Find me on Bloglovin

Hey! Have you been wondering why you haven't seen any of my posts in your bloglovin feed? It's not because I have stopped blogging.  I have switched -same name different host. Look for Theliteratipress.wordpress.com.
 Hope to see you there!


Always Shine,
Starr K

Breaking News: The Literati Press is moving

Well, it has been a fun journey here on Blogger. But, I have decided to move. I have thought about it and weighed the options.  You can now find me at http://theliteratipress.wordpress.com/.

For those who have been with me from the beginning, you know that I started with Wordpress. I have played around with it, and I think that it's a better fit for me.
Tuesday, I started playing around with the Wordpress Site, and did the framework to see what it would look like. Today I hope to have everything transferred. I probably will not import reviews (when I update that part of the site, the links will come here), it's a lot less work I will have to do.

This site will still be here, but I won't be posting anything here.

I hope that you all move with me!


Always Shine,
Starr K

From the Editor: Breaking News

It is not official. But I am considering moving my blog back to Wordpress. For those who have been with since the beginning, know that my first blog ever was started there. I have been with blogger for about two years, and I like it. I just don't like the fact that someone can totally erase my blog. Granted, unlike the experiences I've read about with Amazon, the Google people will restore your account if they felt they made an error. It's nerve-wrecking. If you would like to check out my possible wordpress site, feel free.

http://amazingbookreviewsbystarr.wordpress.com/


I will let you know my final decision Thursday. I know I owe you two posts today, they may come up later or I may wait til Thursday.



Always Shine,
Starr K

Update: I discovered that I can change the name so the address is http://theliteratipress.wordpress.com/

From the Editor's Desk 7/14/13

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For Review:

Infinity Ring Book 5: cave of Wonders by Matthew J. Kirby (Netgalley)

The Returned by Jason Mott (Netgalley)

Saxon's Bane by Geoffry Gudgion (Netgalley)

Panic by Lauren Oliver (Edelweiss)

Warrior by Ellen Oh (Edelweiss)

Her Dark Curiousity by Megan Shepard (Edelweiss)

From the Library:

The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan

Epic Legends of Fantasy edited by John Joseph Adams

Gifted:

 Hunted by Kevin Hearne

Plus a whole stack of awesome books that I'm too lazy to get up and get so I can list- but they're awesome. 

(Thanks Theresa! Always feeding the addiction, you're such a book dealer!)

Purchased:

Still waiting on that one book from an order about a month ago. :( 

Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead

(I will get the picks up sometime this week, hopefully). 

What am I currently reading?

Well,, I kind of went off pile last week. I didn't finish The Passage last week and I didn't start Dragon's Path either. I did finish reading Diverse Energies and I finished up Carrier of the Mark by Liegh Fallon.  After much twisting of my arm, Darby Karchut convinced me to drop everything and read Hunted by Kevin Hearne. I will finish that tonight, though I am not sure if I will be emotionally ready to post the review this week. 

What will I be reading?

Well, I still have a couple more weeks of July so I will be putting another anthology on the pile. I am going to try to read After: Nineteen Stories of Apocalypse and Dystopia. I will also focus on catching up on the Dragon's Path read-a-long. And I will finish The Passage.  I figure if I aim to read more than 3, I will just go off-pile again so if by any chance I finish these three reading goals, I will pick a random book. 

What I wish I was reading:

Oh I have so many books I want to read and so many I want to re-read. Every week when I think that I have it under control, something pops up. For instance, I have been trying to get to Finn Finnegan  and Griffin's Storm for a long time. I was moving stuff around in order to get my office straightened out and discovered that I have both I Hunt Killers and The Game by Barry Lyga. Now, I've already read I Hunt Killers, but I remember counting down the days to get the sequel. I got it the week that it came out and it's still sitting unread. I also have my own copy of Amy Zoll's  Gladiatrix: The True Story of History's Unknown Woman Warrior. I reaaaaalllly want to read that. 

Reviews Posted:

Yep, I suck. I intended to type up my review of Diverse Energies and post it Thursday. I decided to do something a little different and discuss the reactions I had after each story. This is much more difficult than I thought that it would be. But I plan on finishing it and having that along with my review of Wolf Mark by Joseph Bruchac up Tuesday. Here's Hoping!

Well, that's all for me! Leave me a link or comment and tell me what your reading plans are!

Always Shine, 

Starr K

SKG Photo   taken by me,  and cannot be used or copied without my express written permission

Letter From the Editor: 7/09/2013

The Importance of Diversity

In truth, this is an old argument.  Lots of people have tackled this topic and have provided lots of excellent examples. I am here as a reader and as someone who wants to make my own niche into the publishing world. I am one who reads just about everything, but most of it falls into the science fiction/fantasy or crime/forensic genres.  I  am one who is tired of walking into Wal-Mart and seeing books that perpetuate the stereotypes of black people (and not the positive stereotypes either), but I have to go into an actual bookstore or special order authors like Nalo Hopkinson or Octavia Butler.  Now I am not knocking any of the books featured in Wal-Mart’s African American Section, I can’t I haven’t read any of it. I’m just saying.  They have 4 rows of The Hunger Games and Immortal Instruments books, can they make a little room for Drowned Cities, Huntress, and Silver Phoenix. I want it to be as easy to find a science fiction novel with a main character that’s Asian as it is if the character is white.  I am tired of searching for quality work featuring people of color when smut can be found around every single corner. It’s not fair!

Enough has already been said about cover white-washing. So I want to go there. It still happens though. I think that it’s said that when big list of the “must-reads” or “best ofs” authors of color or books with characters of color are not found there.  I declined to participate in a blog celebration of authors because not one of the hundreds author were of color or had a book with a main character of color.  Quality fiction that includes diversity is out there. Once you start looking for it, it will start popping up everywhere. But, unless fate intervenes, it’s going to take you looking for it.

When I talk of diversity, I am not referring to books that pertain to one particular culture. And I am not saying that it's either black or white. It's Asian, Latino/Hispanic, Irish, Norse, Swedish, Black, African, Icelandic, French, Canadian, Caribbean, Native American, mixed, mixed twice over, mixed so much that you're a mutt (don't be offended, I'm a mutt. Every so often I'm told I have a little of this and a little of that in me. Embrace it-it's beautiful!). I’m talking about where the story is the important focus, and it just happens that the characters are diverse.  I get that people often just want to read characters that are like them, or they are just looking for a good story. I am and always will be a sucker for a good story.  But to be completely honest, most of the books that I have read lately (and in the past) are nothing like me. When I write, my characters lose their physical identities because somewhere in the back of my mind I’m thinking that maybe it’s better for the reader to decide what the character is like?

        But what if there is another young girl out in the world like me, one who gets all giddy when a really good sci-fi novel crosses their path, but they pass on it because the person on the cover is nothing like them? Why is this so important to me? Why do I want you to care? Because there is quality to be found in diversity! Our worlds are not made of the same cookie cutter characters. Some are lovable and heroic, some or malicious and downright hate-worthy. Because if we don’t take time to recognize the gems that are waiting to be found, we are going to keep having this conversation about where is the diversity. Frankly, I am hoping for one day where we don’t have to have this conversation. I’m hoping that in a few months when I return back to the school where I lead a book club, I don’t have to go through an agonizing amount of time to find a book that is relevant to them, that doesn’t feature someone pale and beautiful and just the right size.  I know I can’t change the world, I know that it really just starts with me and paying it forward. So that is what I am going to do. My characters will not be lost into other’s imagination, they will be exactly who they were meant to be.  My blog will become a regular stop for books that are either written by a person of color or feature a character of color. No, I will not start excluding books because they don’t fall under one of these characteristics.  But I expect my Diversity in Reading page to start filling up. I will also use this space as a way to talk about all bookish and diverse such things. 

  For instance, if you are in the search for some diverse YA science fiction and need a starting place, check out TU Books, and imprint of Lee and Low Books.

Check back here Thursday for my review of  Diverse Energies edited by Tobia S. Buckell

Always Shine, 

Starr K

From the Editor's Desk: July 8, 2013

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For Review:
The Grimm Company byLuke Scull (Penguin First to Read)

Rising Sun, Falling Shadow by Daniel Kalla (Netgalley)

Zombie Nation by E.R. Vernor* (Netgalley)

Demon's Veil by Brandice Snowden* (Netgalley)

*Not Compatible with the Kindle so I'm not sure if I'll get to it before it expires

From the Library:

Nothing 

Gifted;

Nothing

Purchased:

Well.....half price was having a really good sale, so I kind of put my bookshelf challenge on pause for the day. And restarted it as soon as I walked out the door. I have also increased my challenge from 10 to 20 now. Picks will be up later this week (a couple are crying to be read so I'm avoiding that stack, lol). 

I am still waiting on a used book from an order from the beginning of June. Waiting so long, I almost forgot about it. Grrrr...

What I'm Currently Reading:

Okay, so this week was the last week of classes, it was also the week of the fourth of July and my birthday. So needless to say, I wasn't so productive on the reading front. Both of the books that I planned on reading are still unfinished. (Though I will be finishing up Diverse Energies tonight!) So, I am currently reading The Passage by Justin Cronin (it's good but it's long, so glad I'm reading the print copy.)  The group read for The Dragon's Path has started, so I will be reading that as well. 

What I will be reading:

I don't know which anthology I will be reading next. I am still debating but it will either be Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King or The Moo by Adriena Dame. I will also attempt to read Griffin's Storm by Darby Karchut, The Grimm Company and/or Death's Acre by Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson. (I am being cautiously optimistic that I will finish The Passage tomorrow. (Or soon :) )

What I wish I was reading right now:

There are still a lot of books that I would love to be reading right now, and that is not to say that I am not enjoying the books that I am currently reading. Because, boy am I! But if I had to pick just one title that I wish I could put on the pile this week but am resisting it would be Hunted by Kevin Hearne. Really, who wouldn't want more Atticus and Oberon?  Plus, there is the stack of recently purchased books that I am avoiding.......

Well, that's all for me! Leave me a link or comment and tell me what your reading plans are!

Always Shine, 

Starr K

SKG Photo   taken by me,  and cannot be used or copied without my express written permission

From the Editor's Desk: 6/30/2013- July is Anthology Month

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For Review:
Cut to the Bone by Jefferson Bass (From Edelweiss)

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The Storm Makers by Jennifer E. Smith (from Arcycling)

From the Library:

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After: Nineteen Stories of the Apocalypse Ed. by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling 

The Iowa Awards the Best Stories from Twenty Years selected by Frank Conroy 

Gifted;

(From Lauren, a lovely lady in my writing group. She was giving books away and this is what I got.)

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The Pillars of Hercules by Paul Theroux

Purchased:

(This was from the last order, everything is in except for a pre-order.)

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Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald

What I'm Currently Reading:

Let's see,I didn't finish World War Z last week like I planned. Because of school and the Shutdown Tour, I didn't finish it until yesterday. Which means that I didn't touch Carrier of the Mark. But I did finish Shutdown and have already posted my review. I then went on to finish World War Z and Saga Volume 1. Right now I am reading Two Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt. It's a pretty fast read so far, so unless I decide to do homework I will probably finish it tonght. 

What I will be reading:

This month's theme is Anthologies. So I will be reading a bunch of those-some I have for review, some I've gotten from the library and some that I have had for a while. I tried making a list and working from those, but then I realized just how many I've had. Then I found some that I left out. So, I will just see which one suits my mood week by week. There are 5 weeks in July so I plan on reading at least 5.  I've already started Diverse Energies (I only read two stories) so I will finish that up this week. Since I didn't get to Carrier of the Mark last week, I hope to get to it this week. 

What I wish I was reading right now:

Oh, there are so many books I would love to be reading right now. Since this is my last week of classes I will have more time to read. But that time will also be split with writing. I really want to start the Body Farm series by Jefferson Bass, as well as Darby Karchut's books. Honestly, I think it's time that I pay a little bit more attention to my challenges as well. We'll see where the moon takes me. 

Well, that's all for me! Leave me a link or comment and tell me what your reading plans are!

Always Shine, 

Starr K

SKG Photo   taken by me,  and cannot be used or copied without my express written permission