The Cephalopod Coffeehouse and the Best Book(s) I Read in October

Today I’m participating in the Cephalopod Coffeehouse’s monthly blog hop to discuss the best book I’ve read this month.

                              

Well, I’ve been tearing through books this month, so I’m featuring not one, but three “best books.”

I’ll start with one for the Regency genre. Lord Fenton’s Folly by Josi S. Kilpack. I just recently learned about this author. She has several historical several titles to her name, and after reading Lord Fenton’s Folly, I can definitely say I will read another … and soon.

This novel is a romance, but its flavor is a little different from the usual fare.

Lord Fenton’s animosity toward his father makes him rebellious, and he assumes the role of a dandy, gambler, and drinker. By the time he is of age, his father threatens to disown him if Fenton does not mend his ways. One way of doing this is to find a wife and settle down. Although Fenton has no desire to marry, he figures his long-time friend Alice Stanbridge is as good as any woman. Alice has carried a torch for Fenton since she was a little girl and readily agrees. She is later devastated to learn that his intent is for a marriage of convenience. Even so, she goes through with the nuptials and tries to make the best of it. A few weeks into the marriage, she is unable to stand her husband’s antics and excessive drinking. When family secrets emerge, Fenton and Alice must decide whether their marriage will remain a sham or develop into something more meaningful.

Kilpack is a talented writer and storyteller. This is a page-turner with rich, well-developed, flawed but sympathetic characters. Lord Fenton is fascinating. He tries hard to be unlovable with his foppish behavior and dress, but somehow that makes him all the more attractive. Although I was not completely astounded by the ending, I was surprised at how the ending came about. I highly recommend this to Regency readers who are looking for a great story rather than hot and heavy romance scenes.

The Five Times I Met Myself is James L. Rubart’s seventh book (his eighth just came out a couple of months ago). I first read Rubart’s book Rooms back in 2010, and I was hooked. His books are spiritual, haunting, and life-altering. They strike at the very core of what so many of us struggle with—a desire to reclaim youth, repair mistakes.

Brock Matthews regrets some of the decisions he’s made in his life. Now his marriage and business are both falling apart, and he wishes he could have a “do-over” for the trajectory of his life. When he discovers a deep, psychological dream technique called lucid dreaming, he embraces the method, traveling back in his dreams (and in real life) to encounters with a younger version of himself. Unfortunately, changing the past has unexpected—and undesired—results. Brock must decide if he’s willing to let go of some of the most important things in his life and whether a do-over is such a great idea after all.

The tag line of this book is “What if you met your twenty-three-year-old self in a dream? What would you say?” This novel is about looking over your shoulder, wondering if you could have done it better, if you should have done it differently, and how to deal with the decisions that have been made—good or bad. Jim Rubart says this book will set you free, and I believe it. Powerful, powerful message. Thought-provoking fiction.

Always with You is Elaine Stock’s debut novel. It is a unique contemporary novel and a real page-turner! I could not put it down. I was up late into the night reading—a testament to Stock’s fabulous writing and gifted storytelling.

Isabelle and Tyler meet under dangerous circumstances, when Tyler saves Isabelle from a violent attack. Two people with unusual pasts, they are drawn to one another and quickly fall in love. Threatened by dark family secrets, a religious sect, and uncertain odds, Isabelle and Tyler forge ahead with love and marriage despite the warnings of friends and family. When physical danger threatens Isabelle and her unborn child, she must choose whether to remain with the man she loves or run in search of safety.

Part love story, part psychological thriller, Always with You spins a haunting tale of love and hate, truth and lies, good and evil, while delivering a message of the need for discernment and forgiveness in all our lives. And it's on sale for $.99 this week!

Read any good books lately? 

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse: Six Years

It has been a long time since I’ve read a novel that has made me want to read everything that author writes. I have found that magical connection with the books of Harlan Coben. 

For the second month in a row, I’m choosing one of his books to feature as the best book I’ve read this month in the blog hop through The Cephalopod Coffeehouse. 

Six Years is the story of Jake Fisher, a man plagued by the memory of the woman he watched marry Todd Sanderson six years before. He wonders if he missed out on the best thing that might have ever happened to him. Should he have been the one marrying Natalie?

At the time of Natalie’s marriage, he promised that he would leave her alone and never try to contact her. But when he comes across Todd Sanderson’s obituary in the paper, he decides to break that promise and contact the woman who once meant so much to him. Jake attends the funeral to pay his respects, but when he catches a glimpse of Todd’s widow (a woman to whom Todd’s been married for over ten years, apparently), Jake knows the widow is not Natalie.  

As a college professor, Jake is well-versed in the methods of research, and he begins an all-out search for the woman named Natalie. As he tries to untangle the sticky and confusing web of Natalie’s whereabouts, he finds that no one will talk to him, no one remembers him, no one saw or knows anything. Even friends with whom he and Natalie had once socialized don’t recollect ever having seen them together.

In the midst of it all, Jake finds himself entangled a dangerous game that threatens his very life—the life he lives and the life he thinks he lives. Is Natalie’s whole life a lie? Or is his?

Just like The Stranger, Six Years is a compelling page-turner. From the two books I’ve read, Coben appears to a master of the guessing game. What is going on? How did this happen? How will he get out of this?

I love it when an author weaves a tale in which I cannot figure out the answers until the end. Coben does not use plot conveniences, but he capitalizes on jaw-dropping plot twists. His characters are flawed and damaged, yet human and understandable, invoking a willingness to follow and believe them.

I loved this novel, which was recommended to me by my blog buddy and author, Stephanie Faris. She has a great list of books every month, and I always try to snag one from her list to read.

Upcoming for me this month are the following books and their accompanying blurbs from Amazon. I’ll let you know next month if one of them turns out to be my best read of the month.

The Watershed by Wilden Turk

There’s something in the water… Or so believes muck-raking journalist Owen Fisher. When he’s suddenly arrested under suspicious circumstances, he can only assume that his latest article went viral, the one in which he accused the world’s largest water company of selling tainted water. If he’s wrong, only one person’s life is over: his own. But if he’s right, the world as we know it is on the brink of collapse.

The Beautiful Daughters by Nicole Baart

Adrienne Vogt and Harper Penny were closer than sisters, until the day a tragedy blew their seemingly idyllic world apart. Afraid that they got away with murder and unable to accept who they had lost—and what they had done—Harper and Adri exiled themselves from small-town Blackhawk, Iowa, and from each other. Adriran thousands of miles away to Africa while Harper ventured down a more destructive path closer to home.

Now, five years later, both are convinced that nothing could ever coax them out of the worlds in which they’ve been living. But unexpected news from home soon pulls Adri and Harper back together, and the two cannot avoid facing their memories and guilt head-on. As they are pulled back into the tangle of their fractured relationships and the mystery of Piperhall, the sprawling estate where their lives first began to unravel, secrets and lies behind the tragic accident are laid bare. The former best friends are forced to come to terms with their shared past and search for the beauty in each other while mending the brokenness in themselves.

Tell me what good books you have read this month. Then head on over and check out some of the great books on the other stops of this blog hop.

The Best Book I Read This Month...

It's that time again--time for The Cephalopod Coffeehouse --where a bunch of us book lovers chat about our favorite reads for the month! For this month, I picked...(surprise!) a scary read!

Rarely do I ever read a book after seeing the movie. I always rush to try and finish a book before the movie version comes out, and then I’m usually disappointed anyway. In this particular case, I’ve seen the movie over and over again during the course of a ten year period, yet I just got around to reading the novel.

I’ve only read one other Stephen King novel (The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon). I really enjoyed it, but it was more of a psychological thriller. I’ve wanted to read The Shining for years, but I was afraid the book would be too gruesome or brutal for me. (I hate reading anything that’s bloody or gory).

I was pleasantly surprised to find more of a psychological ride than a horror tale. There are elements of horror within the story, but overall, I was riveted. I see now why King is considered such a master of the page; he effectively crafts scenes, describes actions and images, and paints the background of characters. This novel, written in 1977, reads differently from a modern horror novel. It’s subtle with less attempt at shock value and far more attention to the storyline.

For those who don’t know the story, Jack Torrance, a recovering alcoholic, takes his wife and son to live at The Overlook—a hotel in the Colorado mountains where inhabitants are snowed in all winter. Torrance assumes this will be the perfect opportunity to write his next novel; instead, once the snow begins to fall and Jack and his family are snowed in, the house comes alive, tormenting Jack and his family with freaky women in the bathtub, strange characters in the ballroom (including an oh-so-polite, but all-too-dead bartender), and an elevator that runs by itself. All the while, Jack’s son, Danny, holds special powers called “shining” in which he can sense and see things that others can’t, and he can communicate telepathically with others who have the same abilities.

The Shining holds up remarkably well, and makes a perfect halloween companion.