Do our blog writing skills improve? And some KingKiller Chronicles segues

There's a long winded built-up to this question, so bear with me.
I was describing to my colleague at work how I spent most of this weekend sleepless due to a) Baby and b) Reading Patrick Rothfuss.

Now, I've read both of Patrick Rothfuss' books before (The Name of the Wind & The Wise Man's Fear). I've written about The Wise Man's Fear . 
If you are new to these names, they are books 1 and 2 of the KingKiller Chronicles. These books cover Day One and Day Two of the narrative, and Day three (or Book 3: The Doors of Stone) ought to be released in the next couple of years.*


(Aside) This wait for the third book is quite exciting, actually! There is quite an enthusiastic set of  Tor readers over at Jo Walton's re-read on Tor.com. Lots of theories being discussed!

* We dare not name a date, for Rothfuss is infamous for missing publishing deadlines. Current Goodreads site for Day Three in the Chronicles shows nothing, and it was reporting 2020 at one point to throw cold water on us eager readers.
P.S. Mr. Rothfuss' hilarious take on the goodreads readers who like to "review" books before they are out - http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/327213074

Yet I really can't do the book justice. Trying to make a summary of the plot or storyline is an exercise in futility, as I realized when explaining to my colleague why he should read Rothfuss. It also seems like I've had this problem before - When I last wrote about The Wise Man's Fear , I actually didn't do a full review! Just trying to goad people into reading does count though, right?

This brings me to my point - do our blogging skills improve over the months and years we blog? I know we all HOPE they do, but without critical assessments, does pure practice result in improved writing skills?

Book Blogger Hop - July 20th to 26th

Welcome to my stop on the Book Blogger Hop!

Q: What’s the ONE super-hyped book you’ll NEVER read?

The most polarizing question I've seen here yet! I haven't done the hop in a while (thanks to being busy with my new born baby) but this question just pulled me right back in!


I'd have to say the Twilight series is my "never gonna read" point. I haven't the slightest bit of interest in reading them, though I LOVE paranormal/fantasy/space fantasy books (Ilona Andrews, Brandon Sanderson, Patricia Briggs, Bujold, ..tell me when to stop!). You name it, I've probably read it or started the series.
Still, Twilight just rubs me the wrong way. Apologies to the Twihards out there! 


Leave a comment and let me know if you follow as I like to follow back.

What did world-famous authors read?

The awesome people at Flavorwire & Legacy Libraries have looked at titles on the bookshelves of author's - so here's how you and I get a glimpse into the books read by some Greats.


Well, here's a peek at the books on the bookshelves of Sylvia Plath, Herman Melville (of Moby-Dick fame, to all teens out there), Mark Twain, Fitzgerald and others!

Legacy Libraries is one of the perks of being a LibraryThing member - I personally haven't signed up (YET!) but perhaps if you are a member, you can tell me why its good to join? Goodreads keeps me happy, and I dont want to have yet another time consuming profile/thing-to-monitor.

Chipp Kidd on Book Cover designing - TED talk

The awesome and famous Chipp Kidd gave a TED talk on how he designs book covers - his efforts to convey the story in the cover, or intrigue the reader into buying the book.
If you haven't heard of him, here are some of his most famous cover designs:

Quote from the video:

“A book cover is a distillation. It is a haiku of the story.”

Also, listening to TED talks are pretty interesting way to pass the time! If you click through, don't blame me for the time you spend on the TED website/app on your device!
For more Chipp Kidd designs, the Book Cover Archive is the place to go.

Teaser Tuesday #46: the first since my son's arrival!

Aaryan, Week 5

The last months of my pregnancy and My son's arrival derailed my memes on E-volving books. This is him in a rare snoozing session!

Now, back to the teaser game - Here's a teaser from Eric Flint's The Tide of Victory:

"But that order—and its consequences—remain mine to bear. No one else. Nor can I trade it against other consequences, as if ruthlessness was a commodity which can be exchanged in a village market"

You can read most of Eric's books for free here or buy them from Baen.
How does the publisher give so many books away for FREE you ask? See This post on Baen and their free library.

The essential wizarding school story (non-Potter category)

Review: The Year of the Griffin by Diana Wynne Jones
Grade: A
Why I picked it up: I've recently picked up a few Diana Wynne Jones books, continuing my earlier fascination with her - beginning when I saw Hayao Miyazaki's beautifully depicted Howl's Moving Castle.
'The Year of the Griffin' I had read and quoted from last year, but decided I could re-read a few chapters while the baby slept.
Why I finished it: Super catchy storyline which brought to mind the fizz and excitement of the early Harry Potter "going to wizarding school" magic.

The Story:
A diverse group of students meet at magic university and unite under incompetent teachers. The Wizards' University is now decidedly short of funds, and the teachers are either obsessed with raising funds, going to the moon or training the students to avoid any real thinking.

From Goodreads: Comical tableaux involving spells that create deep pits and smelly winged monkeys alternate with suspenseful (yet always amusing) scenes involving tiny assassins who mean business. Jones's satirical pokes at academia, racial intolerance (the greenish and jinxed Claudia has mixed blood), and hierarchical societies (Ruskin is bucking the tyranny of the forgemasters to become the first dwarf wizard) keep the story lively, as do the realistic portrayals of her very odd and endearing cast of characters.

The Good:
She has two novels set in an imaginary world, Derkholm. The first novel, Dark Lord of Derkholm, is a recommended pre-read, though you can jump right into this one if you like (or if this is the book your library has).
The exciting bits are pretty fantastic, and so are the characters - a griffin, a marshwoman, a prince, another prince who has assassins after him, a pirate's daughter.. 
Who should read this? Fans of wizard schools, Harry Potter, Young Adult lit, School stories
Quote:

“What have we got next? Wasn’t there a lecture or something?”
“I’ll see,” said Elda. She hooked a talon into the bag around her neck and whisked out a timetable, then reared on her hindquarters to consult it. It already had claw holes in all four corners. “A class,” she said. “Foundation Spellcasting with Wizard Wermacht in the North Lab.”
“Where’s that?” Claudia inquired shyly.             “And have we time for coffee first?” Olga asked.

Other books by her reviewed:
Cart and Cwidder

Jaipur Lit Fest - Banned and broken

The fracas over the Jaipur lit fest has sort of died down now, so perhaps it is time for a look at what actually happened?
If you don't know what I'm talking about - Jaipur is in India, a town known for a rich, majestic heritage in the arts. Each year, it hosts the largest lit fest in South Asia.
The annual Literature festival held there was in a storm of controversy this year.


Couple of anticipated highlights was Oprah's hour-long interview and visit at the festival, and Salman Rushdie's presence.


While Oprah's interview was truly interesting, Mr. Rushdie's visit was not permitted due to a few fanatics who (possibly never having read his books) protested loudly! 
His book, Satanic Verses, has been banned in India for a few decades - again, religious views triumphed over literature.


Result? No talk, no telecast and no freedom of speech.
Some 4-5 authors read out sections of his book in protest, but that was also not encouraged by the fest's organizers.


A sad show, all around.


More info:
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/01/26/indian-media-reacts-to-rushdie-row/
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/01/24/security-fears-quashed-rushdies-jaipur-video/

Kindle purchase questions you may have: A play by play

A friend of mine was wondering whether to buy a Kindle or some ebook device, this mail conversation is what followed: (reproduced with permission)
My friend: "You have a Kindle, right?
Would you recommend I buy it? My main concerns are: it should be userfriendly (not too complicated) and it should be easy on the eyes - I am short sighted and my eyes strain when I read from a backlit screen.
One other factor is that I should be able to read non-purchased/downloaded books on it."
My reply: Long time no hearing from you - so glad you mailed me.
Let's get this out of the way : I *heart* my kindle. (that's why my blog is mostly dedicated to it and ebooks :D)

We should take this up point by point -
1. User friendly - really simple, too simple sometimes :)
Just drag and drop book from laptop to device, read book.
You can also check out Calibre: Paen to Kindle and Calibre

2. Backlit - The Kindle does not have a backlit screen.
Good points: Easy on the eyes, and very clear writing, just like on a page. No touchscreen means that the ink contrasts better with the white background.
Flipside: You need an extra light if it is dark (bedside one, or you can buy a cover from Amazon with a small light)

3. Non-purchased books - Of course you can! You download as usual, use Calibre as your library so it converts all formats (pdf, rtf, html etc) to mobi (Kindle format) so you can shift to the Kindle, reading the same book.

Follow-up Mail/Question from my friend: 
"I'm definitely getting it. Somehow I don't trust Infibeam's Pi, given that my priority is to make sure my eyes do't have additional strain. Did you buy the cover from amazon too, 'coz their covers cost half as much as the kindle itself! Was just wondering if there are cheaper options available."

(Deepali's note: You can read my post here for alternate covers - Skins for your ebook reader - Style over Substance)
Yes, I got the cover from Amazon - those are sturdy leather covers.
It was pretty expensive!! Try other options too...but make sure you plan for lights of some sort.
A bedside lamp, or a clip-on light of some kind is essential :)

*** 

That's All, Folks!

My word-for-word reply to questions you probably have too.

Bryan's Blog Tour - this month!

The very talented Bryan Cohen's blog tour is this month, and will be coming to e-Volving books on the 19th of May!

Bryan is the Author of 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts: Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More

Bryan wears several different hats - author, playwright, producer and more!
We'll get to see a guest post by Bryan, AND Win some books, and personalized writing prompts!
More details next week.

2011 Man Booker Prize results - Final 13!

The weekend brought the Thirteen finalists for the famous Man Booker International Prize:

• Wang Anyi (China)
• Juan Goytisolo (Spain)
• James Kelman (UK)
• John le Carré (UK)
• Amin Maalouf (Lebanon)
• David Malouf (Australia)
• Dacia Maraini (Italy)
• Rohinton Mistry (India/Canada)
• Philip Pullman (UK)
• Marilynne Robinson (USA)
• Philip Roth (USA)
• Su Tong (China)
• Anne Tyler (USA) 

There's only a few I've read here (Carre, Pullman, Roth) so I'd love for book recommendations. Who would you read first and why?
The last Booker winner I read was Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger.Alice Munro is the only past winner on this list (I'm not sure if I've read her or not).
In other gossip, John Le Carre has asked to be removed from consideration so that other lesser known authors can win!! Cool guy, that.

A Roald Dahl look at new e-devices

The mid-week (or early-week!) blues got you?
This adorable graphic from Unshelved is a great pick-me-up. It references Matilda, by Roald Dahl and her e-reader experience (hint: not good)!
While I'm an ebook fan, I totally understand and GET her experience.

Linked here for the rest of the comic: http://www.unshelved.com/2011-3-4
The art is by Aaron Renier from www.aaronrenier.com

My confession - ebooks vs. paper

After two dozen posts extolling the virtues of ebooks, I am finally going to write one praising paper books. 

My confession is: Rereading is easier on physical books!

Image From www.Gawker.com

My most recent hardback buy was Towers of Midnight by Brandson Sanderson and Robert Jordan, from the Wheel of Time series. This is the penultimate book in the series, and I was incredibly kicked to be able to get it on the day it released (as I was in the US of A at that time).

I completed this monster-sized novel on my birthday, one day and one night after it arrived, as it was an early arrival birthday gift. One really can’t get all the implications of such a busy book in so short a time, so I let everything simmer for a few weeks.

Last weekend, I decided to re-read the second half of the book…it felt great to be able to easily pick spots to slow down for, turning pages kept my momentum going. I've even taken to reading it for a few minutes every other day, just to re-read parts that I might have missed earlier. The pages feel great, with that still-stiff, only been read by one person in the world, feeling.

This is probably the only book that could have prompted this confession - I'm a little obsessed with the Wheel of Time series, as you might know.

I probably wouldn’t have read this again if I had only an ebook version – sad but true.

New to Wheel of Time?

Read this brief series review

You can read my review of the Towers of Midnight here

New to eBooks?

View

Reading Challenge 2011: Bloody Jack Challenge

The lovely blog Bookworming in the 21st Century has launched the Bloody Jack Challenge

I haven't read this series before, but when I start, I always finish! I'm going to do the max:

Dead men tell no tales - Read the whole series. Whether it's a re-read, first time, or even more than your second time.

I'll update here as I keep reading and sometimes reviewing the series. Hope to see you on my GoodReads: www.goodreads.com/evolvingbooks

1 )

Blogger Spotlight - Julie from Book Hooked Blog

Introducing: Julie from Book Hooked Blog

Fav Recent Read: Falling Home by Karen White

What e-reader do you own and how did you get it?

I have a basic Nook.  I did some last minute edits on a book for my pastor.  As a thank you, he gave me a very nice gift card to Barnes and Noble and I made a quick decision to purchase a Nook!

Julie's Favorite thing about the Nook?

It is so easy to travel with!  In the past I've been the person trudging through the airport with a 20 lb carry-on full of books.  I never know what I'll be in the mood for, so even for overnight trips I'll end up bringing 3-5 books just in case.  Having the Nook makes it MUCH easier to have a variety of books in my purse at all times.

Click to read on about Julie and her reading habits! Mail me if you want a spotlight of your own!

Book Blogger Hop #15 - Dec17 to 19

This is a weekly PARTY hosted by Jen at Crazy For Books. It's a chance to discover new blogs and to garner new readers for your blog as well.

Thanks for visiting!

"What do you consider more important: plot or character?"

For the most part, I would take character any given day. I've felt that most of the experience of reading depends on the experience you have in your head while you are reading a book. I'm more able to enjoy the story if I relate to or like the character. Otherwise, the story becomes secondary to the voice in my head which is grumbling about what I dislike in the book's hero/heroine.

That usually does not end well.

There are some exceptions of course - Epic novels like Lord of the Rings, books with vast plot structures like The Malazan books of the Fallen, these are so plot-driven that it is almost irrelevant if you enjoy the character narrative. These authors have also created strong evil characters, multi-dimensional heroines, brave souls - and the storyline lives up to the promise.

What do you think? Is it an either/or situation? Could it be a good character makes a sketchy plot come to life, but a poor plot can sink anyone?

What does your bookcase look like? Here's Mine!

Being installed by the carpenter

The big event of my day is getting bookshelves installed in our apartment.
To answer some of the questions you might have:

• Yes, we had NO bookcases
• Yes, some people do live like that (i.e. my husband)

My books being stacked!

A Close Peek into what I buy

I have a fairly small collection - a lot of books had to be given away when I moved to the US and back again. Got to get some more books to fill these up, right?

I've also turned to my Kindle for newer books.

I've shown you mine, now show me yours!

Link to photos of your books, bookshelves, or write a post about your bookcases and let me know. I will add links at the bottom of this post to you!

The Most Beautiful Public Libraries in the US

Dear World: Thank You For Libraries!

Here are a few of my favorites from a recent Flavorwire list of Top 10 "most-beautiful-from-the-outside public" libraries in the US:

The renovation shown above is so different from anything the government can afford in India!

Chicago Public Library - My one-time haunt while I lived in Chicago..Pure pleasure to see it and its gargoyles! Well-beloved gargoyles standing guard over your books, how reassuring.

This Salt Lake city public library seems super inviting - that wall of windows just draws people in, I'd think.
For all 10 libraries that made the cut, go to Flavorwire
What do you like best?

***

Next time, I'll look for gorgeous libraries in Europe and across the world. 
Do you have a picture of your local library? Do share it with me @ deepalipratap@gmail.com - I will feature a post on this if we have enough libraries!

Free Books - Jane Austen, Sherlock Holmes and Amazon

This is Free Book Friday for you!

Today, I found out that I won Four Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) from I Swim for Oceans. Exciting, but I wanted to pass on that feeling of a new, free, unexpected book on to my readers. (Aren't Unexpected FREE Surprises the best?!)

So I did some searching online, to find free books of authors you might be interested in reading:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

Pride and Prejudice on the Sony Ebook Store  is $4.99. Not sure why, when everywhere else it is available for Free (copyright expired).

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

All day the wind had screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like untamed beasts in a cage.

Cool Beans: A Maya Davis Novel 

(Dee says: Sounded interesting)

 Everything seems to be going perfectly for Maya Davis: She has a great job at a coffee shop, gets along with her parents, and is happily single. That is until her best friend starts dating Maya’s high school sweetheart.

Kindle books can change price at any moment, so be sure to double check the price before one-clicking on the product page at Amazon. Books that are free in the US are generally at least $2 for international customers. In this case, try Project Gutenberg.

Even if you don't have a Kindle, download the ebook for Free and then read it using Calibre or Kindle for your Device. 
 

Mairelon the Magician by Patricia C. Wrede

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Mairelon the Magician

by Patricia C. Wrede

Mairelon the Magician (Mairelon, #1) 4.03  ·  rating details  ·  985 ratings  ·  75 reviews

There's magic in the streets of London, there's sorcery in the village lanes; there's a plot that has all of Society talking in an England that never was, but should have been...      

(from www.goodreads.com)

Grade: B
The story follows a young 15+ orphan who gets by on the streets of pre-mechanical revolution England. I pegged the timeline at around the Regency era. Kim is surviving (just barely) on filching stuff from people, and disguising herself as a ruffian-esque boy. She gets caught in a travelling magician's caravan on a job, and he offers to teach her the trade. This begins the better part of the story, with Kim and Mairelon tracing the trail of a magical platter in order to clear his name of its theft.
Plus: The language/ thieves cant used by Kim is apt and fits into 18th century England. Even the way Kim begins to learn to speak a better class of English is believable and endearing. The story kept me interested, and I enjoyed reading some of the more comic scenes - a la a Comedy of Errors style.
Minus: This book is clearly targeted at a YA audience, and I didn't see much depth to the story. The lack of a romantic note, or a genuine mystery is a bit sad. There was a bit of a mystery involved around the Silver magical platter Kim and Mairelon are tracing, but that was not strong or captivating for me.
Overall: I am interested in Kim as a character, and going to pick up the next book as well, to see where her story goes. The other characters weren't as memorable, but all in all, the story made for a very decent read.

I would recommend this to: Most YA fans, Tamora Pierce fans and folks under twenty.

Are you an ebook fan, or do you read paper books?

In the last 2-3 years, the world of reading has simply EXPLODED.

There is more buzz around reading than ever before. People that haven't had time to read because of their busy lives have begun to pick up books again. The major reason for most of these born-again readers is getting an e-book reader, or perhaps reading books from the Harry Potter series or YA revival, or maybe even getting swept into the excitement we are seeing!

It is easier than ever now to find books, have them delivered almost anywhere, and read them in a format you choose.

With all these choices, what do you do?

Have you read a book on your laptop, cellphone, or any other device?

Was the convenience the selling factor?

Do you remember which book it was?

Tell us in the comments. Are you interested in being profiled in a blogger spotlight?