Book Recommendations from the Writer’s in Paradise Workshop 01/2016

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Books similar to my MG fantasy submission, Flora’s Last Chance for Magic:

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Sure Signs of Crazy by  Karen Harrington

The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson

Ship Breaker by  Paolo Bacigalupi

The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo

Mistborn: The Final Empire by  Brandon Sanderson

…

Book recommendations from the YA workshop:

Challenger Deep by  Neal Shusterman

The She by  Carol Plum-Ucci

The Thing About Jellyfish by  Ali Benjamin

Feed by M.T. Anderson

Bud not Buddy by  Christopher Paul Curtis

Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls Book 1) by Maggie Stiefvater

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson

The Summer I Turned Pretty (Summer Series Book 1) by Jenny Han 

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

El Deafo by  Cece Bell

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy Book 1) by Laini Taylor

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige 

…

Author recommendations from the YA workshop:

Sara Dessen

Jacqueline Woodson

Robin Mckinley

…

Book recommendations for craft:

On Becoming a Novelist by  John Gardner

…

Miscellaneous Book recommendations:

Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error by Kathryn Schulz

A Brief History of Seven Killings: A Novel by Marlon James

Tinkers by  Paul Harding

Lord of Misrule (Vintage Contemporaries) by Jaimy Gordon 

A Wizard of Earthsea (The Earthsea Cycle) by  Ursula K. Le Guin

…

Book Review: The Ties That Bleed by Jami Deise

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The Ties That Bleed by Jami Deise

An Urban Fantasy Novel published by Evernight Publishing (06/21/15)

Summary:

“You’re itching to get back in the field, aren’t you? Not a whole lot of excitement, playing the doctor’s wife, running the PTA?” (Kindle Locations 539-540).

Diana Rowan used to be a vampire assassin. She used to be the best of the best before she got married and had a daughter. Now Diana teaches new vampire assassins, staying safe behind a desk. But she isn’t safe from all the vampires. The vampire she killed ten years ago is back and Diana and her family are his next target.

Keywords:

Vampire Assassin, FBI, Family, Daughter, Death, Teacher, Retired, Marriage, Missions, In the Field, Revenge, Lies, Distractions, Enemies, Old Vampires, New Vampires

My Review:

Though the cover would make you think “paranormal” and the presence of vampires and vampire hunters would also point you in the direction of paranormal, I believe that The Ties that Bleed is an urban fantasy in contemporary terms or gothic horror, much like Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice. This book was more like Interview with a Vampire than Twilight as far as vampire stories go. The Ties that Bleed had real characters with a real story and real stakes that were much more than teen angst related. There was also much less romance than your average tween vampire story. This book was somewhere in the middle of thriller/mystery/horror/fantasy/paranormal and if you like a realistic story that just so happens to have some vampires and some otherworldly concepts, you’ll love the Ties that Bleed.

I really liked the concept of a vampire assassin school to train the next generation of vampire hunters and that this would be considered a “desk” job, even though it still has its dangers.

The relationships between Diana and her male coworkers was as tense and sexist as any movie where there are female government workers and male government workers in the same department. Diana, however, is not lacking in the skills department.

This novel was published by Evernight Publishing June 21st, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TLDR Star Rating: 4.25

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Jamie Deise’s Website

Twitter

Book Review: Keeping Score by Jami Deise

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Keeping Score by Jami Deise

A Fiction Novel published by Amazon Digital Services (01/13/14)

Summary:

“Select baseball’s a small town. Everyone knows everyone else’s business.” (p. 163).

For Sam’s mother, Shannon, it’s all about getting him the opportunities to excel. If that means Sam gets more pitching practice and coaching time and is better than many of the other baseball mom’s kids, then all the better. Summer is fast approaching and Sam wants to try out for travel baseball. Both Sam and his mother will discover that there’s more competition off the field than on it and that baseball has its own set of politics and unfairness. All Sam wants to do is play, but what does Shannon really want? What is she willing to do and to let go of for her son?

Keywords:

Sports Mom, Parenting, Sports, Baseball, Team Spirit, Helicopter Parents, Select Baseball, Travel Baseball, Summer, 9-year old, Mother, Divorced Mom, Coaches, Coaching, Try-outs, Baseball Politics, Gossip, Competitive

My Review:

Even though I don’t have kids and have never played baseball, I could relate to the mother in this book. She had her ups and downs. She was harried and busy. Sometimes she didn’t even have time to properly eat or sleep. The way she complains about anything that went wrong was hilarious and always in perspective of her son’s happiness. She was an endearing, yet flawed, character.

There were some great one line zingers in this book. Like, “Sometimes relationships you think are friendships turn out to be tools only to get you through the week.” (Page 222) and, “At least with sports, the competition was direct and the winners and losers obvious.” (Page 235).

Keeping Score was like Ready Player One and its constant over-the-head 80’s pop and game references but with technical baseball terms and lingo. Much of this went over my head and I focused in on the story and the relationships between the characters. The technical baseball terms and phrases did not detract from the story being told.

This book is for mothers everywhere, especially anyone who knows anything about baseball. Also for those who want to know precisely what it’s like to be a sports mom or anyone who wants to read a fast-paced fun book about mothers, baseball, and the highly competitive nature of parenting.

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services January 13th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

TLDR Star Rating: 4.25

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Jamie Deise’s Website

Twitter

Book Review: Big Business: And How I Learned To Love The Financial Crisis by Frank Nunez

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Big Business: And How I Learned To Love The Financial Crisis by Frank Nunez

A Fiction Novel published by Amazon Digital Services (12/29/15)

Summary:

“You can’t question how the machinery works. If it works in your favor, why question it?” (Kindle Locations 1624-1625).

Philip Dunbar has not a care in the world. He’s about to graduate, but he doesn’t yet have a job. In the next couple of months he will realize how tough it is to get a job in this economy. After finally lucking out and getting a job, Philip will realize it’s not all sunshine and roses and even working hard sometimes gets you nowhere. So why work hard? Philip will continue to get lucky, even though he hasn’t been serious about his sales or his efforts at work. Even after climbing up the job ladder, Philip will come to realize that prospects from the top or not all that different from those at the bottom.

Keywords:

Business, Banking, Financials, Dating, Slacker, Lazy, Woman Chaser, Shallow, male POV, CEO, Job Chain, Getting a Job, Bad Jobs, Employment, Wall Street, Financial Collapse, Ponzi Scheme, New York City

My Review:

I loved the start of the chapter quotes. They were quick to orient the reader and bring in the outer world into this narrow viewed story of Philip Dunbar and how the financial crisis of 2008 affected him. As much as I disliked Philip Dunbar, I also couldn’t help but want to know how his story would end. Throughout the story, Philip grew and became a much more likeable fellow than he started. He even had some redeeming moments.

This story was told from Philip Dunbar’s point of view and it was like reading “dude” lit. The plot meandered but the story was fascinating.

The pacing was a bit choppy. The scenes were a bit choppy. Philip Dunbar’s perspective was rather choppy. There were a lot of missing visuals, a lot of the scenes read like in they were a screenplay. Many dialogue tags were withheld. Much of the action was summed up by the narrator instead of shown through the scene. There were fewer details than summations.

Some of the humor felt awkward, but the narrator’s voice was entertaining and approachable.

There were also enough instances of typos/grammar errors to bring my attention away from Philip to focus on the mechanics of the novel.

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services December 29th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TLDR Star Rating: 3.25

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Frank Nunez’s website

Book Review: Broken Promise (The Broken Ones Book 3) by Jen Wylie

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Broken Promise (The Broken Ones Book 3) by Jen Wylie

A Low Fantasy/Fiction Novel published by Untold Press (09/07/14)

Summary:

“There was nothing quite like the rush of a good fight.” (Kindle Location 15776).
“…what you see isn’t always the truth.” (Kindle Locations 15859-15860).

After dropping Prince off in Rivenward to heal and potentially never to see again, Aro’s next move is to see about the Were King, get ready to help the Fey, and find a nice place to stay for the winter. What Aro realizes is that the Were King is more upset at them for forming a Pack and that staying holed up for the winter in another town will bring all sorts of other problems for her.

Keywords:

Fighting, War, Tension, Female Protagonist, Tragedy, Romance, Love, Friendship, Loyalty, Family, Travel, Escape, Protection, Lies, Danger, Death, Grief, Training, Addiction, Killer

My Review:

As a series, there were small things I didn’t care for, like Aro’s instant love and devotion to Kei, how she kept dying and being brought back to life, and the constant travel in book two. I still thought this was an excellent series (thus far) and I loved the emotion the author brought to the stories and characters. There were so many excellent and well done things to like. For example, Aro herself was a wonderfully crafted character who grew and changed in every book. The story developed throughout and the plot was well conceived as a whole and within each book. The story, Aro’s story, was mesmerizing. I wanted and still want more from her and her story. The inter-character relationships and dialogue was also quite well done and realistic.

The pacing in this third book was just as well done as in book one. There was a good blend of action, tension, and fighting with buildup, learning, travel, and character interaction.

I absolutely loved Roan and was so pleased that the author added him in organically and tied him back to previous information. Roan was multifaceted, just like Aro and her pack members.

The fantasy in this book continues to be relevant, not over the top, and well integrated into the plot and story. I very much look forward to book four in the Broken Ones series by Jen Wylie.

This novel was published by Untold Press September 7th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

TLDR Star Rating: 4.00

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Jen Wylie’s Website

Twitter

Seattle Specific Saturdays: I Heart Books Event in Renton, WA Saturday, February 13: 3 PM – 10 PM

by in Local Authors, Local Eats, Local Events, Seattle Specific Saturdays and tagged , , , , , , ,

From the Facebook event page:

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We’re back! And this time we have even more fun and excitement than we did before. Join Jeffrey Cook, Lee French, A.J. Downey, Bibi Rizer and more for a book selling event that will not only make you look good for your sweetheart, but will help show the love to an organization that helps abused kids!

That’s right, this time I ♥ Books is doubling as the launch party for Biker Chicks! An anthology of hot MC romance where the women are in charge.

All proceeds from the sales of any of the Biker Chicks anthology goes directly in support of the Lake Washington Chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse in support of their mission to help the littlest victims. B.A.C.A. is a non-profit organization that provides victim support and services to children who have been the victim of abuse be it in a domestic capacity or otherwise.

So join us, the day before Valentine’s Day to score your copy of Biker Chicks before anyone else, and to maybe, just mayyyybe, score some points with *your* other half. 😉

We can’t wait to see you there!