books
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What to Read While Breastfeeding: A Primer
Well, things got busy. We welcomed a new addition to our family, muscled through some major house infestation issues (with a five-week-old! super fun), and started preschool. And now *cough* it’s December. Whoops. Still, I’ve managed to scrape out some… Continue reading
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Book Review: Invictus by Ryan Graudin
Invictus by Ryan Graudin Little, Brown, September 2017 Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, Historical Fantasy (Time Travel) Farway Gaius McCarthy was born outside of time. The son of a time traveler from 2354 AD and a gladiator living in ancient Rome, Far’s… Continue reading
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The Audio Files
Lately I’ve been nostalgic for books. It feels like forever and an age since I got to curl up on the couch and sink into a book, and so I’ve been pining for the days of new parenthood, when weirdly… Continue reading
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Book Review: The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein
The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein Disney-Hyperion, May 2017 Genre: YA Historical Before Verity . . . there was Julie. When fifteen-year-old Julia Beaufort-Stuart wakes up in the hospital, she knows the lazy summer break she’d imagined won’t be exactly… Continue reading
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A Podcast, You Say? Oh, Witch, Please!
After years of my sister telling me all about her favorite podcasts and me nodding and saying I’ll listen to them but forgetting to look them up, I finally got into them. And by “them” I really mean one in particular:… Continue reading
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Book Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart Delacorte Press, May 2014 Genre: YA Contemporary, Suspense A beautiful and distinguished family. A private island. A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy. A group of four friends–the Liars–whose friendship turns destructive. A revolution.… Continue reading
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It’s Elementary
Lately I’ve been indulging in an orgy of Sherlock. Not just the BBC show (although we recently finished the third episode of the latest season, and MAN was that dark), but books and radio dramas, too. Modern adaptations, stories that play… Continue reading
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Lessons in Fantasy World-Building: Creating the Magical World
In September I wrote about Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn book, The Final Empire, and what it taught me about introducing a complex magic system in fiction. Today I want to examine how Sanderson builds his fantasy world. When you’re devising a fantasy world,… Continue reading
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Author Visit!
I had my very first author visit yesterday! The wonderful fourth grade at The Learning Community Charter School in Central Falls, RI, hosted me to talk about how I write book reviews. They’d read my August review of Passenger in preparation to… Continue reading
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Lessons in Fantasy World-Building: Introducing the Magic
Josh is a HUGE fantasy fan. As in, we call the books he reads “brick-a-books” (because they’re all doorstoppers). As in, he’s keeping a list of all the series he’s in the middle of (because the writers take an understandably long… Continue reading
Abby Murphy 