What I am Reading this Month? (Feb. 2013)

One of my creative New Year's resolutions is to finish all the books that I started reading...last year. I'm the type who never reads one book at a time, but multiple books at the same time. My husband (who's a one-book-at-a-time person) is amazed at how I can do this. Books litter the floor next to our bed. He claims my messyness gene has been passed down to our kids. At least they get it honestly!

This month, I'm reading these books:

1) Doctor Who, The Writer's Tale by Russell T. Davies and Benjamin Cook. How do you write for a television series like Doctor Who? RTD tells Ben Cook about his writing process, about his characters and how he brings them to the page. This book includes script drafts, revisions and little doodles by RTD himself. This is a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse at what went on behind the scenes during RTD's time as head writer (from 2005-10).  If you're ever curious about writing for television, read this book.

2) Basic Written Chinese: An Introduction to Reading and Writing for Beginners by Cornelius C. Kubler. Language learning is more than just speaking it. Reading, writing and understanding it are just as important for communication. Words are introduced in context and are used in narratives and sentence drills. Many Chinese characters look similar, so there are exercises in differentiating between those characters. The enclosed CD/DVD helps with pronunciation and new vocabulary.

3) Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs: A Popular History of Ancient Egypt by Barbara Mertz. Ms.Mertz is the real name of Elizabeth Peters, the author of the Amelia Peabody mystery series (set in Egypt at the turn of the century). I've always been interested in Egyptology since I was a girl. The land of the Pharaohs have a certain mystical quality that has never gone away. Ms. Mertz tells the history of this fabled land, but not in a dry, scholarly tone.

4) The Egyptian Book of the Dead, translated by E.A. Wallis Budge. A translation of the Book of the Dead, a collection of spells to ensure safe passage into the Egyptian afterlife.