Is up! Like usual, there’s a lot of good stuff there. Stuart, as usual, has written a great article about reading outside, and I thoroughly enjoyed Miss Havasham’s How I Spend My Summers.

As for my stuff, there’s the good:
An interview with Longstocking and first-time author Daphne Grab, as well as a review of her book. She was a delight to interview, and I really enjoyed her book.

The bad:
I’m actually quite proud of this review of a terrible book.

The mediocre:
I think this one might have been better than I thought it was; I just wasn’t in the mood for it.

Everything else:
There’s a boatload of reviews, columns and author interviews.

Stop by and check it out!

Which means it’s time for one of my monthly plug posts…

(As a reminder, the next Bookworms Carnival will be hosted by Scooter Chronicles. The theme is contemporary/urban fantasy ((for suggested reading, click here) and the deadline for submission is May 9. To submit a post, email: srf at soundchaser dot org.)

The May issue of Estella’s Revenge is up!

Like always, there’s some good stuff there… don’t mis Iliana’s how-to for making a travel journal (makes me want to do one!) as well as Stuart’s essay on a Sense of Place.

As for my stuff… I wrote an ode to one of my favorite genres: travel books (complete with 15 suggestions, some of which are now on my TBR list!). There’s also two reviews: The Patron Saint of Butterflies, which you should pick up and read and Exodus, which has a fascinating dystopian concept.

Enjoy!

A fellow ER writer left a comment asking for some help with an article she’s putting together. Since you’re all nice, friendly folks, I thought we could help her out. Especially since we did this (sort of) for a drawing last month. 🙂 Here’s what she’s asking for:

I’m popping around various international reading challenges and asking the organisers to tell me what are the best books they have encountered so far in their challenge experience. I would love it if you could let me know what some of your favourite challenge reads have been for the ‘Expanding Horizons’ challenge have been and perhaps provide a short sentence about why you have enjoyed them so much.

If you’d like to be a part of it, you can either a) leave a comment here, and I’ll forward it on to her or b) email her directly at bakerjodie at googlemail dot com by April 24th. Thanks much!!

I do get tired of writing “Estella’s Revenge is up” every month, and I just needed something a little bit different.

It’s a really really good issue… go check it out. (While you’re there, check out my stuff — reviews of Ten Cents a Dance, A Bottle in the Gaza Sea, and The Secret Between Us, as well as my Voice of Dissent — but also see Lisa’s interview with AJ Jacobs. It’s hilarious. And the many many other wonderful things Andi and Heather and all the wonderful writers put together over there.)

The March issue of Estella’s Revenge is up (my lone review — February was a slow month — is here)! Andi and Heather have put together another good issue (I love the new look, too!) so stay and browse a while.

I was reminded, that I began writing for Estella (shoot, Estella, in its current incarnation, began) a year ago. It started with a silly little review (as I think about it now, it wasn’t terribly well written) of The Penderwicks. I wasn’t sure if Andi and Heather would even like it, let alone run it; I sent it to them on a whim. I really can’t remember the motivation behind my reaching out. I’d been writing on my blog for two and a half years, content with my readership of 10 people (half of whom were family members). But I saw an announcement somewhere (can’t remember where, now) that this new literary ‘zine was looking for writers, and I thought to myself: “I can do that.” Encouraged by Hubby, I did. And I found I liked it. I like getting ARCs in the mail (as does M — she’s always pilfering through my ARC pile), I like having my name and my writing out there in more (better-read) places. I like interviewing authors. I like having authors read what I write. It’s exciting; a real rush. And it’s something I can do. I won’t say I do it well — I’m not “good” enough to get a job at the local paper, let alone be as respected as, say, Lisa at Bluestalking Reader or Betsey at Fuse #8. I don’t have piles and piles of publisher contacts (time, baby; it’s all about the time. And when you’re home with four girls — two all day! — you don’t have much of that). But I’m having a grand time. And, I’ve come realize, that as long as I’m loving what I “do” then that’s all that matters.

Thanks, Andi and Heather, for accepting and publishing that first piece. It gave me the confidence I needed to realize I could reach out and give “real” book reviewing a try. And the past year has been a grand experience. Here’s to many more.

And Andi’s on the ball! (Yay for a reduced class load!! 🙂 ) The February issue of Estella’s up, and it looks good. For the Gardella Vampire fans, there’s both an interview with Colleen Gleason and a review of her latest book. As for me, I actually broke down and wrote a philosophy on reading, as well as reviewing a book of funny Southern essays and a good YA Shakespeare adaptation (one of the three I read the past few months…). It’s a good issue. Go check it out!

Go check it out! (For the record, and for those — Dad and Mom — who don’t want to browse the rest of it, here are my reviews of Big Fat Manifesto, and Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow. I also interviewed Susan Vaught, the author of BFM. But the rest of the issue is good, too.)

Of being a book blogger/reviewer, is opening up your email inbox and having a nice letter from an author saying how much they appreciated your review. Makes a person feel good.

All this is a long roundabout way of saying that the December review issue of Estella is up. It’s a small issue (I’m 1/3 of the contributors and wrote 1/4 of the reviews), but I know that there are a couple of the books that I’m now putting on my TBR list…

As for my contribution (and part of the reason why I was in YA land all last week), I read and reviewed a good book, Lily Dale, and a great book, Thirteen Reasons Why.

Go and read (and not just my stuff), when you get the time. 🙂

Hard to believe. I’m recovering from a hard night of trick-or-treating with the girls (four trick-or-treaters can bring home a LOT of candy!) and watching Ghostbusters. Now, on to Thanksgiving!

The November issue of Estella’s Revenge is already up! It’s all about comfort… though I didn’t write anything along those lines. I did, however, contribute two reviews. One was a book I thoroughly enjoyed — Ophelia by Lisa Klein. The other — April and the Dragon Lady, by Lensey Namioka — was a quick read, but only a so-so book. Go check out the other stuff, though, especially the book challenge. I’ll have to think about whether or not I want to join this one…

In other November news, it’s almost deadline time for the November Bookworm Carnival (November 9th). There’s been a change in hosts; the new host is now Myrthe . The theme is still short stories (either ones you’ve read or ones you’ve written). Don’t use the bookworm carnival submission form; Dewey’s taken the Bookworms Carnvial off it, due to technical difficulties. Send all your submissions to armenianodar at yahoo dot com and please also thank Myrthe for stepping in at the last minute!

Happy November!

And good books, too. It’s just that the reviews aren’t posted here. The October issue of Estella’s Revenge is up, and I managed to read two books and do an author interview. I finally got to read Shannon Hale’s Book of a Thousand Days… and thoroughly enjoyed it. (Thanks Becky, Erin and Leila for your reviews… they helped me formulate my ideas. I appreciate it. I hope I didn’t unwittingly plagiarize anyone.) And I also read Jan Shapin’s (first-time author) A Snug Life Somewhere, an intriguing book set in Washington State around the time of World War I. I also interviewed Shapin; you can find that here.

I also finished the two Gardella Vampire books by Colleen Gleason. And — I’m only moderately embarrassed to admit — I have to say that I’m becoming a bit hooked on vampire books. (I should probably stop before it becomes an obsession.) I’ll post links as soon as the reviews are up over at Book Binge, if you care to read more about vampire romances….

(Update: They were quite lovely and got my review posted quick. Here’s the link. I would have done it earlier today, but Blogger was down. Grrr.)

If you’ll excuse me, my (very large) TBR pile is calling.