As a new year’s resolution, I am posting twice a week for 2023: my Saturday update and a Wednesday book review. The reviews are of books I’ve read over the past year or perhaps a bit longer, as well as memorable books I’ve read before.  The reviews are short: a one-sentence summary, and why I gave it the score I did. Hope you enjoy them!

1984 by George Orwell

Classic SF 5/5

Winston, a clerk in an authoritarian regime whose job it is to erase the past in favor of the Party’s truth, recognizes there could be a different way of living. This novel is a must-read, if only to understand assumptions that underpin cultural references. Beyond this, Winston is a character the reader desperately wants to triumph in the face of a beautifully drawn, ubiquitous dystopia that resonates with too many elements of modern history. Only the info-dump of world history in the middle keeps this from being a 5+ in my eyes.

Last week being Christmas, not much writing done, but I did finish the reviews I plan to post weekly leading up to my novel coming out in the summer.

Yes, leading up to Christmas, I didn’t get a ton of stuff done–a few more book reviews. I’ve also decided which book I will work on next (it was a toss up between a sequel to the WWII novel or a near-future SF) and decided to go with the sequel because I want to set it Lyons and it looks more and more like I will visit there this spring, so I want to do the research and some pre-planning leading up to the trip. Part of that includes writing a grant application because, money–why not? I’ve been collecting a bunch of books I want to read in preparation, so I’ll dive into those.

Finished edits on this phase of the non-fiction book–waiting on the author, now. Plan to dig out from a bunch of stuff then work on the new novel.