This week’s stack of books is mostly educational, in one way or another. I’m still working on increasing my knowledge of social media and taking some time to explore WWI history. And, of course, there’s the obligatory writing guide thrown in, too.
- Behemoth and Goliath, by Scott Westerfeld. I read the first book, Leviathan, a few weeks ago, but had to get on the hold list for the last two in the series. They finally showed up. These are alternate history, slightly steampunk, YA about WWI with a little romance and a lot of adventure thrown in. I’m excited to see how the series ends.
- The Tao of Twitter, by Mark Schaefer. I’ve finally started dipping my toe into the social media world and this book was highly recommended by several friends. It’s supposed to be less of a how-to and more of a holistic approach to Twitter. We’ll see if it helps.
- Dead Wake, by Erik Larson. This is being touted as one the best non-fiction books of the year. It details the sinking of the Lusitania and its role in WWI in story format, rather than simply regurgitating facts. Since my knowledge of WWI is woefully inadequate, I’m looking forward to learning more.
- The Complete Idiots Guide to Pinterest Marketing, by Christine Martinez. Last week I was reading Teach Yourself Visually Pinterest to get an overview of the site and how it works. Now I want to know how to leverage it to better market myself and my work. “Idiot” seems to be a good starting level for me on that.
- Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction, by Jeff VanderMeer. This is a different kind of writing guide, geared toward sci-fi and fantasy writers, but applicable to other genres, as well. It’s part writing instruction and part creativity booster with lots of graphics and contributions from many different artists and writers. So far my only complaint is that the glossy paper makes it difficult to read in certain light.