July Reading Final Update

I needed to keep up the reading I managed in the second half of June and I decided to construct a short list of what I'd like to get done before the end of the month. Well it hasn't gone quite to plan as I had to spend time getting things I recorded on my tv box watched or deleted befire it gets reset or replaced. It ate up a lot of reading time unfortunately! Oh well, this is my proress!

BOOKS FOR TTT TOPICS (PASS!)
I'm working on another monsters in seas and rivers topic so the plan was to read a few for that. I added Lake Lurkers to the original list as Devil Sharks arrived too late and I'm bumping it to later this year. Also doing a topic soon on Games and Tests soon so I read Contest but I've had to bump The Last One and Wolf by Wolf which I'll read next month in Authorfest, where I read books by authors I've never tried. I've substituted them for two game related ones Great Zoo of China and Endurance. I need to read them this month as I've tried both authors before. These books were top priority and I got most looked at which is good.

1) PK Hawkins-Shark : Infested Waters (read)
2) Norman Hendricks-Hungry Things (DNF)
3) Tim Waggoner-Teeth of the Sea (read)
4) Tim Meyer-Sharkwater Beach (read)
5) MP Johnson-Lake Lurkers (read)
6) Hunter Shea-Megalodon in Paradise (read)
7) Alexandra Oliva-The Last One (defer to next month)
8) Matthew Reilly-Contest (read)
9) Ryan Graudin-Wolf by Wolf (defer to next month)
10) Saul Tanpepper-Gameland (started)
11) Matthew Reilly-Great Zoo Of China (read)
12) Jack Kilborn-Endurance (read)

 
BOOKS IN A SERIES (FAIL!)
I've read 8 books in Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville series so I wanted to get the next two read this month. Didn't happen so the rest of this series will need to wait for September! I'm setting aside a week then for series catch up!

1) Carrie Vaughn-Kitty's Big Trouble #9
2) Carrie Vaughn-Kitty Steals The Show #10

BOOKS I NEED TO CLEAR FROM EREADER (FAIL!)
I have lots of series waiting to be started and in some cases I have entire series on my ereaders Maurice and Myrnin. I need to look at them and delete the chaff to give me space. I also have books that are poorly rated so these need to be looked at too. However, I didn't get to any of them this month which was disappointing.

1) RL Blalock-Devour
2) John Randall-The Yellowstone Conundrum
3) Alex Hughes-Clean
4) Catt Dahman-Z is for Zombie
5) Adam J Wright-Lost Soul
6) Bobby Akart-The Loyal Nine
7) Bobby Adair-Ebola K

BOOKS FOR FUN (PASS!)
Easy pass as it was only one planned book and a review for an author which I added late this month to my list.

1) Hunter Shea-Jurassic Florida (read)
2) Dave Jeffery-Bad Vision (read)

I'm going to bump a few of these unread books to my August Authorfest next month where I plan to look at all new-to-me authors. I'll be posting that plan tomorrow.

The All About Reading Tag

I have no information about who started this tag so I can't credit them but I heard it began on YouTube. I saw this tag at Greg's blog  http://gregsbookhaven.blogspot.com/ and figured I'd take part!

1) What do you look for the most when you pick up a book? 
a) a beautiful writing style 
b) a character driven story
c) a plot driven story 

I go mostly for the plot. I like a fast paced action plot with lots happening, tension, death, gore or excitement! In things like horror, you can get away with less character development but I generally need to like the MCs to like the book. A bad plot just kills a book for me so it is important that the story appeals to me.

2) What Are Your Pet Peeves In Books?
Love Triangles, Instaluv, Soulmates, Mean kids at school, bickering MCs, constant sex scenes, arrogant thug/rapist heroes and pathetic whiny women, f bombs on every page, obnoxious characters, women falling for their abusers, dumb or racist/bigoted cops, accused of crime they didn't commit, partners working together that hate each other but jump into bed anyway, animals being abused, the hero warns of a volcanic or other disaster but nobody listens, slow and over descriptive plots, sentences/conversations in other languages not translated to English when characters are talking.

3) If You Could Print One Quote On Your Wall, Which One Would It Be?
"Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come."
I have this on my bedroom door!

4) Which Genre Would You Like To Explore More?
Probably thrillers. I read a lot of slow and boring ones which put me off the genre totally but I'd really like to branch out and find some of the exciting ones! I like thrillers that are fast paced and tense like Matthew Reilly's Contest or Jeffery Deaver's Praying For Sleep. I'd like to read a bit more fantasy as well if I can find the right ones. Maybe a few more SF ones with dinosaur planets too.

5) Was There Ever A Movie Adaptation You Liked More Than The Book?
Lots! Jaws for a start as I thought the book was poor. Michael Crichton's Lost World was much better as a film. Stephen King's short stories worked great as the three stories in Cat's Eye!

6) If One Of Your Favourite Books Would Be Adapted Or Get A New Adaptation, Which Book Would It Be And Which Role Would You Like To Play?
I've read a ton of great books that fit this category. Definitely the Arisen series by Michael Stephen Fuchs as a tv series, along with Nicholas Sansbury Smith's Extinction Cycle, ZA Recht's Morningstar Strain, Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid, Patricia Briggs and Carrie Vaughn's werewolves! Anything by Hunter Shea, Matthew Reilly or Rick Chesler for films. I'd have no interest in starring in them! I did used to want to be a Charlie's Angel in the 80's!

7) A Hyped Book You Wouldn't Recommend At All?
Quite a few of these as well! This book was tagged as being the new Hunger Games which is why I bought it and although the concept was good, the MC was one of the worst I've ever read-dumb, pathetic, whiny and useless and a far cry from Katniss!

8) A Book That Highly Influenced Your Life And Way Of Thinking?
Stephen King started my love of all things horror. The first day I had my adult library card I took out It, Christine and Carrie. It is still my all time favourite book and I've read it a lot. 

9) Are You A Fan Of Rereading Books? Do You Do It Often?
After I read a book, if I really enjoy it I keep it to read again. I don't get any time at the moment for rereading my favourites as I have a tbr over 1000 books. I have reread my favourites a lot over the years and want to make time for it again.

10) Which Book Title Could Easily Be The Title Of Your Life?
I have so much of this for so many different reasons!

11) Which Book Should Be Required Reading For Everyone?
There is no such thing. Everyone needs to read what they want and what they like the sound of. I don't believe in telling someone that they must read something. 

12) Who Do You Tag?
Anyone who has read this and wants to take part.

Top Ten Tuesday-Books that lived up to recommendations

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  http://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/top-ten-tuesday/

NB: I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave comments, and I won't allow them to follow new people, update my profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account. 

I don't read the type of books that are heavily hyped mainly because they don't hype books in the genres I mostly read. So I'm tweaking it slightly to be books that lived up to their recommendations.

1) JK Rowling-Harry Potter
A friend at work urged me to read this but I wasn't interested in reading 'kid's books'. Two years later I read the first book when I was off sick and bored and I loved it. I zoomed through the next three in a few days and I'm addicted to all things Hogwarts now!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/72193.Harry_Potter_and_the_Philosopher_s_Stone 

2) Suzanne Collins-The Hunger Games
I saw people talking about it online and raving about how good it is so I bought it and devoured it! I was back buying the rest of the trilogy the next day. I liked that each was different but still kept the same elements. I need to find time to get the films watched. 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12885649-the-hunger-games 

3) Philippa Gregory-The Other Boleyn Girl
Friends on Bookcrossing were talking about how good it was and I decided to take the risk of getting it from the local library with the follow up The Boleyn Inheritance. I loved them and it awakened my interest in the Tudors which is now an obsession!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37470.The_Other_Boleyn_Girl 

4) Hunter Shea-Swamp Monster Massacre
A blogging friend *waves to Laura* asked if I'd read Hunter Shea and I hadn't heard of him. I saw his Sasquatch book online and decided to try it. I loved the book and started buying all his books which my dad and I now greatly enjoy!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35150361-swamp-monster-massacre 

5) Jon Krakauer-Into Thin Air 
I was doing a book challenge to read a book about mountains and this was highly recommended by the book group. I was gripped by the details of the expedition going wrong. I've read a lot of books now about expeditions on various mountains and I love them. 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1898.Into_Thin_Air 

6) Richard Laymon-Endless Night
My friend picked up this author because Stephen King rated him highly. She wasn't too keen but I got this one from a book club I was in at the time and really enjoyed it. It made me go and buy all of his books over the next few years and I loved most of them.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1842831.Endless_Night 

7) David Estes-The Moon Dwellers
I came across this book going free as part of it's first birthday celebrations and there was huge hype around it. I tried this YA dystopia and thought it was great. I still haven't read the other books in the series but this one was really good.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13931214-the-moon-dwellers 

8) George RR Martin-A Game Of Thrones
Nobody specifically recommended it to me but I was interested when I heard the series was starting but it was on pay per view tv so I couldn't see it. I then bought the first book but it was so big! Finally years later I watched seasons 1-6 and dived into the books. Great stuff!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20873804-a-game-of-thrones 

9) Rick Jones-The Valley
Amazon recommended this one to me when I was searching for dinosaur books. It's a game show where contestants have to escape a valley full of deadly dinosaurs to win a prize. I loved the sound of it and I totally loved the book! Running Man meets Jurassic Park!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25131915-the-valley

10) Stephen King-It 
My dad was a Stephen King fan and as I kid I remember seeing him read this one. I loved the cover with the monster eyes peering out the drain and couldn't wait to get a chance to read it. It is still my favourite ever book!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/830502.It 

Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Tag

This tag was created by Greg at http://gregsbookhaven.blogspot.com/ . You don't need to read the books to take part in the tag, as I haven't read any of them! Take part if you want to!

1) Sure you can go solve crime! Just be home for dinner. Seriously? List a book that features teenage protagonists doing unrealistic stuff.  

This was my favourite in the series where the Five turn detective when Dick is kidnapped and get involved in a rescue that of course goes wrong. 

2) It's a knockout! The Hardy Boys get knocked out on the regular, and Nancy gets captured her fair share of times. Share a book that has someone powering through what should be a serious injury! 

Well she never powered through her injuries as such but can someone explain how Bella even made it to be a vampire? Someone as clumsy, accident prone and a danger to herself should never have survived the first three books! 

3) Where's Mom? Both the Hardy's and Nancy are missing their mother, and their dad seems oddly okay with them doing detective work. List a book with little parental oversight. 

Those little bears should not be out in the woods at night! 

4) Friends make the world go around. The Hardy's have Chet, Biff and Tony (and occasionally Callie and Iola). Nancy has Bess and George (and sometimes Ned) to help her out. Name a book with an outstanding friendship or supporting character(s).  

Claire has a lot of allies in this series and I love her relationship with Eve, Michael and Shane and the way they look out for each other. I also love their vampire allies especially Sam and Myrnin!  

5) What a coincidence! I think it's fair to say that sometimes there are fortuitous coincidences that move the story along. Share a book with a somewhat far- fetched occurrence or plot development.

A couple of things the MC did in this book stretched reality a bit but I still enjoyed the book.

6) Where's a cop when you need one? Seriously they show up at the end but where are they when our heroes really need them? Share a book where the authorities are especially asleep at the switch or ineffective.   

The majority of the police in this town are pretty useless! 

7) These people are well traveled. I mean, the Hardy's and Nancy go everywhere. All over the U.S. and around the world. Name a book with a well traveled or globetrotting protagonist, or something with an exotic setting. 

This book is set on an island in Micronesia-pity about the huge shark!

8) We're going top down! Or boating. Nancy has her convertible (sometimes called a roadster) and the Boys are always in a boat, seems like. Name a book with a cool vehicle or involving a speedboat.  

This book involves a convoy of eighteen wheeler trucks taking on the zombies. Later in the series there seems to be modified cars and a big ass train! 

9) It's a clue, a secret, or a mystery. These words (and a few others) show up a LOT in the Nancy Drew/ Hardy Boys titles. Share a book with a similar title. 

It sounds like a title that Enid Blyton could have used back in my childhood! It makes you wonder what secrets lie in the chamber...oh yes, of course, a big dirty snake!

10) Killer cover! The covers are some of the best things about these mysteries. Share a favorite Nancy Drew/ Hardy Boys cover, or any cover with a mysterious vibe. 
 

The first time I saw this book was when my dad got it out of the library. I'd look at this cover and wonder what was lurking in that drain and why it was there. The rain, the balloon, the paper boat...I was so intrigued. I had to read it and it's now my favourite ever book!

Chuckles Chuntering

I've put the finishing touches to my August Authorfest plans. For those as yet unaware, next month every book I read will be by a new-to-me author that I've never tried before. It should be quite exciting! I've set aside 20 books by 20 authors that I want to try and I'll see how many I can get to. It'll depend on whether I DNF any as to whether I finish the list but if I get close I'll be pleased! I'm also already planning a few different themes for September so that is keeping me nice and busy on the computer. I'm going to be doing Series Catch Up to try and tackle a few more Carrie Vaughn books, Shark! which may involve films as well as books and Solo for stand alone books I want to read by authors I like. Ten Days for each theme seems like a fun idea for September!

I've actually decided that I need to do more to catch up my unfinished series than just a ten day stint in September. I'm thinking about setting aside ten days every month to catch up on series as I have so many to attend to. Getting through one big series a year is not enough when I have so many to read. Last year it took the whole year to get the Morganville Vampires read and I'm going into August with another 7 still to read in the Kitty Norville series. Some series I have a book or two to get up to date like Kevin Hearne and Patricia Briggs but others have up to 16 books to catch up with and I need to be getting through them much quicker. I might also try and fit in two nights per ten days catching up with films and tv series connected to my chosen theme but that's not definite yet.

For those who were interested in Neo-Jurassic by Carolyn McCray which I recently reviewed, you might remember that I was unsure about downloading the boxsets of her work as people on Amazon claimed the set they received a couple of years ago was incomplete. Well I took the plunge and bought the Neo Jurassic set which is called 'Our Future Our Fault' and her 'Apex Predator' series which features her shark books and am pleased to report that all the books are there and any glitches must have been ironed out. I'm pleased because I loved Salechii, the first shark novel which I just read a few days ago and look forward to the others.

The furniture in my bedroom is fully sorted! My new bookcase is filling nicely with a fantasy top shelf, a SF and adventure second shelf and an Indiehorror shelf. I'm pleased with how everything looks and my final task is to rearrange 3 more bookcases, putting everything on them into genre and filling a bag of unwanted for the charity shop. I'll have shelves for non fiction, non fiction political, Tudor fiction, mass market paperbacks, non fiction mountain expeditions, urban fantasy and so on. I already have one bookcase sorted for zombies and apocalypses! The work in progress will be done soon and my reading nook will be ready for autumn and those rainy and cold nights to come!

Around The Blogs With Chuckles

We all enjoy snooping and lurking on other people's blogs right? Why not share those entertaining things you found with other readers and bloggers too! Welcome to Around the Blogs with Chuckles, where I take time out to show you some of my favourite blog posts from the previous seven days and link you up so you can check them out. 

This week! New way of doing things. Recently, I've found weekends so busy that I haven't had time to take the second look through the blogs I commented on all week to choose the best posts for this feature. I know I've missed a few really good ones that I liked due to a poor memory. So now as I read and leave comments on blogs each day, I'm taking a few minutes extra to get some onto this post, adding more each day and knowing I'm showcasing more posts each week. Better time management from Chuckles!

1) Book Review-The Assassination of Robert F Kennedy by Tim Tate/Brad Johnson
Sarah looks into the conspiracy.
http://allthebookblognamesaretaken.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-assassination-of-robert-f-kennedy.html 

2) Rereading
Nikki looks at good reasons for doing it.
https://breathesbooks.com/2018/07/23/discussion-rereading/ 

3) Book Review-The Future Will Be BS Free by Will McIntosh
Lindsi looks at a good concept that didn't quite work.
https://www.doyoudog-ear.com/2018/07/the-future-will-be-bs-free-by-will.html 

4) Top Ten Tuesday Reading Memories
AJ shares her travel stories with us.
http://ajsterkel.blogspot.com/2018/07/top-ten-tuesday-reading-memories.html 

5) Book Review-Saved By The Boats by Julie Gassman
Sarah looks at the work of rescue boats on 9/11.
http://allthebookblognamesaretaken.blogspot.com/2018/07/saved-by-boats-heroic-sea-evacuation-of.html 

6) Book Review-Murder Notes by Lisa Renee Jones
Jenn looks at romantic suspense.
http://jennreneeread.blogspot.com/2018/07/review-murder-notes-by-lisa-renee-jones.html 

7) Book Review-A People's History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A Villareal
Mogsy takes a look at a bit of horror.
https://bibliosanctum.com/2018/07/23/audiobook-review-a-peoples-history-of-the-vampire-uprising-by-raymond-a-villareal/ 

8) Book Review-The Outsider by Stephen King 
Barb takes a look at some horror.
http://bookertsfarm.blogspot.com/2018/07/two-bloggers-one-book-stormi-and-i-are.html 

9) Book Review-The Lies They Tell by Gillian French 
Greg goes contemporary mystery.
http://gregsbookhaven.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-lies-they-tell.html 

10) Book Review-The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa 
Elle looks at book 3 in the series.
http://elleinked.blogspot.com/2018/07/book-review-iron-queen-by-julie-kagawa.html 

11) Book Review-Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire
Barb looks at a plot based on an urban legend.
http://bookertsfarm.blogspot.com/2018/07/sidetracked-sunday-6.html 

12) Book Review-Orbital by Andrew Mayne
Mogsy takes a look at the sequel to Station Breaker.
http://bookertsfarm.blogspot.com/2018/07/sidetracked-sunday-6.html 

Cake Flavoured Book Tag

This tag was the original idea of https://mylovelysecret.blogspot.com/  and this version was created by Cait at https://paperfury.com/ . I saw the tag at http://jennreneeread.blogspot.com/ and decided to have a go.

1) Chocolate Cake-A Dark Book You Loved
You can't get much darker than a clown who kills children and can shapeshift into every monster you can imagine from a mummy to a werewolf! Add in a town full of people who turn a blind eye and a murderous gang of bullies and you get a great horror!

2) Vanilla Cake-A Favourite Light Read
I pretty much read horror, apocalypse, prepper and creature features so not much light stuff there! I have recently enjoyed these books though.

3) Red Velvet-A Book That Gave You Mixed Emotions 
Hmm this was a tricky one. I went with the end of a series that I had enjoyed but was disappointed in the last book. There were good bits especially redemption for a character that grew on me through the series but the final battle was such a let down! I was also sad that the series was over but pleased that there were novellas about the Pack that I could read!

4) Cheesecake-A Book You Would Recommend To Everyone
I honestly don't believe there is one book that everybody would love so I'm going to pick out a series that those who love zombies should try and that is Arisen. By the time you get into book 2, it becomes so addictive!

5) Coffee Cake-A Book You Started But Never Finished
Where do I start! I DNF a lot of books each year. The last book I DNFed was such a stupid plot with annoying characters so I'll use that.

6) Carrot Cake-A Book With Great Writing
This book has a great use of language and description from an author whose first language is not English and I found that pretty amazing! It also blends elements of urban fantasy, romance, science fiction, fantasy and thriller together which is no easy feat.

 
7) Tiramisu-A Book That Left You Wanting More
Finishing this series made me CRAVE at least a trilogy about the first war against Voldemort. It would have Dumbledore setting up the Order, the characters from the original order doing battle with death eaters, the deaths we're told about by Moody in book 5, the prophecy, the betrayal of Lily and James, Sirius battling Peter, Snape turning double agent, Voldemort's 'end', the fate of poor Neville's parents and the witch and wizard trials. WANT! How cool would a trilogy or more of that be!

8) Cupcakes-Series With 4 Or More Books
I have a ton of series I need to read plus everything I have read! I'm going with the series I'm currently reading which has 15 books that I'm aware of-14 plus a short story anthology.

9) Fruit Cake-A Book That Wasn't What You Anticipated
I had went off the YA genre, especially if it had romance in it but this series stood all that on it's head. I LOVED the romance which almost made me cry as it was so tragic, I loved the characters and their battles against those who want to kill them and that consuming out of control hunger that makes them want to kill people.

10) Lamington-Favourite Australian Book 
I haven't read many books by Australian authors or enough set in Australa but recently I discovered Matthew Reilly and I like what I've seen so far. However I must go with John Marsden's Tomorrow series which I need to finish!

 

Chuckles Chat #75 Scenarios We Love And Hate In Kid's Books

Welcome to Chuckles Chat where great blogging minds unite to discuss the topics of the day mainly in the book and blogging world. I'll be sharing my thoughts on a topic and then inviting you all to share your thoughts. It's ok to disagree but PLEASE be respectful of each other's views! All of the comments on my blog are moderated and offensive posts ie racist, bigoted will not be published! 

NB: I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave comments, and I won't allow them to follow new people, update my profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account.   

Over the recent weeks I've been looking at our book buying life. By this what I mean is, what are the scenarios in a book blurb that make us really want to pick up that book and start reading? What do we love about the genre and what puts us off?

As a kid, my mum's family used to occasionally give me books for Christmas and my birthday, but they were things like Five Children and It, and various books about girls growing up on farms or in posh families. I never really related to this kind of thing. My gran was religious so she would give me the CS Lewis Narnia adventures. The strange thing was that I read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and loved it, but never read any of the others. I have no idea why! I was also quite into the Oz adventures from time to time. 

I was always down at the library to get my latest Enid Blyton adventure! Famous Five, Secret Seven, Naughtiest Girl, Wishing Chair, Five Find-Outers...I bet quite a few of these are as un-PC as her Noddy books if you read them now but at the time I just loved them. I liked that there was always an adventure with a hint of danger and the kids outsmarting the bad guys. I do have ebook copies of a few of these books but to be honest, I'm not sure whether to look at them or not now. I also read a lot of horse related stories including The Black Stallion series, Phantom Horse, Linda Craig, the Jackie adventures...mind you I think I went through most of the books in the kids library over several summers!

Tastes change and although I kept all these childhood books, eventually they made way for Stephen King and my love of all things horror. The only actual book from my childhood that I kept was Stan Berenstain's Bears In The Night where the cute bears go to Spook Hill in the middle of the night. I just love this book and I've had it since the 70's! I do regret getting rid of my Walter Farley books though as I could've read them again. I don't watch horse racing but for some reason I loved reading about it in these books.

Basically I don't read children's books now except that one book I kept. There are too many books I want to read rather than looking at picture books and stuff for younger kids. There was a notable exception to the rule. I remember watching the hype over the upcoming release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and I liked that kids seemed to be excited about reading like I was as a kid. I hadn't intended to read the series but when I started, I became addicted to it. It led me to other series aimed at kids and YA like Artemis Fowl and Mark Walden's H.I.V.E books which I enjoy. I like the danger, humour and adventure in these books, which makes them good for all ages. While I've read books aimed at younger teens and lower, it's not something I pay any attention to now, as I just prefer my favourite genres where I have a ton of books waiting for me. 

I know a lot of people still like to look at kids books or reread kids classics from their own childhood, and there is nothing wrong with that, despite what book snobs think! For me, it wasn't about feeling too old to read them-it was just about a lot of other genres and books being my priority.

Do you read books aimed at younger kids and why do they still interest you? What are some of your favourites? What kind do you like?

Chuckles Cover Love #85 DN Erikson

If there is one thing that makes a great book even better, it is when it has a cover that we love! The cover design is what catches the eye as we browse through a bookstore shelf or check out the Amazon or Goodreads recommendations. The right cover makes me look closer at a book, to read the blurb and maybe make a purchase. A poor cover might mean I never look at the blurb at all.

NB: I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave comments, and I won't allow them to follow new people, update my profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account.   

This Week! 

The first two books are alternatate covers for book one in the series. I think I like the one on the right better but I do like them both.

These are the covers for books two and three.