Margaret Taylor (Author of The Confederacy of Heaven)

Margaret Taylor wrote a new blog post: Neil Gaiman’s Commencement Speech

Neil Gaiman’s Commencement Speech

An inspirational speech Neil Gaiman gave about starting a career in a creative field:

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Margaret Taylor added:

Absolute Midnight (Abarat, #3)
by Clive Barker

read in May, 2012

My rating:

Ever since the second book of the Abarat series was published in 2004, I'd been eagerly awaiting the arrival of its sequel. For those who aren't familiar with the books, let me tell you that the Abarat series is a strange beast: kids' stuff by Clive...more

Margaret Taylor is currently reading:

The Russia House
by John le Carré

My rating:

Margaret Taylor added:

A Field Guide for Science Writers by Deborah Blum

A Field Guide for Science Writers: The Official Guide of the National Association of Science Writers
by Deborah Blum

read in April, 2012

My rating:

This is pretty exciting stuff, because it gets into the nuts and bolts of how one goes about writing about science. The book is divided into sections, one of which is about actually writing well, one about the peculiarities of certain fields such as...more

Margaret Taylor added:

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2011
by Mary Roach

read in April, 2012

My rating:

The book is pretty much what it sounds like: a collection of the best stuff published in popular science magazines in 2011. The articles range in subject from how you collect semen samples from chimpanzees* to shock reporting on the Gulf oil spill to...more

Margaret Taylor added:

Dragon Rider
by Cornelia Funke

My rating:

Margaret Taylor gave

to:

Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl, #1)
by Eoin Colfer

read in January, 2012

My rating:

I'll admit I'm a bit late to the party on this one. The first Artemis Fowl book was published in 2001, when I was a bit older than the series's target demographic, so it got past me until just now. But I'm still #12 on the library waitlist for Game o...more I'll admit I'm a bit late to the party on this one. The first Artemis Fowl book was published in 2001, when I was a bit older than the series's target demographic, so it got past me until just now. But I'm still #12 on the library waitlist for Game of Thrones, so I thought I'd give it a try. And after reading it, I want to know why these books were marketed only to kids. The subtext here is brilliant.

Artemis Fowl is a millionaire, a criminal mastermind, and twelve years old. His dad has conveniently gone missing after an explosion on a Russian cargo ship and his mother has shut herself up in her room out of grief, so he can run around and do his moneymaking schemes without too much trouble. His accomplices are Butler and his sister Juliet, the butler and maid of the Fowl estate. And... and... the awesomeness of these characters... you simply have to read about them for yourself:

"The Butlers had been serving the Fowls for centuries. It had always been that way. Indeed, there were several linguists of the opinion that this was how the common noun had originated. The first record of this unusual arrangement was when Virgil Butler had been contracted as servant, bodyguard, and cook to Lord Hugo de Folé for one of the first great Norman crusades.

At the age of ten, Butler children were sent to a private training center in Israel, where they were taught the specialized skills needed to guard the latest in the Fowl line. These skills included Cordon Bleu cooking, marksmanship, a customized blend of martial arts, emergency medicine, and information technology. If, at the end of their training, there was not a Fowl to guard, then the Butlers were eagerly snapped up as bodyguards for various royal personages, generally in Monaco or Saudi Arabia."

The whole book reads like this.

Artemis's latest scheme is to kidnap an officer of LEPrecon, the fairy police, and hold her ransom for quite a lot of money. Of course, the situation devolves into a standoff in which Colfer has the chance to trot out heist movie tropes and play with them. There's a fairy sergeant with a cigar in his mouth, a dwarven convict who's sent to work in a plea-bargaining deal, and the smartass techie who walks the fairies through Fowl Manor via his headset. He's a centaur. He loves carrots.

There are, unfortunately, parts of the book that induce giggles for the wrong reasons. Artemis has at his disposal the most cutting-edge of 2001 technology. Near the beginning of the book, he steals some data from a fairy in Saigon and then e-mails it to himself. One can only assume he was using a Hotmail account.

But seriously, just read it for the Butlers. Go read it.(less)

Margaret Taylor gave

to:

Stealing Death
by Janet Lee Carey (Goodreads Author)

read in January, 2012

My rating:

It's been said that you can learn how to become a better writer both by reading great books and awful ones. Turns out that you can learn from reading books that are just sort of okay, too.

Stealing Death by Janet Lee Carey was published in 2009 and is...more

Margaret Taylor became a fan of Daniel C. Dennett and Anne McCaffrey

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	The Confederacy of Heaven 3.70 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2010	My rating:
	Grizelda 3.20 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2009	My rating:

Margaret Taylor wrote a new blog post: Neil Gaiman’s Commencement Speech Neil Gaiman’s Commencement Speech An inspirational speech Neil Gaiman gave about starting a career in a creative field: read more »
May 31, 2012 11:33am · like
Margaret Taylor added: Absolute Midnight (Abarat, #3) by Clive Barker read in May, 2012	My rating:
Ever since the second book of the Abarat series was published in 2004, I'd been eagerly awaiting the arrival of its sequel. For those who aren't familiar with the books, let me tell you that the Abarat series is a strange beast: kids' stuff by Clive...more
May 02, 2012 05:00pm · see review
Margaret Taylor is currently reading: The Russia House by John le Carré	My rating:
May 01, 2012 06:15pm
Margaret Taylor added: A Field Guide for Science Writers: The Official Guide of the National Association of Science Writers by Deborah Blum read in April, 2012	My rating:
This is pretty exciting stuff, because it gets into the nuts and bolts of how one goes about writing about science. The book is divided into sections, one of which is about actually writing well, one about the peculiarities of certain fields such as...more
Apr 11, 2012 05:27pm · see review
Margaret Taylor added: The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2011 by Mary Roach read in April, 2012	My rating:
The book is pretty much what it sounds like: a collection of the best stuff published in popular science magazines in 2011. The articles range in subject from how you collect semen samples from chimpanzees* to shock reporting on the Gulf oil spill to...more
Apr 11, 2012 05:26pm · see review
Margaret Taylor added: Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke	My rating:
Mar 28, 2012 06:01pm
Margaret Taylor gave to: Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl, #1) by Eoin Colfer read in January, 2012	My rating:
I'll admit I'm a bit late to the party on this one. The first Artemis Fowl book was published in 2001, when I was a bit older than the series's target demographic, so it got past me until just now. But I'm still #12 on the library waitlist for Game o...more
Jan 22, 2012 10:21am · see review
Margaret Taylor gave to: Stealing Death by Janet Lee Carey (Goodreads Author) read in January, 2012	My rating:
It's been said that you can learn how to become a better writer both by reading great books and awful ones. Turns out that you can learn from reading books that are just sort of okay, too. Stealing Death by Janet Lee Carey was published in 2009 and is...more
Jan 08, 2012 08:16am · see review
Margaret Taylor became a fan of Daniel C. Dennett and Anne McCaffrey
Jan 04, 2012 07:23am · all of Margaret's favorite authors

Margaret Taylor

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