Yes, I’m finally becoming a snowbird. Well, a semi-snowbird. I’ll be spending the month of January in Florida, basking in the sunshine and warming my bones while family and friends are shoveling out their driveways. And I don’t even feel bad about it. I deserve it.
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But I won’t only be lying around on the beach. I plan to meet with as many authors, librarians and booksellers as I can. I’ve already made lunch plans with author D.C. Stanfa and the Florida RWA have asked me to speak at their monthly meeting. If anyone else is interested in getting together, please email me at barbaravey@gmail.com and I’ll try to work it in.
What Should I Read Next?
I also plan on reading….A LOT!! So, if there’s a book that just must be read, please let me know. I’m making a list now and I’d be happy to consider it. Suggest one you read and loved or one you wrote or one your friend wrote. Just make sure it’s a good book with a good story. That’s all I ask. Oh, and I don’t care for non-fiction, so stick to the make-believe stuff.
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Bottom Line: Let the suggestions begin!
Of all the bks I read this year, my favorites were Lisa Gardner’s LOVE YOU MORE and Victoria Dahl’s Donovan brothers series.
well – I’d very much like to suggest my own book, “The Distant Shore”, IPPY Bronze Medalist 2012.
My 3rd book in the Berringer Bodyguard series is out in Jan, and it’s a New Year’s romance set in Mexico – perfect timing!
Everyone was delighted with the presentation in Richmond, btw. Thank you. Maybe read The Folk of the Air by Beagle.
Enjoy your month! I’ll be stuck under the gray clouds
WHEN WE WERE THE KENNEDYS by Monica Wood, a memoir that reads like a novel
Oh, that memoir looks great, I might have to get that.
I’m so excited your coming to our meeting! You’ll hear alot of talk about our upcoming Florida Romance Writers Cruise conference where writers escaping the winters can all go on a 5 day cruise on Royal Caribbean. http://frwfuninthesunmain.blogspot.com/ for more information. It’s going to be an amazing January!
Okay…you’ll probably want to wring my neck if any of these appeal because they are ALL highly addictive with at least one follow-up and will keep you engrossed well beyond the end of your winter break. Exception…stand-alone debut: “Beyond the Blonde” by Kathleen Flynn-Hui. What I thought would be pure fluff, chick-lit turned into a lovely ‘feel-good’ underdog wins out story laid in the world of the big-time (and big bucks) beauty business in New York. Turning to series, if you’re not already familiar with delightful Julie Hyzy, you should make her acquaintance. She has two series going presently, but I’m especially fond of her ‘White House Chef” novels: a spunky heroine dealing with cuisine and catastrophe within an absolutely fascinatingly believable environment. “State of the Onion” is first in her series. I’ve also fallen HARD for Barbara Ashford’s debut “Spellcast” which combines a paranormal twist with a delightful romance during the course of a season at a summer stock theater. Reads like a house a-fire as does its sequel “Spellcrossed”. More in the paranormal vein: Deborah Harkness’s debut “A Discovery of Witches” hit the NYT list and stayed there…I can see why – probably the BEST of the paranormal bunch IMHO…and its sequel “Shadow of Night” involving time-walking to Elizabethan England more than lives up to her previous spell-binder. Finally…please check out Madeleine E. Robin for brilliant writing and pure period CLASS! Regency romance with a spunky, derring-do heroine who breaks all the rules and emerges top-o’-the-heap! “Point of Honour” should have you (as it did me) rushing to find the two sequels. NB: How can you NOT want to keep reading a novel which begins: “…It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Fallen Woman of good family must, soon or late, descend to whoredom…” until Sarah Tolerance finds ANOTHER alternative! LOL.
I recommend “This Book Does Not Exist” by Mike Schneider.
Please consider reading “This Book Does Not Exist” by Mike Schneider. It is one of the most most original, gripping books I’ve read in years and I just couldn’t put it down!
I can recommend four right off the top of my head. If you are in Florida, Buzz Bernard’s EYEWALL and PLAGUE will rock your world. Ghost On Black Mountain by Ann Hite and Finding Claire Fletcher by Lisa Regan. I have a list of fantastic authors to choose from in just about every genre. Check them out!
http://sullivanmaxx.com/about-sullivan-maxx/Jeanie-loiacono/
“American Ghost” by Janet Owens,
“Where’d You Go, Bernadette” by Maria Semple,
“Talking to the Dead” by Harry Bingham,
“Arcadia”, by Lauren Groff.
My best of the year. And, in case you missed it, “Swamplandia!”, by Karen Russell.
The Washington Post recently asked for descriptions of novels in just 12 words.
This is what I came up with for a remarkable novel about five people who had to make an extraordinary choice:
2012: Midnight at Spanish Gardens – “Go through the door, you’re not you; but you could be again.“
Thanks so much everyone. This is an amazing list of reads and I will consider them all although I only have 1 month to read.
Even if I don’t get to each one, please check them all out and feel free to report back to me how you liked them.
I recommend ” Redeeming Love” by Francine Rivers….. I am sure you will not be disappointed.
Barbara,
I’m leaving for Florida this Sunday and will be back New Year’s Day so I’ll just miss you. We have a beach condo in Palm Coast and I’m looking forward to doing nothing but stare at the ocean and read. I just read Gone Girl and really liked it. Hope you have a wonderful time.
“This Book Does Not Exist” by Mike Schneider. This book has me hooked on fiction. I’ve never enjoyed fiction books, but this book has inspired me not to limit myself to facts. Very descriptive. Felt like I was in the book. Would love to see a movie production to compare his imagery to that in my own head.
I recommend ” Redeeming Love” by Francine Rivers….. I am sure you will not be disappointed.