Category: Septemb-Eyre

Blog Book Tour | “Keeping Kate” (a re-telling of #JaneEyre) by Lauren Winder Farnsworth A contemporary spin on a classic novel etched inside a Classical Lit girl’s heart!

Posted Monday, 26 January, 2015 by jorielov , , , , , , 4 Comments

Ruminations & Impressions Book Review Banner created by Jorie in Canva. Photo Credit: Unsplash Public Domain Photographer Sergey Zolkin.

Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Cedar Fort whereupon I am thankful to have such a diverse amount of novels and non-fiction titles to choose amongst to host. I received a complimentary copy of “Keeping Kate” direct from the publisher Bonneville Books (imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc) in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Inspired to Read:

Originally I had it in mind to finish my readings of the original canon of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronté, as I had begun to read the classical novel during *Septemb-Eyre, 2013*! I even managed to articulate my thoughts on behalf of the first chapter sections as assigned by the hostess of the event itself! However, proceeding forward from there because a bit of a spiraling muddlement of bookish angst — I simply couldn’t put my thoughts back into Jane Eyre! I re-attempted to capture the joy whilst willing to re-read the original portion I had consumed and thus carry forward with the story alongside Maggie @ Macacroons & Paperbacks inasmuch as I wanted to start to make a positive head-way on my *Books of Eyre* reading challenge (also begun in 2013!)

When I found the blog tour for Keeping Kate, Autumn had barely winked into view, and I felt as my tour stop would be far, far ahead into January, surely I’d have enough days, hours, and weeks ahead of that particular day to read Jane Eyre? Sadly, I did not. Therefore, despite my willingness to keep a promise I made to myself about reading original canons ahead of after canons, I am once again reading them out of order! I must admit, when I read Sense & Sensibility during *Austen in August* 2014, I did not regret my choice of ‘when I read it’!

The best we can do is to attempt to read books in the order of preference we ideally have for each story, but sometimes, life has a better plan in store for us! I always felt stories arrive in our lives at the right moments in time where we’re meant to drink in their beauty; perhaps I was meant to read Keeping Kate ahead of Jane Eyre; because one thing I know for sure, I couldn’t get out of my own headspace to continue with the previous undertaking! I kept thinking I’d fall short as I continued to read the story, that I wouldn’t be able to resume where I had left off with my ruminations, etc. Sometimes we just need to ‘break out’ of our thoughts on a particular story and save it for a day that allows it to re-alight in our lives when the joy resumes within the discovery of the text!

I am looking forward to talking about this after canon with both Charlene @ Bookish Whimsy + Maggie, as they both adore Jane Eyre! I, myself came to discover Ms. Eyre through her motion picture adaptation, so you could say my entire history has been bent a bit backwards towards the printed page! Laughs.

 Blog Book Tour | “Keeping Kate” (a re-telling of #JaneEyre) by Lauren Winder Farnsworth A contemporary spin on a classic novel etched inside a Classical Lit girl’s heart!Keeping Kate
by Lauren Winder Farnsworth
Source: Direct from Publisher

"Don't you love me, Kate?" Has everything you ever felt for me really disappeared in less than ten minutes?"

"I do love you," I said woodenly. "I always will. But you'll never hear it from me again."

Kate Evans has never had a real family -- and she's never dreamed of falling in love. But when she gets a job taking care of a little girl on a lonely Utah ranch, Kate's determined to make a life for herself.

Right up until the moment she meets her irritable employer. . .

Sparks fly in this LDS twist on the classic Jane Eyre. Equal parts suspenseful, entertaining, and romantic, it's an addicting read that's sure to capture your heart.

Genres: After Canons, Classical Literature



Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

Published by Bonneville Books

on 13th January, 2015

Format: Paperback

Pages: 320

Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards Badge created by Jorie in Canva. Coffee and Tea Clip Art Set purchased on Etsy; made by rachelwhitetoo.Published By: Bonneville Books (@BonnevilleBooks),

an imprint ofCedar Fort, Inc (@CedarFortBooks)
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook

Converse on Twitter via: #KeepingKate

About Lauren Winder Farnsworth

Lauren Winder Farnsworth was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. She is an avid reader, a chocolate enthusiast, a musicophile and a CPA…who somehow also finds time to indulge in her real obsession—writing. She obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from the University of Utah, and the only entity that holds more of her heart than her alma mater is her husband, Bryan. Lauren currently lives in South Jordan, Utah, where she spends entirely too time watching Gilmore Girls and looking for excuses not to clean.

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On the similarities and differences of Jane Eyre:

From the first moment Kate Evans walks across the page, I felt a tightening in my heart towards her, as her spirit of self-awareness and of place within the folds of her life were very true to course! Kate is the kind of character I am oft-times in search of uncovering; not merely in Classical Lit but within the Contemporary realms as well! She has a captivating way of giving you just enough of a pause of thought on what is  happening to her as to ground you within her scope of the story itself. She hasn’t had the easiest of lives but she’s not despondent about it either! No! She’s as bold and direct about her circumstances fate has dealt her as Eyre with the moxie of her predecessor for digging deep into her faith and placing a firm foothold into a future that surely must lead to something not quite as darkening as her childhood!

Rather than being taken to a Gothic estate set far away from active society, Kate is led to a small mountain towne in Utah, where the community she felt she would uncover would be quite ordinary turnt into an extraordinary settled development where estates were more regular than cabins! Tucked away from most conveniences, her new dwelling was a far cry of being the center of modern life and had a more natural bent towards embracing the natural world of which surrounded the ranch where she was accepting employment.

Thornfield Hall is turnt into ‘Thorne Field Ranch’, where Adele becomes Addie, and Mrs. Fairfaxes name receives a change of ‘firsts’. The ambiance of the place remains intact, to where opulence and finery outweigh sensible style and pleasure. Rochester has surely met his match in Mr. Thorne! I never thought you could quite elicit out a duality of whom Rochester was in both origin and spirit, but Tyler Thorne has nailed him in such a justifiable way as to honour him through reincarnation!

The main difference of course, is that instead of a dark secret in the attic that causes the most angst in the climax of Jane Eyre, in Keeping Kate Tyler Thorne is betwixt knowing how to shift forward in life after his wife abandoned him, claimed infidelity, and straddled him with a child of whom she insisted was not his own. Yet dealing with the reality of this situation and the layers in which are knitted into the in-between moments where Kate and Tyler find themselves quite bemuseful of each other’s company, therein lies the best choices Farnsworth gave the novel!

She doesn’t allow this to be a ‘quick fix’ nor does she make the situation feel ‘contrite or predictable’. She took the harder road — to show realistic choices, raw human emotion, and levelled it with honesty about the depth of the human heart. The pace of the story is the most beautiful aspect of Keeping Kate because it allows you to let the tides of the narrative wash over you, lull you into the shoes of the main characters, and take a reprieve from  your own affairs. Read More

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

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Posted Monday, 26 January, 2015 by jorielov in 21st Century, After the Canon, Austen in August, Balance of Faith whilst Living, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Blogs I Regularly Read, Bookish Discussions, Bookish Whimsy, Books of Eyre, Cedar Fort Publishing & Media, Classical Literature, Contemporary Romance, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Jane Eyre Sequel | Re-telling, Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards, Life Shift, Macaroons & Paperbacks, Modern Day, Mormonism, Psychological Abuse, Re-Told Tales, Romance Fiction, Septemb-Eyre, Sweet Romance, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

_+ #atozchallenge _+ 26 Days | 26 Essays [epic journey] Today is Letter “E”. Hint: The World is a Melting Pot

Posted Saturday, 5 April, 2014 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 8 Comments

A to Z Challenge Day 5 Letter E I am involved in a world-wide globally connected blogosphere challenge where each blogger who signs into the participant linky is quite literally confirming their express desire to blog straight [except on Sundays!] for *26 Days!* whilst writing *26!* most intriguing & thought-producing alphabet essays! Or, to be comically inspiring, randomly cheeky, and otherwise delightfully entertaining! The bloggers who have signed into the challenge are from all walks of blogosphere life: book bloggers united alongside lifestyle gurus; writers of all literary styles nudged up against travelogues; the gambit runs the full course of each and every theme, topic, subject, and genre you could possibly light your heart with joy to broach in a blog! And, the curious bit to the journey is where your posts lead you as much as where other blogger’s posts inspire you! It’s this fantastic community to celebrate the spirit within the blogosphere as much as the spirit of connection amongst the bloggers who might not have crossed paths with each other otherwise. After all, the road map for blogs is as wide and large as the actual world outside the nethersphere of websites, pixels, and memes! Walk with us whilst we discover a bit about ourselves, our blog, & each other!

I am blogger #552 out of 2279!

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{ should be noted: @aishacs posted a multi-post Interview
on the blog Story & Chai
about diversity in literature; Part II, Part III, Part IV }

Originally I was going to focus on E P I C F A N T A S Y for Letter E, except to say, that throughout the twitterverse and the book blogosphere I was finding encouragement to draw light on another equally as important discussion of interest E Q U A L I T Y in L I T E R A T U R E! I grew up in a moderately sized city to the extent that the world was outside my door, the essence of the melting pot in vivid colours and dimensions was all around me. I loved the multicultural heritages I grew up near and I enjoyed the conversations I had with those who could help me understand traditions, cultures, and religions outside of my own. I have many fond memories speaking to Native Americans for instance whether I was at a bookshoppe or at an arts & crafts festival. I loved finding ways to engage with people who could dynamically shift my point of view and endear me to how our differences bridge the gap to how we are all interconnected and related.

Although I grew up in a house full of European descent (for the most part; mostly Briton though), the inertia of connectivity of other cultures was always encouraged and sought out. When you live in a city of any size, you get to see a beautiful cross-section of everyone who lives within the city itself. Whilst your riding the bus or walking down the boulevard you are greeting people as you come across them, accepting them as you speak to them, and within those brief moments of conversation you begin to grow curious about their own stories. Stories in which they grew up sharing within their own families and stories in which they grew up reading inside the books they cherished as bedtime companions.

I always celebrated then when I found multicultural characters in the stories I was personally reading as well as settings outside the norm of the net in which is regularly cast. E Q U A L I T Y in L I T E R A T U R E does not end nor begin on having different perspectives in ethnicity or nationality, as it also is inclusive of the ideal for a balancing of all characters and the lives in which they lead. This can include single | divorced | grandparent | foster parenting, adoptive or step-parent families, LGBT families and individuals; learning difficulties as well as those who are living with a medical handicap, illness, or affliction. Immigrant stories of people and families changing their stars for a life in a new country; biracial and multi-ethnic families. Whilst going further to extend past religious differences and spirituality freedoms to include a cross-section of all representations of a person’s beliefs as much as the differences in how we live, eat, and breathe. Full equality is giving the writer the will to focus on the characters they can personally identify with and as thus, can endear the reader to draw connection with as well. For every well-written story there is a reader who is aching to read a story which has transcended the living reality mantra of the earth being a melting pot and has taken the theory into practice in literature. I hint about my views about all of this under “My Bookish Life“.

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E Q U A L I T Y in L I T E R A T U R E for me is reading the world through the lens in which we live. Our world is a beautiful melting pot of cultures, traditions, religions and individualism. Why not celebrate those differences by painting living testaments of our lives as a portrait through the characters we breathe to life in novels? Giving back a bit of the grace in which we are free to live?
by Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story

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Access to Different Kinds of Literature via Color in Colorado

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Books on the Underground; Books on the Subway; Jorie Loves A Story: Booking the Rails

I recently reviewed a book for my Booking the Rails Feature where I highlighted Wonder by R.J. Palacio who wrote this beautiful book about a boy whose face is altered from other children yet the light of his heart uplifts everyone who meets him. The beauty of the novel itself is showing the grace of living your life as true to who you are on the inside as to reflect back to those who perceive you through prejudicial eyes the joy in being authentically yourself. The barriers people build up between each other can be brought down one by one if we endeavour to understand what alienates us and be determined to draw out empathy and compassion as a first response rather than fear, ignorance, and indifference.

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August has a keen philosophical intuitiveness about himself, the dynamics of his family, and his personal living environment around him. He seeks to find solace out of uncertainty and squalls chaos with simplistic truths which etch out the stigmas of which society oft-times places on individuals who are in some shape or form ‘different’ from the ‘norm’. And, the sad truth is that normalcy is in the eye’s of the beholder! To be normal is quite definitively the ability to be wholly true to yourself, your internal resolve of spirit, and in knowing who you are without the prejudgements and negative thoughts of others assembling into your heart. August has instinctively dry humour to convey his thoughts about life, dispelling any unease to meet him because he breaks the ice by simply being himself! He draws you into his sphere by engaging you in a way you were not expecting! No pretense. He’s simply ‘August’, who prefers to go by ‘Auggie’, the brother of Via and the boy who wants to live like a regular ten-year old entering fifth grade!

– quoted from my review of Wonder by R.J. Palacio

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Each book I am selecting to highlight as part of my Booking the Rails feature will be a story which will challenge convention and/or the ideals of story-telling and branch out into new horizons for both my readers and those who find the books on the trains. I want to start a conversation on those posts of giving dialogue and conversation to topics and subjects that will benefit from having a light shined on them. It’s my own wink and a nod to creating a new pathway back into the culture of being ‘bookish’ and ‘conversational’ with each other. Rather than merely nodding in agreement or staying silent altogether. More of my thoughts on this are contained on my visit to The Star Chamber Show : Episode 16. (archived & easy to listen too)

Carol Antoinette Peacock & Pepper
Carol Antoinette Peacock & Pepper in the author’s office. Peacock Family Album.

Previously, I showcased the adoptive story of Carol Antoinette Peacock whereupon her story entitled: Red Thread Sisters embarks on the journey of adopting children from China. This is one of many yet to appear on Jorie Loves A Story, as one of my sub-focuses on my blog will be positive adoptive stories for those who are considering foster adoptive options as well as international, open, and other avenues towards adopting children into their family home. I wanted to find authors who give a positive testament of the emotional keel a child or teen experiences prior to adoption as much as the transitional period after they are adopted. (if the story broaches both time periods) What I appreciated about Ms.  Peacock’s writings are her honesty in leading with her heart and her own adoptive story in which the Red Thread Sisters stems from at its core.

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There are two sayings throughout “Red Thread Sisters”, as well as in the personal letter attached in the afterword by the author herself,… one is a meditative pause of ‘light reflected as brightly lit as lunar lanterns’, and the second is the poignancy behind the entitlement of the book itself, ‘of the delicate red thread that unites all of us in a shared common bond, where those who cross our path are meant to be in our lives, and despite the appearance of the thread’s nature, will hold steadfast and strong perpetually’. The book gives pause to any woman considering motherhood through adoption and any father choosing his path of fatherhood through adoption, because it touches on the raw emotions that are silently withheld from the adoptive parents, by children who live in constant fear that something they do or say or not do even will be grounds for them to return back from whence they came. To become un-adoptable simply because they didn’t live up to the adoptive parents expectations. It’s also a book that examines adoption from the reflections of the children themselves, as they struggle to yield and bend with a new rhythm completely different from the one they were used too whilst at an orphanage, group home, or foster home. They have to learn its okay to make mistakes, to learn and grow through their experiences, and that a forever family isn’t co-dependent on perfection but rather with honesty, heart, emotion, and love. May we always keep ourselves lit from within with a light of hope as powerful and strong as lunar lanterns, to advocate for adoption and the expansion of our hearts and worlds when a child in need of a family, finds one in those of us willing to open our hearts and homes to them.

– quoted from my review of Red Thread Sisters

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One author where I found a strong sense of giving E Q U A L I T Y in L I T E R A T U R E a new definition of purpose is Laura Resau. Her blog is linked to my sidebar where the RSS feeds join the mixture towards the bottom. I have been making purchase requests for her books at my local library each chance that I can as well. The tricky bit is to remember which book of hers I read first: What the Moon Saw OR The Indigo Notebook!? I have taken it upon myself to read all of her novels, but I am still in the middle of accomplishing this goal! I have also read Star in the Forest.

Laura Resau
Photography Credit: Tina Wood Photography

Laura Resau is the award-winning author of seven highly acclaimed young adult and children’s novels– What the Moon Saw, Red Glass, Star in the Forest, The Queen of Water, and the Notebooks series (Delacorte/Random House). She draws inspiration from her time abroad as a cultural anthropologist, ESL teacher, and student. Loved by kids and adults alike, her novels have garnered many starred reviews and honors, including the IRA YA Fiction Award, the Américas Award, and spots on Oprah’s Kids’ Book Lists. Praised for its sensitive treatment of immigration and indigenous people’s issues, Resau’s writing has been called “vibrant, large-hearted” (Publishers’ Weekly on Red Glass) and “powerful, magical” (Booklist on What the Moon Saw). Resau lives with her husband, young son, and beagle in Fort Collins, Colorado. She donates a portion of her royalties to indigenous rights organizations in Latin America.

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The Indigo Notebook Book Trailer by the Author Laura Resau

The Indigo Notebook Page on Laura Resau’s site

[ after the 1:00 mark the song continues to be enjoyed by audience ]

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The Indigo Notebook by Laura ResauResau has the natural ability of fusing the indigenous culture of Mexico and Ecuador into her novels in such a wonderfully skilled way, that whilst I was reading The Indigo Notebook I instantly flashed back to my own memories of traversing through the interior of Mexico in and around the Federal District and the Yucatán Peninsula! One of these days I want to collect her books for my own personal library, but what I appreciated about my local library is being open to bring in authors who write multicultural stories for a young audience who could benefit from the life lessons and story contained within her pages! As I start to re-read over the books I have already read and progress forward into the ones I haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading, I will be writing down my thoughts on my blog! I am always hopeful that through the sharing of my own lamentations about the writers and books which speak to me to the point of being moved emotionally, I will in one small way impact another reader’s life.

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E Q U A L I T Y in L I T E R A T U R E : A sampling of Books to Read

{ books I have predominately found through my local library }

UPDATE: per rifflebooks.com errors I’ve moved this list to my #LibraryThing
(as I will be reading these selections throughout [2019] part of my #BeatTheBacklist challenge)

E Q U A L I T Y in L I T E R A T U R E : New Authors on the Horizon

A full list of the book covers & stories is on Riffle: (share at will!)

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Equality in Literature & Diversity in Literature : walk hand in hand – July 2014

Reaching past our own heritages and our own living environments gives us a wider world view and depth of understanding. We become wholly in-tune with the harmony of the world’s spirit by embracing all the lovely and unique differences which shape our identities. We grow out of love and we give back love each time we endeavour to forge a bridge between our culture and the culture of someone else. We give our spirit a bit of a lift by the joy of celebrating the history of people who live as passionately as we do and whose traditions are as rooted in their culture and families as much as our own. Lessons of connectivity and of friendship will always abound when two souls are willing to make a connection.

One of the books I have oft spoken about online via my blog and my Twitter feeds is “The Golem and the Jinni” by Helene Wecker, which is an atmospheric enriched narrative which crosses the divide between mythology and immigration. She digs deep into the setting of her novel to shift between New York City and the old world in which the Golem and the Jinni originated from. She has a deft hand in revealing human emotions and convictions out of characters who are everything except human! What endeared me to the text is her gift of story-telling to not only enchant you with a magical kinetic plausibility but to give you a full score of characters who are each on their own individual journey towards self-discovery. It’s in this inherent quest to understand both origin and worth in a world set against the tides of where their destinies are taking them, Wecker infuses her narrative with a connection of heart.

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Each were set on a course to learn and grow out of their experiences in a place neither expected to be. They each succumb to their inherent natures, but I feel only one of them is able to change the other for the good. Because one of them is stronger than the other as far as knowing how to make good on what has been turned for the bad. Their journey leads not to a resolution of sorts to overcome their individual obstacles towards true freedom, but rather too a junction point that leads them to question everything they felt they knew thus far along. And, in that conclusion the reader has to sit back and ponder the true meaning behind “The Golem and the Jinni”, for was it a journey of theirs that you took or an inward journey of understanding the limitations of humanity?

– quoted from my review of “The Golem and the Jinni” by Helene Wecker

I am hopeful that more readers will seek out E Q U A L I T Y in L I T E R A T U R E by choosing titles by all authors of all backgrounds who celebrate our united spirit within the global society of nations and nationalities.

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Not enough multicultural books? via Color in Colorado

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Thank you for joining me on DAY 5 | A to Z Challenge!

I am a girl named Jorie who loves a story!
I am a bookish library girl on a quest for literary enlightenment!
I am predominately self-taught and library educated!
I am Mademoiselle Jorie!
Thank you for joining me on this journey!

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This marks my fifth post for the:

A to Z ChallengeFun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Which authors do you feel reflect the beauty of E Q U A L I T Y in L I T E R A T U R E? Which authors who are newly published OR have books which will soon be forthcoming would you recommend to be added to the “on the horizon” category of this post!? Which books have captured your heart whilst enveloping you in another person’s shoes and culture?! How do you feel progress has been made to give ever writer a voice and each story the gift for expanding our horizons?

UPDATE: 1 May, 2014: In the weeks since this post was first published I have participated in #diverselit & #WeNeedDiverseBooks movements on Twitter. I also created the tag #EqualityInLit to reflect my personal view and feelings towards diversity and equality in literature. You will denote a new category indexed on Jorie Loves A Story E Q U A L I T Y in L I T E R A T U R Ewhich speaks to the heart of how this blog post inspired me to make my views a bit more well-known.

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{SOURCES: A to Z Challenge Participant & Letter C Badge provided by the A to Z Challenge site for bloggers to use on their individual posts & blogs to help promote the challenge to others.The photograph of Carol Antoinette Peacock was given to me by the author and used with permission. Laura Resau photograph, author biography & book cover for The Indigo Notebook used with permission by the author. The book trailer by Laura Resau had either URL share links or coding which made it possible to embed this media portals to this post, and I thank them for this opportunity to share more about this novel and the author who penned it. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Post dividers provided by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

Related Articles:

Diversity Solutions with Sherri L. Smith (author of “FlyGirl”) – (mayaprasad.com)

Why I Write About India – (mayaprasad.com)

Diversity in Kid’s Books – (nytimes.com)

Booklist 2014 (for multicultural literature) – (campbele.wordpress.com)

Exploring Diversity Through Children’s & Young Adult Books: Background Reading – (cynthialeitichsmith.com)

Embracing Diversity in YA Lit – (slj.com)

Comments via Twitter:

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Posted Saturday, 5 April, 2014 by jorielov in A to Z Challenge, Adoption, Book Cover Reveal, Book Trailer, Booking the Rails, Bookish Discussions, Bookish Whimsy, Brothers and Sisters, CFHS The Society, Children's Literature, Coming-Of Age, Conservation, Cultural Heritage, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Author, Debut in United States, Debut Novel, Epistolary Novel | Non-Fiction, Equality In Literature, Family Life, Fantasy Fiction, Genre-bender, Guest Spot on Podcast, Hard-Boiled Mystery, Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller Suspense, Interviews Related to Content of Novel, LGBTTQPlus Fiction | Non-Fiction, Literary Fiction, Memoir, Meteorology, Nanowrimo 2008, Non-Fiction, Orphans & Guardians, Quaker Fiction, Readerly Musings, Septemb-Eyre, Siblings, Sociology, Southern Belle View Daily, Teenage Relationships & Friendships, The Dystopia Challenge, The Rocketeer, The Typosphere, Time Travel, Time Travel Adventure, Travel Narrative | Memoir, Vignettes of Real Life, Wicked Valentine's Readathon, Writes of Passage, Wuthering Heights, Young Adult Fiction

+tCC Group Check-in No.8+ February 2014

Posted Saturday, 15 February, 2014 by jorielov , , , , , 0 Comments

The Classics Club badge by Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story

tCC Group Check-In #8 :February: 2014

Stepping Back into the Folds of Time | tCC

To seek out the classics, but also, to soak into their worlds, their settings, and their language. To fully become aware of the essence of why the writers’ left behind these tomes of exploration for next generations to ponder and muse upon their worth. To float through centuries and dance through literary genres whilst engaged in the craft of writing as scribed by those who came before us. – Jorie’s reason for reading the Classics February 2014

I could not get my footing in the Classics during the month of January, as I had high hopes of participating in the Wuthering Heights (#WutheringHeights) readalong via my good friend Maggie’s RAL! The chapters were evenly distributed throughout January, but what I lacked was not interest but time! Time to truly absorb myself into the flow of the story and to settle my mind into the heart of the discussions! I was reading non-stop in January, as I had quite the stacked review schedule going for blog tours, but I missed being able to grab a book at my leisure! I’m thankfully current at the moment, which is where the serendipitous offer by @RiverheadBooks (info on their RAL) to join them in a Wuthering Heights discussion between mid-to-late February & early March felt like a second chance to discuss & read this wicked classic by Emily Brontë! I will be going between the schedule for Riverhead Books & dropping in on the conversations in-progress via Maggie’s blog! Here are the following schedules for both as outlined in my blog’s sidebar:

Wuthering Heights via Maggie’s RAL:

Week 1 (Jan5-11): Chapters I-IX
Week 2 (Jan12-18): Chapters X-XVII
Week 3 (Jan19-25): Chapters XVIII-XXVI
Week 4 (Jan26-Feb1): Chapters XXVII-XXXIV (End)

Wuthering Heights via Riverhead Books RAL:

Chat #1: 21Feb
Part I: Chapters I-X
Chat #2: 28FEB
Part 1: Chapters XI- Part II: Chapter 7
Chat #3: 8MAR
Part 2: Chapters 8-20

Likewise, whilst in engaged in the Wicked Valentine Readathon I decided to pull off a book from my library shelf (borrowed through my local library vs. my personal library!) which falls under my Back to the Classics reading list! I am referring to The Ladies Paradise by Emile Zola! I consider my efforts for both tCC & Back to the Classics to be of equal measure as they sort of walk hand-in-hand with each other!

In September, I had taken upon myself to participate in Septemb-Eyre which was a RAL for reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. I only managed to complete the first check-in point for Chapters I-XI, with the full intention of re-visiting the story and resuming where I had left off before the hourglass closed on 2013. However, due to life’s way of distracting our reading adventures, I never once had the pleasure of picking up the story right where Rochester starts to play a more keen part in Jane’s life! When I had first learnt of Maggie’s RAL for Wuthering Heights I felt it would due me well to resume Jane Eyre at the same time! I might be a bit behind the eightball in reading classical literature, but I am striving towards reading the stories as time allows me to absorb them! I can foresee blogging about Eyre & Wuthering Heights in repetitious succession!

Whilst engaged in a #LitChat conversation about #WarandPeace I found myself proposing the idea of joining the War and Peace Book Club via LitChat! (as mentioned in my Wicked Valentine journal entry) What I had not remembered is that I truly had included War and Peace on my tCC list! I thought for sure I had omitted its inclusion as I always felt that it would be a rather daunting book to read!

It would have been placed on my very first tCC Spin List if reading these particular classics had not knitted together when they had! I would have listed it under “Intrigued but wavering of resolve!”

And, of course imagine my surprise when I saw a tweet from the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi talking about how War and Peace would not be able to be contained inside 140 characters on Twitter!

The reason I knew I could soak into War and Peace at this particular junction is due to the fact, we’re only reading approx. 200 pages per month, whilst checking in via topics broached through LitChat’s website! I was even able to check-out the exact! same translation Ms. Sachs is using for herself! I am also reading the 1,215 pages translated by Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky! As this is what I declared to the lovely Mod for the RAL: (@DanaSachs)

You convinced me when you said “200 pages per month!”, yes I can handle that amount of reading!! I hadn’t realised you were going to break it down into something drinkable and lovely such as that! Wicked sweet! I’ll have to sort out how to make a proper blog post about this, and then, of course, I need to put myself on hold for the book! I must confess *this!* is the classic I was most akin at avoiding from reading until I was trapped inside during a raging blizzard! Mind you, I live in the perpetual sunshiny South and my days in Winter are yet to evolve into existence, but ooh! I think I always felt I needed much more ‘time’ and ‘space’ and of course, the proper ‘mind-set’ to begin War and Peace! Thank you for convincing me otherwise!! And, alas! I have not only a birthday to celebrate in June but the completion of a classic I dare not have thought possible to read by thirty-five!

I am ever so blessed to have found The Classics Club, which has led me to finding such a wonderful community of bookish souls threaded not only throughout the club but outside it; in literary circles I might not have crossed had I not the forethought and intention of reading through my classics TBR list via the Club itself! I am thankful too, that I am not the only one curious about the classics OR willing to engage in discussions about our impressions therein!

{SOURCE: Wildlife photography by Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story, badge edited & created in Fotoflexer by Jorie. Tweets were able to be embedded by the codes provided by Twitter.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Saturday, 15 February, 2014 by jorielov in 18th Century, 19th Century, An American in France, Back to the Classics, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Classical Literature, Gothic Literature, Library Love, Literary Fiction, Photography of Jorie, RALs | Thons via Blogs, Reading Challenges, Septemb-Eyre, tCC The Classics Club, Twitterland & Twitterverse Event, War and Peace RAL, Wicked Valentine's Readathon, Wuthering Heights, Wuthering Heights RAL

*Forthcoming Reviews, Book Tours, and Exciting News!* | A JLAS Update!

Posted Saturday, 26 October, 2013 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Comments

Parajunkee Designs

Forthcoming Reviews, Book Tours, and Exciting News!
{A JLAS Update!}

My dear readers, I must apologise for the extended absence I have taken here on JLAS! I was hit quite hard earlier in the month when I took ill, and in the weeks since, I was dealing with a family matter that is now resolved, however, I have lacked the proper time to not only complete the readings I was happy to have the opportunities to participate in but I did not have the proper time needed to populate my blog with postings and reviews until now, as I am editing the posts that will start to go live lateron in the weekend and into the early bits of Halloween week! I have lots of exciting things to share with you, and I do apologise if it looked like I had vacated Jorie Loves A Story, but hopefully, you did see the two postings I put on the top margin!?

I originally posted this NEWSFLASH:

The review of “The Study of Murder” by Susan McDuffie, has simply been delayed whilst I recover from being ill. I apologise for my absence, but I will be resuming life on my blog shortly! Thank you if you had ducked back to see the review, as it will post this week instead!

And, followed it up with this NEWSFLASH:

| Small UPDATE: 21 October | My review of “The Study of Murder” is in-process as well as a review of “Redheart” by Jackie Gamber. I am working on my first 2 discussion posts for “Finnikin of the Rock”, as well as my second post for “Jane Eyre”. I have 3 “Pride & Prejudice” posts in the mix for “Classics Re-Told”. Between now and the 1st of November, I will be working on getting my posts back on track, as I had an extended leave due to a family matter that is now resolved. I appreciate everyone’s patience during my absence.

My heart you see has been in the right place, but I have unfortunately not been able to give my dear readers the content they were hoping to see on my blog! Thankfully, I have noticed that you (my subscribers and faithful readers) have held with me during this time and for that, I extend my gratitude to each of you! :) I wanted to post this today to duck in and say, I am thankful for your patience and I look forward to interacting with you quite soon! Therefore, let me not delay the exciting news I have to share with you, so that you will know what will be coming up next!

The Study of Murder by Susan McDuffie

“The Study of Murder” by Susan McDuffie

This review was meant to posted on the 12th of October, however, as foresaid, I was delayed until this weekend to complete my full review of this book. I will be posting my review on Sunday, 27th October!

RJ Sullivan Vitrual Blue Book Tour with TCM

“Virtual Blue” By R.J. Sullivan

This exciting book tour is heading to JLAS on Monday, 28th of October, as I will be reviewing the 2nd book in this exciting (Blue) series by Mr. Sullivan, whose humour I expect to leave me in stitches!

Redheart by Jackie Gamber

“Redheart” by Jackie Gamber

I was attempting to post this review shortly after “The Study of Murder”, however, my entire posting schedule for October has been altered from how I planned it originally. Therefore, I am going to be posting my review of this first book of the Leland Dragon series on Wednesday, 30th of October.

Iluminations by Mary Sharratt Book Tour HFVBT

“Illuminations” by Mary Sharratt

My first book tour with HFVBT (Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours) will be alighting on my blog on All Saint’s Day, the 1st of November! I am looking forward to this, as I always enjoy my ‘first’ tour with each touring company!

Meanwhile,… there are a few reading challenges and read-a-longs,

Septemb-Eyre hosted by Entomology of a Bookworm

Remember, I was reading “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë?! The good news, is that I am still in the middle of the book, and I am going to be posting the next installments as soon as I am ready to reveal my next impressions! I have longed to know how this story proceeds, as I left off right as Mr. Rochester and Jane were starting to interact with each other! :(

Classics Re-Told: 19th Century & Gothic Classics | Focus: Pride & Prejudice hosted by Bookish Whimsy

I picked “Pride and Prejudice” as my focus for this lovely Reading & Viewing challenge to uncover all the ‘after canons’ that were interconnected with Ms. Austen’s original story! I actually did quite well in viewing a few adaptations in motion picture as well as encountered quite a few ‘after canons’, however, the posts are in-progress and will be fleshed out for proper posting over the course of the next weeks! Two of my favourite adaptations that I stumbled across during this wicked challenge were the 1940 film adaptation with Greer Garson and the re-telling adaptation of “Lost in Austen”.

During the course of October, whilst I was off-blog for a fortnight, I lost my footing with this reading challenge, as the posts I was meant to contribute, which is why I’ll be making amends for this by posting everything after the weekend in full, but hopefully, will get a few pieces up on JLAS before the conclusion on Sunday! :( I was so hopeful that I could have participated with this during the event itself, but life sometimes takes us off-guard and re-focuses our attention elsewhere! Needless, I am simply thankful to have discovered this book, and will enjoy making my rounds to the blogs/readers who participated!

And, the exciting news is that this event:

Sci-Fi November | Hosted by Rinn ReadsIs the one in which, I am participating in a month-long series of posts that will revolve around my chosen 3 topics of interest, which are as follows: Steampunk, Time Travel, and Dystopian! I will be posting a more comprehensive post about this lovely event on Halloween, as the kick-off is the 1st of November!

What a wonderful time of the year for reading, eh!?

The winds are starting to turn crisper, leaves are starting to fall, and all the lovely divine foods that give us comfort and goodwill are starting to become available at the farmer’s markets! Days were being out-of-doors is a pure delight, as the temperatures forestall the heat, and there is an energy in the air that uplifts the soul! Autumn is always such a beautiful time of the year, and I am thankful, that this year, not only do I get to enjoy the natural environments, but I am able to turn inward, and explore a lovely diverse range of books and celebrate the joys of reading! I wonder what books your exploring and picking up!?

November will be an exciting month here on Jorie Loves A Story, as I have *5!* book tours arriving!!

I hope you were able to *catch!* Jorie Loves A Story’s first contributor post, “World Book Night: from a Giver’s Point of View” by Greylen!? This posted a few days ahead of the official 2014 World Book Night Sign-Ups went live! I am curious if any of my readers are taking part in this exciting event!?

Be sure to stay tuned!!

And, I thank you for your patience until I could return!

Autumn and Harvest blessings to all!

{SOURCES: Book cover for “The Study of Murder” provided by the author, Susan McDuffie. Book Cover for “Redheart” provided by Tomorrow Comes Media. Book Tour badges provided by Tomorrow Comes Media and Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours respectively. Finnikin of the Rock Read-A-Long badges provided by Bookish Whimsy. Sci-Fi November Badge provided by Rinn Reads. “Septemb-Eyre” & “Classics Re-Told” badge created by using the Jorie Loves A Story badge created by Ravven with edits by Jorie in Fotoflexer.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2013.

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Posted Saturday, 26 October, 2013 by jorielov in Classics Re-Told: 19th Century & Gothic Classics, Finnikin of the Rock, JLAS Update Post, Jorie Loves A Story, Sci-Fi November, Septemb-Eyre

WWW….Wednesday #2: One Book at a Time, One Day at a Time!

Posted Thursday, 26 September, 2013 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

WWW Wednesday badge by Jorie in Canva

I loved the premise of this meme {WWW Wednesdays} due to the dexterity that it gives the reader! :) Clearly subject to change on a weekly rotation, which may or may not lead to your ‘next’ read which would provide a bit of a paradoxical mystery to your readers!! :) Love the concept! Therefore, this weekly meme is hosted by Should Be Reading. Each week you participate, your keen to answer the following questions:

  • What are you currently reading!?
  • What did you recently finish reading!?
  • What do you think you’ll read next!?

Afterwhich, your meant to click over to Should Be Reading to share your post’s link so that the rest of the bloggers who are participating can check out your lovely answers! :) Perhaps even, find other bloggers who dig the same books as you do! I thought it would serve as a great self-check to know where I am and the progress I am hoping to have over the next week!

What are you currently reading!? A better question would be to ask “What is Jorie not reading!?” (smiles a bit mischievously!) You see, I fell behind on my Septemb-Eyre + Classics Re-Told Reading schedules, but I stubbornly refuse to abandon ship on either project! Afterall, I am stitching together posts this week for 4 adaptations in motion picture for “Pride and Prejudice”, as well as making headway towards having book reviews ready as well! Therefore, I am knee deep inside Chapters XII-XXI of Jane Eyre, expecting to post my ruminations by Sunday, which coincides with my review of The Boxcar Baby, which I am starting on the morrow! The Pride books I am reading are as follows: Mr. Darcy’s Little Sister by C. Allyn Pierson, The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy by Maya Slater, and The Independance of Miss Mary Bennett by Colleen McCullough.

Meanwhile, I have seven! lovely books in progress at different stages of absorption:

  1. Larkrise to Candleford by Flora Thompson
  2. Bluebird or the Invention of Happiness by Sheila Kohler
  3. The Secret Papers of Madame Olivetti by Annie Vanderbilt
  4. The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland
  5. Death by Darjeeling by Laura Childs
  6. Murder on Monday by Ann Purser
  7. & Thyme of Death by Susan Wittig Albert

To the keenly observant, this list was included on my #1 WWW! I still fully intend to read each of them!

What did you recently finish reading!? The Secret Keeper K.B. Laugheed! This story bewitched my mind, as it was such an engrossing multi-dimensional stroke of narrative!! I was quite gobsmacked when I read the other reviewers’ opinions, as I would never consider this to be a book for a pre-teen! Unless they were emotionally mature, but even then, its not a story of innocence nor of a life lived wrapped around the warmth of hearth and home! Its a gutting testament of the power of overcoming your past and carrying forward into your future! I seriously wonder at times, am I reading a different book altogether!? When I was between the ages of 9-12 I wouldn’t be caught dead reading a book with such heavy story-lines as these, because I was wrapped up in: Anne of Green Gables, Mandie, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Thoroughbred, The Black Stallion, Agatha Christie, and other childhood favourites I’ve outlined under “Children’s Lit: The Undiscovered Frontier“.  By 13, I was exploring more mature texts, as I was in a Michael Crichton, John Grisham, and Tom Clancy phase by then, but evenso, the books I chose to read by them were not on this same theme. I was also entering my cowboy and frontier fiction days, yet those authors were more tempered than Laugheed in their descriptions of frontier Americana. As I would consider this book akin to “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” the tv series, which I watched in my twenties! The story is still haunting my thoughts, because I very much want this book to transform itself into ‘a first of a series’ OR at the very least ‘one of two’ stories stitched together. Its very much one half of a whole! I truly love this book, for adults! I’ll step off my soapbox now, my ire was irked that’s all!

What do you think you’ll read next!? I will be diving into the world of Ave, [The Fires of Eden series] by way of a short story collection that knits together previously spoken about characters or events, inside The Chronicles of Ave: Volume I by Stephen Zimmer! My review of this lovely collection will be live on my blog: 5th of October! Continuing forward with Eyre, Chapters XXII-XXIX will be consumed next, as well as Two Shall Become One: Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Pride and Prejudice Continues by Sharon Lathan, Pemberley by the Sea {alternative title: The Man Who Loved Pride and Prejudice} and Mr. Darcy’s Obsession by Abigail Reynolds; Pride, Prejudice, and Jasmin Field by Melissa Nathan; Dancing with Mr. Darcy: stories inspired by Jane Austen and Chawton House {anthology} by Sarah Waters and Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal. I am still awaiting materials through ILL &/or books to boomerang back to me, to complete my Classics Re-Told Project, therefore, this is an abbreviated list!

BONUS: What did you forego reading at the moment to read again lateron? Sadly, I had to let go of Lucid Stars by Andrea Barrett, which was an ILL book, and therefore, will be a bit trickier to get back again! I simply ran out of hours to read all the lovely books I was attempting to read having been ill for a week [third week of September!]. There are times when you simply cannot do anymore than your able too. The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe, and Jane and the Unpleasantness of Scargrave Manor slid into this category as well! I was able to reach the audio clip that I shared with you during my Top Ten List for Autumn Reads, yet that was about as far as I made it before it was called back! With Scargrave, I felt like it would be possible to conclude the story, but in the end, the hours rain out of the hourglass! I am back on hold for both of these lovelies, and eagerly await their return! I have also decided that for whichever reason, my ‘time’ to read Mistress of my Fate has not yet arrived!

Whew!

I wonder what everyone else is up, too!?

{SOURCE: The WWW Wednesday badge created by Jorie in Canva as a way to
promote the weekly meme for those who want to take part in it.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2013.

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Posted Thursday, 26 September, 2013 by jorielov in 19th Century, After the Canon, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Books of Eyre, British Literature, Classics Re-Told: 19th Century & Gothic Classics, Cosy Mystery, Debut Novel, Fantasy Fiction, Folklore and Mythology, Historical Fiction, Library Find, Literary Fiction, Reading Challenge Addict, Science Fiction, Septemb-Eyre, Speculative Fiction, Steampunk, the Victorian era, WWW Wednesdays