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 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

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Author Spotlight: Lyn Miller LaCoursiere

About the Author:

Lyn Miller LaCoursiere lives in Minnesota and has published numerous articles in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Minnesota Women's Press pertaining to life and its challenges. Her passion is relaxing by water anywhere; ocean, pond or puddle. Continue reading more here...

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Books:

Nightmares and Dreams (excerpt from Lyn’s book one): When the exterminator jokingly declared, "Lady, you better burn it," Lindy Lewis devised a plan and burned her beautiful home to collect the million dollar insurance. When the fraud is discovered by Reed Conners, an investigator for the same insurance company and coincidently a lover from college days; their lives again become entwined. Reed is pressured by his boss to "get the million back," but works to exonerate Lindy with the promise she will return the money. When temptation gets too great, she disappears with the cash. Through out the next year, Lindy frolics in sun filled days, carrying her treasured wealth in a shoebox as she travels to escape a murderer's revenge. BUY

Tomorrow's Rain (excerpt from Lyn’s book two): Clutching her fortune, Lindy has left Reed Conner’s bed in the north and escapes to her beloved south. As she frolics in sunny Savannah, Georgia, another house fire steals her tranquility and again she takes to the road. She settles by the ocean in Newport, Rhode Island. Here her journey into the mystical world of ghosts, visions and clairvoyance begins. She has a vision of Reed, the investigator who has been hot on her trail to reclaim the million dollars for the insurance company they say she defrauded. He’s been shot and in a coma, and now beyond a doubt, Lindy believes it’s her turn to help him. She rushes back to his side. The FBI enters the picture and an inevitable prison term looms ahead, unless she testifies in court that she witnessed an international drug dealer murder one of their agents in cold blood!”

“I can’t do it,” she wails, “He will kill me!” BUY

Sunsets (excerpt from Lyn’s book four): Suddenly Summer takes the reader on another hair-raising journey when Lindy Lewis saves the life of the Mayor of Monterrey, Mexico. “I know all about your deceptive life,” he threatens when she rejects his advances. In desperation to get away, she flees back to the US. She is soon kidnapped by Mario D’Agustino’s henchmen and left in a forest to die as payback for testifying against him in court for the FBI. Antagonist Reed Conners, always doubtful of her clairvoyance, is finally convinced the she may be on to something when she has a vision of the place a psycho has taken his best friends wife. And later identifies the two men found drowned in his home town lake. BUY

Suddenly Summer (excerpt from Lyn's book four): Suddenly Summer takes the reader on another hair-raising journey when Lindy Lewis saves the life of the Mayor of Monterrey, Mexico. “I know all about your deceptive life,” he threatens when she rejects his advances. In desperation to get away, she flees back to the US. She is soon kidnapped by Mario D’Agustino’s henchmen and left in a forest to die as payback for testifying against him in court for the FBI. Antagonist Reed Conners, always doubtful of her clairvoyance, is finally convinced the she may be on to something when she has a vision of the place a psycho has taken his best friends wife. And later identifies the two men found drowned in his home town lake. BUY

The Early Years (excerpt from Lyn’s book five): This is a story of sweetness and conflict, decisions and departures that shape the young lives of Lindy Lewis and Reed Conners. You will see how life molded Lindy into the person she is today. You will feel her loneliness when she leaves home at thirteen years of age and earns her way through high school. And then, her bittersweet relief as she leaves this life and goes off to college. You will meet Reed Conners who is from a northern town in Minnesota called Williston, and has come to study law. You will learn of his struggles to take care of his responsibilities after loosing the very foundation of his life. Their story begins when Reed and Lindy meet in their last year of college at a diner called Gina’s. BUY

Resource Links:
Lyn Miller LaCoursiere
Blog

Thank you Lyn for being this week's Author Spotlight!

-CYM

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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.

-CYM

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Since Nobody’s Perfect . . . How Good is Good Enough? by Andy Stanley

Since Nobody’s Perfect . . . How Good is Good Enough?
by Andy Stanley
Multnomah Books/LifeChange Books 2003

If you are a Christian, an inevitable question is how good do you have to be to get to Heaven? If you are not a Christian, surely the same issue arises in the beliefs of your own religion.

I thoroughly enjoy discussing religion with anyone who is willing to have an open mind to contemplate hard issues. I suspect Andy Stanley would be a joyful companion in this regard.

This thoughtful and interesting book addresses the question of “good enough” from a variety of standpoints. Mr. Stanley’s conclusion is that the answer is unknowable, certainly, God provided no formula. The Old Testament provides some guidance, though, as the author notes, the good works are “culturally irrelevant and physically impossible to achieve.” In the New Testament, Jesus advised that most religious people of his day were not good enough to enter the Kingdom, though promising criminals and prostitutes that they would be gladly welcomed.

This is certainly an interesting paradox. Our author resolves the riddle by concluding that it is forgiven people who get into Heaven, which is facilitated by the sacrifice of Jesus. Is this fair? the author wonders. His answer is that fairness is not relevant.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about good enough. It is a small, easily read and thoughtfully written epistle. When I closed the back cover, I wanted to look across the room and ask Mr. Stanley: if being good is not good enough, and the key is being forgiven, haven’t you skipped over a critical step – does not one have to confess and ask for forgiveness before being forgiven?

It seems to me that there must be an element of cognition and self-awareness before forgiveness can be achieved. It also seems to me that this is an ongoing process, perhaps similar to confession in the Catholic Church.

In my case, I try to be the best that I can be, treating everyone the way that I would like to be treated. If someone is unreasonable toward me, I try to turn away. I think that means I try to be a good person. Of course, I often believe that I have failed in one regard or another. I try my best to determine if I have done something inappropriate. If so, I apologize. Perhaps, then I can be forgiven.

I find the issues framed in Since Nobody’s Perfect . . . How Good is good enough? to be thought-provoking and fascinating. I look forward to talking about them.

Warms, Cym

AMAZON

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Winners of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Parties and Blog Spotlights!

Did you notice the {s} on the end of some of those words in the title?  I has too many blog postings last week to pick the review link-up winner. Sorry!! Thanks to all of you who noticed. I felt loved.

So without further adieu here are last week's winner and this week's winner.

*all winners are selected by Random Number Generator *

And the winners of the Amazon Gift Cards ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Parties is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Book Diary



& Create With Joy!



Be sure to check out them both and leave a comment!


Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

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Author Spotlight: Beatrice Gerard

In the middle of the night, Thelma Hardy gets a 10 second call from her father: her mother’s dead. She must fly to Palm Beach. The company jet is waiting. Thelma has little time for sorrow. The stock of Wise Woman Inc. is plummeting, and the eyes of the financial world are watching and waiting. Her father has appointed a male CEO, Steve, breaking with the firm’s tradition of female leadership and enraging the members of the board. To make matters worse, Thelma’s best friend Lauren manages to miss the funeral, and her longtime friend Cindy decides this is a good time to confess her love for her. Lauren, an MIT computer wizard, has in fact been there all along.

Hours after her mother’s death, there is a mysterious hacking of the company’s firewall. The source is untraceable and the timing dangerous. The firm’s main rival is suspect, and Lauren has come to help identify the attacker. As Thelma becomes more involved in the business, she finds hints that her father and Steve may be part of a scheme to rob her of her inheritance, and that her mother may not have died of natural causes. Steve realizes Thelma is onto more than he expected and has her followed. When Thelma mistakenly kills an innocent man, jeopardizing the firms future, Steve decides to take care of the cover-up, and of Thelma as well: he sends her to oversee some factories in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, from where she is not meant to return. She tricks her way out of the trap and returns to Palm Beach, determined to discover the truth about her mother’s death and save her legacy.

With her wits, which many think she is losing, as her only guide, Thelma ventures into a maze of dark family lies and financial intrigue. As she searches for a way out, she will revisit her mother’s struggle for empowerment, transform her idle socialite toys into weapons, and take ownership of her life.

HUNTING FOR SPARROWS is a fast-paced thriller where the character’s self-discovery is as important as discovering who did it, or the nature of the crime. The novel poses controversial questions about gender roles and discrimination, women's sexuality, the role of women in corporate America, and intra-family power relationships.

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Author Bio:
Beatrice Gerard taught Elizabethan and Modern English Literature, and is published in numerous academic journals. A large part of her academic work and writing have focused on women's issues.

Beatrice is also the author of an award-wining collection of short stories to be published soon.
She currently lives in Florida with her husband, three cats and an anthropomorphized yellow Lab.

Resource Links:
Amazon

Thank you Beatrice Gerard for allowing me to spotlight you this week!

CYM

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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.

-CYM

*I will announce last week's winner with this week's winner!!*

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*Book Review* Nothing Daunted by Dorothy Wickenden

Nothing Daunted
by Dorothy Wickenden
Scribner 2011

Have you heard your mother or grandmother describe their trips abroad when they were young and just getting going in life, before they met their husband and commenced the serious business of life?

Or have you had occasion to read the journals or letters of people who set out on glorious journeys and undertook to describe their adventures for the folks back home?

Nothing Daunted describes the trek of two friends from upstate New York just before World War I who were privileged enough to take the grand tour of Europe, come home, and then respond to an advertisement for teachers in the then open territory of Colorado. The story is constructed from letters and interviews with surviving descendants of the strong young women.

When they arrived in the small town, they found a school house that was the nicest building in a town focused on educating its young people. Of course there were hazards and hassles. They persevered, each meeting fine young men whom they married. One of the bridegrooms was behind the advertising seeking eligible young women. He succeeded.

The story is told in a style that is imminently readable and enjoyable. Like a fine movie, the reader feels a part of the story as it evolves.

As I read, I kept wondering if Dorothy Wickenden would express her own questions about what was left out of the letters and stories passed down to family and friends. After all, the story is told through the lens of letters sent home by young women off on an adventure in the evolving (not wild) West. Surely, they had all manner of adventures that they would not write home to their parents about. Did you write home about everything that you did as a young person away from at college, in the military, or wherever? Of course not.

I also kept looking for the author’s questions or observations about what she learned in her reading and interviewing.

In any event, Nothing Daunted was read by our Philosophers’ Club (a group of 13 men ages about 55-70). It produced a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting discussion, which ended up being about these two subjects that I hoped to find in the story. We had a fine time reliving our own youth.

I am sure you will have the same experience, and, as with all excellent stories, ask your own range of questions as you close the cover after a fine read.

Warms, Cym

Resources:

Houston Chron Review
Amazon
NYT Review

Have a great day & see you at Wednesday's review party!

-CYM

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FREE Advertising for Authors!!

Are you an Author who would like to be spotlighted on my blog? 

Every Friday, I highlight an Author in a post. 

All you need to do is email me something along these lines:

1. Author Picture (.jpg)

2. Brief Author Bio

3. Book(s) information including synopsis/cover

4. Where to buy your book's links & any other Author links

5. If you would like to host a book giveaway (completely optional!!)

ANY GENRE, FIRST COME FIRST SERVE

(unless you request a date several months out)

Keep it simple.

Take a look at some previous Author Spotlights HERE, HERE & HERE.

See you on Fridays!
-CYM

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Book Typography

Hello Cym Lowell Blog Readers...

long time no see!!

Here is some fun book theme typography that would be great to have hanging around your library.

Happy Reading!

source


source



source



no source



source



source




 Source



Source



Source



no source


XOXO-
Beachbrights

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Author Spotlight: Jim Bronyaur

The first book of the Minivan Mom Mystery Series is now live!

Meet Eve Bailey in If Errands Could Kill -

Up at sunrise to enjoy the quiet of a sleeping household, Eve Bailey gets her coffee, prepares breakfast for her three children, and has a spare tie ready knowing that her husband, Ben, will definitely spill something on the one he is wearing. Their oldest daughter, Delaney, is one game away from moving onto the soccer championships, their son, Cody, skipped school yesterday, and innocent 7 year old Penny is trying to communicate with her goldfish. Eve’s days are that of a typical stay at home mom.

Her typical day changes drastically after she drives Cody to school as part of his punishment for skipping school. Cody’s creepy science teacher, Mr. Jackson, approaches Eve to let her know that her check for Cody’s field trip had bounced. Knowing it had to be an error, Eve heads to the bank to figure it out. While in line, she chats with her mother in law who works at the bank. Then she notices Janet, another bank employee and self-made town outcast, acting very strange at the back counter.

Eve’s concern grows when she is leaving the bank and sees Janet open the gas tank door and then drives away. Against her better judgment, Eve follows Janet. What happens next is something unheard of in quiet Marysville, Pennsylvania.

Janet is murdered in front of Eve’s eyes, and the police find drugs in her car.

Murder and drugs? It doesn’t make sense. Eve is now a witness and determined to disprove the “drug deal gone wrong” theory. Can she convince the police that she knows who the killer is, save her family, and make it to Delaney’s big soccer game in time?

Amazon


About Author Jim Bronyaur -
Jim Bronyaur is a horror, thriller, and mystery writer. Several of his novels are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other vendors. He has always wanted to write his own mystery series and after toying with an idea for a few months, he had help from his wife (who is a stay-at-home mom herself) and together, they created Eve Bailey.

JimBronyaur
Twitter
Blog

Thank you Jim for being this week's author spotlight!

-CYM

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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.

-CYM

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**Book Review** Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean

Young Men and Fire
by Norman Maclean
The University of Chicago Press 1992

Have you ever wondered what actually happened in an unspeakable disaster occurs, there is a loss of the lives of the brave heroes who sacrificed themselves to save others?

Do you love the scenic mountains of Western Montana? Do you like mysteries?

If the answer to any of these questions is in the affirmative, add this enjoyable non-fiction story to your list. It is an easy and engaging read. The author was a longstanding professor who late in life wrote a fascinating novel about life in Montana which became a successful movie (A River Runs Through It). At the time of his death, he had extensive notes for this story about what actually happened in the Mann Gulch firestorm in 1949. The story is about newly minted Smokejumpers (intrepid souls who parachuted into a ranging forest fire), who jumped into Mann Gulch. Only 3 of 13 survived.

The question addressed is what happened that caused the others to die. Was it a fire set by a Forest Service person, not a Smokejumper, to facilitate his own escape or something else?

I spent much of my formative life in this area of Montana, which was loved by my parents. I was born in Missoula. My dad was a field geologist working in these same areas, often with me or my brothers being his field assistants (meaning carrying heavy bags and driving a jeep to meet him at the end of the day). The mountains are beautiful. Unfortunately, today there are few jobs in this world, which is actually an underdeveloped country by some definitions.

Maclean undertook a relentless effort to unearth the truth about the deaths of the brave young men. In the process, the reader is treated to a play-by-play reality of what it would be like to jump into a fire, then try to fight it. The tactics are fascinating, not unlike coaching a football game with an enemy that can literally blow with the breeze.

The lessons learned from the Mann Gulch fire pushed the science of fire-fighting forward, though at the cost of the men buried beneath stone markers at the site where their bodies were found.

It is a shame that Maclean died before evolving the story into another potential movie.

Warms, Cym

Goodreads
Amazon

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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 Cherry Mischievous to Read!



Be sure to check out Cherry Mischievous and leave a comment!


Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

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Author Spotlight: Lichen Craig

When young playwright Greyson Foster agrees to attend a party at the penthouse of a millionaire, he has no idea how profoundly it will change his life. His journey will take him into spaces in his mind he never knew existed, bring him face-to-face with needs he never knew he had, and challenge him to travel to the precipice of lust, revenge, and love. From their first meeting, the powerful and charismatic Jack Miles weaves an enticing web around Greyson, drawing him into the dangerous game three millionaires play in secret. But Jack's personal life is complicated and his demons are many, and as they strengthen they threaten to destroy all that Jack holds dear — including Greyson.

READ SAMPLE CHAPTER HERE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little about Author Lichen Craig:

Lichen Craig wrote non-fiction professionally for over twenty-five years before the fire overtook her to write a first novel. Encouraged by the enthusiasm of test readers despite the controversial subject matter, she took the plunge into publication of "Gentlemen's Game".

Lichen Craig lives at the foot of the Rocky Mountains with four large dogs. She has been writing professionally for over 25 years, in the areas of veterinary medicine, wildlife, and epidemic disease. "Gentlemen's Game" is her first novel.

Goodreads
Amazon
Smashwords
Lichen Craig Blog

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for being this week's Author Spotlight!

CYM

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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.

-CYM

Read More

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 Jo-Jo Loves to Read!



Be sure to check out Jo-Jo Loves to Read and leave a comment!


Send me your email address for the Amazon eGC.

Warms-
CYM

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Author Spotlight: Michael Arthur James Hay

James Hay's Bio:

James was born and raised in Southern Ontario, more specifically Peterborough County. His world was not very large back then, it consisted of a 100 acre farm that he knew stump and stone. It was an old farm, and that meant sometimes you would dig up something you never thought you would find….

His love has always been stories, and days gone by. He feels somewhat left behind in this technological day and age, but tries his best. James still writes all his first drafts by hand, and he thinks there is something to be said for that. He does not keep a fancy blog, though he tries from time to time. James is always trying to offer advice to young writers, though he ultimatly believes there are things in this world that you will only be able to discover for yourself.

Writing has always been a calling that seems to run in the blood of his family. His Grandmother says that there is something that was clearly passed down from her to him, and James is thankful that it was. He writes for himself, much as she writes for herself. It is not his intent to become a bestselling author that forgets his roots. James plans to settle in the county of his forefathers, and entrench himself in family ties and history. He publishes his books because he hopes somebody somewhere finds a use in them, and that he may change a life. It may even be you who is reading this now. Fame and fortune will probably not find him, but what he wants is to make a difference. In the end can he ask for any more?

The Guardian:

Vampires face a daunting task; surviving eternity. A vampire named James recounts the long story of his immortality, and the people that he chose to live for. His life was forever haunted by the one he had loved in his youth, the one he was never able to forget. For a thousand years he was the guardian of her bloodline, until he was faced by a decision he was unprepared to make.


Other Resources:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
The Guardian

Thank you for allowing me to spotlight you!

-CYM

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