Books to carry you through the holidays!

Buy the Little Ones a Dolly by Rose Bingham

Eight Excellent Reads! Mystery, suspense, historical fiction, romance, nonfiction, and dystopian . . . a little bit of something for everyone. 

I am nearly to my 60-book reading goal for the entire year! Here are my favorite 17 (yes 17) from the past two months.

    MIDDLE GRADE

In the last two months I’ve read a wide variety of books from picture book to romance and everything in between. Some of these books are not recent releases but were mentioned during sessions at recent conferences. I’m currently reading my way through this list along with my normal ‘just for fun’ reading and will bring you those that I highly recommend. 

I’ve been reading a lot of manuscripts and advance reader copies lately, and right now I’m not allowed to talk about those books. They’ve all been wonderful, and soon I’ll be able to share my reviews of these stories. In the meantime, here are the other books I’ve read these past two months that I recommend.

Since the beginning of the year, I have read 15 books. That’s a lot—even for me! This is a great start toward my goal of reading 60 books this year. Does anyone else set book-reading goals? Goodreads has a fun way to do this and keep track of what you’ve read.

Imminent Dawn by R.R. Campbell is not your run-of-the-mill sci-fi novel. For one, it takes place in the near future in a world that looks much like ours today—except for all the cool technology—not all of which is benign. This is truly a suspenseful thriller with a fast-paced plot line and well-developed characters whose smart dialogue keeps us turning the page. If you’re someone who thinks all sci-fi takes place in outer space—this genre has a lot more to offer. And Campbell’s work is a particularly fine way to prove that.

These are all books by people I (kinda) know!

During the past two months I’ve read a number of books by authors who I have either met in person or online. I’ve had the privilege of reading a few of these books as a beta reader—giving advice (sometimes minimal/sometimes more than that) for possible changes before the book was published. I feel it’s an important disclaimer to give you before I review these books and recommend them to you.  

It’s that time again . . . it’s almost Halloween. Or for those who follow a slightly different calendar, Samhain, is nearly upon us. This is when the veil between the worlds thins and makes it easier for us to commune with the spirit world. (Are you feeling the spooky vibe yet?)

Are you looking for ghostly, eerie, witchy, creepy, spine-tingling reads this year?

Or even just a little non-frightening Halloween fun in book form?

I have some excellent book lists for all ages and fright levels. Nine lists . . . because nine is a magical number.

This past week, I was invited to the cool kids’ lunch table . . . The Tall Poppy Writers invited me to take part in their Book Blogger Appreciation Week on their reader site: Bloom: A Group for Tall Poppy Readers.