I Love Creative People That Can Make A Dress From A Book!!

I discovered a cool looking dress made from a book on the Boing Boing website in an article titled Dress made from a book by Cory Doctorow.

Check out the dress by clicking on the link above. I think it's pretty cool looking!! 

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Runners: 101 Inspirational Stories of Energy, Endurance by Jack Canfield et al.

I enjoyed listening to the unabridged audio version of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Runners: 101 Inspirational Stories of Energy, Endurance by Jack Canfield et al. on compact disc.

I'm not a runner, but I have family members who are runners, so this audiobook appealed to me. Don't think you have to be a runner to enjoy listening to these running tales!

These running stories are inspirational and come in all shape and sizes. Some stories were sad, some were happy, and some were a combination of both. Most all of the running stories were heartwarming and thought provoking, but mostly these stories warmed one's soul. 

Until my next post, happy reading!

7 Ailments Named After Literary Characters

I came across an article on the Lit Reactor website titled 7 Horrifying Ailments Named After Literary Characters by Kimberly Turner. 

I didn't realize that there were that many ailments named after literary characters! Who would have guessed that there was such a thing as Rapunzel syndrome!?!?

Until my next post, happy reading!

Ernest Hemingway's Suggested Reading List & Writing Tips!

I discovered an interesting blog post titled Ernest Hemingway’s Suggested Reading List for an Aspiring Author by Scott P. Campbell on a blog called Thoughtkryme.

I always find it interesting to read what famous authors have to share in terms of writing advice as well as books they would recommend for aspiring writers to read. This type of information gives insight to a particular writer's style of writing and which books influenced them as writers.

Click on above link to read more!

Castle Cay by Lee Hanson

I read Castle Cay by Lee Hanson sometime in the past five to six weeks... I'm finally playing catch up with writing book reviews of books read!

Ms. Hanson is a new author to me as of this year. Her novel, 'Castle Cay', is a cozy mystery novel and the first in a series of books to feature the lead character of Julie O'Hara, a body language expert. 

'Castle Cay' is the second novel I've read by Lee Hanson. I enjoyed reading it much more than Ms. Hanson's novel, 'Mystral Murder', which was the third novel to feature Julie O'Hara.

Here's a book description from Lee Hanson's website:

When her best friend is murdered, Julie O'Hara, a body language expert, packs up her suspicion and flies from Florida to Boston for his funeral. Who could have killed rising artist Marc Solomon, and what does Castle Cay, the Solomons' mysterious Caribbean island, have to do with it? Before long, Julie's sixth-sense pulls a hidden string that unravels a deadly conspiracy...and her own troubled past.

I enjoyed the characters, storyline, and Lee Hanson's writing style very much in 'Castle Cay'. I would highly recommend reading 'Castle Cay' if you enjoy reading cozy mystery novels. 

I'm looking forward to reading 'Swan Song' by Lee Hanson, which is the second Julie O'Hara mystery novel!

Until my next post, happy reading!

Mystral Murder by Lee Hanson

I read Mystral Murder by Lee Hanson in the last couple of months and am finally playing catch up with writing book reviews!

Ms. Hanson is a new author to me and 'Mystral Murder' is the first novel I've read by her. 'Mystral Murder' is a cozy mystery novel and is the third mystery novel to feature body language expert, Julie O'Hara.

I was initially drawn to 'Mystral Murder' because it is a cozy mystery novel, which is a genre I enjoy reading for fun. I was also drawn to this novel because the story line took place on a cruise ship. It also didn't hurt that I received the eBook version of this book for free!

'Mystral Murder' was an okay read for me. Not great, not horrible, but somewhere in the middle. The lead character, Julie O'Hara, is a body language expert, so she makes for a good detective. I liked her character a lot. I also liked the story line's premise, but some of the characters and how the story played out weren't that great. 

Here's a book description of 'Mystral Murder' from Lee Hanson's website:

For body language expert Julie O’Hara, writing a book called “Clues” had seemed like a logical next-step in her career, but she had never thought past the writing part. Catapulted into the spotlight by the book’s success, Julie is caught up in a whirlwind of publicity, the latest being a seminar aboard Holiday Cruise Lines gigantic ship, Mystral. It’s grin-and-bear-it time for Julie, until a woman she meets at the exclusive Captain’s Dinner takes a header overboard. Julie thinks back and realizes there was a lot of motive for murder spread around the Captain’s table…

Until my next post, happy reading!!

50 Places For Literary Lovers to Visit!

I discovered an article on Flavorwire titled 50 Places Every Literary Fan Should Visit by Jason Diamond. I was excited to discover that the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Connecticut is first on the list, as it is at the top of my list of literary places to visit!

There are other interesting literary places mentioned in the article above that I look forward to visiting and discovering in the coming years ahead. 

As a side note, I've actually visited the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur, California earlier this year and blogged about my experience there with my husband. Big Sur is a beautiful place to visit and the Henry Miller Memorial Library is a charming place to visit, but not spectacular as a 'memorial library' in my opinion.

Until my next post, happy reading!

Top Ten Tuesday

The following books didn't live up to my reading expectation.

1. Ghostwalk by Rebecca Stott

This sounded like a novel with a great story line. It ended up being a lot different then what I thought it was going to be. I didn't like it much because of how the story unfolded. Nor did I like the ending.

2. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

I'd heard how great this memoir was by other readers. Yes, I enjoyed the concept of this memoir, but didn't like how Elizabeth Gilbert wrote about her experience.

I can honestly say that I enjoyed the movie version of this book so much better than the book itself, which is a first for me. I usually can't stand the movie version of any book I've read.

3. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Okay, umm, I'm aware that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is extraordinarily popular with readers. Curious about this novel, I wanted to see what all the fuss was surrounding this novel. After reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I can't figure out what readers see in this novel. Nothing personal folks, I just didn't enjoy reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

4. Rasputin's Daughter by Robert Alexander

I read Robert Alexander's book The Kitchen Boy, which is a novel about the last Tsar of Russia. I thoroughly loved reading The Kitchen Boy as it is well written and also because I enjoy reading novels that pertain to Russia. 

So, I decided to read Rasputin's Daughter thinking it would be just  as well written. I couldn't have been more disappointed with Rasputin's Daughter. It just wasn't as well written or at least wasn't that captivating.

5. Holidays On Ice by David Sedaris

I've read other books by David Sedaris and loved his wit and humor. Holidays On Ice was way too dark, bleak and negative for my taste.

6. The Old Man & the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Okay, I realize that I'm treading dangerously here by admitting publicly that The Old Man & the Sea didn't live up to the hype for me personally. 

Yes, I think Mr. Hemingway is an amazing writer and there's a reason he one the Nobel Prize for his contributions to the literary world. 

The Old Man & the Sea is a good story and I loved the imagery, but Ernest Hemingway's writing style does nothing to capture and keep my interest. I do not have the urge to read anything else he's written. I've tried to read a couple of his other works, but found them unable to keep my attention.

7. The House of Sand & Fog by Andre Dubus III

I still can't figure why some people like this novel so much. I purchased and read this novel when the Oprah Show had made it their book club selection. It sounded like an intriguing story filled with interesting characters and plot twists.

I found both the characters, their actions and the story line to be extremely irritating. There wasn't a single character I liked in this novel. I thought the leading character was an idiot, not worthy of any sympathy what so ever.

8. Cane River by Lalita Tademy

This book was another Oprah Book Club selection. The first half of Cane River was slow in my opinion, so I stopped reading this book because it didn't keep my interest. 

I finally finished reading Cane River because of all the praise this novel had received. I will readily admit that the second half of the novel was a lot better than the first half, but I was still disappointed with this novel because a book should be (for the most part) engaging from start to finish. 

9. House of Women by Lynn Freed

I learned about this novel from O Magazine several years ago. The product description on the inside cover of this novel sounded like this book would make a wonderful read. I couldn't have been more wrong. The characters and story weren't to my liking and kind of bizzare. This book was disappointing to say the least for me anyway.

10. Thirty-Three Swoons by Martha Cooley

This book had good reviews online, so I purchased and read this book based on both the reviews and the book description on the back cover. The first few pages of Thirty-Three Swoons were awesome, but it went down hill fast after that for me. Thirty-Three Swoons just wasn't that fulfilling.

Ever Wonder What Famous Authors Dislike??

I just read an article on BuzzFeed titled 12 Things Famous Authors Absolutely Hated by Erin La Rosa. It was interesting to learn about the things authors hated!

Learn How 8 Famous Chose Their Pen Names

Ever wonder how authors choose their pen names? I definitely have! I stumbled upon and article on The Week website titled How 8 famous writers chose their pen names by Matt Soniak and found it to be informative. I hope you enjoy reading it too!