Charlene Carr's Blog, page 12
November 23, 2015
Book Chat: Sweetland by Michael Crummey
Check out Sweetland
A gripping tale of man whose devotion and love of the land that reared him is haunting and heartbreaking.
November 15, 2015
Book Chat: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Check out The Girl on the Train
Author’s Website: http://paulahawkinsbooks.com/
Brilliant and believable characters with intricate detail and a plot that will keep you turning the pages for more.
October 17, 2015
Book Chat: Inside the O’Brien’s by Lisa Genova
Check out Inside the O’Briens
An in depth read that reminds us, with each breath we take, to focus on the good in life.
Author Website: lisagenova.com
August 31, 2015
Book Chat: Room by Emma Donoghue
Check out Room by Emma Donoghue
Exciting and original. A reading experience that rises and falls but overall is wholly worth it.
Authors Website: http://www.emmadonoghue.com
August 18, 2015
Book Chat: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Check out The Book Thief
A poignant, heart wrenching story, written in an experimental style that is at times challenging and at times delightful.
Author’s Website: http://zusakbooks.tumblr.com/
(note: I’ve actually never been on tumblr before and just got absorbed while reading the author’s tagged notes on The Book Thief and the actors who brought his characters to life. Makes me like the author even more – he seems like someone it would be wonderful and enriching to sit down with and just chat.)
August 3, 2015
Book Chat: Beneath the Silence by Charlene Carr
Check out Beneath the Silence
“An intriguing drama that in turn repels and magnetizes one to each page.” – Tome Tender Book Blog
Free on Amazon TODAY – August 3, 2015
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Beneath the Silence
by Charlene Carr
Giveaway ends August 30, 2015.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
July 7, 2015
Navigating A World Full of Grays: Release of Beneath the Silence
When I was a child I saw the world in black and white. There were good people and bad people. Right choices and wrong choices. There wasn’t much room for the in between.Thinking like that felt safe, it made life an easier maze to navigate. But, of course, the world isn’t that simple. People aren’t that simple. Choices aren’t that simple. Black and white rarely exists. Rather, we’re confronted with a multitude of grays.
Novels are what helped me navigate all these shades I couldn’t quite comprehend. When witnessing a person I’d viewed as good do something ‘good’ people weren’t supposed to do, it was challenging to say the least. The characters in the books I read helped me see and understand the complexity of humans and not be so quick to judge.
If you’re anything like me, despite learning these lessons, there may still be times when you leap to judgment, when you see the world through your perspective, forgetting that there’s always another side to every story, someone who sees the situation through eyes very unlike your own. Someone who might know details you’re not privy to.
This doesn’t mean that people or actions we may perceive as ‘bad’ are actually ‘good’ or acceptable, absolutely not. But it does mean in the majority of situations we may owe it to ourselves, and to the people around us, to consider where our judgments come from, and why.
This can be hard to do, ridiculously hard. But books make it easier. Even though I’m all grown up now, novels still help remind me to at least consider another view or experience, to open my eyes to the gray.
And as a writer, one of my greatest joys is to explore characters who come to these realizations and watch the way it can transform their lives. As a novelist, one of my dreams and goals, both for myself and my readers, is to share stories that reveal our fears and insecurities, that make us contemplate our choices and the choices of those around us, that make us question (and at times make us uncomfortable), all while providing an escape from life for a little while.
To say a book, is ‘good’ is subjective. But to me, a good book is one that enables me to sink into someone else’s story and, when the time is right, resurface again, having learned something or grown.
Even if one sentence in a book I write does that for one person, I’ll feel I’ve done my job.
In early reviews, I’ve already been blessed enough to see that my new book Beneath the Silence is this kind of book for some readers.
Some quotes from early reviews:
“The author delved into this painful darkness with empathy and slowly, delicately replaced that darkness with the light of self-awareness, discovery, hope and most of all forgiveness.”
“It was incredibly upsetting at times, but so gripping I couldn’t put it down.”
“Beneath the Silence is a novel that keeps you thinking, it shows you exactly what real life struggles are all about.”
Beneath the Silence is not a book for everyone. Although not excessively displayed, it deals with themes of abuse that could be upsetting or even triggering for some readers, so if you think that’s you, please, stay away.
But it is a novel that I hope will touch readers and linger in their memories. Another reviewer writes:
“The author did an amazing job of placing us right in the centre of the lives of her characters and making us a part of their lives.”
Beneath the Silence is now live on Amazon for $0.99USD. This introductory price will only be on until Friday July 10th, 2015. So if you’d like to buy it, act now:
Also, I would be so thankful if you took a quick moment to help me get the word out and give your friends and followers a chance to get Beneath the Silence at this introductory price.
You can spread the word by clicking on the links below.
Have a beautiful day!
June 19, 2015
Video Book Chat: All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Check out All The Light We Cannot See
Author’s Website: http://www.anthonydoerr.com/books/all-the-light-we-cannot-see/
June 5, 2015
Book Chat: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Check out Dark Places
A gripping tale that challenges concepts of love, lies, and understanding.
Author Website: http://gillian-flynn.com/dark-places/
May 31, 2015
Video Book Chat: Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Check out Everything I Never Told You
A story that looks at the intricate and sometimes disturbing webs of family expectation and societal pressure.
Author’s Website: http://www.celesteng.com/everything-i-never-told-you/
