to drag my sleep deprived carcass to not only the signing, but the hour long interview, Q&A session he did.  I even scored a Shard Hunt card for asking a question about the prolific artwork that abounds throughout the book!

I'm feeling loads better now, but have been extremely busy with a few side projects and a final order of dog ornaments for GRREAT.  I know I said I wasn't doing them any more, but Jessie and I had discussed doing one last batch a few months back.  It's hard to say no when it's for such a "GRREAT" cause.

I also hope to have a guest blog post up over on Lupin's blog soon AND I'm steadily chipping away at the Feather quilt.  The pattern issues still plague me and sadly I've yet to hear back from the editors of Quilty, but I'm muddling thru regardless :)

Hope your weekend is warmish, pleasant and fun!

What I'm Reading: Words of Radiance

It feels like I've been waiting much longer than I have for the second book in this series to be released.

Brandon Sanderson is one author who I've recently discovered and become enamored with in just the last year and I have to ask myself, how have I never heard of this guy till last year?!

You've heard me talk about him before when I recently read his first published novel, Elantris.  Sanderson is well known for his complex magic systems and world building, which in fantasy writing, is a must.

Words of Radiance has been in the works for a short amount of time when compared to writers like George R.R. Martin who write at their own sloth-like pace.  Sanderson seems almost inhuman to have completed a second mammoth book so quickly and this series is set to have TEN books in all.

I don't have enough shelf space to properly house, what could only be considered a proper "doorstop" of a novel, but I do plan on buying all ten, in hardback, at some point.  I will have this one in a few weeks because he'll be at a local book signing and if you know me personally you'll know how I love to go and meet authors and get my books signed.  Really, the whole idea of hearing an author talk about his/her books is underrated.  For now WoR will have to reside on my tablet.

I suspect that it will consume most of my "free time" for the next several weeks, so I probably won't be talking about many new books till the end of April.

As for the book All Joy and No Fun, I am still working thru that one as well, but at a more leisurely pace.  It's still holding my interest so far.  I also picked up Twelve Years a Slave and Promise of Blood, but there's no telling when I'll be able to start either of those.

Happy Reading!

What I'm Reading: All Joy and No Fun, The Paradox of Modern Parenting

I heard an interview on Fresh Air a few weeks back by the author for this book, Jennifer Senior, who is a journalist and mom herself.

It was truly fascinating, depressing, and very insightful.

It's not a book about how to be a better parent or helpful tips and tricks on how to survive the "terrible twos" or angst-ridden teenagers.  It's more a book making sense of thousands of studies done on children and how they effect their parents.

I've never been one to find research books entertaining or enlightening but the way the material is presented along with witty and sometimes sad stories from real life families, it makes for one engaging read.  I'm about half-way thru this book and I find myself wanting to cry and laugh at the same time because, as a parent now, I can totally relate to every single thing that's been discussed so far.

I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to a well thought out book on how drastically children reshape their parents lives.

What I'm Reading: Elantris

I love to read and last year I managed to plow thru about 46 books of a 100 book goal. Though I'll admit several of those were of the Regency Romance genre.

100 books is a bit ambitious so I've scaled back to a slightly more practical goal of 50.

If you're interested you can follow me along over at GoodReads

Currently I'm reading: Elantris by Brandon Sanderson (Fantasy)

It's one of his very first books and so far it's very typical Sanderson material.  I've read a few other books of his and I sincerely enjoy his writing style, world building and magic systems for their cleverness and originality.

I'm curious to see how this book will end since it's a stand alone novel and not a series (though it could've been).

I'm reading this one on my Nexus 7.

Some people may have a strong aversion to tablets/e-readers but as I've run out of space for physical books and don't fancy storing boxes of them in my basement an e-reader is a nice solution for my situation.  Of course if I truly love the book I do usually end up buying a physical copy.

Do any of you have any reading goals this year?