This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.
RULES:
Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it
from Page 56 of:
Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O’Neal
(I have to use a photo this week, there’s no way I can capture the feel of this internet chat with my rudimentary abilities)
The Monday holiday caught me a little off-guard, I really wasn’t ready to put together a WWW Wednesday, but I just remembered what day it was and I needed a little break anyway, so here we go!
This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.
The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
Easy enough, right?
I just started Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O’Neal, which looks promising and am listening to Raven Cursed by Faith Hunter, Khristine Hvam (Narrator) on audiobook.
I just finished the Lee Matthew Goldberg’s Runaway Train, a nifty coming-of-age story, and the fun The Authorities by Scott Meyer, Luke Daniels (Narrator) on audio.
My next book should be the second in the rejuvinated Hollows series: Million Dollar Demon by Kim Harrison. My next audiobook should be Nowhere to Run by C. J. Box, David Chandler (Narrator), which’ll get me practically half-way to caught up with this series.
What did you just finish/start?
This morning I’m pleased to host a Book Blitz for John Bowie’s Division [The Crows Over Cross Hill]–the third book in the Black Vicking Thriller series–to celebrate its publication today.
Book Title: Division [The Crows Over Cross Hill] by John Bowie
Publisher: Red Dog Press
Release date: June 1, 2021
Format: Ebook/Paperback
Length: 197 pages
Darkness Follows Wherever He Goes
John Black returns to Northern England for a family funeral, having left the woman he loves to protect her from his past.
His solace is broken as the sands shift, crows and gulls circle overhead, and children run on the beach where John used to play as a child… and where a body is found in the dunes by Cross Hill — the body of a woman John once knew.
With a set of coordinates left for him in a haunted pub, the body count grows, and the police are made fully aware of John’s connection.
As he drives the ancient coastal and rural landscapes, from Alnwick Castle, Hadrian’s Wall, Cragside to Kielder, racing to confront the killers, John wrestles the pain of bringing the evils of his past to his homelands and to all who know him.
Will Death Ever Leave Him?
The Red Dog Shop ~ Amazon ~ Kobo ~ Google Play
John writes articles, poetry, reviews, short stories and novels. His fiction is a semi-autobiographical mix of dirty realism, crime fiction and noir. Ghostly references to a heritage that includes the Vikings, Scotland, Ireland and the North, flavour the words throughout. Often with a dark but humoured edge.
John’s writing has appeared online and in print for the likes of Bristol Noir, Storgy Magazine, Litro Magazine, Punk Noir Magazine, Necro Magazine and Deadman’s Tome.
He grew up on the coast in rural Northumberland, a region steeped with a history of battles, Vikings, wars and struggles. These tales and myths fascinated him as a child, and then as an adult. In the mid to late nineties, he studied in Salford enjoying the bands, music, clubs and general urban industrial-ness of Greater Manchester, including the club scene and the infamous Hacienda. He was also there when the IRA bomb went off in 1996.
John has been partly inspired by 50s pulp hard-boiled detective fiction and the beat generation authors and poets. John aims to celebrate his female characters from his real-life through his writing, whilst retaining the hard-drinking, cynical honesty and the accessible writing style of these genres.
John lives in Bristol with his wife and daughters, where he has been since the late nineties. He is a professional designer, artist and writer as well as a proud husband, father, brother and son.
My thanks to Red Dog Press for the invitation to participate in this blitz and the materials they provided.
This morning I’m pleased to host a Book Blitz for C. J. Dunford’s YA Novel Fake News to celebrate its publication today.
Book Title: Fake News by C. J. Dunford
Publisher: FledglingPress
Release date: May 31, 2021
Format: Ebook
Length: 197 pages
Four teenagers, and one dog, suffer at the hands of online media and come up with a plan to show people they should never trust what they read on the internet. They launch their own news site detailing amazing, shocking, utterly believable but totally untrue stories. They always intend to come clean, but success goes to their heads and before long they are enmeshed in a world of spies and aliens. How will they get out of this unscathed? What happens next will change all of their lives forever.
Author of over 30 books, C J Dunford is best known for her crime and spy stories set around the world wars (The Euphemia Martins Mysteries and The Hope Stapleford Adventures).
She has been, in no particular order, a hypnotist, a drama teacher, a journalist, a psychotherapist, a voice actor, a playwright, and a novelist. She is currently a part-time Teaching Fellow at the University of Edinburgh where she teaches creative writing, freelance journalism, and statistics. Never one to follow the usual route she holds degrees in both arts and social science, as well as a smattering of professional qualifications. She is good with a blow torch, but better behind a steering wheel (her youngest son believes she used to be a racing driver). It was, in fact, a desperate attempt to get her two sons to read, and because she thinks all the best stories are YA, that she wrote Fake News. After all, with spies, cyber threats, disinformation, and aliens, why wouldn’t you want to read it?
My thanks to Love Books Group for the invitation to participate in this Blitz.
Okay, I think things at work are getting back to normal. Which means I should be able to browse more blogs/book sites, bloghop, etc. And maybe not feel like a zombie for 70% of my waking hours, too. Either way, things should be more, um robust here in the next week or so (who knows what the short week next week will bring).
For those of you this applies to: have a great three-day weekend, hope you enjoy it. Those who don’t have one right now? Sorry!
that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
An Interview with Zoë Sharp—from Murder & Mayhem
On Accountability, Artistry, and The Hard Work of Becoming Better People—while I disagree with a lot (but not all) of this, Yoon makes some good points, and this kind of thing needs careful thought right now–not knee-jerk reactions.
We’re Drawn To Mysteries in Fiction Because Life Itself Is a Mystery—hmmm..
Eight thrillers and mysteries to read this summer—S. A. Cosby has some recommendations (the Post has some related articles, too—worth checking out)
15 Authors Share the Book at the Top of Their Summer TBR
15 Ways to Read More in 2021!—Now that June is nigh-upon-us, maybe you want to revisit some Jan. 1 Resolutions.
From Merlin to Mistborn—Witty and Sarcastic Book Club has a great series this week looking at various magic system, thoughts about magic in fiction, and related ideas. I can’t pick one or two to highlight, go read ’em all.
The Restorative Power of Reading—I think we’ve all felt that.
@JenMedBkReviews defines a couple of new terms that all book bloggers should add to their working vocabulary
That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Curious Reader: Facts About Famous Authors and Novels | Book Lovers and Literary Interest | A Literary Miscellany of Novels & Novelists edited by Erin McCarthy & the team at Mental Floss—”This literary compendium from Mental Floss reveals fascinating facts about the world’s most famous authors and their literary works.” I’ve flipped through this a little since picking it up at my bookstore, I have no idea how to describe it—or how I’m going to write about it. But it’s going to be fun trying to figure it out.
Hard Reboot by Django Wexler—”Kas is a junior researcher on a fact-finding mission to old Earth. But when a con-artist tricks her into wagering a large sum of money belonging to her university on the outcome of a manned robot arena battle she becomes drawn into the seedy underworld of old Earth politics and state-sponsored battle-droid prizefights.” Oh, that old chestnut…this is just such a strange collection of ideas I think I have to try it.
This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.
RULES:
Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it
from Page 56 of:
The Bounty by Janet Evanovich with Steve Hamilton
“Took you long enough,” Nick said.
Quentin gave him back the tools Nick had slipped into Quentin’s hand when he had reached through the bars to say goodbye. “Do you always carry lock picks with you?”
“Like I said, it’s a long story. ”
“Well, next time bring me a good old-fashioned hook pick instead. And a tension bar with actual tension on it.”
“Noted,” Nick said. “Now let’s get off the street.”
I’ve had to stop trying on a couple of posts for today, they’re just going to take more work than I’m ready for. But I can check in with a WWW Wednesday, which I find interesting (both to put together and to read other people’s), I hope you do, too—’cuz that’s all I’ve got in me today.
This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.
The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
Easy enough, right?
I’m reading The Bounty by Janet Evanovich with Steve Hamilton (unless it’s dramatically better than the previous novel—a very low bar—this will be my last Fox & O’Hare book) and am continuing my resisting of the Alex Verus series with Chosen by Benedit Jacka, Gildart Jackson (Narrator) on audiobook.
I just finished the second Ben Bracken thriller, Rob Parker’s Morte Point and Three Mages and a Margarita by Annette Marie, Cris Dukehart (Narrator) on audio, the first in a promising UF series.
My next book should be the 90s throwback Runaway Train by Lee Matthew Goldberg and my next audiobook should be The Authorities by Scott Meyer, Luke Daniels (Narrator)—I’m a little nervous about Meyer outside of Magic 2.0, but I know with Daniels at least it’ll be a good listen.
What about you, what are your current/recent/ reads?
If you’re reading this, I apparently stumbled through this week mostly intact. I have so much I wanted to write about this week and even in this post, but while the spirit is interested and willing, this flesh is bone tired. It’ll hold, I think.
While I try to wrap up this week with a bonus shift at work, why don’t you take a glance at some of these. Hope something tickles your fancy. See you soon.
that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
77 Strange, Funny, and Magnificent Book Titles You’ve Probably Never Heard Of—From Literary Hub—some of these titles really make you want to read the text.
How Much Money Do Authors Actually Earn?: It’s probably both less and more than you think
Should we separate the artist from the art?—a quick yet wise read. (Hat-Tip to: Jo Perry)
7 Great Occurrences in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy—Towel Day is right around the corner, might as well start thinking about The Hitchhiker’s Trilogy.
Confessions of a Book Addict!—I see myself in almost every bit of this post from The Orangutan Librarian
Is Summer Reading Season a Thing?—I never really thought so, but I know I’m the exception
And yet: 20 Books of Summer ’21 – Share your sign up posts!—I guess it is that time of year already. Time to start making plans, I guess.
Why I Love To Read… Fantasy—fun little post with some great recommendations
This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice
RULES:
Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it
from Page 56 of:
I take my shoes from the pack, and put them on, ready for a light jog. I want to hit civilisation before the world wakes up, and get a march on a quicker route out.
A farmer’s wooden access gate appears on my right, which seems the perfect way for a more direct route to Mortehoe, so I hop the wooden fence into a field of cows. The song birds are in voice, welcoming me with a staccato trill. In the distance, perhaps half a kilometre away, I can see the rooftops. I run as the crow flies precisely in that direction, keeping an eye on the floor for cow muck, nimbly hopping it as I see it. It reminds me of precise foot placement in areas strewn with land-mines, this time only with smelly shoes at stake.
I rely on the timing of my activity to be the best camouflage, but fat lot of use that was back at the beach mansion. Maybe the village is a hub of activity in the early hours, especially when wound up by the search for an intruder out on the Point.
My answer is immediate and as obvious as I could ask for.
A helicopter throbs over a distant hill, the surge of its rotors suddenly louder as it enters the valley, and I see it appear over the village. I sprint for the hedgerow which frames the field, before any airborne eyes can see me.
It may seem like I’m not making a lot of progress lately on various books–and that’s only because I’m not. Work’s been crazy and I’m having a hard time finding the time to read–and when I do, there’s not a lot of energy to do it, I’m having a hard time focusing enough to keep going with audiobooks, too. Also, I’ve been beta reading an upcoming novel–I’ll talk more about that soon, but that’s been taking time away from the regular reading (which is not a complaint–great read, I can’t wait to tell you to go buy the book in a couple of months).
Anyway, that’s just to explain why there hasn’t been a lot of turnover in the last few of these posts, but maybe this WWW Wednesday will be the beginning of a return to normal.
This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.
The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
Easy enough, right?
I’m reading The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson and am revisiting (for the first time since the late 80s) All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot, Christopher Timothy (Narrator) on audiobook.
I just finished Scott Ryan’s fantastic Moonlighting: An Oral History and the twisted fun that is A Man With One of Those Faces by Caimh McDonnell, Morgan C. Jones (Narrator) on audio.
My next book should be the second Ben Bracken novel, Morte Point by Rob Parker and my next audiobook should be The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics by Tim Harford (who also narrates it). I’m sure that past-me had a good reason for it when he placed the reserve, I just wish I remembered it*.
* I’m sure it’s a fine book, but really past me–statistics???
Hit me with your Three W’s in the comments! I’m curious!
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