Month: January 2017

What I Read in December

I had a pretty busy reading month in December, with 14 total books read. (I think.)

Masques and Wolfsbane by Patricia Briggs. This was on my TBR shelf for FAR too long, I’m ashamed to say. I’ve loved everything by Briggs that I’ve read.

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Murky Pond, by T.L Haddix. (Read to review.)

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The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett, by Chelsea Sedoti. (Read to review.)

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Two Days Gone, by Randall Silvis. (Read to review.)

You Don’t Know my Name, by Kristen Orlando. (Review forthcoming.)

Beyond Boundaries, by John Townsend. (Spiritual book of the month.)

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Enveloping Shadows, by Lauren D.M. Smith. (Read to review.)

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Lone Wolf, by Sarah Driscoll. (Read to review.)

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House of Silence, by Sarah Barthel. (Read to review.)

All Darling Children, by Katrina Monroe. (Review forthcoming.)

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Don’t Tell Anyone, by Eleanor Gray. (Read to review.)

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Clay Tongue, by Nicholas Conley. (Read to review.)

Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. (As a classic, and also for my 2016 goal of reading it, again, finally. For probably the 25th time.)

Anyone read anything good lately?

Check out Anne’s post over on Modern Mrs. Darcy for some great book recs!

 

 

The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett, by Chelsea Sedoti

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Image belongs to Sourcebooks Fire.

Chelsea Sedoti lives in Las Vegas, but hates casinos. She prefers the Mohave Desert, animals, and writing about flawed teenagers who refuse to grow up. Her novel, The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett, just released.

Hawthorn Creely has one friend, a brother who ignores her, a mother with an embarrassing past, and enough social anxiety to kill a cat. She and the “in” crowd don’t exactly mesh—Hawthorn got burned by one of them years ago, and is still scarred for life. When it-girl Lizzie Lovett disappears, the whole town turns out to search for her, and that’s all anyone talks about. Except Hawthorn. What’s the big deal? Most of the people obsessing about Lizzie don’t even know her.

But soon Hawthorn finds herself wondering what happened to Lizzie, and comes up with a theory so crazy even she can’t believe it. Or can she?  To find out the truth, Hawthorn gets a job at the diner Lizzy worked at and befriends Lizzie’s boyfriend, who everybody thinks killed her. But that’s just ridiculous, isn’t it? As Hawthorn’s obsession with Lizzie Lovett grows, she soon realizes nothing is as she once thought it was.

I loved this book. Hawthorn is a somewhat-unreliable narrator, but aren’t we all? She is overflowing with life, but relating to people is not her strong point. She says what she thinks—and that often results in misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and/or disaster. The family dynamics in this book are complex, and give the reader a glimpse into just why Hawthorn feels like such an outsider in her life. Obsessive, curious, and awkward, Hawthorn is all of us personified. I highly recommend this!

(Galley provided by Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley.)

Two Days Gone, by Randall Silvis

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Image belongs to Sourcebooks Landmark.)

Randall Silvis is the award-winning author of more than a dozen novels, a play, a screenplay, and numerous essays. His newest novel is Two Days Gone.

Thomas Huston is a best-selling author, a respected professor, and an involved family man. He’s invested in the community, and people love him. So, when everything changes in an instant, and his wife and three kids are found brutally murdered and he vanishes—making him the prime suspect—detective Ryan DeMarco wants to know why:  why would this man, who seems to have everything, suddenly snap?

DeMarco knows Huston, and doesn’t believe the man capable of the brutal murders. But if Huston is innocent, where is he? Why is he hiding? And what did he uncover while researching his newest novel? The questions far outnumber the facts as DeMarco races the clock to uncover the truth about the life of Thomas Huston.

Two Days Gone has the lyrical feel of literary fiction, yet it’s also a murder mystery. Thomas Huston is an enigma; driven and loving in his life “before,” haunted and determined in the “after.” The characters live and breathe on the page, and had me up late into the night to see where the story was headed.

(Galley provided by Sourcebooks Landmark.)

House of Silence, by Sarah Barthel

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Image belongs to Kensington Books.

Sarah Barthel writes historical fiction novels but appreciates cell phones and chocolate. House of Silence is her new novel.

In Illinois in 1875, Isabelle Larkin has it all:  a best friend to confide in, a mother who supports her, and a handsome fiancé on his way to the top. Isabelle has made the match of her dreams to secure the future she has only imagined. Then she witnesses her fiancé Gregory commit a horrible crime, and no one—not even her mother—believes her.

Gregory denies everything, and now Isabelle fears for her own life at the hands of the charming, popular politician. Her mother, more worried about scandal than Isabelle’s claims, forbids her to end the engagement. With nowhere left to turn, Isabelle hatches a plan:  fake a mental breakdown and muteness to land herself in Bellevue sanitarium. There, Isabelle forges an unlikely friendship with Mary Todd Lincoln and determines that she cannot remain mute forever. But Gregory will stop at nothing to keep her silent, and Isabelle needs the help of new friends if she’s ever to uncover the truth and regain her life.

House of Silence intrigued me with its setting of a sanitarium and the promise of Mary Todd Lincoln as a secondary character. But Isabelle is a fascinating character in her own right:  strong, determined, stubborn, and blessed with a creative idea to escape from danger. I loved how she grew in this novel, and how she fought for everything she believed in. The family interactions were both infuriating and believable…and made me grateful for the family I have. This is a great, fast-paced read with vibrant characters!

(Galley provided by Kensington Books.)

How I Did in 2016…and Goals for 2017

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Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had/is having a good holiday weekend.

This is, of course, the obligatory re-hash of my 2016 goals, as well as a public declaration of my goals for 2017.

In 2016, my goals were:

Writing:

1) Finish Witches HTRYN. Didn’t happen. I started work on it, and realized that I have to re-write the story from scratch (mostly).

2) Finish 1st draft of Siren Song. Done! (More or less.)

3) Finish 1st draft of The Fall.   Nope. I did write some of it, but not much.

4) Start Camelot  Done! (To the tune of 1 chapter, a sort-of prologue, and some brainstorming.

5) Revise Casting Shadows. Didn’t even look at it.

6) Finish copyediting classes and make X dollars at it per month. Also no, although I did work on the classes some.

7) Have 500 followers on this blog. Only up to 314.

8) Have 200 followers on my personal blog. Only up to 199.

Reading:

1) Read Gone with the Wind. Done!

2) Read 1 book per month from my TBR shelf. Done!

3) Read all books on the reading list for my American Women Writers class (8 total). Done!

4) Read one classic per month. Done!

5) Read one book of poetry. Done!

6) Read 2 books per month to review. Done!

7) Read one inspirational book per month. Done!

8) Read 75 books total. Done! Actually, I read 128 books—WAY over my goal—which I’m pretty happy about. You can check out my books on the 2016 Goodreads challenge here.

Goals for 2017

Writing:

1) Finish draft of The Fall.

2)  Finish draft of Camelot.

3)  Finish Witches revision.

4)  Self-pub something or find agent.

5)  Revise Chasing Shadows.

6)  Publish/sub Chasing Shadows.

7) Do/win NaNo (with the Southern Fic story).

Reading

1)  Read one book per month set in a different culture or by an author from a different culture.

2)  Read 100 books.

3)  Read one classic per month.

4) Read one spiritual book per month.

5) Review 5 books per month.

6) Read one book from TBR pile every other month.

7)  Read Battlefield Earth.