M is for The Miracle Of Small Things + Murder And Obsession

M - 2016Welcome to the annual A to Z Challenge.

My theme: showcasing bloggers books, novellas, short story collections, poetry collections and some non-fiction books. The letters of the alphabet will correspond with the book title. I’ll be posting a link to my review of each book. I also have two questions for the author, just to spice things up a little.

Hopefully, visitors to my blog will be able to increase their reading lists and also get ideas for their wish lists.

First things first.

Thank you to everybody who participated during week two.

We have some winners! *drum roll*

For those who commented on posts G to L, the winners are as follows:

dSavannah from dSavannah Rambles wins a copy of Garden Of Lost Souls by Madeline Mora-Summonte, through Kindle/Kindle App.

i b arora from An Oblique View wins an e-book of Givin’ Up The Ghost by Gwen Gardner.

Mary Aalgaard from Play Off The Page wins an e-book of Hot Flashes & Cold Lemonade by Susan Flett Swiderski.

Chrys Fey from Write With Fey wins a copy of How To Publish And Promote Your Book Now by L. Diane Wolfe (USA will have option of print or e-book).

LX Cain wins an e-book of Hurricane Crimes (mobi, epub or pdf) by Chrys Fey.

Mary Burris from Jingle Jangle Jungle wins an e-book of In Name Only by Carol Kilgore.

Christine Rains wins an e-copy of The Inter-Galactic Gourmet by LX Cain.

Ryan Carty from Residuals: something to sneeze at… wins an e-book of Jolissa: An Anti-Princess Story by Tara Tyler.

Anne Payne from Stuff And Nonsense wins an e-book of Kissed By An Angel – it includes stories by Robyn Campbell and Theresa Milstein.

The winners will be contacted shortly. We are only halfway through the challenge, and there are still loads of other books to be won!

The Miracle Of Small Things by Guilie Castillo Oriard. Read my review HERE.

The Miracle Of Small Things

Genre/Category: Mainstream fiction. (There are a few who’ve said it falls more into “literary”… Ha, I wish. This author thinks it’s mainstream fiction. And adult fiction.)

The book character you want to have coffee with is: The book character I would want to have coffee with (I assume this is from my book? If not let me know…) is Pélagie Solak. Chances are, though, she’d never want to have coffee with me… *Sigh*

What would you name the autobiography of your life? The autobiography of my life would be titled ‘Island Magic’. I’ve had so many turning points in my life—I’m talking 180 degrees here—but, indisputably, the one that has had the most impact was moving to Curaçao. (So far, at least.)

Murder And Obsession by Yolanda Renee. I haven’t read the book yet but you can check it out HERE. Visit Yolanda Renee’s blog to read daily snippets of the story HERE.

Murder and Obsession

Genre/Category: Mystery.

The book character you want to have coffee with is: Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the Wind – I’d really prefer Margaret Mitchell, but I think a lot of her is in Scarlett so that would work too!

What would you name the autobiography of your life? Walk Away, Renée.

 

One lucky winner will receive an e-book of The Miracle Of Small Things. Please leave an e-mail address after your comment by Thursday 21st April, if you wish to be entered in the giveaway. Winners will be announced on Friday 22nd April.

What is your idea of a ‘tiny miracle’? Have you read many classics? What is your favorite classic book? The Miracle Of Small Things is set in Curacao. Murder & Obsession is set in Alaska. What is the most exotic location you’ve visited in a story? Can you believe we’re half way through the challenge?

28 Comments

  1. dSavannah on April 15, 2016 at 8:43 am

    Oooooh! I won! I won! *flails like a loon*

    Love the cover of “The Miracle Of Small Things” and would love to win a copy of that too. I also love literary adult fiction.

    Oh, and thanks for overlooking my horrible oversight of not leaving my email address on my other entry. It is dsgjart [at] gmail [dot] com.

    Tiny miracles happen every day. I think it’s a miracle I managed to bake a cake today, what with my health issues. And my hand / grip issues. (So what if it was out of a box.) There were a million places where the whole thing could have gone wrong, but it didn’t. I baked a cake. Tiny miracle.

    I have read some classics, but I’ll be honest. Most classics are… boring to me. In the 99 Classic Books Challenge I have read only 23 of them. And of course, opinions differ on what makes a classic. For instance, 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 are not on it, and I believe they are considered classics. And I’ve read them.

    In a story… I’ve visited locales that don’t actually exist. I read a lot of sci-fi.

    Same answer re: challenge – it feels like it’s been months! 😉

    Thanks for doing this. I know it’s a lot of work for you.

    @dSavannahCreate from
    dSavannahRambles
    #AtoZChallenge2016 theme: dSavannah Defects

  2. Tasha Duncan-Drake on April 15, 2016 at 9:40 am

    Looking at the link in dSavannah’s comment, I have to say a lot of the classics listed are just not to my taste. I like horror, sci-fi and fantasy when I read, but I can be persuaded with a good murder, so I’m rather fond of Shakespeare :). Never could get on with Dickens though. Lord of the Rings is one of my favourite classics.
    Tasha
    Tasha’s Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

  3. i b arora on April 15, 2016 at 11:43 am

    great, didn’t expect, thanks,

  4. Anne Payne on April 15, 2016 at 11:49 am

    Wow!!! Thanks so much. Can’t wait to read Kissed by an Angel 🙂

  5. Mary Aalgaard on April 15, 2016 at 12:14 pm

    Tiny miracles happen all day long. Like, finding something you’re looking for, and in my case, where it was supposed to be! Tiny miracles happen when I trust my intuition and act on it. Like, on Monday, I finally had a gift ready for a friend who turned 50 about a month ago. I see her sometimes at my workout class, but not always. I had the intuition to bring the gift along that day, and there she was, needing a little love that day!

    Thanks for the book. Seems a fitting title for me at this stage of life!

  6. Tarkabarka on April 15, 2016 at 1:12 pm

    Guilie is an excellent writer, and really makes a setting come alive 🙂

    @TarkabarkaHolgy from
    The Multicolored Diary
    MopDog

  7. Christine Rains on April 15, 2016 at 1:18 pm

    Yay! Thank you so much. I’m excited to read Lexa’s book. And two good authors today. I’ve read Yolanda’s book already. Awesome stuff!

  8. Guilie Castillo on April 15, 2016 at 1:34 pm

    Michelle, thanks so much for featuring The Miracle of Small Things today! All involved (including Al) are profoundly honored—and wowed by the company 🙂 Yolanda’s excerpts have got me hooked.

    Classics… yes, I’m a fan. But, as others already commented, it really does hinge on taste. I read an Asimov short story once—well, tried—and couldn’t get into it. Like Tasha, Dickens never appealed (though it might have to do with the fact that we had to read him in school, but in Spanish, and… yes, translation doesn’t always work to anyone’s advantage), but my Shakespeare volumes are dog-eared and stained from years of reading and rereading. Love Hemingway, Bradbury, Woolf, Flaubert, D. H. Lawrence, Joyce, Colette… The list knows no end, haha.

    And on the subject of ‘tiny miracles’… I believe all life is a miracle. Not in any religious sense (hard-core atheist to the end, me), but rather in a childish sense of awe. I believe that, the awe, is the single most significant quality we can encourage in ourselves to live happy, productive, and fulfilling lives. (Sheesh, Guilie, cheesy much? 😀 )

    Thanks again, Michelle. I’m lucky to call you a friend 🙂
    Guilie @ Life In Dogs

  9. Chrys Fey on April 15, 2016 at 2:22 pm

    I was surprised when you said I won something. Yay! And I really wanted L. Diane’s book too! I don’t recall if I left my email in the last comment but both of you have it. 😉

    The cover for The Miracle of Small Things is neat. I love the eye! And Yolanda’s book is on my TBR list.

  10. luna on April 15, 2016 at 2:40 pm

    I agree with Ms. Guilie when she mentioned the word “awe”. It is that kind of feeling when I see, touch, smell, hear, taste anything produced/conceptualized/thought of/ that generate tiny wonders or miracles.
    Life itself is a miracle, encompassing every aspects.
    The tiniest seeds can produce beautiful flowers. There is no harm in living graciously and dwell on the beauty of life. Everything is wonderful and amazing; nothing goes to waste.

  11. Alex J. Cavanaugh on April 15, 2016 at 2:43 pm

    Congratulations to all the winners! Cool you featured Yolanda’s latest.

  12. Yolanda Renee on April 15, 2016 at 3:14 pm

    Thanks, Michelle, wonderful to be here. Would you add a copy of Murder & Obsession to your giveaway. I’ll gladly send one lucky commenter an Ebook copy. So thrilled to have the opportunity! And doubly thrilled to be appearing with Guilie, I’ve read her book and it’s fabulous, I think it fits literary fiction perfectly! Guilie is an amazing writer.
    You’ve hit the hot and the cold of locations today! 🙂
    Dancing the happy dance today! Thank you!

  13. M.J. Fifield on April 15, 2016 at 3:17 pm

    I love that cover on Miracle of Small Things, and I love the title of Yolanda’s autobiography. Excellent selections!

    Congrats to all the winners!

  14. T. Powell Coltrin on April 15, 2016 at 3:20 pm

    Sounds like two great books. And congrats to the winners.

  15. Kathleen Valentine on April 15, 2016 at 4:14 pm

    I am an avid reader of the classics. The first novel I ever read was JANE EYRE and I love so many others–particularly Thomas Hardy and Dickens. Metamorphosis is the essence of good story-telling. A transformation always makes for a good ending.

    #AtoZchallenge
    Meet My Imaginary Friends

  16. Pat Garcia on April 15, 2016 at 6:17 pm

    The most exotic place I’ve visited in a story is in Southern Italy.
    Do I like the Classics? I love them and have read many. In fact, I actually read The Illiad and The Odessey, by Homer. However, the Bronte Sisters are my most favorite among female writers and among the males, Charles Dickens.
    I haven’t read The Miracle of Small Things, but I have just started reading Murder & Obsession by Renee.
    Visiting from the A to Z Blog Challenge.

    Shalom,
    Patricia @ EverythingMustChange

  17. C. Lee McKenzie on April 15, 2016 at 6:45 pm

    Hurray for the winners and hurray for the authors you’ve posted about today!

  18. joylene on April 15, 2016 at 7:06 pm

    I love War and Peace. Anything Jane Eyre. Christmas Carol. Congratulations to all the winners!

  19. Ryan Carty on April 15, 2016 at 7:08 pm

    Woohoo! Now I show my ignorance. How, oh how do I claim my wonderful prize?

  20. LX Cain on April 16, 2016 at 4:49 am

    It was great fun to read Guilie’s and Yolanda’s answers to the questions! And many thanks that I won Chrys Fey’s book! So cool! 🙂

  21. Julie K Pick on April 16, 2016 at 7:45 am

    Congrats to all the winners! I got a kick out of the title for Yolanda’s autobiography! Love the covers of Guilie and Yolanda’s books!

  22. Linda Gardiner on April 16, 2016 at 11:26 am

    Hello Michelle, So happy to find your blog via the A to Z challenge. Great design. Love resources to find new books. Yours is a keeper! Thanks for checking my posts out. I think you are right about lichen being a fungi, algae “thing”. The tree climb was an absolute blast!

  23. Cathrina on April 16, 2016 at 12:05 pm

    Congrats to all the winners!!!

  24. Amy Willoughby-Burle on April 16, 2016 at 12:42 pm

    Congrats winners! said it before, say it again-love this theme! Awesome way to being great books to hungry readers! Like finding a lovely restaurant serving yummy foods you never even heard of! Back for more , please and I’ll tell all my friends!

  25. Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor on April 16, 2016 at 1:03 pm

    Interesting question about classics. I checked out the link an earlier commenter left and was surprised to note that I’ve read a majority of them. I enjoyed most of the ones I read, but I try not to pick favorites, so I can’t answer that question 🙂

    And, of course, I’d love to win a copy of The Miracle of Small Things and learn more about Curacao. thecynicalsailor (at) gmail (dot) com

  26. Susan Gourley on April 16, 2016 at 9:29 pm

    I have Yolanda’s book on my Kindle, just waiting for me. Love her auto-bi title. They should make a song. LOL

    Susan Says

  27. Nilanjana Bose on April 17, 2016 at 1:54 pm

    Are you saying one person can win More than once? oMg! have to rework my entire commenting strategy here, based on that!! 😀 😀

    Seriously, the most exotic locations I’ve visited are all fantasy based – Middle Earth, Wonderland, Platform 9-3/4. As far as real places go my favourite has to be the Mountains of the Moon, encountered as a child in a famous Bengali book, and have been deeply in love with Africa ever since.

  28. Mary Burris on April 18, 2016 at 4:00 am

    Thank you Thank you! I didnt expect to win anything. After the week and weekend that I have had, this is a wonderful thing to come home to. What do I need to do to claim the prize?

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