Amy Neftzger - Bedtime Stories For Cats

19. Bedtime Stories For Cats by Amy Neftzger (2011)
Length: 65 pages
Genre: Short Story
Started: 29 May 2013
Finished: 7 June 2013
Where did it come from? Many thanks to Amy Neftzger for sending me a copy of this book to read from Smashwords.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 21 November 2011
Why do I have it? I like short stories and Amy Neftzger is a new author for me.

This book features 17 short stories and fables written specifically for cat lovers of all ages. The topics range from mythology to magic and horror stories (for cats) combined with a couple of essays written by a cat in order to help the rest of us understand feline logic and reasoning. Many of the stories are sweet, amusing, poignant and informative, and I found myself instantly recognizing certain feline personalities and traits displayed in the book, and equating them to each of the four lovely rescue kitties who I have had (and still have) the pleasure of sharing my life with.

I really enjoyed reading this book very much. I give Bedtime Stories For Cats by Amy Neftzger an A! and am a little upset with myself that I waited so long to read this book. I am definitely eager to start reading the companion book to this one, Bedtime Stories For Dogs very soon. I honestly can't tell you why I waited so long to read and review this book, there are just so many good books out there, and so little time to read them all! :)

A! - (90-95%)
   
May you read well and often

Amanda Tru - The Locket

18. The Locket by Amanda Tru (2012)
The Yesterday Series Book 2
Length: 241 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Started: 3 June 2013
Finished: 5 June 2013
Where did it come from? Many thanks to Kathy at I am a Reader, Not a Writer for sending me a copy of this book to read.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 17 May 2013
Why do I have it? I like fantasy and anything having to do with time travel and after reading Yesterday, I really wanted to find out what happened next.

Hannah is terrified to learn that she has time traveled once again, but this time is different. After helping to save a woman's life, Hannah discovers that she has completely altered the timeline and thrown her very existence into jeopardy.

Facing life-threatening effects upon returning to her own time, Hannah is given a death sentence: if she time travels again, she will die. Now, Hannah must solve the mystery of her own identity - gather the clues to explain her continued existence - and find a way to save her own life before she is once again sent spiraling through time.

Does her mother's locket somehow hold the key to both Hannah's past and her future? Has she found the love of her life only to lose him? Could God have a plan for Hannah even in such a chaotic world?

Once again, I completely loved this book! This story picked up right where Yesterday left off, drawing me into the action right away. I couldn't wait to see how the story would develop, and I cared for the characters and their various plights. Amanda Tru has earned another big, blazing A+! from me, and I look forward to reading the third book in this series, Today, some time soon.

A+! - (96-100%)
       
May you read well and often

Surprise Birthday Party For me at "Red Lobster"!

So, as you probably all know by now, it was my birthday on Saturday, June 1st! Mom and I had originally made plans with my best friend Lisa and her mom Sylvia - who just happens to be my mom's best friend, also - to all go to Lake George together on Friday, May 31st, to celebrate my birthday. The plans were all set, and then my mom woke up on the Wednesday - May 29th - with a severe case of gout in her left foot!

We hoped that it would go away by Friday so we could go to Lake George, but unfortunately there was no such luck and we had to postpone our get together until the next week. It all worked out for the best anyway, as Friday's weather turned out to be over 90 and incredibly muggy! Not the best weather to attempt to do anything in, but that was alright. :)

So, by Tuesday afternoon, we were all 'chomping at the bit' to get together. Lisa and Sylvia picked us up at 12:00 P. M., and we off to lunch at Red Lobster. It wasn't necessarily a birthday party - more of a get together of four good friends - but the surprise part was that Lisa and Sylvia gave me a Barnes and Noble Nook!

Lisa knew that my Amazon Kindle had overloaded, but I must say that I never thought that I would receive a Barnes and Noble Nook from her as a birthday present. I certainly wasn't expecting it! Sylvia was kind enough to give me a Barnes and Noble Giftcard for $35 (I think) as well. We stopped and had ice cream after we left Red Lobster and came home around 4:00 P. M.  It's so wonderful to have such great friends! I do believe that a good time was had by all! :)

May you read well and often

Amanda Tru - Yesterday

17. Yesterday by Amanda Tru (2012)
The Yesterday Series Book 1
Length: 114 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Started: 2 June 2013
Finished: 3 June 2013
Where did it come from? Many thanks to Kathy at I am a Reader, Not a Writer for sending me a copy of this book to read.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 17 May 2013
Why do I have it? I like fantasy, anything having to do with time travel and Amanda Tru is a new author for me.

Hannah Kraeger is driving to her sister and brother-in-law's travel lodge for a visit when a desperate and injured woman appears out of nowhere and begs Hannah for help. In a driving snowstorm, Hannah manages to do the impossible, and gets the severely injured family to her sister's lodge, where they are airlifted to hospital. She meets Seth McAllister - a medical student who is staying at the lodge - who treats Hannah for shock, then puts her to bed.

The next morning, Hannah wakes up and is desperate to learn about the condition of the family that she saved the night before. Her sister Abby and her brother-in-law, Tom are delighted to see her but are equally convinced that no such earth-shattering event happened when Hannah arrived the night before. There is no Seth McAllister staying at the lodge, no blinding snowstorm, and absolutely no car accident that could have injured four people.

There had been an horrific car accident that took place along the road to their lodge, but that had happened five years ago, and neither Abby nor Tom can tell Hannah what happened to the passengers of the car. Now completely befuddled, Hannah sets out to find out more about the car accident and her apparently mysterious talent for time travel. Although with each subsequent trip through time, Hannah changes the timeline and puts her own life in danger.

I completely loved this story! Right from the first sentence, the plot grabbed me and wouldn't let me go until the final page. I give Yesterday by Amanda Tru a big, blazing A+! Amanda Tru is a new author for me, but she definitely is an author who I can't wait to read more from in the future. I'm certainly looking forward to reading The Locket, the second book in the Yesterday Series, next.

A+! - (96-100%)
   
May you read well and often

Amanda Tru, Author of Yesterday and The Locket Opens up About Her Various Literary Inspirations

I would very much like to welcome Amanda Tru, author of nine published books. Ms. Tru was nice enough to answer some questions for me about her various literary inspirations, her books, and her writing plans for the future. Thank you so much for stopping by Emeraldfire's Bookmark, Ms. Tru, and I wish you all the best now and in the future!

Meet Amanda Tru: 

Although I loved my job as an elementary school teacher, I am now very blessed to be mommy to three adorable little boys and living my dream of being an author.

I have a vivid imagination and have always been easily entertained by the stories in my head. Fortunately, I also love to paint those pictures with words. I like writing a wide variety of genres, and my current book list includes everything from a Christian time travel/romance series, to an action-packed suspense, to a romance involving a woman who likes to anonymously play matchmaker.

Although I enjoy historical, Christian, paranormal, suspense, and everything in between, my books all have one thing in common – I love to surprise my readers with the unexpected. I currently have 7 books available for Kindle, Nook, and paperback.

My family and I live in a small Idaho town where the number of cows outnumbers the number of people.

Synopsis of Yesterday: 

Her yesterday was five years ago. What will her tomorrow bring?

When Hannah Kraeger saves a family injured in a car accident, she has no idea she has changed events in the past. Waking the next morning, Hannah discovers her yesterday was really five years ago.

Each trip Hannah takes through time changes the timeline and her own life. With help from Dr. Seth McAllister, Hannah must unravel the mystery of why she time travels and who she actually is before the strange ability costs her future, the man she loves, and even her life.

Yesterday is a thrilling Christian Romantic Suspense filled with unexpected twists, mystery, and romance.

Coming to Amazon on February 8, 2012!

Synopsis of The Locket:

Hannah suddenly finds that she has time traveled once again, but this time is different. After helping save a woman's life, Hannah discovers that she has completely altered the timeline and thrown her very existence into jeopardy.

Facing life-threatening effects upon returning to her own time, Hannah is then given a death sentence: if she time travels again, she will die. Now, Hannah must solve the clues to her own identity and find a way to save her own life before she is once again sent spiraling through time.

Will her mother's locket hold the key to both her past and her future? Has she just found the love of her life only to lose him? Could God have a plan for Hannah amidst the chaos?

Coming to Amazon February 8, 2012!

Emeraldfire's Bookmark: What was the defining incident (or incidents) in your life or career that caused you to say to yourself, "Gee, this would work well in a book"?

Amanda Tru: I wanted to do something special for my sister’s birthday. She is an avid reader, but is very picky. Partly joking one day, she asked me to write her a good book. My original idea was to write a short story that she could read in one sitting. I had lots of ideas for novels, but not really anything for something shorter. And that drove me a little crazy. 

As I was driving home on a long stretch of road, an idea suddenly hit me. What if someone got in her car in one time, but when she arrived at her destination, she was in a different time? Nothing changed, there was no lights or grand journey through time, everything looked the same. She arrived at the right place, but the wrong time. From there the entire story unveiled itself in my mind. The more I thought about it, the more fantastic and irresistible the story became. What started as the idea for a short story, morphed into a wildly intricate, unusual plot unlike anything I’d ever read. And it begged to be written.

Emeraldfire's Bookmark: So, even after having seven books published, which reaction best describes your own personal feelings about your journey in writing (if you view it in that way) : 'Wow! This is the fulfillment of one particular lifelong dream for me. Every hardship in my life has led to this moment.' or 'Oh my gosh! I'm a published author, what do I do now?'

Amanda Tru: I’ve been a busy girl, I just released my 9th book! Honestly, I don’t know how I feel. It all seems a bit surreal. I’ve always wanted to be an author. But it’s almost as if, after a long journey, I suddenly look around and think, “Am I really here? When did that happen?” I don’t know at what point it will feel real, if ever. It might take the New York Times bestseller list and a movie contract for me to finally feel like I’ve actually arrived! ;)

Emeraldfire's Bookmark: I know that both Yesterday and The Locket are classified as Christian time travel/romance, but what do you believe might draw first time readers to your books - is it the faith-based plots or something else entirely? 

Amanda Tru: I hope readers would look at the first few lines of my books and be hooked! I don’t really write typical “Christian Romance,” or at least, I try to do it in a fresh, unique way. My faith is very important to me, and I try to weave the Christian themes very naturally and believably into the plot. The actual story and the writing are vitally important to me as well. I don’t necessarily feel that readers would want to read my books for their spiritual significance. I hope they would want to read them because they tell wonderful stories that are well-written page-turners! I write what I like to read. I love excitement, drama, strong female characters, and plenty of twists and surprises. After reading one of my books, I kind of hope a reader feels a bit of a withdrawal as they have to come back to the real world. J

Emeraldfire's Bookmark: What are your future plans as regards writing in general or do you have any 'percolating ideas' for your next book?

Amanda Tru: I have a long list of books in my “To Be Written” pile. I have so many ideas in just about every genre, I don’t know that my lifetime will ever be long enough to turn them all into books, but I’ll do my best! I just published a novella entitled, The Assumption of Guilt. Now I’m currently working on a much-anticipated Book 4 in the Yesterday series. It’s called, The Choice. However, the book I’m probably looking forward to most looking forward to in my pile is a historical romance set in the Great Depression. There is so much to write and so little time!

May you read well and often

Our Library Visit For June

Hello Everyone! How are you on this fine Saturday? I'm doing just fine. :) Today is my birthday, and in honor of that we decided to go to our local library and then brought home a pizza. I was told "sky's the limit" as regards raiding the book sale! :) We came away with three overflowing bags of books - pretty good, considering the last time we went to the library was only two months ago, in April. :)

We had a wonderful time together - as we always do! It has become something of a birthday tradition for me - from 12:30 P. M. to 2:30 P. M. - we go to the library every June 1st. Or at least try to get there on the weekend closest to my birthday - the weekend before, or the weekend after.

Between us, we bought 15 hardcovers, 31 paperbacks as well as 1 audiobook. We spent a whopping $37.50 for a total of 47 books. A pretty good haul, if I do say so, myself. :)

At the moment, I'm reading Bedtime Stories For Cats by Amy Neftzger which I hope to finish reading soon even though I am enjoying the book very much. I received this ebook back on November 21, 2011, and am honestly just getting around to reading it now.

May you read well and often

Reading Wrap-up For May at Emeraldfire's Bookmark

Hello everyone out there and I hope that you all had a terrific reading month for yourselves. I am known as Emeraldfire around the Internet and this is my new personal reading blog.

Anyway, I started out May with about two hundred unread books lying around the house and ended the month with...umm...uncountable amounts of books unread. All of the books that I acquired this month came from Netgalley, Amazon, I'm a Reader, Not a Writer and authors.

Let me try to break down the influx for you:

Rereads
- The Journals of Eleanor Druse: My Investigation of the Kingdom Hospital Incident by Eleanor Druse

Changes to the TBR pile 

Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- Conquering Your Goliaths: A Parable of the Five Stones by Kathryn Elizabeth Jones
- Grim by Joseph Spencer

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! :))
- The Search For Artemis by P. D. Griffith
- An Actor's Life: A Short Story by Duncan Whitehead
- Prisoner of Paradise by Sinhue Noriega
- Yesterday by Amanda Tru
- The Locket by Amanda Tru
- The Hole in the Middle by Kate Hilton
- The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club by Duncan Whitehead
- If It's Broken Don't Fix It: A Candid Look at Our Complacent Education System by Sinhue Noriega
- Rift Healer by Diane M. Haynes

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- Conquering Your Goliaths: A Parable of the Five Stones by Kathryn Elizabeth Jones
- Grim by Joseph Spencer
- Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

Well, there it is...the breakdown! All in all, a very good reading month for me, considering. Here's a further breakdown:

Books Read: 3

Pages Read: 571

Grade Range: A!

So, there you go! The reading month that was May. I hope that you all had an equally good reading month; if not a little better. :) See you all next month! :)

May you read well and often