Today was the deadline for this year’s Hugo Award nominations, so I finally got down to work and submitted my ballot. I’m not sufficiently knowledgeable of the field to submit nominations in every category, but I also wanted to talk about what works I did nominate, and why. So here goes: Best Novel The Steel Seraglio… Continue Reading
Writing News Taking Tobin’s course in creative writing has really increased my confidence, and so I decided to try my hand at writing a few short stories (flash fiction, really) and entering them into contests. One of the contests is still ongoing, but I have great news about the other one: I made it on… Continue Reading
Title: Silent Girl Author: Tricia Dower Rating: 3 out of 5 Publisher: Inanna Publications Format: Print For a long time, I’ve dreamed about writing an anthology of stories told from the perspective of various female figures from classical mythology. I even have a name for this imagined anthology – but of course, I won’t mention… Continue Reading
On New Year’s Day, I was all rarin’ to go to get started on my 50 book challenge for 2013. Now that the month is over, the tally is pretty good: 5 books! However, that figure doesn’t take into account the huge number of short stories I read and/or listen to on a regular basis. I caught… Continue Reading
Today I read After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn. Although it was fun and an incredibly quick read, I’m not sure if I’ll review it here. However, there was a passage in it that struck me and is making me ask questions about what fiction can do, or should do – or at least about… Continue Reading
Title: Tales from Outer Suburbia Author: Shaun Tan Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books Format: Print Rating: 5 out of 5 In a conversation published by the Guardian in 2011, Shaun Tan revealed that his original intention was not to become an illustrator, but a writer. However, his writing was poorly received, and he changed tracks… Continue Reading
I just saw Life of Pi in the theatres last night with my fiancé and loved it. I loved the visuals – the colours were bright and lush without being cloying. The score (which I’m listening to as I write this) was absolutely delightful, and provided the perfect accompaniment to the images on the screen; where those… Continue Reading
Now that 2012 is through, it’s time to look back over a year of reviewing books. I said early in the year that I wanted to review at least 40 books and analyze my reading habits according to certain criteria. In particular, I wondered how I would rate print books compared to eBooks, and books by male… Continue Reading
This is it – my 40th book review of the year! When I pledged to do 40 book reviews a year ago, I had no idea what I was setting myself up for. Now, with this final entry, we can all bask in the satisfaction of someone actually finishing what they start. But anyways, onwards… Continue Reading
© Christina Vasilevski, 2009 – 2013. Fonts courtesy of Google Web Fonts.