Hi Everyone,
I’m over on YouTube today with a new summer episdoe of Read REACT Decide. See what books I’ve randomly selected from the library and which I’ve chosen to read:
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fiction
Let’s talk birds! Fiction that uses birds in its titles or stories
Hi Everyone,
Let’s talk birds! Today I’m sharing these fiction books that use birds in its titles or stories. I’ve read a few of them and some others look good to me. Do you recognize any? What looks good to you?
I read these:
I loved One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and To Kill a Mockingbird. I read Silver Sparrow a long time ago and remember thinking it was okay.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey: Boisterous, ribald, and ultimately shattering, Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel has left an indelible mark on the literature of our time. The unforgettable story of a mental ward and its inhabitants, especially the tyrannical Big Nurse Ratched and Randle Patrick McMurphy, the brawling, fun-loving new inmate who resolves to oppose her. We see the struggle through the eyes of Chief Bromden, the seemingly mute half-Indian patient who witnesses and understands McMurphy’s heroic attempt to do battle with the powers that keep them all imprisoned.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep South—and the heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred
Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones: With the opening line of Silver Sparrow, “My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist,” author Tayari Jones unveils a breathtaking story about a man’s deception, a family’s complicity, and the two teenage girls caught in the middle.
Want to read:
I have been meaning to read The Nightingale for such a long time! Red Sparrow looks really good to me and is the first in a series. It’s also been made into a movie. I think My Pen Is the Wing of a Bird, The Spectator Bird and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle look very good.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah: The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France—a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.
Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews: For fans of John le Carré and Ian Fleming and featuring “high-level espionage, pulse-pounding danger, sex, double agents, and double crosses” (Nelson DeMille), Red Sparrow is a timely and electrifying thriller that is impossible to put down. Now a major motion picture starring Jennifer Lawrence and James Edgerton.
My Pen is the Wing of a Bird by 18 Afghan Women: Eighteen Afghan women living in, speaking about, and writing from the country itself tell stories that are powerful and illuminating, unique and universal – stories of family, work, childhood, friendship, war, gender identity, and cultural traditions.
The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner: This tour-de-force of American literature and a winner of the National Book Award is a profound, intimate, affecting novel from one of the most esteemed literary minds of the last century and a beloved chronicler of the West.
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami: A “dreamlike and compelling” tour de force (Chicago Tribune)—an astonishingly imaginative detective story, an account of a disintegrating marriage, and an excavation of the buried secrets from Japan’s forgotten campaign in Manchuria during World War II.
Maybe reads:
I never read The Goldfinch when it came out and everyone was talking about it. So maybe to that one and these others…
Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen: From the acclaimed author of Garden Spells comes a tale of lost souls, secrets that shape us, and how the right flock can guide you home.
The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth J. Church: In her sweeping debut novel, Elizabeth J. Church takes us from the World War II years in Chicago to the vast sun-parched canyons of New Mexico in the 1970s as we follow the journey of a driven, spirited young woman, Meridian Wallace, whose scientific ambitions are subverted by the expectations of her era.
Night Bird Calling by Cathy Gohlke: From award-winning author Cathy Gohlke, whose novels have been called “haunting” (Library Journal on Saving Amelie) and “page-turning” (Francine Rivers on Secrets She Kept), comes a historical fiction story of courage and transformation set in rural Appalachia on the eve of WWII.
Birds in Fall by Brad Kessler: One fall night off the coast of a remote island in Nova Scotia, an airplane plummets to the sea as an innkeeper watches from the shore. Miles away in New York City, ornithologist Ana Gathreaux works in a darkened room full of sparrows, testing their migratory instincts. Soon, Ana will be bound for Trachis Island, along with other relatives of victims who converge on the site of the tragedy.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt: A young New Yorker grieving his mother’s death is pulled into a gritty underworld of art and wealth in this “extraordinary” and beloved Pulitzer Prize winner from the author of The Secret History that “connects with the heart as well as the mind” (Stephen King, New York Times Book Review).
The Secret of Raven Point by Jennifer Vanderbes: From the award-winning author of Easter Island comes a powerful, “unputdownable” (Vogue) novel of love, loss, and redemption amid the ruins of war-torn Italy.
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi: As seen on the cover of the New York Times Book Review, where it was described as “gloriously unsettling… evoking Toni Morrison, Haruki Murakami, Angela Carter, Edgar Allan Poe, Gabriel García Márquez, Chris Abani and even Emily Dickinson,” and already one of the year’s most widely acclaimed novels.
Interesting covers but probably not:
These didn’t grab me and The Last Illusion‘s cover is just too jarring for me to take an interest!
The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan: Alternating between reality and magic, past and present, hope and despair, The Astonishing Color of After is a luminous debut novel about finding oneself through family history, art, bravery, and love.
How to Turn into a Bird by María José Ferrada: From the award-winning author of How to Order the Universe, María José Ferrada beautifully details the life and lessons of an unconventional man and the boy who loves him.
When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo: A mythic love story set in Trinidad, Ayanna Lloyd Banwo’s radiant debut is a masterwork of lush imagination and exuberant storytelling—a spellbinding and hopeful novel about inheritance, loss, and love’s seismic power to heal.
Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton: A finalist for the 2020 Thurber Prize for American Humor! “The Secret Life of Pets meets The Walking Dead” in this big-hearted, boundlessly beautiful romp through the Apocalypse, where a foul-mouthed crow is humanity’s only chance to survive Seattle’s zombie problem (Karen Joy Fowler, PEN/Faulkner Award-winning author).
The Flock by J. Todd Scott: From J. Todd Scott comes a chillingly engrossing thriller about a cult survivor who must confront the horrors of her past to ensure the safety of the future. Ten years after a fiery raid kills her family, former cult member Sybilla “Billie” Laure has a completely new identity. She’s settled in rural Colorado with her daughter, hoping for a quieter life. But the world has other plans.
When Stone Wings Fly by Karen Barnett: “Pitch-perfect research and incomparable heart paint every corner of the brilliantly colored canvas of When Stone Wings Fly. Readers, get ready: your newest split-time fiction experience rests in the hands of a master.”―Rachel McMillan, author of The Mozart Code
The Watcher by Ross Armstrong: A dark addictive thriller with the ultimate psychological twist. Lily Gullick, an avid bird watcher who’s also been spying on her neighbors, sees something suspicious through her binoculars and soon her elderly neighbor is found dead. Can Lily really trust everything she sees?
Osprey Island by Thisbe Nissen: As summer begins on Osprey Island, preparations at the Lodge — the island’s one and only hotel — are underway for the busy season. On maintenance and housekeeping there’s Lance and Lorna Squire, Osprey locals and raging drinkers; and their irrepressible son Squee. There are college boys to wait tables and Irish girls to clean rooms. And a few unusual returnees, too: Suzy Chizek, single mom and daughter of the Lodge’s owners, who’s looking for a parentally funded vacation; and Roddy Jacobs, another former local, who has come back after a mysterious twenty-year absence.
The Last Illusion by Porochista Khakpour: From the critically acclaimed author of Sons and Other Flammable Objects comes a bold fabulist novel about a feral boy coming of age in New York, based on a legend from the medieval Persian epic The Shahnameh, the Book of Kings.
All blurbs from Amazon, Goodreads and my local library catalog.
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Book Club Mom’s Author Update: News from C. Faherty Brown
Hi Everyone, Happy Friday! I recently caught up with author C. Faherty Brown to learn about her TWO NEW BOOKS. Read more about them here:
I learned years ago that brevity is my friend, so my news is short. I just published SNOW NIGHT, a fictional story inspired by a story my grandmother told me many years ago. It has sadness within, but it is full of love and how we move forward. Earlier this year, I published ANOTHER YELLOW DOOR, a follow-up to my favorite piece of work, YELLOW DOOR, (though SNOW NIGHT runs a close second.)
Website/blog link: https://bikecolleenbrown.wordpress.com/
Are you working on a new book? Have you won an award or a writing contest? Did you just update your website? Maybe you just want to tell readers about an experience you’ve had. Book Club Mom’s Author Update is a great way to share news and information about you and your books.
Email Book Club Mom at bvitelli2009@gmail.com for more information.
Open to all authors – self-published, indie, big-time and anything in between
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The Ten Best Books of 2022 from The New York Times
Last year I watched a livestream of The Ten Best Books of 2021 from The New York Times. It was fun! I had not read any of the books they listed, but I soon read The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen and thought it was excellent, despite the jarring cover. I was interested in reading Red Comet by Heather Clark, and I even checked it out from the library, but it was ridiculously long (1184 pages) and I could not commit. I’ll be honest, sometimes I find the NYT’s recommendations a little too heavy (haha) but I always like to see what they pick.
The new list came out this week. I don’t know if you can access the article yet without a subscription (I tried), so I apologize. By the way, if you have a library card, you might be able to get free full access (except for the crossword) to the NYT. That’s what I do and it’s great! I’ve linked them to Amazon in case you’re interested and the blurbs are also from Amazon.
I’ll probably read a couple of these, but, in keeping with my partly-rogue self, I’m going to choose them based on the blurbs and covers. So here they are:
The Ten Best Books of 2022 from The New York Times
FICTION
The Candy House by Jennifer Egan: From one of the most celebrated writers of our time comes an “inventive, effervescent” (Oprah Daily) novel about the memory and quest for authenticity and human connection.
Checkout 19 by Claire-Louise Bennett: From the author of the “dazzling. . . . and daring” Pond (O magazine), the adventures of a young woman discovering her own genius, through the people she meets–and dreams up–along the way.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver: From the acclaimed author of The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees, a brilliant novel that enthralls, compels, and captures the heart as it evokes a young hero’s unforgettable journey to maturity
The Furrows by Namwali Serpell: From one of the most celebrated new voices in American literature, a brilliantly inventive and “enthralling” (Oprah Daily) novel about the eternal bonds of family and the mysteries of love and loss—“Already earning its author comparisons to Toni Morrison . . . Destined to end up on every Best of the Year list” (Lit Hub).
Trust by Hernan Diaz: An unparalleled novel about money, power, intimacy, and perception
NONFICTION
An Immense World by Ed Yong: A “thrilling” (The New York Times), “dazzling” (The Wall Street Journal) tour of the radically different ways that animals perceive the world that will fill you with wonder and forever alter your perspective, by Pulitzer Prize–winning science journalist Ed Yong
Stay True by Hua Hsu: From the New Yorker staff writer Hua Hsu, a gripping memoir on friendship, grief, the search for self, and the solace that can be found through art.
Strangers to Ourselves by Rachel Aviv: The acclaimed, award-winning New Yorker writer Rachel Aviv offers a groundbreaking exploration of mental illness and the mind, and illuminates the startling connections between diagnosis and identity.
Under the Skin by Linda Villarosa: From an award-winning writer at the New York Times Magazine and a contributor to the 1619 Project comes a landmark book that tells the full story of racial health disparities in America, revealing the toll racism takes on individuals and the health of our nation.
We Don’t Know Ourselves by Fintan O’Toole: A celebrated Irish writer’s magisterial, brilliantly insightful chronicle of the wrenching transformations that dragged his homeland into the modern world.
What do you think? Have you read any of them? Do you want to? Leave a comment!
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My Kindle is loaded!
Hi Everyone! I’m going to have a lot of time to read during the next five days so I loaded up my Kindle with potential books. It’s such a fun feeling to know I can pick any one of these, depending on my mood! I even threw a spooky read – I hope I can handle it 👻
I haven’t been on the blog much this month because my off-blog schedule has been crazy! Things will settle down next week and I look forward to getting back into my routine and visiting all of you!
Thanks so much for visiting – come back soon!
Book cover eye candy – similar, very similar, confusing, pretty and more book covers
Happy Sunday Everyone! I’m being very superficial today and sharing book covers that caught my eye for different reasons. Sometimes, and I’ve said this before, I think I’ve already read a book because the cover is so much like another cover!
Similar Covers
These are both pretty and similar. A bit hard to read because they’re so busy and colorful, but I do like looking at them.
Very Similar Covers
The handwritten slanted font, often in all caps, is very popular these days. And look at all the ones that feature a rocky coast!
Sunglasses Covers
Yes, summer is over but the sunglasses stay.
Confusing Covers
Honestly, these books might be great, but these covers are too hard to look at.
Prettiest Covers
You may have figured out that I like colorful book covers! These are also a bit similar to each other, but that’s okay with me because I like looking at them!
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Book Review: Love Marriage by Monica Ali
Love Marriage
by
Monica Ali
I could not stop reading this book in which two families struggle to understand themselves and their relationships with each other. Set in London, Yasmin Ghorami is a doctor-in-training and her fiancé, Joe Sangster, is a practicing obstetrician. The story begins as Yasmin and Joe bring their parents together for the first time. Yasmin worries about the cultural divide between her parents, Anisah and Shaokat, and Joe’s mother, Harriet, an upper class liberal and outspoken feminist and writer. And Joe can only hope that Harriet will behave around Yasmin’s Muslim parents. Their dinner together unfolds nicely, but soon Harriet has taken over the wedding preparations, with Anisah’s full and enthusiastic approval, and much to Yasmin’s shock at the idea of a now-large and complicated religious ceremony. Readers may think they are settling in for a bit of a romantic comedy, but will soon discover a host of serious and complicated problems. Ali’s characters must undergo important and often painful transformations before they can find happiness.
The first problem: Joe and Yasmin. Joe tells her he wants to settle down, but he has secrets and must work through complex issues about sex and his unusually close relationship with Harriet. Yasmin loves Joe, but is there enough passion? Her limited dating experience is of no help. I like the way the author shows how the couple’s genuine love and affection for each other makes this problem all-the-more painful.
The second problem: Shaokat’s stubborn pride. Yasmin’s father became a doctor against all odds, but at a cost. Now, above everything, he wants Yasmin and her brother, Arif to succeed and his intense expectations work against him. Although Yasmin is on her way, she questions whether she really wants to be a doctor. Arif, unemployed and angry, locks horns with Shaokat who berates him about his lack of motivation. I was incredibly drawn into these simmering conflicts between fathers and their adult children. There are some powerful scenes between Shaokat and his children.
The third problem: Anisah and Shaokat’s marriage. Anisah seems satisfied in her role as wife, mother and homemaker, but when she meets Harriet, she sees a wider world and a chance at happiness she never considered. She shocks her family when she grabs it and Yasmin will learn hard truths about her parents’ early days.
I think the best part of the book is how what seems to be a simple story develops and reveals complex problems within and between its characters. All of Ali’s characters undergo major, often painful transformations. I liked how the author made me feel like I was getting to know the characters, just as if I had met them for the first time, and how my early impressions of them changed over time. Likewise, was my understanding of their relationships with each other, something you don’t understand until you know a person longer. The author does an especially great job portraying the Ghorami family, Arif in particular, and the unique problems they face as Muslims in London. I thought Arif’s transformation was one of the most interesting storylines in the book.
Love Marriage portrays a specific culture and relates it to how everyone experiences similar personal and family conflicts. This is both an entertaining and serious book and I recommend it to all readers who like stories about family and marriage.
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Page to Screens I want to watch
Here are three excellent books that have been adapted to film. The first two were released in 2022 and the third comes out in 2023.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens: Kya Clark is six years old when her mother walks out of the shack they call home. The falling-down structure is hidden in the marshes of North Carolina, outside the fictional coastal town of Barkley Cove, a place where racial tension and small-town prejudices are firmly in place. The shack is the only place the Clark family knows, where her father’s abusive rages have terrified Kya, her mother and her siblings. Soon her older siblings run, leaving only Kya and her father, who provides her with nothing but fear. And then one day it’s just Kya, known in town and shunned as the wild Marsh Girl.
The story begins in 1952 and jumps to 1969, when a young man named Chase Andrews has died. In alternating chapters, readers learn Kya’s story of survival and how she becomes part of the investigation into Chase’s death.
The 2022 film, directed by Olivia Newman, stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith and Harris Dickinson. Screenplay by Lucy Alibar. It’s currently in theaters is available on Prime Video.
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque: This is the story of World War I trench warfare and of Paul Baumer, a nineteen-year-old German soldier who has enlisted in the army. He and his schoolmates joined up at the recommendation of their schoolmaster and in short time must face the reality of a ruthless war. The novel mostly takes place on the front, where Paul and his comrades are fired upon and shelled and do the same to their French enemies in what becomes one of the most famous stalemates in history. Paul narrates his experiences and the deep bonds he develops with the men in his platoon, including the already close friendships with his boyhood friends and Albert Kropp, their superior.
The 2022 Netflix film, directed by Edward Berger, stars Daniel Brühl, Albrecht Schuch and Sebastian Hülk. Screenplay by Ian Stokell.
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann: a true-crime account of a shameful period of American history in which members of the Osage tribe were murdered for the headrights to oil-rich land on their reservation in Oklahoma. David Grann tells this shocking story, including the investigation of the murders led by J. Edgar Hoover’s newly-formed Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The events in Killers of the Flower Moon depict a deep-seated racism against the Osage, in which the white business leaders and citizens of Gray Horse, Oklahoma pretended to befriend and help the Osage, only to kill them for their money. Killers of the Flower Moon is a thorough historical account of the Osage murders, but this is one story you won’t see in school history books.
This upcoming 2023 film, directed by Martin Scorsese, stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone. Screenplay by Eric Roth.
Have you watched Where the Crawdads Sing and/or All Quiet on the Western Front? Do you want to watch Killers of the Flower Moon? All three are on my list. Leave a comment and tell me what you think!
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On YouTube – new episode of Read React Decide!
Hi Everyone,
I’m over on YouTube with a new fall episode of Read React Decide. I’m reading random selections from five random books and deciding which to read!
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Who’s That Indie Author? J.Q. Rose
Author Name: J.Q. Rose
Genre: Mystery, Nonfiction, Memoir
Books: Your Words, Your Life Story; Girls Succeed! Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women; Arranging a Dream: A Memoir; Deadly Undertaking; Dangerous Sanctuary; Terror on Sunshine Boulevard; Quick Tips on Vegetable Gardening
Bio: I’ve always been a writer in my heart, but being a mom and making an income were top priorities. I taught third graders until my husband and I decided to pursue our dream of being entrepreneurs in the floral and greenhouse operation. After we sold the shop, I had time to pursue another dream, writing as we traveled full-time in our fifth-wheel camper.
What got you started as a writer? My mom. She was my second-grade teacher. When I finished my assignment, I’d visit my classmates. My mother was not happy with me for interrupting them in getting their assignments done. She told me to stay at my desk and write stories. So I did. And I guess I never stopped.
What is your writing routine? I set aside time to write every day after lunch. Sometimes it’s research when necessary. At first, it was difficult to sit down and write instead of finishing the laundry or reading a book. Now, if I have to miss my writing time due to an appointment or a meeting, etc., I resent it.
What route did you take to get your books published? After receiving 22 rejections from publishers, I self-published an eBook on Smashwords. I thought I would pull out all my hair before I accomplished this chore in 2010. For my first mystery, I decided to find a publisher after going through the frustration of self-publishing. I queried one who turned me down. I sent the second query to a startup eBook publisher who accepted the book. The publisher said they “liked my voice.” I’ll never forget that. Now I am a hybrid author with self-published nonfiction books and with mysteries and a memoir published by a traditional publisher.
What things do you do to promote your books? Virtual book/ blog tour, book signings and presentations, social media, an author website for blogging, hosting authors and being a guest at their blogs and podcasts. Plus, I publish a quarterly newsletter.
What is your favorite genre to read and why? Historical fiction to learn about 19th and 20th-century history.
Do you prefer to write dialogue or description? I love to write dialogue when the characters banter back and forth.
Have any of your characters ever surprised you? Yes, I thought I was writing a character who was so kind and helpful until it turned out she was a manipulator only looking out for herself. Did this change the plot of your book? Yes, she did. For the best, I might add.
What is the most difficult thing you have accomplished in your life? I haven’t really accomplished the job of being a mother, but it IS the most difficult challenge I’ve ever had and can still be today! I think one is always a mother even if the kid is old enough to collect social security. Grandmothering is so much more fun…
What three events or people have most influenced how you live your life? My Grandmother, Maw, really encouraged me to be a writer. My husband, Ted, has led us on a life of adventure and worldwide experiences. My friend, Bernie, instilled in me to be the best floral designer I could be and a businesswoman of integrity.
What would you tell your younger self? Stop spinning my wheels. Realize there are times when there is nothing I can do about a situation.
Have you ever met up with a bear on a hike? If so, what did you do? If not, are you looking up what to do right now? I have never met a bear on a hike; however, I have been in places with warnings that bears are in the area and read the posted signs that say “do not run.” To follow their advice seems impossible to me. I love to see bears but from the inside of the tour bus.
You’re locked in your local library for the night with no dinner. Thank goodness you have water, but you only have enough change to buy one item from the vending machine. Choices are limited to: Fudge Pop Tarts, Snickers or Doritos. Which would you choose and why? Snickers! What a treat to have loads of library books to read while munching a Snickers bar!
What’s the largest number of people you’ve had in your kitchen at one time? Actually helping in the kitchen? Probably 3. But sitting at the breakfast counter or standing in the way e.g. in front of the refrigerator? Probably 10.
Closing thoughts: Thank you for the opportunity to be a guest on your series, Who’s That Indie Author? To the readers, thank you for stopping in today. I look forward to reading your comments and answering questions you have about writing. Please, keep in touch via the links below.
Website and social media links:
Blog: Focused on Story
Facebook: J. Q. Rose, Author
Amazon Author: JQ Rose
Are you an indie or self-published author? Do you want to build your author network? Get your name out on Who’s That Indie Author!
Email bvitelli2009@gmail.com for a bio template and other details.
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