Tag Archives: Reading

WWW Wednesday 10/9/13 What Are You Reading?

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?

Currently reading:
SlumberingThe Forest Bull by Terry Maggert.
Three lovers who stalk and kill the immortals that drift through South Florida (tourists are a moveable feast, after all) are living a simple life of leisure- until one of them is nearly killed by woman who is a new kind of lethal. When Ring Hardigan isn’t making sandwiches for, and with, his two partners, Waleska and Risa (they’re cool like that), he’s got a busy schedule doing the dirty work of sending immortals to the ever after. Wally and Risa provide linguistics, logistics, and finding the right place for him and his knife– together, they’re a well-oiled machine, and they’ve settled into a rhythm that bodes ill for the Undying. Warlocks, vampires, succubae and the odd ghoul have all fallen to their teamwork. Life is tough, but they soldier on killing the undead, liberating their worldly goods for charity, and generally achieving very little.


Refreshing my read for review of  The Morac by Colleen M. Bratley.

Finished Reading: Last Week I read very little. So my list is short. 

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Recommended.

Reading Next:

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Tuesday Teasers 10/1/13

f4f66-teasertuesdayTuesday  Teasers! 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!
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

“We were having this conversation on a fine summer evening, sitting out on the littlebalcony of her recovery room. It was a few months after her first donation, and now she was over the worst of it, I’d always time my evening visits so that we’d be able to spend a half hour or so out there, watching the sun go down over the rooftops.”

From the Booker Prize-winning author of The Remains of the Day comes a devastating new novel of innocence, knowledge, and loss. As children Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were.

Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special–and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together. Suspenseful, moving, beautifully atmospheric, Never Let Me Go is another classic by the author of The Remains of the Day.

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Many Monday Plans – Monday Meme 9/30/13

Many Monday Plans. My Monday Meme.

What the heck am I going to do this week? Time for a plan. Oops, I should have done that last night – make a plan I mean. 
You can participate in Many Monday Plans – Monday Meme.

  • List 7 planning to do items. (It is a seven-day week)
  • Share with your friends.
  • List one TIP to share.
  • Enjoy your week.
  1. Read a book. Read another book. Read another book. What only 3 books? OK, Read 2 More.
  2. Blog. Plan to blog 3 times during the week for six posts or more. Schedule the posts. Review blog. Doggie Blog. Craft Blog. – Oh yeah, take pictures for craft tutorials. New Meme coming (and I don’t mean this one). Get With the Craft Blog! So Many Crafts. http://somanycraft.blogspot.com/
  3. Write a Review. Write another Review. Write still another review.
  4. Bathe some of the dogs. Hmmm, who is stinkiest?
  5. Shred paper in the office. This could take a while.
  6. Pack boxes and move to garage. Pack more boxes. Take a hot bath.
  7. Take a nap. A girl just wants to have fun.

Book reviews awaiting my brain and fingers:
The Morac
The Starlight Chronicles
Crime Bites – finish reading.
600 Hours of Edward
Edward Adrift

           

  • Craft Projects for So Many Crafts
  • Another Easy Peasy Wreath
  • Paper Stitching
  • Products and coupons

My Tip for the week. To remove odors, for example musty dusty books removed from storage.  Place a small container filled with vinegar nearby.  Odor gone!

My silly tip. Using embroidery floss instead of dental floss doesn’t work.

 

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WWW Wednesday 9/25/13

WWW_Wednesdays4To 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?

Currently Reading:

Edward Adrift by Craig Lancaster.

It’s been a year of upheaval for Edward Stanton, a forty-two-year-old with Asperger’s syndrome. He’s lost his job. His trusted therapist has retired. His best friends have moved away. And even his nightly ritual of watching Dragnet reruns has been disrupted. All of this change has left Edward, who lives his life on a rigid schedule, completely flummoxed.

But when his friend Donna calls with news that her son Kyle is in trouble, Edward leaves his comfort zone in Billings, Montana, and drives to visit them in Boise, where he discovers Kyle has morphed from a sweet kid into a sullen adolescent. Inspired by dreams of the past, Edward goes against his routine and decides to drive to a small town in Colorado where he once spent a summer with his father—bringing Kyle along as his road trip companion. The two argue about football and music along the way, and amid their misadventures, they meet an eccentric motel owner who just might be the love of Edward’s sheltered life—if only he can let her.

Endearing and laugh-out-loud funny, Edward Adrift is author Craig Lancaster’s sequel to 600 Hours of Edward.

The Wisdom of No Escape: And the Path of Loving-Kindness by Pema Chodron. Almost finished!
It’s true, as they say, that we can only love others when we first love ourselves and we can only experience real joy when we stop running from pain. The key to understanding these truisms lies in remaining open to life in all circumstances, and here Pema Chödrön shows us how. Because when we embrace the happiness and suffering, intelligence and confusion that are a natural part of life, we can begin to discover a wellspring of courageous love within our hearts.

Finished Reading:
600 Hours of Edward by Craig Lancaster. Loved it! Review Coming

Reading Next: 2 Books for Reviews.
The Morac by Colleen M. Bratley.

Four friends just out of high school are on a weekend getaway when the power goes out. At least that’s all they thought it was. But returning home they don’t see any cars, lights or people. Not one soul.

Searching for answers to what exactly happened, reveals information leading them to an event that they wouldn’t have thought of even in their wildest dreams. It’s a realization so impossible, their nightmares dim in comparison.

Now they just have to figure out what to do next; not just to control their destiny, but how to survive it.

The Starlight Chronicles: Slumbering by C.S. Johnson.
Sixteen-year-old Hamilton Dinger is an above-average teenager. He’s got the grades for the top of the class, the abilities of a star athlete and Tetris player, and the charisma to get away with anything. Everything seems to be going along perfectly as he enters into tenth grade at Apollo Central High School. Everything, that is, until a meteor crashes into the city, unleashing a whirlwind of evil and awakening a deep, hidden power as the long battle between good and evil continues. Bringing an abrupt halt to the easygoing pace of Hamilton’s life, he and his longtime dormant supernatural powers are caught up in the middle of things when his comfort zone is turned into a war zone. On top of everything else, there’s the homecoming game, the school play, and the history test to worry about.

Can Hamilton overcome his ignorance and narrow-mindedness to see what is truly real? Can he give up his self-proclaimed entitlement to happiness in order to follow the call of a duty he doesn’t want? More importantly, will he willingly sacrifice all he has to find out the truth?

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Author Interview and Review: Order of the Dimensions by Irene Helenowski

Author Interview and Review: Order of the Dimensions by Irene Helenowski

Interview with Irene Helenowski.

Can you give me a Synopsis of Your Book? The book is about a graduate student names Jane Kremowski who is involved in developing a device that allows for inter-dimensional travel. She could also see how her life differs in different dimensions. But trouble ensues when the villain, Anton Zelov, gains access to it.

What drove you to write this book? I was watching a special on the Discovery channel featuring theoretical physicist Dr. Michio Kaku about the multiverse theory and became fascinated with the notion that we could really be living different lives in different dimensions within our universe.

You are a bio statistical analyst (correct me if I have your title wrong) how did that play into your writing if at all? As a biostatistician, I work with different researchers at Northwestern here in Chicago. In my book, I focus quite a bit on academia life, since that is where my career lies. I also do quite a bit with probability, which I consequently read is also part of the multiverse theory as scientists have become interested in how possible are certain events if there are indeed other dimensions.

What is your writing process? I just try to write whenever I can about whatever comes to me.

You self-published. Can you share the pros and cons of self-publication? I know many authors are considering this option. It’s a lot of hard work promoting it yourself and unfortunately, a lot of people are still weary of picking up anything self-published. But I still try my best. And so far, I like the freedom of not having to answer to a publisher. I am still entertaining the thought of going the traditional route, perhaps with my next book, however.

If you were to re-write your book or edit anything in the published version what would you change? Actually, I have just re-written the book a third time based on some criticisms I’ve received and focused on doing more showing than telling.
What is next on the horizon? Hoping to finish up the sequel 🙂

Is there any one thing you would like to share with readers? Just hope they enjoy the story 🙂

If you are a person that wants to know ‘what happens next?’ than you will enjoy.

Review:  Order of The Dimensions by Irene Helenowski.

Jane Kremowski is a physics graduate student at Madison State University. She is part of a team that has developed a device that allows for inter-dimensional travel. After a successful testing, Jane decides to use the device. The book begins with Jane jumping from one reality to another. She ends up in different cities working at different universities on similar projects.

Dr. Anton Zelov visits the university under the guise of providing funding for further research of the Multiverser – the inter-dimensional traveling device.
Jane discovers Zelov has taken the technology her team developed and has created his own version of the Multiverser. Confused at first by Zelov’s capture of scientists at a convention, she is whisked away into a Multiverser where she discovers she is married to Zelov.

Zelov is a classic villain. He wants to create a New World Order, an Order of Dimensions. He uses different dimensions for his own evil, selfish purposes. He wants Jane, he wants power and he has a team of henchmen available to force is schemes on others.

Jane along with Randy, her husband in some dimensions, Emily, Michael and the other members of the Good Guys working for the Federation jump from dimension to dimension trying to thwart Zelov. Along the way she discovers ‘alters’ and dimensions where you can never tell who is good or bad.

A science fiction novel set in contemporary times, The Order of the Dimensions is a mesh of Sliders, Jump and Fringe. The author reveals different paths a life can take. A New World Order is a conspiracy theory in which secret elite, in this case Zelov, is conspiring to rule the world via world government and globalization.

The novel is fast paced, jumping from event to event. Helenowski’s writing style is third person omniscient driven by dialogue. The characters talk about what they are thinking and what is happening. I am not generally a fan of this method of writing as I like description and deep POV. If you are a person that wants to know ‘what happens next?’ than you will enjoy.

I admire writers that consider other avenues to publication. Self-publishing is a brave and confident step. Authors can make more money with a book they publish themselves but they most work diligently at self-promotion. The downside of self-pubbed books is the lack of a trained editor and copy editor. Self-publication is an entire topic for another blog.

As this is the author’s first novel I expect her to grow and improve as she works on the sequel. I feel petty mentioning that the overuse of adverbs drove me batty. It’s not like I am the queen of grammar because I fail repeatedly. Helenowski even mentions in her interview that she has rewritten based on criticisms and critiques.

Sci-Fi fans and Sci-Fi purists should consider adding Order of Dimensions to their library. And through October 31, 2013 Irene Helenowski is giving away a FREE Ebook copy of her book, follow this link: box.net link . In addition she will donate $1 to Susan G. Komen for every book.

If you are a person that wants to know ‘what happens next?’ than you will enjoy.
I met the author through Book Blogs and was given a copy for review. Irene Helenowski kindly answered my questions.

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It’s Monday. What Are You Reading? 9/23/13

what are you reading meme

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It’s a great way to see what others are currently reading?

I finished 600 Hours of Edward by Craig Lancaster. Marvelous!

 

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishugiro.

If you read Unwind by Neal Schusterman, you will like this book.  If you haven’t read Unwindread itThis 2005 dystopian science fiction novel was shortlisted for the 2005 Booker Prize (an award Ishiguro had previously won in 1989 for The Remains of the Day), for the 2006 Arthur C. Clarke Award and for the 2005 National Book Critics Circle Award. TIME magazine named it the best novel of 2005 and included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.

The Insanity of Zero by Michael Offutt. When an unforeseen event brings about the end of the world, a powerful artificial intelligence is born. Its task: save humanity from extinction. To understand those it must rescue, the computer decides to assimilate human emotions. But what happens when an omnipotent computer begins to fear its own death.

The Wisdom of No Escape: And the Path of Loving-Kindness (Shambhala Library) by Pema Chodron. It’s possible to say yes to life in all its manifestations, Pema Chödrön teaches—by embracing all the happiness and suffering, all the intelligence and confusion that are a natural part of our existence. Doing so opens a wellspring of courage and love within our hearts. In this gift edition of her first book, Pema presents traditional Buddhist wisdom that anyone can relate to.

Edward Adrift by Craig Lancaster. Sequel to 600 Hours of Edward.

It’s been a year of upheaval for Edward Stanton, a forty-two-year-old with Asperger’s syndrome. He’s lost his job. His trusted therapist has retired. His best friends have moved away. And even his nightly ritual of watching Dragnet reruns has been disrupted. All of this change has left Edward, who lives his life on a rigid schedule, completely flummoxed.

But when his friend Donna calls with news that her son Kyle is in trouble, Edward leaves his comfort zone in Billings, Montana, and drives to visit them in Boise, where he discovers Kyle has morphed from a sweet kid into a sullen adolescent. Inspired by dreams of the past, Edward goes against his routine and decides to drive to a small town in Colorado where he once spent a summer with his father—bringing Kyle along as his road trip companion. The two argue about football and music along the way, and amid their misadventures, they meet an eccentric motel owner who just might be the love of Edward’s sheltered life—if only he can let her.

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Saturday Steals 9/21/13

Saturday Steals

Free September 22 to 26th,


The Captain’s Last Year, Fighting the Fire and Cancer: One Year to Live by Blaize Nolynne.

From the Author:  What would you do if you only had one year to live? Blaize Nolynne’s short story answers that same compelling question. Steven Williams is no different than any of us. He is a fire captain on a volunteer fire department and lives with his family in River Falls, Maine. The doctors have given him only one year to live, something that no one wants to hear. At first he denies this diagnosis of stage four stomach cancer. Treatments begin to fail and he realizes his time here is running out. The questions pop in his mind of what he should do with the one year he has left of his life.

Blaize Nolynne books are exclusively available on Kindle, but traditional paperbacks and hardcover are available elsewhere. For more: www.facebook.com/blaizenolynnefan  

Also Available:
How about a freebie from the U.K.? Language in the Blood by Angela Lockwood.
Free on Kindle 9/20-24/2013. Cameron Blair would have liked nothing better than to stay in Edinburgh and marry his childhood sweetheart. As the call to arms goes out, Cameron and his pals sign up to fight for their country. They are soon delivered into the nightmare of war, and there Cameron more than meets his maker.

The story follows Cameron as he comes to terms with his new ‘life’, from his first days as a hapless vampire in war-torn France to the glamorous modern day setting of the Côte d’Azur. Along the way, he develops a distinctive taste for the finer things in life: jewels, yachts, small dogs and champagne-infused human…

Waking Up Married by Mira Lyn Kelly. Kindle FREE! From USA TODAY bestselling author Mira Lyn Kelly comes WAKING UP MARRIED, a free book in Harlequin’s brand-new contemporary romance collection—Harlequin KISS.

 

 

cover2b Irene Helenowski is giving FREE copy of her book, Order of The Dimensions. Follow this link  box.net link .  Through October 31, 2013.  Irene will also donate $1 from each download to the Susan G. Komen foundation.

 

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