I feel as though I have been hibernating for ages…but the days are getting longer and brighter and although there are still mounds of dirty snow everywhere, I am feeling optimistic about – well – things in general. Except my basement. It’s full of water. I am not handy, so I am dealing with the water by ignoring it. I rescued Lily’s litter box and shut the door on the things that are floating down there. (Did anyone else hear Pennywise’s voice just now?)
The water is a recent thing. I have also been distracted by school-related activities. I am the faculty advisor for the yearbook, and while we have finally put the book to bed, for many, many days I was scrambling (along with my very capable student editors) to get that puppy done.
In a perfect-storm sort of way, I was also putting together the fourth edition of The Write Stuff magazine, a literary arts magazine which debuts on April 29th at the fifth annual Write Stuff writers’ workshop. This is a day I very much look forward to attending. Over one hundred students from four area high school will gather at the Saint John Arts Centre to work with a variety of writing mentors. It’s a fabulous day. You can read more about it at our blog, The Write Stuff.
Of course, I am still reading, but perhaps not as diligently as I am re-watching Felicity. After just one episode, I was immediately sucked back into that whole Ben-Noel-Felicity triangle. (I am Team Ben all the way!) I have to step away from the DVDs though so I can finish a pile of books that I have started…but not quite finished…including:
Bird Box – Josh Malerman
This is actually my next book club read and I am almost done. I have been wanting to read this book for a while and was surprised when it was chosen for my book club since we’ve never read anything like it before. We have a rule in our group – we’re not allowed to talk about the book before the meeting, so I can’t reveal any of my thoughts at this time.
Pushing the Limits – Katie McGarry
I am about half-way through this hefty YA novel featuring a good girl (with dark, complicated past) and a bad boy (with dark, complicated past) who are thrown together to study but who have a crazy-hot attraction to each other. I’ll finish it, but I’m not loving it.
Give a Boy a Gun – Todd Strasser
I am almost done this book, which I’ve been reading in school and which is a compelling and bleak look at the gun culture, bullying and school shootings in the United States.
The Silent Wife – A.A.A. Harrison
I probably only read about twenty pages of this before I got side-tracked by life. I’ll have to restart this book, I think.
Grief Girl – Erin Vincent
I think this book is bound for my Book Graveyard, actually. It’s the true story of an Australian girl who suffers a horrible loss when her parents are in a traffic accident. Not grooving to the writing, though.
I don’t normally have more than a couple books on the go at one time, one at home and one at school. That I have so many started and unfinished is an indication of how scattered my life has been of late. What are you reading this spring?
The Ludic Reader 
Hi Christie,
Am reading C.J. Sansom’s book, Dominion–an alternate history of England where Hitler has won and the war only lasted 1939-40. Sansom also wrote a Spanish Civil War story–called Winter in Winter in Madrid. He has penned 6 books in the era of Henry Vlll. He has a lawyer hunchback as the main character who is named Shardlake. He is employed by Cardinal Wosley among others, on behalf of the King, to spy/inquire about various problem areas in English life. Dissolution is one of the 6 books. He did a Phd. in History–hence the historical nature of his books. After graduation with a Phd. he trained as a lawyer then finally became an author. I like his writing and knowledge of history. Have you read any of his books?
Hi Kathy,
Although I am familiar with the name C. J. Sansom’s work, I haven’t ever read anything by him. I am not, in general, a fan of historical fiction. Sounds like something my Aunt Sandra might be interested in, though.