Your Reading Room If you’re reading this, then it follows as night follows day (I always wanted to use that simile, and now I have!) that you’re a reader. It also follows that you may be in need of the perfect reading room. Bear with me. I know you have a place to read–perhaps it’s your bed with a bevy of pillows tucked in behind you, and you’re wearing your fuzzy bunny sleeper. But that’s not the reading room we’re…
The Secret of Crickley Hall by James Herbert Publisher: Tom Doherty, 633 pages Format: Hardback Source: Purchased What it’s about: In The Secret of Crickley Hall, Gabe and Eve Caleigh along with daughters Loren and Cally have rented Crickley Hall while Gabe is working on an engineering project nearby. Gabe and Eve’s goal is to find some peace and quiet to mourn the disappearance of their child Cam and to prepare themselves to acknowledge Cam’s death, even though his body has…
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher Prior to committing suicide, Hannah records tapes that she places in a box. These messages–thirteen reasons why–detail the series of events that led her to take her life. She mails the box of tapes to the first person on the list with instructions to listen and then mail the box to the next person on the list and so on. I wasn’t planning on reading this book, but I needed to find a banned…
I didn’t know what a bardo was until I picked up George Saunders’s novel Lincoln in the Bardo. Bardo is the state of the soul between death and rebirth. The translation of this Tibetan word is “between two.” And that’s exactly the condition of the souls in the Oak Ridge Cemetery in 1862 when Willie Lincoln, third son of Abraham Lincoln, was interred. The death of Willie Lincoln and the night-time visits of Abraham Lincoln set off a series of events that will change the ghostly residents of Oak Ridge.
“Are you going to be Asian or white?” my older daughter asked her sister. We were in the kitchen. The kids were working on homework, and I was meal planning. My ears pricked, and I stopped what I was doing to listen. This conversation between my daughters took place some years ago as my younger child was preparing to attend middle school. We were looking at a couple of different schools, one of which, a large public school, had a…
What time is it? R.I.P. time! I must admit, though, R.I.P. XII caught me by surprise this year. In many ways, this has been a dispiriting year for many, so perhaps that played a role in my tardiness when it comes to my favorite time of year and the spooky books I love to curl up with when the days lengthen and darken. At any rate, better late than never to year twelve of the beloved autumn reading challenge in…
Hunting Hour by Margaret Mizushima Are you an incurable devotee of K-9 mysteries? Have you already devoured (and loved) Suspect and The Promise by Robert Crais and Blood on the Tracks by Barbara Nickless? Then you can do no better than to add Hunting Hour to your reading list. Hunting Hour features the lovable, and doggedly persistent Robo, a German Shepherd officer. You will love him as much as you love Maggie and Clyde–those larger-than-life dogs that leap off the…
Please join me in welcoming Margaret Mizushima! I’m excited to spotlight Margaret Mizushima, the author of the Timber Creek mysteries featuring Deputy Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo. Together they keep the peace in Timber Creek, Colorado. Today we’re discussing the upcoming novel Hunting Hour to be released August 8th. Welcome, Margaret! Thank you, Deb. I’m happy to be here! I appreciate you hosting me and highlighting Hunting Hour. DA: You’ve clearly spent a lot of time around dogs….
Today I’m pleased to welcome cemetery historian Tui Snider. Tui Snider is a writer, speaker, photographer, and musician specializing in offbeat sites, overlooked history, cemetery symbolism, and haunted lore. Her award-winning books include Paranormal Texas, The Lynching of the Santa Claus Bank Robber, Unexpected Texas, and Understanding Cemetery Symbols. Thanks for stopping by, Tui! As readers of this blog know, I have a lifelong fascination with ghostlit. And, as an avid reader of ghostlit, I especially love scenes that take place…
It’s time for Book Challenge by Erin 7.0! Yay, reading! This will be my third or fourth time participating, and I’m jazzed about the categories for Book Challenge by Erin 7.0. Here are the books I’m reading. Yes, I have selected ten. Yes, I know you can count. Two are on the kindle, and two are still to be checked out from the library. In case you’re unfamiliar with Erin’s book challenges, she runs them twice a year with different…
Mystery Blogger Award Nominee…that’s me! I know I should have said “that is I” instead of “that’s me,” but who cares about grammar at a time like this? Anyhow, yay! And thank you Doree Weller for nominating me! So, some housekeeping details. There are rules involved. Serious rules. Rule #1: Put the Mystery Blogger Award logo on the blog post. See above. Rule #2: List the rules. They are as follows (starting with number 3 since you already have 1…
“Would you rather” book tag. So, I guess this “would you rather” game of tag has been around for a while. The newest thread originated by RayKayBooks focuses on book questions. Trin Carl over at The Global Dig tagged me and challenged me to answer some questions. Hi Trin! Here are the questions and my answers. Would you rather: 1. READ ONLY TRILOGIES OR STANDALONES? Definitely standalones. I rarely read trilogies. I find with trilogies that the first book is compelling, the…
Z is for Zugzwang. It is the last day of the A to Z Challenge! You, my readers, have survived! Yay, you! So, zugzwang. I borrowed a chess term for today’s category of novels for young adults. Zugzwang describes a situation in which one must take one’s turn even if it is to one’s disadvantage. It also means to force someone else into that situation. Zugzwang so perfectly sums up what authors do to their characters, and that is particularly…