More Words About Books – Page 13 – We don't know when to quit

September 25, 2020

Books Referenced In Upcoming Episodes

The first year of Words About Books has flown by. We’ve learned a lot about podcasting since we started back in January, and we’ve picked up quite a few new listeners. There have been numerous suggestions/ideas for new books, episode formats, and non-book content. We’ve also noticed that people seem to prefer shorter episodes released more frequently. With these things...

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August 21, 2020

Duke of Caladan, Nate, and Indefensible positions

Hey all, Nate here! This blog is going to be rough around the edges as I vomit stream-of-conscious thought onto you. I’ve decided to put most of my praise for Dune here where less people will be exposed to it, here on this blog. At the end of the fourth episode of our podcast I say that, although I...

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July 25, 2020

Dune – A Spicy Hot Take

(Buy that Muad’Dib poster) Nate and I always get a little nervous when our recorded conversations start to head into territory that could be considered “political”. The internet can be fickle and unforgiving when it comes to these topics. Unfortunately, Dune is one of those books that is inherently political. If you happened to listen to the outtake section of...

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July 5, 2020

Marked – Tonal Dissonance

Recently on the podcast we discussed “Marked” by Sarah Fine. As I write this post, I’ve just finished up editing for our second and final episode in the series on Marked. It’s been some time since the recording and the present. As I was listening to the playback I found myself frowning whenever I disparagingly referred to certain scenes in the...

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May 24, 2020

The Fold: Active vs Passive Reading

It’s no secret that I didn’t enjoy The Fold. I think Nate and I make a fairly good argument that the text has numerous logical errors, inconsistent character motivations, and some truly bizarre plot choices. According to goodreads I’m in the minority, though. The overwhelming majority of readers “liked” the book. With that in mind, I want to explore the...

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May 23, 2020

Words About Words – Creative (noun; informal)

In this series, I’ll be discussing words that for whatever reason always bother me when I hear them. I’ve tried talking to Nate about these things, but he usually tells me that he hears his wife calling him, and then the Zoom meeting ends. So I’m taking my pedantic rants to the street. Welcome, Dear Reader, to Words About Words....

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April 26, 2020

Head Full of Ghosts: A Complicated Relationship With Horror

The show had horror fans hooked at hello because, frankly, most of us are not picky. We’re like the family dog that wags its tail at a treat, no matter if it’s a crappy store-brand Milk-Bone or a piece of steak. We (yes, I’m still speaking for you, horror hound) don’t mind the familiar and recycled as long as we...

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April 9, 2020

Corona Virus Special: Reading Survival Guide

Recently on Words About Books we decided to do an episode where we discuss some different ideas for reading material that may help pass the time during quarantine. We gave a few suggestions for ways to get free or cheap e-books, and some of our personal reading recommendations. In this post I’d like to expand on some of the things we...

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Ben's books

The President Is Missing

by Bill Clinton

Where to start with this book? Should I talk about how I don't believe that either James Patterson or Bill Clinton actually did much of the writing? Should I talk about how Bill Clinton is spending his retirement creating Bill Clinton fa...

A Court of Mist and Fury

by Sarah J. Maas

I thought this was pretty ok. I'm team Night Court. I really enjoy that Feyre is getting to have a hipster phase with the cool kids in a fancy Bohemian city. I dont even mind that she has all the super powers, I thought that would bug me...

The Infernal City

by Greg Keyes

I don't often do this, but I'm going to engage in a controversial DNF review. I'm fairly confident that being forced to read every word of the rest of it would only lower my score. I made it about half way through Part 1 of the audio boo...

Beowulf: A New Translation for Oral Delivery (Hackett Classics) by Dick Ringler (1-Oct-2007) Paperback

Beowulf: A New Translation for Oral Delivery (Hackett Classics) by Dick Ringler (1-Oct-2007) Paperback

by Unknown Author

I've read a few translations of Beowulf, and the only thing that's really missing from this one is the original language text. Ringler does a pretty good job of the translation itself. He includes very solid explanation and context as well.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

by Rebecca Wells

I'm neither a mother nor a daughter so take this with a grain of salt, I guess. Siddalee is a famous stage director who stages a hit play. She's interviewed for a New York Times article. When asked about her childhood she accidentally pr...

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