Katy Huth Jones's Blog, page 6

Monday Review by the Book Dragon: A delightful poetry collection for children!

The Book Dragon has read The Taco Magician and Other Poems for Kids by Diane Gonzales Bertrand and illustrations by Carolyn Dee Flores (Houston: Arte Publico Press, 2019) and gives it 5 claws!
My 5 star review: The cover of this book is such a fun invitation to the poetry inside and complements the poems. The book itself is bilingual: read from one direction in English, and turn the book over to read the same poems in Spanish!

The poems are kid-friendly and use all five senses in a feast of fun images. Although they are organized in three sections (Clapping for Me, Curious Surprises, and Poetry Confetti), they speak to kid-friendly subjects and events. Many of the poems celebrate Hispanic culture, such as "Cascarones" and "Abuelita's Kitchen Table" (which will make you salivate while reading it), and all are universal to childhood, no matter what the cultural background of the reader.

The collection itself is colorful and fun-to-read poetry confetti, just like breaking open a piñata as described in "Piñata Poems." Other favorites of mine are "Books Take Me Places," "Ice Cream Rides Down My Street," "Little Soldiers," and my #1 favorite, "Sleep Had a Slumber Party."

Ms. Bertrand is a tremendous wordsmith and paints beautiful images of familia from her life experiences growing up in San Antonio, Texas, all the while making her poetry accessible and enjoyable for children. She even subtly encourages children to write their own poems. I highly recommend this book!

Note: I received a review copy directly from the publisher, Arte Publico Press in Houston, Texas. Opinions are my own.

The 10 Best Books I Read in 2019

According to Goodreads, I read 64 books this year, but that's not completely accurate. There were a few books I read a few chapters but didn't finish for one reason or another. When you're living with multiple chronic health issues, life is too short to spend time on books that you don't fall in love with after the first few chapters. I have SO many books in my TBR pile, and I have so many stories I want to write myself, I've stopped feeling badly about not finishing a book.

That being said, I have found some gems this year! It was difficult to narrow down my top 10, but as usual, the way a book made me feel is at least as important to me as whether it was well-written and engaging. All of these were both!

Book Dragon has to pose with many books on my Kindle now, since I no longer have the extra funds to purchase all the paperbacks I'd like to have, so most of my reads are ebooks these days. There's nothing like a realio, trulio book you can hold in your hands and hug when you especially love the story!

So, here are my top ten reads for 2019, beginning with #10 (and an honorable mention):

11. (Honorable Mention) is The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Since I read mostly indie-published fiction now (most by members of the groups Flinch Free Fiction, The Fellowship of Fantasy, and Catholic Teen Books), and wish to support that community, I rarely rank big trad-published books here, but this one was such a powerful story, I had to mention it! This broken young character has so much grit, and her situation is so heart-rending, you'll be rooting for her every page of the story. Set in England during the early days of World War 2. I've been reading it out loud to my 8 year old granddaughter, and it's hard not to try to read it with a British accent....

10. The Destiny of Sunshine Ranch by T. M. Gaouette
The situation of these foster children really tugged at the heartstrings of this former foster parent and is an unforgettable story!

9. One Leaf Too Many by Julie B. Cosgrove
I haven't read many mysteries, but this cozy mystery (a standalone first in a series, but you'll want to continue it...) combines genealogy, humor, fun friendships, and danger in a great story!

8. Blossom on the Thorn by Loretta Livingstone
Though this is the 3rd in a series, it can be read as a stand-alone. It's a beautiful and meticulously researched historical novel set in 12th century England. The series has time-travel elements, but this one is an earlier story of some of the beloved characters and will tug at your heart!

7. Elfling by Corinna Turner
I have to say that Ms. Turner is one of my new favorite authors! I read several of her books this year, and though I really like her dinosaur dystopian stories, this one touched my heart a bit more. Plus it's a pseudo-medieval fantasy England, which are always my favorite settings. Similar to the MC in The War That Saved My Life is a young scrappy girl living hand-to-mouth on the streets, and her character arc alone makes this book worth reading!

6. 3 Things to Forget by Cynthia T. Toney
I have really enjoyed the entire Bird Face YA contemporary series. The MC is so human, so lovable, and grows so much, it makes me want to cheer! This book could work as a standalone. It's set mostly in Alaska and has strong themes of family and loving our neighbor.

5. Sand and Storm by Stella Dorthwany
Even though this magical fantasy sort of wraps up with a not-quite-cliffhanger ending (which irritate me quite a lot), the writing is so stellar, I had to include it in the top 10. It's Indiana Jones meets Dune with nonstop action of the nail-biting kind, not one but two love triangles, and a very cool magic system that makes you FEEL the sand between your fingers. The cover is gorgeous but doesn't really hint at all the action, so I was pleasantly surprised! Don't miss this if you love fantasy!

4. I Am Margaret by Corinna Turner
I am pleased to be able to show the new cover of this amazingly powerful novel! I rarely read dystopian because it seems so depressingly possible, but this one grabbed me by throat and would NOT let me look away from a sometimes horrifying look at a possible future. It challenged my faith (in the best way) and made me think (also in the best way). Since my review, the book is supposed to have edited out some of the language, and I'm anxious to buy a paperback of this new edition so I can update Book Dragon's review. Younger and sensitive readers need to be cautioned that there are disturbing scenes of torture (a martyrdom) but they will challenge you to ask yourself, "Could I hold firm in my confession of Christ in that situation?"

3. The King's Trial by M. L. Farb
This book came highly recommended, and I was NOT in any disappointed! It's a Christian fantasy with so many quotable lines, I had to buy the paperback (and promptly loaned it out to keep the recommendations going). It's hard to believe it's the author's debut novel, it's SO well-written with great world-building and characters who grow on their journeys. The best part about it is the faith elements, which are integral to the story and gently encourage and admonish the reader.

2. Heart of the Curiosity by H. L. Burke
It's no secret that H. L. Burke is one of my favorite authors, and for me, this was her best book this year. This wonderful steampunk is part magic, part mystery, and part coming-of-age while dealing with serious subjects in a very effective way. The characters wormed their way into my heart, and the magical setting in an old, mysterious theatre was a feast for the senses. As in most of Ms. Burke's stories, there is some romance going on, too!

1. King of Malorn by Annie Douglass Lima
Since the Annals of Alasia are my new favorite fantasy series, I was thrilled when Ms. Lima released the long-awaited fifth book, which picks up a few years after Prince of Malorn and has all my favorite characters! At first I was puzzled over her choice to tell the two kings' stories from other characters' points of view, but it was very effective, and I eagerly burned through the pages, kind of surprised when it ended, I was SO immersed! Even though it's 554 pages long, it does NOT feel long at all. There is so much going on, but Ms. Lima masterfully orchestrates all the pieces of the story and brings them together by the end for a satisfying conclusion.

I hope you will try some of these books and love them as much as I do! Happy reading!

Monday Review by the Book Dragon: An imaginative fantasy full of magic and emotion

The Book Dragon has finished H. L. Burke's Ice and Fate duology (Book 1 is Daughter of Sun, Bride of Ice, and Book 2 is Prince of Stars, Son of Fate) and gives them both five claws!
My review: These are not two separate stories but an entire story told in two parts, so neither stands alone. I give the overall story 4.5 stars. At first I had trouble connecting with the MC Arynne, who is a princess, sister of the King of Solea, a land on the side of the world where the sun always shines. The other MC Kajik at first came across as full of himself, so I didn't much like him either. But I kept reading because the world building was so interesting, and both characters grew on me by the end of the second book. Kajik is from the side of the world where the sun never shines, and it was fun to see how the author delved into the differences between the two lands, making them feel real in every way.

There are several antagonists and minor characters who are well-drawn and add to the emotional depth of this story. Even though it's not my favorite of Burke's stories, it is memorable and well worth the read. Recommended to anyone who likes fantasy romance. I would rate it PG-13 for a couple scenes of sensuality, a few scenes of violence, and unrelenting bullying by an unreasonably harsh parent.

Here are better images of the very appropriate covers:

Monday Review by the Book Dragon: A Likable Christian Fantasy

The Book Dragon has read Exiles , the fourth book in the Ilyon Chronicles by Jaye L. Knight, and gives it four claws!
My review: 4 stars for this fourth installment in a likable Christian fantasy series. Though there are some special moments, it wasn't my favorite of the Ilyon Chronicles. It felt more like a transition, with less tension than I was expecting, other than a few scenes of peril involving Prince Daniel, Anne and her family, and Jace.

What was really good in this book, without giving away spoilers, was Prince Daniel's faith growth under pressure, the love between Anne and her family and Trask and his father, and Jace learning more about his ryrik heritage in an unlikely place. The treetop city of the cretes was very interesting, too.

The reason I felt this book was mostly a transition was because the previous book had such a powerful redemption story (my favorite of the series so far), and if the heart-stopping ending of Exiles is any indication, I'm expecting book 5 to be full of danger and tremendous obstacles for the heroes to overcome with the rise of the new villain.

Monday Review by the Book Dragon: Excellent Epic Christian Fantasy Debut

The Book Dragon has finished reading The King's Trial by M. L. Farb and gives it a roaring five claws!
My 5 star review: I've got to say that this is one of the best books I've read with wonderful characters who grow on their journeys, stellar writing, fantastic world-building, and a twisty, nail-biting plot. The only thing less than positive I have to say is that the ending isn't really an ending, which frustrates me no matter which book I'm reading. So, just a caution that everything won't be wrapped up at the end. At least it's not a cliffhanger!

Many quotable lines, but I plan to buy the paperback so I can better mark them. (I want a copy anyway because the cover art is so gorgeous!) This is the only one I managed to highlight in my Kindle:

"Prejudice is a powerful mask for fear."

The faith elements in this book are integral to the story and gently encourage and admonish the reader, which I love in Christian fantasy! Highly recommended!

Here's a better image of that gorgeous cover:

Know someone who needs hope & encouragement?

A few days ago, I gave a paperback of this book to a friend newly diagnosed with cancer. She told me she read it in one sitting and it greatly encouraged her. Since I hadn't read it in months, I also read it in one sitting, and found, to my surprise, it WAS encouraging! So I checked its page on Amazon and realized, to my chagrin, I had never lowered the price permanently to 99 cents, as I had planned to long ago.
I've fixed my error now, and Battling the Beast is now permanently 99 cents. If you know a new cancer patient who is desperately seeking hope and encouragement, that IS the reason I wrote this book, and I am happy to gift them a copy if they can't afford the dollar!

Monday Review by the Book Dragon: Dune meets Indiana Jones & Romancing the Stone & Dragons!

The Book Dragon has read Sand and Storm by Stella Dorthwany and gives it a resounding 5 claws!
My review: I wasn't sure what to expect from this book by the cover and title, especially since I haven't finished several other choices from a fantasy book club I've been reading this year and wasn't expecting to like this one. But wow, pow, kaZOW, this one grabbed me by the throat and kept ratcheting up the suspense, action, danger, and yes, romance, until the very end. It would make a GREAT movie! Every single character is memorable, even the minor ones. The setting is so well-drawn, I could FEEL the heat of the desert, SMELL the storms, HEAR the explosions, TASTE the grit. So well done! But beyond that, the magic systems were understandable without getting into tedious details, as unfortunately can happen in a fantasy. The plot was not predictable, but also was believable with extremely high stakes. And I didn't even mind the multiple love triangles, because the author made the relationships SO MUCH FUN and didn't slow down the action while the romantic tangles were happening! I'm still puzzling over how Ms. Dorthwany was able to cram so much stuff into a relatively short fantasy novel, have it make complete sense, have me fall in love with several of the characters, AND tie it all up neatly, since I pretty much hate cliffhanger endings. In short, it can only be her special brand of magic! Bravo!

Here's a better image of the pretty cover, though it only tells a tiny part of the story:

Rejoice with me! I finished my WIP!

There were so many days in the last (almost) two years I thought I'd never type those words again, but I finally did on Dolan's Bride, the first of five planned books in a new series set in my fictional world of Levathia entitled Mercy's Children.

I only thought life was hard while fighting cancer (twice). But being forced to leave the life we'd built for 24 years in a small town to move to a huge metroplex and start over at our age, along with deteriorating health (the price of surviving cancer twice), and relearning newlywed tightwad techniques, since the only job hubby could find pays half his previous salary, and I'm too sick to work have challenged us WAY beyond our comfort zones. (Hmm, sorry about that extremely long sentence!)

We've learned valuable lessons from our trials and grown closer to the Lord, but we both still feel battered, two years later. We had zero traffic in our small town, but here we've had to learn to drive in crazy freeway traffic, which is quite frazzling to our old people nerves.

Despite feeling battered and frazzled most of the time, I kept slogging on, pretty much desperate to finish this story. It was scary when my characters wouldn't talk to me for days or weeks at a time. Some days I wrote one page or a couple paragraphs. After thirty years of writing for publication, I thought my fountain was completely drying up.

I don't submit manuscripts to book publishers or agents any more. They're looking for writers with "platforms" and past sales numbers that prove they can make money for them. That's even more important than making sure the story is actually worth publishing.

I want to self-publish Dolan's Bride for the readers who have been patiently waiting to read it, but I no longer have the funds to make it as close to perfect as possible. (I spent over $1,000 on each of the books in the previous series and will never make that money back: content editor, copy editor, formatter, cover designer, and map maker, not to mention the narrator for Mercy's Prince.) Thankfully I have a wonderful critique partner and several eager beta readers, one of whom says he is good at spotting typos and grammar errors, so I'll try to polish it as best I can.

I'll also have to format it myself, so sadly it won't be as "pretty" as the He Who Finds Mercy series. I am trying to create a decent cover, too, using the limited free tools at canva.com. I hope my readers understand! Here are two ideas, using old paintings in the public domain:



And here's a teaser (still working on an actual blurb):

Even though fifteen-year-old King Dolan d'Alden has an heir in his three-year-old brother, his Regency Council is pressuring him to marry. Lady Nelwina Gowen wants to be Dolan's queen so badly, she's willing to use any means to attain her goal. Any means.

New Book in my Favorite Fantasy Series!!!

Thanks for stopping by! Take a look at this brand-new fantasy adventure story with a hint of romance by author Annie Douglass Lima. You can download a copy of the ebook for free between July 9th and 11th!
Book Description:
    Life as the king’s younger sister should be exciting.
   Not for Princess Kalendria. She’s sick of the dissent and of constantly having her family undermined by those who think they could rule Malorn better than King Korram.   Hoping to lighten the mood in the palace, Kalendria plans a ball to celebrate her seventeenth birthday. It doesn’t hurt that their handsome Alasian ally King Jaymin has promised to attend, and she’s been waiting for him to notice her for as long as she can remember.   But unfriendly forces have their own party plans. When Kalendria, Korram, and Jaymin barely survive an assassination attempt, their only recourse is to flee into the wilderness. Tracked by unknown assassins, they must figure out whom they can trust and who is behind the plot. Can Kalendria help her brother reclaim his throne – oh, and catch Jaymin’s attention while she’s at it – before they are all killed and war destroys both kingdoms?


Click here to download your copy of King of Malorn on Amazon now! 
Click here to see King of Malorn on Goodreads.
Series Information:


King of Malorn is book 5 in the Annals of Alasia . But don't worry if you haven't read the others; it will still make sense on its own. 

Each of the first four books can stand on its own as well. They each deal with events surrounding the same major political incident: the invasion of the kingdom of Alasia by the neighboring kingdom of Malorn. 

Prince of Alasia begins on the night of the Invasion and describes what happens to twelve-year-old Prince Jaymin after he is forced to flee for his life. 
In the Enemy’s Service features a girl as the protagonist and tells the story of those who were not able to escape from the Alasian palace when the enemy invaded. 
Prince of Malorn begins several months earlier and focuses on the Malornian perspective of the events leading up to the Invasion. 

In each of the books, main characters from the others make brief appearances and interact with each other at the point where the timeframes and settings overlap. 

I also have a short ebook of “interviews” that I conducted with the characters in the other three books. Annals of Alasia: The Collected Interviews is not available on Amazon, but I send a free copy to anyone who signs up for my mailing list(to receive updates when I release new books or occasionally offer them for free).

Author Biography:
Annie Douglass Lima considers herself fortunate to have traveled in twenty different countries and lived in four of them. A fifth-grade teacher in her “other” life, she loves reading to her students and sparking their imaginations. Her books include science fiction, fantasy, YA action and adventure novels, a puppet script, anthologies of her students’ poetry, and Bible verse coloring and activity books. When she isn’t teaching or writing, Annie can often be found sipping spiced chai or pomegranate green tea in exotic locations, some of which exist in this world.
Author Contact Info:
Email: AnnieDouglassLima@gmail.com
Blog: http://anniedouglasslima.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnieDouglassLimaAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/princeofalasia
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnGoodreads
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/anniedo...
LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnLinkedIn
Bloglovin: https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/letters-from-annie-douglass-lima-6275229
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/annie-douglass-lima

Monday Review by the Book Dragon: Action-packed installment of my favorite fantasy series!

The Book Dragon has read King of Malorn by Annie Douglass Lima and gives it a rip-roaring five claws!
My 5 star review: Having read all the previous books in the Annals of Alasia series, I was so excited to learn this book was finally going to be released, I asked for an advance copy. At first I was surprised the story was told through the eyes of minor characters, but it actually worked well to see Korram and Jaymin from other points of view. Princess Kalendria's character arc works wonderfully well, and Erik (Jaymin's bodyguard) now feels more real (and human) and so sympathetic! There is so much going on, but the reader never feels "lost." The pacing is fantastic, along with the suspense, two things tricky to keep going in a book of this length. But the story is SO good, this reader never once felt anything was dragging or superfluous, and I honestly could have read more. There is a satisfying ending, but I see a couple threads where the author has left herself room to write more about this wonderful fantasy world and its heroic and villainous characters. This has definitely become my favorite fantasy series! NOTE: It is not necessary to have read the previous books in the series, but you will enjoy it even more if you read the others first, because you'll see all the characters from the previous books come together here, so it feels like a beautiful tapestry of lives woven together.