Sheila's Books Read

Sheila's bookshelf: read

The Best Intentions
Scotland's Melody
The Secret Society of Salzburg
Secret of the Sonnets
20-40-60-Minute Dinners: Meals to Match the Time You Have
Through the Wilderness: My Journey of Redemption and Healing in the American Wild
Secret Santa Claus Club: A Tool to Help Parents Unwrap the Secret of Santa
Mr. Pudgins
Revenge Never Rests
The Best Mistake
Meriden Park
More Inspirational Stories for Young Women
The Great Tree: A Christmas Fable
To Capture His Heart
The Call of the Sea
Esperance
Livvy and the Enchanted Woodland
Come, Gentle Night
The Bad Boy Theory
Guide To Smart Wedding Planning: What You want to know and everything you haven't thought of yet.


Sheila's favorite books »

2024 Goodreads Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
Sheila has read 4 books toward her goal of 100 books.
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Friday, May 26, 2017

J. Golden Kimball: The Remarkable Man behind the Colorful Stories By Kathryn Jenkins Gordon-Blog Tour Review and Giveaway


{Product Details}

  • Title: J. Golden Kimball: The Remarkable Man behind the Colorful Stories
  • Author: Kathryn Jenkins Gordon
  • Paperback: 144 pages
  • Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc. (May 1, 2017)
  • Genre: Non-Fiction
  • ISBN-10: 1524403563
  • FTC, FYI: I received a review copy in exchange for an honest review.


{Book Description}
He is J. Golden Kimball, and when he is gone, there will never be another. He was the original product, and when Providence had finished him, the pattern was lost and never found again.

LDS Church history is comprised of the accounts of multitudes of men and women who set the groundwork for the Church. And while there are plenty of ordinary individuals woven into that patchwork of history, there are also a handful of unique individuals who enliven the past and provide inspiration for the future. Known as the “swearing Apostle,” J. Golden Kimball is just such a character, one whose legacy of colorful language is surpassed only by his fierce loyalty to the gospel.

In J. Golden Kimball: The Remarkable Man Behind the Colorful Stories, readers are invited to come to better know this legendary man made famous by his unique humor and powerful testimony. From a chronicle of Kimball’s youthful adventures to the legacy he forged in his more than forty years as a General Authority, gear up for a rollicking ride through the life of one of the liveliest servants of the Lord.



{My Review}
I was very excited to read and review J.Golden Kimball: The Remarkable Man Behind the Colorful Stories. You see, my father's two favorite apostles were J. Golden Kimball and LeGrand Richards. We spent many a Family Home Evening reading stories about J. Golden Kimball and many that I read in this new book were ones I had heard before in my youth. My dad always said he loved J. Golden because he was real and down to earth. The thing that people will learn most from this book is that J. Golden Kimball was more than the "swearing apostle". He did use colorful language at times in his life, but he also was very straight to the point when it came to talking to and teaching the people of the church. He didn't hold back most of the time. 

I had not know of his hard life from growing up very poor after his father, Apostle Heber C. Kimball died, to him trying to start various businesses and losing money along the way. Author Kathryn Jenkins Gordon has such a wonderful way of telling Kimball's life story. She has a wonderful and fun voice as she teaches readers about the man and the many funny, sad and glorious things J. Golden did in his life. This book is not bogged down with just boring details of a man's life but is woven with much humor as Gordon shares about what truly made J. Golden Kimball remarkable. He had a powerful testimony of the gospel and could be very inspirational when needed.

"No man has any influence or power for good when angry."


I had to share a few of my favorite stories from the book about J. Golden Kimball that I remember first hearing when my dad shared them with our family.

  • There was to be an impressive tour given to some dignitaries from other lands. J. Golden Kimball was assigned to the tour as a guide. They first took a bus trip to the important historical sites in and around Salt Lake City. Brother Kimball would constantly remind the visitors how fast buildings were put up by the industrious Mormons. Every time he would say so, one of the dignitaries on the tour would say, “Oh, is that right? In our country we could do it in half the time.” J. Golden began to get madder and madder as the dignitary persisted to offer such comments. The tour was to end by having the bus drive around Temple Square. Then this dignitary asked, “What is that building there?” as he pointed at the Temple. “Damned if I know,” said J. Golden. “It wasn’t there yesterday.”

  • On a snowy day two weeks before Christmas, he was crossing South Temple to the north door of ZCMI [a department store in downtown Salt Lake City]. He walked slowly to the middle of the ice-slick street.
    A woman burst out of the north door of ZCMI with a pile of packages in her hands and no clear line of sight.
    She plowed right into Golden.
    Packages flew everywhere. Golden was knocked down and the woman fell on top of him. Together they began to slide south towards the curb.
    All traffic stopped. Everyone stood entranced by this most unlikely sight.
    They slid until they hit the curb. It was then that the woman realized someone was beneath her. She brushed the snow away and exclaimed, “Oh, Brother Kimball, it’s you! Speak to me. Are you all right?”
      “It’s all right, Sister, but you’ll have to get off here,” he     painfully croaked. “This is as far as I go".

This book was such a delightful read that I read it in one sitting. It's only 150 pages and is the perfect book for a lazy, Saturday afternoon. Readers will learn so much from J. Golden Kimball's life, especially how to find and use humor while going through the trials of life. I highly recommend this book to all ages of readers from teens to adults. 

{Purchase HERE:}

{Meet Author Kathryn Jenkins Gordon}
Kathryn Jenkins Gordon is the managing editor at Covenant Communications. She is a writer and editor who has worked for forty-three years in corporate and internal communications.         


Here's a fun quote: “A sermon should be like a woman’s dress. Long enough to cover the essentials but short enough to keep your attention.” 
J. Golden Kimball

{Enter the Giveaway!!}

 $25 Amazon Gift Card and a Free Copy of ’J. Golden Kimball’
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Nominate: In Too Deep by Jennifer K. Clark-Kindlescout Program

Hayley Carter won’t let the abusive relationships of her past stop her from accomplishing the unthinkable. With an aversion to men, she breaks into the forbidden world of coal mining only to discover two things: Someone is trying to kill her, and worse—she might be falling in love. Can Haley uncover the conspiracy and keep her distance from her co-worker, Jake, or does her heart have other plans?  

Author Jennifer K. Clark has a book in the Kindlescout program right now. She needs more people to help nominate her book in order to be in the running to have a chance of Amazon publishing her book In Too Deep. if you don't know anything about The Kindlescout program, please read the interview down below that Jennifer gave sharing details about the program. In Too Deep sounds really great and I've nominated it already. 
Go Here to nominate the book-Kindle Scout website
The campaign for her book closes June 1st in 9 days, so don't forget to head there right away! 
            

{Meet Author Jennifer K. Clark} 

Jennifer K. Clark is a full-time author, a hobby artist, and a Halloween enthusiast. She lives in central Utah where she spends her time writing books and hiding the skeletons in her closet. (Yes, she’s one of those people.) She likes to add a touch of romance to her novels along with a healthy dose of adventure. In her spare time, she loves to be creative and has done everything from building a secret passage in her home to making handmade books. She makes every day an adventure. 

{Jennifer Clark's interview about Kindle Scout. }
Q: What is Kindle Scout?
A: It’s another publishing outlet for authors owned by Amazon. Authors can submit their never before published book (50,000 words or more) to Kindle Scout, and within 45 days they’ll tell you if they’ve accepted it for publication. Within that time period, the first 5000 words of your novel is posted on the Kindle Scout website where you campaign for 30 days and try to get people to nominate your book. The more nominations the better, and readers can help decide what books to publish.

Q: I hear those 30 days can be rigorous. Has it been hard for you so far?
A: Not too bad. I’m in the middle of it now, and it’s not for the fainthearted. But you determine the time you want to put into it. I know authors who campaigned every day for the thirty days and others who only sent out a couple of facebook posts and a few tweets. Sometimes books that stay on the “Hot and Trending” list don’t get selected for publication, and sometimes books that never make it to “Hot and Trending” do. But getting people to nominate your book does help. At least it draws attention to the Kindle Scout team, and they’ll seriously look at your book and consider it.
Q: But it’s still tough odds. Is it worth it?
A: Yes. I’ve talked with several authors who’ve submitted to Kindle Scout, and I’ve never heard one say that they wish they hadn’t. Even if you don’t get selected it’s a win-win. You can self-publish right after your campaign, and you just had thirty days of advertising that kick starts your book release. It’s free marketing! Amazon will even email everyone that nominated your book and tell them when you publish it.
Q: And what if Kindle Scout does select you for publication?
A: You’ll get a publishing contract through Kindle Press and Amazon will do the marketing. You receive a $1,500 advance, a 50% royalty rate, and a guarantee of earning at least $25,000 over the 5 year term of the renewable contract. You maintain the rights to paperback. I emailed Kindle Scout and asked just to make sure because I want my book, IN TOO DEEP, to be available in paperback too. Plus readers who nominated your book will get a free eBook copy of it!
Q: Tell me about your book, IN TOO DEEP.
A: It’s my new romantic suspense novel. The main character, Haley, was raised by an abusive dad who beat her mother, so Haley has issues with trusting men. But she’s taking care of her mother and needs money to pay bills. She’s working in the warehouse at a mine and decides to apply for an underground job so she can earn more money, but it means being the only female in an all man’s environment. From there things get scary for her. There’s gender discrimination, and someone’s trying to hurt her and get her out of the mine, and all the while she is trying not to fall in love with one of her co-workers.
Q: I can’t wait to read it. And I like that it’s set in a mine. I bet that’s a great setting to work with. The cover depicts that, and it drew my attention. Who designed your cover?
A: I did. I took a few classes on cover design. But I have to admit, it’s harder than I thought. I’m an artist so the “do’s” and “don’ts” about cover design are fascinating to me. There are certain fonts that you should avoid, and there’s a lot of tricks you should do with color combinations, lighting contrast, and font variation and placement. I enjoy learning about it, but implementing the knowledge is more complicated. I don’t have photo shop, but I did find an online tool that allowed me to create layers for my cover. I think I have about 12 layers in my design which consists of several vignettes, textures, pictures overlaying pictures, PNG lighting accents, and then the text. It takes some finessing to get things so they look like they belong together, but I think I did okay for my first cover.
Q: I think it looks great. Can you tell me what has helped you the most on your Kindle Scout campaign? What’s your inside secrets?
A: I’ve used Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, my website, and my blog to promote on. I really don’t like promoting things myself, so I put together a street team to help me. It consists of friends, family, and some ladies from my critique group. I created a private facebook group for us where I keep them updated on the campaign and they’ve agreed to share my posts and promote the book through their social media outlets. I try to make it fun, and I offer prizes now and then for their efforts. It’s been a huge success for far.  
Q: I wish you the best of luck with it. Can you tell me where to find your campaign so readers can nominate your book?
A: IN TOO DEEP is on the Kindle Scout website under the “romance” category. You can also find it by going to my website: jenniferkclark.com, click on “Books”, and click on “IN TOO DEEP.”

Thanks. I enjoyed talking to you.

Yeah, this was fun. Thanks.

Friday, May 19, 2017

Shatter: A Novel By Nikki Trionfo-Blog Tour Review and $50 Giveaway




{Product Details}

  • Title: Shatter: a novel
  • Author: Nikki Trionfo
  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Cedar Fort, Inc. (May 9, 2017)
  • Genre: YA Mystery/Suspense
  • ISBN-10: 146212013X
  • FTC, FYI: I received a review copy in exchange for
  • an honest review.

{Book Description}

“We never knew there could be people in the orchard. Dangerous people.”

When a mysterious explosion kills her sister, Salem becomes convinced the death was no accident--it was a conspiracy. But no one else at her high school believes her, and all she has so far are theories and clues. With Carrie's killers still out there, Salem's not sure who she can trust. If she can't she prove she’s right before it’s too late, the conspiracy might take another life—hers.


{My Review}
Shatter, by author Nikki Trionfo doesn't seem like the work of a fairly new author but seems to be written by the mind of a pro. The tightly woven story with so many twists and turns leads you on a wild, fast paced ride. There are many flashbacks scenes brilliantly woven into the story that never slows down the pace and adds much to the suspense in the novel. I was always left guessing as clue after clue is dropped and then things shift to turn you in another direction. Just when I thought I had things figured out...bam, another bomb is dropped and my previous theories are blown to bits. 

The author's characters add greatly to the story with the strong protagonist, Salem, as she is investigating her sister's death, or murder as she believes. Salem grows more confident as the story progresses and I really liked how she put her fears aside to find the truth. My other favorite character is Cordero, a gang member who knows more than he at first is willing to admit. As Salem and Cordero work together, they can't but help grow closer as trouble keeps finding them the nearer they get to who is behind all of the problems and murders in their town.

This impressive novel was written with YA readers in mind but as an adult, I loved it. The plot, pacing, unending intrigue and suspense all make the book unable to put down. I give this book a full 5 stars and can't wait to read more from this author.
{Excerpt}
The class is dead silent. Mr. White’s lips tighten. He swallows. There’s something dangerous about the new guy. The teacher leans over AddyDay’s desk and spins her packet so he can read the list of partnerships. “Fine. We’ll break up the threesome. You’ll pair with . . . Salem Jefferson.”
At the sound of my name, I turn to look at my new partner.
The guy near the door is tall. He has the kind of incredible good looks that invite stares, but that’s not the only reason he’s getting them now. The cursive lettering of a tattoo rises from the opening of the guy’s worn flannel shirt. Two gold chains hang from his brown neck. A guy accessorized in gang paraphernalia, not caked with it. His only completely visible marking is an upside down V inked onto his right cheekbone, black and distinct. The tattoo calls my attention for some reason, even though I’m sure I’ve never seen a symbol like that before. An upside down V . . . it seems so familiar.
His expressionless, dark eyes dart to meet my gaze from under a stiff, backward-facing ball cap. My classmates watch him stare at me.
“Salem Jefferson,” he says slowly, putting a slight emphasis on my last name. He waits for my response.
I realize he knows exactly who Salem Jefferson is. Exactly who I am. I’m Carrie’s sister.
Terrified, I whirl back around to face forward. Gang members targeted Carrie, made her frightened. Was he one of them? The skin between my shoulder blades tightens. Why were gang guys after Carrie?

{Meet Author: Nikki Trionfo} 

Nikki Trionfo lives in Riverton, Utah with five kids, a CrossFit-training husband who writes computer code, and lots of hip hop background music. Her teen murder mystery, SHATTER (May '17 from Cedar Fort), won grand prize in LDStorymakers’ First Chapter Alongside Heather Clark, she hosts free writing webinars on YouTube at #50FirstChapters.
A committed party-girl, Nikki serves as the social coordinator of LDStorymakers Conference and chair of Storymakers Tribe. Other notable stuff includes an honorable mention in Writers of the Future and a spot in Utah Horror Writer's shorty-story anthology. This all sounds really serious, but if you run into her, she gets down. Truly. 

{Q and A with the Author Nikki Trionfo}

Q: What was your favorite part of writing Shatter?
A: But to be honest, I’m going to have to say that learning about my own prejudices was my favorite part. I won’t give away too much to avoid spoiliers, but I will say one of the characters was originally supposed to be a villain. About a quarter of the way into the book, I ached for him the way I had ached for my trouble students as a teacher. I felt like I understood why he made so many bad choices. I realized that as author I had written a plot that didn’t allow him to ever make positive changes in his life. I believe in positive change. So I tweaked the premise of the book and rewrote a lot. A lot. But it was worth it. I hope real teens know they have a chance to change if they fight for it.
Q: What actress would you pick to play Salem?
A: If we could go back in time, a young Kristen Bell! She played Veronica in Veronica Mars, which inspired Shatter.  These days, maybe Sabrina Carpenter. My 10-year-old loves her.
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{“Shatter” Blog Tour Schedule:}

{Shatter Links: from the author}

·      Cedar Fort Webpage highlighting the blog tour. http://blog.cedarfort.com/blog-tour-shatter/
·      Shatter landing page. www.nikkitrionfo.com/Shatter
·      Shatter Book Launch and Dance Off. http://www.nikkitrionfo.com/shatter-book-launch-dance-off/
·      Shatter Playlist, with songs that inspired my writing. One song per chapter. http://www.nikkitrionfo.com/shatter-playlist/
·      Inspired by Shatter contest for $50 and 5 books donated to your local school. http://www.nikkitrionfo.com/InspiredbyShatter/
·      Dig into the Shatter World. Books about unions and reformed gang members. Blogs about my experiences writing with diversity. Some of the posts are League of Utah Writers award-winning essays. http://www.nikkitrionfo.com/shatterworld/


 "Comment to Win $30"

To enter, comment below with your answer to "What most makes you want to read the book Shatter or participate in the Inspired by Shatter contest?"
      You need to make a FB or Instagram post with the theme Inspired by Shatter using the hashtags #ShattertheBook and #DanceOffMay19. The raffle prize is 5 books to the middle or high school of your choice, plus a copy for yourself. The judged grand prize is $50.
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