I Read a Lot, I Read a Little

Do you belong to a local book club? I do. We have been meeting now for quite a few years, and the women at book club bring a welcome distraction from mummy life. I mean, some of them have children as well, but once a month when we attend book club, we are individuals and we talk about books. Sometimes we talk about movies and TV shows as well, depending on the subject of conversation. It is always enjoyable, and I always come away feeling more cheerful than when I go in.

Our recent book club reading list has been quite heavy-going. We have read books including The Choice (Auschwitz and its aftermath), A Little Life (childhood abuse and lasting mental illness), and now A Thousand Splendid Suns (the Taliban regime). All of these books would not be my first choice for reading material. I generally read paranormal or supernatural stories, historical sagas and women’s fiction. So, I am glad that book club encourages me to try new books. And sometimes I am glad that the decision has been made for me, because I really struggle to pick my next book when I have so many to choose from! Admittedly I haven’t begun reading A Thousand Splendid Suns yet, but I will do. I have had a few weeks where life gets in the way, my mood is a bit strange, and I just didn’t feel like reading something so serious. What reading mood are you in this week?

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My Book Club Reading in 2018

Although I haven’t officially made a New Year’s resolution (except perhaps to sell our house and move ASAP), I have decided that in 2018 I need to read more books. Seriously, I have slacked off a lot during the past twelve months or so. It turns out I was so busy writing, editing, preparing new material, and doing domestic support work, that I neglected the books in my TBR pile. In fact, I even packed up a lot of books into boxes as an attempt to declutter our house while I try to sell it. I will not look at them again until we move…

But I still have my book club, and our first book of the year is The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. I am really enjoying it, actually! I am not far into it at the moment, but I like what I have seen so far, and I am eager to continue. Instead I must clean house before our first viewers of the year arrive. Exciting times!

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Book Review Captain Corelli’s Mandolin #AmReading

Book Review Captain Corelli’s Mandolin  by Louis De Bernieres

Wow! This is one fantastic novel! I have to admit the book took me a heck of a long time to read, but only because it is very deep, very intelligent, and I started reading it soon after the birth of my baby when my body was going through all sorts of crazy hormone-related stuff. Therefore I think this book is probably one of the longest reading projects I have ever taken. I am so glad I persevered. The first few chapters were quite self-indulgent and fairly boring, but on the recommendations of my book club buddies, I kept going. And I loved it. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me cringe. I loved the descriptive language, the variety of characters, and the entertaining history lesson that it gave me.

There’s Something About the Water in Redcliffe! #ReadMe

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of being invited as a special guest author to my local book club. I am actually a member of the book club anyway, so it was quite a strange experience. I was very anxious when I learned that our book of the month for February was my first novel Love Hurts (A Redcliffe Novel). What would my book club friends think of it? What if they hated it? What if they loved it? What would I say?

As it turned out they all did enjoy my book, and that included a few friends who have never read any paranormal novels before. I take this as an added compliment. I was also very honoured when one of the women brought all three of my Redcliffe novels with her and asked me to sign them because she enjoyed reading them so much. We settled down and got stuck into conversation.

I was happy to be told that the readers liked my book because it provides a bit of ‘easy reading.’ It is genre fiction, primarily paranormal romance, and the chapters are short. I did this based on my personal experience. As a reader I always like to finish a chapter when reading my book. I hate having to put a book down with the bookmark in a random page. It just doesn’t feel right, I can’t explain it. So I chose to write short chapters in my novels.

The characters and setting were all well-received. There were warm feelings and mixed feelings towards everyone in Redcliffe, just as I had intended, and there were also a few unexpected reactions. Two of my readers asked about the significance of drinking water. That surprised me! Apparently there are lots of references to drinking water in Love Hurts (A Redcliffe Novel). I’m not saying yes or no to the question “Is it relevant?” I will admit that the question was unexpected and gave me something to think about for my continuing series… And the same goes for the storyline of pregnancy and having a baby. Take a look!