What are you reading?

» Posted by Alissa on Nov 23, 2009 in What I'm Reading | 10 comments

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading is a weekly group blog sponsored by J. Kaye’s Book Blog to add your blog to the list, click here.

This week I read an exciting science fiction novel, The January Dancer by Michael Flynn, a wonderful writing book by Kate Wilhelm called Storyteller and listened to the audio book version of The Last Summer (of You and Me) by Ann Brashares.

The January Dancer

I enjoyed the two previous novels by Michael Flynn that I read, Eifelheim and The Wreck of the River of Stars, so I was pretty sure that I was going to enjoy The January Dancer, as well. From page one I was captivated by this science fiction tale about a magic stone and the cast of characters that want to get their hands on it, or, at least, keep it from falling into the wrong hands. The book travels from planet to planet and while keeping track of all of the characters does at first prove difficult (there is actually a cheat sheet at the front of the book) they all soon feel like old friends. It’s books like The January Dancer that made me fall in love with science fiction in the first place. Once again, Michael Flynn has written another great book.

Storyteller: Writing lessons and more from 27 years of the Clarion Writers’ Workshop

Learning how to great books is the story behind Storyteller by Kate Wilhelm. I do have a soft spot in my heart for books about writing, and it’s even better when the writing book is written by someone whose work I admire. In addition to being a successful novelist, Kate Wilhelm along with her husband Damon Knight was one of the instructors for the legendary and long-standing Clarion Writers’ Workshop, which focused on the writing of science fiction short stories. Storyteller is in part a memoir, describing the establishment of the workshop and some of the issues and adventures of the early years of the workshop, but it is also one of the most inspiring writing advice books I have ever read. Rather than focusing on science fiction, Wilhelm provides wonderful advice for the crafting of good stories. There are so many lessons here that it’s hard to take them all in in one reading. I am already thinking I need to go back and read some sections again. For anyone interested in writing, I highly recommend you get your hands on a copy of Storyteller.

The Last Summer (of You and Me)

I’ve read some of the Traveling Pants books before, and having just learned this week thanks to Heim Binas Fiction, that “new adult” is the term applied to books that have crossed over the YA divide, featuring characters just beyond their teen years, it seemed very appropriate to be listening to Ann Brashares’ new adult novel The Last Summer (of You and Me). The novel has what I would call a “literary fiction” feel to it. Unfortunately, in my mind I associate literary fiction with not a lot happening, and that was my biggest problem with this novel. It just moved so slowly. It is a sad and ponderous novel, which is ultimately a love story, but it’s also about growing up and the inevitability of change. In many ways that’s what the Traveling Pants books were, but the Traveling Pants books were fun and The Last Summer (of You and Me) lacked that magical fun feeling of those books.

What’s on tap?

I have a blank reading slate before me, and a holiday that will probably interfere somewhat with my reading, but at the moment I haven’t decided what I’ll be starting next.