Katherine Nabity's Blog, page 190
April 26, 2015
Deal Me In, Week 17 ~ “The Problem of Leon”
Hosted by Jay @ Bibliophilopolis
“The Problem of Leon”��by John Shannon
Card picked: King of Diamonds
From: Murder on the Ropes, edited by Otto Penzler
Thoughts:
Leon wasn’t stupid, but he was ineffably unpleasant and tiresome and permanently aggrieved…
Jack Liffey met Leon Krane when they were both in college. Jack would like to believe that there isn’t true evil in the world, that maybe with a little understanding everyone can be a better person. He tries to befriend Leon, but Leon is pretty insufferable. Leon, once a math major, goes on to be a mildly successful boxer, a real tough guy who expects the same from his children. The problem? His youngest son is missing and he wants Jack, now a PI, to help find him. Except, Leon has only become a worse person in the intervening years, attested to by his wife’s black eye. When Jack finds Leon’s youngest, how *will* he manage to reconcile the two?
“The Problem of Leon” is light on plot, but heavy with characterization. Leon is a pretty well-drawn character, even if the reader still doesn’t quite understand what makes him tick.
About the Author: John Shannon is best known for his series of novels featuring the character of Jack Liffey. This is my first brush with both the character and the author. This story provides a bit of Liffey prequel, set mostly during his college days.
April 25, 2015
Dewey’s Readathon Spring 2015 ~ Update Post
Link: Dewey’s 24-hour Readathon
Link: My “Stack”
23:30
Notes: Couldn’t stay awake past 11:30. Slept until 7am. It felt *so* good.
22:50
I haven’t finished a lot of books this year, so I’m including short stories as well.
Best YA Book of Your Reading Year: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I don’t read many YA novels, but when I do, they’re set where I was a young adult.
Best Non-Fiction Book of Your Reading Year: Dead Wake by Erik Larson. My review of it didn’t do justice to how much I liked it.
Best Sci-Fi Book (story) of Your Reading Year: “Cat Pictures Please” by Naomi Kritzer. And you can read it too! http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kritzer_01_15/
22:00
Reading: “Hyman the Magnificent” by Steve Stern
Drinking/Eating: Considering coffee, but maybe a nice cup of tea.
Notes: Back from frisbee league finals. My team won two games and lost the third shortened game. I’m body tired, but there’s more readathon to do!
14:00
Reading: “Hyman the Magnificent” by Steve Stern
Drinking/Eating: Lots of water in preparation for running around a bunch.
Notes: My readathon time is coming to an end. I have about an hour before I need to change clothes and cleat up.
12:45
Reading: Not finished with “Don’t Look Now”, but I need to do a few things. Switching over to “3:10 to Yuma” by Elmore Leonard in audiobook form.
Drinking/Eating: I’ll be dishing up (and probably tasting) some pudding shots for league festivities.
Notes: Had good chat about “The Yellow Wallpaper”.
11:30
Reading: “Don���t Look Now” by Daphne du Maurier
Drinking/Eating: Time for a slice of leftover pizza.
10:15
Reading: “Don���t Look Now” by Daphne du Maurier
Drinking/Eating: Time for a second cup of coffee (cup defined as large mug) and a dime bag of Cadbury Mini-Egg. Seriously, they were on sale for 90% off. They cost a dime.
Notes: Took a longer nap than I intended, but that’s okay. I will commence with the above plan after a shower.
09:30
Help for the Haunted by Tim Prasil
Of journalist and occult investigator Vera Van Slyke:
Physically,�� Vera���s�� most striking characteristic is her
height. I would estimate it to be an inch or two below six feet. Her hair is
stubbornly wavy���frizzy, one could say���and mostly auburn. Its streaks of
gray might or might not have been premature, given that her age could have been anywhere between the low-thirties and the mid-fifties.
I would pick Vera Farmiga, and not just because of the name. I’ve really enjoyed Farmiga in Bates Motel, but I only recently realized how many other movies I’ve seen her in. While she’d maybe a little short, she projects; she can pull off auburn hair; she wears her age well (I mean that as a compliment).
Bonus: I’d cast Ellen Page as faux spiritualist turned occult detective assistant Lucille Parsell.
07:00
Reading: “A Burden that Burns” from Help for the Haunted by Tim Prasil
Notes: I’m headed to the couch which probably means reading *and* napping.
06:30
I’m not much of a quote person, but occasionally one will get to me. This is a snip from Seamus Heaney’s Station Island. To me, it’s about finding joy–buoyancy– in work, no matter what that work is.
05:30
Reading: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Drinking/Eating: Candy Cane coffee, Eggo Thick & Fluffy waffle with PB&J
Notes: The sky is just now starting to brighten.
04:45
What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Tempe, AZ. Usually sunny, but not at 4:45am.
Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? I’m reading shorter works during my abbreviated readathon, so the short story I’m looking forward to “Don���t Look Now” by Daphne du Maurier.
Which snack are you most looking forward to? I’m only reading for 10-ish hours, so I’m probably going to go light on the snacks. But I did pick up some close-out Cadbury mini-eggs yesterday.
Tell us a little something about yourself! I get to do two of my favorite things today: read and play ultimate frisbee. Unfortunately (fortunately?), my league team is in the beer pool–no shot at the championship. That’s okay because the other part of league finals is the grilling and the kegs. ;)
If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what���s one thing you���ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? My plan today is just to read and have fun and not worry too much about how *much* reading I do. Hopefully, I’ll visit some blogs and do a little blogging myself.
Reading! Ultimate! It’s going to be a good day. This is a pic from last spring. The theme of our league that season was books/literature. My team’s name was The Da Vinci Throw.
04:00
Reading: “The Problem of Leon” by John Shannon, from Murder on the Ropes
Drinking/Eating: Not ready to commit to coffee yet.
Notes: My body does not understand the concept of sleeping through the night, so I’m starting the Readathon early with the expectation of a nap around 6am.
Pinned: Dewey’s Readathon Spring 2015 ~ Update Post
Link: Dewey’s 24-hour Readathon
Link: My “Stack”
22:50
I haven’t finished a lot of books this year, so I’m including short stories as well.
Best YA Book of Your Reading Year: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I don’t read many YA novels, but when I do, they’re set where I was a young adult.
Best Non-Fiction Book of Your Reading Year: Dead Wake by Erik Larson. My review of it didn’t do justice to how much I liked it.
Best Sci-Fi Book (story) of Your Reading Year: “Cat Pictures Please” by Naomi Kritzer. And you can read it too! http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kritzer_01_15/
22:00
Reading: “Hyman the Magnificent” by Steve Stern
Drinking/Eating: Considering coffee, but maybe a nice cup of tea.
Notes: Back from frisbee league finals. My team won two games and lost the third shortened game. I’m body tired, but there’s more readathon to do!
14:00
Reading: “Hyman the Magnificent” by Steve Stern
Drinking/Eating: Lots of water in preparation for running around a bunch.
Notes: My readathon time is coming to an end. I have about an hour before I need to change clothes and cleat up.
12:45
Reading: Not finished with “Don’t Look Now”, but I need to do a few things. Switching over to “3:10 to Yuma” by Elmore Leonard in audiobook form.
Drinking/Eating: I’ll be dishing up (and probably tasting) some pudding shots for league festivities.
Notes: Had good chat about “The Yellow Wallpaper”.
11:30
Reading: “Don���t Look Now” by Daphne du Maurier
Drinking/Eating: Time for a slice of leftover pizza.
10:15
Reading: “Don���t Look Now” by Daphne du Maurier
Drinking/Eating: Time for a second cup of coffee (cup defined as large mug) and a dime bag of Cadbury Mini-Egg. Seriously, they were on sale for 90% off. They cost a dime.
Notes: Took a longer nap than I intended, but that’s okay. I will commence with the above plan after a shower.
09:30
Help for the Haunted by Tim Prasil
Of journalist and occult investigator Vera Van Slyke:
Physically,�� Vera���s�� most striking characteristic is her
height. I would estimate it to be an inch or two below six feet. Her hair is
stubbornly wavy���frizzy, one could say���and mostly auburn. Its streaks of
gray might or might not have been premature, given that her age could have been anywhere between the low-thirties and the mid-fifties.
I would pick Vera Farmiga, and not just because of the name. I’ve really enjoyed Farmiga in Bates Motel, but I only recently realized how many other movies I’ve seen her in. While she’d maybe a little short, she projects; she can pull off auburn hair; she wears her age well (I mean that as a compliment).
Bonus: I’d cast Ellen Page as faux spiritualist turned occult detective assistant Lucille Parsell.
07:00
Reading: “A Burden that Burns” from Help for the Haunted by Tim Prasil
Notes: I’m headed to the couch which probably means reading *and* napping.
06:30
I’m not much of a quote person, but occasionally one will get to me. This is a snip from Seamus Heaney’s Station Island. To me, it’s about finding joy–buoyancy– in work, no matter what that work is.
05:30
Reading: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Drinking/Eating: Candy Cane coffee, Eggo Thick & Fluffy waffle with PB&J
Notes: The sky is just now starting to brighten.
04:45
What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Tempe, AZ. Usually sunny, but not at 4:45am.
Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? I’m reading shorter works during my abbreviated readathon, so the short story I’m looking forward to “Don���t Look Now” by Daphne du Maurier.
Which snack are you most looking forward to? I’m only reading for 10-ish hours, so I’m probably going to go light on the snacks. But I did pick up some close-out Cadbury mini-eggs yesterday.
Tell us a little something about yourself! I get to do two of my favorite things today: read and play ultimate frisbee. Unfortunately (fortunately?), my league team is in the beer pool–no shot at the championship. That’s okay because the other part of league finals is the grilling and the kegs. ;)
If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what���s one thing you���ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? My plan today is just to read and have fun and not worry too much about how *much* reading I do. Hopefully, I’ll visit some blogs and do a little blogging myself.
Reading! Ultimate! It’s going to be a good day. This is a pic from last spring. The theme of our league that season was books/literature. My team’s name was The Da Vinci Throw.
04:00
Reading: “The Problem of Leon” by John Shannon, from Murder on the Ropes
Drinking/Eating: Not ready to commit to coffee yet.
Notes: My body does not understand the concept of sleeping through the night, so I’m starting the Readathon early with the expectation of a nap around 6am.
April 22, 2015
ROW 80 ~ Wednesday Update, 4/22
Writing
1000 words/day average on In Need of Luck in April or until done. – Sun: 1003, Mon: 1353, Tues: 552. Need to spend time today on (re)organization of scenes. Have I mentioned that I hate writing endings?
Daily free write. – Mission accomplished for Sun-Wed.
For May/June ��� Scene rewrites for PHYSICa.
For May/June ��� Transcribe free write bits that might be useful to Abbott project.
Reading, related to writing
Finish reading River City Empire (related to next possible writing project) by the end of April. – Picked it back up on Monday at page 115. Read 35 pages.
For May/June – Maps and Legends: Reading and Writing Along the Borderlands
by Michael Chabon.
For May/June ��� The Call of Stories by Robert Coles.
Publishing
New descriptions/categories/tags for Weordan books. (April 15th)
Brainstorm alternate tags for books already published. – Related to this category: Eric created new cover for his Martian Engineer series. Uploaded those all over the place. Also dealing with Smashwords’ premium catalog inclusion/dual authorship problems regarding the Weordan books, post- meta data update.
List of reviewer contacts. – No movement.
ROW 80 is a blog hop!
Please, check out how other Round of Words participants are doing with their goals.
April 21, 2015
Dewey���s Readathon, Spring 2015
Once again, playoffs and finals for my ultimate frisbee league are the same weekend as Dewey’s Readathon. Two of my favorite activities, both on the same day! This season, at least, games don’t start until 4pm. Readathon start time for me is 5am, so I figure I can get 10-ish hours of reading in before the tournament.
For my reading “stack,” I think I’m going read a bit of Tim Prasil’s Help for the Haunted (maybe even finish it!) and catch up on some short works:
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman – Readathon Read-a-long Reread!
“The Problem of Leon” by John Shannon – For Deal Me In
Finish the novella “Hyman the Magnificent” by Steve Stern
“Don’t Look Now” by Daphne du Maurier
The Sphinx, April 1905 issue
Chicago Poems by Carl Sandburg – National Poetry Month
Pinned: Dewey���s Readathon, Spring 2015
Once again, playoffs and finals for my ultimate frisbee league are the same weekend as Dewey’s Readathon. Two of my favorite activities, both on the same day! This season, at least, games don’t start until 4pm. Readathon start time for me is 5am, so I figure I can get 10-ish hours of reading in before the tournament.
For my reading “stack,” I think I’m going read a bit of Tim Prasil’s Help for the Haunted (maybe even finish it!) and catch up on some short works:
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman – Readathon Read-a-long Reread!
“The Problem of Leon” by John Shannon – For Deal Me In
Finish the novella “Hyman the Magnificent” by Steve Stern
“Don’t Look Now” by Daphne du Maurier
The Sphinx, April 1905 issue
Chicago Poems by Carl Sandburg – National Poetry Month
April 19, 2015
ROW 80 ~ Sunday Update, 4/19
Writing
1000 words/day average on In Need of Luck in April or until done. – Averaging 663 as of yesterday, excluding the junk document. I’m bobbing along at a…pace. Contemplating the end of the book. I hate endings of books. While I haven’t hit my goal, I am doing better than I have been in the last few months.
Daily free write. – Since Wednesday? Yes!
For May/June ��� Scene rewrites for PHYSICa.
For May/June ��� Transcribe free write bits that might be useful to Abbott project.
Reading, related to writing
Finish reading River City Empire (related to next possible writing project) by the end of April. – No movement. Checked out a non-fic from the online library, but it didn’t work out. Now, I’m *wanting* to read River City Empire.
For May/June – Maps and Legends: Reading and Writing Along the Borderlands
by Michael Chabon. – Remembered I owned this after watching Wonder Boys and decided to add it to my list.
For May/June ��� The Call of Stories by Robert Coles.
Publishing
New descriptions/categories/tags for Weordan books. – Done!
Brainstorm alternate tags for books already published. – No movement, but Eric tweaked Luck for Hire‘s cover and I’ll be updating that today.
List of reviewer contacts. – No movement.
ROW 80 is a blog hop!
Please, check out how other Round of Words participants are doing with their goals.
April 18, 2015
Deal Me In, Week 16 ~ “Long Odds”
Hosted by Jay @ Bibliophilopolis
“Long Odds” by Stuart M. Kaminsky
Card picked: Ten of Diamonds
From: Murder on the Ropes, edited by Otto Penzler
Thoughts: When boxer Archie Moore receives a threat–go down in the third or else–he hires private detective Toby Peters to find the extortionist.
I think this is one of the first straight-up mysteries in this anthology. It’s pretty simply told in a mildly hard-boiled style. Toby Peters is a series character for Stuart Kaminsky, and you get the feeling that Peters and his dentist office roommate/side kick are a comfy pair of slippers for the author. I didn’t recognize the name while reading, but I have a Kaminsky/Toby Peters title on my magic-related fiction wishlist. My only beef with “Long Odds,” and maybe this is a problem of short fiction mysteries, is that the end was fairly abrupt in a “and no questions were asked” kind of way.
Archie Moore was a real person. He had one of the longest professional careers in boxing (1935-1963) and holds the record for number of career KO wins (131!). He is the only fighter to have had bouts against both Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali. This story happens early his career, but using Moore as a character gives the tale more weight. Moore isn’t the type of guy to take a dive and he has a few things in his past that make him leery of police. Kaminsky made a good choice.
April 15, 2015
ROW 80 ~ Wednesday Update, 4/15
During my hiatus from writer discussions, I threw myself into book blogging. I do love reading and occasionally I like writing about reading. Hence, you know, the current blog title. One of my favorite book blogging activities is the readathon. They range in size from Dewey’s 24-hour Readathon (which is next Saturday!) to week long events like Bout of Books. Usually, readers set a goal, make a list of books they want to read, and go at it. A thing that I find perplexing about readathons is when readers start complain that they are “failing” the readathon just because they haven’t quite kept the pace they wanted. It’s supposed to be a fun event and, as long as you’re reading some pages, how is it failing? A few Bouts of Books ago, Amanda and Kelly came up with a warcry to counter this negativity: Flailing, not failing.
The only way I’m going to fail as a writer is by not writing. Sure, I want to have a good output, but not exactly hitting my goals all the time? That’s flailing, not failing. I flailed this past weekend. I played too much Minecraft. Eric and I (and our friend Chris) haven’t done anything fun together in a while. Monday was pretty meh as well. All together, I’ve written 2055 since last update.
I did, on Sunday, finish up my online Python course which I expected to last until the 28th. It’s nice to have one thing out of the way. I’m also going to cut back on blogging a little. My planned schedule is now Sun/Wed ROW 80 updates, review on Tuesday, Deal Me In on Saturday. Or something like that.
Goals
Writing
1000 words/day average on In Need of Luck in April or until done. ��� Averaging 871, not including what I’ve done today.
Daily free write. ��� Wrote Tuesday and this morning. Added it to my Todoist, because it isn’t habit yet.
For May/June ��� Scene rewrites for PHYSICa.
For May/June ��� Transcribe free write bits that might be useful to Abbott project.
Reading, related to writing
Finish reading River City Empire (related to next possible writing project) by the end of April. ��� No movement, because I went to the library. I’m flaky when it comes to books.
For May/June ��� The Call of Stories by Robert Coles
Publishing
New descriptions/categories/tags for Weordan books. (April 15th) ��� No movement. Eric and I need to pow-wow about this today.
Brainstorm alternate tags for books already published. ��� I’ve made a spreadsheet of current categories and tags.
List of reviewer contacts. ��� No movement.
ROW 80 is a blog hop!
Please, check out how other Round of Words participants are doing with their goals.
April 14, 2015
Review ~ Who is Magic Babe Ning?
Asia���s top female celebrity magician ‘Magic Babe’ Ning talks about her 10 years in the tough world of magic showbiz; an age-old industry traditionally dominated by men.
Experience the real life adventures of this multi award-winning, world magic record-breaking, jet-setting illusionist as she unmasks the Magic Babe. Ning reveals how the shy teenage girl transformed herself into magic���s wild child and became a 2-time FHM cover girl, embraced by international media and respected by professional peers worldwide.
Ning shares for the first time her journey of quirks and struggles, betrayals and disappointments, fears and personal demons. She speaks candidly of her cancer scare at 21, which physically scarred her face but also changed the entire course of her life. (via Goodreads)
The best memoirs are by people who have lived out-of-the-ordinary lives. Ning Cai would qualify. In her 20s, she became the most famous female magician in Singapore. She set records, started businesses, and even co-wrote a travel book. She and partner J C Sum specialized in mega-illusions and endurance tests. And at the undisclosed age of probably early 30s-ish, she retired from the world of magic.
Who is Magic Babe Ning? is very much Ning’s own exploration of who she is. In Robert-Houdin style, “Magic Babe” is a construct she created to play the part of Magic Babe Ning. “Magic Babe” is a sexy, risk-taker while Ning is the quiet and nerd with a distinctly spiritual side. I would say that her want to emphasize how normal she is probably keeps this book from being a truly great memoir, though my expectations for the book might have been a little off. This isn’t a grand tale of magic or even the modern magic industry. Some of that’s there, but it take a backseat to the explorations of a young woman who has been given some extraordinary opportunities.
And that’s the best thing about Who Is Magic Babe Ning?. It takes a certain amount of courage to re-evaluate what’s happening in life and take a different course if needed. That’s a great lesson for anyone.
Publishing info, my copy: Marshall Cavendish, 2015, trade paperback
Acquired: Amazon
Genre: Memoir
