George and the Galactic Games has a new cover!

My first published novel, George and the Galactic Games, has a new cover! This is the fifth cover for the book and definitely my favorite. I made the first two covers myself, and I wasn't too happy with either one, so I hired an artist to create a more professional cover. That cover lasted for a while until I tired of it and hired a different artist to create the fourth cover. The fourth one had served as the cover for the book for the last few years, longer than any of the previous three. I wasn't looking to replace the cover until this one came along, and I immediately wanted it to be the new face of the book. I love this cover because it not only conveys a scene from the story, but the style also fits the middle-grade level that is the book's target audience. I have a feeling I'll be keeping this cover for a long, long time.

Special edition books

 

 Midnight Edition of The Dandelion Dynasty from The Broken Binding

To the detriment of my bank account, I have become addicted to buying special edition books this year. If I had to trace the practice to any singular event, it would be Brandon Sanderson's Secret Projects Kickstarter. The premium hardcovers looked so much nicer than regular hardcovers that I wanted to populate my bookshelves with more special edition books. Now, a year later, I have one bookshelf where two-thirds of the books are special editions.

It's not just Brandon Sanderson and his premium hardcovers and leatherbound editions that fueled my new book buying addiction. Social media and the rise of book subscription boxes have made books with stenciled or sprayed edges enticing and easy to obtain. My latest arrival, shown in the photos above, are the Midnight Editions of Ken Liu's The Dandelion Dynasty series. I jumped on that purchase as soon as I saw The Broken Binding advertise the books. Given the amount of money I've spent on special editions in the past year, I need to be better about budgeting my book purchases. Because special edition books are more expensive than typical hardcovers, I will need to buy fewer books than before. That sounds outrageous to a book lover like me, but unless I want to go broke or until I win the lottery, it's the prudent thing to do. On the other hand, I consider it a price worth paying (pun intended) for filling my bookshelves with such pretty books.

The struggles of writing with an all-consuming, stressful day job

For those who aren't aware, I do not make my living as an author. I wish I could, but I don't sell nearly as many books as I need to in order to feed myself or keep a roof over my head. Instead, I have a day job that provides me with financial stability. I'm certainly not unique in that respect. Plenty of authors work a day job as their primary means of income.

I've been able to juggle writing and a day job for many years. All of the books I've written so far have been while I was working a full-time job. However, that has changed in the past year. I released my last book, Soulless, in November. I haven't written anything since. At the beginning of the year, I had fully intended to start drafting the next book in the After Z-Day series, but it's now August, and I haven't written a single word. Last fall, my day job ramped up in intensity to the point where I often work evenings and weekend. Even when I do have time when I'm not working, I'm so mentally exhausted that I can't think about telling a story.

What am I to do? To start with, I recognize I'm in a phase of life where writing is difficult for me. Instead of churning out words for the sake of releasing another book, I'm waiting until I can focus on writing a good book. I owe that to my readers. Although I'm not writing a first draft, I do think about the story for my next book every now and then. I have a brief outline, and I add to it or revise it when I can. I hope that when I finally have the time and mental energy to write again, thinking about the story in advance will make drafting easier. Finally, I'm still reading as much as I used to. Reading is easier than writing for me because I don't need to be in the proper state of mind to read. If anything, reading helps me de-stress from my day job. I've read some really good books this year, and I'm learning from the authors I read so that I can be a better author when I start writing again.

I don't know when my day job will let up enough to allow me to write, but I hope it's soon. I'm looking forward to writing the next installment of the After Z-Day series and sharing it with all of you.

Thoughts on NYT's 100 best books of the 21st century

After the New York Times published their list of the 100 best books of the 21st century, I saw quite a bit of commentary on it. There was expected criticism of the books on the list and books people thought should have made the list. Other posts from readers talked about how many of the 100 books they read and what their favorites were. I'm going to take the latter approach.

As I combed through the list, I was surprised to find that I only read 7 of the books. The ones I read (and their ranking on the NYT list in parenthesis) were:

1. The Overstory by Richard Powers (24)
2. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (28)
3. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (36)
4. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison (44)
5. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (46)
6. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (76)
7. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (93)

There were a few more on my TBR that I haven't gotten to yet, but I also hadn't heard of many of the books. You may also find it surprising that I didn't give any of the 7 books I read a 5-star rating since they are supposed to be among this century's best. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Station Eleven were my favorites from the list, and they both received 4-star ratings. They were good books but not great. In retrospect, I should have expected this because my 2020 reading challenge to read New York Times bestsellers did not go well.

As a curated list, I don't place much weight on the NYT best books of the 21st century because I know that my tastes differ from what lands on their bestseller lists. I did find the online discussions about the list to be a positive outcome because people should talk more about books. The list also provided me with some candidates to add to my TBR. Based on past experiences, I may not enjoy them as much as other books, but IMHO you can't go wrong with reading more books.

Update on re-reading five-star books

At the beginning of the year, I decided that my reading goal for this year is to re-read some of my favorite books. Six months into the endeavor, I'd say it's been a success.

These are the books I've re-read so far:

• January - Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
• February - Find Her by Lisa Gardner
• March - The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
• April - When You See Me by Lisa Gardner
• May - Arcanum Unbounded by Brandon Sanderson
• June - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

If you're thinking, "Half of those books are by Brandon Sanderson," you'd be right. Each month in 2024, I'm planning to alternate between re-reading a Brandon Sanderson book and a book by another author. That I'm willing to spend half of my re-reading allotment on Sanderson is a testament to how much I enjoy his books.

You might have also noticed two books by Lisa Gardner on the list. This was unexpected. I had planned to re-read Find Her all along since it's my favorite Lisa Gardner book and one of my favorite thrillers of all time. However, in reading the book again, I loved it so much that I wanted to read another book in the same series. I don't anticipate re-reading another Lisa Gardner book this year, but she has a new book, Still See You Everywhere, that's on my TBR list.

That highlights what I discovered so far through the six books I've re-read. They are all still 5-star books for me. The passage of time hasn't diminished how much I like each one. Given how well the re-read has gone so far, I wouldn't be surprised to re-read more of my favorite books next year.

The Dandelion Dynasty

I just finished reading The Dandelion Dynasty, and I need to let more people know about it because the series was so good!

There are four books in this silkpunk fantasy series:

1. The Grace of Kings
2. The Wall of Storms
3. The Veiled Throne
4. Speaking Bones

I rated each book 5 stars, which I don't often do even for series I really like. Every book was great on its own, and the end result is one of my favorite epic fantasy series of all time. Among epic fantasy series that are already complete, The Dandelion Dynasty might be my favorite.

There are two aspects of The Dandelion Dynasty that set it apart from other books (not just fantasy books) I've read. No series has taken me on an emotional roller coaster like this one did. Whenever I thought things were going well for the protagonists, Ken Liu would throw a wrench into their plans, and whenever the characters faced seemingly insurmountable odds, a ray of light appeared. It was gut wrenching to read the books, but thankfully, by the time I read Speaking Bones, I was used to the ups and downs, so I could handle what happened and how the various character arcs concluded. But boy, was it stressful, in a good way though.

I have also never saved quotes from a book like I did with these. There were so many nuggets of wisdom littered throughout each book that I found myself wanting to write them all down. This series could serve as philosophy text as easily as an enjoyable fantasy story. I didn't get to take all the notes I wanted to, so I will definitely need to re-read the series and jot down everything that I found noteworthy.

Not only did I think The Dandelion Dynasty was a wonderful series, but I also don't feel like it's gotten the recognition and popularity it deserves. I hardly hear anyone talk about it, so I want to promote it as much as I can. If you're a fan of the fantasy genre or just want to try books that are thought-provoking with brilliant world-building and character development, give The Dandelion Dynasty a read!

Large print books

 

As I get older and my eyes lose the sharpness of youth, I appreciate large print books more and more. It's hard to believe that until about five years ago, I didn't know about large print books, and it hasn't been until 2022 that I started reading them. Before the pandemic, I'd noticed that there's a large print books section at my local public library, but the selection was limited, so I didn't browse there. It was only after a book I wanted was only available in large print that I checked one out, and what a game changer that has become.

Most of the books I read are still the regular variety rather than large print because it's easier to buy books in regular print, but when I go to the library nowadays, I head for the large print section first. There still isn't much of a selection, but I've been pleasantly surprised to find new releases in large print that aren't available in regular print. Perhaps most patrons aren't aware of large print books yet, and I'm happy for their ignorance to continue.

When I read a large print book at home, I can do so without my reading glasses, which is a welcomed blessing during early mornings or late nights when I don't want to wear my glasses. It's always jarring when I switch from a large print book to a regular print book because the font size of regular print books looks so small in comparison. The transition also reminds me that I need to put on my reading glasses. 

I would read large print books primarily if there was a wider selection of them. I also wish there were special editions in large print. I've been buying more editions of books with special covers, stenciled edges, or other extra treatments, but I haven't seen any in large print. Hopefully, with the growing popularity of special edition books for book subscription services, someone will cater to the large print market too. When that happens, large print books will likely become my default book format.