Katherine Nabity's Blog, page 237

Two More Challenges for 2013

I’m trying not to go too challenge crazy in 2013, but I’m already a couple books into the 2016 Olympics Challenge and Translation Challenge meshes pretty well with that.

2013 Translation Challenge

Hosted by Ellie of Curiosity Killed the Bookworm

Translated fiction is becoming much more popular these days but there are still lots of readers who ignore it. Reading international fiction is a great way to see different sides of other countries’ culture and every-day life as well as opening up a whole new world of fantastic books to read. So for 2013, I’d like to challenge you to read one translated book per month.

Possible books (a list of suggestions):

Leonardo’s Hands by Alois Hotschnig
City of God: A Novel by Paulo Lins
Embers by Sandor Marai
Something from my library by Umberto Eco
Something from my library by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson (working through the Poetic Edda currently)
Snow by Orhan Pamuk
The Snowman by Jo Nesbo
After Dark After Dark by Haruki Murakami
Wouldn’t rule out rereading Beowulf or some Pushkin

Also, I’m not sure if I can read a translated book per month, but I’m shooting to average that by the end of 2013.

The 2016 Summer Olympics Reading Challenge

Hosted by Tanya of Girlxoxo.com

GOAL To read books set in each of the countries that won a GOLD MEDAL in the 2012 Olympics, or written by authors from these countries – all prior to the start of the next Olympics scheduled for August 4, 2016.

Throwback Thursday (12/06/12)

Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books!

Noting that book blogging often focuses on new releases, here’s how Throwback Thursday works:

Updated! Pick any media (or non-media item) released more than 5 years ago. Remember to keep it book-related!
Write up a short summary of the book (include the title, author, and cover art) and an explanation of why you love it.
Link up your post at The Housework Can Wait or Never Too Fond of Books.
Visit as many blogs as you can, reminisce about books you loved, and discover some “new” books for your TBR list!

The Last Unicorn
Novel by Peter S. Beagle, Movie by Rankin/Bass

I was seven years old when The Last Unicorn premiered in 1982. While my mother was a voracious  reader of science fiction, she didn’t care much for fantasy and I was unfamiliar with this “classic tale.” I liked unicorns. I had gleaned the school library and the public library reference books for the stories about them and come up with very little. This was a disappointment in comparison to the mythology of Pegasus. There was certainly nothing in the medieval tales about a fiery red bull.*

Regardless, I was pretty excited to go see this movie. My grandpa took be to see it. Going to animated films at the Park 4 (mostly the Disney re-releases) was a thing we did together. The movie was fantastic, and for a couple of months, the Red Bull featured prominently in my bad dreams.** It was an immediate purchase when it came out on video disc and I’m sure my parents got pretty tired of my commandeering the TV to watch it.

It didn’t really realize that the movie was based on a book until I was in high school. I couldn’t find anything by this Beagle guy in the library or bookstores. This was the 80s and early 90s. I didn’t even have a brick & mortar superstore like Barnes & Noble to visit. I didn’t find a copy of the book until my first visit to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Memorial Union bookstore during the summer before my freshman year in college, over a decade after seeing the movie. On the way to the cash register, carrying a huge and heavy stack of textbooks, I stopped at the science fiction/fantasy rack in the non-textbook area. There is was. I started reading it on the car ride back to Omaha.

As a kid I loved the unicorn. She’s beautiful and brave and goes on an adventure. As an adult, I love the human characters. Each deals with the concept of destiny in a slightly different way. Both are good. And, because this is the 21st century, both are happily available.

*It seems strange to me now that I didn’t look at the *fiction* sections of the library. Or at least the fiction sections of the public library. My school library was teeny-tiny. But I was very caught up in knowing the origin of things, rather than exploring the extensions of them.
**Looking back at my childhood, the things that freaked me out the most were cartoons. The Red Bull. The animated Headless Horseman. Scooby Doo’s giggling green ghosts. The Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-Come (about the 17:00 mark). I was an odd child.

Christmas Spirit Update #2

On Monday or Tuesday of last week, I ended up Googling some combination of Sherlock Holmes, steampunk, and Christmas.  What I ended up with was Steampunk Scholar’s 2011 entry about the combination of these things, or lack thereof. Which reminded me of what I had forgotten: there already is a Sherlock Holmes Christmas story, “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.” I did chase down the pieces mentioned in the article. The radio show “The Night Before Christmas” is pretty awful. Don’t believe me? It’s fairly readily available online. The two television versions of The Blue Carbuncle can also be found through a YouTube search.

“Movies” Watched

It’s interesting comparing the Peter Cushing/Jeremy Brett versions of this story with the text. The Cushing version especially adds a few things to pad out the story (a scene between Holmes and the Countess, and a more dramatic reaction by Ryder to his incarceration) as well as adding a few details that Holmes gets wrong.

Turning again to non-Doyle stories, George and Gertrude Fass wrote “The Case of the Christmas Pudding” for the mid-50s Holmes series staring Ronald Howard. It is far superior to “The Night Before Christmas” radio episode, and involves a crime committed with a Christmas decoration.

Of course, the most Christmasy portion of these stories involves food: Christmas goose and Christmas or plum pudding. I’ve never had either of these things. Growing up, our Christmas tradition food was meat salad sandwiches (egg salad with the addition of bologna). The animated series Sherlock Homes in the 22nd Century updates the tale to avoid food altogether. Here, a carbuncle is the much sought-after Christmas toy. It’s a surprisingly enjoyable adaptation.

Short Stories Read

Obviously, “The Blue Carbuncle” by Arthur Conan Doyle

Besides, it is the season of forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward.

It’s one of Doyle’s earlier Holmes stories and is pretty solid.

I also read “Brass Canaries” by Gwendolyn Clare

It is shopping season. We know because they cover their hands in cloth, and the sky falls white and fluffy around their feet.

As a complete coincidence this may be a story that fits the category of steampunk Christmas. It’s an unsettling tale and weirdly the flip side of Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century‘s blue carbuncle episode.

I’ll leave off with a bit from one of my current favorite Holmes incarnations:

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? (12/03/12)

Pretty much still working on what I was reading last week, but…

This Week I’m Reading:
Sherlock Holmes for Dummies by by Steven Doyle, David A. Crowder

Picked up Sherlock Holmes for Dummies from the digital library. Figured it would be a hoot.

The main advantage my Kindle Touch has over my Sony eReader is that it’s much easier to use when dealing with DRM books, like those from the Greater Phoenix Digital Library. Using Adobe Digital Editions and ePub is laborious. I had to give up using my eReader to read library files when my computer’s C: drive tanked. C: drive was were Adobe Digital Editions had installed itself originally. Since my computer was already “authorized,” it wouldn’t let me reinstall on a different drive. There are probably ways around this, but honestly, I’m tired of the run-around. Don’t get me started on their software to help manage my files… Calibre is a much better tool but isn’t going to help me get DRMed library files on to my eReader.

With the Kindle, I am at Amazon’s mercy, but like a competent devil, at least they offer tempting product. I can check out a Kindle file from the library, turn on my Touch’s wireless capability and, ta-da, there’s my book. No crappy management software. All I need is my browser and my Kindle.

What Am I Writing This Week:

This is the more important question.

NaNoWriMo was sort of a vacation for me. This month (more like now to the 20th) I’ll be putting the final edits on Luck for Hire and getting a query letter/synopsis ready. Today/tomorrow, I’m going to be reading and going over notes.

It’s going to be a long December.

2012 Challenge Wrap-Up

Now is probably as good a time as any to take a look at how I did on my 2012 reading challenges. I’m probably not going to make too much more headway with them considering the Christmas reading, magician books, and ARCs I have on my immediate TBR pile. ;)

I did okay with this one. I intended to read more poetry this year and did so, but I only managed one poetry collection (of 2) and 39+ other poems, mostly from here and there around the web. I also commented on a few Virtual Poetry Circles, which were a great way to expose myself to at least a poem a week.

My one poetry collection, and book #35 for the year, is Minorities, a collection edited by J.M. Wilson from T. E. Lawrence’s notebook of transcribed poems. It’s an interesting selection of poems about war, love, death, and nature. Most of the time all at once. I first read this collection in college and was pleased to be able to purchase it online.

I am pretty terrible at putting into words my thoughts about poetry. Like allegory and satire, I always feel like I’m missing something or that I don’t have the necessary vocabulary to talk intelligently about poems. I know what I like, I enjoy what I like, and that’s enough for me.

I’ll be continuing my poem-a-week habit in 2013.

I did not end up rereading much this year. In addition to the four books finished below, I also reread 9 short stories (mostly Arthur Conan Doyle and Ray Bradbury) and am a couple hundred pages into A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin.

This one’s a “win,” but not by much. “Reliving the Past: 4-8 re-reads”.

A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury
The Mist by Stephen King
Minorities by edited by J. M. Wilson & T. E. Lawrence (see above)





My own challenges:

I did pretty terribly at reading what I bought and/or won… There’s always Mount TBR!
I did average a short story a week and a poem a week. In addition to short stories I read in collections and anthologies (I read 8 pf those this year), I read 69 short stories. I’m going to stick with reading a short story per week in 2013 as well.
Read my first Western this year. Became an Elmore Leonard fan.
Also been reading a section of Poetic Edda each week since July or so.

Heaven, Hell & 2 Ducks – FAIL!

I know four jokes well enough that I can tell them without much thought. One involves Heaven, one involves Hell, and the other two include ducks. Yep. That’s it. I created a graphic for a challenge that involves four books.

Heaven: Heaven (The Afterlife Series, Book I) by Mur Lafferty
Hell:To Reign in Hell by Steven Burst (Though this one might actually be my heaven book. It remains to be seen.)
Duck:Moby Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea… by Donovan Hohn
Duck: (TBD – This is where the challenge comes in.)





SpecFic Challenge – Success!

“Content” level of participation: 12 books

The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
People of the Book: A Decade of Jewish Science Fiction & Fantasy by edited by Rachel Swirsky & Sean Wallace
Heaven (The Afterlife Series, Book I) by Mur Lafferty
Nebula Nominees
The Two Sams by Glen Hirshberg
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
Asgard Stories: Tales from Norse Mythology by Mary H. Foster & Mabel H. Cummings
Modern Fairies, Dwarves, Goblins, and Other Nasties: A Practical Guide by Miss Edythe McFate by Lesley M. M. Blume, David Foote (Illustrator)
A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Roth, Veronica – Divergent
Carriger, Gail – Soulless
King, Stephen – The Mist
Lindqvist, John Ajvide – Let the Right One In
Link, Kelly & Gavin J. Grant (editors) – Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories
McMaster, Bec – Kiss of Steel
Rogers, Ian – Every House is Haunted
Suzuki, Koji – Dark Water
Ketter, Greg ed. - Shelf Life: Fantastic Stories Celebrating Bookstores











Mixing It Up Challenge – Success!

“Mixing Bowl” level of participation: read from 9-12 of the following 16 categories:

Classics – Asgard Stories: Tales from Norse Mythology by Mary H. Foster & Mabel H. Cummings

Biography – Chocolate & Vicodin by Jennette Fulda, Bad Luck Officer by Suzie Ivy

Cookery, Food and Wine

History

Modern Fiction – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Graphic Novels and Manga – Ultimate Comics sampler, Gibbons, Dave – Doctor Who: Dave Gibbons Collection

Crime and Mystery

Horror – The Two Sams: Ghost Stories by Glen Hirshberg

Romance – Kiss of Steal by Bec McMaster

Science Fiction and Fantasy – Heaven (The Afterlife Series, Book I) by Mur Lafferty

Travel

Poetry and Drama – Minorities by T. E. Lawrence

Journalism and Humour – From Alien to the Matrix: Reading Science Fiction Film by Roz Kaveney

Science and Natural History

Children’s and Young Adult – The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

Social Sciences and Philosophy

NaNo Wrap-Up

I am not going to “win” NaNo.



And I’m okay with that.

Last weekend I had a melt down. It happens occasionally.  My neuroses get the better of me and I realized that something had to give. On Saturday night, I was willing to throw in the towel. My plan was to take the weekend off and return to working onLuck for Hire on Monday. Eric talked my out of my version of the plan and convinced me to keep working One Ahead for the next week. I wouldn’t win NaNo, but I’d come close. I decided that 45,000 words was a reasonable ending point. Haven’t hit it yet, but I will tonight.

The problem with NaNoWriMo is that it’s an abnormal situation, at least for me. On one hand, it’s nice to challenge yourself to reach farther than usual. On the other, sometimes a normal schedule is the better thing. I needed a normal schedule. October was not the rock it usually is. November has been busy on the VOTS side of things, more so than usual. December is going to different than usual too with our trip to Nebraska. And I needed a day off with nothing planned and nothing shirked.

For me, my NaNoWriMo’s mission has been accomplished. I have a nearly completed rough first draft of a novel that I didn’t have a month ago. Today, I’m feeling good about writing. That might not last long, but I’ll take it for today.

I’ll end this November with a link to Title to Come, a tumblr in the style of What Should We Call Me, but for writers. Truth is better when it’s funny.

Throwback Thursday (11/29/12)

Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books!

Noting that book blogging onften focuses on new releases, here’s how Throwback Thursday works:

Pick a book released more than 5 years ago.
Write up a short summary of the book (include the title, author, and cover art) and an explanation of why you love it.
Link up your post at The Housework Can Wait or Never Too Fond of Books.
Visit as many blogs as you can, reminisce about books you loved, and discover some “new” books for your TBR list!

A Writer’s Tale by Richard Laymon

For NaNoWriMo participants, the end is nigh. By Saturday, 50,000 words will have been written…or not.

I’m probably going to be in the “not” category, but with a messy ~45,000 word first draft of a future novel. For many writers, the question is “what’s next?” Well, next should probably be shoving that book in a drawer for a few weeks to let it ferment like good kimchi. Go drink a cup of holiday cheer and sing a few carols. Then take it out in January and edit, revise, and expand. Then think about how you want to go about publishing it. And maybe in the meantime, read Richard Laymon’s A Writer’s Tale.

Not as famous as fellow horror writer Stephen King (who also has a solid book on the subject, On Writing), Richard Laymon was more of a blue collar writer. He was  midlister who had initial success in the UK before becoming a backbone writer for Dorchester Publishing’s Leisure imprint. A Writer’s Tale is very honest about the midlist publishing industry in the 1980s and 90s, and about the amount of work it takes to be a consistently published writer. In the last ten years,  publishing has changed a great deal, but I think many of the writing lessons from Laymon still apply. My favorite is right at the beginning, in the dedication: “Persist and Prevail!” A lesson I need to be reminded of more often.

Even if you’re not a writer, why read this book today? Laymon was known for his personable nature and willingness to help new writers. That comes out in his writing about his experiences. It’s an entertaining read if you’re looking for a taste of publishing history from the nitty-gritty side. It’s also an interesting look at story development and contains a slice of horror history as well.

Mount TBR Challenge 2013

2013 Mount TBR Reading Challenge

Hosted by My Reading Block

Books must be owned by you prior to January 1, 2013. No ARCs (none), no library books. No rereads. [To clarify--based on a question raised last year--the intention is to reduce the stack of books that you have bought for yourself or received as presents {birthday, Christmas, "just because," etc.}. Audiobooks and E-books may count if they are yours and they are one of your primary sources of backlogged books.]
You may count any “currently reading” book that you begin prior to January 1–provided that you had 50% or more of the book left to finish in 2013. I will trust you all on that.
Books may be used to count for other challenges as well.
More guidelines HERE

I’m signing up for Pike’s Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s. I’ll start with these (maybe) and link up reviews when I have them:

Hiding the Elephant by Jim Steinmeyer
The Flight of the Eisenstein by James Swallow
The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr
Grendel by John Gardner

Christmas Spirit Update #1

I’ll be updating Christmas Spirit Challenge progress on Tuesdays through December.

Movies Watched

Elf (2003)

I passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel.

Despite many recommendations from family and friends, I had never watched Elf before. See, I’m really a Will Ferrell fan unless he’s not being very Will Ferrell-like (example, Stranger than Fiction). Elf always seemed like it would too over-the-top for me. And it is over-the-top, but it’s also a really sweet film with a good heart. Buddy the Elf is charming in his naivete, very much like the Folly character that I’ve played around with in my writing. The story is a little amorphous. I expected the redemption of James Caan’s character to be more of an event; instead it just sort of happens, which is okay. It keep Elf from being overly sappy and cliched. Of course, the end is all about believing in the spirit of Christmas and, I’ll admit it, made me a little teary-eyed.

While You Were Sleeping (1995)

I’ve had a really lousy Christmas. You’ve just managed to kill my New Year’s. If you come back on Easter, you can burn down my apartment.

While You Were Sleeping probably isn’t generally considered a Christmas movie, but it does take place over the holidays and, despite its theatrical release in April, it’s a film I always equate with the December. (Actually, that movie poster is deceptively spring-like as well…) I am very biased toward this movie. It is my favorite romantic comedy, a genre that don’t watch too often. It has all the meet-cutes, the misunderstandings, and the zany cast of background characters that one expects from a good chick-flick. It also had an aspect of random comedy that is really fun to watch and rewatch. Every single performance is great.

Short Stories Read



“Spider” by Duncan Shields - ‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, only a couple of creatures were stirring…
“Christmas Season” by Jay Lake – Millie Ann always knew where Christmas sausage came from, but knowing and seeing are two different things.

Added to the Reading List

31 Kisses by Chautona Havig – Which is still free at Amazon.com (Nov. 27th)
Claus: Legend of the Fat Man by Tony Bertauski – Which was free yesterday.

There are quite a few free Christmas Kindle out there if you’re still looking for additions to your reading list.

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? (11/26/12)

You know what I’ve missed during November? Book blogging. NaNo plans are winding down, so I think it’s time to get back in to it.
This Week I’m Reading:
Moscow But Dreaming by Ekaterina Sedia

The first short story collection by award-winning author Ekaterina Sedia! One of the more resonant voices to emerge in recent years, this Russian-born author explores the edge between the mundane and fantastical in tales inspired by her homeland as well as worldwide folkloric traditions. With foreword by World Fantasy Award-winner Jeffrey Ford, Moscow But Dreaming showcases singular and lyrical writing that will appeal to fans of slipstream and magical realism, as well as those interested in the uncanny and Russian history. (Goodreads)

An impulse grab from NetGalley. Pretty cover and it’s been a while since I’ve read anything particularly Russian.

Short Story of the Week:

I’m doing some seasonal reading: Brass Canaries by Gwendolyn Clare  and Christmas Wedding by Vylar Kaftan for this week.

The Usual:

A poem, a section of Poetic Edda  & two chapters of A Clash of Kings.

What I Read Last Week:

Still working my way through Carter Beats the Devil. Writing about magicians and reading about magicians makes for some phantasmagoria of the mind.

I will also admit to reading quite a bit of Sherlock fanfic. Did read “His Last Bow” as well last week. It is of course the obvious item of speculation concerning the word “bow.”  It seems reasonable, and I could actually see this being the basis for the first episode of series 3 with Holmes coming out of hiding after his death. (Although, wouldn’t it be interesting if the entirety of series 3 involved Holmes working from the background? That could work.) Anyway, I’m about this close –>||