Book Reviews by Today, I Read…

From the back cover of The Cruellest Month:

It’s Easter, and on a perfect spring day in peaceful Three Pines, someone waits for night to fall. They plan to raise the dead…

When C.I. Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Quebec is called to the village the next morning he faces an unusual crime scene. A séance in an old, abandoned house has gone horrifically wrong and a villager lies still, spirited away – apparently frightened to death.

Gamache soon discovers that in idyllic Three Pines not all is as it should be. Toxic secrets lie buried, and something fetid and festering has clawed its way out. And even Gamache has something to hide. He is shielding his team from a terrible truth. A powerful enemy within the Sûreté has planted a traitor amongst them. Who will betray him? And how far will they go to ensure Gamache’s downfall?

Ms. Bookish’s Quick Take:

Louise Penny’s writing is as strong as ever. The Cruellest Month is a well-written book, and Gamache a likable hero. The main story line, involving the death during the séance, is engrossing; however, a few points detract from the credibility of the novel as a whole. I found that I had to focus on shelving my disbelief before I could really get into the story. All in all, it’s still a good read. I’d recommend that readers new to the series read the first two books in the series before tackling The Cruellest Month: Still Life and A Fatal Grace. Read the Full Review of The Cruellest Month

Over the last month, I’ve been consuming books like bread and butter. Rather than sit on my pile of books and reviewing them whenever the mood strikes, I figure writing a quick entry listing my new acquisitions was in order. I’ve separated the list, with descriptions from the back cover, into Already Read, Currently Reading, To Be Read, and Being Delivered. See My Library Additions

Today, I Read… has been neglected recently because other pursuits have commandeered my attention.

You see, while I’ve done much reading for the past few months, none of it could really be considered pleasure (or even leisure) reading. Since I did not want to inundate your senses with reviews of dull marketing books and geek guides, I’ve opted to remain silent. I am hopeful that will change come June.

In all fairness, I should be honest with you, I have not yet finished reading Memoirs of a Geisha. I have, however, completed Bird By Bird and will be offering up my opinions of it once the site is officially updated.

Another surprise I have planned for Today, I Read… is a section called Three Quick Points. While reading (and this goes for any book), I noticed that I have a tendency to sum up the book with three quick points in my mind.

Because so many people have little time to read lengthy book reviews, I feel that the 3 quick points will give them a polaroid snapshot of what to expect from the book. If the points are of enough interest, you could either hop over and read the full review on the main site or read the book if you feel so inclined.

A lot of good things are in store for Today, I Read… — if only I could get this hectic schedule under control.

It’s been about ten years since I last read a dictionary cover to cover. That’s part of the reason I launched Today, I Read….

Though I’ve been faithfully making my way through the current texts (Bird by Bird and Memoirs of a Geisha), I haven’t been diligent in my updates.

Why? Because reading the dictionary is hard work. In all seriousness, while doing my vocabulary assignment for each day, I find myself distracted by other words that make me go, “hey, there’s a word I should use more often in everyday speech.”

As a result, the typical vocabulary assignment that should only take about 30 minutes, suddenly requires at least two hours.

I need to start thinking of a remedy for the situation.

Possibly, scale back on the vocabulary assignments. I really don’t want to go that route. I love the vocab.

I’ll most likely end up sitting down at the end of the week and posting everything that’s accumulated, thus, inundating my readers with large amounts of content to digest at one time.

I probably won’t go that route either.

That’s the beauty of blogging, you can test and tweak and play until you find that perfect rhythm and balance.

Enough thinking out loud, time for me to get back to work.

Reading: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Section: Getting Started and Short Assignments

Still light-hearted and full of wit, but also telling a sobering, yet all too familiar, tale of aspiring authors idealizing the writing profession.

The problem that comes up over and over again is that these people want to be published. They kind of want to write, but they really want to be published.

Anne reminds us (drills it into our subconscious, actually) that in order to become good writers, worthy of publication, we need to write well. With passion and determination. In bite size doses, of course.

…surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s should, and said, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.”

Wise words.

Sometimes we need to think small when we want to accomplish something big. Take it one small step at a time, and before you realize it, you’ll have the big picture sitting right in front of you.