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Photo a Day Challenge is hosted by Fat Mum Slim
Readers' Favorite
July 28, 2012
Even Better: Catching Fire
audiobook, narrator: Carolyn McCormick
Published September 2009 by Scholastic
ISBN13: 9780545101431
Listened July 2012
Goodreads, IndieBound, Amazon
Yes! My number finally came up on the waiting list for the digital download of Catching Fire. I downloaded when I got to work on Monday and listened straight through the day. I wound up listening to all but an hour of it. I loved it!
I realized though that listening to it so quickly that I missed some things so I spent the rest of the week listening to it is a little more slowly and yeah I missed a couple of big things as well as some smaller things.
I think I liked Catching Fire more than Hunger Games (see my review). I liked that there was more of a focus of what was going on at home in the districts. In Hunger Games, it seemed that the game went on forever and I guess that was the point of that book, but I liked getting a better understanding of the world they live in. Though it just made me want to ask more questions about how their world works.
I thought this book was more graphic than Hunger Games as well. Yet, you see more of Katniss acting her age. In Hunger Games, she seemed older, which was understandable since she had been providing for her family since her father died. However, in Catching Fire the reader is reminded that she is only 16/17 years of age. There were times that I wondered how stupid can you be not to figure something out. But then I would remember how young she is and realize that she probably didn't have the experience to figure it out.
I've done surprisingly well with avoiding spoilers. Going into Catching Fire, I only knew that past victors would be the tributes for the 75th games. About halfway through the book I had to know if Katniss made it through the end or not. I mean you would think she did because there is a third book, but Collins could have also killed her off and had her be a martyr. Peeta is so good with words that he would be able to rally the people. I was so conflicted and HAD TO KNOW. I went and looked at the summary for Mockingjay to alleviate my anxiety. Then I felt bad that I "cheated".
Back to Catching Fire... it is definitely a book that I could read over and over (well, listen to since I haven't actually read it). I didn't feel that way about Hunger Games. There seems to be more depth to Catching Fire that there is something more I will glean from the story, more clues that are needed to piece the story together completely to be found with each subsequent reading. I like books like that.
While I was left with many questions, I'm trying hard not to look for answers. I did search for one answer and quickly realized I would find spoilers if I wasn't careful. As you may know, I like to read books where other people are speculating and talking about the books. Since I missed the bandwagon I don't have a lot of that interaction. One question I think would be fun to discuss would be what reason do you think the original gamemakers had for making the victors come back for the 75th Games? Or was it rigged by President Snow? There are several side thoughts along with that question like what if there hadn't been a victor living for a district. I would love to hear other's thoughts on this question, but NO SPOILERS! please.
You can listen to more of my thoughts on Catching Fire on TIE Book Bloggers' Radio (it's probably around the 1 hour mark).
July 27, 2012
Friday Fun with K. B. Hoyle
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| K. B. Hoyle |
Though Jamie has read many other authors, K. B. remains her favorite author. K. B. and I thought it would be fun to have Jamie interview her. Jamie was thrilled, but then agonized over what to ask. Below are the questions we came up with one summer evening while enjoying milkshakes. (We let her brother ask one question because he has yet to read the books.) Read past the end of the interview for an exclusive look at the cover for book 4 The Enchanted.
Jamie: I'm a little confused about Narks. Are they more like humans who change personalities or are they more like Fauns in Narnia?
K. B. Hoyle: Narks are like twins that share one body; they are separate entities with similar personalities, but they each control the body only at a certain time. In this, narks are more like humans than fauns, I suppose, but there is definitely something of Mr. Tumnus in Veli and his devotion to Darcy. Realistically, though, they are more like Tolkien's elves than either humans or fauns. They have the empathy of human beings, the devotion and free-spirit of fauns, and the extraordinary nature of elves in how they are, as Veli often says, "good" at everything they do (incredibly fast runners, very strong, good swimmers, excellent of hearing, long of sight, etc...). Narks really are supposed to be new creatures, though, inspired by others, but not quite like anything else out there. I don't know that I've ever read of another fantasy creature that has two entities sharing one body.
Jamie: Can you give any hints to the riddle: Twice wed, twice dead, twice stained red?
K. B.: Hmmm... well, I don't want to give away anything that would ruin the experience for anyone, but I also know that it's fun to try and figure out a riddle in a story. Here's all I will say: there is more information forthcoming on this in book 4, The Enchanted. The riddle has tie-ins to other oracle riddles in the story. And anyone who wants to try and figure out a few more specifics would do very well to take a look at the alchemical process, although this would probably be a bit above the heads of my younger readers.
Jamie: I heard you had a baby recently. What is your new son's name?
K. B.: We named our new son William. As a writer, I believe that names are very important, and I further believe that parents ought to be very purposeful in naming their children. We have three sons now, and they are all named after great men from history. With that in mind, we named William after the historical William Wilberforce, who was responsible for abolishing the slave trade in England.
Jamie: What is your favorite part of teaching?
K. B.: I love when I can tell that my students are not only comprehending, but also enjoying the material we are studying. There is nothing quite like the enthusiasm of students to encourage and inspire the heart of a teacher. And I teach some difficult stuff! I read The Histories by Herodotus with my 8th graders (since I teach at a classical school), and they tend to go into that unit dubiously, certain that this huge old tome they are about to read is going to be as dry as dust, but at the end of the year, Herodotus is almost universally named by my 8th graders as the favorite thing they studied all year.
Jamie: Both Sam and Darcy have crushes on Perry. Why does Darcy like him so much?
K. B.: Darcy likes Perry so much because Perry is a likeable guy! He's good-looking, athletic, charismatic, confident, and he can be quite charming when he wants to be. There tends to be a "type" of guy that girls of a certain age tend to like, and Perry is supposed to fit that to the bill. As far as why I put this sort of character into this story, there was a boy at the real camp I attended whom I and my two best girlfriends all liked. In a way it was fun to all three like the same guy because we could talk about him together, but in another way it made for a sort of competition between the three of us. It was an interesting dynamic in our group relationship at camp, and I wanted to build that into the story. And we ultimately didn't let it spoil our friendship! I haven't talked to that boy in years, but I'm still very close with both of those girls, and I'm even in one of their weddings this October!
Jamie: Lewis has a magic quill, Sam gets a pouch that objects come out of, Dean has a bow and arrow to send messages, Amelia's lyre can reveal what is lost, and Perry's sword serves as a warning signal for Tselloch. Why doesn't Darcy get a magical object? (Side note: Me to Jamie: Are you sure? How do you know the ring doesn't have magical properties that haven't been revealed? Jamie: No, it's just a ring all the queens wore.)
K B.: This question I can't answer without giving something away! Sorry! You'll find out in book 4.
(Side note: Me to K.B.: Should I make a bet with Jamie that I'm right and she's wrong?)
Austin: What was/is your favorite part of making The Gateway Chronicles?
K. B.: There are really two things that are my favorite about crafting this series, and they're both worth mention because they are very different. Firstly, my camp experiences were such an integral part of my childhood and teenage years, and I miss those times so much, that it is therapeutic in a way to get to write stories based at a fictionalized version of that camp. Secondly, I simply love writing characters. Characterization and relationship-building is my favorite part of story craft. I love writing dialogue and working on scenes that depend heavily on character interaction. I think I am good at making characters feel real and come alive off the paper, and you always enjoy doing something you think you are good at!
***
Since meeting K. B. and reading the first three books in The Gateway Chronicles, she had the entire series picked up by The Writer's Coffee Shop who is in the process of re-releasing the first three books.
Darcy Pennington hates her life. She is an insufferably average teenager with no real friends, crushing social anxiety, and an indescribable sense of not fitting in anywhere. A change in her dad’s job forces her to attend Cedar Cove Family Camp the summer before her eighth-grade year, and Darcy once again finds herself on the outside of a social circle of teenagers, with her only advocate being an awkward girl named Samantha Palm. The only problem is, Darcy has no desire to be friends with her, but as the hostility from the other teenagers increases, she decides to return the friendship.See my review. Get it at Amazon.
When Darcy begins to experience strange magical occurrences, she comes to believe she’s either losing her mind or on the brink of a discovery that could give her purpose in life. After unwittingly stumbling through a magical gateway to a new world called Alitheia, she convinces Sam and the other four teenagers to travel there with her, and despite their earlier hostilities toward her, they eventually concede leadership of their small group to Darcy. Once there, they learn the “arrival of the Six” was prophesied hundreds of years before, and that they must expel an ancient evil from the land. In the end their lives, and the fate of Alitheia, will hinge upon Darcy. Will she have what it takes to fulfill her mysterious purpose? Or will she fall prey to a deadly foe? From Goodreads.com
A year ago Darcy Pennington had no real friends. A year ago she’d thought that magic only existed in fairy tales. A year ago she would have laughed at the idea of other worlds.See my review. Get it at Amazon.
Then everything changed when she’d visited Cedar Cove Family Camp and stumbled into a magical gateway to a world called Alitheia.
It is the summer before freshman year and Darcy and her five friends have come back to Cedar Cove Family Camp and Alitheia. This return is bittersweet because her elusive purpose in the magical realm continues to evade her. Egged on by Tellius, the boy prince she is prophesied to marry, Darcy rebels and impulsively “petitions” an entity called the Oracle and requests it give her information as to her purpose. In order to receive her answer she must travel to the Oracle, and so she embarks on a journey along with her friends and Yahto Veli, the nark. Too late she realizes her selfish entreaty has thrown the entire outcome of the prophecy itself into question and endangered everyone. Uncertainties mount between Darcy and her companions as they fight their way through enemy territory to locate the Oracle, and an unwelcome visitor from Cedar Cove adds a layer of mystery that none of them are prepared for.
But the perils of the quest are nothing when compared to what lies in wait for her in the lair of the Oracle. There is a cost associated with every question asked– a cost that may be far greater than Darcy is willing to pay. And someone may choose to make the ultimate sacrifice to free her from it. From Goodreads.
For the duration of her freshman year, Darcy Pennington agonized over the fate of her dear friend, the nark Yahto Veli, who sacrificed himself to the Oracle to set her free. As her third trip to camp, and to the magical land, approaches, Darcy wonders if she’s capable of the daring rescue she wants to embark upon, but soon realizes there’s much more at stake.See my review. Available August 16.
Her return to Cedar Cove Family Camp is marked by a mysterious disappearance, and in Alitheia a new message from the Oracle adds to the riddles that must be deciphered if they are to expel the dark evil that hovers over the land. The six friends and the alchemist Rubidius plan a sea journey that will take them beyond the borders of Alitheia, and into the realm of a legendary archipelago. Tellius winds up joining them as well and the foes they meet along the way are both deceptive and charming, while the Oracle’s riddles seem to dog them at every turn.
Darcy is also hiding a secret from her best friend Sam that could test their friendship beyond the breaking point, and there’s an unexpected development in her relationship with Tellius that changes everything and makes her understand that the deepest scars sometimes cannot be seen.
Darcy isn’t sure if she’s prepared for another meeting with the Oracle, but if she wants to have any chance of saving her friend, she must try. To complicate matters, the evil they left behind in Alitheia has not remained dormant. From Goodreads.
Learn more about K. B. Hoyle and The Gateway Chronicles at her blog On Alitheia.
July 26, 2012
Tips on Thursday: StumbleUpon
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| English: Stumble (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
After some initial investigation, I kind of been putting off writing up this post because I really had nothing. The topic has been on my calendar for a couple of months and I just kept pushing it back. But more and more the topic of how to use StumbleUpon as a marketing tool keeps coming up. Rachel (@RachelintheOC) at BadRedhead Media even tweeted asking if anyone knowledgeable about StumbleUpon wanted to guest post. I figured I really couldn't put the topic off any longer. On went my researching hat...
There is a lot about how in general to use StumbleUpon. Info about adding the badge, setting up your profile, etc., but not really on the interworkings of how to get your content noticed. This lack of available knowledge makes me think that StumbleUpon may be one of the few tools on the internet that can't be easily manipulated. That really is a good thing. However, I was able to gather a few tips on how to use it effectively to increase your network which in turn should lead to more traffic to your blog.
Before I get too ahead of myself I should make sure we all understand what StumbleUpon is. It is a social bookmarking site. It is like the bookmark function on your browser, yet it makes the pages viewable to your followers. In some ways it is similar to Pinterest. You share pages you like by bookmarking or the technical term is stumble the page. I like how this post explains it: Think of StumbleUpon like a phone book. In some ways it is a search engine but the content is entered into the database by users. Instead of Google deciding what content to show you, Stumblers (and the StumbleUpon algorithm) does.
Because this post is going to get freakishly long I'm going to bullet point the particulars you need to know to make StumbleUpon work for you.
- Create a profile as if you are an expert. While on Pinterest we may have boards dedicated to our hobbies and what not, on StumbleUpon the interests you list should define you as an expert in your field. Book Bloggers that would mean books, writing, publishing, etc.
- Add a stumble badge/button to your blog so your content can be easily shared.
- Stumble other content, interact with other Stumblers. Remember this is a SOCIAL bookmarking site. Leaving comments on content you stumble or like is very important. Remember to "thumbs up" pages others have stumbled as that will give them more visibility.
- You can occasionally stumble your own content. More than one website I looked at about StumbleUpon made it clear that if you stumble mostly your content it will get buried (not seen by other stumblers). Also if the same group of friends are always liking your content that will raise a red flag, too. Both of these can get you labeled as a spammer or at least penalized in the algorithm that decides who sees what. If you stumble your own content decide which post is your absolute best of that week.
- Connect with Power Stumblers. Like other social media platforms these are the go-to people in their field. They curate great content and have great contacts. One like from them can skyrocket the traffic to your content.
- Make your stumbles discoverable: If a site has not been stumbled previously you will be asked which category/interest is best belongs. It is important to think about what topic those interested in that content would search. StumbleUpon suggest content to users based on interest. Say I want to find the best content on Books I would stumble through that interest or category.
- Tags are more for your benefit. Unlike Pinterest where you can group similar topics on a board together. All stumbles go into one list called Likes. Tags help you find the content again. Remember it is a social BOOKMARKING site it is assumed the information you have stumbled will be needed again just like the pages you bookmark on your browser.
- You can share your likes with other social media outlets - Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.
- I believe there is an optimal time to stumble content. Though I can't find any statistical data to back up my point, the author of StumbleUpon Exposed compares users to channel surfers. This post recommends stumbling on Sunday nights when more people are likely to be randomly surfing the internet. The post I stumbled that got 1300+ views, I stumbled it around 4 pm on a Saturday.
- May get a lot of views, but most will be bounces. Back to the channeling surfing analogy. You might get a lot of one time views with the visit last only a few seconds. Your hope with those visitors is that they thumb up your post so that others can discover it. While most may be these quick lookers, some will stay and look around. Also they may come back later if they are searching for something in particular and just happened to land on your site.
July 25, 2012
Italy with Gabriel's Rapture
ebook
Published May 2012 by Omnific Publishing
ISBN13 9781936305551
Read July 2012
Goodreads IndieBound and Amazon
I wasn't sure if I would read the sequel to Gabriel's Inferno. Not because I didn't love Gabriel's Inferno but because I've had a bad streak with sequels lately. Plus, after how it ended I wasn't sure if I would be able to read Gabriel's Rapture. My long time readers know I can only stand so much sex in a book. Gabriel's Rapture also was top of Erotica Bestseller List at Amazon when it came out. Yet, I loved the love story of the first book. When Sylvain offered to have a copy sent to me, I couldn't say no. I sat on it for a bit as I tried to read through my back log. Unfortunately, I just couldn't resist the temptation, the lure of the Professor.
I'm so glad that I read it. It was exactly the story I was craving. Now you may remember I did Cocktails with Gabriel's Inferno. I wish I could have done Italy with Gabriel's Rapture. While Paris may be the city of love, I believe Italy is the country of romance. I don't think I would want to travel there alone. So, the closest I will come is this photo:
Now I won't lie and say there wasn't sex in this book, but it was tastefully done and not all consuming. If you have voyeuristic tendencies, then you will enjoy it. The scene against the wall in Italy was described in such a way that I felt like I was intruding. More so in Gabriel's Rapture than in Gabriel's Inferno, I felt that the narrator was more of its own character. It gave the story something extra. I can't quite put it into words. It reminded me a little bit of the narrator of Our Town but whereas the narrator of the play is a real character, the narrator of Gabriel's Rapture is not truly a character.
I thought Gabriel's Inferno was more along the lines of a classical romance. Gabriel's Rapture was more contemporary romance. There was still "old fashion" lines from Gabriel that juxtaposed oddly with the modern setting.
The main conflict in Gabriel's Rapture is done well. Though I was afraid that with all the separate parties that were out to get Gabriel and Julia that the plot would soon have me rolling my eyes at the ridiculousness, it never got to that point.There was a plot thread that was left dangling, perhaps it will be picked up in the third book.
Oh, back to the fact it was on the Erotica Bestselling List. I was surprised by the amount of religious discussion. It is understandable that there is some since it is mirroring Dante's Divine Comedy, but it was still odd to see such indepth discussion. I was pleased with how it was handled. So often in secular novels, redemption is work-based, but in this book grace is the saving quality. With the religious elements aside, I do not believe Gabriel's Rapture is erotica. It is an exploration of love in all its forms, not just a focus on the sex, which is typical of the genre. I'm happy to see that it is now on the appropriate Bestselling Lists at Amazon.
Again, Sylvain Reynard has painted a beautiful love story with his words.
Florence, Italy photo credit: K. Sawyer Photography via photo pin cc
Girl Who Reads is an advertising affiliate with Amazon and IndieBound; a small fee is earned when purchases are made using the above links. A free book was obtained from the source mentioned above in order to provide an honest and free review.
July 24, 2012
Photo Challenge Day 24: Stranger
When this shows up in my yard, the Stranger Danger alarm goes off, i.e. the dogs
Photo a Day Challenge is hosted by Fat Mum Slim
Pub Day: Broken Harbor by Tana French
Today, Tana French's fourth book in her Dublin Murder Squad series is available. Broken Harbor features Detective Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy from Faithful Place.
Summary:
Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy, the brash cop from Tana French’s bestselling Faithful Place, plays by the book and plays hard. That’s what’s made him the Murder squad’s top detective—and that’s what puts the biggest case of the year into his hands.
On one of the half-built, half-abandoned "luxury" developments that litter Ireland, Patrick Spain and his two young children are dead. His wife, Jenny, is in intensive care.
At first, Scorcher and his rookie partner, Richie, think it’s going to be an easy solve. But too many small things can’t be explained. The half dozen baby monitors, their cameras pointing at holes smashed in the Spains’ walls. The files erased from the Spains’ computer. The story Jenny told her sister about a shadowy intruder who was slipping past all the locks.
And Broken Harbor holds memories for Scorcher. Seeing the case on the news sends his sister Dina off the rails again, and she’s resurrecting something that Scorcher thought he had tightly under control: what happened to their family one summer at Broken Harbor, back when they were children.
With her signature blend of police procedural and psychological thriller, French’s new novel goes full throttle with a heinous crime, creating her most complicated detective character and her best book yet. From Goodreads.com
Praise:
"[Tana French] has irresistibly sly ways of toying with readers’ expectations." New York Times
"Once again, Tana French introduces us to a whole cast of characters who will immediately grab a place in your life, and they won't let go." Seattle Mystery Bookshop
"Once again, Tana French introduces us to a whole cast of characters who will immediately grab a place in your life, and they won't let go." The Kansas City Star
About the Author:
Tana French is the author of three bestselling novels, including the award-winning In the Woods. She has won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards for Best First Novel and the IVCA Clarion Award for Best Fiction, and has twice been a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award for Best Mystery/Thriller. She lives in Dublin with her husband and daughter.
Three Questions with Tana French
There
are also practical advantages to the acting background. If I write a line of
dialogue and then realise that, as an actor, I couldn’t say that, or if I have
a character do something and then realise that I couldn’t play that, then I
need to do some rewriting.
Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy, the brash cop from Tana French’s bestselling Faithful Place, plays by the book and plays hard. That’s what’s made him the Murder squad’s top detective—and that’s what puts the biggest case of the year into his hands.
On one of the half-built, half-abandoned "luxury" developments that litter Ireland, Patrick Spain and his two young children are dead. His wife, Jenny, is in intensive care.
At first, Scorcher and his rookie partner, Richie, think it’s going to be an easy solve. But too many small things can’t be explained. The half dozen baby monitors, their cameras pointing at holes smashed in the Spains’ walls. The files erased from the Spains’ computer. The story Jenny told her sister about a shadowy intruder who was slipping past all the locks.
And Broken Harbor holds memories for Scorcher. Seeing the case on the news sends his sister Dina off the rails again, and she’s resurrecting something that Scorcher thought he had tightly under control: what happened to their family one summer at Broken Harbor, back when they were children.
With her signature blend of police procedural and psychological thriller, French’s new novel goes full throttle with a heinous crime, creating her most complicated detective character and her best book yet. From Goodreads.com
Praise:
"[Tana French] has irresistibly sly ways of toying with readers’ expectations." New York Times
"Once again, Tana French introduces us to a whole cast of characters who will immediately grab a place in your life, and they won't let go." Seattle Mystery Bookshop
"Once again, Tana French introduces us to a whole cast of characters who will immediately grab a place in your life, and they won't let go." The Kansas City Star
About the Author:
Tana French is the author of three bestselling novels, including the award-winning In the Woods. She has won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards for Best First Novel and the IVCA Clarion Award for Best Fiction, and has twice been a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award for Best Mystery/Thriller. She lives in Dublin with her husband and daughter.
Three Questions with Tana French
We first met detective Mick “Scorcher” Kennedy in Faithful Place and he was regimented and unlikable. What made you turn this character around in Broken Harbor?
One of the things I like about writing ‘chain-linked’ books, where a secondary character from one turns into the narrator of the next, is that it gives me the chance to explore how complex and subjective identity can be. One person’s view of another is likely to be skewed, and almost certain not to be the whole truth. In Faithful Place, Frank Mackey sees Scorcher Kennedy as a pompous, rule-bound, boring git – but that’s because of who Frank is and what he needs to see. From Scorcher’s own viewpoint, he’s much more complicated than that, much more intense and much more deeply broken.
How did you become so expert on police procedures?
I’m lucky: I know a retired detective who’s been kind enough
to help me out with a huge range of questions, as well as telling me the
stories that give me some feeling for what that life is like. When it comes
down to it, though, I often ditch the reality in favour of what works for the
story. To take the most obvious example, there’s no Murder squad in Ireland –
but In the Woods needed to have that
tight-knit, elite, hothouse atmosphere, so I invented one. I still need to know
the reality, though. If there are inaccuracies in these books, I want them to
be because they benefit the story, not because I goofed.
How
has your background in theater shaped the way you write/reach out to your
audience?
I
definitely write like an actor, and I think acting was great training for
writing. Deep down, it’s basically the same skill: your job is to create a
real, complex, three-dimensional character and draw your audience into his or
her world, deeply enough that they go away feeling like they know this person
intimately. Every now and then I get an e-mail from someone who feels like the
characters have become close friends. It’s probably the best compliment I can
get.
July 23, 2012
Reading this week
News:
My article about S. R. Johannes' book signing appeared in Athens Patch.
I was quoted in a post at Terri Giuliano Long's The Art and Craft of Writing Creatively - Review Wars: Why Be Caught in the Drama?
Giveaways:
Still time to enter Friday Fun with Jonathan Gould for a chance to win an ebook of Magnus Opum.
This week at The Indie Exchange you can win ebooks from Mohanalaksmi Rajakumar.
Finished:
Professor Gabriel Emerson has embarked on a passionate, yet clandestine affair with his former student, Julia Mitchell. Sequestered on a romantic holiday in Italy, he tutors her in the sensual delights of the body and the raptures of sex. But when they return, their happiness is threatened by conspiring students, academic politics, and a jealous ex-lover. When Gabriel is confronted by the university administration, will he succumb to Dante's fate? Or will he fight to keep Julia, his Beatrice, forever? In Gabriel's Rapture, the brilliant sequel to the wildly successful debut novel, Gabriel's Inferno, Sylvain Reynard weaves an exquisite love story that will touch the reader's mind, body, and soul, forever. From Goodreads.comFind Gabriel's Rapture at Goodreads, IndieBound, and Amazon
Reading:
When a trained killer threatens ex-cop Travis Mays-and those Travis loves-he finds a skilled adversary and an unexpected fight.Find Revenge at Goodreads and Amazon
After a high stakes gamble ends in personal tragedy, Travis walks away from years of training and a highly successful law enforcement career. Determined never to look back, he starts a new life and a new career, teaching criminology at the university and building a cabin in the idyllic Idaho Mountains. He hires a beautiful river guide, Jessie White Eagle from the Nez Perce tribe, to guide him safely down the Lochsa. The turbulence of the whitewater, however, is just the beginning of his troubles. Travis finds himself in the crosshairs of a killer-calling himself Creasy-bent on revenge.
This fast-paced thriller takes readers on a wild ride down Idaho's whitewater rivers, along the historic Lolo Trails once tread by the Nez Perce nation, and onto the city streets of California. Tighten your helmet. This ride never stops until the last shot is fired and the final body falls. From Goodreads.com
Government agent Derrick Thomas awakes from a disturbing dream to find a message from his father asking for help. As he sets out to lend his assistance he quickly discovers that not only can he not find his father, but that a clandestine government agency is out to derail his search before it can begin. After the murders of two of his father’s colleagues and the further disappearances of his mother and sister, Derrick is thrust into a fight for his own life and the struggle to uncover details of a secret government experiment which his family may be part of. Will he be able to save them and uncover the truth before he becomes the next victim of a government bent on keeping him silent? From Goodreads.comFind Dark Side of the Moon at Goodreads and Amazon
Listening to:
Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.From Goodreads.comFind Catching Fire at Goodreads, IndieBound, Amazon
This Week:
Tuesday: Pub Day - Broken Harbor
Wednesday: Review of Gabriel's Rapture by Sylvain Reynard
Tips on Thursday: StumbleUpon
Friday Fun with K. B. Hoyle
Saturday: Review of Revenge by Mark Young
July 22, 2012
Sunday Shorts: Sex, Life, & Hannah Spring Season
ebook
Published December 2009 by The Adventured of Hannah
ISBN13: 9780976886976
Read July 2012
Goodreads, Amazon
The Spring Season picks up just where the Winter Season ended (see my review). I always thought it was kind of bad that I had to see my ex every Sunday at church, but I think being involved in a car accident where you rear-ended The Ex would be even worse. You get an idea just how much of a loser The Ex is with the opening scenes.
I was curious to check in again with Hannah. She seemed to have something good going with Mr. Smythe, but I wasn't sure if she keep it together. Hannah does seem to have matured a bit, but that doesn't mean things go well or that she doesn't make poor decisions. One thing is for sure, when you are with Hannah life is an adventure.
Life the Winter Season, the Spring Season is a quick read. You feel like you are catching up with an old college friend, one who has some wild adventures and tales to tell. While not a cheap read (the ebook is $9.99 at Amazon), it is a quick fun read for the weekend, You could probably read both Winter and Spring in a weekend. Summer Season was just released and it's sitting in my TBR pile.
Sunday Shorts is a weekly meme hosted by Cabin Goddess to feature quick reads, short stories, and cheap books.
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