Mark That Book!

**click on the picture for the source**

(no source)

~XOXO~

Beachbrights

(guest blogger)

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

<a href="http://cymlowell.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="CymLowell" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2442/3960797566_f11cfb2f41_o.jpg" /></a>

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have written to the below MckLinky.

A couple of things to remember while you're linking.

1. Add a permalink to your specific post, not the main page of your blog (only one review per blog).
2. Add my Book Review Wednesday Badge or a link-back to the party at the end of your review post.
3. List the name of your blog, Title of Book or Genre. Be sure to use spaces and limit characters to 50. For example: The Lost Symbol, thriller

4. Become a follower of my blog, pretty please (not mandatory).
5. Visit the other linked up reviews and leave comments....it's a party, have fun!
6. I will announce the winner in a weekend post. The winner is chosen from the linked up reviewers using Random Number Generator. All included.

I am so excited to be reading all the reviews! This is always so much fun and gives me the opportunity to add new books to my list (& now check out book covers).

-CYM

My Interview with The Gatekeepers Post

Head on over and check out my interview! Make sure you leave a comment and tell them I sent you. You all are the best bunch of book bloggers ever!!

Warms-

CYM

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to CJ'Alhafiz @CoffeeNCrackers!



Be sure to check out  CJ'Alhafiz @CoffeeNCrackers and leave a comment!


Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

<a href="http://cymlowell.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="CymLowell" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2442/3960797566_f11cfb2f41_o.jpg" /></a>

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have written to the below MckLinky.

A couple of things to remember while you're linking.

1. Add a permalink to your specific post, not the main page of your blog (only one review per blog).
2. Add my Book Review Wednesday Badge or a link-back to the party at the end of your review post.
3. List the name of your blog, Title of Book or Genre. Be sure to use spaces and limit characters to 50. For example: The Lost Symbol, thriller

4. Become a follower of my blog, pretty please (not mandatory).
5. Visit the other linked up reviews and leave comments....it's a party, have fun!
6. I will announce the winner in a weekend post. The winner is chosen from the linked up reviewers using Random Number Generator. All included.

I am so excited to be reading all the reviews! This is always so much fun and gives me the opportunity to add new books to my list (& now check out book covers).

-CYM

The Summoner (The Dominic Grey Novels) by Layton Green

Kindle Edition
ISBN: 1456546864
GryphonWorks (December 8, 2010)


Imagine that you are a Christian. You work for the government and are posted in Zimbabwe (former Rhodesia). A U.S. official, a friend of the U.S. Ambassador, has disappeared. You are assigned to find out what happened and are to work with a local detective, a statuesque local woman of refined heritage (Nya). She is possessed by the same search, though for her own reasons. You are broken inside by abuse of your own loved ones.

Their search leads to juju rituals, voodoo in the Western world. If you find such beliefs to be preposterous, is it possible for you to become a slave to the work of the babalawo (the high priest), the N’anga in this story? Are such beliefs any more or less real than those to which you subscribe?

The Summoner is a captivating story. It will give you the feel of the retched situation in Zimbabwe today. You will be confronted with ritualistic sacrifice of four and two-legged animals. Your senses will be assaulted with retched images, child prostitution, incompetent American and local administrators, and village life. You will also find a vivid story set in natural beauty. It is both a mystery and a thriller. The pages will fly as you trace the search of Dominic Grey and Nya to find the absent official, as well as Nya’s father. Actually, they are in a search for themselves.

Layton Green obviously lived and researched this fetching story on site. The research, both in the world of juju, and local color is first rate.

The Summoner could be made into an excellent Indiana Jones-type movie. It has excitement, demons, endearing characters, beautiful scenery, and imagery (physical and emotional). It culminates with a blood-surging chase to save the spread-eagled heroine being tortured with the two hundred cuts to prepare her for the afterlife.

In the end, you will close the last page wondering about the future of Grey and Nya. There are obviously more stories to come. Will they be able to overcome their own inner demons as well as the monsters in the cave?

Warms, Cym

**Read Layton Green's guest post, Will Great Literature Survive the E-Pocalypes? here**

Will Great Literature Survive the E-Pocalypes?

Welcome Layton Green, author of The Summoner. Layton is guest posting today and tomorrow I will be posting a review of The Summoner. So stay tuned!

(source)

When the digital music revolution hit, I wondered how great new artists would get discovered with anyone able to upload a song to I-tunes. That turned out rather well, at least from my perspective: I find more great new artists than ever, I love uploading samples and trying songs for a buck, and I think the advent of I-tunes and company definitely brought the world more, and arguably better, music variety.

I wonder, however, if it will be the same with e-books? I’m curious as to how many self-published books have flooded the new e-market, versus how many songs hit the Internet once music went online? I am an e-published author myself, so I have a vested interest in the outcome, but I am also a reader, and I have a vested interest in that outcome as well.

Will it be impossible, as a reader, to sift through millions of books to find the modern classics that the publishers bring to our attention, or will we be stuck with those works that have the best online promoters behind them?

Don’t get me wrong: there are plenty of subpar works published, and there are plenty of self-published authors that can write and market the pants off many published authors. Talent, luck, timing and perseverance all play a part in this story. When it comes to popular books, I think the publishers are a little lost: they get a hit now and then (Davinci code, Harry Potter), but they lose money on most of their choices. The Internet will be a great proving ground of public consumption and, I think, a good producer of commercially successful novels.

Publishers are better, however, at selecting good literature. Not perfect by a LONG shot, mind you: in my opinion NY publishing is too incestual, and tends to publish works that look like all the other modern classics (although there are a lot of really great books out there). I also see a definite lack of voices from other cultures in the award-winning novels. My question for this post, then, is this: will the Internet produce great literature as well as bestsellers? Will readers and Internet forums and blogs help undiscovered gems rise to the top, or will the hard-to-read but important works get more lost at sea than they already are?

I’m stumped on this one, and of course the questions arise: what is the definition of a classic? Who decides? Can an unpopular novel even be a classic? I always wonder what beautiful works are languishing on the computer of some misanthropic genius, or locked forever in the bowels of an unopened crypt.

My gut tells me that, somehow, the Internet will help us gain access to more great works, but my gut also tells me that it will take some time before the successful public “filtering” systems are in place.

I’d love to see your opinions in the comments!

-Layton Green
www.laytongreen.com
Layton Green Facebook

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Gautami Tripathy@Everything Distils Into Reading!



Be sure to check out Everything Distils Into Reading and leave a comment!


Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

The Power of Words

~XOXO~

Beachbrights

(guest blogger)

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

<a href="http://cymlowell.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="CymLowell" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2442/3960797566_f11cfb2f41_o.jpg" /></a>

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have written to the below MckLinky.

A couple of things to remember while you're linking.

1. Add a permalink to your specific post, not the main page of your blog (only one review per blog).
2. Add my Book Review Wednesday Badge or a link-back to the party at the end of your review post.
3. List the name of your blog, Title of Book or Genre. Be sure to use spaces and limit characters to 50. For example: The Lost Symbol, thriller

4. Become a follower of my blog, pretty please (not mandatory).
5. Visit the other linked up reviews and leave comments....it's a party, have fun!
6. I will announce the winner in a weekend post. The winner is chosen from the linked up reviewers using Random Number Generator. All included.

I am so excited to be reading all the reviews! This is always so much fun and gives me the opportunity to add new books to my list (& now check out book covers).

-CYM

Winner of the Encouraging Kids to Read Gift Basket

Congratulations to #2, picked by Random Number Generator.

gaby317 said...

The Get Caught Reading website and project are great. I spent hours listening to authors and checking out their ideas.
I really enjoyed this post. Anything that talks about getting kids to read is wonderful. Thanks!

gaby @ Starting Fresh

Gaby, email me where you would like your goodie bagged to be shipped!

XOXO-

Beachbrights

(guest blogger)

Encouraging Kids to Read Part II **GIVEAWAY**

Did you read my post last week on Encouraging Kids to Read?  You can click back and read it here.  This week I am going to continue the discussion and offer one lucky commenter a chance to win an Encourage Kids to Read Gift Basket of Goodies.  This would make a great teachers gift, sunday school gift, homeless shelter donation or keep it to encourage the kids in your own life to READ!

1. Make reading personal. Source w/ Tutorial

2. Get Caught Reading. Famous Authors talking about why libraries matter to them.

3. Take the library to the kids.

4. GIVEAWAY!!!! Leave me comment with your email address, all included. Deadline Sunday, April 10th @Midnight CST. Random Number Generator will pick.

The GIVEAWAY includes 4 Disney Books

Stretch Book Cover

Foam Shapes

Rubber Stamps

Glitter Glue

Marker Set

Foam Bookmarks (qty 20)

~XOXO~

Beachbrights

(guest blogger)

Book Review Party Wednesday - LIVE!

<a href="http://cymlowell.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="CymLowell" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2442/3960797566_f11cfb2f41_o.jpg" /></a>

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have written to the below MckLinky.

A couple of things to remember while you're linking.

1. Add a permalink to your specific post, not the main page of your blog (only one review per blog).
2. Add my Book Review Wednesday Badge or a link-back to the party at the end of your review post.
3. List the name of your blog, Title of Book or Genre. Be sure to use spaces and limit characters to 50. For example: The Lost Symbol, thriller

4. Become a follower of my blog, pretty please (not mandatory).
5. Visit the other linked up reviews and leave comments....it's a party, have fun!
6. I will announce the winner in a weekend post. The winner is chosen from the linked up reviewers using Random Number Generator. All included.

I am so excited to be reading all the reviews! This is always so much fun and gives me the opportunity to add new books to my list (& now check out book covers).

-CYM

Family Affair by Debbie Macomber

Family Affair
by Debbie Macomber
Harper Collins/William Morrow 2011; original in 1994

Has your life and confidence been shattered by unanticipated events? And was your heart, wiser for overcoming the event, repaired from a source that could never have been anticipated? Perhaps even from a source that you pushed away for a long time until your resistance was overcome by a friend or friends who you cared about?

Family Affair is heartwarming story originally published in 1994 which has returned to enchant us all over again. It is the story of woman, Lacey, who divorced an unfaithful husband who broke her heart. She swore off men, moved to a new city, pursued a new professional ambition.

And she got a cat, Cleo, for company. A neighbor, Jack, had another cat named Dog. The cats found each other, which led Lacey to confront the neighbor owner of Dog demanding that he undertake his own responsibilities for the fathering of the kittens.

Lacey must work through her own emotions which she had pushed aside in the frenzy of her own life. Could she trust a man again? Was Jack as worthless as all men?

In matters of the heart, whether overcoming break or preparing for soaring happiness, patience is the order of the day.

Lacey must face the music that we all do in such circumstances. She does find patience from the most unlikely of sources. When the fog cleared, she was ready to take care of herself, once again. In the process, she learned that hate and blame are bindings that enslave her. When she forgives the wrongdoer, she is ready to move on.

We have all been through these crises, perhaps not with the distinction of Lacey.

Whether you have done so or not, you have had success or failure, or you are wondering if you can try to face your hurt again, read Family Affair. It is an easy and joyful read.

Warms, Cym

**If you have reviewed this book, please link up your review in the comments!**

Resource Links:
Fresh Fiction's Review
My Reading Corner's Review
Debbie Macomber's Site
Harper Collins

Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to The Calico Critic!




Be sure to check out the sweet Laura@The Calico Critic and leave a comment!


Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC (actually, check your inbox, I have your email!)

Warms-
CYM

Encouraging Kids to Read

1. Lead by example. Read for yourself. Read to them.

2. Keep age appropriate books on hand.

3. Keep age appropriate books freely accessible.

4. Create reading only spaces.

5. Have fun with reading.



Do you have a favorite way to encourage reading? Link it up in the comments or leave me a note!
~XOXO~
Beachbrights
(guest blogger)