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Monday, April 30, 2018

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

This is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn @ The Book Date. I learned about this meme from Lori at Palmer's Page Turners. Thank you for sharing this fun meme! 


What I Just Finished Reading






What I'm Currently Reading

TBD!



What I am Reading Next

TBD!



Happy Reading!

Sunday, April 29, 2018

Reading Recap


Hi Everyone!

Stopping by with a couple of mini reviews...

The Royals
I read other books by Rachel Hawkins and I knew I had to read this one. I enjoyed that the story was about the others who are impacted by a Royal Wedding. I could see this one playing out as a movie or a TV show. Thanks for the opportunity to read.

Craig and Fred
Story of a marine and his canine friend. I was sent this one by a friend and I really enjoyed it. I cannot even imagine the experiences that happen in military zones and to have a friend like a dog there must be nice. I am glad for this book and the story. Thanks for the opportunity.

Boots and Backpacks
Pride and Prejudice on the Appalachian Trail. I enjoyed the story about this one and the modern take on a new story. I kept imagining the Lizzie Bennett Diaries all over again and I just loved the setting for this book.

Have you read any of these? Happy Reading!


 
Happy Reading!

Saturday, April 28, 2018

Dewey's!!


What is Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-a-thon? For 24 hours, we read books, post to our blogs, Twitters, Instagrams, Litsy, Facebook, Goodreads and MORE about our reading, and visit other readers’ homes online. We also participate in mini-challenges throughout the day. It happens twice a year, in April and in October.
It was created by the beloved Dewey from The Hidden Side of a Leaf (her blog is archived at the Wayback Machine). The first one was held in October 2007. Dewey died in late 2008. We’re still saddened by her absence, but the show must go on. The read-a-thon was renamed to honor its founder in 2009.
Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-a-thon has been hosted by Heather of My Capricious Life and Andi of Estella’s Revenge, with help from scads of volunteers since 2013.

Happy Reading!

Friday, April 27, 2018

Book Nerd Bites: Spring Kabobs!

Spring is here! (I hope!) In the spirit, I wanted to share with you a quick recipe!

Book Nerd Bites is an original monthly feature created by some lovely book bloggers Becca, Cyra, Kristie, Natasha, and I as part of the Book Blogger Creativity Project hosted by Nori. Thanks to my team for coming up with a fun and creative way to satisfy both our book-- and actual appetites!  
Each month we will be sharing exciting recipes inspired by some of our favorite books. Feel free to join in, but please make sure you link your post back to us so we can enjoy your favorite bookish delights as well!

Don't forgot to use if you want to share your food inspiration with us on twitter or instagram!
 
*And now a fun recipe....for this time of year to assist you in your reading! :)

Spring Kabobs!

Photo Credit



Happy Reading!

Thursday, April 26, 2018

Guest Post

Hi Everyone!

I am excited to be here today with a guest post for your reading enjoyment! :) Please help give them a warm welcome!

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Just exactly what does the reader of a “guest blog” want to know from the writer? Is it our vision for the book or inspiration for the setting and characters, perhaps?  With each request we are taking a leap of faith that our subject has been thoughtful and well-chosen. One frequently asked question is, “As a brother and sister team, what challenges were presented in collaborating to create the book?”
First we drew on our own experiences and tailored them to work together. As writers, generally, we write about others, not ourselves…or at least that is what I had believed until undertaking this book.  However, I quickly learned that many of my own thoughts or perspectives and life experiences became a potent influence as I developed the dramatis personae.  Even in a fantasy setting, it is our imagination, perhaps a collage of memories of persons and places, which brought forth the flow of words.  Our inscape is present even if not necessarily evident to the reader. Who I am, as a person, is an obvious reality to those who know me well when reading The Jinn and the Sword just as certainly my brother’s individuality is apparent and translated into the language of the characters who speak for us and to us. What I have found most astonishing is what we learned about each other during the writing as well.
The poetically written Prologue and Epilogue were both written by my brother, an attorney, CPA and judge.  Rob is all about word precision, an expert wordsmith, so most who know us would not have attributed such flowery sentiment to him.  The beauty of those words is what inspired me to join him in bringing his inspired plot and outline to life – I found them irresistible.  The point is, however, that as a writer of legal decisions, each word is deliberately and cautiously chosen because there are consequential legal ramifications attached to each writing. This crossover of writing from precision to beauty and sensitivity seem irreconcilable and yet he drew poetic and prosaic inspirations from his own inscape.  The Prologue and Epilogue are just two examples which were the product of his sensitive nature. Here is a favorite quote that I wish I could claim was solely mine…not just the adding of a few words and moving around one or two:
“And thus, in this moment, Francesca Lupo acquiesced, releasing herself to experience the utterly irresistible metamorphosis of the girl into the woman…an exquisite transformation tenderly and profoundly touching her embryonic soul.”
Dear reader, is not proof that a lawyer, one dedicated to the precise, is capable of writing with great sensitivity?  And I, as an interior designer, always seeking creative and beautiful solutions to functional and mundane problems, found myself capable of writing scenes and words that would likely be attributed to him – the opening scene for example.  All gruesome and terrifying…along with other phrases such as “look for exculpatory evidence” or “suborned his cabal of malcontent janissaries to great treachery against the sultan.”  Legal terms used by me, but that more likely would be attributed to him. I think both of us were surprised by these “crossover” abilities.
We both love the use of alliteration, consonance and assonance, attempting to create an intonation and prosody of sorts, throughout the book. We both relish the rhythm of words, sometimes finding we merely loved the sound of a particular word.  “Hunt for the heretical”, “portentous pricks”, and “blasphemous brushstrokes” are examples, and another in our introduction. “…deep beneath the ancient cobbled and cacophonous streets of Istanbul…in the moments after midnight, the mysteries were manifest and multiplying.”
I do not describe myself as a writer, but rather an “expresser”.  This book turned me into a huntress, on a search for deliciously descriptive words and becoming a wordsmith myself. There is equal darkness and light in the book.  Describing light was less difficult than darkness…what “kind” of darkness did we want the reader to experience? An evil “caliginous” darkness, a hellish “stygian” darkness, a thick “atramentous” inky darkness, or perhaps a darkness created by a swaddling brume? I focused on sensory awareness such as “putrefying stench”, “foulness”, “tenebrous depths of the cisterns”, hoping the reader could smell and feel the moment. Endeavoring to entice the readers to “visually tactile” experience, the descriptions of the surroundings were created by describing even the weight and movement of fabrics or the colors of the underside of clouds.  Portrayals of people, scenes, moments with wonderful, underused words – coxcomb, quidnunc, hauteur, fallalery, felicity, inconnu, anoesis, esperance…is that not just the most lovely word? Is there not “hope” for our language if we revive the use of such exquisite and yet rarely used, or even abandoned, words?  Therein, readers, lies a mission! 
During the writing too, I was “found out.”  Perhaps my brother was also.  It required reaching in, deep to that place most sacred and protected.  In my view it would be impossible to create characters who had not experienced deep love, profound sorrow, betrayal, confusion and even the divine…all the complexities that create the human soul – our “pearls”.  Having been cautioned never to “cast them out”, I believe a writer, an expresser, I must nevertheless do this, regardless of the consequences; it would be so unfair to our characters not to allow you in.  And so we welcome you to explore all of these thoughts in The Jinn and the Sword.
It is time to begin anew our searches – both internal and external – for all those moments we want to create to captivate our reader with the next book. We will face a new, challenging “darkness,” a new fantastical beast and a new cache of clues requiring untangling. It’s  exhausting, but strangely reenergizing. We do love (almost) every minute of it!

We hope you love our story…our little “entertainment”.
With great gratitude for the opportunity and to our readers,
Sara Cook (and for, Robert Peacock)
www.thejinnandthesword.com (Website)
https://www.instagram.com/thejinnandthesword/ (Instagram)
Thanks for coming by the blog!
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More information: 
BOTH AUTHOR BIOS
Robert Truss Peacock is an attorney/CPA who has served as an Administrative Judge for the past thirty-two years, most recently on the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) and previously on the Corps of Engineers Board of Contract Appeals prior to its merger with the ASBCA in 2000. His inspiration for the book emanated from his study of Ottoman history and culture and visits to the magnificent city of Istanbul when he was stationed in Turkey as an Air Force JAG officer approximately forty years ago. Whenever able, he spends his free time with his twin daughters, Mary and Anne, and his grandchildren, Wilfred and Amelia.


Sara Lawrence (Peacock) Cook is a published interior designer and retired from her thirty year career as owner of an interior design business and importer of antiques. Living in Europe for fifteen years she traveled extensively for clients, business and pleasure, including a visit to Istanbul, Turkey – the setting for the novel. A self-described “collector of experiences and impressions,” she turned her creative efforts to writing, using her vivid recollections to build scenes and characters in The Jinn and the Sword, an intriguing, inspired plot and mesmerizing outline developed by her brother and co-author, Robert. Joining forces, their shared vision was to enhance the reader’s experience by illustrating the book in a manner evocative of the manuscripts of the 16th century. Leaving behind the hectic pace of suburban life, she recently relocated to the northern Great Plains in search of a more Arcadian lifestyle. She has been married forty-five years to John L. Cook, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel and published author. She credits Katelyn Cook and Rebecca Cook, daughters made family through marriage to their sons, Zachary and Joshua, for their elevated artistic and editorial contributions.
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A FEW  QUOTATIONS FROM THE JINN AND THE SWORD
“The cruelties man inflicts upon fellow man are endless and barbaric…These things are beyond comprehension and each brutal bestial act creates an individual human tragedy, the consequences spilling into many lives.”
“This is the man known for solving mysteries of the imperial courts. He is very clever and often impassive.  Be cautious.  Vincenzo Lupo is more a fox than a wolf.”
“A terrified Mehmed gazed into the distorted and grotesque face of the Shaitan, its wildly flashing eyes exuding a phlegethon of malice and drooling mouth filled with sharp, cuspidated teeth.”
“A journey within itself, Istanbul always revealed new discoveries with each visit. To cross from one side of the street to another was to walk through the centuries.”
“Il Lupo cautioned, “Apparent demeanor is an insufficient reason to rule anyone out at this time. Remember, we cannot discard clues until we are completely certain they are of no value. We must always open-mindedly interrogate our assumptions.”
“Tears still softly falling from her eyes, she slowly began to move her hips in a seductive, circling motion with arms raised over her head, her gauzy fabric draped from her fingertips as she pulled it over her face, exposing only her moist eyes. Moving with exquisite grace around the room, her motions intensified, matching the pace of the music. Roxelana’s dance was rapturous.”
“Blasphemous brushstrokes!”
“Abruptly the Jinn stiffened and sensing the presence of the three onlookers, ceased in its demonic maiming.  Turning its head slowly and deliberately in their direction, it focused its minacious gaze on them.”
“Make no mistake, Kemal.  Yes, I am a woman, but never underestimate me.  I am a match for any man.”




 
Happy Reading!

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Waiting on Wednesday: Puddin'

Hi Everyone!

Stopping by to let you know about a book that I think sounds great! :) 


Author: Julie Murphy
Release Date: May 8th, 2018

 
Summary from Goodreads:
It is a companion novel to Dumplin', which follows supporting characters from the first book in the months after Willowdean's star turn in the Clover City pageant.

Millie Michalchuk has gone to fat camp every year since she was a girl. Not this year. This year she has new plans to chase her secret dream—and to kiss her crush. Callie Reyes is the pretty girl who is next in line for dance team captain and has the popular boyfriend. But when it comes to other girls, she’s more frenemy than friend. When circumstances bring the girls together over the course of a semester, they will surprise everyone (especially themselves) by realizing they might have more in common than they ever imagined.

 
Happy Reading!

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Frequently Used Themes in Children's Book Titles




Hi Everyone! 

I am stopping by with another TTT. This weeks theme is: Frequently Used Themes In Children's Book Titles. Here are few thoughts from me...

Colors!




Silly animals!




Fun places!









Happy Reading!

Monday, April 23, 2018

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

This is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn @ The Book Date. I learned about this meme from Lori at Palmer's Page Turners. Thank you for sharing this fun meme! 


What I Just Finished Reading






What I'm Currently Reading

TBD!



What I am Reading Next

TBD!



Happy Reading!

Sunday, April 22, 2018

Sunday!



 
Happy Reading!

Saturday, April 21, 2018

Guest Post with Debbie Augenthaler


Hi Everyone!

I am excited to be here today to bring you a guest post from Debbie Augenthaler. Please help me give her a warm welcome to the blog.
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Grief Stories Matter
by Debbie Augenthaler,
Author of You Are Not Alone
       
“If I dont learn to face my grief, it would be like taking a deep breath and holding that breath for the rest of my life.” --Kate Pearson (Chrissy Metz), the daughter in This is Us

I’ve been riveted to the NBC show This is Us, and I’m almost relieved season two is over so I can finally put my tissues away and exhale. For anyone who has ever been grieving - which is all of us, this show is not only cathartic, but takes courage to watch, explore, and acknowledge the impact of loss. What I’m so aware of is how unspoken this is in our grief-phobic society.

As a psychotherapist specializing in trauma, grief and loss, it’s exciting to witness the first television series to accurately depict the intricate web of grief and the transformations that follows, both positive and negative. And because the writers of This is Us arent afraid to show us the many facets of grief, we arent afraid to look.

The show is bookended by two deaths in the close-knit and loving Pearson family, one occurring in the delivery room and the other following a tragic fire in the Pearsons home seventeen years later, though there are other meaningful losses in the series.

In the first episode of Season One, Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore) are expecting triplets. After the delivery, Dr. K (Gerald McRaney) informs a shocked Jack that one of the babies died. A grief-stricken Jack listens as Dr. K shares his personal story of losing his wife recently to cancer, and of the death of their first baby in the delivery room more than fifty years earlier. The loss of his first child inspired him to become a doctor. He tells Jack one day you will look back and see that you took the sourest lemon that life has to offer and turned it into something resembling lemonade. Moments later, Jack makes a decision to adopt an abandoned black baby a fireman brought to the hospital, and this decision changes the Pearson family forever.

This beautiful, tender, and sometimes tragic family story is mostly told in flashbacks, and we get to witness the three siblingslives twenty years after their father dies, to see how his absence in their lives and memory of his death still haunts them. Through their own personal struggles, they show us how grief has shaped and informed who they’ve become as adults. The experiences of each sibling, Kevin (Justin Hartley), Chrissy (Metz) and Randall (Sterling K. Brown) reminds us we all have different ways of coping with loss. It also shows how grief is not linear and has no timetable.

In the infamous Season Two Super Bowl episode Jack is finally safe in the hospital after going back into his familys burning home to save the family dog. Rebecca goes to the vending machine to get a candy bar.  In slow motion, as shes choosing from a mostly empty vending machine, you see the chaos of the hospital staff behind her, rushing into her husbands room.  When she finally turns around, the doctor is there to inform her Jack has died from a heart attack. Unable to take in the news, she crunches into her candy bar with denial.

Instantly, I am brought back to my own husbands shocking death when I was just thirty-six-years old, when his doctors came down the hospital corridor with the same look on their faces, to tell me my husband Jim was dead, also from a heart attack. Like Rebecca, I didn’t want to believe it. When Rebecca goes into Jacks hospital room and sees him laying motionless on the bed, when she is handed the plastic bag with Jacks wallet and other belongings, my body weakens and my legs tremble again like they did when I was handed a similar plastic bag—and I weep for her and also for myself so many years ago.

Thats the thing about grief and sharing our grief stories. We remember that grief is so personal, but its also universal.

The show exposes the darker side of how the characters manage their grief—through addictions, guilt, and anger, and in doing this, we are able to admit to our own struggles and see our own selves in these complex characters.

It also show the other side of grief, the gifts that can come from loss, when Dr. K., with great compassion, shares his story to give Jack hope. He does the same with Rebecca after Jack dies - giving her a glimmer of hope in the darkness. I love how strongly the themes of the continuing bonds of love and how our loved ones live on in us thread throughout the series. Love doesn’t die.

A good story reaches out and reminds us of our own experiences and our own struggles and triumphs, and This is Us delivers that in spades.  By witnessing the lives of another family in grief, we are given permission to look at our own struggles, to forgive ourselves our transgressions and also forgive those we love.

I’m grateful to NBC and all the writers for bringing grief out of the shadows and into the light with This is Usfor reminding us that grief is about all of us. These beautiful episodes will help us start so many conversations about grief, and by watching this show, whatever breath we are holding onto in our lungs, we can finally begin to exhale.

Because This is Us is who we are and this is the way we feel. Grief stories matter, and sharing them helps all of us heal.

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Thanks Debbie for the insightful post!

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About Debbie Augenthaler, LMHC, NCC
Debbie is a psychotherapist in private practice in New York City, where she has specialized in trauma, grief, and loss. Her husband, Jim, died suddenly in her arms when she was only 36 years old. He had been healthy and vibrant – the doctors compared the probability of his death by heart attack to being struck by lightning. That lightning strike ended her life as she knew it and thus began the “baptism by fire” that brought her to her new future.

Debbie’s book, You Are Not Alone: A Heartfelt Guide for Grief, Healing, and Hope (May 2018), is the book she wishes she’d had when she was grieving, and wishes she had now to offer clients experiencing life-altering losses. With the connection of a shared experience, Debbie guides the reader through grief to transformation and a new beginning.

Debbie has as Master’s Degree in Counseling for Mental Health and Wellness from New York University. She has completed a two year post graduate Advanced Trauma Studies program from the Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy and is trained in various modalities that inform a holistically based practice including EMDR, Internal Family Systems, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Energy Psychology, and Hypnosis. In 2012 she received the NYU Steinhardt Award for Outstanding Clinical Service.

For more information, please visit http://www.debbieaugenthaler.com/book/ and follow Debbie on Facebook and Twitter.


Happy Reading!