for the joy of words

It should shock no one if I declare I love reading words. I’ve had a rough 30 so far and feel that my wheels are spinning and if anything I’m heading in reverse. To that end, I’ve been looking at my style and long-term goals. I’m using Style Statement and a few other guides to help me think about this coherently. I’m not a huge fan of the self-help genre, but worksheets do help give some organization to the exercise. Why do I bring this up here where I try to write book reviews? Words. Words define us. Words excite us. Or at least me. As I work to find out what words are truly mine, below please find my attempts at weaving together some thoughts on a few other words I’ve read (or wished I could read) recently.

?????????????? ??????????????
by ?? ??
1 star for book review1 star for book review1 star for book review1 star for book review1/2 star for book review

I don’t read Japanese, but have a soft spot for Japanese craft books. I’ve found that the diagrams are super clear and help me improve the details of my sewing. This book is no exception and takes one through various techniques of hemming, pressing, and special machine feet (I bought it for the diagrams on machine rolled hems). I hope to sit with a Japanese friend soon and find out what a few parts say.

Son of the Great River Son of the Great River
by Elijah Meeks
1 star for book review1 star for book review1 star for book review1 star for book reviewno star for book review

I received this via goodreads giveaways and was sent a review copy by the author. This light novella is a fun escape though I found it ended a bit too quickly for my speed reading taste. As other reviewers have noted it offers hints of tried and true stories and I found that when combined they melded pretty well. However, I felt frustrated and let down by the writing at the end and will hopefully soon reread in an attempt to sort out why. Overall I found this a nice first novel and I look forward to seeing future work from Meeks. Four stars for keeping me up to finish even if the last few pages had me wrinkling my nose.

DAW 30th Anniversary Fantasy Anthology DAW 30th Anniversary Fantasy Anthology
Edited by Elizabeth R. Wollheim
1 star for book review1 star for book review1 star for book review1 star for book reviewno star for book review