Booklover Book Reviews

I recently had the pleasure of reading a short story collection titled Survival Skills written by Jean Ryan.

From my review:

‘Survival Skills is one of the more unique offerings I have come across in my recent quest to read more short story collections. The collection consists of 13 standalone stories ranging from 6 to 21 pages in length. There is a real clarity and strong sense of purpose about each story, but common to all is Jean Ryan’s refreshing voice and open-minded and unadorned perspective.’

I invited Jean to discuss with readers of Booklover Book Reviews a topic she feels passionate about — the under appreciated art form of short stories.

The Ready Feast

Why do most readers avoid short stories?

I’ve posed this question to several people, who have offered a small range of reasons. Some say that short stories end too abruptly, or that they often have no resolution at all. Others mention a lack of plot, claiming that writers of this genre are more concerned with style than story. But the most common complaint is that short stories are simply too short. When it comes to reading material, people favor long-term investments and will not consider other options, even with the possibility of greater returns. “I make friends with the characters,” someone told me yesterday. “I want them to stick around.”

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Today I have the pleasure of welcoming author Danna Pycher to Booklover Book Reviews as part of her tour for her title 3rd Generation and Beyond.

Writing 3rd Generation and Beyond: “The How”

When I was growing up I really did not enjoy writing. In fact, I hated it.

I always had a story to tell, yet felt so confined by grammar, structure, and rules that for some reason felt arbitrary and a hindrance to just writing freely. I was never big on arbitrary rules in any aspect of my life in general!

I was a journalist for many years and although I had to write daily it was always a burden.

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I am participating in a Book Debate about the Pulitzer Prize winning title, The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson at Bookkaholic.com.

If you read my review of The Orphan Master’s Son you’ll recall I thought it was outstanding. It tied for first place in My Best Books of 2012 and I have been recommending it to everyone I know.

My counterpart in this debate, who did not like several aspects of this title, is Rebecca Foster.

And so a Book Debate was born!

We invite book lovers to check out our ‘The Orphan Master’s Son Book Debate’ at Bookkaholic and vote for who you think won.

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Hi. My name is Tony Ziemek. You may have noticed reviews I have written for Booklover Book Reviews.

Just wanted to quickly let you know of a service I am now offering – Ed Fresh Editorial Services. This is a low cost editing service aimed at self-publishing authors.

No matter how skilled we are in our writing,  someone to read through the work, spot the occasional error and provide constructive comments can make an enormous difference to the final quality of a published work.

If you are interested, you can find out more by clicking on the Ed Fresh banner.  (more…)

The quiet debut of literary crime thriller Significance by Lise Sonntag belies the uniqueness and quality of this title (read my review).

I asked Lise if she’d be willing to share with us what inspired her to write this novel and a little about her writing experience.

To that end, today I have the pleasure of welcoming Lise Sonntag to Booklover Book Reviews.

Stories Within Stories

My name is Lise. I live in the city of Leipzig in Germany and Significance is my first novel.

Leipzig in winter could have been purposely designed for a detective story. It’s curious, but most people growing up in post-war Germany (on both sides of the Wall) learned to think of first foggy London and then sultry Los Angeles as the archetypal settings for hardboiled detectives and lethal femmes fatales. In recent years, however, it is snow which has become the standard backdrop for the crime story and wintry Europe its location. (more…)

As part of the Aussie Author Challenge 2012, each month I will be inviting an active challenge participant to guest post here at Booklover Book Reviews.

Last month Shelleyrae from Book’d Out joined us and now in July I welcome guest blogger Tracey from My Four Bucks. Tracey is an Aussie book blogger signed up and well on her way to achieving the Aussie Author Challenge’s Dinky-Di status. (more…)

As part of the Aussie Author Challenge 2012, each month I will be inviting an active challenge participant to guest post here at Booklover Book Reviews.

Last month Psych Babbler from Over Cups of Coffee joined us and now in June I welcome guest blogger Shelleyrae from Book’d Out. Shelleyrae is one of the most prolific book bloggers I follow and she has been a huge supporter of Aussie authors and great participant in the Aussie Author Challenge. (more…)