Posted Tuesday, 30 June, 2015 by jorielov Kamy Wicoff, She Writes Press, Spark Points Studio LLC, Wishful Thinking 0 Comments
I quite happily am spending Summer soaking through the lovely discoveries I am making through the annual BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge! This particular Summer challenge has become quite dear to me due to how wicked lovely my local library has been in giving me an added layer of joy whilst BookSparks has coordinated the blog tours attached to the reading challenge in such a way to continue to *surprise!* me by finding books arriving by Post I was not even sure would be posted! (full story revealed on this post)
This marks my second review out of ten, and although I was originally meant to post my ruminations on Monday, the 29th of June, I needed the extra hours to fully immerse myself into Wishful Thinking! Partially due to a slow-shift back into reading after my illness and partially due to a *major!* upgrade my blog undertook over the weekend yielding to a few wonky tech issues that left me unable to blog.
My next review for #SRC2015 was meant to appear on Thursday, however, I believe it will be closer to Saturday, as I equally need more time to fully embrace my next summer read! I am hoping after I post #SRC2015 No.3, I’ll be back on track with my pre-booked schedule!
It was such a joy to snuggle into this novel – it nearly felt autobiographical, too! Wicoff is definitely an author I want to keep my eyes on and continue to see where her bookish endeavours take us!
Acquired Book By: I originally found BookSparks PR last Spring, when I came upon the Summer Reading Challenge a bit too late in the game. I hadn’t forgotten about it, and was going to re-contact them this Spring to see if I could join the challenge this year instead. Coincidentally, before I sorted this out, I was contacted by one of their publicists about Linda Lafferty’s Renaissance historical novel, “The Sheperdess of Siena”.
At the time when I was confirmed to be a part of the #SRC2015 official blog tour schedule, we were not able to get confirmation on which books we selected to review on our respective blogs would be sent to us by the publishers and/or publicist at BookSparks, thereby I submitted purchase requests at my local library for all *10!* books I selected to read and review.
I elected to read “Wishful Thinking” via the complimentary copy I received by BookSparks as the library copy arrived just after this lovely book arrived by postal mail. By participating in the #SRC2015 challenge I am reading the novels in exchange for my honest reviews; whether I am receiving a complimentary copy or borrowing them through my local library. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Wishful Thinking
by Kamy Wicoff
Source: Direct from Publicist
Genres: Women's Fiction, Motherhood | Parenthood, Magical Realism, Time Travel Fiction, Quantum Physics Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
Published by She Writes Press
on 21st April, 2015
Format: Paperback Edition
Pages: 384
written by Kamy Wicoff | Site | @kwicoff | Facebook | Instagram
Published By:She Writes Press (@shewritespress)
originated from She Writes (@shewritesdotcom)
an imprint of Spark Points Studio LLCGoSparkPoint (@GoSparkPoint)
& BookSparks(@BookSparks)
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook
Converse via: #WishfulThinking & #SRC2015 Read More
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Posted Tuesday, 30 June, 2015 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, #SRC2015 | BookSparks, 20th Century, Animals in Fiction & Non-Fiction, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Cover | Notation on Design, Book Cover | Original Illustration & Design, Bookish Films, BookSparks, Cats and Kittens, Clever Turns of Phrase, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Disillusionment in Marriage, Divorce & Martial Strife, Equality In Literature, Family Drama, Family Life, Fathers and Daughters, Genre-bender, Humour & Satire in Fiction / Non Fiction, Indie Author, Indie Book Trade, Inspiring Video Related to Content, Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards, LGBTTQPlus Fiction | Non-Fiction, Library Love, Life of Thirty-Somethings, Life Shift, Local Libraries | Research Libraries, Magical Realism, Modern Day, Mother-Son Relationships, Motherhood | Parenthood, Multi-cultural Characters and/or Honest Representations of Ethnicity, New York City, Passionate Researcher, Public Service | Community Officers, Quantum | Mechanics Physics Theory, Realistic Fiction, Science Fantasy, Scribd, Second Chance Love, Single Mothers, Sisterhood friendships, Story in Diary-Style Format, Terminal Illness &/or Cancer, Time Shift, Time Travel, Time Travel Adventure, Time Travel Romance, Vulgarity in Literature, Women's Fiction
Posted Friday, 26 June, 2015 by jorielov HarperAudio, HarperCollins Publishers, P.S. Edition, Robin Antalek, The Grown-Ups, William Morrow 0 Comments
Something quite wicked awesome happened to me this Spring – I had the sweet opportunity to begin hosting for BookSparks which led to my participation in my *1st!* ever #SummerReadingChallenge bonanza of bookish loveliness! I marked my first blog tour with BookSparks with a super wicked historical fiction which touched on every emotional keel a historical novel can yield and then arched back over into such a depth of humanity that I simply found it hard to put the novel down! I’m speaking on behalf of The Sheperdness of Siena!
The beauty about the #SRC2015 challenge is that it is OPEN to readers everywhere – especially those who are following the book bloggers who are a part of the official blog tour of Summer (i.e. most of us are sporting the badges on our blog’s sidebars and/or our social media accounts. Likewise, I included the badges per blog tour I am participating in on my Bookish Events page for quick reference for my regular readers and subscribers!
BookSparks included a nifty bookmark and guide for us to follow and help inspire our Summer Reading Challenge journey! On the list, I am focusing mostly on *three!* key things: using photography to help showcase the books as they arrive in by my local library (see this post for explanation) and via postal mail; tweeting using the #SRC2015 as I am reading *each!* novel (there are 10 total!) I selected to read and review during the blog tours; and I am posting a review on a pre-determined schedule of my choosing! I have dates lined up starting right now in late June and ending in early September!
I fell slightly behind on my in-between review post updates due to my back-to-back illnesses, which is why I am going to be back-posting approx. 3-4 ’10 Bookish, Not Bookish Thoughts’ to chart my journey with the reading challenge inasmuch as share the bookish and non-bookish joys that have alighted in my life since my first entry posted on 14th of May! From here on out, on *Thursdays!* there will be a new post arriving filled with #SRC2015 news!
I elected to participate on Twitter and Riffle as compliments to my bookish blog as I do appreciate being connected to other social readers, however, other plausible networks simply weren’t my cuppa tea. Part of my future entries of ’10 Bookish, Not Bookish Thoughts’ will be scouting out other wicked sweet entries of the book bloggers who are uploading keenly awesome content and supporting all the lovely authors who were selected in this year’s showcase! Due stay tuned not only to my blog but my bookishly delightful tweets, as you never know which book I will be #currentlyreading and thereby, sharing my readerly reactions as I make my way through Summer! I encourage you to tweet me back and/or leave comments on each #SRC2015 threaded post on my blog! Let’s converse about the stories we’re reading in common and our conjoined thoughts and reactions therein!
Borrowed Book from my local library: I originally found BookSparks PR last Spring, when I came upon the Summer Reading Challenge a bit too late in the game. I hadn’t forgotten about it, and was going to re-contact them this Spring to see if I could join the challenge this year instead. Coincidentally, before I sorted this out, I was contacted by one of their publicists about Linda Lafferty’s Renaissance historical novel, “The Sheperdess of Siena”.
At the time when I was confirmed to be a part of the #SRC2015 official blog tour schedule, we were not able to get confirmation on which books we selected to review on our respective blogs would be sent to us by the publishers and/or publicist at BookSparks, thereby I submitted purchase requests at my local library for all *10!* books I selected to read and review.
I elected to read “The Grown-Ups” via my local library, as they purchased this novel ahead of my submission of requests; the novel arrived into my local library ahead of further confirmation and postal mail via #SRC2015. By participating in the #SRC2015 challenge I am reading the novels in exchange for my honest reviews; whether I am receiving a complimentary copy or borrowing them through my local library. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
The Grown-Ups
by Robin Antalek
Source: Borrowed from local library
Narrator: Cassandra Campbell
Genres: Women's Fiction, Contemporary Romance Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
Published by William Morrow
on 27th January, 2015
Format: P.S. Edition Paperback, Audiobook Excerpt | SoundCloud
Length: 11 hours, 46 minutes
Pages: 384
written by Robin Antalek | Site | @robinantalek | Facebook
Published By: William Morrow (@WmMorrowBks),
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (@HarperCollins)
Available Formats: P.S. Edition paperback, Audiobook and Ebook
Converse via: #TheGrownUps & #SRC2015 Read More
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Posted Friday, 26 June, 2015 by jorielov in #SRC2015 | BookSparks, 20th Century, Audiobook, Audiobook Excerpt, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, BookSparks, Brothers and Sisters, Coming-Of Age, Contemporary Romance, Disillusionment in Marriage, Family Drama, Family Life, Fathers and Daughters, Fly in the Ointment, Life Shift, Modern Day, Realistic Fiction, Soundcloud, Teenage Relationships & Friendships, Vulgarity in Literature, Women's Fiction
Posted Monday, 11 May, 2015 by jorielov Advantage Media Group, BookBaby, On the Edge, Safe & Sound, Self Published, T.S. Krupa, TS Krupa LLC 2 Comments
One my favourite novels of [2014] as a 1st Year Book Blogger was Safe & Sound because it broke through a few literary barriers and told an honest story from a contemporary point of view whilst giving you a hearty Romance and a narrative that owned itself to it’s own living truth inside the world Krupa created. I appreciated the fact the equality in lit inclusion of a happily engaged couple proved that when you seek out diversity and stories of equality, there can be a softness to the inclusion to where everything feels quite natural and organic, rather than purposely included to be ‘different’.
I like honest stories and especially Romances rooted in relationships, as these are my favourite kinds to read and thereby the ones I seek out the most to devour! On the contemporary and modern side of the ledger, since I read Safe & Sound and even a bit before, there is a bit of a gap in my reading life as I recently mentioned on a post I’m still composing to publish (it’s my first attempt to release a ’10 Bookish and Not Bookish Thoughts’ meme!) as much as I related a bit about this on my review of Robin’s Reward.
My initial reaction to hearing about the premise of On the Edge proves my wicked good cheer to celebrate Krupa’s sophomore release:
I’m focusing on military stories in June, and the week of Flag Day has two highlighted already (Meant to Be by Jessica James and Those Who Remain by Ruth Crocker), so if I were to mark down the 20th of June (that Saturday) it would be a full week of military stories! :) I love war dramas, which you may or may not have known, and therefore I have a soft spot for military families and stories of war widows. Another contemporary author whose approached this is Mary McNear with her Butternut Lake series; I reviewed the first two novels (Up on Butternut Lake | Butternut Summer) and upcoming at the end of May will be the third.
I’ve been itching to know where you were going to take us next and this story, wow. It’s aces for me, because your talking about topics and subjects that are right up my alley! And, snowboarding!? Did you catch my Winter Olympic & X-Games tweeting!? I *LOVE!* snowboarding events! It’s one of the most viewed sports in my family! Wicked awesome!
I feel if you can take a modern day setting and domestic situations to knit a compelling drama out of a story any reader can feel attached to by the novel’s central heart, than your a novelist who has an ace in the hole such as Krupa because she writes the stories that are both convicting as much as they are inspiring. You feel uplifted by the emotional journey you’ve taken with her characters, and I can only foresee this happening again as I get to know those who inhabit On the Edge.
Drama is best written when the reader feels as if they’ve transitioned through the story’s arc and come out the opposite end in much the same fashion as the character they’ve lived the experience alongside; to me, this is one reason I actively seek out Romantic dramas a bit more than Romantic comedies; although I appreciate both equally, the dramas simply speak to me in a way that pull your heart closer to the humanity threaded throughout all of literature.
It’s an honour to welcome back Ms Krupa for her Cover Reveal and Book Birthday Announcement on behalf of ‘On the Edge’ because I truly am wicked happy to see her new release a year after her debut! I hope that each of my readers have taken stock of her stories as they alight on my blog, and have settled into Safe & Sound knowing they will have a new favourite writer to read and follow.
Don’t be shy —
leave Ms Krupa a comment or question in the threads below this post OR tweet her directly @TS_Krupa!
Biography for T.S. Krupa:
T.S. Krupa was born in New Haven, Connecticut. Raised in a Polish household with a blended American culture, she is fluent in Polish. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree from Franklin Pierce University, where she also played field hockey. She earned her Master’s from Texas Tech University and recently graduated with her Doctor of Education from North Carolina State University. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and her dog.
In 2014, T.S. Krupa published her award-winning debut novel Safe & Sound. On The Edge is her second novel.
Read More
Posted Monday, 11 May, 2015 by jorielov in Author Found me On Twitter, Bookish Discussions, Contemporary Romance, Equality In Literature, Family Drama, Family Life, Indie Author, Indie Book Trade, Life Shift, Military Families of the Deployed, Military Fiction, Modern Day, Mother-Daughter Relationships, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Royal Social Media, Self-Published Author, Single Mothers, Snowboarding | Half Pipe OR Slope, The Olympic Games (Winter or Summer), Widows & Widowers, Women's Fiction
Posted Wednesday, 11 February, 2015 by jorielov Harper Perennial, HarperCollins Publishers, Mary Helen Specht, Migratory Animals 0 Comments
Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Migratory Animals” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the publisher Harper Perennial via HarperCollins Publishers, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Inspired to Read:
Each time I am given a set of books that are upcoming on a blog tour via TLC, one of the few characteristics I am seeking out of that set of stories is to seek a path to new authors who not only will challenge my mind and my heart as I read their narratives but perhaps they will take me somewhere not yet seen. I love the inertia of the discovery — to dare to seek out a story or an author who will write a story that will leave me wholly enthused by the experience for having sought out their literary work as much as the joy to write about their story will give me a heap of happpiness whilst their story is still fervently attached to my memory.
There are moments where I stumble across a book or an author who has left me quite curious for what I shall find inside their covers. What will I come across once the book is in hand? Once the character is known to me more intimately than a brief appearance in a short synopsis? What will my lasting thoughts be about the journey I took inside the book itself? These were some of my initial hopes and thoughts as I looked over the list of upcoming books for blog tours for Spring 2015.
Migratory Animals simply ‘stood out’ from the pack.
There was something uniquely different about this one.
Hence why I was quite on pins to read it and see where it’s story would lead me to travel. Read More
Posted Wednesday, 11 February, 2015 by jorielov in 21st Century, ARC | Galley Copy, Blog Tour Host, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Fly in the Ointment, Literary Fiction, Modern Day, Realistic Fiction, TLC Book Tours, Vulgarity in Literature, Women's Fiction
Posted Wednesday, 10 December, 2014 by jorielov Catherine Ryan Hyde, Lake Union Publishing, The Language of Hoofbeats 3 Comments
The Language of Hoofbeats by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Published By: Lake Union Publishing
Available Formats: Paperback, Audiobook, and Ebook
Converse on Twitter via: #TheLanguageOfHoofbeats
Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a tour stop on the “The Language of Hoofbeats” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the publisher Lake Union Publishing, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Inspired to Read:
When I originally heard about this story from a list of blog tours which may or may not become a tour with TLC, I cast my hat into the ring to be amongst the book bloggers who might be able to review it! One of the more interesting bits of revelation as a book blogger whose in her 2nd Year, is how extraordinary the blog tour schedules are set and how each book starts to curate it’s own unique history of going on tour! This particular book was slated to be on a blog tour, yet it was uncertain if it would be at one point. Part of me grieved a bit as even though I knew I could still read this novel through my local library (libraries are a booklover’s best friend!), there was an internal part of me who had hoped I could read and blog it for my readers!
I have been a bit open and honest about how I am going to be adopting out of (domestic) foster care in the future, as I have found different ways to broach the topic whilst either reading a book who has the same topic of interest knit inside it or if I find a window of where I could talk about being a future Mum in a way that worked with what I was blogging about at that point in time. This novel sparked an interest because it is about blended families, about having adopted children and fosters; whilst attempting to sort out how to bring a family together as a whole. To me that undercurrent of a theme for the novel spoke to me, as any Prospective Adoptive Mum never knows what is going to happen once you open your heart and home to fosters and adopted children. There is always a period of adjustment and then a moment of where all parties start to connect in ways no one could have seen but always had hoped. The journey of being a blended family through adoption or fostering of children is a path not everyone chooses to walk, but is one that is knitted into my own heart.
Therefore I am always mindful and aware of which books I want to read in the future to help encourage an open dialogue on my blog — for riveting and realistic fiction for adults as much as for stories inside Children’s Lit which can help children and teens in and out of the system find stories they believe are representative of their own life story. This particular focus on my blog began with a Middle Grade novel Red Thread Sisters and has evolved forward. In 2015, I want to take a moment out of each month to bring a spotlight on the books I’m finding through my library as there is a wonderful assortment of novels and non-fiction for foster and adoptive families right now. I even spoke about how these stories fit under my participation for seeking out more diverse literature as part of the national campaign for #WeNeedDiverseBooks.
What I hadn’t realised is the author penned the story Pay It Forward which became a bonefide motion picture! My whole focus on this book prior to the blog tour was the prospect of what I would find inside the pages and how the author would choose to focus on the harder hitting moments within. Her previous works are unfamiliar to me, and although I am aware of the film, I have not seen it. How lovely then, I came to know her through an Indie release focused on a non-traditional family!?
The Language of Hoofbeats
by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours
From the bestselling author of Pay It Forward comes a story of the heartbreak and healing power of family. New to a small town, Jackie and Paula envision a quiet life for their kids: a young adopted son and two teenage foster children, including the troubled Star.
However, they quickly butt heads with their neighbor, Clementine, who disapproves of their lifestyle and is incensed when Star befriends her spirited horse, Comet. Haunted by past tragedy and unable to properly care for Comet, Clem nevertheless resents the bond Star soon shares with the horse. When Star disappears with Comet, the neighbors are thrown together—far too close together. But as the search for the pair wears on, both families must learn to put aside their animosity and confront the choices they’ve made and the scars they carry.
Plumbing the depths of regret and forgiveness, The Language of Hoofbeats explores the strange alchemy that transforms a group of people into a family.
Genres: Women's Fiction, Adoption & Foster Care Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
ISBN: 978-1477824689
Published by Lake Union Publishing
on 9th December, 2014
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 342
Read More
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Posted Wednesday, 10 December, 2014 by jorielov in Adoption, Blog Tour Host, Brothers and Sisters, California, Equality In Literature, Family Drama, Family Life, Foster Care, Go Indie, Indie Author, LGBTTQPlus Fiction | Non-Fiction, Life Shift, Modern Day, Mother-Daughter Relationships, Orphans & Guardians, Realistic Fiction, Siblings, Single Mothers, Social Services, TLC Book Tours, Women's Fiction
