She Reads

Literary Friday, ya’ll….

Been a couple of weeks since I posted about a #literaryfriday- September flew by and my hard drive crashed last week. Fun stuff, right?

Here goes:

1. Deep South Mag and their weekly Literary Friday is HERE. Tons of Events, news, and literary items in this weekly installment; but most notably: Oprah Winfrey included the book The Cutting Season by Attica Locke on her The Best New Books of October 2012. However, Deep South Magazine had already included The Cutting Season on their Fall/Winter Reading List. The Cutting Season looks like it’s off to a good start being on 2 different reading lists. For Deep South Magazine’s full Fall/Winter List- click HERE. Grab a book, and get ready to enjoy the fall and winter seasons!

2. September 30- October 6 is Banned Book Week.  You may have seen some of the cute pictures (especially the spoof of Carly Rae Jespen’s Call Me Maybe) this week as part of the week. Deep South Magazine has an article about Banned Book Week as well as Southern Spines.

3. She Reads is giving away a copy of Erika Marks newest book, The Mermaid Collector, today. I’ve already been raving about how good this book is, heck, even posted a countdown clock about the book’s release date. To win a copy of this book, all you have to do is make a comment HERE. Enter the contest, and find out about the magic of The Mermaid Collector first-hand.

4. If you haven’t read Sarah Jio’s Blackberry Winter, I encourage you to read this book. Great storyline and characters. Also, it’s the She Reads October Book Club pick.

5. Check back here for reviews on Blackberry Winter, The Mermaid Collector, and Ghosts of Manhattan. Have read the first 2, finishing the last book.

As always, enjoy the weekend and Happy Reading!

 

 

Introducing the She Reads Blogger Network…

She Reads- a great online book club- decided to begin a blog network. Over the last few months, the plans have been in motion to debut a group of bloggers to read and review the book of the month. Officially, September 4th, the She Reads Blog Network is live and reviewing books.

I am beyond tickled pink to announce that I am a member of this network- a great group of ladies who love to read and discuss books. While the blogger network is just beginning- I predict great things for the future.

To see  the members of the She Reads Blogger Network, click HERE!

To see the September She Reads Book Pick, click HERE! (Hint: if you like Meryl Streep movies, this is probably a great book to pick!)

 

 

She Reads September Book Club Pick: The Meryl Streep Movie Club by Mia March

September- while summer is still not completely over (living where I do, we still have a little more time for fun and sun because of the weather) but officially, summer is over. Labor Day weekend is like my last hurrah, I make sure to soak up as much fun and sun as possible over Labor Day weekend. Then slowly begin preparing for fall (pumpkins, state fair, leaves falling, etc..)

So it’s kind of fitting that She Reads picked The Meryl Streep Movie Club by Mia March as their September book club pick. It’s like a farewell to summer in a book. I love this book- I really can’t say enough good things about this book.  It’s light, refreshing, easy reading. Great type of a book for a book club to debate and discuss because there will probably be at least 1 person in the book that members can identify with.

For a more detailed review, click HERE for my earlier review!

To see what She Reads is saying about this great book (plus to win prizes!) click HERE!

First Literary Loves….

In hindsight, my first literary love was The Monster at the End of the Book. It’s such a cute kid’s book- Grover tries everything he can to keep you from turning the page to get to the end of the book- only to discover that he is the monster (albeit a loveable, furry monster).

I’d love to say that when reading this book- I was having all these thoughts like that the writer was pure genius, how groundbreaking the book was, and more thoughts like that- but the truth is: I was a kid. And no, I just loved the book. And loved having the book read to me. Full disclosure- this book still holds a prized place on my bookshelf- where real-estate is at a premium.

My next literary love is Ann M. Martin. Writing The Babysitter’s Club series- those books really solidified my love of reading. The girls of the BSC felt like best friends, the books were warm and comfortable- like a soft sweatshirt.

Judy Blume outranks Ann M. Martin, though in my total literary love. Her characters- Fudge, Peter, Sheila, Margaret, Vix, Caitlin, Allison, Rachel, and Stephanie (all from different books) were friends at various points in my life. And like old friends, I gladly welcome them back anytime.

Over the years, I’ve found many literary loves, lost some, replaced some. The author may change, but books are a pretty common staple in my life. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So what authors are your literary first loves? Did your tastes change with age? Have you loved an author and then not so much anymore?

Two authors talk about their literary loves- Marybeth Whalen   and Kimberly Brock

Literary loves- an interesting thought. Does the first literary loves shape you as a reader? Or are they just the first brick in a yellow brick road that leads to untold riches as you embrace the love of reading?

Book news…. (list style!)

1. Recently began reading  James Patterson. Sorry to report that I have been ignoring his great books for years. Loved Kiss the Girls, I, Alex Cross and now reading Roses are Red. Good books.

2. Received my copy of The River Witch by Kimberly Brock that I won from Hallie Sawyer’s blog. Kimberly personalized my copy with the sweetest message: To Tamara- My sweet friend. May the story sing for you! Love, Kimberly Brock
I cannot wait to sit down and begin reading this book. With the rave reviews it’s getting, I’m very excited about reading it.

3. Bought Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn yesterday. Have never read a book by her, but between the description of the book from Reader’s Digest, the book cover and my book friend, Keetha’s, excitement over the book- I feel sure it’ll be a winner. I hope so anyway.

4. I’m still waiting on the library to get my copies of Ready, Player One and The Rook from the inter-library loan. This is probably why people buy, as opposed to borrow books mainly- it’s too long of a wait.

5. I was asked to guest blog about The Hunger Games trilogy for a friend’s blog- Man Vs Books Club. The blog is a collaborative effort among a group of people who read and encourage others to read. If looking for another blog to read or some great reviews, please check them out.

6. It’s 9 days till Booktopia Oxford, MS. Books on the Nightstand has several great events planned. Look for future blog posts on the authors I met at Booktopia.

7. Speaking of Books on the Nightstand, if you don’t listen to their weekly podcast, give it a try. They usually have great recommendations for books. This week, they recommended Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D by Nichole Bernier. Nichole’s book was getting quite a bit of attention from several bloggers I follow yesterday- based on the talk, I’ve decided to add it to my list of books to read this summer.

8. My “to-read” list is growing exponentially. It bothers me because no matter how much time I devote to reading, it seems I never make a dent in my list.

9. She Reads is looking for more bloggers to join their network- if you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, please check out their website.

 

 

The River Witch by Kimberly Brock (June’s She Reads Book Club Selection)

Kimberly Brock has taken the publishing world by storm- her debut novel, The River Witch, is earning high praise from other authors and getting quite a bit of attention from other bloggers.

Kimberly- no stranger to social media (if you follow her on twitter, you’ll see that posts quite a bit and retweets even more) has been promoting her book like crazy. Reaping the awards of good promotion- on June 8th Deep South Magazine will conduct an online chat with her about her book and writing, She Reads has picked The River Witch as their June book selection of the month, and other bloggers have been giving away her book to their followers.  Hallie Sawyer featured a fabulous chat and book giveaway a few days ago with Kimberly Brock

She Reads will be hosting The River Witch as their book club selection for month of June. They will also be giving away fabulous prizes for commenting and joining in the book club.

With all the great publicity for The River Witch, if you have not found a book to read this summer- give this one a look. Find you a cool place to get, a comfortable chair, delicious drink and sit down to enjoy this book.

To learn more about Kimberly Brock or to read the first 2 chapters of her book, The River Witch, for free- please visit Kimberly’s website