01 Tuesday Jul 2014
Posted in Booktastic
Tags
reading: challenges (2014), reading: fun book reviews, reading: stunning, text type: novel, writer: contemporary
Happy Australian Financial New Year! On this monumental day, we have reviews of the two books I’ve been enjoying over the last two weeks or so!
37. Ann-Marie MacDonald – Fall On Your Knees (26 June)
I don’t remember when I got my copy, but I think I purchased it after hearing about it on Oprah’s Book Club over a decade ago. Anyway, I finally picked it up, and…wow.
28 Saturday Jun 2014
Posted in Uncategorized
Let’s deviate from our regular onslaught of book reviews and book love, and talk about food! Namely, the super amazing dinner I had with my good friend Anika on Wednesday, which still has me sighing in contentment at its recollection. And then I thought, well, why not write about my experience? (Yes, I’m blogging about food, and including loads of photos. What a sure way to make one hungry…)
22 Sunday Jun 2014
Posted in Booktastic
Tags
era: ancient greece, reading: challenges (2014), reading: far and wide, reading: fun book reviews, reading: stunning, text type: drama, text type: novel, writer: aeschylus, writer: contemporary, writer: young adult authors
I’ve been sitting on this update for aaaaaages, and, it being a Sunday evening, thought it’ll be a good idea to post this before a new week begins. I’m the lead (read: only) writer for Regency Love, a Regency-set iOS game/interactive novel, and have been working on new content for the app. It’s great fun, but significantly cuts down my reading time!
30. Gabrielle Zevin – The Collected Works of A. J. Fikry (19 May)
32. Amanda Hocking – Wake (1 June)
33. Annie Proulx – The Shipping News (7 June)
34. Jo Riccioni – The Italians at Cleat’s Corner Store (15 June)
35. Lois Lowry – The Giver (18 June)
36. Aeschylus – The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides (trans. Robert Fagles) (19 June)
(In case you’re wondering, 31 was The Theban Plays, about which I’ve already posted.)
02 Monday Jun 2014
Posted in 2014 Ancient May-hem Reading Challenge, Booktastic
Tags
era: ancient greece, reading: challenges (2014), reading: fun book reviews, text type: drama, writer: sophocles
Alas, I was unable to get through as many Classics as I would’ve liked in May, and only managed to finish one more book after the Aristotle. But hey, just because the month is over doesn’t mean the Ancient Awesomeness has to stop!
31. Sophocles – The Theban Plays (trans. E. F. Watling, Penguin) (23 May)
23 Friday May 2014
Posted in 2014 Ancient May-hem Reading Challenge
Tags
era: ancient greece, reading: challenges (2014), reading: stunning, text type: philosophy, writer: aristotle
I finished the Nichomachean Ethics over the weekend, and have continued to process it throughout the week. It’s just such a tremendous work, and I can see myself revisiting it quite regularly in the future. I’ve already recommended it to a whole bunch of my friends, and I hope they—and you—will give it a go, because it’s really quite eye opening!
So, after the stunning introduction in Book I, Aristotle goes on to talk about the virtues of character and virtues of thought, and gives a very good idea of what each is and does.
06 Tuesday May 2014
Posted in 2014 Ancient May-hem Reading Challenge
Tags
era: ancient greece, reading: challenges (2014), reading: stunning, text type: philosophy, writer: aristotle
Almost a week into the Ancient May-hem Reading Challenge, and I have an announcement to make: I am crawling through the challenge at a reeeeeally sloooooow paaaaaaaace.
No, seriously.
So far, I’ve only managed to get through Book I of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics (more commonly known as the Ethics). That’s not a lot of reading being done. However, there’s been a lot of thinking being done, and that has been incredible. Need a distinction between quantity and quality? Look no further.
I decided to make this special post because I was so inspired by what I’ve read and learnt so far that I wanted to share it with you, and because, oh boy, my mind has been blown, and I feel my life is about to be changed.
Seriously.*
03 Saturday May 2014
Posted in Booktastic
Tags
era: 19th century, place: china, place: india, place: russia, reading: challenges (2014), reading: far and wide, reading: fun book reviews, reading: stunning, text type: novel, writer: contemporary, writer: gogol, writer: mistry, writer: young adult authors
April was a rather quiet reading month with only five books, primarily because I was busy with the third draft of my manuscript, which is now complete and with my trusty beta-readers (yay!). By some stroke of luck, I enjoyed every single book I read, even if some of them took a while to complete—all of these have garnered at least a 4/5!
24. Rohinton Mistry – A Fine Balance (10 Apr)
25. John Green – The Fault in Our Stars (12 Apr)
26. Rene Denfeld – The Enchanted (15 Apr)
27. Ha Jin – In the Pond (18 Apr)
28. Nikolay Gogol – Dead Souls (Penguin Classics, trans. Robert A. Maguire) (3 May)
(Yes, the Gogol technically belongs to May, but I’m going to leave this month free for responses to my Ancient May-hem Reading Challenge.)
27 Sunday Apr 2014
Posted in 2014 Ancient May-hem Reading Challenge
This year, because I have a bit of leftover brainspace for nerdtastic things, because it’s my birthday month, and because I simply can, I shall declare May to be one of Ancient May-hem! Essentially, I plan to read as many texts from Ancient Greek and Rome as time allows, and then post about each after I’m done. I currently only have a rather vague list containing the works of Aristotle, Plato, Cicero, and Plutarch, but I’ll have this consolidated by the beginning of May. In any case, I’m hoping to indulge in a great deal of Ancient May-hem!
I know it might be a little late to make this a “proper” reading challenge, but I’m going to try to hold an “improper” one anyway (whatever that means). If you’re interested in joining me, please sign up using the “Add a Link” thingy below—participants who read at least one text will be in the running for a book prize at the end of the month!
23 Wednesday Apr 2014
Posted in Uncategorized
Today marks Shakespeare’s supposed 450th birthday (“supposed” because there are no records of his actual birth date, though all sorts of fancy schmancy scholars and historians have basically agreed that he was born three days prior to his baptism on 26 April 1564). As a teeny sapling of 25, I am quite overwhelmed by Shakespeare’s (literary) longevity—he’s exactly 18 times older than I am!
To commemorate this momentous day, I decided to put together a list of my three favourite Shakespeare plays—for now. And, since I’m a teeny sapling Shakespeare scholar, I’m even going to try to explain why I love these plays so much (but do prepare yourself for what will essentially be a super gushfest).
14 Monday Apr 2014
Posted in Booktastic
A few weeks ago, after the twentieth trip to pick up goodies from the post office, I started to realise that my book-buying habits were starting to get a little out of hand… But my to-read mountain was diminishing at an alarming rate, and when the number of new titles had descended to 70, I decided something had to be done. If only I could get more books without having to fork out moolah; if only I could swap the books in my collection I no longer wanted for new and exciting titles…
Oh wait, there’s an idea!
And so I organised my very first book swap event and invited anyone in Sydney who might’ve possibly have an interest in books, or in getting some new reading material, then asked them to spread the word about the free-for-all shiny bibliophilic extravaganza. Despite the rain, we had a small and cosy turnout, and many books were swapped. Our wet weather plan also worked beautifully! (The instruction was: “Bring an umbrella.”)
As for my haul? Six new titles to provide hours of fun!
Yes, cookbooks will indeed provide hours of (edible) fun!
I certainly had a great time at the book swap, and I plan on organising a sequel in around two months. It’ll once again be an open event, so everyone is more than welcome to join the fun. Feel free to follow me on Facebook and Twitter to get updates and whatnot!