WWW Wednesdays (Should Be Reading) Aug 22

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

 

1. What are you currently reading?

I’m currently reading Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks and A Teeny Bit of Trouble by Michael Lee West. Teeny is a quirky and fun character and Nicholas Sparks books are pretty good.

2. What did you recently finish reading?

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It’s been a month or so of reading P&P- but it was totally worth it. Also recently finished was Kill Alex Cross by James Patterson.

3. What do you think you’ll read next?

That’s a good question- I’m wanting to read Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. I have Wallflower in Bloom by Claire Cook. A Brew to a Kill by Cleo Coyle. The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D by Nichole Bernier. I’m unsure as to which author I’ll pick next.

Teaser Tuesdays (Should Be Reading) Aug 21

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Because being comfortable meant she might lower her guard, and she could never let that happen.

Drawing in a deeply scented breath of hyacinth and fresh-cut grass, she knew she hadn’t been happier in years.

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks, pg 13

Literary Friday ya’ll…

Friday- TGIF- TGIF! Ok now that I’ve gotten a little Katy Perry out of me, I can start in on Literary Friday!

1. If you missed out on seeing Kimberly Brock, The River Witch,  in both Jackson and Greenwood, MS- 2 things: 1. You missed a great book signing AND 2. Fear not because the ever-so-smart, Erin, from Deep South Magazine thought ahead, took notes, pictures and video- and made it possible for people to experience what we were seeing in real life. To learn more about Deep South Mag’s road-trip through Mississippi on The River Witch tour with Kimberly Brock- click HERE!

2. If you missed my blog entry on The River Witch and Anna Kline and the Grits and Soul band- click HERE for a recap.

3. Yesterday was the 35th anniversary of Elvis’s death- I hope you listened to at least 1 Elvis song or watched 1 Elvis movie- heck, even if you said “Thank you, Thank you very much” in an Elvis voice- you honored the King of Rock and Roll. If you happen to be passing through the Tupelo area- a new statue was unveiled last week of Elvis. Totally road-trip worthy, imo.

4. What are you reading this weekend? The summer season is winding down- will you put the beach books away or not?

Wherever you are, whatever the plan is for the weekend- have a great one & enjoy some great books!

Happy Reading!

Kimberly Brock “The River Witch” book signing

Kimberly Brock and her fantastic book, The River Witch, was the event at TurnRow Books in Greenwood, MS on August 14.  Kimberly did not come alone, though- she brought the fun group, Anna Kline and the Grits and Soul Band with her. The band played for a bit, then Kim spoke about her book and read a bit from it, and then Grits and Soul played a bit more before they headed to Webster’s to play for more music-loving folks.

If you’ve never heard Anna Kline and the Grits and Soul Band- the music is interesting and good. A little hard for me to describe exactly- kind of blues-y, folksy music- music that will make you sit up and take notice because it’s interesting. I highly recommend seeing them perform. Anna Kline told the crowd of how they got the name “Grits and Soul”- she said that some time ago seeing a James Brown album with the title Grits and Soul, and thought that was perfect name to describe the group. I have to agree with Anna, I think the name describes the group to perfection- as well as helps describe the kind of entertaining music a person will be hearing.

Kimberly Brock- her tweets are sweet; but she’s even nice in real-life. Discussing her book, telling of how many years she put into The River Witch, and describing the characters- she was totally in her element. She teased the crowd by talking of the meaning about The River Witch-saying she wouldn’t spoil it for anyone by telling who is a river witch (although there is certainly some contenders for that title) or even if there is a river witch! I like the ambiguity of the title, and I like how she didn’t spoil anything about the book- it’s a book that doesn’t need to have things wrapped up perfectly.

Me and Kimberly Brock “The River Witch”

 

Me and Erin from Deep South Magazine

 

Me and Anna Kline

 

 

Starting a series- beginning or middle or does it matter?

When you start a new book series- do you like to read from the very beginning, or just pick a book and go from there?

Some book series to get the full picture a person has to read them in order (Think The Hunger Games trilogy). While other series, it seems to no matter so much (example Carol Higgins Clark Regan Reily series).

Take Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series and Sue Grafton’s ABC series– they can be read in order; however if they are not, it’s not that big of a deal. Both characters (Stephanie and Kinsey) introduce themselves to the reader and any pertinent backstory is brought up to keep readers current.

Most book series I read are like that- each book can stand alone; but is much better when knowing the characters and backstory.

Thoughts on this? How do you like to start a series? Chime in with thoughts and make recommendations on book series you love!

A little of this, a little of that… List Style!

List-style is how it’s going to be today! Here Goes:

1. Kimberly Brock- The River Witch book signing tonight (Squeal!)

2. Now that things are coming together, I feel like announcing that I’ll be helping review books for She Reads! I’m so excited to help these lovely ladies spread the word about books- for excellent reviews, book suggestions or if you’d like to join an online book club- She Reads is where you need to be! And as soon as I figure out how to put their lovely blog button on my blog- I’ll be having that on my blog, as well.

3. Summer Breeze by Nancy Thayer- light, fun, easy reading. Perfect for that beach chair and cool drink. Recommend.

4. Deck The Halls by Carol and Mary Higgins Clark- while the season is wrong for reading it- I enjoyed the fluffy book. And even though I knew how Jack and Regan met (you can’t read a CHC book without learning that piece of information) I still liked getting the “full story”.

Check back this week for pictures from The River Witch book signing!

Goodreads account- and the joy of using it….

At the suggestion of Zen- I’ve been using my Goodreads account to keep track of the books I actually own. It was a bit time consuming at first, but worth it. But I did not stop there. I’ve made a shelf for my Kindle books, my old Sweet Valley University books, and plan to make each author a shelf. All so that at a click on one button I can gaze at the books I have- without creating the mess that I made the other week in the fruitless search for the book I still can’t find.

Any other ideas as to how I can use my Goodreads account to my advantage? I’m all for suggestions- and thanks Zen!

Book Girl Problems = having so many books that you have to rely on a form of social media to help keep you organized.

Is it sad that I’m sad that The Sweet Life by Francine Pascal is over?

Is it sad that I’m ( a grown-up for crying out loud) sad that The Sweet Life by Francine Pascal is over? At least for now?

Growing up with the twins, Elizabeth and Jessica, were some of my favorite book characters. I thought they were so cool, California girls with blond hair and blue eyes- they were quite the role model for the dark haired, dark eyed me.

Reading The Sweet Life– pure, soapy fun. A blast from the past. A wave of nostalgia.  Anxiously awaiting each Sunday so I could read the latest in the Wakefield twins lives.

I sincerely hope that there is a plan to continue with the series since it left us with a cliff-hanger!

Last thought: I read that Barnes and Noble will be re-releasing the Sweet Valley High books on Nook- Amazon and Kindle- you need to plan the same. Releasing them for a 1.99 (just like Nook) would be great. A bit of nostalgia at my fingertips anytime I wanted to read adventures of the Wakefield’s- sign me up!

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Organizing my books….

My books…Organized!

So after the disastrous search for Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks, I decided that it was time to get some books organized. *Side note: The book still has not been found- I’m getting close to concluding that I did not buy the book- because books simply do not JUST disappear.

So last night, armed with a glass of cold, ice water- I began the process of getting the books organized. Hard cover in the back, soft cover in the front- books of same heights together (to allow stacking on top of those books). Then tough choices: If I did not just LOVE the book- the book did not get a place on this highly coveted shelf. It was relegated to the crate. Books that I had not read yet are on top of a table so they can be quickly found and read. Signed books (which I did not take a picture of )have a shelf in another place of their own.

I’m really generous about book recommendations; but I’m not too generous about loaning my books- I treat my books with love and care- not everyone else does. But if it’s a signed book- FORGET ABOUT IT! It’ll never get borrowed- that book is totally off-limits!

Now you may be looking at this and thinking “well that’s not too many books”- Remember: this is just a small area of my books. I have stacks in other places, as well. Looks like I need to be asking for another bookshelf!

Literary Friday ya’ll….

Oh how I love Friday’s- it’s just the official beginning of the weekend for me. Friday was always the best day in school- an extra-long recess! Friday’s are good day for movies usually the movie opens on Friday night. For years Friday night was THE night to watch TV on ABC (TGIF line-up).  But I digress- Friday is the best.

A round up of information for Literary Friday:

1. Always check out Deep South Magazine– Literary Friday is the best there!
This week has news about The Great Gatsby film, The River Witch book signings for Jackson and Greenwood (be there or be square!), and a collection of book/town festivals. Also in Deep South Mag’s round-up of Literary Friday is my guest blog for Melinda McGuire about Rowan Oak and William Faulkner- thanks to Deep South Magazine for posting that link!

2. Are you a fan of reading book reviews? If so, She Reads is a place to stop by! Follow She Reads on Twitter (@SheReadsBookCLB) and use hashtag #SRblognetwork for reviews on great books!

3. My current #literaryconfession: I still have a copy of The Monster at the End of the Book- I actually have 2 copies- my childhood one and one that was given to me as an adult because of my great love for the book. I freely admit that this book holds a prominent place on my bookshelf!

4. My #fridayreads is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Love the One You’re With by Emily Giffin. Kind of fitting since Vanity Fair calls Emily Giffin “a modern day Jane Austen”.

5. My friend, Keetha, did a great blog post on handwritten letters/cards and how she loves that kind of mail, loves getting those kind of things for gifts. I have to 100% agree with her- cute mail makes me happy. And I adore buying or getting as a gift great cards/paper- throw in a good-writing pen and I’ll do a happy dance! So, thoughts: Is paper just paper? Do you like getting random cards or letters from friends in this day of digital communication? Do you save the cards or find them to be a nuisance that you have to throw away?

Have a happy Literary Friday- and chime in with what you are reading or book recommendations!