2017 Challenges

CMash January 4, 2017 2 Comments

2017 READING CHALLENGES

Unfortunately, 2017 is starting off slow as far as my reading goes. Gina, Wendy and I have been so busy with tours that I haven’t done much reading this week but am hoping I get into a reading routine.

I have been waiting for this Challenge and, since I’m not doing well with Bout Of Books this week, I will be signing up for the Winter Respite Read-A-Thon.

Hosted by Literary Escapism
My goal is to read 20 New Authors
Welcome back to the New Authors reading challenge! I’m hoping everyone is still enjoying this reading challenge as we head into our eighth year.

For those new to the New Authors Challenge, the whole idea started when I first started reviewing and I didn’t know that many authors in my new favored genre. So I went looking. I gave myself a goal of finding 50 new authors and ended up reading 56 that first year. I loved finding these new characters, worlds and cultures, so I want to help others find new ones as well. Since 2006, I’ve tried over 150 different authors I may not have tried otherwise (and that’s when I lost count, I’m sure there’s more) and I have found some really great authors.

The idea behind this is to find new authors that you’ve never tried before, not necessarily ones that are debuting. They can be in your genre of choice or be brave and try something new. You never know what you’re going to like until you try it. If you’re looking for some suggestions, you can check out the Author page here at Literary Escapism or the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 Challenge pages. With over 1000 reviews posted, I’m sure there will be something there for everyone.

For those who have joined us before, last year I made a couple changes – using google forms instead of Mr. Linky and there’s no more goal levels. Everyone reads at different speeds, and opportunities change. Why stress over numbers? The important thing is simply to try a new (to you) author. So, you tell me how many new authors you want to discover. If you only want to read one new author in 2017, fine…go for it. If you want to read 100 new authors in 2017…now that would be pretty fantastic!

Getting back to what’s going on now…it’s the New Authors Reading Challenge 2017 guidelines:
The challenge will run from January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017.

Since this is an author challenge, there is no restriction on choosing your novels. They can definitely be from other challenges. However, the authors must be new to you and, preferably from novels. Anthologies are a great way to try someone new, but only a third of your new authors can be from short stories/novellas or anthologies.

I want this to be an easy challenge, so you tell me how many new authors you want to discover. If it’s 1 or 100, go for it. It all depends on how fast you read and how adventurous you want to be.

After reading your new author, write your review and then come back here and add your link to the form.
Bloggers or Non-Bloggers alike are welcome. You don’t have to have a site to participate. You can link up via Facebook, GoodReads or even Amazon if you’d like.

Hosted by Michelle at Seasons of Reading

Well, the holidays are behind us and we are now in a new year. Goodbye, 2016! Now it’s time for some winter’s respite and recovery. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and I wish you much health and prosperity this new year!

This is the official sign up for A Winter’s Respite Readathon! Dates are January 16 – 29, starting at 12:00am Monday the 16th, and ending at 11:59pm on Sunday the 29th. Times are central standard time so adjust your times accordingly. Yes, the readathon is now two weeks long! I, for one, am pretty excited about that!

Of course, like most readathons, the books read must be novels or novellas, adult or young adult are fine, and you can read children’s books too (as long as you do read some novels too). Note: Non-Fiction is also okay! You DO NOT have to participate the entire two weeks. Join in when you can, start in the middle, end early…whatever works best for your schedule. As with all of my readathons, it will be a time for relaxed reading during which we can personally challenge ourselves and whittle away our ever looming TBR piles/shelves/libraries.

Guidelines for the readathon can be found HERE or you can access in the tab at the top of the blog. Any information you need about the readathon can be found there. Please do be sure to check the guidelines to make sure you’re following along correctly. There are specific rules regarding signing up and wrapping up, especially in regards to the giveaway. Also, regarding the giveaway, I’ll be again adding a Google form to capture names and email addresses so if you’re interested in winning a prize (and you’ve met the sign up and wrap up criteria), I will ask you to fill in that form which will be located on the prize page.

Book Blast, Partners In Crime Tours

CHILD’S PLAY by Merry Jones ~ Book Blast

CMash January 3, 2017 2 Comments

Child’s Play

Merry Jones

January 3 Book Blast

February 1-28, 2017 Tour

Synopsis:

Child's Play by Merry Jones Since her husband’s murder two years earlier, life hasn’t been easy for Elle Harrison. Now, at the start of a new school year, the second grade teacher is determined to move on. She’s selling her house and delving into new experiences―like learning trapeze.

Just before the first day of school, Elle learns that a former student, Ty Evans, has been released from juvenile detention where he served time for killing his abusive father. Within days of his release, Elle’s school principal, who’d tormented Ty as a child, is brutally murdered. So is a teacher at the school. And Ty’s former girlfriend. All the victims have links to Ty.

Ty’s younger brother, Seth, is in Elle’s class. When Seth shows up at school beaten and bruised, Elle reports the abuse, and authorities remove Seth and his older sister, Katie, from their home. Is Ty the abuser?

Ty seeks Elle out, confiding that she’s the only adult he’s ever trusted. She tries to be open-minded, even wonders if he’s been wrongly condemned. But when she’s assaulted in the night, she suspects that Ty is her attacker. Is he a serial killer? Is she his next intended victim?

Before Elle discovers the truth, she’s caught in a deadly trap that challenges her deepest convictions about guilt and innocence, childhood and family. Pushed to her limits, she’s forced to face her fears and apply new skills in a deadly fight to survive.

Book Details:

Genre: Thriller, Suspsense
Published by: Oceanview Publishing
Publication Date: January 3rd 2017
Number of Pages: 320
ISBN: 1608091910 (ISBN13: 9781608091911)
Series: Elle Harrison Thriller #3 (Each can be read as a Stand Alone Novel)
Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

Read an excerpt:

I was the first one there.

The parking lot was empty, except for Stan’s pickup truck. Stan was the custodian, tall, hair thinning, face pock-marked from long ago acne. He moved silently, popped out of closets and appeared in corners, prowled the halls armed with a mop or a broom. In fourteen years, I couldn’t remember a single time when he’d looked me in the eye.

Wait—fourteen years? I’d been there that long? Faces of kids I’d taught swirled through my head. The oldest of them would now be, what? Twenty-one? Oh man. Soon I’d be one of those old school marms teaching the kids of my former students, a permanent fixture of the school like the faded picture of George Washington mounted outside the principal’s office. Hell, in a few months, I’d be forty. A middle-aged childless widow who taught second grade over and over again, year after year, repeating the cycle like a hamster on its wheel. Which reminded me: I had to pick up new hamsters. Tragically, last year’s hadn’t made it through the summer.

I told myself to stop dawdling. I had a classroom to organize, cubbies to decorate. On Monday, just three days from now, twenty-three glowing faces would show up for the first day of school, and I had to be ready. I climbed out of the car, pulled a box of supplies from the trunk, started for the building. And stopped.

My heart did triple time, as if responding to danger. But there was no danger. What alarmed me, what sent my heart racing was the school itself. But why? Did it look different? Had the windows been replaced, or the doors? Nothing looked new, but something seemed altered. Off balance. The place didn’t look like an elementary school. It looked like a giant factory. A prison.

God, no. It didn’t look like any of those things. The school was the same as it had always been, just a big brick building. It seemed cold and stark simply because it was unadorned by throngs of children. Except for wifi, Logan Elementary hadn’t changed in fifty years, unless you counted several new layers of soot on the bricks.

I stood in the parking lot, observing the school, seeing it fresh. I’d never paid much attention to it before. When it was filled with students, the building itself became all but invisible, just a structure, a backdrop. But now, empty, it was unable to hide behind the children, the smells of sunshine and peanut butter sandwiches, the sounds of chatter and small shoes pounding Stanley’s waxed tiles. The building stood exposed. I watched it, felt it watching me back. Threatening.

Seriously, what was wrong with me? The school was neither watching nor threatening me. It was a benign pile of bricks and steel. I was wasting time, needed to go in and get to work. But I didn’t take a single step. Go on, I told myself. What was I afraid of? Empty halls, vacant rooms? Blank walls? For a long moment, I stood motionless, eyes fixed on the façade. The carved letters: Logan School. The heavy double doors. The dark windows. Maybe I’d wait a while before going inside. Becky would arrive soon, after she picked up her classroom aquarium.

Other teachers would show up, too. I could go in with them, blend safely into their commotion. I hefted the box, turned back to the car. But no, what was I doing? I didn’t want to wait. I’d come early so I could get work done without interruption or distraction before the others arrived. The school wasn’t daring me, nor was I sensing some impending tragedy. I was just jittery about starting a new year.

I turned around again, faced its faded brown bricks. I steeled my shoulders, took a breath and started across the parking lot. With a reverberating metallic clank, the main doors flew open. Reflexively, I stepped back, half expecting a burst of flames or gunfire. Instead, Stan emerged. For the first time in fourteen years, I was glad to see him. Stan surveyed the parking lot, hitched up his pants. Looked in my direction. He didn’t wave or nod a greeting, didn’t follow social conventions. Even so, his presence grounded me, felt familiar.

I took a breath, reminded myself that the school was just a school. That I was prone to mental wandering and embellishing. And that children would stream into my classroom in just three days, whether I was ready or not.

Author Bio:

Merry Jones is the author of some twenty critically acclaimed books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her work has been translated into seven languages. Her previous Elle Harrison novels have been THE TROUBLE WITH CHARLIE and ELECTIVE PROCEDURES. Jones lives with her husband in Philadelphia.

Catch Up with Merry online:
Website 🔗, Twitter 🔗, & Facebook 🔗

January 3, 2017 BLAST Participants:

Tour Participants:

Next Month Merry will be touring with her new book Child’s Play. The following sites, and more, will be hosting reviews, interviews, guest posts, and MORE Giveaways! Drop by to learn more about Merry and her great new book!

Giveaway:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours for Merry Jones. There will be 2 winners of one (1) eBook copy of Child’s Play by Merry Jones. The giveaway begins on January 3rd and runs through January 9th, 2016.

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Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours

Mailbox Monday

CMash January 2, 2017 1 Comment

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia of A girl and her books and is now hosted on its own blog.

According to Marcia, “Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Click on title for synopsis via GoodReads.

Monday: THE DANCE BEGINS by Diane Chamberlain from Author
Monday: INCREASE YOUR READING SPEED Personal/Amazon Free (Thought I would give this a try especially with all the books I have been downloading!
Wednesday: DARKNESS FIRST by James Hayman Personal/Amazon 99¢
Friday: ENVIROMENTALLY FRIENDLY by Elias Zandaka Author/PICT
Friday: FROM THE HEART by Rosemary Hines Personal/Amazon Free
Saturday: DEAD GONE by T.J. Brearton Personal/Amazon 99¢

Holiday

Happy New Year!!

CMash January 1, 2017 1 Comment

2017 Challenges

CMash December 31, 2016 1 Comment

2017 READING CHALLENGES

Oh well….just a few more!! I sure am making up for those 2 years of non-participation. And between requested reviews and all the books I downloaded, I need to read a lot in 2017!

Hosted by Robin at My Two Bessings
The challenge will run from January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017.
Our book weeks begin on Sunday.
Participants may join at any time.
All books are acceptable except children books.
All forms of books are acceptable including e-books, audio books, etc.
Re-reads are acceptable as long as they are read after January 1, 2017.
Books may overlap other challenges.
Create an entry post linking to this blog.
Sign up with Mr. Linky in the “I’m participating post” below this post.
You don’t need a blog to participate. Post your weekly book in the comments section of each weekly post.
Mr. Linky will be added to the bottom of the weekly post to link to reviews of your most current reads.
The mini, weekly and monthly challenges are optional, Mix it up anyway you like.

Craving For Cozies 2017 – Reading Challenge
Hosted by Lori at Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book
Cozy mysteries, also referred to simply as “cozies”, are a sub-genre of crime fictionmysteries in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community. The crime solver is an amateur sleuth, usually but not always a woman, who is thrust into the aftermath of the murder. The protagonist frequently has an occupation or hobby that brings appealing information to the reader.

The challenge runs from January 1, 2017 and ends December 31, 2017
Rules
1. Choose the level you wish to participate:
Levels
Peckish – 1 – 10 Cozy Mysteries
Famished – 11 – 20 Cozy Mysteries
Yearning – 21 – 40 Cozy Mysteries
Starving – 41 – 60 Cozy Mysteries
Ravenous – 61 – 80 Cozy Mysteries
Voracious – 81 – 100 Cozy Mysteries
Completely Satiated – 101 or more
2. You can Feed Your Need To Read with print, digital or audio books.
3. You do not have to post a review but the authors would appreciate it if you did. If you need help just let me know.
4. You do not need to have a blog to participate.

Hosted by Lisa at Books and Feminism
This reading challenge is pretty simple: only read books by women writers for one year. Bonus: Review it in as many places as possible – blog, Goodreads, Twitter, smoke signals, whatever gets the word out about fabulous women writers. I’ll be using #womenwriters2017 on Twitter and Instagram

What counts? Any writer who identifies as a woman.That’s it. Books co-authored by men are ok, but a woman has to be one of the authors. If it’s a collection, one of the editors should be a woman OR at least half the entries should be by women.

Due to requested reviews, I am going to tweak this a bit and challenge myself to read 10.

Mailbox Monday

CMash December 26, 2016 1 Comment

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia of A girl and her books and is now hosted on its own blog.

According to Marcia, “Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Click on title for synopsis via GoodReads.

Sunday: LABYRINTH by Jon Land Personal/Amazon Free
Sunday: THE WAGES OF SIN by Nancy Allen Personal/Amazon 99¢
Saturday: THE GIFT by Louise Jensen Personal/Amazon 99¢

Holiday

Merry Christmas!

CMash December 25, 2016 1 Comment

Book Blast/Blitz

Book Blast ~ THE BATTLE FOR CHRISTMAS by Jeremy Hinshaw

CMash December 22, 2016 Leave a Comment

battle-for-christmas

The Battle for Christmas by Jeremy Hinshaw

After training and practicing for the auditions, Andy’s friends excelled. Andy, however, failed miserably. When the positions were posted, his worst fears came true – he was the only angel not given a job for the birth of Lord Jesus.

Would Andy be the only angel not to have an assignment for this climactic event?

How did Heaven defend Bethlehem from the onslaught of Lucifer and his horde of demons?

Praise for the Book

This was a great book to bring alive the story of Jesus birth, especially for those who have heard it many times before. Although fiction, it challenges us to remember that we are not doing this on our own. There is a whole army of angels at our disposal.

Thank you Jeremy for captivating my thoughts and painting such a glorious picture, not often considered when thinking of that blessed day. From the very beginning as you described the landscapes I was hooked. The details breaking out the characters and each one’s place in the story are masterfully woven. The story is packed with enough intrigue, adventure, and truth to be enticing to readers of all ages, and especially the youth of today. Compared to other books I have read on the subject, this one takes the cake with its creative story-line that is jam packed with adventure, humor, and close-calls. I recommend this book to anyone that is a fan of adventure. A fresh take on the matter that is certain to wow its readers. Especially those interested in a view behind the veil that we all know exists!

I loved The Battle for Christmas. Not only is it a book I’ll read again, but it’s also a book I can’t wait to share with my children and nieces and nephews. In The Battle for Christmas we get a great fantasy paired with reminders of our hope and our faith. Plus, what an adventure! I really liked Andy. He’s the type of character young readers will want to emulate, and one we’ll want our children to emulate. I think his gift is one we all struggle with and one of the most important.

Excerpt

“Who’s Andy?” one of the little ones asked.
“This is outrageous! I’m going to tell you the story of the birth of Lord
Jesus …” The nursery erupted with groans again. “But …” Stephen raised
his hands to quiet them. “I’m going to tell you about Andy the Angel and
how Lord Jesus’s birth really happened.”
David floated back to the ground and looked at Stephen with distrust.
The small angels murmured and mumbled questions.
“Whaddya mean, ‘How it really happened?’” one small angel asked.
“It’s written in the Bible, and we all have heard it, read it, and recited it
countless times—and who is Andy?”
“Yes, yes. You’ve read it in the Bible.” Stephen raised his hands again
to quiet the dissention. “And what the Bible says is true, but it’s written
for men and how they saw the events of that day. It’s not the only account
of that blessed day.
“You see, many of us in Heaven worked tirelessly behind the scenes
to make it happen. There were some moments when we weren’t sure if
we were going to be able to pull it off. We fought off demons, helped
humankind bring about fulfillment of Scripture, and did many other
things to make sure Lord Jesus’s birthday was going to happen.
“Of course, if you don’t want to know how it happened here in
Heaven, or what happened to Andy, that’s fine …”

jeremy Author Jeremy Hinshaw

Jeremy Hinshaw grew up in central Indiana. He graduated from Olivet Nazarene University, and now resides in Muncie, Indiana.

Website * Facebook

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$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 1/3/17

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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