Looking for a good book to read? Join in She Reads online book club and spend the month reading and discussing Man in the Blue Moon by Michael Morris. It’ll be a fun and fabulous event!
Plus there’ll be a #giveaway!
To find out more about the book club selection, the giveaway, and how to chat with members of the She Reads online book club- read HERE.
And, seriously, come join us! It’ll be a super-fun month discussing #southernlit.
November’s She Reads book club pick is Man in the Blue Moon by Michael Morris. Besides being a pick of She Reads- Man in the Blue Moon has received some notable praise from other authors- specfically Pat Conroy. When people in high places are praising the book and author, a reader is surely in for a good ride. This book is no exception.
Ella Wallace- a 35 year old woman with 3 kids and a husband who has left her for parts unknow. Her aunt warned her years ago about Harlan- “He’s a gambler at best. A con artist at worst”- but Ella was young, full of dreams and love for this man. Now she’s paying the price. Ella is on the verge of losing the one thing she has left (besides her 3 kids)- her land. Ella speaks of this land similarily to how Mr. O’Hara spoke of land to Scarlett in Gone with the Wind; but the land is important Ella and she needs to keep it- especially since if she loses the land it will be in the hands of a man who is not fit to spit on the land that Ella holds dear, much less own it.
When Ella was a teen, she was involved with Clive Gillespie. Harlan Wallace swept in and stole the young Ella from Clive- and that is not the first embarassment that Clive suffered at the hands of the Harlan- a man who had more charisma than needed. Clive is pressuring Ella to sell her precious land to him or face foreclosure- either way to him, he’ll own it. Clive plays it close to the vest as to why he wants the land, but secrets- they do have a way of coming out.
All while Ella is facing the propsect of losing her land, a package arrives for Ella- only it’s not quite the package that she had expected. It’s a man, Lanier, a relation of Harlan. Lanier has his own secrets that he would rather not tell, as well.
Does Ella lose her land? What is Clive’s secret plans with Ella’s land? Is Lanier a friend or foe? Will Harlan come back to Ella- and if he does, will Ella accept him back into her life after the pain he’s caused? The answers to all the above questions are in this beautifully written book- a book that will move you to tears at times.
This is a wonderfully written book: Themes of desperation, redemption, betrayal, love, loss, learning to become stronger than you ever had to be, and accepting people and yourself- are interweaved through the story- to create a tale that is dramatic, sorrowful, bittersweet, and engaging. This is a book that causes the reader to feel emotions- the reader will find aspects to be angry about, happy, sad, and hopeful. The reader will feel sadness during the book- and ultimately sadness when the book is finished; because Man in the Blue Moon is that good of a book.
#Literaryfriday 🙂 Just seeing the hashtag make me happy.
Today’s round-up of #literaryfriday tidbits:
1.Deep South Magazine- Honey Boo Boo and #literaryfriday- you better believe it! There’s a connection between the two! Other #literaryfriday news: Faulkner estate is suing a motion picture company, a review of Erika Marks The Mermaid Collector, and what book tops the list of Book Riot’s Readers 50 Favorite novels? To find out the details on all of the above read Deep South Magazine’s Literary Friday page.
2. What are you reading for #fridayreads? I’m reading Michael Morris Man In The Blue Moon and Burned by Carol Higgins Clark.
3. Used the HT today #charactersthatmayneedkilling in relation to Michael Morris book Man in the Blue Moon. Have you ever read a book that had a character that you thought something bad needed to happen to?
4. Cozy Mystery Reviews is helping out victims of Hurricane Sandy- if you’d like to find out the details- please read their page HERE for the most up-to-date info.
5. Have you pre-ordered a copy of Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich? Any Team Cupcake or Team Babe fans? I’ve ordered mine; but really feel some sort of resolution needs to be made with the triangle. Anyone else feeling that way?
6. Hate it if you did not get to stop in on the Tweetchat with Michael Morris hosted by Deep South Mag- it was a great chat. Lots of behind the scene info on Man in the Blue Moon. And Michael Morris told us the name of his next book: King of Florabama (release 2013/2014)
Happy Reading! 🙂
October was a busy (and ended on a sad note) month. The good stuff: Boo Bash and Birthday celebration. The bad stuff: My dog, Zeke, died. Also it’s been 1 year since my grandmother passed away. Needless to say- October has a lot going for it; but is tinged with sadness, as well.
Through the good times and sad times- I did find time to read 8 books.
October reads:
The Mermaid Collector by Erika Marks- simply put- it was a great book. Wonderful storyline, interesting characters. And mermaids- beautiful and magical creatures. Here’s the review I posted earlier: The Mermaid Collector. If a story set in a coastal town with hints of magic and intrigue sounds good- read this book.
Ghosts of Manhattan by Douglas Brunt- tale of sex, drugs and Wall Street. Hints of a life-crisis. Nick Farmer is a likeable character- wooed by the money and power of Wall Street in his position as a bond trader at Bear Stearns. The life is getting to Nick, though. Interesting tale of Wall Street life and the choices that people make. Here is the review of Ghosts of Manhattan that I posted previously.
New Kids on the Block: 5 Brothers and a Million Sisters by Nikki Van Noy- total fangirl moment (fangirl of the late 80’s-early 90’s). This tells the story of the past, present and future of NKOTB. Insightful take on the lives of the group- also with stories from the fans. If you loved (or still) love NKOTB- worth a read. Here is my review of New Kids on the Block: 5 Brothers and a Million Sisters.
Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio. Sarah Jio takes a tale of an event that happened many years apart- a Blackberry Winter (a late spring snowstorm) and creates a story of family, love, heartbreak, sadness, and a mystery with the characters. My review of Blackberry Winter as I previously posted.
The Guest Book by Marybeth Whalen- a story of love, forgiving others, and finding happiness. Touching story about a grown-up woman- her life is not what she thought it would be. And she wonders about the person she spent her childhood trading pictures with; but never met. Would her life be different? A Christian fiction story- interesting and an easy read. Has something for everyone.
Iced by Carol Higgins Clark- Regan is heading to spend Christmas in Aspen. She’s looking forward to skiing, enjoying some down time with family and maybe finding a hunky man. Little does she know she’ll spend more time solving a mystery of art thieves. Light, funny and fluffy.
Decked by Carol Higgins Clark- the first book in the Regan Reilly series. Regan is at a 10 year reunion for her overseas boarding school. While there, she find out that her former roommate was murdered- instead of simply run away as they had all thought. Regan is dying to solve the mystery, but due to travel plans is unable to stay behind in England. However, she need not have worried- the murder clues are following her to her next travel stop.
Laced by Carol Higgins Clark- Regan and Jack are married and celebrating their honeymoon in Ireland. Until a pair of criminals that have been taunting Jack set about to ruin the honeymoon. Will Jack and Regan be able to solve the mystery and enjoy their honeymoon? Another fun and fluffy read- Carol Higgins Clark books are easy reads- not suspenseful like her mother’s, Mary Higgins Clark.
Today is November 1- which means it’s time for She Reads to publicly announce it’s November book club pick. The book of the month is: ****drumroll, drumroll,drumroll**** MAN IN A BLUE MOON by Michael Morris.
Check back with She Reads for monthly discussion questions and chances to win prizes. We all love #giveaways don’t we?
If you do the Twitter thing- use HT #srblog to see what members of the She Reads blog group is having to saying about MAN IN A BLUE MOON.
Couple of other important notes: Deep South Magazine will host Twitter chat with Michael Morris Friday, Nov 2nd, from 1-2pmCST (that’s TOMORROW!) Use hashtag #southernlit to follow along with chat- also use Tweetchat if possible- makes for a better chat experience. However, Deep South Mag RT (retweets) the questions and answers- so people can still follow along, even if they do not use Tweetchat.
To find out more about the Twitter chat tomorrow with Michael Morris- read here!
Also, the fantastic Kimberly Brock (perhaps you’ve read me raving on about her debut book- The River Witch?) had a chance to interview Michael Morris. Her interview is enlightening and terrific. For the interview, read here.
Hope to “see” you tomorrow at the Michael Morris chat- it should be a fun time.
Happy Halloween. Today, while most are celebrating in costumes and taking kids trick or treating, I’m feeling just festive enough to wear my cute jack o’lantern socks (They really are cute socks, though!)
Instead of doing the Halloween thing of watching scary movies -and because scary movies are not my fav- well I do like the Scream series (and the first 1 still scares me- the 3rd had almost got into a comical territory at times) I believe that I’ll have a Kit-Kat and read on the book MAN IN A BLUE MOON by Michael Morris. It’s a tale of Ella- left by her no-good husband trying to keep her family land. The book has some unsavory characters in it- people who would like to do nothing more than take Ella’s land for their own use. Ella has some help in her quest- but still can’t completely classify him as friend or foe. Only time will tell.
If the book sounds good to you, there will be a Twitter chat sponsored by Deep South Mag on Friday, Novemeber 2nd from 1-2pmCST. Use #southernlit to follow the tweets or to join in. Erin suggests using TweetChat- it’s the easiest way to keep up with the chat on Twitter. And to tempt you a bit further- there will be a giveaway of the book MAN IN A BLUE MOON during the chat.
To find out more about Michael Morris and MAN IN A BLUE MOON- read here.
Hope to “see” you on Friday at the chat!
I adore cozy mysteries. Absolutely adore them. Have been reading them for YEARS. Joanne Fluke was probably my first cozy mystery. So deciding my favorite cozy author to talk about was pretty hard.
What tipped me in the favor of Cleo Coyle was this fact: my brother picked these books out for me. About four Christmases ago, he gave me the first book in her series. It was love at first read while enjoying my mug of hot chocolate.
While most cozy books take me to a magical place, Cleo Coyle and her mysteries (along with her coffee recipes!) makes my days brighter.
You know how I LOVE my cozy books. A little mystery, some great characters, and a florist/coffee shop/bakery owner and I’m in bookish heaven. Love. Through Twitter (ya’ll know I can’t stop talking about some Twitter, either!) I found the Cozy Mystery Reviews (@cozyreviews). This is a Twitter account that should be my BFF. Talking about cozy books and making recommendations- be still my heart.
Anyway- they have a great idea about Paying it Forward with Cozy Mysteries- to spread the word on some great cozy authors (and maybe to add more authors to their reading list?!) For the information on how to Pay it Forward with Cozy Mysteries– read their blog post.
I think it’s a genuis idea!
Off to #payitforwardwithcozymysteries myself!
When I was a little girl, as I read my books- I would dream of being able to talk to the authors, getting to meet them, and hearing about the books from their perspective. But, living in the town I did, I never thought it’d be a possibility. It seemed like something so abstract, a big city thing- something so far removed from where and who I was.
Many, many years later- Twitter came around. And I got my wish- being able to tweet with different authors, learn about upcoming books, signings, and more. And when I get to meet them in person- well that’s just icing on the excitement cake!
Here’s what I have discovered: In my childhood mind, an author should be put on a pedestal. They were so high and mighty (but in a good way), being able to take words and ideas and spin them into great books. As an adult, though, an author is really not different than anyone else. They want people to like them, like their books. They enjoy hearing feedback.
So- if you are reading a book and you see the author is on Twitter- give them a tweet. Odds are that they will love hearing from a person who is reading their book (also know as their blood, sweat and tears).
Zeke
Zeke. My dog. My best friend. Subject of many pictures. Lover of ear-rubs, good brushings, hugs and fluffy pillows. Could smell a fresh pedicure a mile away and would make a bee-line to lick toes. Doggy-grins and perked up ears majority of the time. Color of caramel with chocolate dipped ears.
So excited to see people come home he would do a bunny hop. Ears flopping around, tongue hanging out- he loved and he was loved.
You were (and still are loved). Miss you, Zeke-y boy, miss you. xoxo
