Jul 27, 2011

To Say Nothing of the Dog

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis was a very enjoyable read with history, time travel, romance, dogs, cats, jumble sales, butlers, a row boat trip down the Thames and a lot of humor.

It's the story of Ned Henry who is badly in need of a rest. He's been shuttling between the 21st century and the 1940's searching for a Victorian atrocity called the bishop's bird stump. It's part of a project to restore the famed Coventry Cathedral, destroyed in a Nazi raid over a hundred years earlier. But then Verity Kindle, a fellow time traveler, inadvertently brings back something from the past. Now Ned must jump back to the Victorian era to help Verity put things right -- not only to save the project, but to prevent altering history itself.

Connie Willis is a multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards winner, and I felt as if I got some Jane Austen mixed into my sci-fi. As a Jane Austen fan [big time, bet you'd not guess that], this book was a winner for me. I'll definitely give Connie's other books a read.

Currently, I'm reading Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, which I'm getting much pleasure from. I like the complicated story he's weaving with a very large cast. His characters are interesting and so are all the plots. I've heard folks rave about George, so I bought this book to see what all he's about. So far, so good.


Blogfests

Novel Films Blogfest, hosted by Madeleine of Scribble and Edit, August 1-3. Listing of novels, comics and plays that you have BOTH read and seen the film/ TV adaptations. Madeleine provides a link on her site to help you pick out what you've seen and read.




The Spark Blogfest, hosted by Christine Tyler of The Writer Coaster, August 22-26. What book made you realize you were doomed to be a writer? What author was the spark of inspiration for your first ms?


My free reads have been accepted into the premium catalog, so soon they'll be available for download from B&N, Apple, Sony and more. Currently available in all ereader formats from Smashwords:



Other recommended reads:

Burning Love by Nomar Knight. I first read this story as a serial on Nomar's blog. Raw, original, dark and creative, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Nomar kept surprising me, which kept me wanting more. I now thrill in owning a copy of it to read through again. Available from Amazon.

Twist and Burn by Libby Heily. A collection of flash fiction. Having read several pieces by Libby on her blog, I look forward to delving into this collection. She's always original and usually quirky and surprising. I love quirky and odd.