Category: Books

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt from The Broke and the Bookish is a Mother’s Day freebie.

The impact of a good mother and the way they enrich our lives is impossible to measure. Their sacrifice, love, compassion, nurturing heart, strength and commitment is what creates a beautiful future for the world through the children they raise. Mothers are true super heroes deserving of all the love and gratitude they receive.

I realized as I was going through my books, that the majority of them do not feature or mention mothers. If they do, it is as a very small supporting character. So today, my top ten is a list of book characters who could benefit from a good mother, whose lives would have been different with a mother’s love. Sometimes, the only way to measure the value of something is by the lack of it.

1. Raleigh Harmon of the Raleigh Harmon Mysteries

Although Raleigh had a loving understanding relationship with her father, it was cut short. Unfortunately this forensic geologist has never had a strong connection with her mother. This fragile relationship has only become worse as her mother’s mental health has deteriorated and Raleigh has been forced to put her in a mental hospital. She continues to reach out to her mother despite it all, but Raleigh has suffered the ache of the lack of understanding between them.

Continue reading “Top Ten Tuesday -Book Mothers”

Today I am linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for their Top Ten Tuesday prompt.

There are many things that will instantly make me want to read a book and I had a hard time deciding how to classify this list. To keep it simple, I condensed it as you see below.

1. Author -I keep a list of authors who I consider must-read, meaning I own most if not all of their books and immediately purchase any new releases. Unfortunately or fortunately for me this list continues to grow!  Just a few of the authors on my list include: Jenny B Jones, Nichole Van, Tessa Afshar, Laura Frantz, Tamara Leigh, Heather Burch, Joanne Bischof, Elizabeth Camden, Nicole Deese, Tammy L Gray, Becky Doughty, Sibella Giorello, Jody Hedlund, Kristen Heitzmann, Susan May Warren, Denise Hunter, Ronie Kendig, Julie Klassen, Siri Mitchell, Amy Leigh Simpson, Brandy Vallance, and Becky Wade.
2. Setting -I can pretty much guarantee you that any book set in Russia at any time in history or with a Russian character is going to be one I have to read. Don’t ask me why, but I’m fascinated with Russia’s culture and history and there are not nearly enough novels set there. Susan May Warren has a couple of series set in Russia that I enjoyed such as the Heirs of Anton and Mission:Russia. I also loved Ronie Kendig’s Russian spy hero in her book Talon.
3. Time Period -Historical fiction is my favorite genre with the medieval time .period being my favorite. So, I am constantly on the lookout for good stories set in medieval Britain and have even found a few set in France and Italy such as Lisa Tawn Bergren’s YA series River of Time and also her Novel of the Gifted series.
4. Time Travel -I feel time travel stories are the best of both worlds, contemporary and historical fiction, so when I find one I haven’t read I am immediately intrigued. Nichole Van is my current favorite author of this type of story.
5. Cover -Let’s be honest, who isn’t drawn to a book by it’s cover? Why else would that be a popular phrase to use, because we do judge books by covers. I am currently anticipating two new books from new to me authors simply because the covers caught my eye! And now I am eagerly awaiting the release of Ascension of Larks by Rachel Linden along with Toward a Secret Sky by Heather MacLean.
6. Sale -Again, ladies let’s be honest. Which one of us can resist a good sale? I have read many a book written by an author I had never heard of, simply because the book was either discounted or even free. I have discovered several of my favorite new authors this way, particularly indie authors who self-publish. I say yay for book sales!
7. Book Reviews -Sometimes I will read a book I didn’t think would interest me simply because I read a review by someone I trust. I don’t often take random book recommendations from friends, but a review gives me information about the story itself while also highlighting things the reviewer loved about it.
8. Sequel -I love/hate books with sequels, mainly because I always want to know how the story ends. I’m one of those readers who read the back of the book first. So, if I fall in love with a story which takes more than one book to tell, then I absolutely have to read the sequel to find out what happens! I am currently biting my nails waiting on Firstborn, which is the sequel to Tosca Lee’s book The Progeny that I read last year. I loved it, but I hate that I have to wait so long to find out what happens. Therefore, I can promise you I will be buying Firstborn as soon as it releases.

I know I’m a bit short of ten, but there you have it.