K.A. Ashcomb's Blog, page 68
March 5, 2019
Book Review: Walking by Henry David Thoreau
I have wanted to read this book ever since I read Walden and started taking long walks. So you could say I had great expectations when going in, and you also know where this is going: the book didn’t measure up. I’m not sure if I wanted to achieve some kind of deep revelation or experience nature through Henry David Thoreau’s eyes, but I didn’t get either. Not in the amount I wanted, and there is the problem. I wanted something from the book, not going in with open eyes and let the words wash...
Book Review: CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders
If there is a place where the despicable human nature goes, it goes between the covers of CivilWarLand in Bad Decline. This collection of short stories shows how twisted we and life (mostly life) can be and how easily we shrug off the bad, the ugly, and the criminally insane. I think the collection is a warning if things keep going on as they are now we will end up in the bizarre world of George Saunders. Our obsession with money, fame, and our self combined with the times which doesn’t give...
February 28, 2019
Writing: With Heart or Mind
Hello everyone! I have been thinking about something Malcolm Gladwell said on his Revisionist Podcast in the episode The King of Tears more so after reading Terry Pratchett’s Reaper Man. He said when someone puts their heart into their songs you can hear it. And I’m sure that applies to books as well. You can read the passion and love behind the text. Such a text differs from something written with a pattern or proofed concept in mind which is done by filling a checklist. I think many of us h...
February 26, 2019
Book Review: Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
Something has to give for something new to happen. And as Sir Terry Pratchett wrote death is certain for all of us. Reaper Man is a beautiful story about the importance of dying, but the warmth of the book doesn’t lie there. It is what Death becomes: humane. It tells a lot about a person to be able to write about such a subject with love even when death and dying are often seen as evil. And while there were places in the story I wished clarity and structure (a few places were a bit messy with...
Book Review: Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker
Sleep, one universal thing we share with other humans and animals. It is as important as eating and drinking (water! no being cheeky.) Matthew Walker goes over scientific studies and findings of sleep and gives his honest opinion on how our modern lifestyle is destroying this act that is not only fundamental for our mental health but also our physical health.
I would recommend this book. It is no wonder it has become an international bestseller. However, the book was repetitive at times. Also...
February 21, 2019
Writing: Writing and Happiness
Hello everyone! This will be a pointless post with me rambling on about happiness as I have been thinking a lot about what happiness is and what makes us happy. I have this existing debate with two of my friends about the matter. Do we have a saying how happy we feel or is it something dictated by our bodies?
My friends think happiness is out of what happens to us that we have this inherited hormonal level of happiness where we go back to despite if we win in a lottery or lose a foot. There h...
February 19, 2019
Book Review: Death and What Comes Next by Terry Pratchett
This is a short story by Terry Pratchett involving Death and a philosopher. You know the kind that tries to argue you into their way by referring to metaphysics, mixing in the quantum state of being. The one you want to drown if he wasn’t dead already or if you as the philosopher he is not dead and should continue existing. Death and What Comes Next is kudos for those bargain stories where humans deal with Death or the Devil to get what they want and in this case to keep on living.
You can fi...
Book Review: Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw
While I looked for necromantic literature, this book kept popping up, and I checked it out. There was a lot to like about the book: the unusual setting of a monster doctor, seeing something we ultimate think evil in a good, normal light, and who doesn’t like a bit murder and mayhem, but…
Unfortunately, there is a but. The book’s story and characters felt thin, and some of it read like wish fulfillment like with the 400-year-old vampire Edmund Ruthven felt unreal and smooth like melted ice cre...
Book Review: Letters from a Stoic: All Three Volumes by Seneca
Do we change? Or do we ask the same questions century after century despite the advantage of technology and other modern niceties? After reading Letters from a Stoic by Seneca, I have started to think the core questions are constant. We wonder the purpose of our life, where lies the idea of virtue, and what makes us happy. And it seems like the plague of greed, vanity, corruption, and the rest of the lot aren’t a new invention of our state men or the rich who has a chance for gluttony and way...
February 14, 2019
Writing: Setting Sketch: Old Rainy Meadow
Hi everyone! I am having a good week despite a twisted ankle (a climbing accident. I should have let go before gravity forced me down on a bad angle.) The writing is going better, and I have all my characters in a row doing what they are meant to do. That is rare as they often misbehave and disagree with me.
Also, I finally redid my Amazon ads which are working better but not delivering yet. I think I have to redo the description to draw people in better or they are drawing in the wrong kind...
