Devourer of Books

If you’ve been reading my blog for some time, you may remember me gushing about Anna Elliott’s “Twilight of Avalon” last May. In fact, it even made my ‘Best of 2009′ list at the end of the year. Well, the second book in the trilogy, “Dark Moon of Avalon” is being released September 14th. I can’t wait, I’m hoping to get a copy from the publisher in my hot little hands any day now.

If you also can’t wait for the next installment in this series, or if you want to check out Elliott’s writing style and see if this is for you, she is currently giving away a couple of short stories electronically on her website. The first one, “The Witch Queen’s Secret” is available right now in .mobi, .epub, . pdf, or as .xhtml to read on the web. All are free, unless you want it delivered wirelessly to your Kindle, that costs $0.99 (due to Amazon policy).

Here’s Elliott’s description of the story:

The Witch Queen’s Secret: a free short story set in the Twilight of Avalon universe

The Witch Queen’s Secret features a minor character from Twilight of Avalon, but it’s self-contained; you don’t at all have to have read any of the Twilight of Avalon trilogy to understand it. A bit more about the story:

In the shadow of King Arthur’s Britain, a young mother will need all her courage to save the Queen’s castle from the hands of a traitor…

Dera owes Britain’s former High Queen Isolde her life. But as an army harlot, the life she leads is one of degradation and often desperate danger, with small hope for the future either for Dera or for her small son.
Through a Britain torn by war with Saxon invaders, Dera makes her way to Dinas Emrys, last stronghold of Britain’s army, to beg Queen Isolde’s help once more. Isolde offers Dera a new life, both for herself and for her child. But when Dera and Isolde uncover a treasonous plot, Dera must leave her little boy and undertake a dangerous mission, the outcome of which comes to her as a stunning, but wonderful, surprise.

And as she risks her life, Dera also draws nearer to Queen Isolde’s most closely-guarded secret: one that Britain’s courageous witch-queen may be hiding even from herself.

Gah! This is making me wish I had an ereader…

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Friends! Have I told you again about “Real Life and Liars” recently?

“Real Life and Liars” was one of my favorite books last year, and it’s author, Kristina Riggle, is one of my favorite authors on Twitter.

Well, she has a new book out, and it is one of my most anticipated reads this summer.

“The Life You’ve Imagined” will be available from your favorite bookseller on August 17th, but you can get it here first if you’d like to join us for a book club discussion!

I’ll take the first 20 people who fill out the following Google form. However, to be eligible for a copy of the book, I ask that you agree to the following considerations:

• Participate in our book club discussion here on this blog on September 7th and 8th
• Either post a review of this book on your book blog or, if you don’t have a book blog, tell at least 5 friends about the book.

We’ll have some discussion, some Q&A, and Kristina Riggle herself may even stop by.

Sorry, all of the copies are gone, but “The Life You’ve Imagined” will be out on August 17th. If you really wanted to participate, feel free to get a copy on your own and join us!

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When my college roommate asked me to make her a list of all of the books I kept saying she needed to read, “To Kill a Mockingbird” was in one of the very top spots. I’ve probably read “To Kill a Mockingbird” 5 or 6 times, and every time it seems fresh and relevant, a story that captures me immediately. This year – today, actually – is the 50th anniversary of this American classic. If you want to celebrate, you can ‘like’ the 50th Anniversary page on Facebook, or check out celebratory events near you.

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I got a pretty good amount of reading done this past week, largely because my husband was out of town, so after Daniel went to sleep it was just me and my book (assuming I could stay off of the computer). Although Daniel and I actually stayed with my parents a couple of nights, which gave me people to interact with and cut down on my reading time just a bit. I also probably could have gotten more reading done on Friday, but instead Daniel and I went and spent a bunch of time at The Bookstore in Glen Ellyn. Not only did we go for the fun bookish talk, but we also discussed a really fun feature you’ll be seeing here in October, for which I’ll be partnering heavily with The Bookstore. Look for an announcement in the next week or two.

I like having my husband back at home, but I must say it was sort of nice to get some reading done since the last couple of weeks have been slow. Here’s what I finished this week:

It was a pretty good week on the blog, too. I had three book reviews:

I also had a guest post and giveaway from Richard C. Morais, author of “The Hundred-Foot Journey,” a giveaway of “The Scarlet Contessa,” and my Nerds <3 YA decision between “Gringolandia” and “Funny How Things Change.”

The Nerds <3 YA tournament is designed to showcase some of the best under-recognized YA Literature for a given year – especially YA literature that revolves around under-represented people groups. I am a second-round judge deciding between Melissa Wyatt’s “Funny How Things Change” and Lyn Miller-Lachmann’s “Gringolandia.” If you would like to see the Round 1 decisions that sent these books on to me, they were at Good Books and Good Wine and Pineapples and Pyjamas.

Gringolandia by Lyn Miller-Lachmann

Daniel has been living in Madison, Wisconsin with his mother and sister for about six years when his father Marcelo is released from prison in Chile, where he has been tortured by Pinochet’s government as a political prisoner. The man that arrives at their house in 1986 is not remotely the same man that Daniel’s family remembers being taken away in 1980. Marcelo is partially paralyzed on one side from a blow to the head and can’t stand being touched. Worse, he cannot get close to his wife and children, continually pushing them away.  He hates himself for living up in Gringolandia while many of his friends and colleagues are still being tortured. Things get even more complicated when Daniel’s girlfriend Courtney gets involved in trying to get Marcelo to share his experiences.

Funny How Things Change by Melissa Wyatt

Remy Walker is ready to get out of Dwyer, West Virginia. The town is more or less dying anyway, and Remy’s girlfriend Lisa is about to leave for college in Pennsylvania, and she has asked Remy to go with her. They aren’t exactly sure how to fund their getaway and their life together, but it doesn’t matter, because Lisa’s determined to get out and Remy loves her and doesn’t want to lose her. He already decided to finish high school instead of transferring to technical school to become a certified mechanic – a job he loves – just so he could stay with her, so why wouldn’t he follow her to Pennsylvania?

The Decision

Both of these books are well-written, but I have this thing where books about coal miners or coal mining towns don’t seem to do anything for me. I’m thinking “American Rust” and “The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart.” So, really, “Gringolandia” had the advantage even before I cracked open the first book. And don’t get me wrong, “Funny How Things Change” is a great book. This is a first time a book with this sort of setting and themes has gotten me to care about the characters, even if it still took me about 100 pages. “Gringolandia,” though, is not only well-written, but also fearless. The book opens with Marcelo being taken from his family, followed by his torture at the hands of the guards. I loved how complex the emotions were in “Gringolandia” and how Miller-Lachmann didn’t dumb any of the reality of the situation down for her YA audience. I think “Gringolandia” is important for the message and history it imparts while also being an engaging compelling read that should appeal to the YA audience while also crossing over well for adult readers

“Gringolandia” by Lyn Miller-Lachmann moves on