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Writing, Reading, and Rural Life With a Border Collie

Category Archives: Read


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BKLBITS Awards! 6 Vastly Over-Rated Books That Fall Flat

 

Ever finish a book and thought:

 “Well. That’s (fill in the blank) hours or days out of my life I’ll never be able to get back”?

Kimber here.

Mom and I have run across some of those lately. They’re the kind of books that epitomize the phrase, “All that glitters is not gold.” Cuz they’re just lousy. Boring. Insipid. Pointless slogs to the Middle of Nowhere. Littered with unsympathetic, cardboard characters we don’t know, don’t want to know, and could care less about.

BKLBITS Awards

Mom and I, we nominate these losers for what we call BKLBITS “awards.” That’s Big Kitty Litter Box In The Sky.

We’re telling you this to save you some time. As in, don’t waste yours on these colossal duds.

Heading this summer’s BKLBITS nominations, all of which earned a one star rating or less, are:

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Calling All Dog Lovers & Other Humans!

We. Are. So. Excited!!

 

Okay, okay. One of us is always excited. The other? Well, whenever she feels excitement coming down the pike, she lies down until the feeling goes away. (Hi, Mom.)

 

Kimber the Magnificent

Anyway, Kimber here. So excited to tell you about a free online event related to one of our favorite books this year, Walks With Sam! Here’s the 4-1-1:

 

Book Launch!

On September 13 at 6:30pm central, there’ll be a free online event to officially launch Walks With Sam.

 

All are welcome. Even cats.

 

Walks with Sam: A Man

Here’s the link:

Walks With Sam book launch.

 

Be there or be a feline!

 

For more, see our review of Walks With Sam, by David W. Berner.

 

Love,

Kimber

XX00


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And Now for a Public Service Announcement…

Bloggers! Readers! Writers! Book and canine lovers of all ages!

Your attention please!

Kimber here. Cuz Mom is going a little bit crazy. Well. I guess I should say crazier than usual. But it’s a good kind of crazy. The smiley kind if ya know what I mean.

Here’s the doggone lowdown on today’s PSA:

We’re overwhelmed. Requests for book reviews have been flooding in like a tsunami. We love it! But we just can’t keep up.

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Is This Historical Novel Destined to Become a Classic?

The Librarian of Boone’s Hollow (Waterbrook/Multnomah, September 2020)

By Kim Vogel Sawyer

Christian/Historical Fiction

 

Triumphant and transcendent, this delicious historical novel is easily one of the season’s best. Here’s why:

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‘Black Willows’ Offers Delicious Romp Thru Georgia & Beyond

Black Willows (Black Rose Writing, October 2020)

By Jill Hand

General Fiction (Adult)/Humor/Mystery & Thrillers

 

The Apple Dumpling Gang meets the red earth of Tara in this delicious romp through a Georgia playground of the rich and infamous.

 

When the Trapnell family patriarch dies, spoiled rotten and uber shallow family members drool over their slice of the $40 billion family fortune. They all try to snatch Daddy’s will from the shaky hands of a senile probate judge in order to further their own ridiculous plans.

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Medical Memoir Majors in Merriment: ‘Playing Doctor, Part One’

  1. PLAYING DOCTOR - Part One: Medical School: Stumbling through with amnesia Kindle Edition

Playing Doctor – Part One

Medical School: Stumbling through with amnesia

(Books Go Social, August 2020)

By John Lawrence

Biographies & Memoirs/Humor

Medical school joke: “What do you call the person who graduates last in their medical school class?”

Answer: “Doctor.”

The line is right-on-the-stethoscope and sets the tone early in this nimble, entertaining medical school memoir. Told in the first person with tongue firmly planted in cheek, Playing Doctor includes twenty-one chapters and an Epilogue covering the author’s four years at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

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Inspiration Across the Ages: John Mernone Talks His Personal Connection With His Debut Historical Novel, The World Turned Upside Down

Happy Wednesday Friends!

Author John Mernone joins us today to discuss his debut historical novel, The World Turned Upside Down. You’ll want to listen in.  Says John:

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John Mernone’s debut historical novel has a personal connection.

How many times have you heard someone say that history is boring?

If you only see it as a list of names and dates and facts to be memorized, it is boring. I was lucky enough to have a few truly amazing teachers who taught me to look at history through the lens of personalities and situations. Take George Washington. In school, we’re taught about this legendary hero who led the colonists to independence. And maybe we hear about his wooden teeth.

 

We don’t learn about his many mistakes on the way to victory. We don’t learn that he wasn’t always patient or a brilliant strategist. He had very real flaws. But he was driven by an unshakeable belief in the cause, and he possessed a level of humility and conscientiousness that inspired devotion and admiration in everyone around him. I’ve always believed that George Washington was the greatest man in history, flaws and all.

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GUEST AUTHOR: The Ultimate ‘Insider’s Guide’ to New York!

‘Mom! Wake up!’

 

“Mom! Mom! Wake up!”

 

“Gah….! Wha… Huh?” Crash. Stumble. Stubbed toe. “Dadgum it!”

 

Mom’s nothing if not quick. Especially when it’s 0500. And I’ve got a  cool new book to show her! It’s like an illustrated time travel thingy. Through New York City! I’m don’t know where that is. But it sounds good. So does a soon-to-be-released book, 400 Years of New York History: A Pictorial Guide.

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A Story That Strengthens – ‘Becoming Elisabeth Elliot’

Becoming Elisabeth Elliot (B&H Publishing, September 2020)

By Ellen Vaughn

Biography/Non-fiction

 

“Is this true? If so, what do I need to do about it to obey God?”

These are the foundational questions that book-ended the life of one of the most influential Christian women of the century. They also undergird Ellen Vaughn’s eloquent and articulate biography, Becoming Elisabeth Elliot.

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Now Go, Cat, Go!

Remember that rockin’ Carl Perkins tune about shoes famously belted out by Elvis?

Well, it’s one for the money

Two for the show

Three to get ready

Now go, cat, go!

We’re giving you the Kimber and Mom Blue Suede Special on three+ recently read books. The first book is a modern retelling of the biblical story of Abraham and Sarah. The other is historical fiction set in the Russia of Peter the Great. Another is a gripping memoir of love, loss and hope. And because we’re so generous and all, we’re throwing in a fourth at no extra charge, set in 1789 France and England. There’s also a fifth set in …. la la land.

So. Without further ado, on with the reviews. Or as Kimber would say, Go cat, go!

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