Click here to read about Where my ‘Judge a Book by its Cover’ started.
The book cover is the first thing to grab my attention, secondly the title, and then I’ll read the blurb.
This week I have three more covers that caught my eye, and like the last time, I hope these covers portray the same story as the blurb.
Continue readingI support indie authors as much as I can, but it’s impossible to do so by reading all of their books. There are many other ways to support them though, and I’ve decided to judge their books by their covers and share my thoughts on my blog. As the saying goes; every bit helps.
Most of us agree that the book cover is very important. I usually judge a book firstly by its cover, secondly the title, and then I’ll read the blurb.
We are all attracted to different book covers and what might grab my attention, might not grab yours and vice versa.
I asked indie authors on Threads, to show me their book covers and I got a whooping 152 responses. That’s a lot of book covers to look over. I’m pleased to say that none of them are awful. Hooray!
Continue readingMy latest read; Snow by John Banville
‘The body is in the library,’ Colonel Osborne said. ‘Come this way.’
Detective Inspector St John Strafford is called in from Dublin to investigate a murder at Ballyglass House – the Co. Wexford family seat of the aristocratic, secretive Osborne family.
Facing obstruction from all angles, Strafford carries on determinedly in his pursuit of the murderer. However, as the snow continues to fall over this ever-expanding mystery, the people of Ballyglass are equally determined to keep their secrets.
Genre – Historical cosy mystery set in Ireland in 1957, an era I love reading about.
Continue readingAre you a member of a book club? If so, do you meet virtually or in person?
I attend a book club run by Pangur Bán Bookshop in conjunction with Craoibhín Ballina. We meet in person once a month.
At our book club meeting last night we talked about Water by John Boyne. Have you read it? What did you think?
The Blurb:
The first thing Vanessa Carvin does when she arrives on the island is change her name. To the locals, she is Willow Hale, a solitary outsider escaping Dublin to live a hermetic existence in a small cottage, not a notorious woman on the run from her past.
But scandals follow like hunting dogs. And she has some questions of her own to answer. If her ex-husband is really the monster everyone says he is, then how complicit was she in his crimes?
Escaping her old life might seem like a good idea but the choices she has made throughout her marriage have consequences. Here, on the island, Vanessa must reflect on what she did – and did not do. Only then can she discover whether she is worthy of finding peace at all.
Book Club Discussion
Water is a novella; 166 pages.
We had ten readers present at our December meeting and only one out of the ten didn’t like the book. However, she did read it and ‘got ‘it’ by the time she was finished. Starting off, she thought to herself, a woman escaping from her problems to an island, heard it all before. But it’s told from a different perspective than we’re used to.
The main character in the book is a woman, Willow. We praised John Boyne for his ability to get inside a woman’s head. Not too many male writers succeed in writing from a female’s POV as skilfully as John Boyne has done here.
Continue readingPoems and Stories
Sharing The Book Love Since 2016
Short Stories by Shan Storyteller
Mostly books, with a little wine writing on the side
And, for good measure, a bit of Cooking and Eating
Join me on my adventures through life!
Gloria McBreen 