What’s on my iPod: “I Won’t Give Up” by Jason Mraz

What I’m reading: Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

The last person I followed on Twitter: @IAmCattSadler

1.  #SummerReading

Kristin Contino from examiner.com just released her 2012 hot summer reads guide and Girl Unmoored was listed.  Congratulations, Jennifer!  If you haven’t read Girl Unmoored yet what are you waiting for?  The list includes Sea Change by Karen White and The Book of Summers by Emylia Hall.

MORE ABOUT GIRL UNMOORED:

Apron Bramhall has come unmoored. It’s 1985 and her mom has passed away, her evil stepmother is pregnant, and her best friend has traded her in for a newer model. Fortunately, she’s about to be saved by Jesus. Not that Jesus—the actor who plays him in Jesus Christ, Superstar. Apron is desperate to avoid the look-alike Mike (no one should look that much like Jesus unless they can perform a miracle or two), but suddenly he’s everywhere. Until one day, she’s stuck in church with him—of all places. And then something happens; Apron’s broken teenage heart blinks on for the first time since she’s been adrift.

Mike and his grumpy boyfriend, Chad, offer her a summer job in their flower store, Apron’s world seems to calm. But when she uncovers Chad’s secret, coming of age becomes almost too much bear. She’s forced to see things the adults around her fail to—like what love really means and who is paying too much for it.

Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You, comments, “Love, loss, and the coming of age of one remarkable girl blaze through this haunting debut like a shooting star you’d wish upon. It’s tough and tender, funny and smart, and it frankly took my breath away. I loved it.”

2.  10 Questions for Dawn Tripp

Dawn Tripp, author of Game of Secrets recently sat down with Barnes & Noble to dish details about her book.  When asked what the number one thing she would like readers to to feel after her book, Tripp said, “Moved. When a reader tells me: “your book changed me, it changed how I look at my own life, how I look at the world,” that matters. As writers, we work in solitude, sometimes for years, and when a book hits the world, it flies out to many readers at once, but at the end of the day, it is at one-to-one intimacy between a writer and one reader—that’s what I write for.”  Game of Secrets was just released in paperback last week, perfect for a summer get away.

MORE ABOUT GAME OF SECRETS:

Game of Secrets weaves between multiple points of view, as a dark family mystery comes unraveled. In 1957, eleven-year-old Jane Weld’s father disappeared. No one in her small New England town knew for sure what happened until, four years later, his skull rolled out of a gravel bank by the river, an unmistakable bullet hole in its temple. Rumor had it he was murdered by the husband of his mistress, Ada Varick.

Now, half a century later, Jane is still searching for the truth of her father’s death, a mystery made more urgent by the unlikely romance that her daughter has struck up with one of Ada’s sons. Jane and Ada come together for casual Friday board games that soon transform into acat-and-mouse game of words long left unspoken. As the two women play out,across the board, the stories that bind their lives together, it becomes clear that more than a reckoning with the past—it is the future of both families that is ultimately at stake.

3.  Clean Break Attracts Thriller Seekers

David Klein’s Clean Break was just featured on Book End Babes.  “Klein’s characters ring true–flaws, warts and all– and you’ll find yourself thinking about them long after you’ve turned the last page.  This is just out in paperback–perfect for the beach, your vacation, or just a chair in your backyard sipping some iced tea.”  After just being released for a week, Clean Break has already gained popularity among those who crave thrill and adventure.  This book is sure to keep you on your toes!

MORE ABOUT CLEAN BREAK:

Can you make a clean break from a troubled past and  start  a new life?

Four lives intersect when Celeste Vanek leaves her husband, Adam. His compulsive gambling and physical threats have poisoned their marriage and emotionally damaged their young son. Celeste moves to a small rental across town, works to gain financial security, and helps her son navigate his fantasy life. But she quickly finds that starting over is not easy. Adam demands his family back, and things get out of control. Jake, who witnesses a violent struggle between Celeste and her husband, becomes Celeste’s ally and friend, while struggling with his own emotional and ethical issues. Jake carries a history of failed relationships—one of them with Sara, a married and childless police detective who has a private agenda to pursue when a crime is committed that links these four characters together and changes their lives forever.

4.  A Book For All Ages

Meg Mitchell Moore’s So Far Away was just reviewed by Chick Lit Central.  “The dialogue flowed nicely throughout the story and the conversations seemed natural and realistic. Natalie, Kathleen and Bridget (the woman behind the diary) all were interesting characters and their relationships with other characters were heartfelt.  I think this is a story that will be touching for women of all ages.”  So Far Away deals with a tough subject matter, cyber bullying, and Meg Mitchell Moore does a great job tackling the topic.  “While Ms. Moore tries to handle it sensitively, she still allows it to get under the reader’s skin and stay there.”

MORE ABOUT SO FAR AWAY:

Thirteen-year-old Natalie Gallagher is trying to escape: from her parents’ ugly divorce, and from the vicious cyber-bullying of her former best friend. She discovers a dusty old diary in her family’s basement and is inspired to unlock its secrets. Kathleen Lynch, an archivist at the Massachusetts State Archives, has her own painful secrets: she’s a widow estranged from her only daughter. Natalie’s research brings her to Kathleen, who in Natalie sees traces of the daughter she has lost. What could the life of an Irish immigrant domestic servant from the 1920s teach them both? In the pages of the diary, they will learn that their fears and frustrations are timeless.

5.  Fabulous Review for After the Fog

Kathie Shoop’s After the Fog was featured on Bags, Books & Bon Jovi recently.  “I have great admiration for an author who will write her main character so real. Rose, although admirable and almost heroic in the face of such a horrible situation, was not always likable but she behaved as many of us would given her circumstances. As a reader, I think it would be easy for an author, having created the main character, to write her as perfect. It takes talent to imbue that main character with real qualities… not all good but relatable and pertinent to the situations she finds herself in.”

MORE ABOUT AFTER THE FOG:

The sins of the mother…

In the steel mill town of Donora, Pennsylvania, site of the infamous 1948 “killing smog,” headstrong nurse Rose Pavlesic tends to her family and neighbors. Controlling and demanding, she’s created a life that reflects everything she missed growing up as an orphan. She’s even managed to keep her painful secrets hidden from her loving husband, dutiful children, andlarge extended family.

When a stagnant weather pattern traps poisonous mill gasses in the valley, neighbors grow sicker and Rose’s nursing obligations thrust her into conflict she never could have fathomed. Consequences from her past collide with her present life,making her once clear decisions as gray as the suffocating smog. As pressure mounts, Rose finds she’s not the only one harboring lies. When the deadly fog finally clears, the loss of trust and faith leaves the Pavlesic family—and the whole town—splintered and shocked. With her new perspective, can Rose finally forgive herself and let her family’s healing begin?

*BONUS: ‘Pimp Your iPad’

Looking for tech accessories to jazz up your iPad?  Computer Arts Magazine released an article, “Pimp Your iPad” featuring the top accessories for your iPad from cases to the most recent gadgets.  The Nomad Brush Compose: Dual Tip Long was one of the latest styluses displayed in the article.  “If you want to use your iPad for serious illustration work, you need a stylus like this one.  Hand-crafted, it comes with a 0.7-inch brush at one end and a 0.05-inch glide bevel at the other.” The brush is currently on sale on Sampli.

MORE ABOUT NOMAD BRUSH:

Founded in 2011 and based in Portland, Ore., Nomad Brush invented the first paintbrush stylus for digital screens. The company is dedicated to inspiring and facilitating artists to create in their daily lives, wherever they are, with brushes for both large and small touchscreen devices, such as the iPad and iPhone. Nomad Brush is active in the art community by hosting, sponsoring and facilitating digital painting and design competitions and workshops. More information on Nomad Brush is online at www.NomadBrush.com.