Books I read in October…

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.

 

Michael Morris- Man in a Blue Moon- She Reads November Book Club Pick

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.

Trick or Treat.. Give me some Good Books to read…

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!

Pay it Forward with a Cozy Mystery: Cleo Coyle

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.

What a great idea! Pay it Forward with Cozy Mysteries!

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!

Communicating with Authors….

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).

 

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Good-bye Zeke, Good-bye…. You will be missed.

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

 

Literary Friday ya’ll…

I’ve been so terrible about posting lately. Apologies to all.

#literaryfriday is the word of the day. As usual- I like to post some of the best news that I see around for this day.

1. Deep South Magazine and their #literaryfriday: this week contains news about new author chat NEXT Friday (November 2). Michael Morris author of A Man in a Blue Moon. The book is in my possesion- it’s on my TBR list- I just haven’t yet. Hearing good things about the book, though. Erin from Deep South Mag really goes above and beyond the call- she picks some of the best people. The chats are informative and interesting.

Other #literaryfriday tidbits: Deep South Magazine has a Literary Trail App- because when you are traveling it’s always nice to know what literary greats attractions are nearby. The app can be purchased on Itunes- however, that sweet author Erika Robuck (who is a fan of Deep South Magazine and author of Hemingway’s Girl) is giving away a free download of the DSM Literary Trail App. Either check out Deep South Magazine Literary Friday or Erika Robuck’s blog to find out how to enter. Good luck!

In need of a costume ideas? Check out the #litmajorhalloweeencostumes. Thanks to Deep South Magazine for posting this hashtag- should be a fun way to get costume ideas!

A fan of Pinterest? Like literary themed Pinterest pages? Deep South Magazine has a Literary Friday Pinterest page!

2. October is pumpkin time. I love pumpkins. And today is National Pumpkin Day. So in honor of National Pumpkin Day- curl up with Kimberly Brock’s The River Witch (trust me- it’s def a book you read on National Pumpkin Day) and enjoy.

3. A big THANK YOU to Erika Marks for calling in to my book club to discuss her debut novel- Little Gale Gumbo. Warmed my heart to no end. If you’ve read the book- chime in with thoughts of it. I’d love to hear other people’s opinions!

4. What is your #fridayreads? Mine is Iced by Carol Higgins Clark!

Happy Reading and have a great weekend!

Kindle-love…

Oh Kindle- how do I love thee? Let me count the ways: 1. You hold hundreds and hundreds of books. 2. You are lightweight. 3. Great for traveling. 4. Perfect for people (like me) who can be impatient about getting a new book- point, click, buy-it’s delievered to the Kindle.

Kindle- it’s been a great year together. You were given as a gift and I wasn’t sure what to think about you at first. But, you’ve won me over. I love my Kindle.

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Where do you keep your To Be Read pile?

A To Be Read Pile

I’m not super messy. I’m actually organized (mostly). However, if you saw my “to be read” pile- or more accurately my multiple TBR piles- you’d think I was the most disorganized person in the world. Most of my TBR pile is stacked on the floor. Some have made it to my nightstand. Some are near my breakfast nook (I enjoy breakfast and a cup of coffee with a book in the morning- some mornings, anyway.)

A friend just recently gave me a stack of James Patterson books that she’d read and did not want anymore. I took them and made a stack of JP TBR. However, I generally don’t have such luck in having so many of the same author to make little organized stacks.

So spill it- where do you keep your TBR pile? Nightstand? Library? Study?

*It should be noted that in the picture- The Hunger Games series was not on my TBR list at the time- they were just new books (I read THG trilogy on my Kindle).