BLOG TOURS: Angels, Flower Child and book reviews

The Flower Child blog tour is visiting Erin O'Riordan's blog today with a post on angels at http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2011/10/flower-child-guest-post-by-sheila-deeth.html. Erin's the author of some wonderfully intriguing and sensual fantasies. The first of her stories I read was the beautiful Butterfly Boy in an anthology called Wonder (Wonder reviewed on gather.com here)--if you look at the cover you'll see why it's singularly appropriate that my post on Erin's blog should be about angels. But Erin's stories can be very down-to-earth too; I've just finished and reviewed her novel Eminent Domain, written with her husband and co- author Tit Elingtin--a fascinating novel that combines sweet romance with abject dejection, hopeful construction with unfettered despair, and beauty with miserable evil in the tale of an eager young couple driven to distraction by the law. (Eminent Domain is reviewed on gather.com here.)


I hope you're having as much fun following this blog tour as I am. But I'm still trying to catch up on my reading too, so here's a few more book reviews, just to prove I can read and blog (and drink coffee) all at once. As usual, the ratings of for my coffee recommendations--some books just need a dark strong flavor while others bounce happily to something lighter.

This being October, I'll start with a short ghost story found on Smashwords--The Ghost in Blackwell Station by Shani Bush. Short and quick, this one reminds me of those black-and-white ghost stories I used to watch on TV--unpolished but intriguing enough to read while snatching a 1-star crisp light coffee.

A set of three short stories comes next in Lindsay Downs' Emily Dahill, CID Part I. A strong female protagonist is paired with a truly wonderful dog, scary action with humor, and fear with generous relationships in these tales of a woman embarking on her career in the army CID. Sip a lively cup of 2-star easy-drinking coffee with this one.

Now for a novella--still short but not quite a short story. The Start-up by Sadie Hayes is the beginning of a fascinating series of novellas set in the worlds of high-finance and high-tech, pitting computer geek against cheating financiers. I read an e-ARC so I'm not sure it's available yet. When it comes out you'd better stick to a 1-star crisp cup of coffee or the caffeine'll keep you awake waiting for volume 2.


Homegrown Muse, by Sally P. Bennett, is a full-length novel that tells of business relationships and romance in the complex worlds of construction and ecology. Blending high-tech and natural world, broken relationships and truly fascinating family dynamics, it's a surprisingly fascinating and enjoyable tale, best enjoyed with a 3-star well-balanced, smooth cup of coffee.

Okay... Now for something completely different.The Snowman's Revenge by Mark Smythe is a delightful picture book for winter--and winter's surely coming as the weather turns cold. Drink some 2-star easy-drinking coffee while sharing the wonderful pictures and delightful story with your kids (or grandkids)--just the right frisson of fear to evoke smiles without causing nightmares.

Finally, two non-fiction books that I've really enjoyed reading:

The Language of Science and Faith by Karl W. Giberson and Francis S. Collins: If you know me you'll know why I have to love this book, faith and science being my twin passions. But I love it especially for it's insights into the history of Christian belief about evolution and it's clear, well-illustrated explanations of the issues and arguments. A wonderfully well-balanced book, to be enjoyed with a 3-star well-balanced coffee.

And What Everyone Should Know about Islam and Muslims by Suzanne Haneef--a book written from the point of view of a former Christian, I picked this out since I wanted to read from the point of view of a believer rather than someone tearing down belief. It was actually quite intriguing to see my own faith from the point of view of a non-believer as I read, but the book is really interesting and taught me just what I wanted to learn. I'd go for a 4-star complex coffee with this one.

So that's my reading for this week... Now back to the blog tour...