More book reviews as the evenings start to lengthen
Will I read more books as the evenings grow long? I'm not sure. Football (soccer) season's started, so the guys are watching their matches in the evening--that certainly gives me time to read. But October's the month of my blog tour (see yesterday's post) so maybe I'll spend all my spare time visiting friends around the internet. Watch this space for a list of all the generous bloggers who've been kind enough to host me!
Meanwhile, grab a coffee (brew type to be determined, and remember the stars aren't ratings). Then read on to find out what I've been reading...
Literary fiction: Michael Stein's The Rape of the Muse is a beautiful literary novel that reads like a painting or a sculpture--more allegory, more image, more surprises waiting with every turn of the eye. Read and enjoy with a 4-star rich and elegant cup of coffee.
Non-fiction: Heather Lende's books of essays, If you lived here, I'd know your name, was a gift from my husband, bought in Haines during our visit to Alaska. It's a wonderful collection of essays that brings a place and people to life and keeps readers glued to the page. Enjoy another 4-star elegant complex coffee with this collection.
Romance: Smouldering Embers by G.B. Hobson is a sweet, risque, hilarious and hauntingly real romantic novel with gray-haired protagonists, temptation and desire all set against a background of Cumbria England and marital fidelity. Very nicely done and great fun to read, this is one to enjoy with a bright lively 2-star coffee--refreshes the parts... well, perhaps I'll not go there...
Science fiction and fantasy:
Hurricane, by Jenna-Lynne Duncan, tells a story of New Orleans around the time of Katrina, where Ana, an awkward but beautiful teenager, has clouds of mystery gathering over her head at least as dark as those threatening her town. Teen fiction with curious mythology, a convincing sense of time and place, and a narrator as distracted and angst-filled as any teen should be, this is one to enjoy with a 5-star bold dark coffee.
Awaken the Highland Warrior, by Anita Clenney, is a paranormal romance for post-teen readers, with a strong-willed heroine opening a chest in search of treasure and finding instead a fierce highland warrior leaping out at her. The story travels from New York to Scotland and back as Bree learns the past and future of her unexpected guest and finds out more than she bargains for. Drink a 3-star smoothly balanced coffee with this one.
Bill Evan's Dry Ice is a very different sci-fi novel--definitely science fiction, not fantasy. With a fascinating take on climate control that nicely skirts any questions of global climate change, the author brings recent events under the umbrella of a high-tech conspiracy theory, with mad scientists, evil governments, and a fine hero-heroine duo trying to save the world. A two-star bright, lively, easy-drinking coffee will match this lively tale.
And finally, Robert McCammon's Swan Song--a classic I somehow hadn't yet read, and one whose characters are echoed in lots of modern science fiction. First published in 1987 this novel of nuclear disaster is filled with memorable scenes and people and follows multiple heroic journeys to an impressive conclusion. Dark and intense, this is definitely one to read with a 5-star dark, intense cup of coffee.
Don't forget to come back tomorrow for that list of blog-tour invitations...
and don't forget, Flower Child is now available from Gypsy Shadow!
Meanwhile, grab a coffee (brew type to be determined, and remember the stars aren't ratings). Then read on to find out what I've been reading...
Literary fiction: Michael Stein's The Rape of the Muse is a beautiful literary novel that reads like a painting or a sculpture--more allegory, more image, more surprises waiting with every turn of the eye. Read and enjoy with a 4-star rich and elegant cup of coffee.
Non-fiction: Heather Lende's books of essays, If you lived here, I'd know your name, was a gift from my husband, bought in Haines during our visit to Alaska. It's a wonderful collection of essays that brings a place and people to life and keeps readers glued to the page. Enjoy another 4-star elegant complex coffee with this collection.
Romance: Smouldering Embers by G.B. Hobson is a sweet, risque, hilarious and hauntingly real romantic novel with gray-haired protagonists, temptation and desire all set against a background of Cumbria England and marital fidelity. Very nicely done and great fun to read, this is one to enjoy with a bright lively 2-star coffee--refreshes the parts... well, perhaps I'll not go there...
Science fiction and fantasy:
Hurricane, by Jenna-Lynne Duncan, tells a story of New Orleans around the time of Katrina, where Ana, an awkward but beautiful teenager, has clouds of mystery gathering over her head at least as dark as those threatening her town. Teen fiction with curious mythology, a convincing sense of time and place, and a narrator as distracted and angst-filled as any teen should be, this is one to enjoy with a 5-star bold dark coffee.
Awaken the Highland Warrior, by Anita Clenney, is a paranormal romance for post-teen readers, with a strong-willed heroine opening a chest in search of treasure and finding instead a fierce highland warrior leaping out at her. The story travels from New York to Scotland and back as Bree learns the past and future of her unexpected guest and finds out more than she bargains for. Drink a 3-star smoothly balanced coffee with this one.
Bill Evan's Dry Ice is a very different sci-fi novel--definitely science fiction, not fantasy. With a fascinating take on climate control that nicely skirts any questions of global climate change, the author brings recent events under the umbrella of a high-tech conspiracy theory, with mad scientists, evil governments, and a fine hero-heroine duo trying to save the world. A two-star bright, lively, easy-drinking coffee will match this lively tale.
And finally, Robert McCammon's Swan Song--a classic I somehow hadn't yet read, and one whose characters are echoed in lots of modern science fiction. First published in 1987 this novel of nuclear disaster is filled with memorable scenes and people and follows multiple heroic journeys to an impressive conclusion. Dark and intense, this is definitely one to read with a 5-star dark, intense cup of coffee.
Don't forget to come back tomorrow for that list of blog-tour invitations...
and don't forget, Flower Child is now available from Gypsy Shadow!
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