Even More Summer Reading

Everyone knows how much I love audiobooks. If you don’t, you do now. I think audiobooks are better than just plain old reading. It’s almost like going and seeing a theatrical production of the book. If the narrator is good you get different voices for all the characters and soon forget you are listening to a book at all. It’s quite the experience. So why not throw in some audiobooks into your mix? I listen to them while working, driving, or cleaning. Give it a try. You can start with this insightful read about a girl’s struggle to overcome racists-prejudice in this pre-Civil War story, The Candle Star, written by Michelle Isenhoff and narrated by Fred Wolinsky.

Here are my answers to the questions ask by Audible when I reviewed this book:

If you could sum up The Candle Star in three words, what would they be?

Thought-provoking, entertaining, well-written

Who was your favorite character and why?

Emily Preston is the main character in this book and for the first few pages you want to pull her over your knee and give her a sound whooping (note: I do not condone spanking but this girl really needs one). She is one of those characters that you just down right hate. She is spoiled, selfish, and very set in her ways. You don’t expect that she will ever change and just when you are about to give up hope on her your see another quality; Emily cares for others. She has compassion and it soon grows into something strong enough to help her change for the better.

Which character – as performed by Fred Wolinsky – was your favorite?

There were several he did a wonderful job with. I liked his impression of Emily. Her southern bell accent was spot on. I also enjoyed all the black folks. He really brought a "real" aspect to the book. His best overall voice I think was the wicked Mr. Burrows, which he did so well.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book really made me think and think hard. Are we all sometime like Emily Preston? Do we ignore bad things because that’s the way things have always been? Do we put ourselves above others because we feel more entitled to things? The one thing that stood out above anything else is that our prejudices are not limited to race; at least not for Emily. She not only sees the colored folks as beneath her, but those with a lower class than herself. She sees servants, white or black, as nobodies; even the people in the north because they do not see things as she. This prejudice is so extreme she is willing to destroy someone else’s happiness to see the classes don’t mix. How often do we ourselves do this? Michelle Isenhoff makes you sit back and take stock of the type of person Emily is and how to avoid becoming this way.

Any additional comments?

Overall I believe this is a book that every kid should read. I love the nods at actual things that transpired during this time in history: the mention of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the slave trade, and the underground railroad. The way these were written really show the author did her homework. I am anxious to read the rest of the books in this series. 

Summary: After a tantrum, Emily Preston is shipped from her plantation home to her inn-keeping uncle in Detroit. There she meets Malachi, son of freed slaves, who challenges many ideas she grew up believing. But when Emily stumbles upon two runaways hidden in her uncle's barn, she finds that old ways die hard. And Mr. Burrows, the charming Southern slave catcher, is only yards away, lodged in the hotel.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Candle-Star-Divided-Decade-Collection/dp/149745025X/

Summer Suspense Finale

I don’t think I have ever read a book as fast I read CREATED, the final book in the Watched series. It was both enthralling and thought provoking. I am so glad to hear that author Cindy M. Hogan has even more books featuring this amazing heroine. It reminds me so much of the hit TV series Alias, which gave Jennifer Gardner her fame in Hollywood, and fans of that show will want to read these books!

I don’t want to say too much about the book because I don’t want to spoil anything for you. Some of the same themes addressed in the first two books resonate in this one, once again driving the point that we are the ones in control of our own lives and that we have the choice to become what and who we are. This book is filled with nail biting suspense that will have you staying up all night and abandoning everything to finish. Seriously, do we know any film producers that could make this into a movie? We need more books like this, featuring strong female leads that are morally clean and inspire goodness. Well done, Cindy M. Hogan!

Synopsis: A new school. A choice. A destiny discovered. With The Witness Protection Program failing to keep Christy safe, she is sent to Belgium to hide in a new school. While there, test scores reveal her true abilities. Discover her fate in this action-packed final installment of the heart-pounding Watched trilogy.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Created-Watched-Book-Cindy-Hogan/dp/0985131829/

Other books by Cindy M. Hogan: 

The Summer Suspense Continues...

Summer reading is great. There’s nothing better than diving into a book and losing yourself in the pages. However some books come with terrible consequences. Consequences that leave you extremely tired and grumpy the next morning. Like a hangover but not for drinking, it’s a hangover for staying up too late reading because you couldn’t, for the life of you, put the book down.  So WARNING: this book will give you a book-hangover. You’ve been warned. Now about the book…

So Cindy M Hogan, the amazing author of PROTECTED, book two in the WATCHED TRILOGY, does pretty bang-up job rehashing the first book without being too overly drawn out. You could probably even start on this book and pick up what’s happened, but why do that, right? Go ahead and read the first book then come back and read the rest of my post.

Don’t worry. I’ll wait…

Read it? Wasn’t it awesome?! 

The second one is even better! PROTECTED is filled to the brim with tension and page flipping suspense. You don’t know when or if the bad guys are going to show up and take out this poor girl. What I really liked about this book was the theme behind it, which I believe is accepting who you are and holding on to that. Without spoiling the book too much (this happens in the first few chapters), Christy gets put into witness protection and has to become another person, a person, who normally wouldn’t have great values or moral strengths. Christy is confronted with the opportunity to forget all the beliefs she has grown up with and truly change…for the better or worse? What the author does is show us that we must be true to ourselves at our center. Even if we are playing a part we have to remain true to our core beliefs. This book is very self-rewarding to read. 

Yes! I have already started on book three, CREATED, which I spent my entire day off reading. I am a slow reader but I am ¾ of the way through it already! The next book gets even better. I won’t spoil my thoughts on it yet—I haven’t finished. I will tell you I am all geared up with Cindy M Hogan’s new series featuring the same main character in the WATCHED TRILOGY. If you haven’t added this amazing series to your read list, now is the time! I’m serious when I say this series needs to be made into a movie!!

Summary: Christy has the guy. The terrorists have been taken care of, and she has a shot at becoming popular. Life is GREAT! Until they find her. Now she must run and leave behind everything she knows, including herself. When Christy returns home, she discovers that not much has changed. Not only is she still an outcast, but the bullies are even more persistent than before. When the guy that sends her pulse racing shows up, everything changes. Unfortunately, her feeling of triumph is short lived when the terrorists from DC come calling. Now, Christy and her boyfriend need to find a way to escape and hide.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Protected-Watched-Book-Cindy-Hogan/dp/0985131802/

Spooky Summer Reading

I am really amazed at how much summer reading I have been able to get done this year. Normally it's just a few books here and there but I am seriously cruising through them. It helps that I listen to most of them on audiobook as I illustrate. Something I believe everyone should try at least once—audiobooks are so full of imagery and can really heighten the emotions. I'm still blazing through Protected, by Cindy M. Hogan, book 2 in the Watched series, and I just started reading The Hidden Kingdom, by R.K. Hinrichsen, with my girls. I'll let you know what I think of those soon.

The Thickety: The Whispering Trees, by J.A. White, is just as creepy-crawly as its predecessor, hands down! When Kara’s father becomes possessed by some deranged witch hunter from long ago she and her brother Taff are driven out of the village into the Thickety itself. There Kara comes face to face with Mary Kettle, a dark witch who used to boil children for magic, and if that’s not spooky enough, she meets the forest demon and his coven of followers. Some of the themes discussed in this book I believe are a little too dark for younger middle-grade readers but I think older tweens and teens would get a kick out of these creepy pages. I enjoyed this book just as much as the first book and I can hardly wait for book three to be released. YES! This book ends on a HUGE cliff hanger like in book 1. What I especially liked about this book was the redemptive qualities explored. This book begs the question: even if someone has committed the worst of crimes, can they find forgiveness from others? Can they be redeemed? It’s a very hopeful thought. Over all a super fun and spooky read!

Summary: After Kara Westfall's village turns on her for practicing witchcraft, she and her brother, Taff, flee to the one place they know they won't be followed: the Thickety. Only this time the Forest Demon, Sordyr, is intent on keeping them there. Sordyr is not the Thickety's only danger: unknown magic lurks behind every twist and shadow of the path. And then they discover Mary Kettle, an infamous witch with a horrifying past. She offers to lead them out of the Thickety while teaching Kara how to cast spells without a grimoire. The children are hesitant to trust her . . . but this could be their only chance to escape. Or the first step down a dark and wicked path.

Book three, The Thickety: Well of Witches, is expected for publication February 2016.Make sure you add it to your list on Goodreads so you don;t miss it when it hits the shelves.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Thickety-Whispering-Trees-J-White/dp/0062257293/

The Best Read of the Summer!!

I have to start out by staying that I am a HUGE fan of Jennifer A Nielsen. Not only because she is a fantastic author (which she is!), but she IS also a compassionate, kind, and humble person. She is real! You can tell when she interacts with you. Jennifer has taken the time to discuss with me my own path in publishing. She knows my goals and my dreams and she doesn’t hesitate to encourage me onward up the mountain. A little over a month ago I saw her at a signing. She looked at me right in the eye and asked, “You feel how close you are, don’t you? Please don’t give up.” She didn’t know but I needed that. At times I feel I am so close to my dreams I can almost touch them, at other times it feels galaxies away. I am grateful for Jennifer to take the time and say that to me. It really boosted my confidence and helped me to move forward. I started querying again and I am very optimistic. I now know that if this book doesn’t get me an agent the next one will. Jennifer, I DO feel how close I am. I am ready to grab hold of that dream and stand firm on my summit. Thank you for spurring me along!

Another fantastic read that I have the opportunity to dive into this summer is The Mark of the Thief. If you’ve read Jennifer Nielsen’s Ascendance Trilogy and were blown away by the gripping-suspenseful-action-packed story as I was, then you’ll know exactly what you’re getting into with this one. I found myself flipping through page after page devouring the compelling words that told of Nicolas Calva’s heroic life. I really liked this book because it speaks to everyone’s heart. Many people are born into different situations, some worse than others, but that doesn’t mean we have to stay there. This book is a rite of passage for Nic, but it’s also one for the reader. You will feel better about yourself when you finish this book because you will be determined to choose to be the person YOU want to be and not the person circumstance placed you. I also feel this is a great book for a reluctant reader. They will immediately identify with the main character and his struggles. Because the chapters are short and page-turny, they will find themselves taken away to ancient Rome, bulla in hand, as Nic enters the arena to fight for his life.

Summary: A fantastical alternate history set in ancient Rome. Nicolas Calva and his sister are slaves in the mines outside of Rome. When Nic is forced to retrieve treasure from Julius Caesar's cave, he assumes he is going to his death. But inside the cave he finds a bulla, a magical amulet thought to have given Caesar great power, and takes it for himself. Suddenly, Nic is the most wanted fugitive in Rome. The emperor and a powerful general are after the amulet and they will kill Nic to get it. His only help is Aurelia, a plebian girl who is searching for her own family. With no one to trust and nowhere to hide, the protagonist must decide how he is going to save his sister and get out with his life. He doesn't want the bulla or the responsibility of the magic it contains, but if the magical object gets into the wrong hands, Rome will be at war and Nic will be at the center of it all.

Book 2, The Rise of the Wolf will hit bookstores February 2016 according to Jennifer's website: http://www.jennielsen.com/archives/1452  

Link to the book: http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Thief-1/dp/0545561558/

The next book I am reading is The Thickety: The Whispering Tree, by J.A. White. I am sure this one will be just as creepy as the first book. Wish me luck that I don’t get nightmares!!