Reviews of Semper Audacia, The Christmas Village, and Once Upon a December Nightmare

I've had my Kindle for two weeks now, and I love it even more than I thought I would. I'm totally sold on it. And, just like I'd hoped, the Kindle has allowed me to catch up on the works of some of the great writers I've met here in the blogosphere.

When I first wrote about the Kindle, I planned to start writing reviews of the books I read. But I've since discovered that I really stink at writing reviews. :D When I enjoy something, I find I don't have much to say beyond the fact that it was great and I really enjoyed it. Not exactly scintillating.

So I don't think I'll be writing regular reviews on the blog after all, but I still wanted to post about the first three stories I read on my Kindle, and give a big round of applause to the authors.

My reading list for the last few weeks included Semper Audacia by M.Pax, The Christmas Village by Melissa Goodwin, and Once Upon a December Nightmare by Cherie Reich.

 Semper Audacia is described as a "space opera," and I have to admit that I'd never read a space opera before, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. This story turned out to be an excellent introduction to the genre, and I loved being transported to an entirely different world while I was reading. Semper is a dark and haunting tale, and I was completely taken in by the protagonist Leda and her heroic "last stand" to save her world. When I finished the story, I hated to say goodbye to Leda, as she was such a strong and memorable character.

 It's hard to imagine a better story for this time of year than The Christmas Village. If you have fond memories of an old-fashioned Christmas, or just love the traditions of the holiday, this is a must read. I was totally enchanted by the village of Canterbury and, like the main character Jamie, I wished I could visit there myself. The story also provides a good reminder to be careful what you wish for, and I can imagine that young readers would really identify with Jamie as he learns some valuable lessons about life. The story is full of holiday magic, and is sure to leave its readers smiling.

 Once Upon a December Nightmare is a spooky, suspenseful story involving four young people lost in the woods on a frigid December night. In spite of the novel's short length, the characters were all very well developed, and I felt for each of them as they struggled to deal with their situation. I read the book in one sitting and did not want to put it down, which is always a sure sign of a great story. As the title suggests, this tale is indeed a nightmare, and quite scary, but it also offers touches of humor by playing with horror movie cliches. It's a fun and atmospheric mystery, with a killer ending.



Kudos to all Mary, Melissa, and Cherie for these great reads! I'm looking forward to reading more from all of them, and highly recommend their work.

It's been fun to finish my first round of Kindle stories, and I'm now moving on to Watching Willow Watts by Talli Roland. This is one I've wanted to read for a while, as I had such a good time participating in Talli's launch party back in September.

I look forward to reading many more books by fellow bloggers in the months ahead, as for me there's no better time to curl up and read than cold winter evenings. I'm so glad again to have this opportunity to discover so many great writers I may never have found otherwise. :)

Watching Willow Watts Launch Party: If I Could Be Anyone I'd Be...

Congratulations to Talli Roland on her new novel, Watching Willow Watts! Yay, Talli!!

I'm excited to be participating in Talli's launch party to celebrate the new book. I have to admit, it was kind of hard to pick a celebrity I would be for the party today, but I finally decided on:

Maria Sharapova

When I first read about Talli's party, my first thought was that I wanted to be an athlete. I have absolutely no athletic ability at all, and from the time I was a child I've wanted to know what it's like to be a great, or even a passable, athlete. I'd love to know how it feels to be able to move with so much power, speed, and grace.

I don't have an athletic bone in my body, and I always consider myself fortunate if I can walk across a room without tripping or turning my ankle. If there is anything to trip over within a 50 mile radius of where I am, I will find it. I've also been known to trip over carpet. It's amazing how many times a piece of carpet has jumped up and tripped me when I'm just walking along minding my own business and trying to get from Point A to Point B.

I spent every summer with skinned knees as a child, because if I wasn't tripping, I was quite good at falling off my bike. I used to watch Fantasy Island back then, and I thought if I went to the island I'd ask Mr. Roarke to turn me into an athlete for my stay. Now all these years later, I finally have my chance to be an athlete, thanks to Talli's party!

I'm not a tennis fan, but it seems to me that tennis is the only sport where female players get as much attention as male players. So when choosing my athlete, I decided to be a tennis player. From there I figured, why not pick a tennis player who also looks like a supermodel? If I'm going to be someone else, I might as well go for broke. :D

So I'm Ms. Sharapova for today, and I'm sending a HUGE round of applause to Talli! I can't wait to read her book, and I wish her tons of success with it. You can order the book on Amazon.com here or on Amazon.co.uk here.

I'm looking forward to checking in with all the other partiers as the day goes on. Cheers! :)

Three Fun Blogfests, and One Fun Blog Party

I don't know if it's a result of my summer sluggishness, or just laziness in general, but I've been having a terrible time coming up with post topics lately. So I was glad to come upon some fun blogfests, and a great blog party, to give me some inspiration. I thought I would share in case others have not seen these fests and want to participate.

1) First up, The Spark Blogfest at Christine Tyler's The Writer Coaster.

These are the prompts for the Sparkfest:

What book made you realize you were doomed to be a writer? 

What author set off that spark of inspiration for your current Work in Progress?

Or, Is there a book or author that changed your world view?

 

I love this fest because you only have to answer one of these prompts to participate, and you can post any time over the four day period. In addition, Christine is offering great prizes! So, it sounds perfect to me, and I'm interested in reading the responses of the participants. And in coming up with my own answer, as I'm not even sure at the moment what that will be. 

2) Up next, the Favorite Summer Reads blogfest, hosted by Cherie at Surrounded by Books.

Cherie is hosting the blogfest to celebrate the one year blogoversary of her book review blog Surrounded by Books Reviews.

Here is Cherie's description of the fest:

All you have to do is post on your blog between August 24-27 and tell us what is your favorite summer read. Please post a picture of a book's cover art, a description of the book and why it is your favorite summer read. Then we can hop around and find great books. 
 

Once again, I love that participants will only have to write one post in a multi-day period, as that is just the right speed for my summer laziness. :D 

 

And, Cherie is also offering great prize packs to participants! So I'm happy to have the chance to win a great prize, while possibly learning about some great new reads.  

 

3) To end the summer, Karen Gowen at Coming Down the Mountain is hosting a virtual blog BBQ over the 4-day Labor Day weekend, September 2nd through the 5th. Karen started this tradition last year, and the virtual BBQ was such a success she decided to host another one for 2011. I'm glad, as I wasn't blogging last year and am looking forward to the chance to participate in the fun now. 

This blogfest is very simple, as all you need to do to join in is share a comment with your yummy contribution to the BBQ, and follow at least three other participants. If you want to sign up, stay tuned to Karen's blog for more details. I think it will be fun to say goodbye to summer and welcome fall with my fellow bloggers!

4) Finally, I'm looking forward to Talli Roland's blog party to celebrate the launch of her new book, Watching Willow Watts. Yay, Talli!

 

Talli is throwing a party on September 14th, the big launch day. To go along with the theme of the book, the party is called "If I Could Be Anyone, I'd Be...."

All you have to do to participate is post a photo of the person you'd choose to be, and your reasons for your choice. Talli is going to share the links to all the participants, so everyone can hop around and party all day with other bloggers. And, Talli is also offering great prizes, so there's nothing to lose and lots to gain by signing up and helping Talli celebrate her book launch!

Thanks to Christine, Cherie, Karen, and Talli for these fun opportunities!