A.B. Shepherd's Blog, page 8

Lifeboat made it to #10 on Amazon's Best Seller List - thank you! #amreading #Lifeboat

The bible and aliens = Xposure by Phillip T. Hopersberger #amreading #bookreview #aliens

I went searching through Amazon the other day looking for something that would pique my interest. I've been in a bit of a mood lately where really just nothing looks good. I've got literally over 1,000 books on my Kindle but don't want to read any of them at the moment.

I came across Xposure while perusing sci-fi books and using keywords aliens and post-apocalyptic. I read the sample on Amazon and it looked like something that would be right up my alley - a cross between "Ancient Alien" theories and conspiracy theories. It didn't hurt that the author was from Michigan.

The concept was awesome - biblical theory, government cover-ups, plus aliens. The execution didn't quite match up. I did like this book - but it had flaws. The biggest of those was the ending. No sense of closure - left open for a sequel that I haven't found any evidence of to date. It didn't dig deep enough into the promised story. I don't know if the author plans a sequel, but this book just doesn't really stand alone very well.

The whole book took place in a matter of maybe three days, and yet the main characters met and fell in love in those three days. Although such a thing can happen it is still a bit far fetched, but it is made even more so considering neither character is even a very likable character. Sure, you've got the strong military type of guy, but he hates kids and he's trained all his life to be a traitor to his country. Then you've got the pushy reporter. You may feel a little sympathy for her because of the "seizures", but not enough to make up for her personality deficiencies.

Also, the male lead is the only person in the entire military with strategic information that can be useful to an enemy force - and he carries it on his person? Very, very far fetched. I know this is science fiction, but a small amount of believability is still required.

Overall, it was a good story concept, and well written but, for me, it had the potential to be so much more. I liked it, but I was disappointed with it.

Book blurb:
WE ARE ONE GENERATION AWAY FROM EXTINCTION. Strange lights appear in the sky; now so commonplace no one much cares. A skeletal relic from a Qumran cave alarms a Dead Sea Scroll expert. Four world leaders are mysteriously summoned to the Vatican. The third prophecy of the 1917 Fatima vision is finally unsealed. STAN STANISLAW, a conflicted Soviet "sleeper" agent and US Navy SEAL, reneges on a deal his parents made in World War II, and now without a country, tries to survive long enough to put it all together...to expose a plot that threatens more than an antiquated Cold War agenda. It's a brand new millennium and the future of the human race is up for grabs.

About the author:
PHILLIP T. HOPERSBERGER was born in Detroit, Michigan (100 years ago to the day that Lincoln gave his first inaugural address) and graduated from Michigan State University (1984). After working for Knight-Ridder Newspapers for four years, he went into the ministry and became a pastor (Penn State & Michigan State Universities). In 1998, he resigned his pastorate to pursue a writing career.

His novel, XPOSURE, and his Civil War screenplay converted into a book, SOMETHING GRAY, are both available now on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E3DPJAQ
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DUDDSMQ

He lives with his family in Michigan where he writes, hunts, fishes, and chases Civil War history (www.TotallyWriteousCopy.com).

Waxing Lyrical - a highly personal blog post #amwriting #naturesbeauty

Some of you have told me you like it when my blog posts are more personal. If you were one of those, well then this post is for you.
There is a darkness inside me. 
SunsetNot an evilness of spirit. Not a hatred or violence toward my fellow man and woman. It contains no malevolence for anyone but me. It is a dark, morose, sometimes-nearly-hopeless part of me that I am in near constant battle with. There has always been a darkness of spirit within my soul, but it has primarily lain dormant. Seven years ago now several major blows occurred to my emotional well-being within a very short time frame, beating me down to a low point - a frightening point - and I have never fully recovered. I suspect I never will. My husband is the only reason I survived that period at all.

The darkness saw it's chance and grasped a tighter hold on my soul, feeding on my weakness. It is a vile, excrutiating, pus-filled, cancerous emotional tumor, that grows year by year as life adds painful experiences and my emotional resilience continues to erode like rocks in the sea with the constant wear of water and sand. I fear one day it will completely consume me.

It creeps in most days on silent feet, with no warning, slamming into me when I least expect it. Sometimes there are triggers - minor things that most people wouldn't think twice about. Things that wouldn't even crack open the door to let the bleakness slither through for anyone else - at least not anyone but me. Other times it is just there - no trigger needed - when I wake up in the morning.

And the battle begins. I war within myself, the light fighting to the death against the dark despair for one more day.

There are days when I don't win the battle with the darkness, and those are some pretty difficult days. I'm lucky I have the support of an understanding husband and family, as well as prescribed medication to help me on those days.
But most days I win the battle between the dark and the light. And on those days - the many really good days - I look for the beauty around me and the good in everyone, like an infant roots around to find his mother's milk.


I try to be a positive influence on those around me and I try to make my husband laugh until he can't breathe. I do know how to do that. Have to make putting up with me on the bad days worthwhile, don't ya know.
Monday, March 10th was one of those good days for me. Here in South Australia it was a holiday - Adelaide Cup Day - making it the final day of a three day weekend and my husband and I decided to take a little road trip to somewhere I'd never been before - Beachport, South Australia.

Sea viewWe hopped in the car and an hour and a half later after some really bumpy roads, and some not very remarkable scenery we arrived at the sweetest little seaside town. The town had that wonderful feeling about it that you only find in tiny little resort towns, where everything is casual and it is always summer and everyone is happy and friendly and welcoming. You just know you'd love to retire and live out the rest of your days in such a wonderful place.

It had a cute little jetty and sandy beach where we parked and had a picnic lunch.

Jetty
Afterward we drove up to the lighthouse and from there we could see the remains of the old lighthouse - just a shell of the bottom portion left out on a tiny island not far from shore. 
New lighthouse
And then we decided to take the tourist drive. A two kilometre stretch of winding coastal road with amazing views of the sea.
Old Lighthouse - that tiny speck in the distance.
At this point in my story you are wondering what I meant when I said I was going to wax lyrical and get personal, aren't you? I mean, yes I got pretty personal in the beginning, but now it's just sounding like a travel brochure, right? Well I'm getting there, trust me.

We drove along this road and stopped at several vantage points to enjoy the views. About a kilometre down this road we stopped again and here is where it happened.
The view at this particular vantage point was so incredibly beautiful that I was overwhelmed with raw emotion.

Perfect view to the left.
I noticed everything. The caress of the sun on my skin and the kiss of the soft ocean breeze against my face making the dangling scarf ties of my sun hat dance. The firm, reassuring grasp of my husband's fingers entwined with mine. The heady scent of the salty sea.

Those fabulous sensations enhanced the most perfect view I have ever seen.
Perfect center viewThe colors were so vivid. The various shades of rock, and the deep green of the foliage in front of us contrastring with the beige of the sand, and the cerulean blue of the sea with the shimmering sun making it sparkle as if it were made of glittering fairy dust, against the cornflower blue of the sky, peppered with splashes of luminous white clouds.

If I believed in God I could have believed this scene had been painted by the creator himself for one specific purpose - to heal. This view was so powerful, so beautiful and the moment was so perfect - it literally brought me to tears - and I thought to myself...

Perfect view to the right.
If only every person in the world could see and experience this moment just as I am right now, and feel exactly what I feel, the beauty of it would erase all the pain of humanity and it would completely heal everything that is wrong in the world. 

There could be no more wars, or hate, or poverty or violence, or any other ills if only every person could experience this. It's beauty was surely perfection itself and I've never seen anything else to compare. It felt completely restorative. 

And I just sat there for a long time, tears raining down my face. Tears of joy that I am so privileged to have had the chance to experience such immeasurable beauty. And tears of sorrow that not everyone could. It was such a spiritual, overpowering experience. One of the most magical of my life.


Bonus photo.I humbly attempted to capture a small bit of it to share with you as you can see above, but the photos come nowhere near doing it justice. My photographic skills and equipment are limited, but I don't think even the best photographer could have captured that perfect spot in that perfect moment.

Sadly, the magical feeling did not last beyond that day, or even beyond that hour. On my dark days I will try to retrieve that memory that I attempted to store today, and maybe it will help in the battle against the vicious blackness that threatens to overtake me. 
My perfect moment didn't heal the world - it didn't even heal me. But if I could have bottled it...who knows?

Have you had a perfect moment? Please tell me about yours.

*All photographs used in this article are the exclusive property of A.B. Shepherd. Photographs may not be used without the express written permission of A.B. Shepherd.

Guest post and Amazon GC giveaway from Nate Rocks the City author Karen Pokras Toz! #amwriting #naterocks #giveaway

http://bit.ly/amznNRTC,http://bit.ly/... with AllDebridhttp://bit.ly/amznNRTC,http://bit.ly/... with AllDebrid
I have a very special treat for you today my lovelies! Karen Pokras Toz, award winning author of the Nate Rocks books as well as other middle grade fiction and fiction for adults, has stopped by on her tour to talk to us about the differences between writing for adults vs. writing for children and to offer a little giveaway for all you wonderful Nate fans! Hi Karen. So glad you stopped by. Give us the scoop.
Thank you to my friend and author A.B. Shepherd for inviting me on her blog today to discuss the differences between writing for adults and children. While many writers prefer to stick to one genre, I’ve been venturing out lately, writing children’s books, contemporary fiction, and now romance/chicklit. There’s a big difference between these genres, but of course, the biggest difference is in writing for children and adults. 
As a parent, I think the obvious differences are in language and theme. I certainly don’t want my own children reading books that have inappropriate language and content, and I’m assuming you don’t want your children reading that either. With my kid’s books, I also have to make sure the vocabulary is age appropriate – not too easy, yet not too hard. These considerations, I’m really not thinking about when writing for adults. 
As a writer, I’m also looking at tone and level of detail. Is the tone of the dialogue too mature when writing for my young audience? Maybe I need to lighten it up a little for kids, while still getting the same message across. In the same regard, when it comes to detail, I find myself having to explain a lot more when writing for kids. For example in Nate Rocks the City, the teacher hands each child in the class a journal, which winds up being Nate’s sketchbook for the story. But as I was reading through the first draft, I realized, I never explained where the pen came from. In my head, I heard this one kid (reader) asking “Oh yeah? Well where did the pen come from?” So I went back and added that detail. If it was an adult book, I don’t think that voice would have appeared. 
That’s pretty much how my writing goes. I not only have imaginary characters talking to me, but I also have imaginary readers talking to me. But it’s all good, because they remind me of my audience, and the differences I need to keep in mind when writing. Great to know how your writing process works Karen. Thanks for that. Now tell us about your latest Nate book.
Hey New York! Are you ready for Nate Rocks? Fifth grader Nathan Rockledge has been counting down the days—and meals—until his class trip to New York City. Now that the big event is finally here, he can barely stand the excitement. After all, isn’t this what being a fifth grader is all about? Oh sure, his Mom is one of the chaperones, his annoying sister Abby is tagging along, and that know-it-all classmate, Lisa, will be there as well. However, none of that matters. Not when he’ll be with his best friends, Tommy and Sam. While seeing the sights, his teacher wants his class to take notes, but Nathan has other ideas. With paper and pencil in hand, Nathan prefers to doodle, transforming himself into Nate Rocks, boy hero. Amid ninja pigeons to fend off, aliens to attack, and the baseball game of the century to save, will Nate Rocks be able to save the day one more time?
About the author:Karen Pokras Toz writes middle grade and adult contemporary fiction. Her books have won several awards including two Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, the Grand Prize in the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards, as well as placing first for two Global E-Book Awards for Pre-Teen Literature. Karen is a member of the Society of the Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI). For children, her books include the Nate Rocks series, Millicent Marie is Not My Name, & Pie and Other Brilliant Ideas. For adult readers, Karen’s books include Chasing Invisible, and her soon to be released, Whispered Wishes series. A native of Connecticut, Karen now lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband and three children. For more information, please visit www.karentoz.com.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


So where can you find and connect with Karen? 
Website: www.karentoz.com
Blog: http://kptoz.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/karenptoz
Twitter: www.twitter.com/karentoz
Amazon: http://bit.ly/amznNRTC
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/bnNRTCity
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

Good stuff and bad stuff - Pretty Little Liars books 2 - 12 by Sara Shepard #amreading #PLL

 So I recently reviewed the first book in this series and admitted the Pretty Little Liars TV show is my guilty pleasure. Click here for that review. I still think the covers in this book series are just awful. But I digress.

I decided to read the books because I got impatient with the show. We are in the midst of season four and getting nowhere fast. I'm an impatient person overall, so I thought I could read the books and get my fix, getting ahead of the show.

Oops. Didn't quite work like that. While book one (other than the physical descriptions of the characters) mostly matched up with the TV series, books 2 through 12 certainly don't. Somehow I erroneously had the impression book 12 was the last in the series. It's not. There are 15 and soon to be at least 16 books.


Despite the HUGE differences between the TV series and the books I was quite happy reading along up through book 8. In book 8 we get some resolution. We find out who A really is and really, this series should have ended here.

In book 9 we get a new A and everything starts over again. This is where Sara Shepard jumped the shark. More blackmail, more drama, more of the same. Sure, the formula worked for the first 8 books, but now it's getting a bit old and I'm getting REALLY impatient. I just want to know who the new A is and end this series. Like I said before, I thought book 12 was the end only to get to the end of it and find no resolution whatsoever.

At this point, I'm sad to say I am over it. As far as the books go that is. I will continue to watch my guilty pleasure TV series, simply because it IS so different from the books and I have no idea where they are going to go with it due to all the changes they've made to the storyline. And now, if you don't like spoilers please stop reading because I'm about to give a few right here.

****************************SPOILERS***************************
So some of the differences I've mentioned and a few pet peeves thrown in for good measure. If you've been a fan of the TV series you know that at this point in time there is a question of who is A and there are a lot of suspects. Mona was A at one time, and maybe she still is - or at least is working with A. Ezra could be A. Toby used to be a suspect - and maybe could still be A. And what about Jenna? Is she A?

Well not according to the books. See in the books by the time A is revealed Toby, Mona and Jenna are all dead. Yup, long dead. Toby actually dies early on and he and Spencer NEVER hook up in the books, although he and Emily go on one horrific date. And Ezra and Aria do have an inappropriate relationship, but Ezra has such a minor role in the books that his major role in the TV series is puzzling, and for me at least, quite confusing.

And here is just one of my pet peeves with this series. In the early books Aria is a knitting fiend, going so far as to knit all the girls mohair bras when they are like 12 years old. But somewhere along the way Sara seems to have forgotten that about Aria and she just never mentions Aria's knitting again.


Also Hanna and Aria go on a trip to Iceland where SOMETHING bad happened. Yet we never find out what even several books later. I guess maybe I was supposed to read on for that, but seriously. I can't take anymore. 

So if, like me, you've read the books wanting to know who A will be in the TV series, give it up. The TV series is a whole new ball game with a cast of characters that never existed in the books. And the books have a huge cast of characters that don't exist in the TV series. The A of the books does not fit with the way they've changed to the story for TV. So while it COULD still be the same A, it's not going to work out the way it did in the books.


If you want to read the series just for fun, or to read the differences for yourself go ahead. It IS fun - at least up until book 8. But I'd stop there if I were you. It's just not worth it after that. Seriously, Sara I know this is a cash cow for you, but come on.


Now tell me - who do YOU think is A? In the TV series that is. Or who do you think is the second A in the book series? Seriously, talk to me and tell me I'm not alone here. 

About the author:
Sara Shepard graduated from NYU and has an MFA from Brooklyn College. She currently lives in Tucson, Arizona. Sara's Pretty Little Liars novels were inspired by her upbringing in Philadelphia's Main Line.

Meet author Tammy Morea #amwriting #amreading #augustmoon

Abites - today on the blog I'd like to introduce you to a brand new author - one to watch out for! Her name is Tammy Morea and her new book August Moon is coming in May 2014.

Isn't the cover gorgeous?

Welcome Tammy - please tell us about yourself...

So here’s my story….

For as far back as I can remember I have loved to read books, thanks to my Mom an avid reader herself.  During my middle school years, I came to fall in love with creative writing. I started writing poems and short stories, and my favorite project was a book report, since it combined my two favorite things: reading and writing. 

When I was seventeen years old, I started thinking about maybe writing a book of my own, one day.  A few years later, I’m twenty one years old, daydreaming on a train ride from my home town on Long Island to Manhattan and this scenario just pops into my head, it was brief and minimal, but it stayed with me all day. On the train ride home, I jotted it down on a napkin from Dunkin Donuts and kept in the drawer of my nightstand. 

Over the next year or two, I would take out the napkin and read it; the plot started to grow in my mind, and I would write ideas down, thinking this would be a good book to write one day. But, then life happened, I got married at twenty-four and my family became my priority, my dream of writing a book, got pushed to the back burner. 

Fast forward fifteen years later, I am in a miserable marriage and very unhappy, but stuck and quite honestly afraid to be on my own. So as usual I would just lose myself in a book, falling into a different world, a world so much better than my own. 

I heard all this buzz about this book called Twilight, I looked into it and thought, a vampire YA book? Not for me. But the buzz just kept growing, and I thought, why not try something new? I looked at is a new world for me to get lost in. 

What happen to me after opening that book, completely changed my life! First of all I couldn’t get enough of the Twilight story; I eagerly awaited the next books in the series to come out; I was enthralled. But something else happen to me, actually two significant life changing events took place after I read the last page of Breaking Dawn. 

·                     One, I left my husband. The love story between Edward and Bella opened my eyes to the kind of love I wanted and to the kind of love I deserved. 

·                     Two, I sat down with a pad and a pen and finally wrote my book, it only took me two months to write it. I couldn’t believe how easy it was for me to create my story. August Moon is the product of those few sentences I wrote down on a Dunkin Donuts napkin, so many years ago.  

Books have always been there for me, the way I look at it, they kind of saved my life. So I am honored to contribute a story of my own, I hope you all enjoy getting lost while reading the pages of August Moon, as much as I did writing it. 

Wow - thanks Tammy. Now won't you tell us a little more about August Moon?

August Moon is a YA Romance Novel….. coming in May of 2014
What do you do when the one who broke your heart, is the only one who can fix it?
There is nothing in this world stronger than the powerful emotion of being in love.
Except, maybe the paralyzing pain of a broken heart.
Moving to a small unfamiliar beach town in the summer before her senior year of high school is really going to suck. Raven, a black-haired beauty, from a well- off family was certain about that.
Miserable in her circumstance’s, nothing could convince her otherwise, until Raven meets Quinn, a local with a love for surfing and a bad reputation to go with it.
Despite the very different worlds they live in, their desire for each other is undeniable.
Raven’s fears and misery start to vanish as she and Quinn fall deeper and deeper into each other.
Raven is unknowingly used as a pawn, in a turn of disastrous events, caused by Quinn’s older brother and his dealings with some very dangerous people.
Quinn must convince them that Raven means nothing to him.
Quinn has only one choice to keep Raven safe. Hurt her, hurt her so bad she may never forgive him.
The events that follow could silence Raven’s heart for eternity and completely destroy what’s left of Quinn’s soul.
August Moon is a captivating story of young love.
Bringing two unlikely hearts together.
Only to be shattered by one tortuous decision.
Putting these star-crossed lovers on course for the ultimate challenge of forgiveness.


A little Bio...
Tammy Morea, Author 

I love to read Romance, Chick-lit, Fantasy, Paranormal, YA and a good Auto-Biography never hurt anyone. I love all animals, but I have a weakness for dogs. Just ask my dog Tank, he’s my heart…he’s a big mush, I bite his face all day long and he lets me. I also love mini pigs, one day I will have one, my fiancé Chris doesn’t think so, but what does he know? I think I’m an amateur photographer, but really I just like to take pictures and sometimes they come out good. I love riding on the back of Chris’s Harley, it’s my favorite form of transportation. Tattoos are sexy, I have seven. I pretty much love anything with a skull on it, but I also love pink girly stuff too. I have a green thumb, I can cook my ass off, I love to be active. I come from a big, crazy Italian family and I wouldn’t want it any other way. And just because I want to give her props, I think Marilyn Monroe is the sexiest, hottest bad-ass bitch in the history of sexy, hot bad-ass bitches. 
Come find me at any of the following locations:
Website-www.tammymorea.com
Facebook -www.facebook.com/tammymoreabooks
E-mail- www.tammymorea@gmail.com
Goodreads -www.goodreads.com/tammymorea
Twitter -www.twitter.com/tammymorea1
Instragram -www.instagram.com/tammymorea1#
Pinterest -www.pintrest.com/doglover1972 










 

Launching The Beacon Book Trailer #amreading #booktrailer

This week I launched my brand new book trailer for The Beacon on YouTube. Take a look.



Does it make you want to read The Beacon ? 

eBook review copies are available on request.

Kathryn Fox keeps me guessing with Malicious Intent #amreading #bookreview

Malicious Intent is the first book featuring heroine Anya Crichton - a forensic pathologist.

I previously reviewed Blood Born - a later book in this series - wherein I complained that we didn't get enough of Anya's back story. Well this book explains why. It is all here, which makes sense since this is the first book. After having read this one, Anya is a much more sympathetic and relatable character than I got from her in the later book. Now that I understand her a bit more it does change my view of her a little bit, for the better.

In this book, she is investigating links between several young women who have committed suicide but have similar unusual fibers found in their lungs. It's a good mystery, and I, who pride myself on figuring out where a story is headed, didn't get there with this one until near the end, so kudos to Kathryn Fox for keeping me guessing.

I rarely do spoilers, but this time I feel justified just by a coincidence of things going on in my life lately. So here is the alert for the upcoming spoilers.

********SPOILER ALERT*********
The "bad guy" in this one is conducting experiments on these young women, using sensory deprivation and a series of other psychological tortures to manipulate their behavior. I guess I just find this somehow intriguing because I'm noticing this type of thing a lot lately in various media, books, television shows, etc. and it is reminding me of WWII and the experiments the Nazis were conducting. Maybe I'm noticing all this more because of a Nat Geo special I watched recently about twinning and experiments presumed to be conducted by Doctor Mengele in South America following the war. Maybe that is what is triggering my noticing of this type of experimentation and torture. But even in the Dr. Who episode I watched last night (A Town Called Mercy) there was talk of war and biological experiments.  

Is genetic/biological experimentation a prominent theme in the media lately? Or is it just me now noticing it more? What do you think? 

Book Blurb:
A gripping and powerful new thriller -- the debut of a stunning new voice in suspense fiction -- and the first appearance of a tough and remarkable investigator, pathologist, and forensic physician, Dr. Anya Crichton.

The only female freelancer in the male-dominated field, pathologist Dr. Anya Crichton will take any work she can find to pay child support and her mortgage, get her new business off the ground, and battle her ex-husband for custody of their three-year-old son. Things turn around rapidly, however, when her expert forensic evidence is instrumental in winning a high-profile case -- and new work offers start pouring in.

But Anya's investigation into the drug overdose of a young Lebanese girl is raising troubling questions. Startling coincidences between this sad and tragic death and a series of seemingly unrelated suicides that Anya is also examining at the urging of her friend and colleague, detective sergeant Kate Farrer, suggest that there's a monumental evil at work in the shadows. With each scalpel cut, Anya Crichton's forensic prowess and deductive brilliance are pulling her relentlessly toward a sinister plot and a devastating truth -- and once she enters the lethal darkness, she may never again see the light of day.

About the author:
Kathryn Fox is a medical practitioner with a special interest in forensic medicine who currently lives in Sydney, Australia.

She has worked as a freelance medical journalist and written regularly for publications including Australian Doctor, The Sun Herald and CLEO magazine.

Her debut novel, MALICIOUS INTENT, received international acclaim and won the 2005 Davitt award for adult fiction.

It also toppled The Da Vinci Code to become  the no. 1 crime book on Amazon in the UK and Germany. 

WITHOUT CONSENT was released in May 2006 in Australia and became of the top Australian fiction books for the year.

SKIN AND BONE, features Detective Kate Farrer, who first appeared in Malicious Intent. It is now available in the UK, Sth Africa, Australia, NZ, Germany, and other countries will follow. Kathryn will be travelling to the US for the launch in July.

The next Anya Crichton thriller, BLOOD BORN, due for release in Australia August 31st, and September for the US. UK will follow in November.

In her spare time, Kathryn  likes to indulge in some of her favourite pastimes - playing the harp (very badly), scrapbooking and ebay.

Kathryn has recently combined her passions for medicine and reading with creation of the 'READ FOR LIFE' project. To an illiterate person, reading means life. So many of us take reading for granted, but a mother who cannot read a medicine bottle cannot even give her child the medication needed to combat life-threatening infections.

READ FOR LIFE collects and sends children's books to indigenous and remote communities in which poor literacy levels are directly correlated with poor health and increased infant death rates. For more information and how you might be able to help recycle your quality kids'  books, please stay tuned for the addition of the READ FOR LIFE link.  

My guilty pleasure - Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard #amreading #bookreview

I'm letting you all in on a little secret today - my guilty pleasure TV show is Pretty Little Liars.

First just let me say - I hate, hate, HATE the covers on the books in the series. Every single one of them. They look like they are written for a six year old who loves Barbies. But I digress.

Pretty Little Liars (PLL to fans) - or as my husband calls them Pretty Little Lurkers (no he is not a fan of the show but he is an enabler who makes sure I get my fix) is a story of five teenaged girls who have skeletons in their closets. One goes missing and is assumed dead, but the other four start getting text messages with threats regarding information only the dead girl could know.

Now I've done a bit of internet snooping, so I know who the mysterious sender - "A" is supposed to be, but the TV show isn't moving fast enough for me and I don't quite know how they are going to work the whole story out so I caved and I've started reading the books on which this series is based. There are nine in all and I've just finished the first.

If you are a fan of the TV show, like I am, there are a lot of discrepancies between the book and the show that might get on your nerves, like they do mine. First, not one of the characters on the show looks like they are described in the books. At least three out of the four lead characters have dogs in the books. And Emily has a sister who is just a year older and a few other older siblings in the books.


But as to the story, they've done a damned good job of sticking to the plot line - at least as far as this first book goes. And they've done an excellent job with casting, in spite of the looks thing because the characters on the show ring true to the characters in the book as far as attitude and dialogue, so well done there. With every scene I read I could picture the cast members and it felt right.

The biggest difference though, that I am struggling with, is that in the show when it started Ali had been missing for a year - which feels right. In the book she'd been missing for three years, having just gone missing during the summer after seventh grade. That means all the secrets and things those girls got up to before Ali's disappearance occurred when they were twelve or thirteen which is really a stretch. I know what I and my friends got up to at twelve and thirteen and some of it I can see, but other parts - not so much. I think it was a good move on the part of the screenwriters to change that. Fifteen is more reasonable.

And the other big difference is that Rosewood Day - the high school these kids attend - is a private school in the book with a campus containing many buildings, whereas it is a public school in the TV show. But again, I think that was a good move on the part of the screenwriters.

All in all I'm happy with the changes they've made for TV, which is such a rare thing when it comes to adapting books for the screen. Now on to the next in the series. 

Are you into Pretty Little Liars too? Please tell me I'm not the only old lady who loves this series. 

Book Blurb:
Three years ago, Alison disappeared after a slumber party, not to be seen since. Her friends at the elite Pennsylvania school mourned her, but they also breathed secret sighs of relief. Each of them guarded a secret that only Alison had known. Now they have other dirty little secrets, secrets that could sink them in their gossip-hungry world. When each of them begins receiving anonymous emails and text messages, panic sets in. Are they being betrayed by some one in their circle? Worse yet: Is Alison back? A strong launch for a suspenseful series.

About the author:
Sara Shepard graduated from NYU and has an MFA from Brooklyn College. She currently lives in Tucson, Arizona. Sara's Pretty Little Liars novels were inspired by her upbringing in Philadelphia's Main Line.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath #amreading #bookreview

I picked up The Bell Jar for a few different reasons. 
First, because a Facebook friend frequently shares quotes from Sylvia Plath that resonate with me. Second, because February 11th was the anniversary of Syliva Plath's death. And third, because it is one of those classics that I have never had occasion to read.
I have, at various points in my life, known great depths of despair that I have had to struggle mightily to overcome. 
Going into this novel I was expecting it to be a downer, so when it lived up to its reputation in that regard I was not surprised. What did surprise me was how innocently it began. Esther Greenwood was a college student who had dreams of being a writer and had won a one month internship at a popular magazine over summer break. This is where the book begins. But as her internship progressed we began to see that some of her reactions were not typical of a girl her age. She had plans for her own life - big plans - that didn't include what was expected of her. When her internship ended she went home only to find her remaining summer plans had not come to fruition throwing off her life plan. Her sense of self suffered a major blow. This is when she really went off the rails. 
As I was reading this book, knowing just a little bit about Sylvia Plath, I felt that this was actually a biography rather than fiction. It was only after I finished the book that I found it actually was semi-autobiographical. I didn't find it as depressing as I expected to, but I did find it sad. What I mean by that is that rather than being drawn into Sylvia/Esther's personal demons I was able to distance myself enough to read this book objectively, so while I empathized with her I did not suffer for her. Yet I can see how many would.
I thought I would struggle with this book because of the depth of emotion so many seem to find in it. I also thought those aspects would make it have a powerful impact on me. Neither was the case - and that could just be due to where I was at emotionally in my own life at the time of reading - which is often the case.
I do think this book is a good history lesson in the way mental illness was treated in the time period, which was quite a sad state of affairs. And I do know that many people find read it a powerful and amazing experience. I guess I'm just not one of them.
Have you read The Bell Jar, or any other books where mental illness plays a primary role? How did you react?
What are your thoughts?


Book Blurb:Sylvia Plath's shocking, realistic, and intensely emotional novel of a woman falling into the grips of insanity. The Bell Jar is Sylvia Plath's only novel. Renowned for its intensity and outstandingly vivid prose, it broke existing boundaries between fiction and reality and helped to make Plath an enduring feminist icon. It was published under a pseudonym a few weeks before the author's suicide.
'It is a fine novel, as bitter and remorseless as her last poems . . . The world in which the events of the novel take place is a world bounded by the Cold War on one side and the sexual war on the other . . . This novel is not political nor historical in any narrow sense, but in looking at the madness of the world and the world of madness it forces us to consider the great question posed by all truly realistic fiction: What is reality and how can it be confronted? . . . Esther Greenwood's account of her year in the bell jar is as clear and readable as it is witty and disturbing.' New York Times Book Review
About the author: Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer.

Known primarily for her poetry, Plath also wrote a semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas. The book's protagonist, Esther Greenwood, is a bright, ambitious student at Smith College who begins to experience a mental breakdown while interning for a fashion magazine in New York. The plot parallels Plath's experience interning at Mademoiselle magazine and subsequent mental breakdown and suicide attempt.

Along with Anne Sexton, Plath is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry initiated by Robert Lowell and W.D. Snodgrass. Despite her remarkable artistic, academic, and social success at Smith, Plath suffered from severe depression and underwent a period of psychiatric hospitalization. She graduated from Smith with highest honours in 1955 and went on to Newnham College, Cambridge, in England, on a Fulbright fellowship. Here she met and married the English poet Ted Hughes in 1956. For the following two years she was an instructor in English at Smith College.

In 1960, shortly after Plath and Hughes returned to England from America, her first collection of poems appeared as The Colossus. She also gave birth to a daughter, Frieda Rebecca Hughes’ and Plath’s son, Nicholas Farrar, was born in 1962.

Plath took her own life on the morning of February 11, 1963. Leaving out bread and milk, she completely sealed the rooms between herself and her sleeping children with "wet towels and cloths." Plath then placed her head in the oven while the gas was turned on.

Her father was Otto Emil Plath