Book Spotlight with Excerpt: The Crossing by Alex Watson and Robert P. Watson

The Crossing 

by Alex Watson and Robert P. Watson

Paperback: 246 pages
Publisher: TriMark Press, Inc. (May 20, 2015)



About the book:

It finally happened! After years of top secret research, the time machine was ready to be tested. But a mistake sends Chase Maxwell and his scientist grandfather back in time on a wild ride that threatens to unravel the course of history and prevent them from ever returning to the present day.

Excerpt:

Amazon Buy Link

Happy Friday!!! You have $100 to spend on books. What are you going to buy?

 

Question of the Week: 

Black Friday Eve! You have $100 (or pounds or whatever your currency is) to spend on books. What are you going to buy? 

- Suggested by Alison Can Read

I sooo love Middle Earth/Tolkien stories. I already have The Annotated The Hobbit (hard bound / illustrated edition), a gift from my cousin. To have this is perfect for my collection!

I also want to purchase the Illustrated Movie Companions for Twilight and Vampire Academy.  

 

How about you?

For newbies, to join the hop, 

visit Alison Can Read  or Parajunkee's View ...

Free Kindle Book: Conquering your Goliaths by Kathryn Elizabeth Jones

Free Kindle Copy!!! 

Conquering your Goliaths: 

A Parable of the Five Stones

David gathered 5 smooth stones to meet and defeat Goliath. What did these stones represent and how can you use them to conquer your Goliaths in your own personal quests? Ms. Virginia Bean will show you how.

Travel with her on her own personal journey. See what she does. Learn how she grows. Discover what she becomes.

Download your free copy today HERE!

Guest Author: Louis Alan Swartz

I want to thank Jenai for the opportunity to come here as a guest. I recently wrote and got published a book called Constructed of Magic and Other poems on the Immortality of the Human Spirit. I wanted to communicate  a bit about some of the experiences in my life that led to my writing this book.

In 1962 when I was 20, I was sitting in a class at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, I had the thought that I needed to go out and see the world. It was right at the very beginning of the school year. I walked from the class to the Administration Office and asked for my tuition money back. Surprisingly, I got no resistance on this. With those funds in hand I went to New York and purchased passage on the Queen Mary to England. For the next ten months I travelled through Europe, Africa and the Mid-East.

I knew that I was looking for something but I didn't know what it was. As I moved through Europe the thing that struck me most intensely were the cathedrals. I remember sitting in Salisbury Cathedral in England all by myself on a weekday with almost no one around marveling at the stain glass windows with the afternoon sun shining through them and the high vaulted ceiling. How much work this had taken to build this magnificent structure with no power tools, no cranes, not even trucks to haul the stones? It was all done by hand. It took hundreds of years to build them, generation after generation. As I visited these cathedrals I became progressively aware of a presence or force or power that I had not seen before. It did not translate into a religious belief. But it engendered an awe in me that has remained.

From Italy, I took a ship to Alexandria, Egypt. One evening I was taking a walk through Cairo and I came across an area of houses that was quite dark. There was no gate or entrance to this area so I walked in. There were rows and rows of darkened houses. Some were modest, some were opulent. I could see flickering lights within the houses. Tombs were also visible inside the houses. I came to realize that this was The City of the Dead. Each of these houses was a place of burial for the family who owned it. The more luxurious houses were home to the more wealthy deceased. The flickering lights came from the cooking and heating fires made by squatters who made their homes within these houses. Strangely, in the center of the City there was a brightly lit cafe. I went inside and ordered a coffee. I was unsettled by what I had seen. I understood that these houses were intended to somehow give the deceased some purchase on immortality, somehow they could be visited and weren't "gone forever". It was not until years later that I found why the City of the Dead had been so disquieting to me.

I returned to University. A few months before I graduated, I became very upset. The upset stemmed from the fact that I realized I had no idea why I was living. I knew I was supposed to get a job and get married and have children. But I didn't know why and it profoundly troubled me. I read. I asked people about it including my mother who said she didn't know why she was living and if I found out could I please let her know. A friend of mine at college saw that I was super upset. She gave me a book to read. It was The Duino Elegies by a German author who wrote at the beginning of the 20th Century named Rainer Maria Rilke. As I read the book I became increasingly cognizant that spirits existed. The awareness did not extend much beyond that. It did not extend to the thought that I was a spiritual being. It was simply that spirits existed. The moment I got this concept I calmed right down. The upset left me. I was peaceful.

About 8 months later I went to India in the Peace Corps. As I got to know the Indian people I found that each and every one of them had a certainty that they were spiritual beings. It was not a big deal to them. They had lived before and would live again. It was almost, "So, what's the big deal?" As I spent time with these people I became happier and happier. Even to the tiniest village, off the beaten track with no electricity, to a man , to a woman, this was the certainty---I am immortal.

Then I understood why I had calmed down in college with Rilke discovering that spirits existed. I also understood why I had been so disturbed in  The City of the Dead. It was simply that immortality had nothing to do with the body. In India, when you die they burn your body to ashes and that's that.

These experiences led me to a lifelong interest and search on the subject of the immortality of the human spirit. I noticed that when individuals and societies had a firm certainty on their own immortality and the immortality of their brethren they tended to be kind and benevolent and usually nonviolent.

Constructed of Magic is an attempt to communicate my thoughts and impressions on the immortality of the human spirit through the aesthetic medium of poetry.

About the book:

Constructed of Magic and Other Poems on the Immortality of the Human Spirit is a refreshing collection of poems that explore the beauty of who we are as spiritual beings. Our ability to love, dream, create futures, even die with dignity are all part of who we are and why we are here. These poems don't pretend to give final answers to any of the big questions about life, but they do help us to look and come to our own understanding. 

Paperback / Kindle Edition

32 hours left for paperback (3) giveaways: Parables of Virginia Bean by Kathryn Elizabeth Jones

Enter HERE

Book Review: The Caretaker of Imagination by Z.R. Southcombe

The Caretaker of Imagination 

(The Caretaker Series Book 1)

by Z.R. Southcombe

Series: The Caretaker Series (Book 1)
Paperback: 94 pages
Publisher: Z. R. Southcombe; 1 edition (April 3, 2015)

Kindle Edition
File Size: 2252 KB
Print Length: 108 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: ZR Southcombe; 1 edition (March 20, 2015)
Publication Date: March 20, 2015
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Ratings: ★ ★ ★ ★  

Note: I received a review copy of this book free from the author, Z.R. Southcombe. 

My thoughts:

Let me start by saying that my kids rate the books that I read to them. They loved the story though they're surprised to learn that the main character is actually around 40-ish already. Had a hard time explaining the child-like attitude of the man, it did bother them for a while but eventually they liked him and the cat! They find the illustrations cool as it helped them visualize the story. Pirate story is all new to them and it was really, really nice to see them imagining the story while I read this to them. 

Mommies, if you are looking for a good adventure book for your kids, pick this up!

About the book:

For kids looking for a fast-paced, crazy adventure, and grown-ups who want to be lost in childhood magic just one more time. Fans of the whimsy and magic of stories like Alice in Wonderland, or The Chronicles of Narnia will resonate with this story. 

Bored with his normal life, John Carroll runs away with his faithful cat in search of adventure. When he meets a real-life pirate, John realizes there is much more to the world than he’d ever thought possible – magic is real, and in desperate need of a hero. 

John must convince the (once fearsome) Captain Simon Peabody to join him on a fantastic and perilous quest to find the only person who can save magic from being lost forever: the Caretaker of Imagination. 

This wondrous tale harks back to the style of classic children’s literature. Perfect as a read-aloud, it is sure to delight readers of all ages. 


About the author:

Z.R. Southcombe is a writer and artist. She is the author of the wordless picture book What Stars Are Made Of and children's chapter book The Caretaker of Imagination.

Her books are written for children, but with their wild sense of imagination, rich vocabulary and emotional resonance they are loved by readers of all ages.

A true creative, Z.R. usually has a few creative projects on the go, but no matter what project she is currently working on, Z.R. is usually accompanied by a cup of tea.

www.zrsouthcombe.com

Book Spotlight with trailer and excerpt: Clutch: A novel by Lisa Becker

Clutch: A Novel

by Lisa Becker

Paperback: 214 pages
Publisher: Becker Press (October 10, 2015)

Kindle Edition
File Size: 329 KB
Print Length: 140 pages
Publication Date: October 15, 2015
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.


About the book:

clutch: a novel is the laugh-out-loud, chick lit romance chronicling the dating misadventures of Caroline Johnson, a single purse designer who compares her unsuccessful romantic relationships to styles of handbags – the “Hobo” starving artist, the “Diaper Bag” single dad, the “Briefcase” intense businessman, etc. With her best friend, bar owner Mike by her side, the overly-accommodating Caroline drinks a lot of Chardonnay, puts her heart on the line, endures her share of unworthy suitors and finds the courage to discover the “Clutch” or someone she wants to hold onto.

Book Excerpt:

Amazon Buy Links

Paperback  / Kindle Edition

Happy Friday!! Question of the Week: If you could teleport into ANY story, which would you chose?

 

Question of the Week: 

If you could teleport into ANY story, which would you chose?

Question by: 

Life is Reading 

I'd like to teleport in the Middle Earth! Well, obviously I do not wish to be there during the LOTR war. I want to see Imladris / Rivendell!

How about you?

PS
I am running a paperback giveaway (3 books in a series), click HERE to enter...

For newbies, to join the hop, 

visit Alison Can Read  or Parajunkee's View ...

Books won: Garden Spells #1 and First Frost #2 (Waverley Family Series) by Sarah Addison Allen

Okay, I won these books months ago, like February! I so want to read these but I've been crazy busy with my 'real' life that reading and blogging were two impossible things then. Anyway, I'd like to thank Leann M. of Between Library Shelves and author, Sarah Addison Allen for these books! Love the covers!!

How about you? Have you joined and won any books?? 

Garden Spells (Waverley Family #1)
by Sarah Addison Allen 

The women of the Waverley family -- whether they like it or not -- are heirs to an unusual legacy, one that grows in a fenced plot behind their Queen Anne home on Pendland Street in Bascom, North Carolina. There, an apple tree bearing fruit of magical properties looms over a garden filled with herbs and edible flowers that possess the power to affect in curious ways anyone who eats them. 

For nearly a decade, 34-year-old Claire Waverley, at peace with her family inheritance, has lived in the house alone, embracing the spirit of the grandmother who raised her, ruing her mother's unfortunate destiny and seemingly unconcerned about the fate of her rebellious sister, Sydney, who freed herself long ago from their small town's constraints. Using her grandmother's mystical culinary traditions, Claire has built a successful catering business -- and a carefully controlled, utterly predictable life -- upon the family's peculiar gift for making life-altering delicacies: lilac jelly to engender humility, for instance, or rose geranium wine to call up fond memories. Garden Spells reveals what happens when Sydney returns to Bascom with her young daughter, turning Claire's routine existence upside down. With Sydney's homecoming, the magic that the quiet caterer has measured into recipes to shape the thoughts and moods of others begins to influence Claire's own emotions in terrifying and delightful ways. 

As the sisters reconnect and learn to support one another, each finds romance where she least expects it, while Sydney's child, Bay, discovers both the safe home she has longed for and her own surprising gifts. With the help of their elderly cousin Evanelle, endowed with her own uncanny skills, the Waverley women redeem the past, embrace the present, and take a joyful leap into the future. 

First Frost (Waverley Family #2)
by Sarah Addison Allen

From the New York Times bestselling author of Garden Spells comes a story of the Waverley family, in a novel as sparkling as the first dusting of frost on new-fallen leaves...

It's October in Bascom, North Carolina, and autumn will not go quietly. As temperatures drop and leaves begin to turn, the Waverley women are made restless by the whims of their mischievous apple tree... and all the magic that swirls around it. But this year, first frost has much more in store.

Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley’s Candies. Though her handcrafted confections—rose to recall lost love, lavender to promote happiness and lemon verbena to soothe throats and minds—are singularly effective, the business of selling them is costing her the everyday joys of her family, and her belief in her own precious gifts.

Sydney Waverley, too, is losing her balance. With each passing day she longs more for a baby— a namesake for her wonderful Henry. Yet the longer she tries, the more her desire becomes an unquenchable thirst, stealing the pleasure out of the life she already has.

Sydney’s daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to…if only he could see it, too. But how can he, when he is so far outside her grasp that he appears to her as little more than a puff of smoke?

When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before. And through it all, the Waverley sisters must search for a way to hold their family together through their troublesome season of change, waiting for that extraordinary event that is First Frost.

Lose yourself in Sarah Addison Allen's enchanting world and fall for her charmed characters in this captivating story that proves that a happily-ever-after is never the real ending to a story. It’s where the real story begins.

Paperback giveaways: Parables of Virginia Bean by Kathryn Elizabeth Jones

(US) Paperback giveaways
Parables of Virginia Bean

Conquering your Goliaths: A Parable of the Five Stones

David gathered 5 smooth stones to meet and defeat Goliath. What did these stones represent and how can you use them to conquer your Goliaths in your own personal quests? Ms. Virginia Bean will show you how.

Travel with her on her own personal journey. See what she does. Learn how she grows. Discover what she becomes.

"Conquering your Goliaths - A Parable of the Five Stones" is for anyone desiring to travel beyond mediocrity, pain and fear. Learn of the great power within you, a power given to you from God, a power that must ultimately be unleashed to conquer the Goliaths in your own life. Come to an even deeper understanding of God and what he wants for you. Come . . .

The Feast: A Parable of the Ring

Virginia had experienced the power and direction of the five stones; now, she would need to use them again. 

For entirely different reasons. 

Keeping her marriage together was not the only thing on her mind. Having a child wasn't going to happen in the usual way, and Virginia was determined that adoption was the answer. If she did all of the right things, said all of the right words; if she remembered the five stones in her journey to get her child, God would surely have to answer her. 

It wouldn't be too difficult.

The Gift: A Parable of the Key

After the death of their only child, it was time for Virginia and Richard to truly act on the power held within the five stones.

But their healing was taking a long time, and, quite frankly, proving to be an empty vessel needing to be filled.

Would they ever have a child of their own?

Would the old key help in their search for the truth? Joy was in their lives once again, a homeless teen with an alcoholic mother, still managing the journey to Just Desserts for another pink cupcake.

Was Joy the answer? And if so, what was the truth locked within her heart?

Enter HERE

Guest Authors: Dr. Robert P. Watson and Alex Watson

Alex Watson

It finally happened. The greatest invention in human history – one that has captivated the imaginations of people since the beginning of time – finally became a reality. Time travel!

And it happened in a most unusual way and at a time no one expected. Professor Simon Maxwell, a physicist with a top-secret government lab in California, was researching the possibility of finding an opening in the time-space continuum – a wrinkle in time – when, it worked. Only, Dr. Maxwell had not counted on his teenage grandson, Chase, being there at that very moment. He also didn’t count on a mistake that sent the two of them through the fabric of time. Poof! Just like that, they vanished. No trace. No clues. Somewhere in time…

Dr. Robert P. Watson

This is the basis for The Crossing. I hope you pick up the book and enjoy the wild ride through some of the most thrilling moments in history.

`till next time,
Alex Watson

Title: The Crossing 

Authors: Alex Watson and Robert Watson

Publisher: Trimark Press (2015), 246 pages

ISBN: 978-1-943401-03-1

Web: timezonebooks.com

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

"It's Monday! What are you reading?" is a fun meme hosted by Kathryn @ The Book Date. This is where we share the books we have read the last week and our reading plans for this week.

Books Reviewed

KALEIDOSCOPE

by Kristen Ashley

Book Review (3-star)

When old friends become new lovers...anything can happen.

Sexy, gifted, and loyal, PI Jacob Decker is a tall, cool drink of perfection who had Emmanuelle Holmes at "hello." His relationship with Emme's best friend kept them apart for years, but things have changed. Now that a case has brought him to Gnaw Bone, Colorado, the road is wide open for Emme and Deck to explore something hotter and deeper than Emme dreamed possible. So why is she sabotaging the best thing that's ever happened to her? 

It isn't easy to catch Deck off guard, but Emme does just that when she walks back into his life after nine long years. The curvy brunette had her charms back in the day, but now she's a bona fide knockout . . . and she wants to rekindle their friendship. Deck, however, wants more. Emme's always been the one; she excites Deck's body and mind like no other woman can. But a dark chapter from Emme's past overshadows their future together. Now only Deck can help her turn the page-if she'll let him . 

Book for Review

THE CARETAKER OF IMAGINATION
by Z.R. Southcombe


Bored with his real life, John Carroll runs away with his faithful cat in tow seeking adventures vast and amazing. But when he meets a real-life pirate he realizes that there is more to life than he’d ever believed possible – magic is real, and in need of a hero.

John must convince the (once fearsome) Captain Simon Peabody to help him find the only person who can save magic from being lost forever: the Caretaker of Imagination.

This wondrous tale harks back to the style of classic children’s literature. Perfect as a read-aloud, it is sure to delight readers of all ages.

MISSING ERA: THE EMERGENCE
by A.O. Khalil


They were just sinkholes, harmless sinkholes that were spreading like wildfire across the country. Then the disappearances started. A few people here and there then the entire army, gone in one night. Jay and Jule quickly find themselves thrown in the middle of a dangerous situation that only gets worse when something else comes that takes everyone by bloody surprise.

As they make ready to leave to gather with the rest of the family, something comes out of the sinkholes and begins attacking and killing everyone in sight. Before they know it they are in the middle of a war with an unknown enemy and an unknown agenda.

Will Jay and Jule survive their encounter or will they find themselves twenty-six feet under at the bottom of a sinkhole?
 a read-aloud, it is sure to delight readers of all ages.

Currently Reading

Siren's Fury (The Storm Siren Trilogy #2)
by Mary Weber

"I thrust my hand toward the sky as my voice begs the Elemental inside me to waken and rise. But it's no use. The curse I've spent my entire life abhorring—the thing I trained so hard to control—no longer exists."

Nym has saved Faelen only to discover that Draewulf stole everything she valued. Now he’s destroyed her Elemental storm-summoning ability as well.

When Nym sneaks off with a host of delegates to Bron, Lord Myles offers her the chance for a new kind of power and the whispered hope that it may do more than simply defeat the monster she loathes. But the secrets the Bron people have kept concealed, along with the horrors Draewulf has developed, may require more than simply harnessing a darker ability.

They may require who she is.

Set against the stark metallic backdrop of the Bron kingdom, Nym is faced with the chance to change the future.

Or was that Draewulf’s plan for her all along? 

How about you? What book/s do you plan to read this week? Happy Monday!

Book Spotlight with Chapter 1: Molly Lee by Andrew Joyce

Molly Lee

by Andrew Joyce

Paperback: 428 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March 26, 2015)

Kindle Edition
File Size: 1706 KB
Print Length: 428 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publication Date: March 29, 2015
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

About the book:

From the author of the the best-seller, REDEMPTION: The Further Adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer comes Molly Lee. 

Molly is about to set off on the adventure of a lifetime . . . of two lifetimes.

It’s 1861 and the Civil War has just started. Molly is an eighteen-year-old girl living on her family’s farm in Virginia when two deserters from the Southern Cause enter her life. One of them—a twenty-four-year-old Huck Finn—ends up saving her virtue, if not her life.

Molly is so enamored with Huck, she wants to run away with him. But Huck has other plans and is gone the next morning before she awakens. Thus starts a sequence of events that leads Molly into adventure after adventure; most of them not so nice.

We follow the travails of Molly Lee, starting when she is eighteen and ending when she is fifty-six. Even then Life has one more surprise in store for her. 

About the author:

Andrew Joyce left high school at seventeen to hitchhike throughout the US, Canada and Mexico. He wouldn't return from his journey until decades later when he decided to become a writer. Joyce has written three books, and a collection of almost one hundred forty short stories that is comprised of his hitching adventures called BEDTIME STORIES FOR GROWN-UPS. He lives on a boat in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with his dog, Danny. MOLLY LEE is a followup novel to the best-selling REDEMPTION: The Further Adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer.

Chapter One

Amazon Buy Links

Paperback / Kindle Edition

Follow Friday Question of the Week: What are the funniest books you've ever read?

 

Question of the Week: 

 What are the funniest books you've ever read? - Suggested by

Alison Can Read 

Vampire Academy (I love Rose's and Christian's witty dialogue) and Georgina Kincaid series both by Richelle Mead (love the heaven and hell gang). 

Also considering the first 5 books of the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton. Anita used to be sooo funny. Jean-Claud's and Richard's moments were so hilarious that made me buy the succeeding books. Though after a while I stopped reading since the author decided to make Anita a vampire / werewolf whore.

For newbies, to join the hop, 

visit Alison Can Read  or Parajunkee's View ...