Lisa Eckstein > Recent Status Updates

Looking forward to reading this after having a great time with the author at the Squaw Valley writing conference!

Fascinating story of what it was like to be a woman in China in the 1800s. I've cringed my way through the description of the footbinding process, and the main character has survived that, but I still foresee a lot of pain ahead for her.

Introspective, emotional stories.

Enjoying the premise and most of the execution.

Intriguing tale so far -- four strangers from our world meet in a fantastical city. There are connections to awesome topics like bookbinding, writing systems, and cartography, so I'm excited.

This novel gets to the point right away, and it's a disturbing point: The narrator, 26-year-old Celeste, is an eighth-grade English teacher who is sexually obsessed with 14-year-old boys. If you can stomach that premise, it's a fascinating read (at least so far). The protagonist and her thoughts are rendered in graphic, horrific, but very believable detail.

I got to meet the author at the Squaw Valley writing workshop, which was awesome. Really liking this book!

Very absorbing story right from the start.

The stories have all been great so far, and they're hugely varied in subject matter and style.

I really feel for the main character, a shy, awkward teenager with a pretty bad life -- except for Star Wars!

This is more of a slog than Pride and Prejudice, but I'm still curious to see how the story is going to turn out.

Cool story about a lonely girl in a small town who finds a new hope when Star Wars opens.

These are lovely stories about small events and the tensions between people.

One of the old South Bay NaNo gang has published a book! It's a lot of fun so far!

Good collection, enjoying the variety of story types and settings.

I can see why everyone's been raving about this book!

Finding this engaging and fun, though probably not as much so as Pride and Prejudice.

"Around you broken glass and bits of rubble rest like five o'clock shadow on the city's smooth concrete." Some wonderful bits of description in this.

I am really liking these stories!

This third book in the series is a satisfying mix of domestic matters and political intrigue.

Just started, already liking this!

So far, this is entertaining but not great. The plot is minimal, but it's a fascinating look inside an unfamiliar culture.

Really enjoying the story and the style.

Enjoying this so far. Great continuation of the series!

Reading a book by a friend is a nerve-wracking proposition, because what if you don't like it? And raving about a book by a friend is also fraught, because who's going to believe you? But the stories in this book are kind of blowing me away, and you'll just have to trust me on that.

"When you are in the middle of a story it isn't a story at all, but only a confusion; a dark roaring, a blindness, a wreckage of shattered glass and splintered wood; like a house in a whirlwind, or else a boat crushed by the icebergs or swept over the rapids, and all aboard powerless to stop it. It's only afterwards that it becomes anything like a story at all.When you are telling it, to yourself or to someone else."

Fascinating work of historical fiction.

Wonderful mystery unfolding!

I heard Chaz read the beginning of this book at FOGcon this weekend, and I immediately had to download it to my Kindle to find out what happens next!