Tag: fiction

The Last Road Home, by Danny Johnson

last-road-home-flat-cover
I do not own this image. Image belongs to Kensington Books.

Danny Johnson is a Vietnam veteran, and a writer of Southern fiction. His first published novel is The Last Road Home.

Raeford “Junebug” Hurley has had a hard life. At the age of eight, his parents die, and he goes to live with his grandparents on their tiny farm. There he meets Fancy Stroud and her brother Lightning, children of black sharecroppers, and they become fast friends, almost unheard of in 1950’s North Carolina. Tobacco farming is hard, desperate work, and Junebug is grateful for Fancy’s support when things grow even harder, and soon they are more than friends.

A moneymaking scheme gone bad and a visit from the KKK have Junebug and Fancy setting out in search of different dreams. She, a place free from the casual bigotry and hatred that infuse every day in the rural South. He, looking for a place he feels at home, a place where his darkest secrets will be safe. The connection between Junebug and Fancy is strong, but will it be strong enough to withstand war and thousands of miles of distance?

The Last Road Home is a deep, emotional book about friendship and love in the midst of hardship and hatred. This is not an uplifting, breezy novel, but one with unexpected depths that delves into the darkness inside us all. The ending was not what I had hoped for, but it was true to the story. This is well-worth reading.

(Galley provided by Kensington Books via NetGalley.)

The Summer that Melted Everything, by Tiffany McDaniel

 

the summer that melted everything
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.)

 

Tiffany McDaniel is a poet, playwright, screenwriter, and artist, as well as an author. Her first published novel is The Summer that Melted Everything.

In 1984, a summer heat wave swept over Breathed, Ohio and changed everything. Or was it the devil that did the changing? Fielding Bliss is just a kid, a kid whose dad issued the devil’s invitation. No one thought he’d actually show up…

Sal is bruised and battered, but he looks like a normal 13-year-old kid. Except for his claim to be the devil. But Fielding takes him home, where he’s accepted into the family. The rest of Breathed isn’t quite so accepting. As the heat wave continues, strange things start happening, and soon everyone starts believing the fanatic who urges the devil’s destruction. The Bliss family is dealing with their own personal demons, but soon their crisis and the town’s become one, as the fate of Sal hangs in the balance.

The Summer that Melted Everything is an evocative, descriptive novel that will have the reader sweltering along with the characters—and wondering, too. Is Sal really the devil? What’s causing the unfortunate accidents sweeping through Breathed? And when will the madness—and the heat—end? This is a gripping novel that floats along like a lazy summer’s day, then explodes into action like fireworks across a night sky.

(Galley provided by St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley.)

Mid-Year Goal Update

At the beginning of the year, I set quite a few goals for myself (not resolutions). Eight goals in each of three separate categories, one being reading and one being writing. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how I’m doing on those goals, since we’re halfway through the year.

Reading goals:

1) Read GWTW.
2) Read 1 book per month from TBR.
3) Read all books on AWR list.
4) Read one classic per month.
5) Read one book of poetry.
6) Read 2 books per month to review.
7) Read one inspirational book per month.
8) Read 75 books.

I haven’t read any of Gone with the Wind since January, so I better get on that. I have read one book each month from my TBR pile.  I successfully read all of the books on the reading list for my American Women Writers class. I have read a classic per month. I have not read any poetry. (Oops.) I’ve read and reviewed at least two books each month. I’ve read at least one inspirational book each month. And I’ve currently read 69 out of my goal of 75 books.

Writing goals:

Writing goals:

1) Finish Witches HTRYN.
2) Finish 1st draft of Siren Song.
3) Finish 1st draft of The Fall.
4) Start Camelot.
5) Revise Casting Shadows.
6) Finish copyediting classes and start making money at it.
7)  Have 500 followers on this blog.
8) Have 200 followers on my personal blog.

 

I’m still working on the revision of Witches. Siren Song is outlined, but I stopped working on it, and started writing on The Fall again. No progress on Camelot. No progress on Casting Shadows. I’m still working on the copyediting classes. I’m still chipping away at the blog goals.

Verdict:  I’m doing okay on my goals, but I need to get it together and get on all of them!

What I Read in July

Seems like I didn’t do a whole lot of reading in July.

Lady Midnight, by Cassandra Clare. (Loved it!)

chronicles

Chronicles of a Last Summer, by Yasmine El Rashidi. (Read to review.)

and I darken

And I Darken, by Kiersten White. (Read to review.)

The Dragon Round

The Dragon Round, by Stephen S. Power. (Read to review.)

an elegant facace

An Elegant Facade, by Kristi Ann Hunter. (Read to review.)

Far from the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy. (My classic for the month. This one was so-so to me.)

Daring Greatly, by Brune Brown. (My spiritual book for the month.)

Trixie Belden and the Mystery Off Old Telegraph Road, by Kathryn Kenny. (This one was from my TBR pile. I loved this series when I was younger, and it’s interesting to re-read them now. So…innocent.)

 

An Elegant Facade, by Kristi Ann Hunter

an elegant facace
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Bethany House.)

Kristi Ann Hunter is a multiple-award-winning author who lives in Georgia and loves games and music. She also loves “teeny bopper movies and cheesy RomComs.” Her newest novel is An Elegant Façade.

Lady Georgina Hawthorne has done everything in her power to ensure her debut Season goes off without a hitch, including spending three long years cultivating both her image and her knowledge of society’s intricacies. Her careful reputation, from always wearing white to being the Incomparable of her Season, are all aimed at one thing:  catching a husband with enough money and power to protect her should her secret be found out.

Colin McCrae has money and connections, but he’s missing a pedigree. Smart and observant, he is invited into the world of the upper class, but he isn’t accepted there. As Colin begins to wonder about his place in the world, he meets Lady Georgina, and finds himself irritated by a woman consumed only with her appearance and others’ opinion of her. But Georgina is desperate to protect herself and her shameful secret, a secret that not even her family knows. As cracks begin to form in her charade, Colin gets a glimpse of her true self, and wonders about the hidden depths of Lady Georgina Hawthorn.

An Elegant Façade seems, on the surface, to be just another fluffy Regency romance, but that is not the case. Georgina is a strong, brilliant character, but she hides her flaws, as most of us do, terrified someone will find out her secret. Colin is a down-to-earth character, but a true here:  clever, observant, discerning, and of course, handsome. The interactions between these two feel like watching a movie, being both vivid and realistic. This novel is well-worth reading

(Galley provided by Bethany House via NetGalley.)

The Dragon Round, by Stephen S. Powers

The Dragon Round
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Simon and Schuster.)

Stephen S. Powers lives in New Jersey and writes poetry and short fiction, in between playing video games and chess. The Dragon Round is his first novel.

Jeryon has been a sea captain for years. He counts on the rules to keep him—and his crew—safe and successful. But not all of his crew agrees. After a dragon attack, the crew takes matters into their own hands, and offer Jeryon and the apothecary who supports him the “captain’s chance”:  a small boat with no sails, no food or water, and only the clothes on their backs.

The island Jeryon and the apothecary land on isn’t as deserted as they thought, between the killer crabs and the dragon egg they find. Jeryon decides to raise the dragon in his quest for justice, but as he grows closer to the dragon, he realizes that the outside world has changed, and if he wants revenge, he’ll have to take it for himself.

The Dragon Round is set in a world far different from our own; a world of violence and mayhem (Okay, so maybe not that different from ours.). Revenge is the driving force of the novel, although Jeryon prefers to think of it as “justice.” But “justice” is rarely as bloody and cruel as seen in this novel. The world is very vivid, and the characters are well-realized, even if I found them mostly unlikeable. (Not going to lie, the dragon was the most likeable character for me.) I’ve seen this novel compared to the Temeraire books, which are currently sitting on my To-Be-Read pile. If so, I may have to give them a miss. Not because this was a bad book, but because I prefer my books with a bit less gratuitous violence and bloodthirsty revenge.

(Galley provided by Simon & Schuster via NetGalley.)

And I Darken, by Kiersten White

and I darken
I do not own this image. Image belongs to Delacorte Press.

Kiersten White is the New York Times bestselling author of the Paranormalcy trilogy and Mind Games. Her newest novel, And I Darken, is the first in a new trilogy that asks “What if Vlad the Impaler had been female?”

Lada Dragwlya is a princess, but she’s far more interested in strength and survival than in finding a husband. When her father barters her and her gentle younger brother Radu away for safety, Lada learns that being ruthless is the key to true power. Trapped in the Ottoman Empire, far from her beloved Wallachia, Lada learns to hide her emotions so she and Radu will not become mere pawns in the hands of the sultan, and vows to fight her enemies to her dying breath.

Then they meet Mehmed, lonely son of the sultan, destined to rule the Empire, but friendless and at the mercy of those with real power. Radu feels that he’s made a true friend, and Lada wonders if Mehmed is someone she can finally show her emotions to. But Mehmed is the heir to the Ottoman Empire—which Lada has sworn to fight against, and the place that Radu now considers home. Will love and loyalty prove stronger than vows and vengeance?

And I Darken is a dark, brutal book about a fierce girl who must grow into her strength amidst war and intrigue. Lada is not an easy character to like, but her indomitable will and passion carry her through as she finds her true self. There is plenty of action in this story, but it is the characters themselves that the reader will truly find riveting.

(Galley provided by Delacorte Press.)

Chronicle of a Last Summer, by Yasmine El Rashidi

chronicles
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Crown Publishing.)

Yasmine El Rashidi has written for New York Review of Books and other outlets about the Egyptian revolution and culture. Chronicle of a Last Summer is her first novel.

In 1984 Cairo, a six-year-old girl watches the world around her change. Her father goes away. Her mother retreats into herself. Memories take on a life of their own as her city begins to change. The book next turns to the summer of 1998, when the girl is a college student, studying film. She begins to question the world around her, and the upheaval that Egypt experiences. No one speaks of her father. She has no idea where he is, or why he left. Her cousin urges her to become involved in the political struggles, but she continues to observe as the tumult grows. Finally, the novel comes to 2014, when the girl is now a writer and filmmaker. Her father has returned, and she finds out much more about what took him away—and where he’s been. This revelation shapes her impressions of Egypt in the aftermath of the overthrow of President Mubarak.

Chronicle of a Last Summer is a quiet, introspective novel set amidst the turmoil of Egypt—a turmoil that most westerners are probably oblivious to. Thought it is a thoughtful story, instead of an action-packed one, it immerses the reader in the culture and history of Cairo with a vividness that brings the city to vibrant life.

(Galley provided by Crown Publishing via NetGalley.)

Fire Danger, by Claire Davon

Fire-Danger-Samhain-Cover-200x300
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Samhain Publishing.)

 

Claire Davon began writing as a teenager, then life got in the way for a while. She has since shoved life out of the way and started writing urban fantasy, paranormal, and contemporary romance. Her newest novel, Fire Danger, is the first book in the Elements Challenge series.

Rachel Quinn doesn’t remember much of her early years, only vague memories of her parents and faint images of fire. Since her parents died years ago, Rachel has never been able to ask anyone about these visions of fire, and she withdraws into herself, afraid of her memories and the blackouts she has.

Then she finds herself cornered by a pack of werewolves—werewolves!—and rescued by a man with wings, and something comes to life inside of Rachel. She isn’t human, which she never knew was an option, but she doesn’t know what she is—or who—until the gorgeous Phoenix helps her find out. Phoenix is in the midst of his Challenge, the battle with his Demonos counterpart, but Rachel and her mystery add a deeper meaning to this Challenge than Phoenix has ever seen. Phoenix and Rachel must find out the truth about what she is, and stop the Demonos’ plot to destroy the human race.

Fire Danger begins with Rachel’s attack by werewolves and Phoenix’s rescue, and the pace never slows through the course of the novel. The many layers in this novel twist together with danger as the relationship between Phoenix and Rachel grows deeper.  An entertaining read set in an intriguing version of our own.

What I Read in June

Not quite as many books as May, but still a good number.

Powers, by John B. Olson

The Harbringer:  The Ancient Mystery that Holds the Secret of America’s Future, by Johnathan Cahn

The Fireman, by Joe Hill (Yes, he is Stephen King’s son, but Joe Hill has some serious writer’s chops in his own right. I could not put this book down!)

deadgirl
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Curiosity Quills Press.)

Deadgirl:  Ghostlight, by B.C. Johnson (Read to review.)

Deadgirl, by B.C. Johnson (And, because I enjoyed the second one so much, I bought the first book–yes, I read them out-of-order. Excellent series, with a very dsitinct voice. I highly recommend.)

ash island
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to J.H. Lucas.)

Escape to Ash Island, by J.H. Lucas (Read to review.)

vinegar girl
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Crown Publishing.)

Vinegar Girl, by Anne Tyler (read to review.)

running like a girl

Running Like a Girl, by Alexandria Heminsley (Very enjoyable read.)

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini (From my TBR pile.)

confessions of a fat marathoner

Confessions of a Fat Marathoner, by Kristina Burkey (Made me laugh, as well as inspired me.)

Tess of the D’Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy (UGH. I know this was written a long time ago, but this book made me ANGRY. The guy raped her, and blamed it on her? What?! This is my classic read for the month.)

Frequency:  Tune In. Hear God. by Robert Morris (He’s my pastor, and I love to hear him speak. He just finished this sermon series, and his conversational tone in this book makes it so much easier to comprehend.)

You’ll Get Through This, by Max Lucado (Read as my spiritual book for the month.)

Fire Danger, by Claire Davon (Review forthcoming.)