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Book Preview: Weave a Circle Round (currently reading)

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Following my shameful admission earlier this week, I’ll add this one: a friend of mine published a book a year and a half ago, and I’ve owned it for much of that time, but I hadn’t even read the first page until this week.

I am very quickly remedying this, though, as I have already finished over half of Kari Maaren’s Weave a Circle Round since I started into it on Monday. It is a fantasy novel in the YA range. I have been enjoying it so far, but that’s all I’ll say in that regard until I finish it.

I will at least say that I strongly identify with the main character, 14-year-old Freddy Duchamp, at least when it comes to her introverted tendencies. One particular line in the 1st chapter jumped out at me, explaining my own desire to avoid confrontation in a way I had never consciously thought of it: “Confronting people was just another way of drawing attention to yourself, which wasn’t the best thing to do when you weren’t even sure you were right about anything.” This is me to a T.

I will have more to say on this book next week, as I expect to have finished reading it by then, but for now, let me point you in the direction of Kari’s other works of fiction. I have been a reader of her web comics for 5 years now, reading West of Bathurst from the start right after it ended. I enjoyed it immensely, despite being a bit lost about things specifically related to the setting. Then she began a new web comic, which is still going on now, called It Never Rains. I recommend both of them, especially if you’re a fan of fantasy or sci-fi. (Also, I’m sort of in It Never Rains, which I forgot about until right now.)

Find out more about Kari Maaren and Weave a Circle Round

For Fellow Readers

/ Kristi / 4 Comments

Continuing with changes to my blog that started with no longer posting daily check-ins to report on writing work I’ve done, I am adding a new feature. This is oddly in a similar vein to my writing updates, because in a way it will help me hold myself accountable to a habit I want to develop (or in this case, re-develop), but hopefully will also prove considerably more interesting to readers of the blog than my writing check-ins.

Shameful admission time: I have read less books in the last 10 years than I care to say. I used to be an avid reader. Up through high school, I was one of those kids whose moms had to kick them out of the house to get some fresh air, because I’d rather spend my free time reading. I still read a lot for the next several years, until my own kids started to eat up my free time. Then stress and difficult-to-deal-with jobs, and the abundance of technological entertainment made it easier (and at the time I thought better) to play games or watch something in my free time.

Now it’s time to remedy that. I have started reading a new book, one which I’ve had for about a year and a half, and seemed to be a good place to start. And I’ve already realized how much I miss reading.

Because I’m me, I decided that it was fitting to share my rekindling of this joy here on my blog. I’ll be starting up a new segment later this week. On Fridays, I’ll share something about books–whether about what I’m reading right now or have recently finished reading, books or series I’ve enjoyed in the past, or maybe books that are on my “to be read” list (or even just an “I’m curious about this” list).

I don’t know how quickly I’ll make it through any books, and my preference for books may be more selective, eclectic, or just very different, from others. But I’m open to suggestions for books to consider, especially as I start to make known what types of books I do read.

For now, I will leave you with this: What genre of books do you read most? Who are your favorite authors? What books would you most recommend to others?