What are the book blogs blogging about???

In an effort to spread some link love and, frankly, introduce some people to my book blog, I decided to zoom around the blogosphere and check out what the book blogs are blogging about!

(How many times did I say book and/or blog in that sentence?) :)

So here we go:

--The Bronte Blog (which, by the way, is a wonderful one-stop shop for all things Bronte) lets us know that Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre have been featured recently in a comic strip!

--Fleur Fisher is reviewing Lettice Delmer, by Susan Miles--which is, interestingly enough, an entire novel written in blank verse.

--Books and Movies completely intrigues me with the news that an unknown Enid Blyton manuscript has been unearthed! I was a huge Enid Blyton fan as a child.

--Besides hosting the Saturday Review of Books (which, unfortunately, I didn't make it into this week), Semicolon is reviewing Madeleine L'Engle's Certain Women. Which reminds me that I've never yet read anything by Madeleine L'Engle. I know, I know!

--Carpe Libris is reviewing Angel Sister, by Ann H. Gabhart. And this sentence really makes me want to read the book: "I read Angel Sister in a short amount of time because I didn't want to leave the story for even a few minutes."

-- Reading to Know is reviewing James Scott Bell's No Legal Grounds--another review that makes me want to read the book! She calls it a "good, fun legal thriller." Bell is another author who I've heard great things about, but never yet read.

--Kristen Billerbeck's A Billion Reasons Why is the focus at WordVessel. I've read several novels by Billerbeck, and loved them all.

--By the Book is participating in the Friday Book Blogger Hop, which I really should start taking part in! My poor little book blog just doesn't have very many readers! The blog hop is asking the question: "Do you ever wish you'd named your blog something different?"

--The Ink Slinger--one of my favorite reviewers--is doing something similar to what I'm doing right now. He's posting links to some interesting stuff around the blogosphere. Check it out!

Hope you'll head over to these excellent blogs, and tell them I sent you! :)

Let's talk about book trailers!

A few years ago, I noticed that book trailers were popping up on the internet. I thought the idea was one whose time had definitely come. After all, movies were promoted through movie trailers...why shouldn't books be promoted with book trailers?

When book trailers first started appearing, they didn't have voice narration. Being a voice-over artist by trade, I immediately thought: Book trailers should have voice-overs!

I thought this brilliant idea was original, but apparently some other creative types had thought of it before I did.

I now have several book trailers on my resume, and I have to say I really enjoy voicing them.

As a voice-over artist who passionately loves to read, it makes me happy that I can use my voice talent to promote a worthy book.

Below are a couple of book trailers I've voiced for Trailer to the Stars, followed by a couple of audio book reviews I've recorded on my own. Hope you'll enjoy them!





My audio book reviews:

--On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, by Andrew Peterson

--Embrace Me, by Lisa Samson

To find out more about my voice-over work, go here.

Please also check out my podcast page here.

Review: The Clouds Roll Away, by Sibella Giorello

...and a Kindle give-away!

To be honest, I'm usually a bit nervous when I sign up to review a book as part of a blog tour, especially if I'm not familiar with the author. What if it's a chore to read the book--what if I just really don't find it interesting?

That's why it was a delight to find that I really enjoyed reading Sibella Giorello's The Clouds Roll Away. Not only was it not a chore to read the book, I will definitely be reading any future offerings from Sibella Giorello.

The fact that this is the third in a series didn't put me at a disadvantage; the book stands quite well on its own.

From the back cover:

Closing her assignment with the FBI's Seattle office, forensic geologist Raleigh Harmon returns to her hometown of Richmond, Virginia, expecting a warm welcome. Instead she finds herself investigating an ugly cross burning at a celebrity's mansion and standing in the crosshairs of her boss at the Bureau. And the deeper Raleigh digs into the case, the murkier the water becomes...until she's left wondering who the real victims might be.

Raleigh Harmon is an engaging protagonist, and each character--from her eccentric mother Nadine to the rap artist whose home is being threatened--is fully realized and dimensional.

The one aspect of the book that didn't ring quite as true, for me, was Raleigh's romance with DeMott. Maybe this is one area where having read the first two books would have helped, but without knowing the history of the relationship, it seemed almost like an aside to me.

One of the biggest pleasures of The Clouds Roll Away, though, was Sibella Giorello's writing. Sometimes FBI-based novels are more functional than lyrical--not this one. I marveled regularly at descriptive phrases like this: "Her eyes were a tremulous green-gray, like tropical fish caught in the netted skin of a devoted smoker."

Yes, this book has some chillingly suspenseful moments, and Giorello has obviously done her homework--every detail of Raleigh's FBI work bears the ring of authenticity.

But this is a beautifully written book with real depth, courage to touch on some serious issues, and a faith that is organic to the main character's life. And most of all, it makes you care about the characters and what happens to them.

I look forward to spending some more time with Raleigh Harmon, and it looks like I'm in luck--The Mountains Bow Down is coming in the spring of 2011.

Kindle Give-away!

Sibella’s celebrating the release of The Clouds Roll Away by giving away a KINDLE prize pack worth over $150.00!

One Grand Prize winner will receive:

• Latest Generation KINDLE with Wi-Fi
  
• $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com
  
  To enter simply click on one of the icons below! Then tell your friends! Winner will be announced January 3, 2011 on Sibella's blog: http://sibellagiorello.blogspot.com/.
  

NOTE: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

For info about Sibella Giorello, check out her website

Resurrecting my book blog!

Hi everyone!

This blog, Cindy's Book Club, used to be attached to an actual book club. For a few months, a few years ago, I hosted a book club as part of my radio job with 101QFL.

The book club was eventually discontinued, but this blog site remains...and I've decided to do something with it. This will be a site where I put my book reviews, book discussions, and pretty much anything to do with books.

Initially, I think I'll bring some of my older author interviews (which are transcribed--not in audio form) to this blog.

These books are no longer new--in some cases they go back as far as 2003, when my other blog, Notes in the Key of Life, began--but they are certainly worthy of some new publicity!

I'll also use this blog to link to reviews on other blogs and sites.

Happy reading!