Read

A complicated history and a call to action for America’s universities

I finally completed, and reviewed, my first book of 2014: Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose.

Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s Universities by Craig Steven Wilder was a DNF for me, and most of the other people in our Diversity Book Club. I think the only person who read it all the way through was our discussion leader. Fortunately, Craig Steven Wilder gave an excellent interview on the Diane Rehm Show last week, so we still had a good basis for discussion. I think Ebony & Ivy is meant to be a call to action to the universities: quit sweeping the dark parts of your history under the oriental rug in the Chancellor’s Office. When Harvard, Yale, and the other colleges write their own histories, they are likely to be much more readable since they are tackling just one piece of this complicated history.

Reading

Sci-fi or fantasy? Either way, Walls of Wind provides an intriguing story world to visit.

After I quit reading Ebony & Ivy, I picked my first book from my list of books on England: My Love Affair with England by Susan Allen Toth.

I also started reading, last week, an e-book by a friend of mine: Walls of Wind, Part 1 by J. A. McLachlan. It’s been described as sci-fi, but I’m more of a fantasy reader and I’m quite happy visiting this alternate universe, so I think both types of readers will enjoy it. While I’m reading Walls of Wind on my phone, the Dates from Hell anthology is on hold.

I’m three-quarters of the way through The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, our Read Along book for The New Year’s Resolution Reading Challenge. Our first two discussions ( Week 1 and Week 2) were very helpful with lots of real-life examples of what makes book bloggers and writers happier. Join us on Wednesday for our next discussion installment.

My reading of Writing for Emotional Impact by Karl Iglesias has slowed to a crawl because I’m still trying to absorb what I learned from the Character chapter into my writing. While that’s kind of on hold, I started reading The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith. So far, it’s humorous and, while I’m sure it will help my writing in the long run, hasn’t made me want to stop reading to write which, at the moment, is a good thing.

Will Read

I still have one book that I targeted for the The New Year’s Resolution Reading Challenge that I haven’t started yet: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield,  I was thrilled to see it mentioned last night in The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith. It feels like I must be on the right path.

It’s Monday! What Are Your Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila of Book Journey. Be sure to check out her post today to see her selections and the list of links to all the other participating bloggers.