Book Blogger Hop is run by Billy@coffeeaddictedwriter. There is a different bookish question every week.
The full question is: Do you keep an active list of favorite authors—that you would spend your milk money on—to have it when they publish a book? (submitted by Laura @ Laura’s Book Binge)
Answer: I don’t keep an actual list. There are some series I will buy or request if a new one comes out. As far as authors, I will buy anything Jodi Taylor writes.
What about you? Do you have any “auto-buy” authors?
I’m sure winter is not quite over, but Spring Cleaning started this weekend. I worked quite a while, but haven’t made much of a dent in it yet. I have a lot of stuff to go through before I retire and we move in just a little over 6 months! Wish me luck.
Bryson City, NC. About six more months til I’m living here.
Next week I hope to review The Trouble with You by Ellen Feldman and Sisters of Fortune by Anna Lee Huber. For Indie Weekend, I will review The Mender by Jennifer Marchman and Hamelin Stoop and the Battle of Parthogen by Robert B. Sloan. I am also going to put up as many Indie Spotlights as I can next week. If time permits, I will participate in Top Ten Tuesday and Book Blogger Hop.
BOOK HAUL
What The Mountains Remember is set in 1913. A young girl’s circumstances change drastically after her father dies in a mining accident and her mother marries a rich man. But then she goes back to the mountains as part of one of Henry Ford’s “Vagabond” camping tours and to see her fiance, a man she’s only met once before. As the mountains begin to return her memories, she starts to awaken to the truths of her new privileged life.
Night Falls on Predicament Avenue:
In 1910, Effie James is committed to doing anything to save her younger sister, who witnessed a shocking murder, leaving her mute and in danger of the killer’s retribution. Effie must prove what her sister saw, but when a British gentleman arrives, he disrupts Effie’s quest with his attempts to locate his wife, Isabelle Addington.
A century later, Norah Richman grapples with social anxiety and grief as she runs her late great-aunt’s bed-and-breakfast on Predicament Avenue. But Norah has little affection for the house and is committed only to carrying out her murdered sister’s dreams until crime historian and podcaster Sebastian Blaine arrives to investigate the ghostly legacy of the house’s claim to fame–the murder of Isabelle Addington.
Long Time Gone: Sloan has one reservation about involving herself in a DNA experiment: she’s adopted. Grateful for a loving home, she’s never considered tracking down her biological parents. The results of her search are shocking. Sloan’s DNA profile suggests her true identity is that of Charlotte Margolis, aka “Baby Charlotte”, who captured the nation’s attention when she mysteriously disappeared, along with her parents, in July 1995. Despite an exhaustive search, the family was never seen again, and no suspects were named in the case. Sloan is soon led to the town of Cedar Creek, Nevada, and she meets Sheriff Eric Stamos, whose father died while investigating Sloan’s disappearance.
That was how my week went. How About You? How was your week?
Indie Weekend is my effort to help Indie authors with marketing. It’s quite a daunting task, and if I can help even a little, I’m happy to do it. Please see below a book description, much deserved 5-star review, author information, and buy links for Anywhere But Schuylkill by Michael Dunn.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
ANYWHERE BUT SCHUYLKILL is the first of three books by Michael Dunn in his Great Upheaval trilogy. It is story of a teenage boy, Mike Doyle, struggling to free his family from the violence of their greedy, hard-drinking Uncle Sean.
The time is 1870s. The Long Depression is raging. Children are dying of hunger. The Reading Railroad has hired Pinkerton spies to infiltrate the miners’ union. And there is a sectarian war between the Modocs, a Welsh gang, and the Kohinoor Boys, an Irish gang. But Mike has a plan. It’s risky. It involves collaboration with the Kohinoor Boys. He could wind up in jail, or worse.
ANYWHERE BUT SCHUYLKILL is Michael Dunn’s first complete novel.
BOOK REVIEW
Wow, what a wonderful piece of historical fiction! The research is just astounding and the author’s expert knowledge of these events is evident. The reader is transported to 19th century Pennsylvania and the sights, sounds, and smells of that time come alive through Michael Dunn’s writing. When our main character Mike goes into a coal mine, we can see the dark tunnels through the light of the miners’ lamps, and we can smell the sweat of the men next to him. When he is forced to walk through a picket line as a “blackleg,” we can feel the hate and desperation of those who are striking for better wages and treatment. And most of all we can see him lined up with a group of young, hungry boys forced to work for almost nothing.
The descriptive, realistic writing is impressive. For example, the following passage shows what it’s like to be a “breaker boy” in a coal mine. “Pulling his shirt over his nose, he proceeded through the diagonal maze of chutes that crisscrossed the room. Each had ascending rows of boys sitting side by side above them on thin planks, as if they were on bleachers at a ballgame, except instead of facing home plate and enjoying the game, they all faced uphill, hunched over, their arms and legs darting in and out, like cockroaches rummaging for food.” Difficult and horrific situations such as discrimination, forced labor, and child abuse are shown truthfully. The desperation of young boys in horrible situations is written so well that the reader feels as if they are experiencing it. The author masterfully paints a vivid picture of the time, place, and events. It is very difficult to completely recreate a historic event in writing, place the reader in the middle of it, and make them feel as if they are there. This author has done it, and in his debut novel! This is the first in a trilogy and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
AUTHOR BIO
Michael Dunn writes Working-Class Historical Fiction from the Not So Gilded Age. ANYWHERE BUT SCHUYLKILL is the first in his Great Upheaval trilogy. A lifelong union activist, he has always been drawn to stories of the past, particularly those of regular working people, struggling to make a better life for themselves and their families. These are stories most people do not know, or have forgotten, because history is written by the victors, the robber barons and plutocrats, not the workers and immigrants. Yet their stories are among the most compelling in America. They resonate today because they are the stories of our own ancestors, because their passions and desires, struggles and tragedies, were so similar to our own.
*If you read the book, please leave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, as well as anywhere else you review books. Some people feel very daunted by writing a review. Don’t worry. You do not have to write a masterpiece. Just a couple of lines about how the book made you feel will make the author’s day and help the book succeed. The more reviews a book has, the more Amazon will promote it.
*Please click on the WordPress “share” buttons below and share these books with your Twitter (X), Facebook, and/or WordPress followers. A little bit of assistance from all of us will help Indie authors go a long way!
Top Ten Tuesday is run by That Artsy Reader Girl. There is a different topic every week. This week’s topic is: Top Ten Quick Reads/Books to Read When Time is Short. Click on the covers to learn more about the books.
This is the prequel novella to Gail Meath’s Jax Diamond Mysteries series and tells us how it all got started when Jax met his German Shepherd partner, Ace. It’s only 112 pages.
This is one of many novellas in Jodi Taylor’s The Chronicles of St. Mary’s series. She always releases a short story on Christmas and this is the latest. 100 pages.
A classic. What more do I need to say? It’s only 128 pages.
This is a short story in the St. Mary’s Universe about how it all got started. 76 pages.
This is a short story from The Frogmorton Farm series, which couldn’t be more different than St. Mary’s. There’s no time travel, but there is a magical golden horse. 44 pages.
This is a heartbreaking novel of Soviet Russia. It’s 194 pages, but that’s still pretty short. My review is here.
In this one, I was in awe of the author’s talent and deeply affected by the story. And it’s only 82 pages. My review is here.
Can you believe it’s only 108 pages?
This is a lesser-known story of the Titanic, and it’s only 66 pages.
Ok, book bloggers. This is the story of a woman whose book collection has gotten so big it’s threatening to collapse. We can all relate. It’s only 40 pages.
Can you think of any shorter books that you love or want to read?
From single digit temperatures the week before, we went well into the 50s part of the time this past week. So it was a much warmer week. We’ll stay in the 40s this coming week. With the Bengals out of it, I’m rooting for the Chiefs and Lions to win today and go to the Super Bowl. I’m hoping the Lions win it all.
Instagram: I need to increase my engagement on Instagram. I’ve been neglecting it. If you are on Instagram and want to trade likes and follows, I’m BonnieReads777 there.
What’s for dinner: Breakfast for dinner tonight! I’m making French Toast using homemade bread. Bacon on the side.
Top Ten Tuesday is run by That Artsy Reader Girl. There is a new topic each week. This week’s topic is Bookish Goals for 2024. I don’t have ten right now, but my goals are below.
Review Some Classics
I’m going to be reading or re-reading some Jane Austen classics and posting reviews. Plus I want to re-read some of the books I had to read in high school and see what I think of them now. In high school I thought most of them were SOOOOOO boring.
Read/Review More Romance
Romance is not my go-to genre, but I’m going to read more this year because so many people love this genre and I need to share a little more of that genre with the readers of this blog. I’ve also opened up Indie acceptances to the romance genre. A lot of them will probably be historical romances, because historical fiction is my go-to.
Get back to writing!
Doug and I kind of took last year off. We needed to put our creative hats back on, get going again, and share some of our writing on this blog.
More author interviews!
Do More Author Q&As. I really enjoy these and didn’t do them as much last year.
Take on less books (yeah, right!)
Take less books at a time! I’ve already broken this one, but I can dream!
What about you? Do you have any bookish goals for the year? Either reading, writing, reviewing, or all of the above?
A love match would not do. She would make an advantageous match—a brilliant match!
At the age of nineteen, Lady Dorothea Rowlandson was practically on the shelf. Had she not suffered her father, the earl’s, untimely death weeks before last year’s season, she would surely by now be a married lady—the established wife of an illustrious peer. With such a regrettable delay, time was ever more of the essence if she wished to secure her own future and that of her sisters.
Miles Shaw holds an encumbered estate. It is only logical, therefore, that he commence the London Season on the hunt for a well-dowered wife. His personal code of honor requires he be upfront about this goal, so that he deceives no one. And as he fully intends to love and cherish the wife of his choosing, he will naturally bring as much to the union as he receives. After all, he is a landed gentleman with no shortage of charm.
When chance forced Miles and Dorothea to partner one another for the first dance of the first crush of the season, Fortuna could only have been in a funning mood. To have fostered so unsuitable a connection was nothing short of absurd. For what could a peer of the realm’s daughter and a gentleman of no consequence, with his pockets to let, possibly have in common?
PRAISE FOR A BRILLIANT MATCH
“This book was an absolute delight and without a doubt belongs on the reading list of any fan of sweet regency romance!”— Merilee Loves to Read
“A creative and delightful historical romance, especially for lovers of a good P&P-type story!”— My Literary Love
INSTAGRAM GIVEAWAY
Author Jennie Goutet has generously offered one print or digital copy (winner’s choice) and a $25.00 Amazon gift card as a giveaway chance to one lucky winner.
FOLLOW me @BonnieReads777, Jennie Goutet @aladyinfrance, and @austenprose on Instagram.
COMMENT on my Instagram post sharing your favorite thing to bake during the holiday season and why.
TAG up to 5 friends in the comments. One additional entry per tag.
TERMS
Entrants must be US residents 18 years or older. The contest ends at 11:59pm Pacific Time, December 5, 2023. Void where prohibited. Not associated with Instagram or its affiliates, nor are they responsible for this giveaway. The winner will be chosen randomly from the entries and contacted by @austenprose as a direct message on December 6, 2023. Prize must be claimed by December 10, 2023. Please be aware of scam accounts!
Jennie Goutet is the best-selling author of twelve Regency romances, including the Clavering Chronicles, Memorable Proposals, and Daughters of the Gentry series. Her books have received first place in historical romance for the New England Reader’s Choice Awards and have hit the number one spot in Regency Romance on Amazon. They have been featured on BookBub and Hoopla and are translated into five languages.
An American-born Anglophile, Jennie lives with her French husband and their three children in a small town outside of Paris. Her imagination resides in Regency England, where her best-selling proper Regency romances are set.
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