Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Romance Righter: The Only Character-Naming Guide You'll Ever Need
Romance Righter: The Only Character-Naming Guide You'll Ever Need: Did you read about the mom who wanted to give her toddler a new name because the one given at birth just didn’t work very well. H...
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Freebies and Festivals!
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Monday, September 25, 2017
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Monday, September 18, 2017
Friday, September 15, 2017
Book Blogging - Recent Reads and Reviews
Thought I'd share some thoughts on books I've read recently. I will include links to my Goodreads posts, as these will be shorter summaries of the books.
"We hate the Empire’s cruelty and violence. How can we claim to be morally superior when we stoop to violence ourselves?”
Mon Mothma answered him. “There comes a time when refusing to stop violence can no longer be called nonviolence. We cease to be objectors and become bystanders. At some point, morality must be wedded to action, or else it’s no more than mere…vanity.”
Leia's fierce determination and big heart comes across as empathetic strengths for the developing teenager. The plot moves steadily along as we discover secrets both within the Empire and the Rebellion. We also get added depth to familiar characters like Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, discover old/unexplored characters like Breha Organa, and meet a "The Last Jedi" character, Amilyn Holdo. Gray balances these dynamics well and gives excellent insight into the feelings and experiences these characters went through.
I would have liked a little more differentiation with references. For instance, everyone seems to drink tea, but what kind of tea? The constant being-served-tea scenes got a bit bland because (as a tea snob myself) there is so much variety in tea that could give subtle hints at people's characters. This was underutilized.
Unlike the books preceding "The Force Awakens," I could really feel the movies alive in this book. This was a well-drawn expanded-universe story that enriches the characters we love, most particularly after the passing of Carrie Fisher. Gray has delivered a solid and emotional story that does the original characters credit and is strong in the Force.
See full review here: Goodreads full review
Hauser does a beautiful job between her three unique narrations. There are two women who voice chapters, then there are chapters about the fickle Greek gods. Surprisingly, the god chapters are written in the present tense while the mortals' chapters are written in past tense. This can come across as confusing the first few times, but it is also a smart way to delineate the completely different worlds these two groups of beings exist and perfectly highlights the differences of lifespan and the urgency felt on the shores of Troy versus on Mt. Ida.
Hauser has penned a beautiful new exploration of the Iliad and is a strong, lovely new voice in historical fiction. A stirring book with great characters moving within a fast-paced narrative and a beautiful setting, making this one of my favorite reads of 2017!
See full review here: Goodreads full review
The Vessel of Ra is a unique blend of dark fantasy and historical fiction with plenty of surprises. Seriously, buckle your seatbelt because the speed of this plot is breakneck.
What I loved about the book was the blend of myth with fantasy elements. I thought the story was very unique. There wasn’t another book I could really compare this too, which is great. Schaff-Stump weaves a terrifically complex storyline with varied characters and diverse settings. I loved seeing the Egyptian gods and elements of Biblical fiction blended in an entertaining way.
Schaff-Stump has a very intriguing and page-turning story. I was impressed where the story went. My only wish is that Schaff-Stump would have been a bit more time with her characters sitting in the emotions of a moment. Otherwise, recommend!
I received an advance review copy from publisher, Curiosity Quills. A HUGE thank you to for this opportunity to read and review. My opinions are unbiased.
See full review here: Goodreads full review
Thanks for reading! As you can see, I have eclectic tastes though my favorite is ancient historical fiction. You can find more book recommendations on my Goodreads profile, which is linked on the side bars of this blog.
Enjoy your weekend. I know I'll be busy picking my next book to read! Its the deciding part that's difficult!
Leia, Princess of Alderaan (Journey to Star Wars - The Last Jedi)
by Claudia Gray
Mon Mothma answered him. “There comes a time when refusing to stop violence can no longer be called nonviolence. We cease to be objectors and become bystanders. At some point, morality must be wedded to action, or else it’s no more than mere…vanity.”
Leia's fierce determination and big heart comes across as empathetic strengths for the developing teenager. The plot moves steadily along as we discover secrets both within the Empire and the Rebellion. We also get added depth to familiar characters like Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, discover old/unexplored characters like Breha Organa, and meet a "The Last Jedi" character, Amilyn Holdo. Gray balances these dynamics well and gives excellent insight into the feelings and experiences these characters went through.
I would have liked a little more differentiation with references. For instance, everyone seems to drink tea, but what kind of tea? The constant being-served-tea scenes got a bit bland because (as a tea snob myself) there is so much variety in tea that could give subtle hints at people's characters. This was underutilized.
Unlike the books preceding "The Force Awakens," I could really feel the movies alive in this book. This was a well-drawn expanded-universe story that enriches the characters we love, most particularly after the passing of Carrie Fisher. Gray has delivered a solid and emotional story that does the original characters credit and is strong in the Force.
See full review here: Goodreads full review
For The Most Beautiful (Golden Apple Trilogy #1)
by Emily Hauser
What I love about this book is how it illustrates that historical women were able to accomplish great things despite constraints of time and place. Despite being slaves, two women helped the city of Troy in significant ways. They defied the odds, dealt with their loss at the hands of the Greek invaders, and changed their fate despite when and where they lived. This is the type of historical fiction I love.
Hauser has penned a beautiful new exploration of the Iliad and is a strong, lovely new voice in historical fiction. A stirring book with great characters moving within a fast-paced narrative and a beautiful setting, making this one of my favorite reads of 2017!
See full review here: Goodreads full review
The Vessel of Ra (The Klaereon Scroll #1)
The Vessel of Ra is a unique blend of dark fantasy and historical fiction with plenty of surprises. Seriously, buckle your seatbelt because the speed of this plot is breakneck.What I loved about the book was the blend of myth with fantasy elements. I thought the story was very unique. There wasn’t another book I could really compare this too, which is great. Schaff-Stump weaves a terrifically complex storyline with varied characters and diverse settings. I loved seeing the Egyptian gods and elements of Biblical fiction blended in an entertaining way.
Schaff-Stump has a very intriguing and page-turning story. I was impressed where the story went. My only wish is that Schaff-Stump would have been a bit more time with her characters sitting in the emotions of a moment. Otherwise, recommend!
I received an advance review copy from publisher, Curiosity Quills. A HUGE thank you to for this opportunity to read and review. My opinions are unbiased.
See full review here: Goodreads full review
Thanks for reading! As you can see, I have eclectic tastes though my favorite is ancient historical fiction. You can find more book recommendations on my Goodreads profile, which is linked on the side bars of this blog.
Enjoy your weekend. I know I'll be busy picking my next book to read! Its the deciding part that's difficult!
What a problem to have, right?
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Friday, September 1, 2017
Friday, August 25, 2017
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
A Page from the Past, FREE BOOKS!!, Author Featurette #3
FREE BOOKS! I'm not kidding; they’re still free!
Want to know more about our authors? Here's a brief
intro for a few of them. Watch for more author featurettes next week!
Suzannah Rowntree
When Suzannah Rowntree isn’t travelling the world to
help out friends in need, she lives in a big house in rural Australia with her
awesome parents and siblings, writing historical fantasy fiction and trying to
beat her previous number-of-books-read-in-a-year record.
If you like the fiction of CS Lewis, GK Chesterton,
Stephen Lawhead, or ND Wilson, you’ll probably enjoy her stories too.
Website:
http://suzannahrowntree.site/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/suzannahtweets
Mailing
list: http://eepurl.com/bh7sEb
Xina Marie Uhl
Xina Marie Uhl spends her days laboring in obscurity as
a freelance writer for educational projects and dreaming of ways to scrounge up
enough cash to: 1. travel the world, and 2. add to her increasing menagerie of
dogs, cats, and other creatures. The rest of the time she writes fantasy,
romance, historical fiction, and humor. She is the author of Necropolis, The Ruling Elite and Other Stories (with Janet Loftis) and A Fairy Tail and Out of the Bag.
Find her on Facebook,
Twitter, and WordPress. Join her monthly email newsletter for
up-to-date news on new releases and more.
Leonard Wibberley
Leonard Wibberley was born in Dublin Ireland, in 1915. When
he was nine, his family moved to London. After his father died seven years
later, he went to work as a stockroom apprentice for a publisher and later
became a reporter. In 1943, he came to
the United States. While working for the
Los Angeles Times, he published his first work, The King's Beard. Three years later he published his most
successful book, The Mouse That Roared,
which was serialized in The Saturday Evening Post, and later made into a
classic film starring Peter Sellers.
Wibberley lived in Hermosa Beach from 1949 until his
death in 1983. He wrote over 100 books and 100's of newspaper articles. Leonard also wrote mysteries, juvenile
fiction, historical novels, and non-fiction under the pen names Leonard Holton,
Patrick O’Connor, and Christopher Webb. Most
of his works were out of print, but with self-publishing came a chance for his
family to republish his books in both print and online. So far, his family has self-published 26 of
his books. You can check them out his
website here: http://leonardwibberley.wixsite.com/author
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