It’s October, which means that people (unlike me) who don’t read thrillers year-round are looking to pick up a book to scare the bejeezus out of them during spooky season. To be honest, the book that scared me the most that I’ve read the last few years was Truman Captoe’s In Cold Blood. I never understood why it frightened me so much, given that … [Read more...]
My Favorite Books of September
September is kind of a weird month. Oklahoma couldn’t decide if it was summer or fall, so I read in the pool and covered up with a blanket on the sofa while it was cold and raining. Since I’m a summer lover, I guess I should be grateful that summer kept reappearing all month. It looks like fall will arrive in October, and … [Read more...]
Life’s Too Short to Read Bad Books
It was inevitable. I had the same algebra teacher for three versions of the subject in as many years of high school. An uninformed student asked the question every year. The rest of us just shook our heads and waited for the answer. Naive student: "Mrs. Poplin, I don't know why we have to learn this anyway. We're never going to use it." Mrs. … [Read more...]
My Favorite Books of August
Don’t you just love balance? I mean, it’s so rare for things in life to be in balance that it’s a real treat when they are. That’s how I feel about my monthly reading progress. I gave three books perfect grades in August. It was one nonfiction book and two fiction. Doesn’t that just feel balanced? My Favorite Books of August … [Read more...]
Making Time for Podcasts
You know that listening to podcasts is beneficial for so many reasons, including helping improve your writing and inspiring content ideas. But how on earth do you fit them in with all of the other things you have to do? Making time for podcasts must be intentional, just like making time for anything else you know you want or need to do, … [Read more...]
My Favorite Book of July
It’s not too often that I only have one favorite book in any month. It’s probably even more rare that my favorite book of July is a book I tried to read previously and dropped. Yet, it’s the situation I find myself in. My Favorite Book of July I read 15 books in July, making it a pretty active reading month. No, I’m still not the lady I … [Read more...]
Why Listen to Podcasts
You’ve probably heard that podcasts are dead. Heck, just about every medium has been “dead” a time or two, according to so-called experts. But the data on podcast listening tell a different story. Almost 465 million people listen to podcasts. That doesn’t seem like any kind of small audience to me, and the number is expected to continue … [Read more...]