reading list

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Travel Inspired Reading

Outer Banks Bound

The family vacation this year is a quick road trip through the outer Banks of North Carolina.

I’ve never been there and it sounds like fun.

If you don’t know, the Outer Banks includes famous places like: Kitty Hawk, Nags Head, and Cape Hatteras. So along we the required reading of guide books, I’ve accumulated a stack of North Carolina inspired reads.

We have a while before we leave, school is still in session 🙂 But it’s good to be prepared.

North Carolina Reading List

  • Black Beard by Angus Konstam- that’s right Black Beard in linked to the OBX. I can’t wait to see the well his head was thrown in after he was killed.
  • A Death in Duck by Mindy Quigley- Yes, there is a city called Duck! This is set at Christmas but I think I’ll still read it.
  • Reading Up a Storm by Eva Gates- set on Bodie Island with a lighthouse.

Those are the three I have at the moment. If you know of any good books, fiction or non-fiction set in the Outer Banks, please let me know there’s still room on my list 🙂

-CK

 

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Rain, Rain, Go Away…

It’s raining. Again. Today,it’s gray, dreary, and I’m grumpy. Pass the Halloween candy. I’m thinking of burning the weather section of the paper. They’ve been promising cooler weather for over a week. It hasn’t happened. Unending days in the humid 80s. That would be great- in April. On with the goals. Be sure to stop by the other participants of Row80 and spread a little sunshine.

1. Start revisions of book 2 in my Dragonfly Mystery Series-
I’ve completed one read through. It needs lots of work. Goal is to revise/edit the first 100 pages- This is the NaNo project from last year. No new progress.
2. Send out queries for Dead in the Water- YES! I sent one out this week. Sound the trumpets cue the applause.
3. Plan one new short story- It’s a novel, still counts.
4. Edit/Revise Mystic Brew–  I have to work on this soon, I have a critique group starting.
5. Finish plotting Book 3 in my Dragonfly Mystery Series I have an idea of what’s going to happen. This will be what I write for NaNoWriMo, so I have to do this in October- Done
6. Participate in NaNoWriMo and write 50,000 words- I’m on track. I had planned on 11,900 words and I am at 12,557.
7. Read 8 books that’s for the whole round 4.   I’m on track I’ve read 6 .I’ve almost finished another. Talk about a shorty. Read half of it last night in an hour of insomnia.
8. Be a good human and socialize online Goal- Barely. NaNo comes before socializing.
9. Be a good Baptist and join a Wednesday night group– Yeah, I’m think this may not happen
10. Finish my daughter’s bedroom– We’ve removed one cabinet and have a pile of “stuff” to figure out what to do with. I vote on a bonfire.

Well, at least I don’t have to go to work today in the rain. That’s a positive. I am skipping church, naughty Baptist.

How are your goal going?

-CK

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November Reading List -TBR

November is NaNoWriMo. I plan on spending most of my free time writing that novel that’s begging to get out. I don’t know how much time I’ll have to read, but I’ll try. My recent trip to the library was an interesting one. As I pulled books off the shelf and dropped them in the bag I noticed a theme. All the books were small! Therefore I am naming November small book month!

I am stretching my reading interest a bit here and adding authors I have never read before, some are international writers. I’m also giving my Kindle a rest. Shocking I know. My goal is to read like a writer. Usually I get caught up in the story and forget to think about what the writer is doing. Short stories and novellas are different than full length novels. The structure and pacing is a bit different. The writer has less room to tell the story, every word counts. Maybe I’ll learn something!

November TBR

  1. Reply to a letter from Helga, by Birgisson Bergsveinn  The plot intrigued me. It’s Scandinavian. Basic plot is a man has a letter from an old lover who asked him to leave his wife. Years later he writes a response.
  2. Blockade Billy, Stephen King. I don’t generally read King, he scares me. I’ve read Firestarter and On Writing. I would not have checked this one out if I had noticed the horror sticker on the spine! The cover shows a baseball player. Hmmm, we’ll see how it goes.
  3. Going to Meet the Man,James Baldwin.  This is a collection of short stories. I’ve never read James Baldwin. We didn’t have required reading in high school, beyond what was in the textbook. Judging from the blurb on the back, this should be an intense read.
  4. Colonel Chabert by Honore de Balzac. Another famous writer I’ve never read. A French war hero, presumed dead, returns. You know that won’t end well!
  5. The Christmas Sweater, by Glenn Beck. Glenn Beck is a syndicated radio personality. I’ve never read or listened to his show but I keep seeing his books at the library, thought I’d give it a whirl. My guess is it’s a sentimental Christmas story. I expect Kleenex may be involved.
  6. Big Sur by Jack Kerouac. I’m looking forward to this one. I’ve heard a lot about Kerouac.
  7. Edible Stories: a novel in sixteen parts by Mark Kurlansky. Yes, I picked this book because of the title. I’m not sure what it’s about, but it’s intriguing. The cover is simple, yet beautiful.
  8. The moon and Sixpence by Somerset w.Maugham. Rumor has it that this is the story of painter Paul Gaugin
  9. Music of the Swamp by Lewis Nordan. Another one where I just liked the title.
  10. The Christmas Joy by Melody Carlson. I’ve read some of her books before. They tend to be sweet stories.
  11. Zanna’s Gift by Orson Scott Card. This is my first Card book. I know he usually writes Sci-fi so I am curious to see what he does with a Christmas story.
  12. The Deveraux Legacy by Carolyn G. Hart. I think this is a ghost story.
  13. Men Without Women by Ernest Hemingway. I have read Hemingway before! I think it’s safe to say he’s one of the best writers of short fiction.
  14. The Quiet Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott. I love Little Women and that’s why I’m reading this one.
  15. All through the Night by Mary Higgins Clark. I love MHC. I would steal my mother’s copies of her books and read them. She writes wonderful Christmas stories. They are a nice mix of suspense and Christmas. I started this book already and I’ve noticed she head hops a bit. It works.
  16. The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans. This is another author I’ve never read but have seen them.
  17. Supernatural Short Stories by Charles Dickens. I have never finished a book by Dickens. Sadly my youngest has read Oliver Twist four times by the time she was 11. We’ll see how I do with this one. If all else fails I’ll just pass it along to Peanut.
  18. The End of the affair by Graham Greene. Another new writer for me.

I don’t know if I’ll read them all, probably not.

What are you reading in November?

-CK