Friday, March 10, 2017

Book Blogger Hop: March 10th - 16th




Instructions: Select all code above, copy it and paste it inside your blog post as HTML


Welcome to the new Book Blogger Hop!

If you want schedule next week's post, click here to find the next prompt question. To submit a question, fill out this form.

What to do:

1. Post on your blog answering this question:

  This week's question is submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews)!

How far in advance do you read the books you have scheduled for review?

2. Enter the link to your post in the linky list below (enter your Blog Name and the direct link to your post answering this week’s question. Failure to do so will result in removal of your link).


3. Visit other blogs in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading other posts and possible become a new follower.  The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.
  

My Answer: 

 Well, it all depends on how many other books I have to review first. Typically, I stack up my to-be-read pile by the scheduled review date (if there is one), and I read the books in that order. I try to sneak in other reads in between those, so sometimes I get a little behind in my reviewing. I might have a book read and reviewed weeks ahead of schedule. Then there are other times where I'm speed reading the book on the day the review is due.


Linky List:

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Barbara Cameron's 'Home to Paradise' Facebook Party Tonight!

Home to Paradise, the final book in author Barbara Cameron's The Coming Home series, is not to be missed! Rose Anna Zook always thought she and John, one of Stoltzfus brothers, would marry, make a home together, and have children. But John, enjoying his Rumschpringe in the Englisch world, has other ideas. Rose Anna is determined to bring her man back into the Amish fold. John is equally determined to live his life free and unencumbered. Who will win this battle of wills? Will love prevail?

Join Barbara on Thursday, March 9, for a live author chat party on her Facebook page with fun prizes to be won! Click the graphic below for more details and to RSVP. Hope to see you there-bring a friend or two who loves Amish fiction!

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Spring Reads: The Elusive Miss Ellison


Kregel; 304 pages; $14.99; Buy Link; Blog Tour

Now available from Kregel Publishing is the romantic regency novel The Elusive Miss Ellison, book one in the Regency Brides: A Legacy of Grace series, by author Carolyn Miller.

Set in the small village of St. Hampton Heath, Gloucestershire, England in the early 1800s, the novel centers on Nicholas, the youngest son of the Earl of Hawkesbury, returning home. Despite the fact most of the villagers are excited about his return, he plans on making his visit very brief, mostly thanks to his guilt over his brother's harmful past.

The last thing Nicholas wanted was to fall in love, but that's exactly what happens after several unwanted encounters with the opinionated Miss Lavinia  Ellison, who happens to be a minister’s daughter.

I guess you can say that Lavinia isn't exactly excited to learn of Nicholas return to town, especially since the Hawkesbury family are responsible for her mother's death.

Carolyn Miller's 'The Elusive Miss Ellison' Kindle Giveaway

Regency romance fans have another must-read novel to add to their lists: Carolyn Miller's The Elusive Miss Ellison. Enjoy the spirited exchanges between the bluestocking minister's daughter and the bruised war hero as they move past pride and presumption to a humbled appreciation of God's grace and the true strength of love. These two lonely hearts may each have something the other needs. But with society's opposition, ancestral obligations, and a shocking family secret, there may be too many obstacles in their way.

Settle in for a cozy night of reading with a cuppa and a Kindle from Carolyn!


One grand prize winner will receive:

Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on March 22. The winner will be announced March 23 on the Litfuse blog.

Spring Reads: I'm Going To Give You A Bear Hug!


ZonderKidz; 30 pages; $16.99; Amazon
To kickoff this year's first "Spring Reads" post, I'm featuring a review for the picture book "I'm Going To Give You A Bear Hug!" by author Caroline B. Cooney with illustrations by Tim Warnes. The book was published at the end of 2016 by Zonderkids. I've had a review copy for about two months and I"m just now getting around to reviewing it.

It's difficult for me to write a decent review for the title as the book doesn't have a plot of any kind. As the title suggests, the picture book is about giving hugs through the eyes of a child. The child in the story uses his imagination to give different kinds of hugs, such as a cat hug, a big hug, a bear hug, etc..


Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Popcorn & Coffee: Moana Blu-ray Review


PG; 107 minutes; Walmart

Arriving on Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD from Disney Home Entertainment today is the animated blockbuster Moana. Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, the film features the talented voice cast of of Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel House, Temuera Morrison, Jemaine Clement, Nicole Scherzinger, and Alan Tudyk.

Moana centers on Moana Waialiki, the daughter of Chief Tui on the small Polynesian island of Motunui. At a young age she was chosen by the ocean to receive the mystical heart that once belonged to the island goddess Te Fit. The heart was originally stolen by the the demigod Maui over a millennium ago.

While their island has always provided enough resources for their tribe, vegetation and fish have now become scarce. Moana recommends sailing pass the reef to search for fish, but Chef Tui denies her request as he believes the ocean is too dangerous to cross.

After finding several boats belonging to ancestors in a cave, Moana, along with her pet rooster Heihei, sails off pass the reef in search for the long lost demigod Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson). Moana hopes she can convince Maui to return the mystical heart and save her tribe.

Monday, March 6, 2017

4 Tips for Writing Better Characters

*This is a sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine. 




Characters are the lifeblood of your writing. If you don't have good characters, audiences won't connect with any other work that you've done with your plots, themes or narrative arcs. Here are just a few tips for ensuring that your characters are strong enough to carry your story.


1. Give Everyone a Personal Motivation

What do your characters want? It can be as simple as "a new girlfriend" or as complicated as "improved diplomatic negotiations for the country they're ruling." Just give them some kind of reason to get out of bed in the morning. This includes all supporting characters, even the ones with motivations that don't actually make the page. They'll have stronger voices if you flesh them out.


2. Start With a Likeable Scene for Your MC

This is important even for anti-heroes and villain protagonists. If you want the audience to root for your main character (MC), the audience needs to be engaged by them early on, and that means giving them an introductory scene with something human or relatable. Show your mob boss petting his dog. Show your gruff cop making breakfast for his little girl. There are a million ways to tell the audience, "This is someone worth caring about."


3. Let Your Characters Dictate Their Own Actions

While it's understandable that you want your characters to follow along your preexisting plot, it's important not to twist their arms in a way that's unbelievable or contrary to how they would really act. If your plot demands that a neurotic, safety-obsessed lab technician accidentally mislabels something, that's bad writing. It would never happen! Find another way to explode the nuclear bomb.

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Review - Redeeming Grace by Jill Eileen Smith


Revell; 360 pages; $15.99; Amazon
Now available from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, is the biblical drama Redeeming Grace (Ruth's Story), book three in the Daughters of the Promised Land, by author Jill Eileen Smith.

I had never read any of the other books in the series, but I thought it would be interesting to read how life was like during biblical times.

Redeeming Grace centers on Ruth and Naomi from the Old Testament. Naomi and her family had moved from Bethlehem to Moab after famine had struck there. They had better luck in Moab, where there were greener pastures and the harvest was good. 

However, a series of bad luck occurs, one after another, leaving Naomi alone in the foreign land with just her widowed-daughters-in-law for comfort. She would prefer to return to Bethlehem, but her daughter-in-law Ruth refuses to leave her side.