books – Page 3 – Abigail Mumford

snOMG

February 12, 2013February 11, 2013 abby mumford

the weathermen were proven right and the city, the state, the region fell silent, quiet in the way only a heavy snowfall elicits, as we paused to take stock of what mother nature was capable of.

the loneliness piled up as high and fast as the snowflakes.

i checked on my (multiple) devices, charging those that needed it and braced for the power to go out when my phone flashed an incoming email at me. it was an amazon gift from a twitter friend, but i wasn’t expecting or anticipating it, so i flipped over to twitter to follow the trail of bread crumbs.

you see, wendy was holding a timely (and wicked generous) giveaway of her book FROSTED and she had one more copy left.

enter: jessica lemmon (author of TEMPTING THE BILLIONAIRE) who saw wendy’s tweet and spoke up for my frosty behind. just like that, i was the proud new owner of an e-book, but way more importantly, my loneliness dissipated. the twitter community warmed me as if i was sitting in front of a fire on the hearth. all i needed now were s’mores.

when the snow stopped sometime late the next afternoon, i figured i’d end the indoor isolation by tackling this:

before — i hope i’m about to dig out the right car…

in the midst of what ended up being a two hour task, i was passed by 7 plow trucks, 10 cars (driving ban, what?) and countless people. a father, mother, son, and their dog stopped to chat.

father: you’re doing an excellent job.

me: oh, thank you! it’s certainly taking long enough.

mother: do you have a [town] parking sticker?

me: yup.

mother: you know you can park your car in one of two garages during a snow emergency, don’t you? then you wouldn’t have to do this!

me: oh, yes, i sort of knew that, but hey, this is good exercise, right?

father: indeed. keep up the good work.

i did have more work in front of me, but with the sense of community warming my veins, the shovel felt lighter and less burdensome.

and now, to keep the good times rolling, i’m going to pay it forward. since i can’t offer to shovel your sidewalks, i’m going to give away a digital copy of wendy’s FROSTED and jessica’s TEMPTING THE BILLIONAIRE to two lucky people who comment below. that’s it. there are no other rules. go forth and join my community by commenting!

the winners will be announced on friday february 15th. stay tuned.

book club

BOOK HUNGRY: life happens

January 24, 2013January 23, 2013 abby mumford

who says you have to be crowded into the living room, kitchen, and/or dining room to hold a book club? we are ladies of the 21st century. we don’t need no stinkin’ couches. so pull up a blog and join in the conversation.

the members of the BOOK HUNGRY are (alphabetically): patty blount, kelly breakey, karla nellenbach, and myself. we pick a book to read. we discuss via email/phone. we post a review on our individual blogs the 3rd thursday of the month OR, well, we used to all post reviews. now, i think, it’s just patty and me. but anyways, go for it. click on their names above and if they have a review up, it’ll take you to there. enjoy.

this month’s BOOK HUNGRY selection is:

LIFE HAPPENS by sandra steffen

what it’s about from amazon:

She’s Hiding Something…

Well, everyone is hiding something—but Mya Donohue’s secret is knocking on the front door, in no uncertain terms. Mya is about to answer to the daughter she’d given birth to nineteen years ago, and Elle has news for her biological mother. Mya is not only a mom, but a grandmother, too. And Elle isn’t sticking around for long. She can’t.

Offering Mya their assistance are her best friends—the only ones who will dare tell her the truth in unmitigated terms; her mother—a woman still sowing her own share of wild oats; and Elle’s father—a man of few words, but usually memorable ones, at that.

my opinion:

i liked it. i didn’t love it. the characters were interesting enough, the writing smooth enough, the reheated romance hot enough, the overall story compelling enough, but i don’t feel the need to re-read it, which kind of bums me out because i have my own shiny copy courtesy of kelly. yes, she was kind enough to send us all a digital copy of this book, which meant no long waits at the library! woohoo!! yay kelly!!! you rock!!!!

ahem, back to the book.

for some reason, my new thing with books is the ending and if the ending (whether it’s loud or slow or quiet or fast or cliff-hanger-y or wraps things up) remains true to the character, i dig it. i can think of three books (off the top of my head) that did this and it made me love those books all the more.

what books? GONE GIRL by gillian flynn, TEMPTING THE BILLIONAIRE by jessica lemmon and I HUNT KILLERS by barry lyga.

those endings weren’t necessarily tidy, but they were fearless. they made me either pump my fist, applaud, or hug the book close and with the exception of TEMPTING THE BILLIONAIRE, they’re not happy endings and i’m a HEA kind of girl, so this new method i have of deciding which books i like has caught me off guard.

my point? LIFE HAPPENS had a nice ending. a tidy ending. it was way too happily ever after. no, i don’t want people to die and no it’s not that i’m thinking misery loves company (though it does), it’s just that this ending felt like it was what the author wanted, not what the characters needed. again, i don’t mean the characters wanted doom and gloom, but i don’t think they wanted their lives tied up with a bow either. especially not elle. she’s not a pink ribbon kind of a girl and this, to me, was a pink ribbon kind of ending.

that said, i don’t think it was a waste of time to read this book. in fact, it’s helped me to articulate what’s going on in my brain re: endings and it just may help me better formulate the ending to my own MS, as i’ve just jumped back into it.

thank you for this lesson, kelly!

book club

BOOK HUNGRY: tempting the billionaire

December 27, 2012December 27, 2012 abby mumford

this month’s BOOK HUNGRY selection is:

TEMPTING THE BILLIONAIRE by jessica lemmon

what it’s about from amazon:

Crickitt Day needs a job . . . any job. After her husband walks out on her, she’s determined to re-build her life and establish a new career. When swoon-worthy billionaire Shane August hires her as his assistant, she jumps at the chance to prove herself. Despite her growing attraction to her boss, she vows to keep things strictly professional. No flirting. No kissing. Definitely no falling in love…

Shane August is all business, all the time. He’s a self-made man who’s poured his heart and soul into his company, and he’d never allow himself to get involved with an employee. Then he hires sweet, sexy Crickitt-and he can’t keep his mind or his hands off her. But no matter how much he wants Crickitt, Shane fears that painful secrets from his past will always come between them. With fate working against them, can these two lonely hearts learn that sometimes mixing business with pleasure is the perfect merger?

my opinion:

this was a very special edition of BOOK HUNGRY because (1) i know the author (well, loosely. i know her from twitter), (2) i read the book in one day, the day after i got back from india and was supremely jet lagged, (3) jessica joined our conference call and gave us insider tips (on where the idea came from, the characters’ names, and which scenes got cut and which elaborated) and she was generally as lovable as her characters, and (4) i got a super-dee-duper secret copy.

basically, it was all mission impossible and once i read it, my device blew up. well, loosely. not blow up in the KABOOM kind of way, but definitely in the bow-chicka-wow-wow kind of way.

you guys, i admit it, i was nervous about this book. i REALLY wanted to like it because i REALLY enjoy jessica on twitter, but i had to read it in one day and when i could barely see straight from all that jet lag? yup. me. nerves.

but, as with most things, i was worrying for no reason at all.

the awesome cover opened to even more awesome things inside. it was realistic! funny! charming! sweet! and the ending (specifically the very last line) was spot on. i’ve been on the lookout for really good endings lately because it seems most books end quietly and normally, but TEMPTING THE BILLIONAIRE (and GONE GIRL for that matter) nailed it. they both contained genius endings that left me inordinately pleased.

this book did not disappoint and in fact, even turned a bit of the romance genre on its head. it’s absolutely worth a read.

jessica’s had a wild ride from the selling of her book to the rapid release of it (we all know publishing’s not known for its quick turnarounds) and folks, let me tell you, this is one ride you want to get on. it comes out on january 8th (a FANTASTIC DAY if i do say so myself), so make sure to get thyself a copy.

feelings

ears vs. eyes

November 13, 2012November 13, 2012 abby mumford

in the midst of all the writing i’ve been doing this month, i’ve also done a fair amount of reading, correction: listening.

i was first introduced to audiobooks by my parents during long drives to visit this relative or that one. i was re-introduced to them when i started making my own long drives to/from boston. it’s an odd thing, these audiobooks, because i tend to look for different things in an audiobook than i normally do for one i’m going to read.

it’s my ears vs. my eyes.

usually, my ears like fast paced action packed novels because they deliver tension and intrigue and it’s helpful in keeping this driver alert. my eyes on the other hand also like that type of book, but they can handle slower paced things, more lyrical, more sensual, more fantastical.

and then there’s maggie stiefvater and THE SCORPIO RACES (which has quickly become one of my favorite all time books ever). it’s a pure delight in both forms.

and so when her newest book THE RAVEN BOYS came out this fall, i was eager to dive into it. it’s the start of a planned four book series and as such the depth of the book is intense and the pace is rather slow, as is worthy of a book setting up a new world and all the characters involved.

i had a hard time getting into it.

until adriana said she was listening to and loving the audiobook. i decided to give it a try and for whatever reason, it clicked. “reading” the book in this audible medium changed my perspective. the pace isn’t slow, it’s creepy and winding and lingering and just right. the depth of the book felt like uncharted scuba diving territory instead of drowning.

the narrator’s voice makes the characters come alive, feel closer, and fill your head.

i’m in heaven.

it’s also given me time to get my “reading” in at different points (aka walking around town) than normal because this month isn’t normal and i don’t have much free time but i also can’t do without reading for an entire month. this way, i’m having my cake and eating it too.

and so with maggie’s words filling my ears and rolling around in my head, it’s made my own words and stories smarter, better, more exotic. thank you, maggie for your wonderful imagination. thank you, adriana for suggesting the audiobook. thank you, will patton, the amazing narrator of THE RAVEN BOYS.

have you ever read a book and not liked it, but then gone to another medium (movie or audiobook) and liked it? or vice versa? if you like a book, do you like it in all forms or are your tastes more specific? how are you today? (i’m just trying to poke you all into commenting. say anything! say nothing other than hi. or good luck or whatever floats your boat. we’re all aiming for high word counts this month. ha.)

book club

BOOK HUNGRY: all these lives

October 25, 2012October 25, 2012 abby mumford

the members of the BOOK HUNGRY are (alphabetically): patty blount , kelly breakey, karla nellenbach, and myself. we pick a book to read. we discuss via email/phone. we post a review on our individual blogs on the same day (3rd thursday of the month). we link to each other. done. i know, genius. click on each one of their names (above) and it’ll take you to their review. browse. enjoy.

(editor’s note: we’ve gotten a bit off track lately and so just discussed this book last week. this book was so unusual and so awesome (per my opinion), i figured i’d still post my review, even though the others aren’t. if you have read this or will read this, let me know what you think!)

this month’s BOOK HUNGRY selection is:

ALL THESE LIVES by sarah wylie

what it’s about from amazon:

Sixteen-year-old Dani is convinced she has nine lives. As a child she twice walked away from situations where she should have died. But Dani’s twin, Jena, isn’t so lucky. She has cancer and might not even be able to keep her one life. Dani’s father is in denial. Her mother is trying to hold it together and prove everything’s normal. And Jena is wasting away. To cope, Dani sets out to rid herself of all her extra lives. Maybe they’ll be released into the universe and someone who wants to live more than she does will get one. Someone like Jena. But just when Dani finds herself at the breaking point, she’s faced with a startling realization. Maybe she doesn’t have nine lives after all. Maybe she really only ever had one.

my opinion: hmm. we asked karla to pick a light read and this is what she comes up with?!? this is NOT LIGHT.

this is also not a favorite of mine. in fact, it’s not even one i liked that much. sorry, book! the writing and the whole nine lives bit were fine, but dani? she was selfish and mean and ugh, i have to keep reading this?

i did keep reading it. all the way to the end. it never got better (for me). i understood the motivation behind dani’s actions (she wanted to give her “extra lives” to her sick sister) but in reality, any stable 16 year old should know she’s wasting her life instead of making good use of the life she’s been given. some people (aka HER SISTER) don’t have long, so for her to throw it all away? grrrrr.

basically, throughout the book, dani continued to push everyone (parents, friends, sister) away. i get that it was a means of self-preservation, but she also pushed me, the reader, away. all of us book hungry gals felt this way, BUT, don’t take our word for it — go on and read it yourself.

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