What did I miss? is a new feature here at The Grammarian’s Reviews. I thought it was about time I feature weekly updates and highlights from both here and other bloggers. So let’s get on with the recap!
Grammar: a love/hate relationship — My thoughts on being a grammar lover, and grammar nazis.
[review] White Cat by Holly Black — The first book in the Curse Workers series. Highly recommended!
My “real life” experience with reading and books — Part of Armchair BEA week, in which I discuss how my family came together through their love for reading and Harry Potter.
The Best of 2012 — Part of Armchair BEA week, in which I single out my favorite book of 2012, and list some upcoming hopefuls.
An Introduction — My kickoff post for Armchair BEA week, in which I interview myself.
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In other news, I acquired Red Glove AND Black Heart by Holly Black – the next two books in the Curse Workers series! I’m soooo excited to begin reading Red Glove, especially because I’ll be reading along with Amanda. Book buddies ftw!
I also participated in Armchair BEA this week (for a second year), and while it was fun at first, the fun quickly tapered off halfway through, which was a bit of a bummer. I really enjoyed it last year. This year just didn’t click with me. Too much focus on Beyond the Blog stuff left me unable to participate, which ultimately just sucked all the fun out of it. However, I ended up meeting some pretty cool people that I now enjoy talking to on Twitter. So yay!
I’ve also gotten better at scheduling posts! Just about all of this week’s posts I’d scheduled in advance! It made me feel so… productive. So I’m definitely trying to get posts finished ahead of time. It’s a time saver and means I don’t have to scramble around after working all day, trying to put something together. I’d rather take my time with my posts and provide better content. I think it’s been going well. I’ve been getting a lot more feedback on posts and seen a tiny increase in traffic to the site. Whether there’s a correlation between these things or not, I don’t know for sure, but I’m going to take it that way.
Got a Kindle, or thinking of getting one? — Amanda talks about the pros and cons she’s discovered over the course of a year with her own Kindle.
Cialina reviewed Red Glove just after I happened to finish White Cat — Her review made me super pumped and hopeful to continue the series!
Online book clubs — Amanda at LIO, while talking about how she goes Beyond the Blog, mentioned her online book club. I had no idea such things actually existed. Sure, I’d heard of them before, but for older people. But what really caught my attention was that Amanda’s club employs Skype for communication. How frickin’ awesome is that? Reading and talking about books? Online? I’d love to organize something like that, if it were possible and garnered enough interest/availability.
Sarah posted some beautiful shots of NYC — With this past week being BEA week, I was hardcore longing to be in the city; these pictures helped to make me feel like I was there, if only for a few seconds.
Socialpunk by Monica Leonelle
Ima would give anything to escape The Dome and learn what’s beyond its barriers, but the Chicago government has kept all its citizens on lockdown ever since the Scorched Years left most of the world a desert wasteland. When a mysterious group of hooded figures enters the city unexpectedly, Ima uncovers a plot to destroy The Dome and is given the choice between escaping to a new, dangerous city or staying behind and fighting a battle she can never win.
As a kick-off to the Socialpunk blog tour, I thought it’d only be fitting to get all of you excited about this book and trilogy, too! The description is a little reminiscent of The Hunger Games, isn’t it? Or, perhaps, The Water Wars? Either way, it looks like a promising dystopian read. But, if you won’t take my word for it, read for yourself! Below are three links to Kindle, Nook/iPad and PDF files of preview chapters. Check ‘em out!
Socialpunk Preview for Kindle .mobi file
Oh, and did I mention there’s a contest running from April 3rd – April 30th? ‘Cause there is, and you should totally participate and pass the news along. There are some GREAT prizes.
Monica Leonelle is a well-known digital media strategist and the author of three novels. She blogs at Prose on Fire (http://proseonfire.com) and shares her writing and social media knowledge with other bloggers and authors through her Free Writer Toolkit (http://proseonfire.com/free-writer-toolkit).
