THURSDAY SPARKS: THEMES & BOOKING — OCT. 25

 

Welcome to another day of bookish delight, as we celebrate two events.

Theme Thursdays, hosted by Reading Between Pages, is all about finding themes in the books we read and enjoying the writing styles of the authors we explore.

Booking Through Thursday is like a conversation amongst bloggers in response to a prompt issued each week.

Come on by and join in the fun!

Theme Thursdays:

The themes we discover in our bookish explorations show us a bit about an author’s descriptive style of writing.

 

The theme for this week is

TIME , hour, minutes, seconds, duration etc.

***

Today I’m spotlighting a mystery from Lauren Carr:  Dead on Ice.

Snippet:  Slipping his arm across her shoulders, Joshua introduced her to Albert.  “Cameron and I have been seeing each other since this past summer.  She’s a homicide detective with the Pennsylvania State Police.”

Snippet:  “But it’s like he’s aged twenty years overnight.  I think I’m going to invite him to dinner after church this Sunday.”

***

Blurb:  Dead on Ice is the first installment of Lauren Carr’s new series (Lovers in Crime) featuring Hancock County Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Thornton and Pennsylvania State Police homicide detective Cameron Gates. Spunky Cameron Gates is tasked with solving the murder of Cherry Pickens, a legendary star of pornographic films, whose body turns up in an abandoned freezer. The case has a personal connection to her lover, Joshua Thornton, because the freezer was located in his cousin’s basement. It doesn’t take long for their investigation to reveal that the risqué star’s roots were buried in their rural Ohio Valley community, something that Cherry had kept off her show business bio. She should have kept her hometown off her road map, too—because when this starlet came running home from the mob, it proved to be a fatal homecoming.

***

Booking Through Thursday:

The flip side of last week’s …

Are there any good books that you read IN SPITE OF the cover and ended up wondering what on earth the artist and publisher were thinking to pair up a cover that so badly represented a perfectly good book?

And … if you didn’t like the cover, what made you pick up the book? The author? Assigned reading from school? A recommendation from a friend?

***

I don’t like the covers of the Stieg Larsson books, but I’d heard a lot about them…so I read the first one and I’m planning to read the second.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was definitely compelling…once I got into it.

 

And Shades of Murder, by Lauren Carr, had a cover that didn’t really grab me, either.  But I have enjoyed the books by this author.

 

And I didn’t really HATE either of these covers, but they didn’t compel me to pick up the books.

Scrolling through my reading lists for the past two years, I didn’t find that many covers that were unappealing or didn’t match the book.  Perhaps the covers are very influential in my actual picks!

What about you?  What pulls you in and keeps you reading?

THURSDAY SPARKS: THEMES & BOOKING — SEPT. 20

Welcome to another day of bookish delight, as we celebrate two events.

Theme Thursdays, hosted by Reading Between Pages, is all about finding themes in the books we read and enjoying the writing styles of the authors we explore.

Booking Through Thursday is like a conversation amongst bloggers in response to a prompt issued each week.

Come on by and join in the fun!

Sometimes on a Thursday, I am tempted to just unplug…after all, the week is almost done, and yet it’s not Friday.

But then I visit the hosts of these fun events and I have to participate.

What about you?  What are you hoping for today?

 

Theme Thursdays:

Every week, we are presented with a new theme; these theme give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

The theme for this week is

RUN , jog, race, sprint etc.

***

Okay, the theme today didn’t fit the books I’m reading.  Can you believe I couldn’t find a single “run” in the first few chapters, so I gave up and grabbed A Different Kind of Normal, by Cathy Lamb, a book that was just patiently waiting on the stack.

Description:  From acclaimed author Cathy Lamb comes a warm and poignant story about mothers and sons, family and forgiveness–and loving someone enough to let them be true to themselves. . .

Jaden Bruxelle knows that life is precious. She sees it in her work as a hospice nurse, a job filled with compassion and humor even on the saddest days. And she sees it in Tate, the boy she has raised as her son ever since her sister gave him up at birth. Tate is seventeen, academically brilliant, funny, and loving. He’s also a talented basketball player despite having been born with an abnormally large head–something Jaden’s mother blames on a family curse. Jaden dismisses that as nonsense, just as she ignores the legends about witches and magic in the family.

Over the years, Jaden has focused all her energy on her job and on sheltering Tate from the world. Tate, for his part, just wants to be a regular kid. Through his blog, he’s slowly reaching out, finding his voice. He wants to try out for the Varsity basketball team. He wants his mom to focus on her own life for a change, maybe even date again.

Jaden knows she needs to let go–of Tate, of her fears and anger, and of the responsibilities she uses as a shield. And through a series of unexpected events and revelations, she’s about to learn how. Because as dear as life may be, its only real value comes when we are willing to live it fully, even if that means risking it all.

***

Snippet:

I tried to run after the baby, my mother wobbling behind me on her heels in shock, but two nurses stopped us at the swinging white doors of the ICU, grabbing our arms, holding us close, our hands outstretched toward the baby as we cried, we pleaded.  p. 10

***

Booking Through Thursday:

Quick–what are you reading right now? (Other than this question on
this website, of course.) Would you recommend it? What’s it about?

***

I am reading Click: An Online Love Story, by Lisa Becker.

The story is about a couple of singles, living in LA, who decide to try Internet dating to find “the one.”  That elusive someone who could be their love interest.

The story is narrated via e-mails, and while it took me awhile to get into the flow of this style, it is smart and funny and full of the comedies life presents when we’re putting ourselves out there.

Here’s the Amazon description:  Fast approaching her 30th birthday and finding herself not married, not dating, and without even a prospect or a house full of cats, Renee Greene, the heroine of Click: An Online Love Story, reluctantly joins her best guy pal on a journey to find love online in Los Angeles. The story unfolds through a series of emails between Renee and her best friends (anal-compulsive Mark, the overly-judgmental Ashley and the over-sexed Shelley) as well as the gentlemen suitors she meets online. From the guy who starts every story with “My buddies and I were out drinking one night,” to the egotistical “B” celebrity looking for someone to stroke his ego, Renee endures her share of hilarious and heinous cyber dates. Fraught with BCC’s, FWD’s and inadvertent Reply to All’s, readers will root for Renee to “click” with the right man.

***

So what are you reading today?  Come on over and share…..

THURSDAY SPARKS: THEMES & BOOKING THROUGH THURSDAY — SEPT. 6

Welcome to another day of bookish delight, as we celebrate two events.

Theme Thursdays, hosted by Reading Between Pages, is all about finding themes in the books we read and enjoying the writing styles of the authors we explore.

Booking Through Thursday is like a conversation amongst bloggers in response to a prompt issued each week.

Come on by and join in the fun!

Theme Thursdays:

Every week, we choose a theme, which gives us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

The theme for this week is

WALK , stroll, pace, tread, step etc.

***

My theme today comes from Little Night, by Luanne Rice, an emotionally gripping family drama.

Clare Burke’s life took a devastating turn when she tried to protect her sister, Anne, from an abusive and controlling husband and ended up serving prison time for assault. The verdict largely hinged on Anne’s defense of her spouse—all lies—and the sisters have been estranged ever since. Nearly twenty years later, Clare is living a quiet life in Manhattan as an urban birder and nature blogger, when her niece, Grit, turns up on her doorstep.

The two long for a relationship with each other, but they’ll have to dig deep into their family’s difficult past in order to build one. Together they face the wounds inflicted by Anne and find in their new connection a place of healing. When Clare begins to suspect her sister might be in New York, she and her niece hold out hope for a long-awaited reunion with her.

A riveting story about women and the primal, tangled family ties that bind them together, Little Night marks a milestone for Luanne Rice—the thirtieth novel from the author with a talent for creating stories that are “exciting, emotional, terrific” (The New York Times Book Review).

***

Snippet:  (A letter from the past has just arrived) – Clare walked into the living room; trying to keep her hands steady, she opened the letter and started to read:

***

Booking Through Thursday

We all had to read things in school that we didn’t like … but what
about something you read for a class that you ended up liking (or
loving)? An author you discovered that you might not have found? A
genre you hadn’t thought about?

***

It has been many, maaannnny years since high school, so I had to reflect on this for awhile.  Prior to having assigned reading, though, I mostly read books written by women, like Louisa May Alcott.  So I would say Ernest Hemingway would have been just such an author that I might not have tried.

But after reading For Whom the Bell Tolls and then A Farewell to Arms, I was amazed.

It was years before I read anything by him again, but recalling how I enjoyed his books then, last summer I picked up A Moveable Feast .  

(Click title/cover for my review)

My recent return to Hemingway came about because I’d read and loved The Paris Wife.

What about you?  What “assignments” led to discoveries for you?

THURSDAY SPARKS: THEMES & BOOKING THROUGH THURSDAY — AUGUST 30

Welcome to another day of bookish delight, as we celebrate two events.

Theme Thursdays, hosted by Reading Between Pages, is all about finding themes in the books we read and enjoying the writing styles of the authors we explore.

Booking Through Thursday is like a conversation amongst bloggers in response to a prompt issued each week.

Come on by and join in the fun!

Theme Thursdays :

Our themes give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

The theme for this week is

DRIVE , Driver, Driven, Drove

***

I’m almost finished reading Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch, by Haywood Smith, a story about a woman returning home after thirty years away.

Blurb:  Linwood Breedlove Scott’s life has officially hit rock bottom. Her husband of thirty years has run off with a stripper. The IRS has taken everything but her coffee table. And her hot flashes are four-alarmers. The only thing that could make being flat-broke and fifty any worse is having to crawl home to her parents’ house in Mimosa Branch, Georgia…which is exactly where she’s headed.

Lin’s barely prepared for the loony bin that greets her, from her controlling, eighty-year-old mother and shockingly blunt father to her long-suffering Aunt Glory and her deranged Uncle Bedford who is convinced a cannibal lives under the furniture. Nor is she ready for the instant love-hate attraction she feels for her handsome new next-door neighbor. Trying to navigate her way through the second act of her life with nothing more than a prepaid calling card, a broken heart, and plenty of Prozac, Lin’s about to discover that it’s never too late for old friends, new romance, the ties of family, and a second chance to survive it all on the road to becoming the person you were always meant to be…

***

Snippet:  So that Thursday, the day after the Fourth of July, I took the slow, scenic route through Mimosa Branch.  Driving into the old business district, I was struck that my hometown seemed to have come up in the world at least as far as I had come down. p. 1

***

Booking Through Thursday:

Do you find yourself thinking that the books you read would be good on film? Do you wish the things you watched on TV or in the movies were available as book?

Some really can’t be converted, of course, but some definitely can (and it’s not always the ones you think will work). There’s something to be said for different forms of media, but a good story is universal … or is it??

Good questions….I do often think of how I would love to see a book on film. Recently, I read Gone Girl, (click title for review) and I would definitely love to see it on the big screen.  What a thrilling film it would make.

I also finished reading The Meryl Streep Movie Club, and could already visualize the characters, the setting, and the drama at the theater.

I don’t usually think of films and wishing they were books…but if I thought of it some more, I’ll bet I could come up with some!

What about the rest of you?

THURSDAY SPARKS: THEMES & BOOKING — AUGUST 16

Welcome to another day of bookish delight, as we celebrate two events.

Theme Thursdays, hosted by Reading Between Pages, is all about finding themes in the books we read and enjoying the writing styles of the authors we explore.

Booking Through Thursday is like a conversation amongst bloggers in response to a prompt issued each week.

Come on by and join in the fun!

Theme Thursdays:

Our themes offer us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

The theme for this week is

LIGHT Glow, Beam, Shine etc

***

My snippet today comes from The Other Woman’s House, by Sophie Hannah.

The latest gripping psychological thriller from the internationally bestselling author of The Wrong Mother and The Cradle in the Grave

Featuring the return of detectives Charlie Zailer and Simon Waterhouse, Sophie Hannah’s latest novel offers the spine-tingling thrills her ever-increasing fan base adores.

It’s past midnight, but Connie Bowskill can’t sleep. To pass the time, she logs on to a real estate website in search of a particular house, one she is obsessed with for reasons she’s too scared to even admit to herself. As she clicks through the virtual tour, she comes across a scene from a nightmare: a woman lying facedown on the living room floor in a pool of blood. But when she returns to show her husband, there is no body, no blood—just a perfectly ordinary room. With plot twists that will keep readers up all night, The Other Woman’s House is another unforgettable story by a new master of the crime novel.

***

Snippet:  Somehow, I get myself out of the room and close the door.  Better; now there’s a barrier between it and me.  Kit.  I need Kit.  I walk into our bedroom, switch on the light and burst into tears.  How dare he be asleep?  ‘Kit!’ p. 15

***

Booking Through Thursday:

Jamie asks:

What was the most emotional read you have ever had?

***

A difficult task:  deciding upon the most emotional read.  I know there were some real tear jerkers in my past, like Daphne Du Maurier’s books, or Gone with the Wind.

In present day, though, I had to search through my book reviews and found these books: (click titles for reviews)

Northwest Corner, by John Burnham Schwartz

Ninepins, by Rosy Thornton, was another emotional read, about the struggles, challenges, and dangers of parenting.

Searching my book lists,  another one springs to mind.  I first read it many years ago, but then read it again last year.  Still Missing, by Beth Gutcheon, was made into a movie (Without a Trace) that I watch over and over when I need a good cry.

As soon as I finish this post, I’ll probably think of more!  What made you cry?  Come on by and share!

THURSDAY SPARKS: THEMES & BOOKING — AUGUST 9

Welcome to another day of bookish delight, as we celebrate two events.

Theme Thursdays, hosted by Reading Between Pages, is all about finding themes in the books we read and enjoying the writing styles of the authors we explore.

Booking Through Thursday is like a conversation amongst bloggers in response to a prompt issued each week.

Come on by and join in the fun!

Theme Thursdays:

Our themes give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

The theme for this week is

MIRROR Glasses, Spectacles etc

***

In Small Damages, by Beth Kephart, I found this passage on p. 26:

The day I learned about you, I’d wakened from a dream, and the dream was how I knew, or how I guessed.  The dream was me in a room of mirrors where there weren’t any doors, and in every single pane of glass was me big and getting bigger, like Alice in Wonderland and Willy Wonka got together for a pig-out.

***

About the Book:   Juno meets Under the Tuscan Sun

It’s senior year, and while Kenzie should be looking forward to prom and starting college in the fall, she discovers she’s pregnant. Her determination to keep her baby is something her boyfriend and mother do not understand. So she is sent to Spain, where she will live out her pregnancy, and her baby will be adopted by a Spanish couple. No one will ever know.

Alone and resentful in a foreign country, Kenzie is at first sullen and difficult. But as she gets to know Estela, the stubborn old cook, and Esteban, the mysterious young man who cares for the horses, she begins to open her eyes, and her heart, to the beauty that is all around her, and inside her. Kenzie realizes she has some serious choices to make–choices about life, love, and home.

Lyrically told in a way that makes the heat, the colors, and the smells of Spain feel alive, Small Damages is a feast for the heart and the soul, and a coming-of-age novel not easily forgotten.

***

Booking Through Thursday:

Amy and Sarah both asked about genres:

Amy asks:

Name a book you love in a genre you normally don’t care for. What made you decide to read it? Did it make you want to try more in that genre?

Bookish Sarah asks an interesting assortment of questions:

What genre do you avoid reading and why?

***

I had a book on my stacks that I had picked up out of curiosity…and then took forever to get to it.  I wouldn’t say I LOVED it, exactly, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  The book:  Blood Brothers, by Nora Roberts, the first in her Sign of Seven Trilogy (paranormal)  (Click title for my review) (four stars)

As for a genre I don’t enjoy, I guess I’d say urban fantasy…but I did read a book in that genre for a challenge, and ended up giving it four stars.  Ship of Souls, by Zetta Elliott, was captivating in many ways.

I doubt if I’ll be reading any other books in this genre, but who can say?  I have surprised myself on occasion.   As for WHY I don’t normally read these kinds of books, perhaps it’s because the characters are hard for me to relate to…although, on occasion, I have found ghosts “relatable.” LOL

I prefer stories based on reality, but it’s fun to take a step off that path and explore.

What about the rest of you?  What have you discovered about your reading experiences?

THURSDAY SPARKS: THEMES & BOOKING — JULY 26

Welcome to another day of bookish delight, as we celebrate two events.

Theme Thursdays, hosted by Reading Between Pages, is all about finding themes in the books we read and enjoying the writing styles of the authors we explore.

Booking Through Thursday is like a conversation amongst bloggers in response to a prompt issued each week.

Come on by and join in the fun!

Theme Thursdays:

Our themes will give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

The theme for this week is

TIME , Clock, Hours, Minutes, Seconds

***

Today’s snippet comes from What I Did For Love, by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

How did this happen? Georgie York, once the costar of America’s favorite television sitcom, has been publicly abandoned by her famous husband, her film career has tanked, her father is driving her crazy, and her public image as a spunky heroine is taking a serious beating.

What should a down-on-her-luck actress do? Not go to Vegas . . . not run into her detestable former costar, dreamboat-from-hell Bramwell Shepard . . . and not get caught up in an ugly incident that leads to a calamitous elopement. Before she knows it, Georgie has a fake marriage, a fake husband, and maybe (or not) a fake sex life.

***

Snippet:  Bram had spent eight miserable years rescuing Georgie from thorny situations, but his days of playing gallant Skip Scofield to Georgie’s spunky Scooter Brown were long behind him.

***

Booking Through Thursday:

Prompt: 

Two questions about your reading habits that just seem to go together.

GigiAnn asks:

Do you have a favorite season of the year that you read more? (Example: during snow storms, rainy weather, or sunny and warm weather) Sorry, that was the best I could come up with.

Lisa asks:

Where is your favorite place to read? On the beach? Inside/outside?

 

***

I like to read in all seasons, but I must admit that there is nothing quite as cozy as curled up on a sofa under an afghan, with cups of hot liquid nearby.

Unless, of course, it’s on a sunny deck facing the ocean and hearing the lapping of waves nearby.

There you go…reading goes with all seasons for me!

As for where I prefer reading, I guess I’d say indoors, unless it’s beautiful out…like in the aforementioned beach scene.  I also enjoy having lunch at an outdoor cafe (in nice weather) with a book as my companion.

What about the rest of you?  Inquiring minds want to know!

 

 

THURSDAY SPARKS: THEMES — JUNE 21

Welcome to another Theme Thursdays, hosted by Reading Between Pages.

THEMES:

Our themes give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

The theme for this week is

FLOWER Bouquet

Today I’m reading Gone to Ground, by Brandilyn Collins, a mystery set in Amaryllis, Mississippi.

Amaryllis, Mississippi is a scrappy little town of strong backbone and southern hospitality. A brick-paved Main Street, a park, and a legendary ghost in the local cemetery are all part of its heritage. Everybody knows everybody in Amaryllis, and gossip wafts on the breeze. Its people are friendly, its families tight. On the surface Amaryllis seems much like the flower for which it’s named—bright and fragrant. But the Amaryllis flower is poison.

In the past three years five unsolved murders have occurred within the town. All the victims were women, and all were killed in similar fashion in their own homes. And just two nights ago—a sixth murder.

Clearly a killer lives among the good citizens of Amaryllis. And now three terrified women are sure they know who he is—someone they love. None is aware of the others’ suspicions. And each must make the heartrending choice to bring the killer down. But each woman suspects a different man.

***

(Chapter One opens with an excerpt from a newspaper article that describes the town of Amaryllis, Mississippi, and the characteristics of the town and its people)

Everybody knows everybody in Amaryllis, and gossip wafts on the breeze.  It’s denizens are friendly, its families tight.  On the surface Amaryllis seems much like the flower for which it’s named—bright and fragrant.

But the amaryllis flower is poisonous.  (p. 1)

***

Did that grab you?  I know I felt a chill….

THURSDAY SPARKS: THEMES & BOOKING — JUNE 14

Welcome to another day of bookish delight, as we celebrate two events.

Theme Thursdays, hosted by Reading Between Pages, is all about finding themes in the books we read and enjoying the writing styles of the authors we explore.

Booking Through Thursday is like a conversation amongst bloggers in response to a prompt issued each week.

Come on by and join in the fun!

Themes:

Our themes give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

The theme for this week is

DAY Weekdays or actual day usage etc.

***

My selection today is A Tale of Two Sisters, by Anna Maxted, a book that has been resting on my TBR stacks for quite awhile.  Ms. Maxted has created an unforgettable story of siblings in the best of times and the worst of times in London.

 

 

Snippet:  Tabitha and Jeremy lived next door, and from the day we moved in and Tabitha knocked with champagne, they were determined to love us.  p. 3

***

Booking: Do Over:

Sally asks:

Have you ever bought a book, started reading it and then realised you have already read it? If so, how far did you get? (Can you tell this happened to me for the first time ever this week!?!)

***

No…but I have picked up a book in the bookstore, because the cover drew me in…and I had read other books by the author, only to come home and see that I already had it!  And had read it….Duh!

And sometimes, I read a blurb in a book and think…oh, good, only to realize that I’ve read it.  Usually I realize before buying it, though…lol

What about you?  Have you had these kinds of do-overs?

THURSDAY SPARKS: THEME — MONTH — JUNE 7

Welcome to Thursday Sparks, where we celebrate bookish events.  Today, let’s shout out about the “month” theme, as we join Kavya, Reading Between Pages, for Theme Thursdays.

Our event gives us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

The theme for this week is

MONTH

***

My selection this week is from one of the books I’m reading:  When Madeline Was Young, by Jane Hamilton,  a richly textured novel about a tragic accident and its effects on two generations of a family.

 

 

(A mother and daughter conversation about the Christmas card):  “You go,” she said to Tessa, “and spend November at the printer.  You take a picture that’s good of everyone—Katie doesn’t have her mouth open, Lyddie’s not blinking, your head’s not in a book, your father for a moment is not staring out at the Andromeda who-knows-what….”

And…

The following summer, on July 24, 2003, Buddy’s son was killed in Baghdad.  Nearly three months had passed since the war with Iraq had been declared over.

***

Now I’m eager to hop around the blogosphere and see what you’ve excerpted!