Kristin Wolden Nitz

Category: Reading

  • Conspiracy of Kings

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    Kristin Wolden Nitz
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    Attention all fans of Megan Whalen Turner’s Attolia books!  You’ll find a 60+ page excerpt of Conspiracy of Kings on the HarperCollins website.    Naturally, they didn’t put it up there as a public service.  The chapters are there so you’ll read it and then rush out to buy the book on the very day that it becomes…

  • First click of the day

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    Kristin Wolden Nitz
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    Fuse #8 continues to be one of my first clicks of the day as I check out her unscientific poll of the top 100 chapter books.  Sometimes I kick myself that I didn’t add a book to my list.  Today, I discovered that I’d read and adored four out of five on the list even though…

  • Fuse #8’s Top Hundred Countdown Begins

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    Kristin Wolden Nitz
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    I have a feeling that I’ll be checking the blog of librarian Betsy Bird quite regularly as she counts down the top 100 chapter books.  This morning she had 91-100.  Ms. Bird not only lists the books, but also puts them in context. One of my top ten picks, ELLA ENCHANTED, was there.  I learned…

  • Top 100 Chapter Books

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    Kristin Wolden Nitz
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    Librarian Betsy Bird at Fuse#8 is doing an unscientific poll of the Top 100 chapter books. It closes tonight at midnight if you care to participate.  I probably would have seen this before if I hadn’t been so busy finishing the revisions to my YA mystery.    So I decided to throw together a list of my top…

  • Holiday Reading

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    Kristin Wolden Nitz
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    It’s fun to read books set during the various seasons of the year.  This year I reread THE DARK IS RISING by Susan Cooper. It’s set during an unexpectedly rough twelve days of Christmas in England.  If you had the bad fortune to see the film of  the same name and haven’t read the book, read this…

  • The Truth About Truman School

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    Kristin Wolden Nitz
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    Well, I suppose that I ought to start with the truth.  I had the pleasure of reading and commenting on an earlier version of THE TRUTH ABOUT TRUMAN SCHOOL because Dori Butler and I are in an on-line critique group together.  Here’s what I wrote then:  “Would you believe that I read the whole thing already?  I’m…

  • Sampling Words

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    Kristin Wolden Nitz
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     While waiting for a library visit to begin, I found this quote by the award-winning author Lois Lowry on the wall: “You don’t become a great cook if you never taste good food. The same is true for writing.” Now I’m guessing that Ms. Lowry expanded on this thought considerably in some speech or article. …

  • A Bach Symphony?

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    Kristin Wolden Nitz
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     I had completely immersed myself ina very nice mystery for kids when I crashed headlong into the following line:  “A symphony, that’s what the place is like–a complex Bach symphony that sharpens your mind even if you can’t comprehend every strand of harmony. ” A Bach symphony?  I knew that J.S. Bach had written preludes, fugues,…

  • Peeled

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    Kristin Wolden Nitz
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    Sometime in the next six months or so, I’ll be revising my YA mystery.  It’s current title is STAND-IN FOR MURDER.  (I’ve learned not to get too attached to titles.  I often think that Marketing–and yes, I did mean to capitalize that word–gets the final say.  They’re the people who know what’s out there and what’s…

  • Favorite Fantasy Series for Kids and Young Adults

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    Kristin Wolden Nitz
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    I’m not frighteningly original in my choices for favorite fantasy  series either as a kid, teen or now.  I do have a habit of reading and rereading my favorites in order to spend time with the characters.  But I think that this rereading taught me a lot about plotting, creating characters and inserting the clues that…