
Author has written 16 stories for Young Adult, Fantasy, Fantasy, General, Essay, Life, and General.
03/26/06
As of today, I'm starting a new system for doing my reviews (though, in truth, I rarely ever review). This is mostly with new stories that I find when I'm browsing through, and this little paragraph is for those people who are confused by my reviews. I've actually been doing this for awhile, but this just kind of makes it 'official.' Anyway, what I do is I count how many mistakes are made, and if there are five or more in thefirst chapter, I probably won't read on, but I will finish that first chapter. These mistakes do not include spelling (unless it's really, really bad - and if you're using spellcheck, it shouldn't be a prolem in the first place) or confused hymonyms. They include things like subject-verb disagreement, juvenile vocabulary (unless it's in dialogue and adds an effect), redundancy, run-on sentences and incorrect tense. In my review, I'll either tell you that you had less than the five mistakes, or that you did have five or more mistakes and in which paragraphs they appeared (ex. 'Five mistakes in the first twelve paragraphs'). This will be followed by an HONEST opinion of where I think you are with your writing. I don't believe in sucking up to other authors so that they'll give me a good review in return.
Great Reads:
The Last Mermaid by Shana Abé
Tithe: A Modern Fairy-tale by Holly Black
I was a Teenage Fairy by Francesca Lia Block
Enchantment by Orson Scott Card
Kushiel's Legacy Series by Jaqueline Carey
The Belgariard Series by David Eddings
The Blue Roan Child by Jamieson Findlay (A MUST READ!)
Saddle the Wind by Jess Foley
The Wizard's Ward by Deborah Hale
The Destined Queen by Deborah Hale
A Murder for Her Majesty by Beth Hilgartner
Green Angel by Alice Hoffman
The Stravaganza Trilogy by Mary Hoffman
The Captive by Victoria Holt
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
The Raging Quiet by Sherryl Jordan
The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye
Hawk of May by Ann Lawrence
Ever After by Wendy Loggin
The Sevenwaters Trilogy by Juliet Marillier
Wolfskin by Juliet Marillier
Foxmask by Juliet Marillier
Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty
Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip
Deerskin by Robin McKinley
An Earthly Knight by Janet Mcnaughton
Bloody Jack Series by L.A. Meyer
The Prince by Elizabeth Minogue
Zel by Donna Jo Napoli
Shade's Children by Garth Nix
The Abhorsen Triology by Garth Nix (I don't think it's actually called that, but that's basically what it is.)
The Granite Shield by Fiona Patton
Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce
Tickster's Queen by Tamora Pierce
The Mark of the Lion Triology by Francine Rivers
Summers at Castle Auburn by Shannon Shinn
A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks (book's way better than the movie)
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Nobody's Son by Sean Stewart
Jackaroo by Cynthia Voight
Wings of a Falcon by Cynthia Voight
Books to Avoid:
The Devil Gets His Due by Peter Brandvold
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
The First Princess of Wales by Karen Harper
A Year and a Day by Virginia Henley