Group Read: Mistborn – The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

The group read is part of the Once Upon Challenge hosted by Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings. This week’s reading covers the prologue through chapter six.  Next week we’ll cover chapters seven through fifteen. To join the group and read other discussions, please visit Stainless Steel Droppings.   “A thousand years of ash has fallen. A thousand [...]

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Reflections: Emory’s Gift By W. Bruce Cameron

I was so captivated by the adorable canine character in A Dog’s Purpose by Bruce Cameron, I absolutely had to read Emory’s Gift (not to say it wasn’t also because it featured an image of a cute grizzly bear on the front cover, maybe because in real life grizzly bears scare the dickens out of [...]

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Indulge

I took this week’s theme to heart and went to town — literally and figuratively — indulging myself. First, I visited a home decor store and treated myself to some colourful displays: After I’d had my fill of shine and colour, I went to a bookstore next door: and got myself some books: What’s not [...]

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A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron

Before I delve into the review proper, I have to tell you this. Don’t make a mistake I’d made when I picked up this book from a bookstore shelf, lured by a sticky note “staff’s pick.” Do your homework: Read the reviews. Or if you tend to read the reviews only after you’ve finished a [...]

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Reflections: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Thanks to Cassie’s recommendation, I am now enjoying this awesome book about writing fiction and all the personal drama of a novelist that seems to come with it. To tell the truth, I am in awe, stunned, speechless. It blows my mind just to think that a book about writing can have such profound effect [...]

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Reflections: If You Have to Cry Go Outside by Kelly Cutrone

I should have called my post “If you want to cry, read Kelly Cutrone.” The book is about a tough life of a publicist/warrioress in New York, thriving in the field of fashion public relations. While reading the book, I had to suppress the urge to erase it entirely from my Kobo. Not because it [...]

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7 Great Books about Writing

Blogging is writing, for the most part. Even though good writing can’t guarantee a blog’s success, it is, nevertheless, highly desirable. There are numerous books and online resources with advice for writers, but not all of them are equally interesting or helpful. I’ve compiled my own list of books that, in my opinion, are most [...]

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Reflections: State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

When I decided I wanted to read this book, I didn’t know what to expect: I was unfamiliar with the author and her work and didn’t bother to read any reviews. My decision certainly had something to do with the title, and the synopsis sounded intriguing enough: a research scientist travels to the Amazon jungle [...]

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Courage, Vision and Focus

I am convinced we are all born creative and gifted in a field or two. Even though only a relatively small number of people generate ideas that are truly fresh, revolutionary, and ground-shaking, we are all capable of conceiving original ideas and expressing them through various media. We are all capable of making our lives [...]

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How to pick a good book?

Since preschool, when I first learned the magic of making letters into words and words into sentences, I’ve consumed books voraciously and in large quantities. There were times in my life, when I only read books on a given subject or certain genre, but there was never a time when I didn’t have a book [...]

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