Box of Books
The Guest Post Series
Debbie Haupt
The Reading Frenzy
I'm a reading fanatic of all fiction genres and sub-genres and enjoy some non-fiction as well. I love interviewing authors and sponsoring giveaways on my blog The Reading Frenzy-http://
I'm an editorial reviewer for both LibraryJournal and RT Magazine.
I formed the General Fiction Expats forum here on Goodreads to give my friends from the now defunct B&N forum a place to land-https://www.goodreads.
I am a staunch library advocate who volunteers at my local branch.
My Box of Books
My dear friend Karen Laird put this question before us way back when the Barnes & Noble General Fiction forum was alive and well and we all had a lot of fun with it and I have to admit that maybe one or two of my choices have changed.
RELIGION:
I’ll start with the most important text, the one of my ancestors- The Tanach- The Hebrew Bible.
Scholars are still arguing about when these texts were finalized. Some say during the Hasmonean dynasty 140 BC, some say it was much later. But it is something that is to be treasured.
CLASSICS:
Now on to the classics-
I’ll start with the oldest – The Iliad which began it’s history as a Greek epic poem by Homer set during the Trojan War. The characters are human and Gods and all fantastical. I first read this as a required project during high school and I hated it. But once more a few years ago and I was blown away by the content and the realization that it was written so long ago.
The next is my all time favorite classic - Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte’s only published novel from 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, she died the next year at age 30. After her death her sister Charlotte edited and republished it attributing it to Emily in 1850. It came out to mixed reviews because of it’s mental and physical cruelty. A tragic love story that really spoke to my heart the first time I read it and all the other times too.
My third and last classic is by my all time favorite classic author, Ernest Hemingway - For Whom The Bell Tolls published in 1940 about an American Robert Jordan during the Spanish Civil War. It’s regarded as one of Papa Hemingway’s best.
CONTEMPORARY FICTION:
Now we go on to my main course of contemporary fiction.
First is probably the best book I’ve ever read – Overseas by Beatriz Williams. It was her debut novel about a British WWI Captain and a modern Wall Street Analyst. Yes there is time travel involved but this is NOT a fantasy. It’s a beautiful love story about the endlessness and timelessness of love. I loved it so much I chose it for both my on-line and in-person book clubs. Click HERE for the review
My favorite by one of my favorite romance author Kristan Higgins – My One And Only.
I laughed and I cried and I couldn’t put it down. It’s my favorite kind of love story, a second chance love story. It stars an ex married couple Harper and Nick. Click HERE for my review.
Next is a novel about friendship by another favorite author and friend, Lisa Verge Higgins- The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship. This novel was also chosen for both in-person and on-line clubs. This was Lisa’s first mainstream novel and I’ve enjoyed each one since. It’s poignant, it’s tragic, it’s unforgettable. It’s the story of four very different women who were the best of friends. Click HERE for my review
The next is also by a favorite women’s fiction author Marilyn Brant- A Summer in Europe which was also chosen for our book club read. This story still brings a smile to my face. It’s a coming of age a little late story about 30 year old Gwen Reese and her trip to Europe with her aunt and her aunt’s cronies. It’s also a love story. I loved this and all of Marilyn’s novels. HERE is my review
CONTEMPORARY SCI-FI / FANTASY
The next section is my sci-fi/fantasy faves.
Number one is By British hard fantasy author extraordinaire Mark Lawrence – The Prince of Thorns is his first novel in his Broken Empire saga- it stars an very un-hero like hero Jorg Ancrath who at a very young age witnessed a horror that would change and shape his life, the murder of his mother and his brother. Click HERE for my review in RT magazine.
The next is the final novel in Alma Katsu’s Taker Trilogy- The Descent it’s a very adult fairytale starring some very narcissistic characters who it takes centuries to learn the right from wrong and they unfortunately leave a string of tragedies along the way. Alma is a former employee of the CIA and yep she’d have to kill you if she told you what she did there. Click HERE to enjoy my interview with her and my review of The Descent.
Next is the First of Justin Cronin’s trilogy The Passage- Wow, just wow. I’m excitedly waiting for the third and final installment to see how or if he saves the world. For those of you who live under a rock and have never read The Passage it’s an pre-present-post apocalyptic saga of a Government experiment using prison inmates gone very, very wrong. Click HERE for my review of The Passage- and HERE for my RT review of the second novel in the trilogy The Twelve.
Next is an amazing first in another adult fantasy/fairytale trilogy staring another debut author Deborah Harkness, A Discovery of Witches is the first of her All Souls trilogy,
it’s an epic tale that spans centuries also but by the way of time travel. It’s the unlikely love story between historian and witch Diana Bishop and Professor of genetics Matthew Clairmont who’s a vampire. Yeah don’t go all poo-poo this is not your average Vampire tale it’s literary fiction at it’s finest. Click HERE for my review of A Discovery of Witches and HERE for my review of Shadow of Night and HERE for the third in the trilogy The Book of Life
Next – is a novel that I waited impatiently for Karen Marie Moning’s 5th and we thought last in her Fever Series but it’s lived on. This is Ms. Moning’s greatest accomplishment and I’ve been a fan for years. Shadowfever is the culmination of MacKayla (Mac) Lane and Jericho Barrons epic to retrieve the elusive, destructive, deadly Sinsar Dubh a tomb of the greatest importance. Click HERE to see my review
Next is The Winter Witch by Paula Brackston. This is another fantasy set in the wilds of Wales in the 1830s and yet another book club choice. I found Paula quite by accident when the B&N General fiction club was active and I loved her prose, her settings and her characters. The Winter Witch is a story about a strange girl named Morgana Pritchard who is taken from her home and married off to Cai Jenkins by her mother. I think this is a read enjoyed by many genre lovers, literary, fantasy, romance. Click HERE for my review
Last by never least is The First in a YA Sci-Fi Trilogy that I had the great pleasure to review for RT magazine. Midnight City is set after an alien invasion of earth where all the adults have disappeared and the planet is now run by the children. It’s inventive, it’s exciting, its terrifying and it’s wonderful. Click HERE for my review courtesy RT magazine.
Well there you have it. I can’t wait to see what others have chosen and I’m sure if I’m asked again this list will once again change.My Box of Books
______________________________________________________
I want to thank Debbie Haupt for taking the time and effort to share her list of books that would go into her Box of Books with us today. With the many, many novels that go across her desk and that she has read as a book reviewer, blogger, and host of many many book club reads at Barns & Nobles and now Goodreads, I know the selection had to be hard. As always, after reading a blog by Debbie, I am walking away with new books to add to my list of books to read.
If you would like to participate in the Box of Book Series, contact Karen Laird @ ShadeTreeBlogging@gmail.com .
No comments:
Post a Comment