October Nightstand Books 2017
A little late in the day for a post... but since it IS the first Wednesday of the month, I figured I'd go ahead and publish this now. Why? Because, as everyone knows, the first Wednesday of the month is NIGHTSTAND BOOKS DAY!And I have a whole new shiny stack o' books for the nighstand this month! It is so exciting, those fresh covers, those unread pages, the adventures that await within each tome... so let's see where my bookish journeys will take me this month... shall we?
From top to bottom:Write 5,000 Words in an Hour by Chris Fox - I'm not usually super excited about non-fiction, but this book was recommended to me by Anne Elisabeth Stengl, who has been using the tips and tricks in the book to increase her writing speed and ability to put out more drafts faster (three books in three months... which was impressive enough that I had to grab a copy and see what the secret was!) I have only read the first chapter so far, and have begun participating in some group "writing sprints" and have already seen a major difference in my ability to write faster... and it does not appear to be causing any great loss in quality, either, which was my fear.In these "word wars" I have managed to increase my productivity and even broke 1,000 words in half an hour last time I participated. And I am pretty happy with the way the words turned out in the short story I was writing. I have also seen myself able to write faster when I am not trying to sprint, and able to focus for longer periods of time on my editing and the rewrites I have been working on with Minstrel's Call. And that's all after just one chapter in this book! I am excited to read and learn more!Don't Make Me Count to Three by Rachel Hubbard - This is the book study that my Tuesday Morning Moms group is going through this semester. I have read it before, but it's nice to go through it again.Beyond the Gathering Storm by Janette Oke - I don't think I have read the last two books in the Canadian West series before, so I am looking forward to seeing where the story goes.Fairest by Marissa Meyer - Technically this is book 3.5 in the Lunar Chronicles, but I am reading it after reading the original quadrilogy because I was worried there would be spoilers. I am glad I am reading it now instead of between Cress and Winter. However, even knowing how Winter ends, I am feeling jumpy for everyone in this book and worried that they aren't gonna make it.Stars Above by Marissa Meyer - This is a compilation of short stories that take place in the world of the Lunar Chronicles and.... that's all I know so far. I'm just happy to spend a few more happy hours in that realm. When I'm done with the entire series, I will do a spoiler-free series review, I promise! I'm jotting notes as I read each of the books.The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens- Leiana has listened to this book in audio format a few times, and I've heard snippets here and there. She is convinced I would enjoy it, and went out of her way to find the "book" version in the library for me. She's such a sweetheart.
The Beast of Talesend by Kyle Robert Shultz - This is the October book for the Fellowship of Fantasy club and I am excited for the additional impetus to get a copy and read it... I have been wanting to since Deborah first reviewed it, and even moreso since Kyle kindly stepped in and helped out with the Silmarillion Awards and I find that I enjoy his blog/writing style quite a lot.NOT PICTUREDAcross Five Aprils by Irene Hunt - This is the read-aloud we are currently going through for school. It's a classic that I've heard a lot about, but I've never read it before, so that's fun. It is set against the backdrop of the Civil War, which is the time period we are also studying in History class.Beauty by Robin McKinley - Leiana won a copy of this at the library over the summer during the reading program and wants it to be the next book I read out loud to them now that we've finished Jim Elliot and Wild Born.So, that's my line-up for October. What are YOU reading these days?