The Book Club Blog

Books for any occasion and other life stuff

Do you write?

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I didn’t. I used to, many many moons ago when I still believed in the power of my words. Because one random incident stopped me writing. What was it? I reread some of my journaling and thought, what on earth are you on about? I was a confused young adult, with no real direction and after reading this particular piece (for the life of me I couldn’t tell you what it is now), I cringed and stopped putting words down on paper.

Until my daughter was born, and I realised I needed to write, that I could not keep my words bottled up inside me anymore, and Imsonotablogger was born. I delved into the land of blogging and it served its purpose for many years until life got crazy and busy and I no longer found the time to write…

Skip to 9 years later, when I started looking for a writing course to do. I was turning the big 40, the call for writing a book too loud to ignore and halfway through being 40, I discovered the 7 Day Writing Challenge with the author Joanne Fedler. After seeing the advert on Facebook for a couple of days, I clicked the link.

(It took me a few days because I am always wary of advertising on FB, how they manage to target their market so efficiently freaks me out a little) But when I did and realised that it really was what it said it was, I signed up for the 7 Day Writing Challenge. It was free, and time wise quite doable in my rather crazy schedule. I knew I could fit writing into my life, without it causing too much extra mayhem.

The beauty of the 7 Day Challenge is that my words were woken up. The delicious Joanne Fedler, who teaches with compassion and a no-nonsense approach to being accountable for your thoughts and actions. She teaches the balance of craft and consciousness, so you are not “just writing” but feeling your way into your writing. Which for many of us, that may be the scariest thing. But Joanne manages the transition with care and compassion so you are gently dipping your toes into the waves of words, feelings, and memories of what is alive inside us.

Why am I telling you this?

For three reasons:

  • Firstly, this free 7 Day challenge affected me so much, I signed up for a year-long course to Write My First Draft. Yes, I have always wanted to write a book and Now I am. Becuase writing really is as simple as putting one word in front of the other and letting your fingers do the typing.
  • Secondly, I don’t share things I don’t believe in. I believe in this.
  • Thirdly, if you sign up for the free 7 Day Challenge, at the end of it you have the option to enter a competition to win a scholarship for the Author Awakening Adventure. Which is an 8-week course and really fires up the imagination(that is where the idea for my book originated).

So, even if you think you CAN’T write but want to, this is the perfect starter portion to see where it leads you. It runs from the 18th – 24th January 2018.  And if at the end of it, you really don’t want to explore the landscape of words within you, then don’t. This is the start of a brand new year, release your creativity, for 7 days, and see what gets born from it.

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Books Books Books

I received an email yesterday from Net Galley (They do Books) and did you know that there are a couple books coming out soon which you really need to be aware of?? Pity my birthday will have passed by then but check out these great books:

 

kostovaElizabeth Kostova – The Shadow Land

And if you’re asking me who? Then you really need to check her out.  She wrote The Historian which is a fabulous book, and if you haven’t read it yet, you really really need to. The plot blends the history and folklore of Vlad Țepeș and his fictional equivalent Count Dracula. I couldn’t read it at night, it was that good. Then her second one, The Swan Thieves which was not quite as fabulous as her first, but also very good and now, here we are with her third one, due out in April this year!

What is it about? Thanks to Amazon:

A young American woman, Alexandra Boyd, has traveled to Sofia, Bulgaria, hoping that life abroad will salve the wounds left by the loss of her beloved brother. Soon after arriving in this elegant East European city, however, she helps an elderly couple into a taxi—and realizes too late that she has accidentally kept one of their bags. Inside she finds an ornately carved wooden box engraved with a name: Stoyan Lazarov. Raising the hinged lid, she discovers that she is holding an urn filled with human ashes.

As Alexandra sets out to locate the family and return this precious item, she will first have to uncover the secrets of a talented musician who was shattered by political oppression—and she will find out all too quickly that this knowledge is fraught with its own danger.

Elizabeth Kostova’s new novel is a tale of immense scope that delves into the horrors of a century and traverses the culture and landscape of this mysterious country. Suspenseful and beautifully written, it explores the power of stories, the pull of the past, and the hope and meaning that can sometimes be found in the aftermath of loss.

 

Next on my list is:

bear

Beartown by Frerick Backman

I adore this mans writing! He wrote A man Called Ove, My grandmother asked me to tell you she’s sorry, Britt Marie was here, And every morning the way home gets longer and longer and now Beartown.

What is it about? Thanks to Amazon:

People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.

Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected.

Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.

And those are just two on my list of Want to Reads.

What is on yours?

 

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The Legacy Book Tour

Welcome to the scheduled stop on the The Legacy Book Tour!

The Legacy – MELISSA DELPORT

One man obsessed with power.

One woman prepared to sacrifice everything to stop him.

 One war that changed the world.

 “World War Three lasted twelve days. Twelve days was all it took for mankind to devastate the planet and almost eradicate the human race. No victor emerged from the ashes and billions lost their lives.

 We survivors lived through the bleakest of winters. A primal existence became the new order, and the little that remained of our humanity hung in the balance.

 Then one man stood up and changed the world. I believed, as did everyone else, that he was the hero of our time, the man who had saved us from our own demise. His name is Eric Dane and he is the President of the New United States of America.

 He is also my husband, and my greatest enemy.

 I grew up oblivious to the truth, until my father found me when I was nineteen years old. He told me about the many horrifying facts that our new leader kept hidden from us. And he told me that beyond the borders the Resistance grew and fought for freedom from the oppression that Eric Dane had imposed on us.

 My name is Rebecca Davis. I am twenty-six years old, and in me the Resistance has found the ultimate weapon.”

 A narrative of good and evil, love and passion, right and wrong – and at the centre of the story a strong woman who is prepared to sacrifice everything for the cause she believes in.

 The Legacy is an action-packed, adrenalin-inducing thrill ride which will leave you riveted long after you have turned the last page.

I enjoyed this book! It was an interesting concept which, in so far as I know, has not been done before in quite this way. The main characters are well put together and the writing pulls you along urging you to find out more about them, and the situation. There are some small twists which I didn’t see coming and thought that to add that element into the theme of a ‘strong woman’ was great. The ending was very moreish as it left you feeling curious as to what actually happened, was it all just a lie or is the truth in the madness? I guess I am going to have to read the second one to find out!

Here is an excerpt to tickle those reading tastebuds:

EXCERPT – The Legacy by Melissa Delport

Chapter 27

“What’s a nymph?” I ask suddenly, eliciting another deep chuckle. I glance across at him but his eyes are closed.

“A nymph, Tiny, is a sexy nature spirit who gets up to no good.”

“Aah.” I nod wisely. “Known a few of those in your time, no doubt.”

“Shut up,” he replies. “The only small, sexy thing I need to be worrying about right now is you. There will be plenty of time for nymphs later.”

“What, like when we’ve rescued Aidan, stolen an army, assassinated the President and basically saved the world?”

“Yeah,” he nods confidently, opening his eyes and meeting my gaze, “then.”

Much later, my neck and back are stiff and I sit up, pulling my sweatshirt tighter around myself.

Reed sits up too, rubbing his neck.

“You know what I worry about?” I ask, although I’m not sure why I feel the need to unburden myself to him. Maybe it’s because he’s here, maybe it’s because he’s helping me for reasons unbeknown to me; maybe it’s because at this moment he’s the closest thing I have to a friend.

“What, Tiny?”

When I answer my voice is small, uncertain.

“I worry that I won’t be able to save him.” Tears prick at my eyes and I blink them away.

“What will happen if you don’t?” he asks. This is one thing I like about Reed, he allows me to explore all options, and he doesn’t always feel the need to protect me from the worst case scenario.

“I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do. You know,” he presses.

“I think I’ll die.” The words escape me before I can even think about them, but once out I know they are true. How will I carry on without Aidan? I cannot comprehend a world in which he doesn’t exist.

“No, you won’t, Rebecca.” His voice is strong and sure.

“How do you know?”

“Because I do; I know. And so do you.”

“Why won’t I?” I ask.

“You tell me.” He looks me in the eye and lifts my chin with his thumb and index finger.

“Alex,” I answer, swallowing my misgivings and straightening my back, meeting his gaze.

“That’s right,” he nods. “You’ll live for Alex. You’ll fight for Alex. You’ll win, for Alex.”

“Why are you here?” I ask a short while later, as we make our way back to the camp.

“Me?” He looks uncomfortable.

“Yes, Reed.” I stop and face him, emphasising each word. “Why – are – you – here?”

“I’m here to help. I believe in the Resistance and I want to make a difference.” This is yet another version of his generic answer to this question.

“I believe you,” I say. “But you just don’t strike me as the type who would go out of his way to help people he doesn’t know, no offence.”

“None taken.” He looks back the way we have come and then towards the camp as though hoping something will happen that might mean he doesn’t have to answer.

He sighs and then looks down at me, narrowing his eyes.

“Geez, okay, you win.” He runs his hand through his hair and then starts talking, not pausing for breath, as though it is easier to simply get it all out.

“You asked me where I got my abilities. I got them the same place you did. I got them from your father.”

You can check out the book trailer here:  http://youtu.be/RxBMGRFePhk  ( I have to admit to really enjoying book trailers at the moment!)

To buy the book:

eBook links:

Amazon.com – HERE

Amazon.co.uk – HERE

Barnes & Noble – HERE

Kobo – HERE

Kalahari.com – HERE

PRINTED BOOK BUY LINKS

The Legacy is available at most bookshops in South Africa, or you can order it online:

Kalahari.com – HERE

Takealot.com – HERE

Loot.co.za – HERE

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Wife and mother of 3, Melissa Delport is the author of The Legacy Trilogy and the stand-alone self-published e.books Rainfall and The Traveler.  She graduated from the University of South Africa with a  Bachelor’s Degree in English in 2000. At the age of twenty-four Melissa started a logistics company (Transmax) from the spare room of her flat and built it up to two fully operational depots in Durban and Johannesburg. Now, 10 years later, she has sold her business in order to write full time. Melissa lives with her husband and three children in Hillcrest, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

The Legacy (book 1 of The Legacy Trilogy) and The Legion (book 2) are available now and the final book, The Legend, will be released early 2015. An avid reader herself, Melissa finally decided to stop ‘watching from the sidelines’ and to do what is her passion.

“I was driving home from work when inspiration struck, and a storyline started unravelling in my head. For a few days it was all I could think about and eventually I realised that the only way to get it out of my head, was to put it all down on paper. I started writing, and that was that.”

I Love that Melissa is a South African author who is not writing about apartheid and other South Africanisms, I think her series puts her in league with the likes of The Hunger Games and Divergent.
The only things I didn’t really enjoy about her book was, and this is just my opinion, is that it was a little bit too quick, just as you got used to something, choops, it changed! Not that its a bad thing as it allows the fast paced story to pull you in, but I wouldn’t of minded just a little bit of a go slow at times.
YOU CAN FIND MELISSA HERE:

Blog: www.melissadelport.com

The Legacy Trilogy Website: www.thelegacytrilogy.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheMelissaDelportBookClub

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/MelissaDelport

Twitter: www.twitter.com/MelissaDelport

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/MelissaDelport

Publisher’s website: www.traceymcdonaldpublishers.com

Twitter Hashtag for the book blog tour: #TheLegacyBlogTour


 

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Tuesday Teasers

I was perusing FB one evening and came across a post where they said that the third book in the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness will be released in a couple of months!

The Book of Life – Deborah Harkness

I discovered The Discovery of Witches a while ago but only read it when  a friend of mine recommended it. And I loved it! Witches, vampires, historical, romance, adventure, mystery, this book pretty much has everything when looking for something to read. The second in the trilogy is Shadow of Night where the story follows Mathew and Diane on their time travels to try and find Ashmole 782 and its missing pages. The Book of Life carries on where they ended back in ‘real time’.

Publication date is the 15th July 2014

where it will be available in the US and UK but will also be available as an ebook! Yippee! Im going to get it for my ereader!

You can check out her website here with all the details and excerpts of the books.

Edited to add:

City of Heavenly Fire – Cassandra Clare

The final book in The Mortal Instruments series! I am not sure about you, but I really enjoyed her books. It will be great to finally have a conclusion in this series as I did think that the last book was rather longwinded But I still read it and though it wasn’t as awesome as the first one, it had to be read;-)

I will definitely be reading this, I may not be buying it but it will be read.

What did you think of the series? If you haven’t read it,  will you be tempted to? I also really really like the Infernal Devices series…. And did I mention that a movie was made of the first Mortal Instruments book, City of Bones? Which I thoroughly enjoyed and actually followed the book, it was one of the rare book to movies movies that didn’t disappoint me!

Expected publication date: 27th May 2014 (yip, closer that we thought!)

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Drumroll please…

And the winner of the literary blog hop is:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The winning no                                                                                                                                                              names and entries

 

Lynne Clark! Please send me your postal addy so I can get your book to you ASAP!

Congratulations:-)

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And the winner is….

Shayne!

 

Thank you, you followed all the steps and your name was drawn out of a hat:-)

Please contact me  within the next three days to let me know what book you would like The Book Depository to send you.

Congratulations!

Thank you to everyone who entered, I wish I could give you all free books:-)

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Christmas in July Book Swop

Its that time of year again!

 Middle of the year, hum drum, where we are all feeling in need of a little TLC, a little holiday and a little bit of spoiling. And this is where The Book Club Blog comes in…

The Christmas in July Book Swop!

What is it?

A book Swop with a difference whereby you sign up, get allocated a partner to swap with and then receive your gift in the post.

What needs to be in the swap?

One book, anything book related and a small gift. This is the half year mark and if you are feeling anything like me, a gift coming via the post, is just the sort of pick me up that will ‘pick you up’. The limit to the spend is R150.(You are welcome to spend a little more if you fancy, but there is no need to go overboard, the thought behind the gift is the main concern) Just enough to find a perfectly hand picked present and a second hand book and top it up with the postage costs.

When will it happen?

All sign ups need to be done by the 26 July, partners will be allocated by the 27th and gifts need to be sent out by the 3rd August giving us all a weeks grace to get it done.

This is not meant to be a stressful endeavor, just a fun one so I do hope you will all join in and feel the love this Winter.

Once you have signed up, you will be sent an email that needs to be completed and then returned to me by the 26th July at midnight by the very latest. This email will then be sent to the partner that will be assigned to you and vice versa so that your gifter will know what type of things you enjoy, books you like to read and if there is anything specific on your wish list.

What you need to do now?

Simply leave a comment in the comments section or email me and lets get this Christmas in July book swap on the go!

Please share the love by blogging about the swap, tweeting and face booking, lets get us all involved and put as many smiles on as many faces as we can! This is not an international give away but if any of you are willing to send internationally you can just let me know when you sign up and if there are enough of us willing to do that, then I will make it international.

You can read about our previous book swaps here and here.

PS. You do not need to have a blog in order to take part, but you do need a postal address!

So, whose in??

This swop is now closed.

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Richer than Buffet by Jacques Magliolo

Do you ever wonder how traders can survive and prosper in a rapidly changing South African and global environment.

 Using the billionaire American investor Warren Buffett as an example, bestselling international author Jacques Magliolo illustrates cutting-edge trading strategies to succeed in today’s highly volatile and hostile global markets.

 WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

Richer than Buffett explains the differences between an investor and a day trader, the mental attitude required to trade, and the steps to follow to trade daily and to do so for a living. It outlines why day trading does not have to be complicated and sets out in simple, jargon-free language the few basic strategies, in combination with simple tools and day trading indicators that can mean the difference between success and failure.

Described as ‘Africa’s most successful trader’, Magliolo has been an investment and corporate strategist since 1990.

Jacques Magliolo is available to do events and to write articles for your publication.

His Wealth Portfolio website offers valuable advice for anyone interested in investing and trading.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jacques Magliolo is the author of 12 financial books, including the bestsellingBecome Your Own StockbrokerThe Guerrilla Principle, Lore of the Global Traderand Master Trader. He is an associate of the JSE’s sponsors and designated advisors Arcay Moela and Merchantec Capital and sits on various corporate boards.

 

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Book Launch @ The Book Lounge 8th April

Date:            Monday, 8 April 2013

Time:            17h30 for 18h00

Venue:          The Book Lounge,

                   71 Roeland St,

                   Cape Town

RSVP:           booklounge@gmail.com or 021 462 2425

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

When her husband Amir abruptly leaves home, film editor Lucinda is left angry and puzzled. Where has Amir gone, and why? In the months before he left, Amir seemed troubled and preoccupied and their marriage had become strained and tense. Now Lucinda worries that his departure could be her fault. Soon afterwards, Lucinda is brutally assaulted in a knife attack, which throws her even more off balance.

 Searching for composure, she finds a distraction in assisting an older friend, Austrian film-maker Thomas, with a documentary he is making about an old mission station which is allegedly haunted. But the experience becomes an unnerving one for Lucinda who finds Thomas’s growing obsession with the story behind his film worrying. As tensions build, so does the underlying mood of constant menace, until Lucinda is confronted with a disturbing revelation.

 The Cutting Room is a thoughtful and provocative novel of loss and loneliness, longing and guilt, and the different ways in which people can be haunted.

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And the Valentine’s day Literary Blog Hop winner is…

Picture taken from here

ISA from CHASING QUILLS who will receive a copy of TheHundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared via Book Depository.

CONGRATULATIONS AND SALUTATIONS!!

I will send you an email and if there is no response within three days I will choose another winner.

See you all in the next blog hop!

 

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