Tag Archives: The Third Option

From the Family Bookshelf

Is it possible a month has passed since my last From the Family Bookshelf column appeared? I swear it couldn’t have, but the last one is dated September 21st, so I guess time slipped away from me.

All of us have been busy. Swimming lessons and dance lessons have started. Dad has been working like crazy. I have been up to my eyeballs with promoting my first children’s book, Little Shepherd, coordinating book tours, and reading. Not to mention family stuff.

Dad finally finished Vince Flynn’s The Third Option. Now he is reading Prince Caspian, which is part of The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. Though I have seen various movie adaptations of this book and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I’ve never read the books. We have the set here, so I’ll have to change that one day.

The Lil Diva is back to reading thanks to school. She read Ginger the Stray Kitten by Holly Webb again. She’s also read a couple of books on Justin Bieber and one on the Jonas Brothers. Just think of what she’ll be like in five years if she’s already into teenage pop stars now. She is currently reading Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. We saw a stage production of Charlotte’s Web while we were in North Carolina. She came home wanting to read the book, but hasn’t gotten around to it until now.

The Lil Princess is reading anything and everything. We’re on our second round of Pink Princess Rules the Schoo l by Alyssa Crowne. She has brought home books from her school library every week since it opened. This week she has a nonfiction book about puppies. She’s hoping we buy her Green Princess Saves the Day, also by Crowne. Green is her favorite color.

As for me, little ole Mom, I’ve been reading and reading and reading. I just finished Invisible Path by Marilyn Meredith.  This is the latest book in her Deputy Tempe Crabtree series. Marilyn is going on a virtual book tour with this book next month.

I also recently finished A Despicable Profession by John Knoerle, a post-WWII spy thriller, and the legal thriller, Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young. Both books are excellent and I would highly recommend them.  Before those two I read:

The Lil Princess and I also plowed through a box of books from tiger tales. These books are all part of their Fall/Winter collection. You’ll see review coming for them soon. Last night I polished off the award-winning  Call Me Kate by Molly Roe. This is a young adult historical. I began reading Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugten.

That’s it for this issue of From the Family Bookshelf. Until next time, keep reading!

From the Family Bookshelf

 

Yes, I’ve been a very bad blogger. Actually, I’ve been blogging, just not here. 🙂 With the release of Little Shepherd at the end of August, I’ve been slammed with book promotion. I started a new blog dedicated solely to my book, which you can find here. I’m also in the midst of planning my two-and-a-half month virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book. The tour starts on October 4th and runs through December 17th. There will be great giveaways during the tour, so make sure you check in with my Little Shepherd blog to find out all the details.

It’s been about a month since I posted a From the Family Bookshelf column. I’ve done a lot of reading in that time, Dad not so much. The Lil Diva and the Lil Princess are now back in school, so their reading has picked up some. Let’s talk about some of these books.

I know you will probably find this hard to believe, but Dad is still reading Vince Flynn’s The Third Option. The poor guy gets home from work and he’s lucky if he gets a page or two in before nodding off each night. My father-in-law just received a bag full of books by one of the hubby’s favorite authors. I wonder when he’ll have time to read those.

The Lil Diva, despite kicking and screaming, now has to read 30 minutes a day in class and 20 minutes each night. Every night she has to write out her reflections from this 20 minutes of reading and turn it in. It has been a battle. Right now she’s reading, Harry the Homeless Puppy by Holly Webb. She loves Webb’s books, so she reads them more than once.

I bought the Lil Princess a copy of Purple Princess Wins the Prize by Alyssa Crowne at the book fair a few weeks ago. She’s already plowing through that. She reads a little each night, though often I find her reading to herself after school.

As for me, the mom of this bunch, I finished Renters Win, Home Owners Lose by Tom Graneau and then moved on to complete:

A Friend in the Storm by Cheryl Ricker (Christian nonfiction/devotional)

Firebrand by P.K. Eden (fantasy)

A Woman’s Walk in Grace by Catherine Martin (Christian Living)

The Revolutionary Paul Revere by Joel J. Miller (biography)

Reviews for all the books mentioned above appear at The Book Connection.

I also reviewed A Wish and A Prayer by Beth Bence Reinke, If Babies Went to School by Barbara Lock, The Golden Pathway by Donna McDine, The World Famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale by Sneed Collard III, and The Bedtime of the Sky and Other Sleepy-Bye Stories  by Carolyn Wolfe here.

I finished Grounds for Murder by John Russo, a cozy mystery released by Canadian e-Publisher, MuseItUp Publishing. I’ll be posting my review of that one soon. I’m currently reading the YA novel,  The Space Between Trees, by Katie Williams.

That’s it for this issue of From the Family Bookshelf. I hope you’ll check back again soon for more news of great books.

From the Family Bookshelf

I figure I better keep on top of this column if I ever want it to be successful. Besides, with Little Shepherd coming out soon I know I’ll miss a week here or there while I am busy promoting my book.

Dad hasn’t had much reading time lately. We came back from vacation and he’s been busy working his tail off. We took in a KISS concert last week, but that’s pretty much been all the goof-off time he’s had. Vince Flynn’s The Third Option is still on his nightstand.

Both the girls have been racking up the playtime with their friends, trying to hold onto the last couple of weeks of their summer vacation. Other than a tween magazine, no reading has happened. The Lil Diva was distressed to find out that she must read silently in class 30 minutes a day. That didn’t go over well.  🙂

Then there’s me, Mom. After teaching Vacation Bible School for a week, I’m tuckered out, but I still got a chance to read.

I finished the home and garden decorating book, Paula Deen’s Savannah Style, and the thriller,  The Chill of Night by James Hayman. I’ve also been reading a manuscript for one of my son’s friends. He’s got a great handle on the English language, so that’s a plus. I’m currently reading Renters Win, Home Owners Lose by Tom Graneau.

Hope you’ve enjoyed From the Family Bookshelf. Until next time, keep reading!

 



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From the Family Bookshelf

It doesn’t seem possible that three weeks has passed since my July From the Family Bookshelf post, but it has. We celebrated the Lil Diva’s birthday yesterday by adding another furry creature to our crazy home. She had been asking for a kitten for a few years and I finally broke down and decided it would be okay to add a little kitty to this chaos. Well, except that I doubled my trouble by letting the Lil Princess adopt one too. As of tomorrow there will be five cats and four people living here.

I swear summer just started, but the girls return to school in 14 weekdays. The Lil Princess met her goal for the library’s “Go Green” summer reading program. In addition to the many weekly prizes she received, both girls got to attend a roller skating party to celebrate the readers who met their goals. It won’t surprise me if the Lil Princess decides to do it again next year.

While I won’t list the 27 books she read, the last couple were The Adventure of Oliver the Clownfish books by Stephanie Guzman, which we reviewed here.

Dad came home from North Carolina reading Vince Flynn’s The Third Option. This is a counterterrorism thriller. I like these kinds of books too, but they’re not my favorite. He’s still reading this one. He hopes maybe this weekend he might get more than five minutes to sit down with it.

The Lil Diva is trying to hold onto summertime play by not reading. Regular reading will pick up as soon as she starts school, so I’m not too worried.

I, on the other hand, have been a reading wizard. If you stop by The Book Connection, you’ll see I’ve posted several reviews. This list doesn’t include any books I mentioned in July’s post:

Drawing Strength from the Names of God by Catherine Martin (Christian living)

Drawn to the Land: The Romance of Farming by Elizabeth and Barton Cockey (historical nonfiction picture book)

The Big Ten of Grammar by William B. Bradshaw, PhD (reference)

For the King by Catherine Delors (historical novel set in Napoleonic Paris)

A Woman’s Heart That Dances: Keeping in Step with God’s Design for You by Catherine Martin

My reviews for When Love Ends and the Ice Cream Carton is Empty by Jackie M. Johnson (Christian relationship book) and Healing with Words: A Writer’s Cancer Journey (memoir) by Diana M. Raab will be posted at The Book Connection on August 17th and 24th, respectively. I am currently reading Paula Deen’s Savannah Style and The Chill of Night by James Hayman.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this latest edition of From the Family Bookshelf. Until next time, keep reading!

From the Family Bookshelf

After almost a month long hiatus, this column is back. North Carolina was wonderful. I worked some of the time promoting virtual book tour clients, read some great books, and wrote two chapters of my WIP along with almost two full chapters of my first ghostwriting project. Since I read the most while we were away, I guess I’ll start with me. This is the list of books I brought with me. I also had my Kindle: 

  • Lingering Spirit by Marilyn Meredith (romance with supernatural flare) *
  • The Last Operative by Jerry B. Jenkins (Christian thriller)*
  • Keeping the Wolves at Bay Media Training  by Jonathan Bernstein (Business)*
  • Beautiful Malice by Rebecca James (psychological thriller)*
  • Plan B by Steven Verrier (this review will appear at this blog) YA*
  • Bowdancer III: Warrior Women by Janie Franz (providing back cover blurb)*
  • When Love Ends and the Ice Cream Carton is Empty by Jackie Johnson (Christian relationship book) – reading now
  • Healing with Words: A Writer’s Cancer Journey by  Diana M. Raab
  • Harvest Moon by Chastity Bush (paranormal)
  • State of Reservations by Elysabeth Eldering (this review will appear at this blog) (Children’s)*
  • Evenings on Dark Island by Rhett DeVane & Larry Rock (Southern fiction with vamps)*

    • All the titles with an asterisk are ones I read while we were away. I also read the romantic suspense novel Capturing Karma by K.M. Daughters. This is the fourth installment of The Sullivan Boys series. I love these books.  Reviews of all those I’ve read are either posted or soon to be posted, so keep an eye out for them. 

    Dad finished the Christian historical, The Return to Zion, by Bodie and Brock Thoene while we were away and started a counterterrorism thriller by Vince Flynn, The Third Option. 

    The Lil Diva seems to be over her desire not to read anything and picked up one of The Boxcar Children books today. 

    The Lil Princess is moving along with her summer reading program. She goofed off while we were away, but she’s polished off 9 of the 25 books she needs to read by August 5th. We visited the library today and she’s already read all of those, so we’ll be going back tomorrow for more.

    That’s it for now. I would love to hear what you’ve been busy reading this summer.



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