Off the Bookshelf – Page 2

Adirondack chairs gathered around a firepit near a lake.

Off the Bookshelf: Mid-Summer 2017

August 1, 2017 Ken Newquist Book & Print Columns, Books & Print, Off the Bookshelf

I tore through the heart of my summer reading list in July, knocking out six novels in a month. Four of these were read during my family’s annual week-long vacation to Lake Champlain. I probably could have read more if we’d spent[…]

A photo of the Kindle cover for Thrawn, with the Jersey shore in the background.

Off the Bookshelf: Early Summer 2017

July 1, 2017 Ken Newquist Book & Print Columns, Books & Print, Off the Bookshelf

I got a respectable jump on my Summer Reading List for 2017 in late May and June, reading five books by June 30 (though I got in the last one, Revenger, with only a few hours to spare). It was[…]

A drop ship from the cover art for The Lost Fleet: Victorious

Off the Bookshelf: The Lost Fleet, Storm Front, Fuller Memorandum

April 25, 2017 Ken Newquist Book & Print Columns, Books & Print, Off the Bookshelf

I’m in the midst of my spring reading doldrums. Between work, Cub Scouts, and baseball, most of my free time is accounted for. If I’m honest, when I do have free time I’m more likely to spend it catching up[…]

Off the Bookshelf: Late Summer 2016 Reading

February 13, 2017 Ken Newquist Book & Print Columns, Books & Print, Off the Bookshelf

It’s a more than a little strange to be writing about the last of my Summer 2016 reading list in Winter 2017, but damn it, I told myself I was going to write this column and I’m not letting myself[…]

Two books -- Lobster Johnson and Crusade -- rest on rocks next to a fire pit. A fire can be seen burning in the upper portion of the photograph.

Off the Bookshelf: Island Reading 2016

January 10, 2017 Ken Newquist Book & Print Columns, Books & Print, Off the Bookshelf

One of my family’s long-standing traditions is spending time at our friends’ cabin on Butler Island on Lake Champlain. It’s rustic in the extreme (though less so than the early years) with minimal power, an outhouse, and (thankfully) no Internet.[…]

A man stands at the opening of a steel cavern. Light radiates from deeper within the cave.

Off the Bookshelf: Winter’s End

April 10, 2016 Ken Newquist Book & Print Columns, Books & Print, Off the Bookshelf, Reading Lists

I have a bad habit of saving all of my heavy reading for the summer. Don’t get me wrong — I love my summer reading list, but my brain’s happier when I keep reading throughout the year. Starting around Thanksgiving and continuing through to early March, I aimed to do exactly that. I put together a short (well, short for me) reading list.

A double-rimmed starship flies against a deep-blue black star field.

Off the Bookshelf: Summer’s End 2015

December 29, 2015 Ken Newquist Book & Print Columns, Books & Print, Off the Bookshelf

Summer is long over, and the end of the year is looming large. Fortunately I can look back on a summer and know — despite all the long work days — that I read a hell of a lot of books.

I ended up reading all but one of the novels on my summer reading list, while adding several additional tomes. I planned to read 12 books and five graphic novels. I succeeded in reading 15 books and nine graphic novels.

A reptilian alien stares out at the viewer, while small space-based fighter craft swoop in from the right.

Off the Bookshelf: Summer’s End 2014

November 17, 2014 Ken Newquist Book & Print Columns, Books & Print, Off the Bookshelf

It’s November. Summer is long gone, and so is my summer reading list.

There were 15 books and four graphic novels on my official Summer 2014 reading list. I read 13 of the novels and five graphic novels, beating last year’s total of 11 novels and an equal number of graphic novels.

Two warriors face off in a desert land broken by plateaus. In the distance, an orange/yellow storm rages.

Off the Bookshelf: Fractions, Words of Radiance, Shards of Honor

June 11, 2014 Ken Newquist Book & Print Columns, Books & Print, Off the Bookshelf

My annual vacation to Lake Champlain is still a ways off, but I’ve begun attacking my summer reading list with a vengeance. I’ve completed one book — Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold — have have launched into two more: Fractions by Ken MacLeod and Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson. I’ve also found one of the books on my list is caught in the Amazon/Hachette crossfire.

Two warriors face off on a vast plateau. In the background there is a vast skyscape, the left side filled with a storm cloud, the right with a sunset.

Off the Bookshelf: Ready Player One, Creative Fire, Way of Kings Re-Read

April 7, 2014 Ken Newquist Book & Print Columns, Books & Print, Off the Bookshelf

Late winter and early spring are my long dark teatime of the soul when it comes to books: I want to read, but I just don’t have time (or when I do have the time, the motivation) to do so. Fortunately, I have audio books, a daily commute, and a dog that needs walking. All of these combine to insure that I keep reading in the winter months.