Today at Armchair BEA we are talking about genre fiction. I read a lot of genre fiction. I mostly read for entertainment (I don't have cable so most of my entertainment comes from books). Book Blogging has definitely widen my horizons as far as genres I'm willing to read and actually enjoy most of the time.
My first love though is Pyschological Thrillers. I loved Before I Go To Sleep and Still Missing. Anything by Ted Dekker also is a must read. I love how they make me think. There's just something about seeing the dark and twisted side of human nature that I find fascinating.
Probably tied with psychological thrillers is my love for stories of espionage. I used to have a Goodreads shelf titled Espionage. I'm particularly fond of Cold War era espionage - Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series and Jack Higgins' Sean Dillon series. However, I've gotten a bit into corporate espionage with The Egyptian by Layton Green.
At Christmas time, I always want to read Chick-lit and there's been some really good stuff lately. I loved True Love Way by Nancy Scrofano and Dating Mr. December by Phillipa Ashley.
I'm not big on true romance, but one series that I'm anxiously awaiting the third installment of is Gabriel's Inferno and Gabriel's Rapture by Sylvain Reynard. Gabriel's Redemption is due out in December. I'm REALLY hoping there's an ARC with my name on it (are you reading this SR?).
I've started to get into sci-fi and fantasy since blogging, though I mostly stick to young adult fare (particularly the fantasy) in this category. The Gateway Chronicles by K. B. Hoyle - LOVE IT and enjoyed the Across the Universe series by Beth Revis. As far as adult fare, All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness and the Extrahumans series by Susan Bigelow. I much prefer there to be elements of my own world involved. Full fantasy particularly is difficult for me. I liked The Blacklight Chronicles by John Forrestor, but don't find them nearly as enjoyable as the the series I mentioned above. I just noticed I mostly read series in this genre.
I've found that I enjoy speculative and dystopian fiction, but haven't read a lot in either category. I like it because there is the element of this may happen and like pyschological thrillers often make you think about your own actions and beliefs.
While I love a good thriller, horror is something I stay away from. The closest I've come to horror is probably The First Victim by J. B. Lynn.
Speaking of J. B. Lynn. The funniest books I've ever read is her Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman series. They are heading into more clear cut chick lit with the latest installment, but they still remain firmly in the humor genre.
I guess that about sums up my genre fiction reading. When you throw in the non-fiction and literary fiction I also enjoy you can see my reading tastes are quite eclectic.
What do you enjoy reading?
May 29, 2013
Donna Huber: A Weekend Writer
Welcome to the Armchair BEA edition of Writer Wednesday. Today's topic is Blogger Development. I thought I would share what my blog has developed into. And since BEA is about revealing upcoming titles, I'm giving bloggers at home an opportunity to share in the excitement of revealing a new project.
At the beginning of May, I decided to write a book. So on Saturday, May 4 I sat down and started writing. By Sunday night I had around 10,000 words and finished the first draft. The book was never meant to be long. It's a how-to manual for authors.
You may be wondering how a person can write an entire, although short, book in a weekend. I'll be honest I've been working on the content for perhaps the past year. Each week I post tips for authors and bloggers. I have amassed quite a bit of information over the past year or so since starting the Tips on Thursday. However, it isn't well organized and can be difficult for someone looking for a specific piece of advice.
Probably a year ago, a group of bloggers and authors encouraged me to put my tips posts in book form. And six months ago, I did start working on that, but quickly became overwhelmed with the amount of information I had and how to make it all flow together.
Therefore, at the beginning of the month I decided to try a mini-book - a book that I could write on the weekends and finish within about a month. One of my more popular and often requested topics is on organizing blog tours. Funny enough that post was inspired by an Armchair BEA topic. Using that post as the basis, I pulled together 5 or 6 other posts I've done on similar topics that would be useful to authors planning a tour and filled in the gaps with real life examples from tours that I've organized or participated in.
The result, Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour. A number of my author and blogging friends are helping me unveil the project today with a cover reveal: J. B. Lynn at Killer Chicks, Kriss of Cabin Goddess, Tami of Bookish Temptations, Karen Pokras Toz (there are more, but this will give a sampling of what others are saying).
When I started my blog two years ago, I didn't know if I would still be blogging six months later let alone ever write a book based on my blog. There's a reason why I chose Girl Who Reads as my online persona. In a couple of weeks when the book is available in ebook format, I might have to reconsider my title. Nah. I'll always be Girl Who Reads.... who spends her weekends writing.
At the beginning of May, I decided to write a book. So on Saturday, May 4 I sat down and started writing. By Sunday night I had around 10,000 words and finished the first draft. The book was never meant to be long. It's a how-to manual for authors.
You may be wondering how a person can write an entire, although short, book in a weekend. I'll be honest I've been working on the content for perhaps the past year. Each week I post tips for authors and bloggers. I have amassed quite a bit of information over the past year or so since starting the Tips on Thursday. However, it isn't well organized and can be difficult for someone looking for a specific piece of advice.
Probably a year ago, a group of bloggers and authors encouraged me to put my tips posts in book form. And six months ago, I did start working on that, but quickly became overwhelmed with the amount of information I had and how to make it all flow together.
Therefore, at the beginning of the month I decided to try a mini-book - a book that I could write on the weekends and finish within about a month. One of my more popular and often requested topics is on organizing blog tours. Funny enough that post was inspired by an Armchair BEA topic. Using that post as the basis, I pulled together 5 or 6 other posts I've done on similar topics that would be useful to authors planning a tour and filled in the gaps with real life examples from tours that I've organized or participated in.
The result, Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour. A number of my author and blogging friends are helping me unveil the project today with a cover reveal: J. B. Lynn at Killer Chicks, Kriss of Cabin Goddess, Tami of Bookish Temptations, Karen Pokras Toz (there are more, but this will give a sampling of what others are saying).
When I started my blog two years ago, I didn't know if I would still be blogging six months later let alone ever write a book based on my blog. There's a reason why I chose Girl Who Reads as my online persona. In a couple of weeks when the book is available in ebook format, I might have to reconsider my title. Nah. I'll always be Girl Who Reads.... who spends her weekends writing.
Buy Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour at Amazon
Related articles
- Tips for Choosing a Blog Tour Company (theindieexchange.com)
- Tips on Thursday: Blog Tours (girl-who-reads.com)
- Cover Reveal - "Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour" by Donna Huber (cabingoddess.com)
- Donna Huber's Secrets - Cover Reveal (alisondeluca.blogspot.com)
- Cover Reveal: Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour (kptoz.blogspot.com)
- Donna's Secret Project Cover Reveal and Summary (bookishtemptations.com)
May 28, 2013
Armchair BEA: Introductions & Classics
Tell us about yourself. Have you done Armchair BEA before?
Hi! I'm Donna and I've been blogging since 2011. This is my third year at Armchair BEA. I'm looking forward to getting to know new bloggers and catching up with old friends.
Where in the world are you blogging from?
I live on the outskirts of Athens, Georgia which is the home of UGA, REM, and the B-52s
What are you currently reading?
I always have a couple of books going at any time. I finished up a couple of books last week and getting started on The Diabolist by Layton Green and Black Venus by James MacManus.
What is your favorite post?
I enjoy writing my weekly Tips posts and hope that you will take the time to read through them. A recent one that has been pretty popular is my tips on creating a weekly feature on your blog.
What is your favorite part of the blogging community?
I love the people I've met. I've become friends with a number of authors - I probably would never have contacted most of the authors that I now talk to regularly if I hadn't started blogging. I enjoy the blogging friends I made. And I really like all the books I get. I've discovered new genres that I like, but probably wouldn't have read on my own.
Thanks for stopping by and getting to know me a little bit. Please leave a comment with a link to your post and I will try to get by.
My Top 5 Favorite Classics
1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
3. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
4. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
5. The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Hi! I'm Donna and I've been blogging since 2011. This is my third year at Armchair BEA. I'm looking forward to getting to know new bloggers and catching up with old friends.
Where in the world are you blogging from?
I live on the outskirts of Athens, Georgia which is the home of UGA, REM, and the B-52s
What are you currently reading?
I always have a couple of books going at any time. I finished up a couple of books last week and getting started on The Diabolist by Layton Green and Black Venus by James MacManus.
What is your favorite post?
I enjoy writing my weekly Tips posts and hope that you will take the time to read through them. A recent one that has been pretty popular is my tips on creating a weekly feature on your blog.
What is your favorite part of the blogging community?
I love the people I've met. I've become friends with a number of authors - I probably would never have contacted most of the authors that I now talk to regularly if I hadn't started blogging. I enjoy the blogging friends I made. And I really like all the books I get. I've discovered new genres that I like, but probably wouldn't have read on my own.
Thanks for stopping by and getting to know me a little bit. Please leave a comment with a link to your post and I will try to get by.
My Top 5 Favorite Classics
1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
3. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
4. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
5. The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Related articles
- Armchair BEA is Coming ... Prep Your Introductions! (armchairbea.com)
- ArmchairBEA: The Future of Blogging (girl-who-reads.com)
- Announcing the 2013 Armchair BEA Agenda!! (armchairbea.com)
- ArmchairBEA Instagram Challenge (armchairbea.com)
Get a Great Summer Read Giveaway
Summer has officially started and it's time to get reading!
Win a $25 Amazon or iTune Gift Card
You could get this summer's funniest read:
How do you say “no” to a mob boss?
When bumbling hitwoman Maggie Lee is asked by her mob boss employer to kill a cop, she wants to say no.
When her sexy murder mentor, Patrick Mulligan tells her the cop in question is a guy she once dated, she REALLY wants to refuse.
But when her former date, Paul Kowalski tries to kill her, she changes her tune to “Hell, yes!”
Maggie and Patrick grow closer as they scramble to figure out what it is that Kowalski is looking for and what it has to do with her prison escapee father.
Maggie’s search is hampered by the presence of US Marshals hunting her father and her crazier-than-usual family.
Along with her snarky talking lizard, grammatically-challenged Doberman, and a pissy cat, she races to solve the mystery and protect her family. But nothing in Maggie’s life ever goes as planned….
Buy at Amazon, iBookstore, B&N
Chat with J. B. Lynn
Thursday, May 30 at 8 pm eastern
Twitter: #Hitwoman
A GWR Publicity event paid for by the author. Giveaway is sponsored by the author.
Related articles
- Confessions Tour with J. B. Lynn (girl-who-reads.com)
- Short Story: The Hitwoman Gets Lucky (girl-who-reads.com)
- So Funny: Further Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman (girl-who-reads.com)
- Review: The Hitwoman and the Family Jewels (girl-who-reads.com)
- Phenomenal: Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman (girl-who-reads.com)
May 27, 2013
Weekly Short: There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister's Husband, and He Hanged Himself
If you can't guess from the super long title, There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister's Husband, and He Hanged Himself is a collection of short stories translated from Russian. I'm not sure I've read any Russian literature. I'm sure it was on my high school reading list, but I think it was the books I didn't get to.
It is a collection of stories about love, but not what you typically think of as love stories. The collection is grouped into four sections and highlight love at different "stages": young love, family love, parent/child love, and mature love.
There's nothing dressed up about these love stories. The stories are like getting glimpse of real life. And life in Russia wasn't real rosy. There's none of the glitz that we would associate with American love stories, yet there is something profound in these stories. Something of human spirit. There is more beneath the surface.
If you are still looking for short stories to read for Short Story Month, and want something that will widen your horizon (and give you a better understanding of what love is) then try There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister's Husband, and He Hanged Himself.
Buy it at Amazon.
Book info: paperback, 171 pages, published January 2013 by Penguin Books
Source: publisher
Read: February - May 2013
Girl Who Reads is an Amazon advertising affiliate; a small fee is earned when purchases are made at Amazon through the link above. A free copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
It is a collection of stories about love, but not what you typically think of as love stories. The collection is grouped into four sections and highlight love at different "stages": young love, family love, parent/child love, and mature love.
There's nothing dressed up about these love stories. The stories are like getting glimpse of real life. And life in Russia wasn't real rosy. There's none of the glitz that we would associate with American love stories, yet there is something profound in these stories. Something of human spirit. There is more beneath the surface.
If you are still looking for short stories to read for Short Story Month, and want something that will widen your horizon (and give you a better understanding of what love is) then try There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister's Husband, and He Hanged Himself.
Buy it at Amazon.
Book info: paperback, 171 pages, published January 2013 by Penguin Books
Source: publisher
Read: February - May 2013
Girl Who Reads is an Amazon advertising affiliate; a small fee is earned when purchases are made at Amazon through the link above. A free copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Related articles
- Featured Book - There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister's Husband and He Hanged Himself : Love Stories (girl-who-reads.com)
- Weekly Short: Right Click, Love (girl-who-reads.com)
- "There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister's Husband, and He Hanged Himself: Love Stories" by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya (bookswithoutanypictures.wordpress.com)
May 26, 2013
Sunday Sale Page 5/26
I have a bunch of giveaways going on, and a few have low entries. If you want a chance at a free book or some swag, be sure to enter today!
Bounce into Summer (win a bounce house)
Bella Andre Summer of Love (beach bag with goodies from Bella Andre & Harlequin)
The Pipe Woman Chronicles (5 book set)
Shadow of Night (paperback & alchemy buttons)
Visitor's series (Brown House and swag)
Children's Book Week (Erin, gift card, and swag)
The Enemy ($100 gift card)
Blood Vine series (Fern, gift card, and swag)
A Newbie Author's Survival Guide (3 ebook copies)
Now on to some great book deals.
I picked this book up on Friday. It looks appropriate for the holiday weekend.
I'm really feeling the need to read drama, as you can tell by the other free ebooks I picked up
May is Short Story Month
Check out these 99 cents bestsellers
Girl Who Reads is an Amazon advertising affililate; a small fee is earned when purchases are made at Amazon through the links above. Prices are accurate as of May 25, please verify price before purchasing. Prices only apply to ebooks.
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