There's Reading Then There is "Confusing the Seasons"

I'd consider myself a pretty avid reader. Well, the interest in reading comes in waves I guess. I'll get in these crazy kicks when I pick up a book and get totally sucked into the story and then I try to pick up another and I can't seem to get through the first couple of pages without my mind wandering. I always felt that reading would have a positive effect on my songwriting simply based on the fact that it put words through my brain and gives me ideas and "experiences" to draw from.

As much as I'd like to be reading right now for the improvement of my songwriting I seem to be in one of those little funks. But of course, this is following one of those spurts where I busted out a few books that I couldn't put down. This particular spurt lasted a little longer than most others including 3 books that I got for Christmas: "Micro" by Michael Crichton (a posthumously released novel), "11/22/63" by Stephen King (my favorite author) and "Confusing the Seasons" by Dan Cavallari (a new author to me).

The burst was all started by "Confusing the Seasons".  I've always felt that the mark of a well written story is how easy it is to put down. I had a lot of trouble. In the span of the couple of days it took me to fly from cover to cover, there was many a time where I stretched my break at work a little too far just to see what was going to happen on the next page. I was really engrossed in the characters and the narrative kept dragging me in and tugging at my heart strings. Being from Maine and reading this story about a Maine family going through some really messed up times made me feel even more involved in the story.

I highly recommend "Confusing the Seasons" by Dan Cavallari to help out a new author and get you going on your own reading kick that hopefully lasts much longer then mine did.

Guest Post: The Stand Is My Favorite Book

Posted by Ambrose Mills

The best book I have ever read is The Stand by Stephen King. This book is one I was not able to put down and that was a problem, because it is a very long book. The country is infected with a nasty virus that kills the majority of the population.

A small percentage is immune to the virus and they cross the country to come together. Some of the people dream about an old woman named Abigail Freemantle that directs them to Boulder, Co. They set up a community where everyone is free and they work together to survive. Others dream about a bad guy named Randall Flagg and this group comes together in Las Vegas, NV. Those that are controlled by Randall Flagg are looking to dominate those in Boulder and he has set Trashcan man, an arsonist to look for weapons in the desert to destroy the good people in Boulder.

Trashcan man locates an atomic bomb that is activated by what appears to be the hand of god, killing everyone including a few good people from Boulder and that is the end of the evil Randall Flagg. Reading this book really made me consider good and evil.


When I'm not reading I watch Directv programming. Many of Stephen King's books have been turned into movies and they are all pretty good.

Guest Post: Nothing Like a Scary Book

Guest post written by Walter Greene

I'm not sure how horror writers come up with all the crazy things that they write in their books, but I'm kind of in awe of it. I just wish that I could come up with half of the stuff that they create. I realize some of the stuff they write about is inspired by real life things, but I'm still amazed.

I like to read reviews and blogs about new horror books that are coming out with my Direct TV Internet. That keeps me pretty busy, especially now with all the vampire books that are popular now. Although most of those are aimed at the romantic preteen crowd and I just prefer the scary stuff.

One of my friends made a joke the other day that I never read anything that isn't a scary book. I told him that that was probably true, but I have read other books before. I am a big fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald, so every now and then I'll reread The Great Gatsby.