nomadreader

I'm a big fan of crowdfunding, and I've helped fund films and the new album from my favorite band, American Aquarium . As much as I enjoy films and music, however, I'm much more devoted to books, which is why I love Unbound, a British crowdfunding publisher. The first book I pledged to support, Dead Babies and Seaside Towns , is now fully funded. I pledged £10, and my reward is an ebook of it when it's published. I also get my name in the back of the book, as do all those who pledge. It's a memoir, and its author, Alice Jolly, is a published novelist and playwright. In 2007, she wrote an editorial about her stillborn baby. To me, this book shouldn't need a platform like Unbound, and I was glad to support it. I look forward to reading it later this year. So far, it's the only book I've supported, but I've certainly been tempted to pledge my support for other titles. In time, I will. Unbound lets you browse or search by category. I was first drawn...

My book club met last night and had a great discussion about both The Art Forger  by B.A. Shapiro   and The Secret Sister  by Diane Chamberlain . We meet every other month and read two books.This year, we're trying a new way to pick books, and each member gets a chance to pick a book. I'm curious to see how our reading will play out. We have two very different (from each other) picks for our March meeting. We'll be reading  Slow Dancing With a Stranger: Lost and Found in the Age of Alzheimer's  by Meryl Comer and The Rosie Project  by Graeme Simsion. I know many of you have loved The Rosie Project , and I'm looking forward to reading it. I'm not familiar with the Comer title, but Alzheimer's is a vicious disease, and while I'm intrigued by it, I imagine it may be difficult for me to read. My book club rarely reads nonfiction, so I am definitely looking forward to some more variety. Now tell me: have you read either of these titles? What did y...

narrated by Julia Whelan The backstory: As a holiday gift to members, Audible enlisted its 2014 narrator of the year, Julia Whelan, to record a new edition of the classic fable, The Snow Queen . ( It's free on Audible until January 31, 2015 .) The basics: The Snow Queen , most recently made more famous as the inspiration for Frozen , is the story of two friends: one who gets lost in the woods and the other who goes on a journey of rescue. My thoughts: I was curious to listen to this inspiration for Frozen . I assumed it would look quite different than the film, which I liked but did not love the way everyone else seems to. And it did, but it was not quite the cozy, winter read I envisioned. The story is divided into seven parts, and I found this structure odd, as not all of the pieces seemed essential. Perhaps the most unexpected part of this story was how overtly Christian it was. Comically, when the story veered to the religious, I turned to look at my car's dashboa...

The backstory: The Silent Sister  is one of my book club's picks for January (we meet every other month and read two books.) The other pick is The Art Forger . The basics: Riley MacPherson has a complicated relationship with her family. When her father dies, she's left to pack up his house. Her veteran brother, who still lives in the small town of New Bern, refuses to help. And her older sister committed suicide when Riley was very young. While going through her father's things, Riley begins doubting some of her family history and sets out to separate fact from fiction. My thoughts: It was challenging to write the description of this novel without spoiling too much. It's challenging to talk about this book much at all without spoiling too much, so this review will remain more vague than I would perhaps like (and I am so looking forward to discussing this one with my book club!) The Silent Sister  is a book I would almost classify as a mystery or a thriller because...

narrated by George Newbern The basics: As the title indicates, The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace  is the story of Robert DeShaun Peace's life, as written by his college roommate Jeff Hobbs, a novelist who relies on the memories of Rob's friends and family members to construct this biography of sorts. My thoughts: As if the title itself isn't descriptive and sad, the subtitle, "a brilliant young man who left Newark for the Ivy League," underscores the sadness of Robert Peace's death. Even though I knew this story ends with his death, I compulsively listened to this book. It begins as a story of success. The tale of Robert Peace's childhood is remarkable and inspiring. It's a story too astonishing to be fiction. Although I knew the ending of this book when I began it, Hobbs writing infuses so many mysteries into this book. I became obsessed with the hows  and whys  of Robert's life. There are so many wow moments, both happy and sad on...

I've finished five books this year. Four of them have counted toward my Read Harder Challenge . While I'm excited to be off to such a great start, I didn't pick any of these books based on the challenge. I'm one-sixth done with the challenge, and I haven't even challenged myself yet. To be fair. I completed seventeen of the twenty-four tasks last year without trying, so for me, a lot of the Read Harder challenge is in line with what I'm already doing. This week I got to thinking: given how easy it is to Read Harder, what other tasks are missing? Here's my list of possibilities so far: A mystery: Romance and sci-fi get love from Read Harder, but what about mysteries? It's my favorite genre, and I think it deserves a spot with those too A historical novel: I love exploring other times and places through historical fiction, and it works across many genres A book published the year you were born: Read Harder goes back before 1850 and includes a 2015 boo...

Last February, I found myself home alone on a Friday night, pregnant, and wishing for a crime drama to watch. (Now I realize that sounds a lot like my current Friday nights, except instead of being pregnant, I'm home alone with a sleeping baby. Ah, the life of a restaurant manager's spouse!) I decided to watch the pilot for   "Bosch," based on Michael Connelly's series, as part of Amazon's pilot season. I liked it, and so after I finished, I picked up my Kindle and started the first book in the series, The Black Echo, which I purchased four years earlier. I was hooked ( my review ), and I proceeded to read all twenty-seven of Michael Connelly 's novels in 2014 (nineteen of them feature Bosch). I'm been impatiently waiting for season one of "Bosch" to premiere, and this week, we (finally) found out when it will: February 13, 2015 . That day also happens to be the day Hawthorne turns six months old, but I didn't plan to take the day off w...