Books – Page 2 – Lisa Holcomb

Around the House, Books, Everywhere But Home, Family Time, My Own Personal Weirdness, My Writing, Parenting, The Past Comes Back to Haunt Me, What I Love

September 2025 Stats

In September, I wrote 4097 words. It’s still a busy month, even if all of your kids are out of high school. Yeah.

Of those words,

346 were for this blog (2 short posts),
0 were for my journal,
2024 were for handouts, scripts, and slides for lessons (one for the Open Door Writing Group),
448 were on various social media accounts (which seems low, I know, but I’ve been trying to cut back on that and spend more time reading lately),
1142 were poetry (3 short poems and 2 long),
and 137 were in short fiction (1 piece of flash fiction).

There were 19 days that I didn’t write anything. I spent a lot of the month either moving my eldest child to his new apartment or I was editing for Caro’s Quest. One of the books I beta read for came out this month, so I’m feeling that weird sense of accomplishment about that (you know, in that way where you walked alongside a friend going through something that you got to help with, so it’s like it’s partly yours just a little bit?). Meanwhile, I personally didn’t get any poems or short stories submitted anywhere.

As for reading, I read parts of:

The Comfort Book by Matthew Haig (audiobook; self-help)
The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie (e-book; mystery)
Let Loose the Dogs by Maureen Jennings (e-book; historical mystery)
…and I finished reading:
Nothing Romantic by Kennedy Hope (e-book; LGBTQ+ romance)
System Collapse by Martha Wells (e-book; science fiction)
Except the Dying by Maureen Jennings (e-book; historical mystery)
Poor Tom is Dead by Maureen Jennings (e-book; historical mystery)
Conversations in the Garden* by Chelsee BreAnn (manuscript; poetry )

So I have finished 48 books so far this year (and read parts of another 16, mostly for research, but also a couple of things I’ve had to mark DNF.).

*The title of this book has changed since it was in beta. It’s permanent title is Honeysuckle Memories.

Around the House, Books, health, My Own Personal Weirdness, My Writing, Organizing, The Past Comes Back to Haunt Me, What I Love, Writing

August 2025 Stats

In August, I wrote only 3811 words. I was sick the first half of the month and then moving kids from house to house and editing the second half (so technically I lost a bunch of words off my novel, but we’re not counting those as a negative number of words those days). Of those words,

206 were for this blog (2 short posts),
0 were for my journal (which I cannot find my paper journal, so that might not be true),
1612 were for handouts, scripts, and slides for lessons (one for the Open Door Writing Group),
1042 were on various social media accounts,
217 were poetry (2 poems),
and 734 were in short stories (4 pieces of flash fiction).

There were 17 days that I didn’t write anything. Mostly I spent the month either ill (the flu, bronchitis, and a sinus infection, oh my!), moving one kid over a room in the house he’s in so another of my children could move into his old room (and helping that second child as well – child #2 in this scenario was far easier to move) or trying to edit my novel Caro’s Quest down to a reasonable number of words so I can turn it into the editor (today, I hope!). Also, life was still too chaotic, so I didn’t get any poems or short stories submitted anywhere.

As for reading, once again, I didn’t leave any books unread, but I finished reading a ridiculous number of short e-books, all by Martha Wells (the first published author that ever gave me advice – she worked in IT at Ocean Drilling Program at the same time I was a student worker in the publishing department – she was so nice about it when my boss sat me down at her table at lunch one day):

All Systems Red
Compulsory
Artificial Conditions
Rogue Protocol
Obsolescence
Exit Strategy
Home
Fugitive Telemetry
Rapport
Network Effect

That brings me up to 42 books finished this year and 13 partially read (that number went down because I finished two partially read books). 🙂

Around the House, Books, I Am Traveling, My Own Personal Weirdness, My Writing, Organizing, The Past Comes Back to Haunt Me, What I Love

July 2025 Stats

In July, I wrote 6569 words, which doesn’t feel like a lot. I did, however, take two of my kids on their first international traveling adventure, so there was a lot of kerfluffle for that, and I also took a few days off to go to the Poetry of Society of Texas Annual Conference.

Of those words,

251 were for this blog (2 short posts),
478 were for my journal (which I may update later with numbers from my paper journal, which I cannot find today,
1276 were for handouts, scripts, and slides for lessons (one for the Open Door Writing Group),
2630 were on various social media accounts,
1346 were poetry (10 poems),
and 588 were in short stories (3 pieces of flash fiction).

There were only 8 days that I didn’t write anything, despite being out of town a lot this month. I just wrote a lot while I was traveling. There’s something about getting out of your regular every day patterns that gets the writing juices flowing. I wrote a lot in my paper journal, but I didn’t count any of those words because I cannot find it at the moment. Who knows where it is!

I didn’t get any poems or short stories submitted anywhere. I just wasn’t that kind of organized.

As for reading, I didn’t read anything that I didn’t finish this month, mostly because I read very little

…and I finished reading:

Fire At the Exhibition by T. E. Kinsey (audiobook; mystery)
Burnout by Emily Nagoski (audiobook; non-fiction – see, I’m dealing with my burnout by reading up on it)
Wherever You Find Yourself by Tasha Gaines(manuscript; Christian fiction romance, I believe)

Around the House, Books, My Own Personal Weirdness, My Writing, Organizing, The Past Comes Back to Haunt Me, Writing

June 2025 Writing Stats

In June, I wrote 6604 words, which wasn’t that great, but I’m pretty sure I was burnt out most of the month after all the graduation nonsense. Of those words,

320 were for this blog (2 short posts),
1258 were for my journal,
2854 were for handouts, scripts, and slides for lessons (one for East Texas Writers Guild and one for the Open Door Writing Group and one for the Tyler Public Library’s Try It Tuesday Class),
1033 were on various social media accounts,
35 were poetry (1 measly poem after last month’s record *sigh*),
and 1104 were in short stories (5 pieces of flash fiction).

There were only 8 days that I didn’t write anything, so it seems like my count should be higher for all that. I don’t know – I guess my brain was only thinking in super short form this month.

As for reading, I read parts of:

A Fire at the Exhibition by T. E. Kinsey (audiobook; mystery)

…and I finished reading:

Jack Glass by Adam Roberts (hardcover; science fiction – do NOT recommend unless you like unexpectedly gory books)
The Ghost of Marlowe House by Bobbi Holmes (audiobook; paranormal mystery)

So I have finished 29 books so far this year (and read parts of another 14, mostly for research, but also a couple of things I’ve had to mark DNF.).

Around the House, Books, My Own Personal Weirdness, My Writing, Organizing, The Past Comes Back to Haunt Me, What I Love

May 2025 Writing Stats

In May, I wrote 7505 words, which was all right, given how few writing days existed due to lots and lots of things to attend for my graduating senior. Of those words,

376 were for this blog (2 short posts),
380 were for my journal,
2778 were for handouts, scripts, and slides for lessons (one for East Texas Writers Guild and one for the Open Door Writing Group and one for the Tyler Public Library’s Try It Tuesday Class),
1282 were on various social media accounts,
2174 were poetry (15 poems, a lifetime record most probably),
and 515 were in short stories (3 pieces of flash fiction).

There were 11 days that I didn’t write anything, but this month included 3 awards ceremonies, a band banquet, a pinning ceremony, our annual family BBQ, Mother’s Day, teaching a crochet class at the library, a graduation party, and the graduation itself.

I also haven’t heard back from any of the submissions I’ve sent out lately, so I’m assuming they didn’t want those pieces. I haven’t had a chance to prepare any others to send out this month.

As for reading, I read parts of:

The Carrying by Ada Limon (e-book; poetry)
Anti-Slavery Poems by John Greenleaf Whittier (e-book; poetry)
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (audiobook; non-fiction)
The Poet’s Cookbook: Details for over 50 Forms, Types of Meter, Structure, Rhyme, and Over 100 Writing Exercises by Dan Gilbert (e-book; non-fiction)
Poetry’s Data: Digital Humanities and the History of Prodosy by Meredith Martin (e-book; non-fiction)

…and I finished reading:

An Act of Foul Play by T.E. Kinsey (e-book; mystery)
The Ghost of Marlow House by Bobbi Holmes (audiobook; paranormal mystery)

So I have finished 27 books so far this year (and read parts of another 15, mostly for research, but also a couple of things I’ve had to mark DNF.).

Around the House, Books, health, My Own Personal Weirdness, My Writing, Organizing, What I Love

April 2025 Writing Stats

In April, I wrote 5629 words, which was pretty decent, given that I was really very sick the first 2/3 of the month. Of those words,

432 were for this blog (2 short posts),
28 were for my journal,
3528 were for handouts, scripts, and slides for lessons (one for the Open Door Writing Group and one for the Tyler Public Library’s Try It Tuesday Class),
1342 were on various social media accounts,
47 were poetry (1 poem),
and 0 were in short stories (0 pieces of flash fiction).

There were 18 days that I didn’t write anything, but this month included so much illness and then also Easter, spring Holy Days, my son’s birthday, and my birthday. I also haven’t heard back from any of the submissions I’ve sent out lately, but I should hear back any time now.

As for reading, I read parts of:

Sober on a Drunk Planet: Giving Up Alcohol by Sean Alexander (e-book; non-fiction)
The Magic Words: Simple Poetry Prompts that Unlock the Creativity in Everyone by Joseph Fansano (e-book; non-fiction)
Like Literally Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English by Valerie Fridland (hardcover; non-fiction)
How to Read Poetry Like a Professor: A Quippy Guide to Sonorous Verse by Thomas C. Foster (e-book; non-fiction)
Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper (hardcover; non-fiction)
The Carrying: Poems by Ada Limon (e-book; poetry)
Anti-Slavery Poems, Volume 1 by John Greenleaf Whittier (e-book; poetry)
Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages by Gaston Dorren (hardcover; non-fiction)

…and I finished reading:

The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle by T.L. Huchu (e-book; fantasy)
Legacy of Arniston House by T. L. Huchu (e-book; fantasy)
Dearly by Margaret Atwood (hardcover AND e-book; poetry)
Wizard of Most Wicked Ways by Charlie Holmberg (audiobook; fantasy)
The Right to Write by Julia Cameron (re-read trade paperback; non-fiction)
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg (re-read trade paperback; non-fiction)
Knit-Fix: Problem Solving for Knitters by Lisa Karths (hardcover; non-fiction)
Japanese Knitting Stitches by Yoko Hatta (oversized paperback; non-fiction)
Sweet Romance by Carrie Cox (beta read it twice – romance)

So I have finished 26 books so far this year (and read parts of another 12, mostly for research, but also a couple of things I’ve had to mark DNF.).

Books, Everywhere But Home, I Am Traveling, My Writing, Organizing, poetry, What I Love, Writing

March 2025 Stats

I hesitated in posting this on April Fool’s Day, but please know that this post is in earnest. 🙂

In March, I wrote 21,346 words, which boggled the mind. Of those words,

473 were for this blog (5 short posts),
1,564 were for my journal,
15,562 were for handouts, scripts, and slides for lessons (one for East Texas Writers Guild and one for the Open Door Writing Group and one for the Tyler Public Library’s Try It Tuesday Class),
1,355 were on various social media accounts,
894 were poetry (6 poems),
and 1,716 were in short stories (11 pieces of flash fiction).

There were 8 days that I didn’t write anything, but this month included traveling for Spring Break and two out of town Winter Guard competitions for my kid. I also haven’t heard back from any of the submissions I’ve sent out lately, but all the submitting guidelines said I probably wouldn’t hear back until mid-April or later, so I’m not worried about that yet.

As for reading, I read parts of:

Concessions by Libby James (e-book; thriller)
Agatha Arch is Afraid of Everything by Kristin Bair (e-book; mystery)
The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises from Poets Who Teach edited by Robin Behn and Chase Twichell
How to Read Poetry Like a Professor: A Quippy Guide to Sonorous Poetry by Thomas Foster (paperback; non-fiction)

…and I finished reading:

If Women Rose Rooted: The Power of the Celtic Woman by Sharon Blackie (audiobook; non-fiction)
Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments by T. L. Huchu (e-book; fantasy)
Such a Thing to Behold by Umar Turaki (e-book; fantasy)
The Midwife (volume 1) by Jennifer Worth (e-book; non-fiction)
The Truth of Me by Patricia MacLachlan (e-book; children’s lit)
Storyteller: 100 Letter Poems by Morgan Harper Nichols (e-book; poetry)
Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman (hardcover; poetry)
The Poetry Home Repair Manual by Ted Kooser (paperback; non-fiction)

So I have finished 16 books so far this year (and read parts of another 8, mostly for research, but also a couple of things I’ve had to mark DNF.).

I feel like I’ve finally hit my stride with this year, so of course the next couple of months are going to be ridiculously busy in my personal life, as I have graduating high school senior in my household and another kid who’s applying to law schools and may need help moving. Wheeeeee!

Books, My Own Personal Weirdness, My Writing, Organizing, poetry, Short Stories, Speaking, What I Love, Writing

January 2025 Stats

In January 2025, I wrote 9,847 words. Of those words,

830 were for this blog (six posts)
3121 were journal entries
3149 were lessons, scripts, and slides (for one ODWG lesson)
2045 were on various social media accounts
151 were poetry (one poem)
and 651 were short stories (three pieces of flash fiction)

I sent off three poems and three short stories for publication, but haven’t heard back from any of them.

I also read parts of these books:

A Poet’s Guide to Poetry by Mary Kinzie (paperback; non-fiction)
Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman (hardcover; poetry)
The Wonder Engine (Clocktaur War #2) by T. Kingfisher (audiobook; fantasy)
The Green Man: Tales from the Mystic Forest edited by Ellen Datlow (e-book; fiction short stories)

And finished these books:

The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fannie Flag (e-book; fiction)
Just Dying to Glamp by April Nunn Coker (e-book; mystery)
When She Returned by Lucinda Berry (e-book; thriller)
Peace is a Practice by Morgan Harper Nichols (e-book; non-fiction).

January is always a tricky month, I think. The first couple weeks are still half-way holidays and then there are a few random at-home days for my school-age kiddo as well. Which means that you don’t get a full month of writing days, but I managed to write at least a little something for 26 out of 31 days in any case. I think that’s pretty good. 🙂

Around the House, Books, Lifelong learning, My Own Personal Weirdness, My Writing, Organizing, poetry, Short Stories, Speaking, Writing

Happy 2025!

I know, I know…you almost forgot I worked here. I have the usual excuses, all tied up with string, sitting under a cat somewhere. Last year was a doozy of a year, filled with all manner of distractions, procrastinations, and other sundry explosions of my life.

I’ve spent the last couple of days thinking about what my writing goals are for this year. One is to make my usual chart of what all I wrote last year, but that isn’t done yet because the transcribing isn’t done. So no numbers today. Maybe tomorrow. After I’ve written, of course.

I’m on the schedule with an editor for September, so my big goal is to finish the latest draft of my big epic fantasy novel and polish it up. This is the novel y’all have heard me refer to as Caro’s Quest in the past. I still need a better name for it, but that will come. 🙂

Smaller goals include finding homes for my poetry and short stories, finishing putting together my first poetry anthology, finishing my research on the best time to release it, and then publishing that anthology. I’m aiming for sending off at least one poem and one short story a week. We’ll see if that’s a manageable goal as time goes on and reassess after the first quarter is over.

I’m no longer on the board for the East Texas Writing Guild, nor my UU church board. Those were positive decisions for me, based on me needing more time to write. I’m continuing on as a moderator for the Open Door Writing Group at the Tyler Public Library for the foreseeable future, which means writing and giving a presentation for a monthly lesson about writing.

That’s about it, y’all. It’s my first day back at the writing desk. I’m planning on starting off all my weekdays from here on out at my writing desk, working on stories or poetry for the first half of every day before moving on to social media, lesson writing, and marketing in the afternoons.

Yay 2025! I hope this year will be so much better than the last. 🙂

Books, Uncategorized

Final Book List of 2024

Title	Author	Date Started	Date Finished	Notes
About Grace	Doerr, Anthony *	Aug 24, 2024	Dec 30, 2024	Read for Book Club – after having read Cloud Cuckoo Land, I was expecting an epic novel and this was quite intimate.
All Stitched Up: The Complete Guide to Finishing Stitches for Hand-Knitters	Crowfoot, Jane	not set	Jan 09, 2025	Need to buy a copy of this – so helpful.
Big Mouth and Ugly Girl	Oates, Joyce Carol	Aug 19, 2024	Jul 27, 2024	Read for Book Club – enh. It’s not my genre. I kept worrying for the protagonists.
Bookshops & Bonedust (Legends & Lattes, #0)	Baldree, Travis *	Nov 06, 2024	Oct 19, 2024	Loved this book! Read it out of order and it still worked for me. 🙂
Boy of Chaotic Making (Whimbrel House, #3)	Holmberg, Charlie N. *	Jun 03, 2024	Jan 15, 2024	Love this series so much! Cozy Fantasy!
The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop	Coval, Kevin	not set	Jan 09, 2025	Best book I read all year. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the English language or poetry.
Could You Survive Midsomer?: Can you avoid a bizarre death in England’s most dangerous county?	Brew, Simon	May 30, 2024	Jul 27, 2024	Choose Your Own Adventure book for adults. 🙂 Went through it many, many times.
Dear Kimberly…Love, Makayla: The Unraveling of My Evangelical Faith Into the Unknown	McCuistion, Kayla Jo	Jan 16, 2024	Jul 27, 2024	One of my band mom friends wrote this. Very thoughtful. I stopped an started a bunch because it’s hard to see a friend going through a hard time.
Design Your Own Crochet Projects: Magic Formulas for Creating Custom Scarves, Cowls, Hats, Socks, Mittens & Gloves	Delaney, Sara	Jan 09, 2024	Feb 28, 2025	I’ve checked this out twice now, so I should really just buy it already.
Earth, Air, Fire & Water: More Techniques of Natural Magic	Cunningham, Scott	Dec 28, 2024	Dec 30, 2024	Trying to get ideas for this novel I’m writing
Geek Knits: Over 30 Projects for Fantasy Fanatics, Science Fiction Fiends, and Knitting Nerds	Dark, Joan of *	not set	Jan 09, 2024	So many cute ideas.
Hooked: When Addiction Hits Home	Shantz-Hilkes, Chloe	Apr 11, 2024	Apr 29, 2024	This helped me understand people in my life so much better than I did before. If you hear me talk about “the yellow book”, this is that one.
How to be the best Maid of Honor ever: You’re Welcome Series	Brooks, Makayla	Jan 05, 2024	Jan 05, 2024	One of my band mom friends wrote this. I love supporting my fellow writers. This one is more of a pamphlet length than an actual book.
How to Make a Living as a Writer: Publish books, articles and blogs (Writing Boot Camp Book 1)	Roshay, Amber *	Jan 09, 2024	?	I read this off and on throughout the year
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction	Maté, Gabor	May 04, 2024	Dec 30, 2024	This is NOT light reading. It took me all year to get through because I had to stop and recover so often.
Knits for Nerds: 30 Projects: Science Fiction, Comic Books, Fantasy	Carr, Toni	Jan 09, 2024	Jan 09, 2024	Loved
Knitting Plus: Mastering Fit, Plus-Size Style, 15 Projects	Shroyer, Lisa	Jan 09, 2024	Jan 09, 2024	Want my own copy, but haven’t found one yet.
The Knitting Way: A Guide To Spiritual Self-Discovery	Skolnik, Linda T.	Feb 12, 2024	Jan 09, 2025	Loved this enough to buy my own copy.
The Last of the Moon Girls	Davis, Barbara *	Jul 27, 2024	Jul 26, 2024	Read for Book Club – it was all right. Would read other books by the author.
Lessons in Chemistry	Garmus, Bonnie *	Apr 19, 2024	Apr 06, 2024	Read for Book Club – Delightful and cannot wait for the movie
The Library of the Dead (Edinburgh Nights, #1)	Huchu, T.L.	Oct 19, 2024	Oct 19, 2024	Loved it so much I read it in one sitting.
Literary Knits: 30 Patterns Inspired by Favorite Books	Lohr, Nikol	Jan 09, 2024	Jan 09, 2024	So many cute things
Living with a Functioning Alcoholic: A Woman`s Survival Guide	Neill, Neill	Feb 2024	Feb 2024	My copy of this was NOT yellow. It was good, just not the “yellow book” I talk about.
Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman	Rickman, Alan	Feb 2024	Oct 21, 2024	Audio book – took ages to get through, but thoroughly loved it.
Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, #1)	Andrews, Ilona *	July 2024	July 2024	Re-read so I could read the next one
Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, #2)	Andrews, Ilona *	July 2024	July 2024	Good!
Midsomer Murders Location Guide: Discover the Villages, Pubs and Churches Behind the Hit TV Series	Hopkinson, Frank	Jun 02, 2024	Dec 30, 2024	This book was obviously a coffeetable book that should not have been turned into an e-book. It was pretty, though. I just couldn’t read it on my Kindle.
Modern Crochet: Crochet Accessories and Projects for Your Home	Mills, Molla	Jan 09, 2025	Jan 09, 2025	Lots of cute ideas here.
Modern Mending	Lewis-Fitzgerald, Erin *	Oct 20, 2024	Dec 04, 2024	Got through ILL.
Needleplay	Wilson, Erica	Jan 09, 2025	Jan 09, 2025	I own this book now.
Nine Liars (Truly Devious, #5)	Johnson, Maureen *	Jan 09, 2025	Jan 09, 2025	This series is so very good.
Not Your Mama’s Stitching: The Cool and Creative Way to Stitch It To ‘Em	Shoup, Kate *	Feb 27, 2024	Feb 27, 2024	Cute stuff in here. Would be good for a beginner.
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void	Roach, Mary	Sep 30, 2024	Dec 30, 2024	Read for Book Club and found it fascinating. Would read anything by this author now.
Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche	Feirstein, Bruce	Jun 30, 2024	Jun 30, 2024	Ree bought this for the LOL’s
Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #1)	Bardugo, Leigh *	Jan 02, 2024	Jan 8, 2024	Was watching the show and thought, I might like this better as a book and it turned out I liked both.
Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent	Dench, Judi	Oct 19,2024	Dec 22, 2024	So good. So funny. I love Judi Dench even more now and that should not have been possible.
Siege and Storm (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #2)	Bardugo, Leigh *	Jan 09, 2024	Jan 29, 2024	Good!
Sweet Shawlettes: 25 Irresistible Patterns for Knitting Cowls, Capelets, and More	Moss, Jean	not set	Jan 09, 2025	Many cute patterns.
The Thin Man	Hammett, Dashiell	Feb 19, 2024	Feb 24, 2024	Read for Book Club
The Weaver and the Witch Queen	Gornichec, Genevieve *	Jan 08, 2024	Jan 09, 2024	I had deja vu the entire time I read this and kept wondering if I’d dreamt it or seen it as a movie, but neither thing appears to be true, so it must just be that the writing was insanely good and I really felt like I was THERE.
The Wizard of Oz (Oz, #1)	Baum, L. Frank	Dec 02, 2024	Dec 02, 2024	Re-reading this after watching the movie version of the Wicked musical, which is a version of the book, which is a retelling of the movie version of of this book.

After I copied and pasted all that out of Good Reads, I realized that at least a couple of books were inexplicably missing, so I’m going to add them below:

“Barbara and Susan Talk about Empty Nests”
“The Nightingale” by Kara Dalkey Finished 1/27/24

Books I started, but did not finish (mostly because I used them for research for my novels or my lessons – this is not a complete list, but based off what I can remember and see from my seat here at the computer):