To Read, or Not To Read

Title: Shakespeare's Stories for Young Readers
Author: E. Nesbit
Publisher: Dover Publishing
Publication Date: March 3, 2006
paperback, 80 pages
ISBN: 0-486-44762-6
Available @: Amazon|B&N|Book Depository

Summary:12 of the Bard's most famous plays, delightfully adapted for young readers, are filled with stories about kings, queens, ghosts, and witches. Brimming with tragedy, humor, and moral lessons, and told with wit and grace, the tales includeRomeo and Juliet,Hamlet,The Merchant of Venice,King Lear,As You Like It,and 7 others.


E. Nesbit has written many children's books. The one I'm most familiar with is The Railway Children.  I really like that book and it influenced my decision to purchase this book. In the introduction of Shakespeare's Stories for Young Children, E. Nesbit explains her reasons for writing this book.  She explains that her children love Shakespeare's story lines but at the time were too young to enjoy the actual play. So she took some of Shake…

This is a weekly meme started by yours truly as a way to get to share a bit about myself and also learning more about you. Sometimes its about books and book related topics and sometimes it's not. This is all in good fun and I would love it if you would participate. 
How do you arrange your bookshelves?
I have to confess right now that my bookshelves are a bit of a mess.  They don't really have a rhyme or reason to them.  I'm usually a very organized person and the state of my bookshelves have been bugging me for some time. I have books scattered throughout my home. In my home office I have three bookshelves that have a little order. I've grouped some books by authors and others by genres. In my bedroom I have a bookshelf full of books that I want to read and a few stacks of books beside it.The books I have for review are stacked upon my desk right now and are slowly taking over. I know I am in desperate need of a new bookshelf or two, so I'll probably be buying one …

I love book trailers! So I've decided to add a new feature here at To Read or Not To Read where I spotlight book trailers! If there is a book trailer that you think I should know about and you would like to see it featured, please feel free to contact me.


This week's trailer is Timeless by Alexandra Monir. Timeless was released on January 11, 2011 published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers.





Title: Timeless
Author: Alexandra Monir
Genre: Young Adult
288 pages
Purchase at:

Amazon / B&N












*picture taken from Good Reads
*trailer from you tube
*graphic from photobucket
*I'm an B&N & Amazon affiliate. If you click on the links and purchase the book, I receive a very small commission.

Zakiya from Butterfly Feet Walking on Life has a fantastic meme. In this meme you post your status of the books your reading this week, books you finished this week, books you're going to read next, and books you plan on buying this week. You can also post what reviews and memes you participated in for the week. If your interested in participating in this meme, check of Zakiya's blog for all the info and the linky to sign up.

Books I finished this week:
Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country by Allan Richard Shickman
Sins of the Heart by Eve Silver
The Eye of the Storm by William L.K.
Shakespeare's Stories for Young Readers by E. Nesbit

Books I'm reading now:
Whisper of Light by Jennifer DeLucy

Books I plan to read next week:
Pale Rose of England by Sand Worth

So, the graphics and concept of this blog award are hideous. Here is what the original author’s rules (word for word):

“1. You must proudly display the absolutely disgusting graphic that I have created for these purposes (put it in your post, you don’t have to put it in your sidebar, I think that would seriously be asking too much). It’s so bad that not only did I use COMIC SANS, but there’s even a little jumping, celebrating kitten down there at the bottom. It’s horrifying! But its presence in your award celebration is crucial to the memetastic process we’re creating here. If you need a higher resolution version… I totally have one!!

2. You must list 5 things about yourself, and 4 of them must be bold-faced lies. Just make some shit up, we’ll never know; one of them has to be true, though. Of course, nobody will ever know the difference, so we’re just on the honor system here. I trust you. Except for the 4 that you lied about, you lying bastards! But don’t go crazy trying to think of…

Title: The Eye of the Storm
Author: William L.K.
Publisher: Sci-Fi-Cafe
Publication Date: Dec. 2, 2010
e-book
ASIN: B004ELAESO
Available on Kindle only@ Amazon $2.39

Summary: The Eye of the Storm opens the Stritonoly Chronicles series in glorious style on sci-fi-cafe.com. Dmitri, son of the Czar of Stritonoly, driven insane by the forbidden poison of the slave-race Acidel sets in motion a catastrophic chain of events. A terrifying and eternal force stalks the forest nearby as a storm of epic proportions gathers over the Citadel.


This futuristic tale takes place light years away from Earth, on the planet Stritonoly. William L.K. created a fascinating world in which the characters live.  Stritonoly is very similar to Earth but with it's own distinct landscape. It has many interesting and original creatures.  I really liked the story line in this book. It's very compelling. There are many religious and historical undertones in this book. There is also a parallel story that is very poign…

M.R. Mathias has written several novels including, The Royal Dragoneers, Oathbreaker and Crimson and Clover. His books look fantastic! I'm very happy to have him here today talking about The Invisible Line. So now I'll turn it over to M.R. Mathias.

I’m not much of a blogger, but here it goes:
The invisible line (Authors Beware)

As a relatively successful indie author I find myself reading more indie than trade pub books these days. I have found that a lot of these works, though well edited, seem mechanical, and forced. There is an invisible line that novel writers need to be aware of.

Before I explain, let me say this. I do not make a plot outline when I write a novel. I sit down with just a general idea of what I am after and start writing. I let the plot, and the characters, form themselves within the context of the novel I want to produce. When I get about 2/3s of the way through I stop and read what I have, and plot out the best way to tie up all the loose ends going into a…

Title: Zan-Gah And The Beautiful Country
Author: Allan Richard Shickman
Publisher: Earthshaker Books
Publication Date: September 26, 2009
paperback, 151 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9790357-1-5
Amazon  /  B&N

Summary:
The prehistoric saga continues in Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country, the sequel to the award winning Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure. In this story, Zan s troubled twin brother, Dael, having suffered greatly during his earlier captivity, receives a ruinous new shock when his wife suddenly dies. Disturbed and traumatized, all of his manic energies explode into acts of hostility and bloodshed. His obsession is the destruction of the wasp men, his first captors, who dwell in the Beautiful Country. When he, Zan-Gah, and a band of adventurers trek to their bountiful home, they find that all of the wasp people have died in war or of disease. The Beautiful Country is empty for the taking, and Zan s people, the Ba-Coro, decide to migrate and resettle there. But the Noi, Dael s cruelest e…