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What Have You Read Lately?

8/29/2016

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So, if one is going to be a writer, one must also be an avid reader. At the back of Stephen King's On Writing are not one but two lists of over a hundred books that he recommends (mark that, not ones he has just read, but ones he has read AND recommends). Now, I am not a very fast reader and I don't devote nearly enough of my "free" time to reading, BUT I did enter into a reading challenge with my husband this year. We each pledged to read 20 books in 2016, and I'm currently sitting at 18. Here is a very brief list and rundown of what I maybe learned from reading each book.

1. Life After Life - Kate Atkinson: Different story structure - highly recommend!
2. Gideon - Alex Gordon: Pacing - recommend
3. Terms of Enlistment - Marko Kloos: I don't hate military science fiction - recommend
4. Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie: Universe building, voice, POV, don't judge a book by its cover - highly recommend!!!
5. The Brothers Jetstream - Leviathon - Zig Zag Claybourne: wacky humor - recommend to Terry Pratchett lovers
6. The Women's Murder Club: 1st to Die - James Patterson: Quantity not quality sometimes wins out
7. Honeymoon - James Patterson: See above...just kidding. James Patterson has a very specific formula for his thriller books that appeals to many people. There is something to be said for following a proven path.
8. Ancillary Sword - Ann Leckie: Keeping certain elements consistent through a series while adding new elements - Highly recommend!!!
9. The Aeronaut's Windlass - Jim Butcher: Thought Jim Butcher had pretty much perfected his writing skills with the last few Harry Dresden novels...I was wrong! Can always get better as a writer!!! - Most highly recommend!!!
10. Ancillary Mercy - Ann Leckie: Don't answer all questions at the end of a series and wrap things up in a nice little bow, but answer most questions. People like satisfying endings. - highly recommend!!!
11. The Wizard of OZ - L. Frank Baum: Sometimes classics aren't that good
12. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold: Voice, POV, style - highly recommend
13. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline: Books with strong hooks don't need to be as well written - recommend to people obsessed with the 80s
14. The Outliers - Kimberly McCreight: Don't have your characters do things out of character or for no reason or both, not great books get published all the time
15. The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins: Main characters with huge flaws but who want to get better can really get the reader in their corner wanting them to get better too - highly recommend
16. On Writing - Stephen King: Situations drive a story, not plot - very highly recommend
17. The Girls - Emma Cline: A bestseller doesn't have to have a plot as long as it has florid prose and sex
18. The Mechanical - Ian Tregillis: POV, mashup of scifi, magic, and philosophy, just a really flipping good book - very highly recommend!!!


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    My name is Jen Haeger and I have a degree in Veterinary Medicine as well as a Master's in Forensic Science, so I decided to forget all that and write  novels. I used to read quite a bit as a youth, but was not introduced to truly spectacular writing until my husband showed me the works of Jim Butcher, Neil Gaiman, Philip Pullman, and others. We are both enormous dorks and enjoy Science Fiction, Fantasy, Board Games, and RPGs, but also try to get out backpacking every once in a while (much easier to do when we lived in New Zealand). Cheers!
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