Monthly Archives: March 2009
Winner of Sorrow review
I’m coming out of my blogging break momentarily to send you over to a review of Brian Lynch’s novel The Winner of Sorrow I published over at The Quarterly Conversation. I’ve written about the book here, but I wanted to … Continue reading
A brief break
I think I’m in need of a blog break. Litlove is taking one, and it sounds so nice, I think I need one too. I love blogging and all, but sometimes … I’m out of energy. I do have a … Continue reading
Filed under Blogging
Saturday thoughts
I am resolutely ignoring the fact that I will be racing tomorrow, and, even worse, riding in two races. I find that denial is the best way to manage nerves. So — tomorrow will be a quiet day where I … Continue reading
Elizabeth George’s A Great Deliverance
Well, this one didn’t work out as planned. Several people whose taste I respect recommended Elizabeth George to me, so I was happy to pick up the first installment of her Inspector Lynley series, A Great Deliverance. There are lots … Continue reading
On biography
I decided to take Zhiv’s advice and continue reading David Cecil’s The Stricken Deer, a biography of William Cowper (I also wrote about the book here). I am maybe a third of the way through it at this point. It’s … Continue reading
Filed under Books, Nonfiction
Race report: two races, 53 miles, lots of fun
I did something today I’ve never done before — I rode in two races. I see other people doing this all the time, but usually I feel so beat-up after just one race that I can’t contemplate doing another. But … Continue reading
Filed under Cycling
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
Muriel Barbery’s novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog has me thinking about the ways plausibility and realism aren’t necessarily that important in fiction. Sometimes, with certain kinds of books, yes, they are important, as some books set up an expectation … Continue reading
The 25 influential writers meme
I saw this over at Reassigned Time and thought it would be fun to do here. The instructions are to “name 25 writers who have influenced you. These are not necessarily your favorite writers or those you most admire, but … Continue reading
The Stricken Deer
Because of my recent interest in William Cowper, an interest inspired by Brian Lynch’s novel about his life, The Winner of Sorrow (which I wrote about here), I requested from my library a copy of David Cecil’s 1930 biography of … Continue reading
Filed under Books, Nonfiction
First race of the season
My first race of the season was today and it didn’t suck! Yay! Actually, I did the best I’ve ever done for the first race of the season, which is to say that I finished with the pack. My usual … Continue reading
Filed under Cycling
Updates
I’m taking an online course! I’m weirdly excited about this. It’s an online course in how to teach courses online — and yes, I’m doing this backwards because I’ve already taught courses online. Two, in fact. And it’s only now … Continue reading
Disagreements
I came across a really great talk by Elizabeth Gilbert (via Chekhov’s Mistress), which you can find here. She talks about what it’s like to have written a best seller and then to feel paralyzed because she may never write … Continue reading
A final Jane Austen post
I had a lovely snow day today — well, except for the snow — in which I did a lot of nothing: some reading, some email writing, some napping, some gazing out the window. There was some work I could … Continue reading
Filed under Books, Nonfiction
