Read this on galpod.com. Another book from our reading group, this one I managed to finish on time for last week's meeting. It's a retelling of Homer's Iliad from the point of view of Briseis, a Trojan princess who is taken captive by the Greek and given to Achilles. The book is written in modern language, which I like. English is difficult enough as it is, and reading old language is fine, but I need to know what I'm getting into. So I was glad to see this book didn't requir

Read this on galpod.com. It took me almost two months to finish this book by Angela Saini. Partly because I read super slow in English and partly because it's non-fiction and that usually takes a little longer. I enjoyed it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have continued reading it. But I felt a little like there's no coherent message. There wasn't a single topic this book was about. It starts with research on brain differences between men and women, moves on to the idea that women had

Read this on galpod.com. If you haven't read Rebecca, all I'm going to say is, it's the mother of domestic noir, and you should go read it. When I finished reading it, I wanted to go back to the beginning and start again, so spoilers are critical here. Take that into consideration before you continue reading. The narrator marries an older man, Maxim de Winter, who whisks her away from her vulgar lady employer with hints of English upper-class elegance. But when she arrives at

Read this on galpod.com. I'm reviewing both books together because I got them together through Todd's very generous deal. I also read them one after the other on purpose because I knew they were related. That said, there's no requirement to read them together or even to read both of them. I would say that if you only read one, read The Unstoppable Creative, as it's a more comprehensive and detailed version of The Creative Curse, at least in my opinion. Here's the thing. I thi

Read this on galpod.com. I was excited when my reading group chose this book. It looked intriguing and different. First of all, a WOC author, which is always good. As Celeste Headlee says, if you want to know the truth, listen to women of colour. Second, it's about a 74-year-old Antiguan-born Brit's journey of revealing to his family (wife, daughters, and grandson) his same-sex 50-year-long affair with his childhood sweetheart. Right up my alley. I got my copy after we return

Read this on galpod.com. I love Brené Brown. I do. I fell in love with her when I saw her first TED talk, in which she talks about being vulnerable and living and loving with your whole heart. The ideas in the book are pretty much the same; it's an expansion of this talk, really. The book had made me think about all kinds of stuff. Some I had already written about, some I'd like to write about, but I'm still trying to find the words. Generally, it's a good book. It's hard for

Read this on galpod.com. As I mentioned before, my reading group convenes every month. For October we read A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, a book that is definitely on the "literary" side. What does that mean? For me, it means that the use of language is a feature in its own right, including imaginative use of metaphors and a crafting of sentences that is often poetic. The book takes place almost exclusively in the Metropol hotel in Moscow and is told solely from the po

Read this on galpod.com. I joined a reading group at the local library. It runs every month on a Friday afternoon, and I bring the age average down significantly. That is to say, most people there are retirees, which makes sense because who else has time to go to a reading group that runs on Friday afternoons? Me. I have time. It's one of the perks of being a full-time #WriterMom. So, last month we read a book called A General Theory of Oblivion, which is ostensibly about a P

Read this on galpod.com. I'll start from the end: if you are interested at all in contemporary culture in the US, you need to read this book. A couple of weeks ago, as you may remember, I had a breakthrough with the novel I'm currently working on. There's a character who was supposed to be a relatively minor character, but following my breakthrough, he's going to be a much more significant character. I wanted this character to be homeless, for all sorts of reasons, but that d

Read this on galpod.com. Unsurprisingly, I'm reading a lot of books about writing lately. I consider it to be an investment, and these books help me a lot. This book was no exception. It's useful and clear and gets the point across. It's a manual. Most of the advice in it I don't think should wait for editing. I know that when I write, I try to write well on the first go. Sure, there will be edits later, but I don't expect to have to re-write the majority of the book. So I co

Read this on galpod.com. I've been trying out this habit in which you write ten ideas every day. It can be whatever you like, but they all have to be on a single theme. So, ten new ways to enjoy your city, ten cities you'd like to visit, ten people you'd like to interview, etc. The hardest part for me is coming up with a theme, so I've been using this website that just gives you a theme. Recently I got an easy one: Ten things your paradise would have. A stream A beach Lots of

Read this on galpod.com. When I was doing my PhD, reading a nonfiction book for fun was out of the question. I had to read so many academic articles that I had no brain power left to read at all, let alone contemplate complex ideas. Not that writing fiction and learning about writing doesn't require brain power, but it needs a lot less brain power than academic papers. So now, I get to read nonfiction for fun. This book is a brief history of philosophy. It contains 40 concise

Read this on galpod.com. I read far quicker in Hebrew than I do in English. Hebrew is my first language, after all, and it's just much easier for me. So when my page count is down, I take a book in Hebrew to read in bed. I usually get in my 20 pages if I do that. The title of the book I read last week translates into "The Milestones". It sounds awkward in Hebrew as well. This book review is going to contain much of my translations from Hebrew to English, and I'm not a profess

Read this on galpod.com. I started writing fiction because I had a story to tell. One day, while I was doing my PhD, a story came into my head. I tried to ignore it, but it kept coming back. After I finished my PhD, it became clear to me that academia is not the best route for me. After resisting it some more, I decided to take writing seriously and just write this story already. So I did. I started researching online instructions on how to write, and I started writing. I fin

Read this on galpod.com. Ray Bradbury was first and foremost a poet. At least, that's my conclusion based on this book. In this book, he writes beautiful words, and he doesn't flinch from the truth. Which is the basic definition of a poet, right? There are some excellent quotes in this book. I already listed my favourites. Bradbury dispenses advice and talks about the process of writing. He talks about inspiration and where it comes from. He talks about the process he went th

Read this on galpod.com. Hello! I'm experimenting with blogging every day. Because I'm very new to this, I need your help. Please take a minute to drop me a line and let me know what you think. I will post stories, thoughts, and possibly recipes (if I'm having an off day). Here's the post for today. I'm nearly done reading Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury. A book review is forthcoming. But for now, here are some of my favourite quotes from this book. "...what, you as

Hello! I'm experimenting with blogging every day. Because I'm very new to this, I need your help. Please take a minute to drop me a line and let me know what you think. I will post stories, thoughts, and possibly recipes (if I'm having an off day). Here's the post for today. I grew up in a small village in which everyone knew everyone. Our library consisted of two bedrooms lined with bookshelves, and a third with a desk and some bean bags. I spent most of my afternoons and ev