Book Talk with Rebecca Rivera

Let's talk about Everything Under by Daisy Johnson! Have you ever read a book that did not make sense? The writing was just so ethereal that you couldn't put two and two together about who was who or what was happening? That was my experience with Everything Under . I recently watched a video by Books and Things on YouTube, which I will link here , where Katie talked about two books she had read that were written, in my opinion, in a similar fashion to Everything Under . She was nice enough to say it was pleasant reading them, but it cracked me up how she "struggled to find a focus" and couldn't find it! The two books she mentioned were Spring Garden by Tomoka Shibasaki and  Warlight by Michael Ondaatje, in case you're interested 😊. If you'd like to hear her reviews of these two books, begin at timestamp 12:00. I find her explanations so succinct. That she admits to "not getting" these two books is refreshing to me and gives me a big tic...

Yesterday I finished reading a book called Summer Breeze by Nancy Thayer. It was one of those sweet "beach" type reads. I actually started it at the beach last Saturday. That is something I've wanted to do: read a book with a setting near water while being at the beach. I don't normally choose "sweet" books like this. I grew up reading adventure or coming-of-age or romance with fantastical life circumstances getting in the way, making you wonder if the couple will ever get together. These stories didn't always have happy endings...unlike Summer Breeze . If that book doesn't have a happy ending, you'd probably want your money back. The title, the front cover picture, all of it, advertises a happy ending. If I was rating the book out of five among others of its kind, I'd give it a three. The writing was competent, but it lacked that certain flair that makes an author really stand out. However, I think lots of people like this kind of writ...

One author whose style I'm enjoying is Susan Clayton-Goldner who publishes with Tirgearr Publishing based in Ireland. Tirgearr Publishing makes their ebooks available through Smashwords as well as in print from their website www.tirgearrpublishing.com . I'm reading Susan's book A Bend in the Willow , a suspense story about a woman whose five-year-old son needs a bone marrow transplant. To save her young son's life, she must return to a past she has disowned, changing her name and identity to escape from a murder she committed almost twenty years ago. I enjoy Susan's writing style. She has several other books as well that I will link below, all of which are 50% off in the Smashwords Summer Sale. (The widgets show the full price, but when you click on them they will show the sale price of 50% off.) If there is one you particularly enjoy, leave a comment below or connect with me on Twitter @BookTalkwithRR . You can also download my children's ...

What is Smashwords? Smashwords.com is a place where you can browse ebooks and find great new authors and some authors you may already know. There are almost 490,000 books published to date; over 77,000 of them are free. So if you are looking for freebies, Smashwords is a great place to check out. Creating a profile is absolutely free. You can also browse the site without a profile to get the lay of the land with zero commitment. What if you're a writer or publisher? What can Smashwords do for you? Well, Smashwords offers ebook publishing completely free. If you are comfortable on a computer and can follow directions, you can format your own novel according to their free format guide (available for download on their website) and upload your book and its cover from your computer. There is also a team available with individuals for hire if the work of formatting is not for you and you have some extra money you're willing to spend on your novel. After you publish your novel, ...