I got so much reading done this month. It was  mostly due to my writing retreat where I played author for 9 days. It’s been a busy month of reading, so let’s get right into the lessons learned.

Social IMC: Social Strategies with Bottom-Line ROI

What I Learned: Different Approach to Social Media Marketing

I read this book as part of my course work for a class for Digital, Social, Mobile Marketing. Hlavac excellently highlights key principles, with each concept chapter followed by a case study. It was really easy to understand and I learned a new way to approach social marketing. I recommend it for anyone who wants to learn more about digital marketing in a really reader-friendly way.

The Miniaturist

What I Learned: The Power of Research

This book spent so much time on my TBR that I wasn’t sure I was going to get to it. The atmosphere, the outfits, the city, the lifestyle—there was no stone left unturned in terms of the attention to details. Seventeenth-century Amsterdam jumped off the page and invited the reader right in. The setting was so immersive and comes from precious verbiage and the specificity of the setting. It goes the show the power of research when it comes to developing a city that acts like another character in the tale.

Lincoln in the Bardo

What I Learned: Prose as World-Building

Admittedly, I did not really understand this book. But that’s not what this column is about. This book was written entirely in dialogue. The deliberate choices of passages and the interactions between the many ghosts brought the bardo to life. I greatly enjoyed the chapters where a topic or a moment were told through a variety of quotes. It was a great way to paint a full picture, but it only worked because of the script-like structure Sanders chose to employ for Lincoln in the Bardo. Perhaps it could work as an example of how to create well-rounded sites and to fully depict the emotions characters endure.

The Abyss Surrounds Us

What I Learned: Compelling Relationships

I picked up this book on a whim after hearing so many great things about it. Skrutskie presents so many great relationships in this story. It wasn’t just the romance. I loved Cassandra’s relationship with Bao. She treated this great sea monster like it was a pet. It could have been so easy to fall into horse tropes, but that didn’t happen. That emotional connection translated into the other connections at sea. Having well-rounded characters really helps in developing that emotional range and resonance.

Kokoro

What I Learned: Expanding a World

The scope of Kojiki, the first book, was much smaller than the scope of this sequel. Yatsuhashi delivers by expanding beyond Earth and going into space. The battles are bigger, the stakes are higher, and there are literal giant robots. He could have just added more members to the cast, but Yatsuhashi went all the way in terms of widening the story of Keiko and the kami. Note: This book comes out April 4, 2017.

I’m back in class in April, so my reading time is going to get hairy. Stay tuned.

Happy reading,
Jo