Tag Archives: book recommendations

My first book: Carlene Love

first things first

Hi.

How are you doing today? Whatcha reading? Are you liking it? I would love to know so please share in the comments section.

I’m currently reading a few interesting books. Ever heard of “Mating in Captivity” by Esther Perel? A good friend who attempts miracles on my hair and is also one of the most dynamic people I know, suggested that one and I have to say, it’s worth a look. I downloaded the Kindle version (after first reading the free sample, which held its own and had me hooked).

So this is slightly random, but I’m curious to know if any of you out there read things solely because some intriguing person has read it? I find myself doing this quite often. Stalking the favorite reads of people you hope to learn more about. Confession time. “The Ballad of the Sad Café” was a wonderful read which I am happy to have discovered  after obsessing over Robert Pattinson between 2007 and 2014. He may have mentioned reading it in interviews I may have scourged the internet for.

Robert Pattinson Gives Oprah His Favorite Book from Pattinson Online Network on Vimeo.

It doesn’t end there. I’m guilty of doing this with friends and family too, as evidenced by the stack of wizardly books in my “to read” collection. I’ve even got a Jude Deveraux title because I know she’s a fave of our own Mermaid Princess Alethea.

Oh, and then there’s one I’m truly loving called “Under Her Skin” by Adriana Anders. This one had me from the first page and I owe close friend and fellow author, Lynne Silver, a huge thank you for the quirky recommendation. The lead character is Uma and the hilarious opening lines are:

“Old hag in need of live-in helper to abuse. Nothing kinky.” Uma read the ad again.

I absolutely love those lines. What do you think? Catchy? They had me from the start. I could go on and on about Uma and her adventures in want ads but….

……. hemming

………….hawing

………………..tapping toes

Alright, I confess. I’ve been stalling over talking about what I’m really supposed to be talking about which is … the first book I ever wrote. It’s just that it was 1984. Las Vegas, Nevada. I was ten. It was a choose-your-own-adventure style story about a veterinarian whose boat becomes stranded in a dangerous jungle. I’m sure I had great intentions, but reading back through all seven pages of it, I see where I quite literally may have missed the boat on my first literary endeavor. Even still, I am very proud of the little guy. It has a beautiful blue hard cover with a gorgeous orange lion on the front. I made it by hand in my fourth grade English class and it currently resides with my mom for safe keeping.

Jungle Book

 

CarleneThank you for letting me share this blast from the past. And I meant it up above when I said I’d like to hear about your current reads. Oooo, or if you too have a special little literary gem lurking in your past.

Be well, all.

Carlene Mermaid

 

 

 

Late Assignment: Summer Reading Log

 

With several technology-related problems combining like the perfect storm last month, I wasn’t able to post about my summer reading adventure.

When I was a kid, I would take books up into the woods where I made myself a private place to read. It included a blanket and snacks and the book I was reading that day.

As I turned into a teen, my escape into the woods came to an abrupt end. I was way more comfortable snacking on the couch, and the potential for coming into contact with bugs gave me pause. Plus, I loved staying up late into the night and reading scary stories, and the woods were definitely NOT the place to be.

Now that I’m an adult, I still read just as much. I still get that thrill when I buy a new book. I still get that excited energy when I flip to that first page.

When a reader is born, he or she will never give up that luxury. Ever.

I started volunteering in the elementary school for something called The Book Café—a book club for kids. I was privileged to lead a book discussion with five kids who read the same book I did—Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. (That’s a whole other blog post.)

It got me thinking about instilling that love of reading into children at the earliest ages. I read non-stop with my oldest when she was little. Even though she loved the books, she’s never been my reader. Out of my five kids, two are more like me. I have to beg them to turn the lights off and go to bed. They plead for five more minutes. I shut the door, pretending to be annoyed, but secretly I’m so happy.

They’re like me! ☺

Every summer there are a ton of reading programs for kids. There are even some for adults. My local library was asking adults to read five books during the summer months. I think I covered that. I haven’t given each book a certain amount of stars or rated them in any way. I loved so many of them, but there was only one I didn’t like. But as we well know as readers and writers, books are a personal thing. What one person loves, another hates. What resonates with someone can completely turn another off. So, I won’t judge these books by their covers. I won’t even judge them by their words because words strike different feelings in different readers.

Without further ado, here’s my reading log from this summer:

Sixth Grave on the Edge by Darynda Jones
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
It’s Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han
We’ll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han
Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg
Waiting on You by Kristan Higgins
The Lonesome Young by Lucy Connors
Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour
Six Months Later by Natalie Richards
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

I started the third Outlander book, Voyager, but I’m currently using it as the reward for finishing my own revisions. That plan almost never works, as I was using Darynda’s Sixth Grave as my carrot, and I ate the carrot in one day. The day it arrived. It sat for approximately forty-two minutes on my kitchen table before I decided to read the first chapter as a reward for doing something like fixing one page of dialogue in my WIP. Then I made myself a cup of tea, grabbed a snack and settled in to finish the book.

Of course, that was way more comfortable than trudging through the woods to set up my reading nook.

I’m so glad to be an adult reader…who still continues to keep a summer reading log.  🙂

Anyone have some recommendations for my winter reading log?

GH 2014 photo