Book Review Party Wednesday with 2 GIVEAWAYS! - LIVE

2 Giveaways this week!!!  The first giveaway will be this 7 book prize package from Beachbrights' trip to BEA.  The second giveaway will be an Amazon eGC worth $15.  Two chances to win!! International included.

<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

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The Master and Margarita

The Master and Margarita
by Mikhail Bugakov translated by Mirra Ginsburg Layton Green
1967 Grove Press; copyright renewed in 1995

Imagine that you are a writer in the Soviet Union of the late 1920s and 1930s. You had remained in your home land after the Russian Revolution when others fled. You had a free mind and pen, but your work was squelched by the censors of the state. Barred from publication and the theatre, Mikhail Bulgakov had a life of dramatizing the work of others. But he persisted with his own writing.

With a vast range of skill and knowledge in a closed society, Bulgakov became a satirist. He sense of humor and irony are all reflected in his masterwork, The Master and Margarita, written between 1928 and 1940 in many drafts and versions At once a story of life in the Soviet Union in those times, this beautiful story resounds with vivid imagery of the triumph of Jesus, the shame of Pontius Pilate, and the ever-presence of the devil. Like other treasures of literature, The Master and Margarita exists on several levels: then contemporary Moscow, the ever present visitors, the story of the master and Margarita, and the events in Yershalayin.

Perhaps, fittingly, I read this wonderful story over Easter. As I read his translated words, I wondered about a conversation with Bulgakov to ask him the questions that occurred to me. What was the basis of the symbolism of the toms or the cream? What would they translate into in today’s world?

If you are in the mood for a serious read, taking you along way away from where you are and into a world of satirical imagery, then put this great novel on your list. Over the years, I have read Alice in Wonderland many times. On each visit, I find new meanings and thoughts that obviously evolved from Lewis Carroll’s real life. When I re-read The Master and Margarita one day, I am sure that I will find the same to be true. Maybe the author will appear and answer my questions.

Warms, Cym

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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 Wag the Fox!



Be sure to check out Wag the Fox  and leave a comment!


Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

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BEA 11 Today in Pictures

I don't have a lot of time to write. I am just taking a minute between venues to post today's pictures of BEA 11.  I am having a blast! Tomorrow is all about Book Bloggers Con...I'm even more excited for this.

Take care...more to come!

~XOXO~

Beachbrights

(guest blogger)

**A BIG thank you to Cym for sending me to BEA!!**

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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

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Adrenaline by Jeff Abbott **Review**

Adrenaline
by Jeff Abbott
Grand Central Publishing/Hachette

Do you love your spouse? Do you trust her/him? Do you think you really know him/her? What if you were deathly wrong? What if you were both spies and she appears to be a traitor to you, your country, and your agency? What if she was pregnant with your only child when she disappears? And if she saved you from certain death that entombed your mutual colleagues?

Finally, would you be afraid of a new gun technology that targeted victims by their DNA and yours was encoded? You could die at any moment without notice.

Jeff Abbott is a phenomenal story teller. In Adrenaline he injects readers with a dose of a narcotic that induces turning the pages of this fine story, which embodies what a thriller should be: thrilling.

Sam Capra is a CIA agent living in London, blissfully enjoying his parkour running (bouncing off obstacles like Sonic the Hedgehog) and the love of his wife Lucy who is also a CIA agent. Young Daniel is still in her belly, though he takes an important role in the story.

This peaceful world is exploded as two shadowy groups compete for access to the new technology. Public murders are inexplicable. Accused of treason by his own CIA, Sam finds his way to the Round Table (not exactly like Camelot) through Mila. Lucy is in the Nine Suns. The CIA hunts Sam, Sam is after Lucy to get Daniel, Round Table has its own mission, Nine Suns wants to sell the DNA gun, and the story unfolds in an explosion of excitement.

Adrenaline will make a wonderful movie. Sam Capra is an engaging character, full of charm, dedication, persistence, and honor. He is no Jason Bourne or James Bond. I’d like to play him, but I’m too old.

Adrenaline is also the best kind of thriller. When it was done, I kept turning the pages . . . but they were blank. Damn! The story is complete. But there are sequels to come. Daniel, Mila, the Round Table, and the CIA are all out there, awaiting the next adventure. I can see it now . . . .

Warms, Cym

Resources:
Jeff Abbott the Blog
Jeff Abbott Facebook
Jeff Abbott Twitter

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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 Book Obsessed!



Be sure to check out Book Obsessed and leave a comment!


Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

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The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain **Guest Post**

~Guest Post from 

Flower Patch Farmgirl~

A Book: The Midwife's Confession, by Diane Chamberlain

Our trip got off to a bit of a rocky start.

Long story short: We spent over an hour sitting on the run-way before take-off.

Short story long: The pilot kept saying things over the intercom such as, "Uh - it looks like the left engine is not starting...", "We've called the mechanic, but he's out-of-town, visiting his mom for mother's day...", "The on-call mechanic won't be able to head this way for 20 minutes or so, he has some other things to wrap up first..."

For the love of Pete, Captain. Censor thyself.

Thank goodness, I had The Midwife's Confession stowed safely in my 1 additional small personal item.

It grabbed me from page one. I do not say this lightly. I leaned over to Cory and told him, "I'm going to love this book." And I did. It was a quick read, but it was meaty. I didn't encounter sections that I wanted to skim over, which almost never happens. It was all important, all relevant, all interesting. Most importantly, it was well-written.

As a girl who tends to gravitate toward "quiet" fiction, without a big, shocking twist, I surprised myself with how quickly I was sucked into the lives of Tara and Emerson. I hunted down opportunities to pick it up and see what happened next. If there were none to be found, well, I made them up.

The story took on a life of its own and compelled me to keep reading, keep turning. I became wrapped up in the world on the pages, but I also found myself reflecting on my own life, taking a closer look at some of the threads of my story. I was pulled both toward the characters and back into myself. That is the sign of a great vacation read.

The twists were served up smoothly, with an even hand. At one point, I thought for sure I knew what was coming next, but I was wrong. Fiction happens to be the one outlet where I relish being wrong. Diane Chamberlain could have left me surprised, shaking my head in a good way, even without the final gob-smacker. Instead, she flipped me upside down and while I was still staggering around, not quite able to right myself, she did it again.

This is the sort of the thing that elevates a page-turner to giveaway status.


Go and visit Shannon at Flower Patch Farmgirl. She is writing her first novel. Tell her I sent you...

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Bookends

How do you end your books?

source

source

source

source

source

source

source

source

source

~XOXO~

beachbrights

(guest post)

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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

Read More

Shot of Tequila by J.A. Konrath

Shot of Tequila
by J.A. Konrath
Amazon Create Space 2009

It is always such a joy to find heart-warming stories inside books of a genre that is not known for intimacy. Shot of Tequila is such a book. It is enjoyable and thought-provoking about the sequels that do exist, for at least one of the characters.

A young brother comes into the world with an older sister who idolizes and cares for him. Sally has down syndrome. Tequila is so named with derision by a mean father who derided his midget son and retard daughter. The mother departed. Sally drew pictures for her little brother, full of flowers, sunshine, hope, and love.

Tequila had to make his own way and care for his sister, whom he loved dearly. A gymnast and fighter, he learned how to use guns and earn a living as a debt collector for a gangster.

The life of Sally and Tequila is happy. She is cared for. He earns a living. His personality is cold, unloving and uncaring beyond Sally.

Their world comes apart as a cohort frames Tequila for the theft of millions from the gangster. The forces of evil descend on Tequila. Sally is viciously raped and murdered. Tequila will have revenge.

The Chicago police are also on the trail of Tequila for other murders that are blamed on him. The lead detective, Jack Daniels, smells rats all over this scene. After she is dismissed from the case by superiors on the payroll of the gangsters (it is Chicago after all), she cannot leave it alone. Jack has an unhappy marriage. She saves remnants of Sally’s love for her brother, as she chases after Tequila to arrest him for the crimes she believes he has committed. As she finds him, they develop a fellowship of sorts. As I read along, I hoped that this man and woman, each of whom needed what the other had to offer, would find themselves. They do in a clever manner.

I have learned a lot from J.A. Konrath in the past few days. We found his blog, which is the best that we have seen in explaining the current state of the fiction publishing industry for authors like us. Please checkout www.jakonrath.blogspot.com. Perhaps more importantly, I found an author that writes with a heart. Shot of Tequila is a mystery/thriller for sure. It is a fine, easy read with characters that achieve the highest accolade I can give – what happens to Tequila and Jack next?

Warms, Cym

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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 Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf!



Be sure to check out Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf and leave a comment!


Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

Read More

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

Read More