A Reading and Writing Wednesday Post

If I only did writing posts on Wednesdays, I wouldn't have much to say. The kids are on their second week of summer vacation and we are still trying to find a routine. I haven't been doing much writing. I think about it a lot. However, I have been doing a lot of reading. I currently have over 50 items out from the library with 7 waiting for me to pick up and another 50 on my reserve list. Yeah, I love the library. So Wednesday will become a reading and writing update

I took this picture a couple weeks ago of the novels I had checked out then, including "The Book Thief" which my SIL lent me. I have read one of them and have added several more to the pile.

I read this graphic novel the other day. I really enjoyed it. It's a little weird. It was co-written by singer Amanda Palmer who I never heard off until a couple weeks ago. I of course checked the library for any cd's they might have and found this book as well. It's a nice quick read. My husband read it too and thought it was okay but didn't like it as much as I did. 

I finished reading this novel last week as it was due and I couldn't renew it. My mom read the end when she visited earlier this month and thought I would like it. I have to admit that I didn't like it and the fact that my mother knew how it ended was the only thing motivating me to continue reading sometimes. I'm not really sure what I don't like about it. It just wasn't believable I guess. When I finish a novel I want to continue thinking about the characters and what happens next for them. I just didn't buy it and was left questioning the author's intent. I don't know if I would recommend this book to anyone and I really need to talk to my mom as she thought I'd like it. Hmmm. 

I don't just read fiction. With two boys I thought it was time I read a little something about raising them. I have less than a hundred pages left and am learning quite a bit. There was an interesting chapter on testosterone and how boy brains are different. Who knew boys were this complex?

My mother gifted me this Jane Austen puzzle which I finally did on Sunday. 

I kept saying this quote in my head the whole time I was putting it together and after. I need to see "Pride and Prejudice" again. Soon.

And some of the writing books I have out from the library. The first one is about writing short fiction. It mainly deals with twitter and text messages but I am hoping it might give me some insight into something I just found out about. MicroFiction - stories that are 250 words or less. It seems like such an interesting idea. Who has time to write a whole novel? Not me. At least not right now. But a 250 word story? I think I can do that during nap time or almost anytime. I wrote my first story the other day and it came in around 260 words. I really like it and am looking forward to trying to write a few more. I'm not giving up novel writing but it's neat to focus ideas to the bare minimum and still have it feel complete.