Inkabout L. Darby Gibbs

Science Fiction & Fantasy author

Book Reviews

From Stranger to Family: That’s My Favorite Theme

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This is site is called Shepard: Discover the Best Books. I have only just learned of it.

They asked if I would like to share my favorite books, and I jumped at the chance. What a great way to find books written with the ideas you most like to see in what you read!

How does it know what the best books are for topics, such as dragons, family, Christian themes, ect.?

Authors answer the question when they list their favorite books that fit a specific topic. But not just any topic, but one they most enjoy and even prefer to make an important feature of their own books.

The books shown above are my favorite books for when strangers become the best kind of family.

Follow this link to read my reasons for liking these books so much. While you’re there, use the search feature to look for your favorite themes and topics. You might just find some new favorites to add to your own.

Here’s one that I found interesting: The Best Books with Dragon-Human bonds in it.

Search Tip: enter a broad topic, such as dragons or mystery or loss. A list will come up for you to select from.

My Current Reading Rotation

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Reading books (Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash)

I read quite a bit, often following several series at once.

I’ve been keeping up with four separate series whose writers have been kind enough to be on quite fast release schedules.

I can’t write at that speed for a variety of reasons, but I believe all four of these writers are writing full time.

Who are they and which series?

  • K. M. Shea: Hall of Blood and Mercy series
  • Lindsay Buroker: Star Kingdom series
  • Jessica Lynch: Touched by the Fae series
  • Elizabeth Hunter: Glimmer Lake series

I just keep rotating through.

What I find particularly interesting is that the moment I read the first few sentences, I’m suddenly comfortable. “Oh, its Killian and Hazel.” I snuggle down in my seat and put off grading for a few hours.

That is what books should do. They steal us a few hours away from what we should do, what we don’t want to do, what needs to be done and will be, later.

I remember when my parents would be arguing, I’d grab a book, pick a chair somewhere in the house and leave via someone’s well-written words.

I didn’t want to return. It took someone jiggling my foot and saying, “Dinner! Didn’t you hear?” to get me to return to the world of the teenager and family squabbles.

So along with getting my now online-job work done, keeping my family from going stir crazy, enjoying a particularly affectionate Labrador who is no longer in quarantine in the back hall, I’ve been reading at every opportunity.

I hope you’ll consider checking out these series. They are each nearing their completions, I think. You never know for sure though.

Stories sometimes do more of the dictating than the writer of when the story ends.

For myself, I have often thought I was writing a standalone novel only to find the story is not complete. Such is the case with my newest series. I published book 1 and have book to in pre-order. It’s a trilogy, I think. I’ll know for certain when I get to the end of book three.

I suspect it may have an offshoot series, but I’ll have to wait and see when I get there.

In the meantime, I’ll follow these series to their ends. Join me if you like snark, magic/space adventure, strong female protagonists and well-wrought worlds you can step into until someone jiggles your foot and you have to eat dinner, which I have found makes it possible to read more later.

My rather long To Read list and the reasons why those 38 books are on my list

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My To Read list is usually about four to six books long. I often read two books a week. But this year has been especially fraught with interference and life stuff in general.

I have embarked on a study program for becoming a better marketer of my fiction novels and my one non-fiction work. Because I decided to dedicate my time to improving myself in this area, that meant less entertainment/escapism reading.

However, I have a few mailing lists which send me what’s new with my favorite authors and those that are similar. I’m a sucker for a new book, so my list for reading has continued to grow while I’ve been off on my self-enhancement activities. So this is the list that calls to me daily.

Daily, I say, “No, I have to grade. No, I have to review copy editing. No, I have to lesson plan. No, I have to write (because that is the part of my life that truly entertains me). No, my husband must come first. No, I’m going on a bike ride. No, I have to put in my early morning workout. No, Cagney and Lacey need their treats, bellies rubbed, toenails clipped, to be fed, to be brushed, to be treated for ear infections, the list goes on. No, my daughter is texting me. No, I have to write a new ad. No, I’m going on Twitter for five minutes. No, I’m writing a newsletter. No, I’m….  And then there’s that crazy requirement that I sleep now and then.

Okay, you get the picture. I haven’t read a fiction novel in about four weeks. The last book was by Becca Andre, one of her Soul Iron series. I admit it. I was already in my “improve my marketing plan,” and her book caught me in a moment of weakness. Buroker snuck in there, too, but I could rationalize it because she was serializing the story on her blog. It fell under research, sort of; it sounded good at the time. It was on her blog, alright!

Below is my list and my reasons for putting each book on my list. I am looking forward to reading them all though those related to my self-improvement efforts will be read sooner for obvious reasons.

  • The Cornered Cat by Kathy Jackson Reason: my husband is teaching me how to shoot. This book was recommended. I’ve already read about two thirds of it. For me it’s a read in doses kind of book.
  • Email Lists Made Easy  by Kirsten Oliphant Reason: The idea of email lists leaves me nervous and uncertain. I need all the help I can get.
  • Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose: Reason: I was curious if I was reading like someone else. I’m part way through reading it. So far I qualify.
  • Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance Reason: I am fascinated by space. I like to read about people who are driven to make their dreams come true and do. This is a good combination read of what I like.
  • Book Marketing Challenge by Rachel Thomson Reason: I need to be challenged sometimes. I’ve done the first few challenges and should probably do some more.
  • The Aurykon Chronicles Books 1-5 by Ron B. Saunders Reason: I think my daughter bought this on our account, but I’ll probably read it.
  • The Legacy by Luke Romyn Reason: it looks interesting
  • Generational: a Starship Adventure by Norman Turrell Reason: space adventure with a starship.
  • End of Days boxset by Meg Collett Reason: curiosity
  • The Final Formula by Becca Andre Reason: I’ve read another series she wrote and like her style. This one caught my eye.
  • Become a Successful Indie Author by Craig Martelle Reason: I’m in a Facebook Group he monitors, and I like his attitude about writing and marketing. And I’m self-improving, right?
  • Shine by Dannika Dark Reason: continuing the saga
  • American Vampire by J. R. Rain Reason: I’m caught up in this particular series
  • Blood Moon by J. R. Rain and Matthew S. Cox Reason: same as above
  • Moon Bayou by J. R. Rain and Rod Kierkegaard, Jr. Reason: I like series.
  • Drawing Dragons by Sandra Staple Reason: I like to draw. I like dragons. I’m writing a series with dragons. I want to draw better dragons.
  • The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov Reason: He’s one of my old favorites since childhood. I started at the A’s in the library scifi shelf.
  • The Sword of Shannara Trilogy by Terry Books Reason: I’ve read most of the Shannara series, (and many of his other books) but they are all in paperbacks, so I got the first set in digital so I can reread them.
  • I Wish by Elizabeth Langston Reason: there’s a genie
  • Naked Truths about Getting Book Reviews 2018 by Gisela Hausmann Reason: I could use some book reviews as do all writers. Help is help.
  • Eidolon by Grace Draven Reason: I’ve started this series and love it. Of course, I would purchase the next in the series.
  • Darkness Dawns by Diana Duvall Reason: I’m not certain. I usually don’t purchase books with bare chested men on them. Perhaps I was tired.
  • Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson Reason: It’s been a while since I’ve read a work of Robinson’s. It’s about time I appreciated his writing again.
  • Newsletter Ninja by Tami Labrecque Reason: What I said about newsletters still stands.
  • Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan Reason: I enjoy Anglo-Saxon period poems and epics. Maybe this will have a similar feel.
  • The Children of Hurin by J. R. R. Tolkien Reason: Okay, it’s Tolkien. There is no better reason than to read Tolkien than because it’s Tolkien.
  • The Final Formula Collection by Becca Andre Reason: see previous Andre entry.
  • Mastering Amazon Ads by Brian D. Meeks Reason: I have actually read this one three times. It’s still on the list because I occasionally go back to it. There’s a sticky note on the back of the bookcase in front of my desk with a reference to Chapter 14. I’m probably planning to read that chapter again.
  • Let’s Get Digital by David Gaughran Reason: part of my self-improvement plan. It’s been well spoken of, so it’s on my list.
  • Eye of Truth by Lindsay Buroker Reason: Like I need a reason. I pretty much read everything Buroker writes. Enough said.
  • Duty Bound by Lindsay Buroker Reason: I remain solid in my previous reason.
  • Enchantment by Orson Scott Card Reason: I like the Ender and Bean novels. This is likely to be nothing like them. I like fantasy novels. But I recently started writing fantasy novels, so…this is research.
  • Origin by Dan Brown Reason: There are probably several people who read Brown who would say, “Do you really have to ask?”
  • The Adweek Copywriting Handbook by Joseph Sugarman Reason: enter more self-improvement. I’m selling a house and was surprised how this book is helping write good sales copy.
  • The Big Sigma Collection by Joseph Lallo Reason: I read his Free Wrench series. So I’m reading this one because I really like that one. Also he wrote a book in one of the Buroker’s worlds, and I liked it.
  • Fractured Stars by Lindsay Buroker Reason: Really? Did you expect me to have another reason?
  • Dark Light by Jodi Taylor Reason: love her St. Mary’s series. This is a different type read, darker, but I enjoyed the first book, so this is the second.
  • Lost Time by D. L. Orton Reason: sounds like time travel, and I like time travel. I write time travel. I find it hard to resist a good time travel book. Actually, I know it’s time travel because I read the first book in the series. It was very, very good.

What’s your list comprised of? Is it a case of being busy or do you just like having a well-stocked eReader?

#digitalreads #books #sellmorebooks

The 10 problems that will make me giveup reading a book

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Poorly written stories make for a blurry book, lacking color

Lately, due to my lighter teaching schedule, I have been reading a book a week, minimum. (Last year, a book every two months was my average.) Usually I will read a book to the end, waiting for it to redeem itself if it is less than engaging. “Maybe the writer needed more practice and the end will show improvement,” I tell myself.

Often even a book that starts off rough will, over time, gain its feet. The adage the act of writing improves writing and every writer gets better as they continue to produce often applies. But some problems will bother me so much that I will have to remind myself that redemption might yet flower if I keep reading. But I have given up on a few books.

These are the top ten which will, if enough appear, convince me to give up on a book.

  1. Unnecessary sex – though it isn’t presented this way, it will have the effect of a quickie with a prostitute. I can ignore it once. But if it repeats, I will probably drop reading the book.
  2. Unnecessary swearing – and even worse, if the swearing is the same word and everybody who swears in the book uses it and only that one word.  I recently read a really great book that had this one flaw. It was as if the characters kept saying “um” or “like” every few words. Made me cringe every time, but it did not make me stop reading because it was an excellent story and thankfully, the swearing was not a constant, just consistently repetitive and frequently unnecessary.
  3. Introductions that tell how bad things are now without providing any real imagery, characterization or depth of story. Sort of a “by the way, first you have to know this.” Now you can read my story.
  4. Too many characters with different color eyes and hair or stripes or accents, and that’s all I get to tell them apart. Everyone sounds the same.
  5. One woman and every guy wants her or vice versa. And I don’t even like the character, so how am I going to be convinced every Tom, Dick and Harry will?
  6. The story plods along, I realize I have been reading for half the book and nothing has happened, and I still don’t know the characters well enough to want to continue the journey with them.
  7. The characters are really tense, but there was nothing to make them tense. Everybody is grumping along or sparks are flying every time they touch, but nothing led up to it.
  8. Really poor punctuation and sentence structure. I can deal with an occasional missing word, an unnecessary fragment, etc. A good story is a good story. And many a time I and others will trip over our words while we tell about something interesting. We don’t lose our listeners and the writer won’t lose this reader for an occasional writing issue. The story is everything. But really bad grammar and punctuation skills can kill even the best story.
  9. I put the book down (voluntarily) to go have lunch or chat with a friend and I can’t remember what I was reading. That is a really bad sign. I am about twenty pages into a book right now and have put it down twice. Both times I had to think a bit about what was happening before I opened it up to read more. Nothing is happening yet that is keeping my interest which is funny as the White House has just blown up, people are fleeing and a crazy man is on the loose. No real tension. The main characters are just walking away from the burning building.
  10. Using known characters and relying on the reader’s knowledge of them to carry the characterization. That is not the way to create memorable characters the reader is going to care about.

#reading
#books

Been hanging out with the lady writers these days

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Ready to read at a moment’s notice

Just today I decided to make a list of my new favorite
authors and was surprised to find that they were all women. What’s up with
that?  All my past favorites have been
largely men, or in some cases women using male pen names. Same question
applies. I suppose I’ll have to think on that, but for now, I thought I would
just highlight these ladies of writing. To avoid any favoritism, I am following
the alphabetical rule.
Kim Headlee – she
writes a series of books that is steeped in Arthurian legend. Her
characterization is strong and ties nicely into the legend without being
strangled by it.  The female characters
are strong as are the male which is what I like to read as it really bothers me
when generally one gender is more capable, intelligent and sensible than the
other.  She is a skilled writer, and
especially so in this particular series. 
For more specific details on Headlee see my post of Learning from the Masters on Headlee.
L. A. Hilden – I
tumbled onto Hilden’s writing via Goodreads. It’s been a while so I can’t
really say if I read a book by her first or started chatting with her first.
But they were not far apart in either case. 
I have enjoyed her time travel regency romance series.  She is particular about her research down to
the tiniest details.  I am a sucker for
good research as I love the marriage between fiction and history.  It has been quite some time since I focused
largely on reading romance, so Hilden’s books are actually a step away from
my current interest, but not too big a step as I have lately run almost
exclusively to time travel in my reading and this particular series of hers
anchors itself in the main character’s stumble back and sometimes forward in
time. She’s working on another novel laced with time travel that I have been treated with a glimpse at.
Marcy Peska –
another author I have become close friends with. We met on Twitter via our dog
interests and blossomed into sharing our writing interests.  Peska has two books out that are urban
magic/legend stories imbedded in Alaskan landscapes. I am not much for urban legend,
but throw in some magic and I am ready to take the leap. Leap I did and I met a
strong woman character who is finding her way through unexpected elemental
magic, friendship and danger. The characters are genuine and full of spark,
particularly Vivian who shares the journey in quips and quarrels that show her
depth of character and struggle to deal with the unexpected magic she finds all
around her.  Remember, you promised a
bunch of people (not just me) a book 3, Marcy.
Veronica Roth – the
author of a dystopian series. At this point in time, she hardly needs me to
tell about what she has written. I enjoyed her books because I found her
created society a reasonable evolution and its ultimate breakdown also well
supported. Her characters are easy to connect to, in fact, easy to feel
possessive about.  I found I was arguing
with the play of events, but one cannot control the world he or she lives in,
so how can readers expect everything to flow as they wish. This did not stop me
from “Whatting!” at particular events, but I prefer my flabbergasted
rampage to a predictable read any day.
Jodi Taylor – Her
St. Mary’s time travel novels have quite hooked me.  I wait for the February publication of her
fifth book in the series. (I also read her Nothing
Girl standalone novel and loved it as well.) What I appreciate most about
this series is Max’s humor and internal dialogue. She is the main character
and tells the story with wit, flawed wisdom and loads of emotional baggage.
After reading four of the series books, I know that when there is a moment for
me to rest my tense expectations, something bad is about to happen and Max is
going to be stretched to the limit of her imaginative escape powers, and
emotional scars are going to tear, a marathon to the end.
Rysa Walker – The
Chronos Files series.  I have read the first two books of
the series and am waiting on the third. It is sort of a YA/NA time travel mix
or perhaps it is a YA evolving over time into an NA. In any case, I am
thoroughly enjoying the time travel “training” of Kate by fire and
confabulation. Poor girl. It’s not enough to have her losing lovers every time
the history takes a flip, but she has to stop her grandfather from thoroughly
destroying the world as she knows it (or keeps knowing it more than one way), while
deciding who to trust/distrust/retrust/untrust and work the darn hourglass
thingy that moves her through time.
April White – I
will tell you right now, I avoid vampire and werewolf books purely on
principal.  I have no explanation for
that other than if everybody is writing about vampires, I am probably going to
get annoyed. (Go ahead and shake your head, I keep reading time travel. I know,
I know. I didn’t say I was logical just avoiding a particular genre for some
reason.) The point in bringing this up is that White’s Immortal Descendants
series includes a vampire or two.  And
the main character is in love with a vampire. But that is not the focus of the
series. Time Travel is the focus as is getting back alive, figuring out how it
all works, protecting people important to her and avoiding all the interference
that comes her way when she is just trying to save her mother, and then her
lover, and then her friend, and his friend, and everybody else who gets pulled
in. I hope book three comes out soon.
The immortal Connie
Willis – I could blame her for getting me hooked on time travel if it
wasn’t for Heinlein who gets the blame for just about everything I do related
to reading or writing.  However, I had
been on hiatus awhile reading a lot of literary stuff (Jane Austin about killed
me) and then I read Blackout,
Bellweather, Doomsday Book, and….. 
You get the picture. She was just trolling along, and I took the bait
and been hooked ever since. Because I like time travel and nonstop up and down,
breath-stopping difficulties and general lost in time stuff!
So there you are. That is what I have been reading lately.
Yes, I have read other non-time travel books in between and several by men, but
these are the ladies I keep checking up on and packing my Kindle with. They are
the reason my files are now sorted by author rather than book title.
Who are you reading? 
Is there a common factor?  Are any
of these ladies on your list? If not, why not?
#reading
#timetravel
#writers

Book Review: The Spirit Child by Alison Naomi Holt

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Holt’s The Spirit Child is the first installment of a series of books that twist Native American spirit guides with feudal manors, strong female characters and realms in degrees of spiritual growth and power.  The storyline includes the involvement of actual walking, talking, and occasionally sarcastic guides in the form of owls, wolves, panthers, badgers, etc., working to maneuver the few spiritually awake humans to safety and teach them to negotiate an increasingly dangerous world due to a darker group of powerful animal spirits.

That sounds a bit like a mishmash of ideas, but it’s a mix that had it an aroma would be described as delicious.  Bree Makena, Duchess of Danforth, is the main character, and she is ripe for change.  Heartbroken and determined to be alone and disconnected from society, she is ready to do battle with the first annoying individual she meets, but she is unwilling to watch a girl child be sold into slavery and certainly raped if no one steps in. Makena steps in, and life changes from that moment on.  The child turns out to be capable of seeing any spirit guide, not just her own, but she is as flawed and broken as Makena. The two travel more than just the rough territory of the lands they call home (or want to call home) as they deal with the fear and denial which keeps them from recognizing their guides and learning how to become part of society in ways they have yet to find appealing or even safe.

Makena and the child Kaiti have to not only figure out how to belong to each other but also how to belong to their spirit guides who are not in the least bit uncertain about how things should be going if only those stubborn humans would stop fighting their destinies.  Other characters also carry the story well, from long time friends, healer Becca and bathhouse owner Maura, to tribal leaders and royal families.  There are strong male characters as well and tribal elders who bring depth and meaning to much of the difficulties Makena and Kaiti face. Timur, Makena’s dead husband, as the story progresses, is easy to accept as a person Makena might find impossible to face life without.  It is inevitable that one will get attached to several of the individuals Holt breathes into life in her writing as the reader steps smoothly in and out of the thoughts and concerns of a variety of supporting characters as well as the two main characters.

Arriving at the end of this book is a lot like it is in real life: few things are wrapped up in tidy bunches; much is left that needs to play out, and the trouble that was on the horizon is still lurking out there.  The difference is Makena has grown out of some of her troubles which is good because there are several more difficulties building up she is going to have to face if she wants to maintain life’s new vision and new hope.

I enjoyed this book and view it as one I will probably reread, especially while I wait for the next book in the series to come out.  My main rule is if I anticipate reading a book again, its worth five stars.