I’m going to stick to my guns here, enforce my long time rule for selecting the top ten list which is “Do I want to read this book again someday?” The answer must be yes to qualify. Which means there are many books that I loved reading that will not make the list. Lots of books are great books, great reads, but not something I’ll … Continue reading Top Ten Favorite Reads for 2016.
Last spring I attended the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) annual conference in Los Angeles where I was very impressed by the quantity and the quality of small literary journals in the exhibit hall. There’s far more of them out there than you probably suspect. I had nearly no money to spend, no cash that is, and very few of the small presses … Continue reading The Santa Monica Review vs. The Pinch: A Tournament of Short Stories II Post
Today marks the official end of the final TBR Triple Dog Dare. How did you do? Except for some reading I did for school, mostly YA stuff, I stuck to the challenge reading only books on my TBR shelves or the hold queue at my local library. I did do some shopping, and a few books arrived in the mail, they have all been waiting … Continue reading The TBR Triple Dog Dare Comes to Its Final Close…So How Did You Do?
It’s so tempting to fall off the wagon at this point. Just eleven days left in the TBR Triple Dog Dare, but if you’re like me, then you already have a small stack of books you bought surreptitiously somewhere in your house tempting you to stray. Resist. I confess that I have been to the bookstore twice already and that I do have a small … Continue reading TBR Triple Dog Dare – Just 11 Days To Go. You Can Do It!
I was sorely tempted this week, but I resisted. Over the many years now that I’ve run the TBR Dare, it’s gotten much easier to do. The first year was tough, very tough, but now sticking to my own TBR shelves for the first three months of the year has become kind of a habit. But February is still a difficult month. Six plus weeks … Continue reading TBR Triple Dog Dare Temptations
Did you dare? How are you doing? It’s been a month, one-third of the way through, how is everyone doing with the TBR Triple Dog Dare? So far it’s been pretty easy for me this time around–probably a result of doing it for so many years now I’ve lost count. I’ve developed something of a taste for my own TBR shelves lately anyway; I’m not … Continue reading Sunday Salon: The TBR Triple Dog Dare Month One Check In
So, how’s it going? I’m hoping to get a chance to go out for coffee and book review writing later today, but I thought I’d put up a post just to see how everyone is doing with The TBR Triple Dog Dare so far. It’s been a week? Having fun yet? I’ve removed two books from my TBR shelves forever. While neither will make it … Continue reading Sunday Salon: Did You Dare? How Are You Doing?
Serves me right, really. Going on a book buying binge, even a small one, like I did the day before The TBR Double Dog Dare began. And buying two books by an author I’ve never read based on her reviews alone. Karin Fossum has been getting a lot of praise around the book blog/book review world of late. Her Inspector Sejer mystery series has been … Continue reading Sunday Salon: One Book I Won’t Be Finishing and One I Might
After a bout of begging on Twitter, which should have a special term (twegging?), we have 51 brave souls taking The TBR Double Dog Dare from as far away as Bulgaria, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. Good luck to everyone. I did manage to do some reading over the holidays in spite of having to re-do the floor in the basement which flooded during … Continue reading Sunday (Ramble) Salon
Jim Thompson is considered one of the masters of American crime fiction. So how is it that I never read him until now? I’ve no reason for not reading him before, but I have to say that I was not all that impressed. Reading After Dark, My Sweet was a deja vu experience, I kept sensing that I’d already read something just like this before. After … Continue reading After Dark, My Sweet by Jim Thompson
As of this morning, 33 of the 39 cool book bloggers have already signed up for The TBR Double Dog Dare. Dakota, who looks very cool in her dark glasses (She thinks she’s Jackie O.), and I are hoping to get you and the other remaining five cool book bloggers to sign up before midnight tomorrow. (We know you’re cool because you read James Reads Books!) Who knows, … Continue reading All but Six of the Cool Book Bloggers Have Already Taken the TBR Double Dog Dare
Looking for a last minute Christmas gift for your book-loving friends and loved ones? Want to give something special to a partner overwhelmed by the piles of books you have stacked around your apartment? Has your mother been threatening to leave your books at the curb if you don’t find somewhere to put them all? The TBR Double Dog Dare is for you! Sign yourself … Continue reading This Season Give the Gift of the TBR Double Dog Dare!
May Contain Spoilers 