Yanting Gueh's Blog, page 13

A Good Year of Reading

Let's make this a good year of Reading! Here are some of the picture books and middle-grade novels I intend to get to and then share some thoughts on {in no particular order, for I read as the mood fits} in 2014:



and more, and more and more.{My adult fiction list is dribbling on, too.} So tell me, what are some of the books you'll be reading this year?

Keep that Love Burning Bright

Thanks for hanging out with me here on CarryUsOff Books! It has been a year of solid work {writing, publishing, teaching & blogging}, all of which I intend to continue diligently and brilliantly next year.

...

This morning, I was once again reminded to keep working hard on my writing through a lovely review over at Readers' Favorite. I was so pleased I'd "hit the nail on the head with My Clearest Me." Here's the full review. All writers could use...

All the World is You & Me

All the world is here.

It is there.

It is everywhere.

All the world is
right
where
you
are.


Now.

ALL THE WORLD is a riding-on-the-clouds kind of picture book. What is all the world like?

It is the shell you find on the beach, the corn you harvest, and the tomato blossom you smell.

It is the grand tree you climb with your siblings, the dog you bring out to play, and the white birds flapping overhead.

It is the rain, the sunset, and the wait for dinner.

All the world is wide and deep, sunny and rainy...

Walk Two Moons

"Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins."


Salamanca Tree Hiddle, 13, went on a road trip with her grandparents from Ohio to Idaho to trace the path her mother took when she left them over a year ago. Hurry, hurry, rush, rush. Sal hoped to reach Idaho on her mother's birthday and bring her home.Along the way, to calm her nerves and to entertain her grandparents, Sal told them stories about Phoebe Winterbottom,

"a girl who had a powerful imagination, who woul...

Just In Case You Are Checking In, I'm ...

There's a short story I'm writing for a contest, and a manuscript I'm reading for critique for a fellow writer. I'll check in with you guys soon. Stay well, everyone ~


Claudine

Thrilled to Be Thrilled or Slightly Milder

Happy Halloween, my lovelies. Hope it's spooky and bloody for those who are thrilled to be thrilled, and spicy and warm for those who like things slightly milder (like me).

I watched The Awakening today. Love the story, the characters, the setting, the cinematography and the sadness. Sadness can be quite beautiful, don't you think?
And I am halfway through 11/22/63 {which isn't spooky-spooky but has certainly sent chills up my arms at several points}.


What about you? Whichthr...

Fish & Chips and Other Strangely Important Bits

Does this happen to you, too? You read a book. You love it. Then you move on to other books. Years later, when you're reminded of that book you read and loved, you only remember few scenes (and sometimes not even the most important scenes). The plot has become blurry. You sort of remember who and what roughly happens while those few scenes remain clear as morning.

Last week, my friends, Jess and Stephanie over at The Secret DMS Files of Fairday Morrow, reviewed Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book...

A Simple Mind, A River-Love & A Louisiana Sky

I didn't speak because I didn't know what to say. I felt shameful and odd,
as though the thoughts running through my head belonged to someone else.
I wished I hadn't gone inside the gym. I wished I hadn't seen Abby Lynn
and the other girls.But most of all, for the first time I wished Momma wasn't my momma.

It was the summer of 1957.

As much as Tiger Ann Parker loved her family, she sometimes felt embarrassed by her mentally-disabled momma and her "slow" daddy. She wished they could be more...

They Weren't Always A Night Family

"That evening, the Insomniacs took hot baths,filled the crossword,
pulled down the shadesand pulled up the covers.

Mika counted to one thousand.
Father sipped six mugs of milk.
Mother tried a meditation - as suggested forher star sign in the evening paper."

...

Meet the Insomniacs, who weren't always a night family. When Mother took up a new job, they had...

You Must Think I've Always Enjoyed Reading ...

Some time ago, Sarah from Easy Read invited me to write a post for her blog. Easy Read offers courses and resources to help children struggling with dyslexia. I found a book (a novel-in-verse ~ again) with a heroine cursed with word blindness and blessed with word bravery. Please click on the cover above to get to the review.

...

Given how I talk about books, you must think I've always enjoyed reading ...

One of the best things my parents did whe...