Jolenes Reading Information Blog

Author Archive

As I have said in previous entries one of my current favorite authors is Nora Roberts. Whether she is writing as herself or her alter-ego J.D. Robb. I have read practically everything she has written. Yes, she is probably one of the hottest writers today. And yes, her works older works are still being reprinted in various forms and combinations. I hope everyone will give her work a try at least once. I would not recommend her new Bride Quartet series as I really didn’t like the first book “Vision in White“. Her fans will have to judge for themselves. I would, however, highly recommend her book, “Black Hills”. You can get this and other great books by this author in our Ebookstore page!

You can read an excerpt on her site at: www.noraroberts.com . This story has everything, love, conflict, mystery and a chase through the Black Hills. This story follows the lives of two people from widely different backgrounds who first meet when they are pre-teens and become fast friends. Through trials and tribulations of life they are separated and lead different lives until a sudden illness brings them back together. The book is divided into three parts and will take some time to read but I found it very enjoyable and was unable to put it down. Nora Roberts knows how to keep her readers interested and come away from a book wanting more of her characters. This is the kind of book that I will read over and over again. She has often written trilogies and released them over time. And that can be fun but it is also very frustrating for those who like to sit down and read the whole story right through.

However she does write, we, her fans, will be waiting for her new releases.

Cheers!
jolenemacinjax
admin

black hills

“KEEP ON READING!”

It seems that I have been a little lax in posting to this blog. So, I will be making several posts today but dating them one for each month. Hopefully, each post will be worth reading.

Now, I have been reading to my grand-daughter since she could sit on my lap and pay attention. Before that I would sing to her or tell her stories. I did the same thing with each of my children as well. That is how it starts. Singing to babies and telling little ones stories begins the process of teaching them how to read. Reading to them on a regular basis is the next step. Granted with most little ones you will have to read the same story over-and-over again until they get fascinated by something else. It doesn’t matter only that you read to them every day. Children like routine and they learn better if you try to make a routine of it. Don’t forget to make it fun as well! They should see you reading other things as well. We read books, newspapers and magazines. When we are not working, cleaning, car-pooling and have a variety of all the other things that we have to do in our busy lives we relax by reading.

I was cruising the web for some FREE resources for new parents and grand-parents to use to help get their little ones interested in reading and found some great resources. One of them is the Reading Rockets. There are free guides to download and print out. They have tip-sheets, program guides to PBS shows, and much more. Give them a try and see if their information will help you.

For older children between 4 and 7 you can use the services that are offered for FREE at the www.Starfall.com website. There are interactive programs about letters, numbers, words and more. These are offered for FREE. They do have a store attached to the website with some low-cost materials but just the volume of free stuff is great so give them a try.

Cheers
jolenemacinjax
admin

I hope everyone has their reading list ready for the summer. Children as well as adults should take a little time during the summer to read a good book. Relaxation comes in all forms and for me reading a good mystery is just as relaxing as sitting by the pool under an umbrella drinking a mai tai. Actually, there are a great number of easy going past-times that lend themselves to reading a good book as well as the activity itself.

For instance, how about fishing? Nothing better than sitting on the bank or shade-covered dock with a fishing pole in one hand and a book in the other. It gets you outside and hopefully, in the fresh air while trying to catching lunch or supper. Between naps and laps around a pool, lake or beach why not grab a book and read a few chapters. I have found that reading takes your mind off a lot of your troubles and is a great way to relax. If you would like to start on a new series that is funny, has suspense, and always a surprise ending — Give the books that Janet Evanovich writes a try. The very first one I read was laugh-out-loud funny. Even teenagers will like the characters in these books! The Stephanie Plum character will keep you guessing!

One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, No. 1)

Your children from elementary to college will more than likely have a summer time reading list with at least one book as a requirement for the upcoming year. If you can’t find what you need at the local library you might want to try a used bookstore or two. I love going into an established used bookstore. You can find the most amazing things as well as bargains galore. Of course, I have been in one bookstore that was so huge it had boxes of books stacked everywhere with little rooms leading into other little rooms. I don’t think I found my way out for over 2 hours.

Good Morning to all. Just wondering if anyone has read any good books lately. With me selling ebooks online and the fact that I love to read is what promted me to create this little blog. I hope to have good discussions about books with other readers and writers out there. As I find new and interesting sites I will pass them along. My favorite writer is Dorothy Gilman. I have read almost everything she has written and I even created a fansite for her several years ago. Check it out at www.mrspollifax.com. I have redesigned the site several times and now it is in Blog form with pages from the old site. The only books I haven’t read are the ones that I can’t find. If you get a chance and haven’t tried her yet you should start with the Mrs. Pollifax series. There are 14 books in the series and the main character is a widowed woman deciding one day that she is expendable and always wanted to be a spy. So, she goes down to Langley, Virginia and applies for a position as a Spy. The books are great for those who are young-at-heart and enjoy and fast-paced adventure. Her other books are great as well. Dorothy Gilman has been writing since the late 40′s but has published any new stuff since her last book, Kaleiscope, in 2002. Well, being as she is in her mid 80′s I guess us advid fans will have to be satisfied with what’s out there now. If you have read Dorothy Gilman and enjoy her work you should check out my fansite. We are always looking for more people to participate and hope to get some “Fan-Fiction” going!

Click on the Bookstore Page and then in the favorite authors listing and you can buy some Dorothy Gilman books as well as some of my other favorite authors books as well!

We all have heard about a “friend” who had trouble falling asleep but all she/he had to do was pick up a book for her “class” or “work” and she/he would fall instantly asleep. Now when the situation is reversed if the friend was reading for pleasure then they keep reading all night.

I am the same way. If I am reading just for the fun of it and the book keeps me captivated I can read for 24 hours straight. This is good and bad for different reasons of course. We are required to read certain material for classes we take and where we work. During those reading sessions I find that it is much easier if you are rested and sitting at a comfortable table or desk. If I try to read this kind of material on the couch or in bed and it doesn’t capture my attention right away or at least within the first few minutes I will be nodding off. I will not remember anything I have read and will have to start all over again.

Now if the story is one that I am looking forward to reading then I will wait until my day off because I know I will probably read it all the way to the end. I took a vacation last year and read all of the Harry Potter Books 1-6 straight through because I wanted the stories fresh in my mind to get ready for the 7th book. That may be a little obsessive however, with prices of gas and other goods the way they are going we have to find alternate ways to entertain ourselves, improve our chances of advancement at work to make more money or save money where ever we can.

Reading is usually free or very inexpensively can be delivered to your home or computer. The public library is free and most allow an almost unlimited amount of books to be checked out. So you will have to only make a trip every two or three weeks depending on you local library’s policy. While there are more and more EBooks online some are free and others are for a small fee and can be keep on your computer and read over and over again.

Here is the debate for today! Is it less expensive to go to the library, pick-up a paberback, a hardback book, books on cd or dvd and come home read it within the time allowed and return it to the library before a fine sets in OR is it more “green” to buy ebooks online, have them forever only taking up space on your computer’s hard drive or your back-up drive?

Gorgeously Green: 8 Simple Steps to an Earth-Friendly Life

Have you ever read anything by Anne George or Janet Evanovich?  If you haven’t you should give both these authors a try.  Sadly, Anne George passed away in 2001 and she no longer has her won website but she wrote 7 of the funniest mysteries.  Beginning with “Murder On A Girl’s Night Out” and Ending with “Murder Boogies with Elvis” you are dropped into the world of southern women.  These stories revolve around two sisters who reside in Birmingham, Alabama and are total opposites.  One sister is petite, demure, married to the same man for years, Patricia Anne, and the other is big, brassy and has been married to several different men and is currently looking for another, Mary Alice.  Between the two of them they seem to get into all sorts of trouble besides tripping over dead bodies.  The stories are fast-paced and suspenseful.  They hit the right note on what being a southern women is all about. 

Janet Evanovich, on the other hand, has a northern women character she writes about called Stephanie Plum.  She is young, sometimes attached and sometimes not, recently unemployed but finally lands a job as a bounty-hunter.  She has no skills for this trade but she has heart, determination and the insane ability to fall over her prey.  She was born and raised in New Jersey with a hot-to-trot grandmother and parents who can’t understand why their little girl isn’t married with kids of her own.  The stories are fast-paced and laugh-out-loud funny.  Stephanie has the worse luck with cars.  I can really relate to some of her trials and tribulations, her problems with money, and her Murphy’s Luck.  There are currently 19 books featuring this character with more on the way.

When comparing the these characters you will find that they are truly funny, trying their best everyday and the epitome of what characterizes northern versus southern women.  I hale from the south and have all of my life but I have friends who were born and raised in the north.  We have different outlooks on life.  Of course, there are similarities as well as opposites in what the rules are.  You know what I mean; “never leave your front room dirty in case of company”, “don’t stay in your bathrobe after a certain hour unless you are sick”, “when company comes over have both non-alcoholic as well as alcoholic beverages available (that might just be a southern one)”, “a lady always dresses appropriately for any occasion”, etc.  I am sure you can think of many more.

So, give these books a try and tell us what you think!

Cheers

Jolenemacinjax

As I stated in one of my previous entries. I like to re-read my favorite books each year. The best is when there are several of the same character. Laurell K. Hamilton writes the Anita Blake series and currently has 16 books out with the great female character with a new one being released in June of this year. The first story, Guilty Pleasures (Buy a box set = Laurell K. Hamilton Set – Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse, Circus of the Damned and The Lunatic Cafe) was first published in 1994. I just got through re-reading the entire series last weekend. I probably should have waited until the first of June to read them again but I am in-between projects right now and low on funds so I am trying to be good and just read during my off time.

These stories are packed full of fun, adventure, mystery and after the 5th book has some very interesting love scenes. The series centers around a female character who is in her mid 20s, short, black hair, buxom but fit and has some strong values and, of course, would like everything to go her way. She is a typical 20-something female in the modern era living in St. Louis except she raises zombies for a living and on the side she assists the local police with cases involving supernatural bad guys. Meanwhile she is trying to cope with being a single woman dating a Vampire, a werewolf and later on in the series living with two leopardmen as well as dating the vampire – Master of the City- and sometimes dating the werewolf – Ulfric or Clan Leader. She has to cope with the stress of the police work and the “good-ole-boy” code, a pushy boss who wants all of her time devoted to raising zombies and making him money, the demands of her boyfriends and their weird relatives, as well as trying to keep fit so that she can outrun the bad guys. Later in the series the vampire hunters are granted Federal Marshall status so that they can hunt bad guys across state lines. This is a help as well as a hindrance for her. She also has an edge. She is what is known as a necromancer with the ability to control all of the “dead”. As her power grows so does her enemies.

This story also touches on the problems of those of us who work nights. Granted she has been taught that zombies can only be raised at night and one of her boyfriends is only alive at night but she also has to deal with friends who call when she has only had two hours of sleep, sales people who call during the day when you forget to turn the answering machine on and in the beginning of the isolation that comes from not being on everyone else’s schedule. For me I just turn the phone off, wait till the kids are off to school, and call my friends and relatives first thing in the morning. And, I like her attitude about life in general, if you can’t do anything to change the bad things happening right now deal with what you can one thing at a time.

These stories will take you out of your stress-filled days and entertain you as only good stories can. These books appeal to both men and women, young as well as old alike. And by old I mean those who are over 100 as are most of the vampires in this series. So, if you feel that you are different and just don’t fit in anywhere just remember somewhere out there there are more people like us we just have to find a way to connect. As these books are about those who are different from the norm each of us can find someone to connect with if we keep trying, reading, researching and participating. Life is an active exercise!

Practically everyone I know of will make at least one new years resolution. I haven’t made one in a few years because I never seem to keep them. One resolutions that I, personally, would like for everyone to make is to read to your children. You just need to carve out 30 minutes a day to read to them. It really doesn’t matter what you read. You can even read the back of the cereal boxes so long as you do it everyday. Even newborns love to hear the sound of their parents voices. My oldest son is expected a baby real soon and I have always encourage him to read to his 3-year old step-son. He doesn’t like to read as much as the rest of us but you have to think of the children. Even if he would just read the sports section of the newspaper to him he will learn more and more everyday that he does it. We have bought little books with lots of pictures that only take a few minutes to sit down quietly and read to him. And with the new baby coming he needs the practice.

My oldest daughter likes to read and reads to her daughter almost everyday. Now my 3-year old grand-daughter will repeat the story to us after we read each book. Granted, we have to read the same story almost every day until she gets tired of it but she is learning a little more each time we read her favorite stories. We pick up books from the “Dollar Stores”, at used bookstores and yard sales. Most children need to be able to see the pictures and words together to learn quickly. You also want to encourage your young ones to learn more than one language. You may only speak one language but there are more and more cartoons and daily TV shows on the Disney Channel and public television stations that teach children how to say and spell words in two languages. I have read several medical studies that state that children between the ages of 3 to 6 can learn to be bi-lingual more quickly during these years and retain more in adulthood if this practice is encouraged. Who knows you might even start to learn another language. And in these trying times we all need an edge in our work to keep our jobs and get promotions.

If you start them young and keep up with the encouragement as well as letting them see you read your children will be better prepared for school and be more willing to learn new things as they present themselves. This is true of us older people as well. We have to keep our brains active and I have read some studies that say that keeping an active mind may help stave off alzheimers. This may or may not be true but what could it hurt? My grandmother is in her late 80′s and still reads books, goes to church and visits others who don’t have anyone. She may not be as spry as she once was but she keeps active as much as she is able. I still can’t get her to use a computer so the eBooks are probably out but she does go to the library every two weeks.

One of my favorite authors is Nora Roberts. She has written and published over 100 books and even her older books are being republished. She is one author that I like to read her stories over and over again. Everyone in our family who likes to read reads her books. I think we have her entire collection. We check her website regularly and can’t wait until the next book comes out. Some of her books are even being turned into TV movies. Now if you can find an author(s) that you like we would encourage you to read them out loud to your children. Granted, you may need to edit out the “love scenes” and any scene that is not appropriate for your child’s age group but there is no law that says you can’t paraphrase through some of those parts. When telling your children the story you don’t have to tell it word-for-word just the story itself. The point is to have the children see you reading, read to them on a regular basis, and encourage them to tell you stories as well!

We all would like to receive free stuff and during the holidays it is more prevalent than ever. When you do a search on the web be very careful when you download stuff to your computer. One source that you might want to try would be my bookstore. I have several ebooks that are virus free and available for immediate download for everyone who would like to get them. Right now we have 11 ebooks on a variety of different subjects. I like to read books on a variety of different subjects. I read recipe books, old time classics, books on how to do things as well as current fiction novels. This will give you an opportunity to try ebooks for yourself. The books are in Acrobat Reader format and some have both the Acrobat format and the text format zipped together. I still haven’t been able to find an ebook reader to try for a reasonable amount of money. All of them are still around $300 but I am forever hopeful.

If you would like to try some more free ebooks you can go to the Gutenberg website and download as many of the “out of print” books in text format. You might want to try your local library as well. Some have ebooks available for checkout but you will need access to their online website. These are 3 sources that I trust. If you find another source of free ebooks and would like to share them then please feel free to comment or email us at: jolene.macfadden@jolenesreadingguide.info

http://jolenesbooksandmore.com/Freestuff.html

This is a great little interview by JA Jance on her book “Web of Evil” that I found on YouTube! Have you had a chance to read this great writers books? Give them a try. Visit her website for more information and a booklist. I have read all of her books and my favorite character is Sheriff Joanna Brady. She begins as a wife of the local deputy who is running for sheriff and is the daughter of a former sheriff in a small town in Arizona. The story lines moves from working for an insurance agent to her losing her husband and her becoming sheriff while trying to raise her little girl with the help of her best friend, a woman minister, and her in-laws. Her mother is a little “stuck-up” and not much help more of a hindrance to her daughter. Sheriff Brady must get training for herself after she is elected where she meets her future love interest. There are now 13 books with this character. “Web of Evil” is a middle book in the series with the character Ali Reynolds. Ms Reynolds is recently divorced lady who decides to create a blog and gets involved with murder! She also writes about a Detective in Seattle J.P. Beaumont. There are 18 books with this character. I haven’t read all of these yet. Ms. Jance has one book that involves both of these characters called “Partners in Crime”. That is really a great story. I have read all of the Joanna Brady series at least twice. She is another one of those authors that you can re-read her books over again every year and find something that you missed the first time and still enjoy them!

A Great Interview with JA Jance by Stacey Cochran that was talks about how she got started writing, how she creates her characters and her latest book Damage Control. This video is about 20 minutes.

Authors@Google Interview with JA Jance as she talks about her book “Damage Control”! This video is about 50 minutes.