Author: Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader

Finding My Voice

~ Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader ~ 20 Comments
Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; 
figure out what you have to say. 
It’s the one and only thing you have to offer. 
~Barbara Kingsolver



This blog has only been around  for a few months. I’m a newbie in the blogging world, an infant really. A recent post on Insatiable Booksluts has me wondering about my voice. Not my singing voice, because yuck. No, my blogging voice. My writing voice.

Let me be super clear and say that I don’t consider myself a writer. It just so happens that I love to discuss books. Blogging about them is the surest way to meet people who enjoy the same. I admire bookish people and I want to know you all!

Society 6

What do I want to blog about exactly? Well books, of course. Duh. But what kind of books? The kind that I damn well feel like reading. I don’t want to feel pressured to read something that I wouldn’t have picked out on my own. That means I won’t be accepting review books unless I really REALLY want to and I won’t be participating in reading challenges unless I really REALLY want to.

How do I want to blog? Honestly, authentically, Jenniferly! When I jabber about a book on my blog I want to do it the same way I would with one of my friends in my “real life”. I’ve been struggling with this. I don’t want to pick and choose every single word. I don’t want to try and sound like a professional reviewer because I am not one. I want to get excited and use exclamation marks and swear words if that’s what I feel like doing!!!!!!!!! Dammit!!!! 

I am going to find my voice. I might stumble around a bit on my way but I’m going to do it. 

Jennifer

How did you find yours? Please comment your hearts out below:


The Book of Madness and Cures by Regina O’Melveny

~ Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader ~ 4 Comments

The Book of Madness and Cures by Regina O’Melveny

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Publication Date: April 2012
Categories: General, Historical, Mystery & Detective

Description:
Dr. Gabriella Mondini, a strong-willed, young Venetian woman, has followed her father in the path of medicine. She possesses a singleminded passion for the art of physick, even though, in 1590, the male-dominated establishment is reluctant to accept a woman doctor. So when her father disappears on a mysterious journey, Gabriella’s own status in the Venetian medical society is threatened. Her father has left clues–beautiful, thoughtful, sometimes torrid, and often enigmatic letters from his travels as he researches his vast encyclopedia, The Book of Diseases. 

After ten years of missing his kindness, insight, and guidance, Gabriella decides to set off on a quest to find him–a daunting journey that will take her through great university cities, centers of medicine, and remote villages across Europe. Despite setbacks, wary strangers, and the menaces of the road, the young doctor bravely follows the clues to her lost father, all while taking notes on maladies and treating the ill to supplement her own work. 

My Thoughts:
This was a DNF (Did Not Finish) for me. I made it to page 51 but I realized that I wasn’t looking forward to turning any more pages. 

I understand that the author is an accomplished poet. Her use of language is obviously beautiful. Perhaps too beautiful? I wasn’t connecting at all to the characters but the scenery was depicted remarkably well. 

This may have been a case of reader fatigue, or perhaps I’m not currently in the mood for this type of book. I might give this another try at a later date. I do think that others would probably enjoy this, and I’m also sure that many readers have. It just wasn’t for this girl, at this time.

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