The Book Lover's Den No. 26: The Bookstore Blues?!

Welcome to my renewed literary musing feature! I have decided 

to post it on Mondays now!

In each weekly post, I explore 

my thoughts on several 

book-related topics.

This Week's Topic

 When you walk into a bookstore and you're just not (?!) in the mood

to buy a book.....apparently. 

I am fortunate enough to have a big, beautiful, two-floor Barnes & Noble store not too far from where my husband and I live. In fact, I affectionately call it "Paradise". Lol. And I have given it this nickname because the joy and lifting of spirits I feel when we pull up and I get down, approach the double doors, and pull on that handle, are just indescribable. If I have been in a funk, walking into this store is sure to get me feeling great again!

Inexplicably, however, there have been times in the past when I've arrived at this hallowed place of wonderful printed objects that one can pick up and peruse for hours at a time, if one wishes, and felt......nothing. No elation. No lifting of a negative mood, if I had been in one. No feeling of having "arrived home". Just.....nothing. Yes, I know....unbelievable, right?

At such times, I have wandered all over the store, from section to section, hoping to have a book call out to me. I don't always go to the Bargain Section first. I might wander over to the Christian section, then the New Age section (they're right next to each other), then go upstairs to the Young Adult section, then the Fantasy & SF section, which is right next to the YA section. And then I mosey on over to the Romance section. And nothing catches my eye. 

Alternatively, I might pick up a book, but then not be sure about it. Then I will move into another section of the store, pick up another book, and go put the first one back where I found it, only to dawdle, looking from one book to the other. I might then leave both on the shelf, or, in the end, take both of them with me, and find a chair to sit on somewhere, either in the Cafe, or next to the second-floor railing. 

Even after sitting down, though, I might feel a sudden restlessness. I might skim through one book, and then the other, and abruptly decide that I really don't want either one. Then I get up, put both books back, and wander all over the store again....

Before you know it, a store employee is making that fateful announcement that it's 10:45 PM, and the bookstore will be closing in 15 minutes, so all customers need to take their selections to the neartest cash register for purchasing..... And then I seem to wake up from some weird daze, and rush over to the Young Adult section, and just......stand there. I don't know what to pick. I want to buy SOME book, but just don't know which one to pick, even if I see books that I've already discovered on book blogs..... But then, I'm not really sure that I DO want to buy a book.

Finally, I get jolted again by the last announcement, and, in total despair, dejectedly walk toward those wonderful doors to "Paradise", without a B&N bag holding a new purchase and receipt inside.....or with no book and receipt stashed inside my purse.....

So what happened? I really don't know..... Could it be that I was simply not in the mood to buy a book? I usually have difficulty NOT buying books! This is especially so when I'm SURROUNDED by them. So how could it be that I sometimes actually walk out of that beautiful book paradise without having purchased one of those highly-addictive objects? What could possibly have gone wrong? Were my neurons not receptive to books on that particular occasion?

I frequently feel the need to buy a book when something negative has happened to me, as, for instance, if a student has given me a very hard time during a lesson (and I teach ADULTS, not teens!), or the principal has reprimanded me, or one of my colleagues has been rather nasty to me. BUT, I will also feel the need to buy a book when something positive has happened to me, as well, such as when someone at work tells me I'm an excellent teacher, or my husband compliments me, or I find out that they're now showing old Star Trek TOS re-runs on one of our cable channels. If some teaching technique I've tried out goes exceptionally well, I will also feel the need to buy myself a book. Heck, if I get a lot of comments on one of my posts, I will ALSO feel the need to buy a book! Lol. So, to me, books are like a sort of "comfort food", except for the mind. If something negative has happened, I comfort myself by buying a book. If something positive has happened instead, then buying a book is my reward! 

In other words, for me, just about ANY excuse to buy a book will do. Hee, hee!

Therefore, I don't quite understand those weird times when I wander all over this most treasured of places in all of Miami, and feel.....lost. Unsettled. Not at all sure of what I want. I know I want.....something. Maybe it's not really a BOOK I want. But what the HECK is it I want, then? I have gone to that bookstore (the one I visit most because of its location) for the precise purpose of buying a book! So this aimless wandering around really mystifies me....

Maybe it's just that I'm not sure whether I want to buy a fiction or a nonfiction book. Sometimes I do feel torn between the two. So this might be part of the problem. 

I wonder if any other readers have ever experienced something like this. I wonder if this is due to any unusual sun spot activity....or perhaps the meteors are bowling up there, somewhere beyond the moon..... Whatever the reason I feel this way, it also makes me feel sad.... I hate walking out of a bookstore with empty hands. What TRUE book lover doesn't?

I know this is a rather depressing post this week, and I'm sorry about that. However, I decided to go ahead and publish it anyway, to see if anyone else out there has encountered this phenomenon, and how they have dealt with it. Should I just shrug it off? But I find that I can't do that. So I just try not to think about such times. Except that the memories kinda haunt me every now and then. 

Fortunately, I haven't been in one of these weird moods recently. Yesterday, hubby took me to "Paradise", and I walked out with a book! Lol. It did take me a while to pick one out, though. 

 

What are your thoughts on
 this topic?
Please leave me a comment
and let me know!

Buddy Read Update No. 2: Dread Nation, by Justina Ireland

Dread Nation

(Dread Nation, Book 1)

Justina Ireland

Hardcover, 464 pages

Bilzer + Bray

April 3, 2018

African-American Fiction, Alternative History, American History, Diverse Reads, Fantasy, 

Feminist Fiction, Historical Fiction,

Horror, Humor, Paranormal Fiction, Satire,

Social Justice, Southern Gothic,

Young Adult Fiction

Be sure to visit Barb's blog to read her half of our "chat"! You can access her post HERE!

Warning!
This post, as well as that of my fellow 
buddy reader, may contain spoilers!
Read at your own risk!

So Barb and I are moving right along! This book is AMAZINGLY hard to put down! This means it's not easy for either one of us to slow down so we can keep the same pace. Of course, this kind of thing would be music to any author's ears! This book is VERY well-written, and the characters are SO real..... Barb has mentioned that she was VERY surprised when I told her that I had already finished reading the book! Lol. I think I'm more surprised than she is, though! Lol. This has turned out to be a really enjoyable buddy read experience, too!!

Here's our latest "chat" about our progress!

Barb: Now that we are getting letters from Jane's mom, and know what has happened, has your opinion of her mother softened very much?

Maria: Oh, absolutely! I now see how very wrong I was about Jane's mom! She is in fact very much concerned about her daughter. This becomes even more apparent later on in the book. And now that I know why Jane's mom "wasn't answering" the letters, I have really started to like her (Jane's mom)! At the same time, I now hate you-know-who even more!! I'm SO surprised this person actually returned the unsent letters to Jane, too. It wouldn't have surprised me at all if she had destroyed them.

Barb:How did you feel about that darn Mayor dinner party? I thought Mr. Redfern was a real jerk, and I still want to know what is going on with him. Don't you feel like he and Jane would be better if they worked on the same side? I mean, clearly, he's experienced some of the discrimination.
 

Maria: I think that party was definitely a setup. Miss A. and Mayor Carr were aware that Jane and her friends -- especially Red --wouldn't be able to resist the chance to find out more about the mystery behind Lily and the Spencers' disappearance, so they made SURE to make it easy for Jane and Red to attempt to get information by digging through the Mayor's desk. That way, they could be caught red-handed. Poor Kate had nothing to do with this, yet she was still included in the group to be punished. VERY unfair! Of course, this was done so that there would be no witnesses. 

This is a GREAT point you've made about Redfern, Barb, and I definitely agree! What the HECK is wrong with this guy? I still can't figure out why he dislikes Jane so much! Justina must have something up her sleeve, something not revealed just yet. He SHOULD be on Jane's side, for Pete's sake! And the reason for that is very clear, as you've pointed out -- he, too, has experienced discrimination.  

Well, I guess we must be patient. Perhaps his story won't be fully revealed in this book, but in the sequel, instead. It SURE is nerve-wracking not to know exactly what this guy is all about, though!

Barb: That train ride -- I'd never have survived it! 

Maria: OMG, I wouldn't have, either!!! The heat in those freight cars must have been INTOLERABLE. And no access to modern plumbing! UGH!! They had to get off the train at certain points to "do their business" in the bushes! I'm SO glad to be living in the 21st century!! Lol.

Barb:I know you love horses (you do, right?) So how do you feel knowing they are scarce because they became zombie lunch when the outbreak happened? (Which in my opinion is so tragic and uncalled for!!!!)

Maria: Yes, I ADORE horses!!!! I guess the author added this to the story in order to make the zombie plague more realistic, unfortunately. And it did provide that touch of realism. To be honest, this was where I was able to distance myself from the story. In other words, I would just tell myself that I was reading FICTION. Lol. Of course I simply could not picture zombies actually devouring a HORSE. No, no, no!!!!! This was just TOO HORRIBLE to even think about! But the mind has a way of blocking out certain unpleasant details, so  that's what happened to me. Thankfully, Justine never actually described zombies attacking horses. If she had, I would have had some SERIOUS issues with her! Lol.

Barb: Finally, Jane loves to read, even though she hides that ability. What three books would you recommend to her? 

Maria: She's already reading one of my favorite childhood books -- "Tom Sawyer"! Since she seems to like Mark Twain, I would recommend "Huckleberry Finn" (especially since one of the major characters is a young African-American boy), and "The Prince and the Pauper". I'm sure she would have enjoyed the switch these two boys engaged in  -- the prince became a poor boy, and the poor boy, a prince. 

I would also recommend "The Scarlet Letter", by Nathaniel Hawthorne, since Jane is obviously very much aware of social hypocrisy, and is quick to point it out and satirize it.

Well, folks, stay tuned for next week's update! This project was a TERRIFIC idea on Barb's part, and  I'm SO glad she suggested it!! This just goes to show that sometimes, reading outside one's comfort zone (although I do enjoy PNR and UF, guys!) can bring some incredibly rewarding surprises!


 

What do you all think?

Have we piqued your curiosity

about this book?

Be sure to let us know!

Don't forget to visit Barb's blog

to get her side of the "chat"!

 

Tour Spotlight!! The Crossover, by Heather Horst

Welcome to the blog tour for The Crossover, sponsored by 
YA Bound Book Tours!!

For my stop, I'm featuring an 
excerpt with mini-review!

The Crossover

(Crossover, Book 1)

Heather Horst

Trade Paperback, 370 pages

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

March 1, 2018

Kindle Edition, 370 pages

March 3, 2018
Dystopian Fiction, Science Fiction, 
Young Adult Fiction

 It’s been 12 years since Ella has buried her brother Weston, today she buries her Father. Tomorrow she begins her life as an average University student. Unfortunately, much like Ella’s childhood, things do not go as expected. Before the semester can even begin Ella finds herself intertwined with eccentric peers, family ties, and an alternate universe.

Now Ella is thrust into the responsibility of keeping her personal life in order while saving another Earth from their impending doom, and potentially her own.

Note
This mini-review is of the excerpt below, NOT the entire book. I only do this with tour books that I'm REALLY interested in reading!

Well.....this sure was INTENSE!! Although the graphic details make me a bit queasy, Horst certainly succeeded in pulling me right into the scene! I couldn't help thinking of  "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" as I read this, but that doesn't mean it was horrifying in any way. Instead, I did feel sorry for the poor creature. I was left to wonder just what it did to deserve to end its existence like that! 
Then there's the whole thing with the narrator and her brother being alive.....or not. She's not quite sure that the whole thing wasn't a dream. So maybe we're dealing with a parallel universe here. I don't know, and it's driving me CRAZY!! So I need to get this book in order to get into this story, and find out what the HECK is going on! There's a mystery here, plus some very interesting stuff, and yeah, I want to go "where no one has gone before"! Lol.

The creature is pinned to the ground. The seven harpoons are plunged into its body, but I can still see it squirming.
                “Is it dead?” I whimper.
                The boy approaches it, his blade pointed forward. I stay behind, I don’t want to get anywhere near that thing. The creature flails, trying to free itself. The boy stands over top of it and slashes his sword right into the mid-section of the creature. It lets out one final cry and stops moving. The boy pulls out a harpoon; it’s made of the same material as his sword, and he plunges it into the creature's skull.
            “What the hell was that?” I see the same black liquid I saw before leaking from its limp body. I realize it's blood. Black blood is dripping from the creature and onto the ground. A team of people in biohazard suits crash through the door and push toward the creature. Before I can see what they are doing the boy gently places his hands on my shoulders and turns me around.
            “You won’t want to see this.” He says.
            “Tell me what’s going on.” I demand.
            “I wish I could, but I’m really not the right person for that.”
             “Who the hell are you anyways? What is this place? What was-”
            I gasp for air and my eyes begin to grow blurry. There’s the same feeling in my chest and stomach as before, when I left the lecture hall. My legs crumple like tissue paper beneath me. I tumble to the ground. I see the boy crouch down and he’s saying something, but my ears fail to work. I can see that he is trying to hold me up, but I can’t feel him. My ears start to pick up some noise.
            “It’s going to be okay. I’m sorry that you had to do this.” He tries to comfort me, but he sounds like he’s so far away.
            “Was this real?” My breath is faint.
            “Yes.” I look into his sea blue eyes and try to focus. They look so familiar to me.
            “My name is Weston by the way, Weston Brandt.”
               CLAP
             I feel like I am being pushed to the point of breaking. My stomach is being stretched out like elastic, letting go and snapping back into place, over and over. But then it stops.
            I swallow the air like I might never be able to do it again, and my eyes snap open. I paw around my surroundings. The sheets of the nurse's bed soothe my fear. The stupid cat poster is a welcomed sight. I am back.
           Was that a dream? Did I die and come back to life? Weston… my brother was there. That’s impossible. He’s dead.
            I sit up on the bed. My head is pounding. That must have been a dream. I haven’t gone anywhere. I’ve been in this room the whole time… I think. My black dress is still covered in dirt.
            “No, no, no.”  This must just be from today. There’s dirt everywhere but it could’ve gotten on me from walking or taking the bus or something. This doesn’t mean anything. I try wiping off the dirt stuck to my dress and I notice my hand. I turn it over and see the black smudges on my fingers. I smell my hands hoping that it’s not what I think it is.
            It’s spray paint. The same spray paint from the message that was sprawled on the ground from wherever I was. That means that whole thing was real. That means my brother is alive.

Purchase Links
Amazon US/Amazon UK/Amazon CA
Barnes & Noble

Heather is a Young Adult Fiction novelist. 
While she loves writing, there are many other things she likes to do in her free time -- like watching Netflix and reading! Heather lives in Ontario, Canada. 

Goodreads/Twitter
Amazon Author Page



To access the complete tour, please click on this button!

Book Blitz!! Electric Gardens, by M. Black

This blitz is sponsored by 
Bewitching Book Tours!!

Electric Gardens

(Electric World, Book 1)

M. Black

Trade Paperback, 219 pages

March 24, 2018

Kindle Edition, 221 pages

Creativia, 
March 22, 2018

Dystopian Fiction, Science Fiction,

Young Adult Fiction

After several world catastrophes, robots called 'Tins' have come to power.

Lexi019 knows them well. She's lived inside of a Compound ruled by Tins for the past twelve years, and maintains a strict schedule. After attending Electric Gardens classes, she learns that she will transferred, as all seventeen-year-olds are, to serve the gardens for the rest of her life.

Instead, Lexi defies the Tins and looks for a way out. With her best guy Kyle53 at her side, and a couple of unlikely friends, Lexi eventually finds her way out of the Compound.

But in the end, can she escape... or like all things in this artificial, post-apocalyptic world, be stuck under the Tins' power forever?

Purchase Links
Amazon US/Amazon UK
Amazon CA

Four-Book Electric World Series
Electric Gardens
Electric Grids
Electric Wars
Electric Ends

M.Black is a TOP #100 Amazon Bestseller. She is the author of Exotiqa World (Cyberpunk Dystopia), Graph World (SFF Post-Apocalyptic), Sim World (SciFi Dystopia Post-Apocalyptic) and Electric World (Robot Post-Apocalyptic).

A semi-finalist author in the Lauren Hemingway Contest, she is now published with Creativia. 

Enter Tomorrow with M. Black is a collection of YA and NA Dystopias or Post-Apocalyptic stories with a healthy dose of SyFy, Fantasy, Future Tech or Robots.

Her books are socially relevant, original, dark & sexy, with characters that dig into your heart, and plot lines that really do surprise. Stories focus on robots, AI, SIMS, genetics, climate, environment, wildlife, grafting, social divisions, neural laces, and future tech.

M.Black is passionate about the Earth, animals, robots and technology. You will find all of these concepts as parts of the themes used in her brand of books Enter Tomorrow.

M. Black loves to explore future worlds that are falling apart and she likes to keep the reader guessing.

Website/Amazon Author Page
Goodreads



To access the other participating
blogs, just click on this button!

Can't Wait Wednesday No. 60: Wild Hunger, by Chloe Neill

Welcome to "Can't Wait Wednesday"!

This is a weekly event hosted by

Tressa @ Wishful Endings, and inspired by "Waiting On Wednesday", which used to be hosted by

 Jill @ Breaking the Spine.

For more information, please click HERE.

As in the previous meme, this one showcases future releases  we book  bloggers 
are eagerly anticipating!!
There's also a Linky widget, so participating blogs can link up!

Here's my choice for this week!

 Wild Hunger

(Heirs of Chicagoland, Book 1)

Chloe Neill

Hardcover, 400 pages

Berkley Books

     August 14, 2018        

Urban Fantasy 

In the first thrilling installment of Chloe Neill's spinoff to the New York Times bestselling Chicagoland Vampires series, a new vampire will find out just how deep blood ties run.

As the only vampire child ever born, some believed Elisa Sullivan had all the luck. But the magic that helped bring her into the world left her with a dark secret. Shifter Connor Keene, the only son of North American Central Pack Apex Gabriel Keene, is the only one she trusts with it. But she's a vampire and the daughter of a Master and a Sentinel, and he's prince of the Pack and its future king.

When the assassination of an ambassador brings old feuds to the fore again, Elisa and Connor must choose between love and family, between honor and obligation, before Chicago disappears forever.

 

Why I can't wait for this one!

I've been meaning to read the Chicagoland Vampires series for such a LOOOOONG time..... And now there's a spinoff series!!! So maybe this will be the non-too-subtle nudge I need to FINALLY start on the previous series, so I can then get to THIS one!! Lol.
(And ooooh....just look at that cover, with all of that LUSCIOUS BLUE...... And yes, that's ME on the cover, after I've slimmed down a bit and dyed my hair blonde. Lol.)

Chloe Neill is the New York Times bestselling author of the Chicagoland Vampires Novels, the Devil's Isle Novels, and a YA series, the Dark Elite. Chloe was born and raised in the South, but now makes her home in the Midwest. When she's not writing, she bakes, works, and scours the Internet for good recipes and great graphic design. Chloe also maintains her sanity by spending time with her boys--her husband and their dogs, Baxter and Scout.

Website/Goodreads/Facebook
Twitter
Amazon Author Page

What do you think of my
choice this week? 
Please leave a comment and
let me know!