Why Have I Not Been Around Much Lately!

Hello everyone! I hope that you're all just fine this morning - I certainly am! :) Anyway, I just wanted to give you an update on how I'm doing so far.

I’m doing pretty well - except for the fact that Lollipop managed to knock a book that I started reading last week behind my easychair. Actually, I should probably say that Lollipop’s managed to knock another book behind my chair, because this is like the sixth book she’s pawed down off my bookshelf. I love her dearly, but this is starting to get slightly annoying.

I’m only upset because I was reading at least two of the books that disappeared behind the chair, and the chair is difficult to move in order to retrieve the books. It will probably take me months to get them back. Oh, well!

Anyway, I haven’t been posting too much on my blog because I was actually setting up a fresh blog at: http://emeraldfiresbookmark2.blogspot.com. I’ve transferred my posts over to the new blog, but unfortunately I can’t transfer my followers. So that’s why I’m keeping my other blog as well, although I hope that I can remove it at some point. Not to worry though, I won’t be doing that for a while, yet!

May you read well and often

Peter Thompson - Summer on Earth

33. Summer on Earth by Peter Thompson (2017)

Length: 294 pages

Genre: Science Fiction 

Started: 7 September 2017

Finished: 26 September 2017

Where did it come from? Many thanks to Dorothy at Pump up Your Book for sending me a copy of this book to read.

How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 7 September 2017

Why do I have it? I like science fiction and Peter Thompson is a new author for me.

In the summer of 1978, eleven-year-old Grady Johnson is grieving the recent loss of his father. Times were already tough for the Johnsons, but Grady suspects now that it’s just the three of them: him, his Ma, and his younger sister Luanne, this summer will be especially hard. After all, his dad was the rock of their family. Now dad has died and the family just isn’t the same.

Grady knows that Ma is trying her best, but they just don’t have enough money to get by. He wishes that he could do more to help, but he doesn’t know how. The night that he looked out his bedroom window and wished upon a shooting star, Grady had no idea how much his life would change. And ultimately, the summer of 1978 will stay in Grady’s heart forever.

Actually, the shooting star that Grady saw that night was a spaceship plummeting to Earth. Secretly landing in a pasture behind Grady’s farm, extraterrestrial engineer Ralwil Turth has only one goal - to repair his craft’s power source and go back home. The mission should be simple enough to accomplish on an unpopulated planet such as this one. However, Ralwil’s mission doesn’t go quite as well as he planned...

Due to an equipment malfunction, Ralwil finds himself stuck in human form as he works on the Johnson farm. As he gets to know Grady and his family, Ralwil begins to learn what it means to be human. He also discovers more about the exotic charms of this planet Earth - things such as the taste of potatoes and how amazing bugs are. These are all extraordinary experiences and situations for Ralwil, and his strange reactions and odd behavior causes Grady no small measure of bafflement to witness.

As Ralwil grows to care more for Grady and his family, he comes up with a plan to try and help them, certain that it will solve all their problems. However, when trouble comes, the family’s survival and Ralwil’s very life will be on the line. The question is: will Grady find the courage he needs to help his family and save his new friend?

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I found the story to be poignant and well-written, and fully appreciated that the plot was about so much more than just the science fictional element. In my opinion, this was a refreshing change from most science fiction novels, which seem to be told from a more galactic point of view, rather than a personal point of view.

The historical setting of the story was also intriguing, and not necessarily overwhelming. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future and I would certainly give this book an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

May you read well and often

Linda McCarter Bridge - Cats: Little Tigers in Your House

32. Cats: Little Tigers in Your House by Linda McCarter Bridge (1974)

The National Geographic Society’s Books For Young Explorers Series Book 12

Length: 32 pages 

Genre: Non-Fiction

Started/Finished: 16 September 2017

Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap

How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 14 September 2017

Why do I have it? I like non-fiction and Linda McCarter Bridge is a new author for me.

This short nonfiction book is all about the life of a mother cat named Fezziwig and her two newborn kittens, Toddly and Paddy Paws. The story actually follows the kittens’ life from newly born to two months old, using photographs to chart their growth and their interaction with the world around them. From Toddly’s and Paddy Paws’ first grooming session with their Mom to meeting several unique family members and making friends; from playing with each other to meeting their new humans: the two youngsters, Sam and Dana.

I think that this particular book would certainly be appropriate reading for young children who are just learning about how to care for animals. Although I didn’t really learn much more than I already knew about cats, I still enjoyed reading the cute story and looking at the photographs. I would give this book an A!

A! - (90-95%)

May you read well and often

Connie Corcoran Wilson - Hellfire and Damnation

31. Hellfire and Damnation by Connie Corcoran Wilson (2011)
The Hellfire and Damnation Series Book 1
Length: 124 pages
Genre: Horror
Started: 6 September 2017
Finished: 14 September 2017
Where did it come from? From Amazon
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 26 December 2012
Why do I have it? I like Connie Corcoran Wilson as an author and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

Hellfire and Damnation is Connie Corcoran Wilson's first book of short stories that she published in 2011. This book features an intimate tour of Dante's 'Nine Circles of Hell' from his Inferno. It also features fifteen original short stories: from the convicted murderer James 'Big Jim' Bingham trying to reconnect with his estranged son before his death sentence is carried out in 'Hotter Than Hell' to the treacherous betrayal between two best friends that leads to murder in 'An American Girl'. Each story highlights its particular Circle in a novel way, but is partially based on fact as explained by the author at the end.

I really enjoyed this book - it was suitably horrific for me. Each story is well-crafted and believable, and I found myself very satisfied with each story's pacing. I give Hellfire and Damnation an A! and I look forward to reading more books by Connie Corcoran Wilson in the very near future!

A! - (90-95%) 

May you read well and often

Book Spotlight For Murder on Set by Duncan Whitehead

Hello Everyone! I hope that you're all having a wonderful day today. As this is his long-awaited Release Day, I'm delighted to welcome award-winning Contemporary Mystery author Duncan Whitehead author of Murder on Set - Book 3 of The Forest Pines Mysteries Series - to Emeraldfire's Bookmark. This is also my thirty-second Book Spotlight post ever, but I still hope that I do Murder on Set by Duncan Whitehead justice.

About Murder on Set:

Two years after the events in Miami and a heart-wrenching funeral newly married and pregnant Jenny once again finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery. When Hollywood comes to Forest Pines to film a movie based on the killings of infamous serial killer 'The Slaughter Man' the production is thrown into chaos after a cast member dies on set.

Was it an accident or was it murder? With a host of suspects and motives to chose from a revitalized Jenny leaves no stone unturned as she digs into the bizarre case.

Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Meet Duncan Whitehead

Winner of the 2013 and 2014 Reader’s Favorite International Book Award and Gold Medalist. Award Winning Writer, Duncan Whitehead, was born in England and is the author of the best-selling and award-winning The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club Trilogy. The series, inspired by the quirky characters and eeriness in the real life Savannah neighborhood in which he once lived is a humorous mystery, which boasts an assortment of characters and plot twists. He has also written over 2,000 spoof and comedy news articles, under various aliases, for a variety of websites both in the US and the UK.

He has written further novels; a dark comedy set in Manhattan, The Reluctant Jesus, published in April 2014 and republished in July 2015 and three short stories. Duncan is well known for his charity work, kindness to animals, children and old people; and, of course, his short-lived bullfighting career and his hideous hunchback. In February 2045, he invented time travel and now spends much of his time in either the future (where he has won the lottery an astonishing 117 times) and the present day.

Connect and Socialize with Duncan!

Website * Twitter * Facebook

May you read well and often

Carlyle Clark - A Nice Jagged Edge: A Short Story

Reread. A Nice Jagged Edge: A Short Story by Carlyle Clark (2013)
The Atticus and Rosemary Mystery Thriller Series Book 0.5
Length: 14 pages
Genre: Short Story
Originally Read: 19 January 2014

Reread Finished: 8 August 2017

Where did it come from? Originally I downloaded a copy of this book for free from Amazon in January of 2014. I acquired this book again as a gift to myself from Amazon in July of 2017.

So back in January of 2014 - January 18th, to be exact - I downloaded a copy of this book for free from Amazon. Actually, I had initially read this short story in January of 2014 - January 19th - while I was also reading The Black Song Inside by Carlyle Clark. Although I deleted the first copy of the book right after I read it, I had always wanted to be able to reread the book again at some point.

I got my chance to download a second copy of this book back in July of 2017 - July 27th, to be exact - and I downloaded it for free again. I reread the book over one day in August of 2017 - August 8th, 2017. I'm keeping this book to read again at some point in the very near future.

May you read well and often

Calling All Book Reviewers!

Hello everyone! :) I hope that you are all having a wonderful day today. I know that I am! ;) Anyway, I recently saw on Facebook that author Kathryn Meyer Griffith is looking for more reviews for some of her books, and because I think she is such a remarkable writer, I thought that I would make a request of all the readers of Emeraldfire's Bookmark.

Like so many authors out there, Ms. Griffith is always on the look out for more reviewers for her books - most specifically her horror novels The Calling, Evil Stalks the Night and Blood Forged. All that is required from these potential reviewers, is a willingness to read the book, and also to write a fair and honest review of what you read. As I've said before, this is just a request of all the readers of my blog - but if you do decide to review these books I would appreciate it very much! And I know that Ms. Griffith would as well. ;)

Meet Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Since childhood I’ve been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over forty-two years ago now, and have had twenty (ten romantic horror, two horror novels, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance and three murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press; and I’ve self-published my last five novels with Amazon Kindle Direct and my dinosaur novels are my best-sellers.

I’ve been married to Russell for thirty-six years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha and Cleo, and live cat Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my horror novel The Last Vampire - Revised Author’s Edition ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.

Connect and Socialize with Kathryn!

Website * Facebook * Goodreads * Amazon Author Page

The Calling by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2015)

Length: 339 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon!

The Calling Blurb:

Faye Summer has been haunted by a three-thousand-year-old-murdered Egyptian princess, one of the five daughters of Nefertiti and the doomed pharaoh Akhenaton, since she was a young girl...and has glimpsed her desperate ghostly face in darkened mirrors and heard her whispers in her dreams. Whispers begging for Faye’s help in uncovering the true story of her and her family’s long ago disappearances and deaths, their terrible fate, so the ghost would no longer be damned to her eternal wandering. On that grave quest, Faye and her husband, Nick, reluctantly travel to Egypt and among the ancient pyramids, sparkling hot sands and the ghosts of the past they discover a truth far worse than they could have imagined and end up fighting for their own survival.

Evil Stalks the Night by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2015)

Length: 402 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Evil Stalks the Night Blurb:

Twenty years ago psychic Sarah Summers fled from the evil that lurked in the woods behind her childhood home after it killed most of her family, but a nasty divorce and financial hardships forced her back when nothing else could have. With her son, Jeremy, she returns to her inheritance, her grandmother’s dilapidated house, and tries to begin a new life. She meets a police detective, Ben, who falls for her, and she prays her fresh visions of bloodshed and death deep among the dark trees aren’t true.

Then the murders begin again and Sarah is hurtled back into the familiar nightmare that has haunted her her whole life. The evil in the woods is awake again and this time it wants her last remaining brother, Jim; her son...and her. With Ben and Jim’s help can she defeat it this time...and live?

Blood Forged by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2015)

Length: 453 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Blood Forged Blurb:

An ancient snake-demon lies trapped behind the stone walls of an Incan prison; for centuries demanding blood sacrifices and scheming to escape. Then it discovers a pathway into the world of men, forging itself into a malevolent and cursed 357 Colt Python gun, and making itself capable of giving misery and bringing death to all who touch it. Through decades it torments, decimates, the lives of the unfortunate people it comes into contact with until a married couple, Emily and Sam Walters, have enough love and faith - and the help of a mysterious priest who’s much more than he appears to be - to fight against and destroy it forever...and to finally send it back to hell where it belongs.

May you read well and often