The book has received an overwhelming amount of praises. Some even hailed it as Connelly’s best work. I couldn’t wait to read it.

The book? Michael Connelly’s 9 Dragons.

As an author, I planned not only to read 9 Drangons for pleasure, I’d read it as a student learning from a master.

I rushed to the store, bought a copy, hurried home, and began to read it . . . and hated it.

Surely, something wrong within me prevented me from enjoying the book. Maybe I wasn’t in the mood to read a mystery? Highly unlikely, but what else could it be? I set the book aside.

Several days later, my enthusiasm returned. I felt ready and eager to tackle this book. I tried picking up where I had left off. Then I realized I couldn’t remember who the characters were or even the plot. No matter. I’d start at the beginning.

I did . . . and hated it.

But this is the Michael Connelly, a master of words. King of suspense. I forced myself to continue reading. Three months later, I still hadn’t finished the book. Often, I’d find myself reading words instead of sentences. Many times I had to go back and re-read the pages I’d already read.

Just about four months after I first started reading the book, I finally finished it. I had forced myself to read the entire book, an experience that didn’t bring me pleasure. Thinking of all those wasted hours, I wondered why I had been so determined to finish the book, but even before the thought formed, I knew the answer. I read it because this book was written by a Big Name Author. No other reason.

That got me to thinking. Is this fair? Had this book been written by a new or an unknown author, would I have tossed it after the first 20 pages?  Yes, most definitely.

I mentioned this to a friend who loves to read. She looked at me and said, “I find myself doing the same thing.”

Her answer shocked me. I wondered about other readers. Are we all alike? I conducted a small survey and sent it to 100 readers scattered throughout the United States.

The majority—88%, to be precise—said that they give all books the same chance, regardless of who the author is. Sally from Kentucky said, “I don’t care who wrote the book. If it doesn’t appeal to me, I trash it.”

Most who made similar comments added a big but. They may toss the book aside, but after a cooling-off period, they return to it if a Famous Author wrote it. The readers admit that they give the well-known author a second chance, but not so much the new or unknown author. Maggie from Colorado said it best. “I give Big Names a second chance—and often a third chance—because I figure they know the craft better.”

One amusing fact that surfaced in this survey is that not the name, but where they got the book influences their decision as to whether to continue reading. If the book came from a library or was a free download, the readers are more likely to toss the book. “But if I actually purchased the book, I definitely give it a second—even a third—chance,” said Theresa from Florida.

Also, most went on to say that they’ll give an e-book a second chance, but not a traditional book. “I don’t have to worry about finding a place to put the book while I’m deciding if I want to give it a second chance. I have my handy e-book reader, and there the book is waiting for me to make up my mind,” Nancy from South Dakota said. “A traditional book is different. I don’t have that much storage space, so I simply toss the book.”

Ten percent of those surveyed claimed that Big Name influences their decision in the opposite direction. “I figure that an established author should know better. If they wrote a mediocre or a bad book, I toss it faster than one written by a new or unknown author,” Cathy from Maine said.

The vast majority, 99%, claimed that if they didn’t like a particular book, they’ll give the author a second chance by purchasing one of their other books. “It’s just too hard to find a reliable author to throw one away for one bad book,” Korey from Pennsylvania said.

As for me, I promise to give Big Name and Small Name authors the same chance. If the book doesn’t grab me in those all-important opening pages, I’ll toss the book. There are too many great books out there for me to waste my time on a book that doesn’t grab me.

What do you think? Are you more likely to finish a book if the author is well-known or are all authors equal opportunity?

L. C. Hayden is the author of the award winning Harry Bronson mystery series. Her latest release When the Past Haunts You is a finalist for Left Coast Crime’s Watson Award. The first book in a new mystery series introducing Aimee Brent, Ill Conceived, is scheduled to be released in June. She invites you to be her Facebook friend at Lc Hayden and Tweet her @LCHayden1.

Love / Hate is the spot for raves or rants on any book or reading related topic. Submit yours here.

When I received the initial email from my agent saying St Martin’s Press was looking for original New Adult fiction, I was visiting Jane Austen’s house in Hampshire. Maybe it was the atmosphere, but an historical idea I’d kept floating around in the back of my mind instantly sprang forth. I pitched that idea, and within a month it was contracted and I was away and writing what would become The Heiresses.

I’d never written an historical novel before, but, being a huge fan of 1920s London, I felt comfortable with the time period I’d chosen. My favourite writer is P.G. Wodehouse and other favourites include Stella Gibbons and anything at all Mitford. At the time, Downton Abbey was gaining in popularity and although the first two seasons were set slightly earlier than the 1920s, it was amazingly helpful to listen to the dialogue, take in the interiors and drink in the costuming.

Whilst I knew that writing an historical novel would involve research, I’m not sure I understood quite how much! At first, I made the mistake of stopping after every second sentence to run off and check some historical detail or another. I quickly learnt that I’d need to put large Xs in place of that detail and schedule research in for specific times, or I’d never get anything written at all!

Thankfully, this research was made a whole lot easier by the fact that, with the most spectacularly perfect timing, I happened to be living in Cambridgeshire, England, for an entire year (home is normally in Australia – quite a different setting!). Cambridge is less than an hour from London by train, which meant that I could make the journey down on the weekends and potter about researching. I liked to stay in Bloomsbury (a well-known writers’ haunt). I’d walk and walk and walk, get lost and then walk and walk and walk some more, getting to know the areas my three heroines frequented in London.

On my trips to London, I was able to walk around Belgrave Square and choose the exact townhouse I wanted the girls to live in with their aunt. I made my way to Russell Square, and selected evil brother Charles’s townhouse as well. I shopped at Liberty, just like the girls did, and marvelled at the wooden beams. Technical historical details were far more easily fielded than they would have been if I was living elsewhere. When I wasn’t sure about a certain room at the Savoy hotel, I was actually able to get in touch with the hotel’s archivist (yes, I know, what an amazing job!). For a bit of fun, I even booked a retro Mini tour one day and toured the sites in the book to make a little book trailer.

I think my research highlight, however, came on the day my family and I were driving home to Cambridgeshire from a weekend spent in Oxfordshire. I’d heard that Downton Abbey was currently filming exterior shots in the tiny village of Bampton and so we decided to make a quick detour, despite the fact that it was an absolutely foul day – cold and wet and miserable. I’m so glad we decided to stop, because the freezing half hour I spent running around the village taking photos was just magical. It was a Sunday and filming would resume the next day, so the cameras were all out in the churchyard, wrapped in red plastic, there were trailers everywhere, bunting strung up for what would be Matthew and Mary’s wedding and even all the signage was in place for Downton Cottage Hospital, the Grantham Arms pub and so on. It was surreal and wonderful – just like stepping into their world.

I adored writing The Heiresses and know it will always remain a special project for me as an author. Being able to research on the ground was an amazing experience and one I hope I’ll have the opportunity to pursue again in the future.

Having failed at becoming a ballerina with pierced ears (her childhood dream), Allison Rushby tried writing instead. Over the past ten years, she has published five books for young adult readers and five for adult readers in the women’s fiction genre. She is originally from Brisbane, Australia, but spent 2011 and most of 2012 living in Cambridge, UK, where she mainly spent her days whingeing constantly about the weather. She is currently working on a New Adult contemporary, a Middle Grade book about aliens and her sanity.  Oh, and she got the pierced ears in the end, thanks for asking…

Learn more and order your copy of The Heiresses here:

Read is the spot to share your book recommendations, reviews, lists of absolute favorites, and thoughts on anything reading or writing related in general. Share yours here.

One word: Amazing. The trailer for The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani will have “kids” of all ages gasping to read it. We were totally enthralled and captivated even before the quotes from R.L. Stine and comparisons to J.K. Rowling and Roald Dahl rolled by. The first in a brand new epic fantasy series, we can’t wait to embark on the adventure of a lifetime with two best friends…where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one. This isn’t your average fair tale, see for yourself.

Learn more and order your own copy of The School for Good and Evil:

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Cassie Scot: Paranormal Detective is the first book in a new urban fantasy series from award-winning author Christine Amsden. Cassie is the daughter of two powerful sorcerers, although she has  no magical powers of her own. Caught between two worlds, she’ll have to decide where she truly belongs. The author stops by to fill us in on the origination of Cassie Scot.

From author Christine Amsden:

Cassie came to me, I didn’t go to her.

I finished The Immortality Virus late in the fall of 2008, and though I took pride in my second novel, I felt worn out (creatively). When the new year came, bringing with it the opportunity for all kinds of writerly resolutions, I decided I needed to take the year off. I would read, blog, journal, but otherwise give my muse time to heal.

I didn’t make it a year. It turns out, I really am a writer. Writers write. We can’t not write. Taking the pressure off my muse did turn out to have been a great idea, but putting a time frame on it was a bit naive.

Cassie came to me in mid-February, as I played on the floor with me (then) 9-month-old daughter. I won’t go so far as to say she popped into my head fully formed, but it was close. I sat bolt upright, my eyes probably doing that cartoon bulge, as a light bulb appeared over my head.

What if… What if the hero of a fantasy story was the only one in it without magic?

I wrote the first line of the story as soon as my daughter went down for a nap. It read: “My parents think the longer the name, the more powerful the sorcerer, so they named me Nicolas Merlin Apollonius Roger Scot. You can call me Nick.”

Okay, so it needed work. It didn’t take me long to realize I wanted a female heroine. Nicolas (who does not go by Nick and might set you on fire if you tried) became the oldest of Cassie’s siblings.

After that, Cassie told me new things about herself every day. I had a rough draft by the end of June.

Christine was kind enough to give us a bonus to share with Shelf Pleasure readers, a deleted scene from the book! 

A couple of years ago, when I was attending a local junior college, I had a friend named Jen who loved to read fantasy novels. Despite her best efforts, she never got me to read them, but she loved to tell me all about the adventures of sword and sorcery and, to a lesser extent, tales of modern fantasy.

I told her stories about my family, too. On more than one occasion she would burst out laughing and tell me I ought to write my ideas down.

I guess she never actually believed that I come from a long line of sorcerers. Considering how normal I turned out, I suppose I can’t blame her.

One day, as we were chatting after class, my mom sent me a text message asking if I could pick up a couple dozen eggs on the way home from school. I mentioned the message to Jen, who got an oddly pensive look on her face. Then she said, “If your mom’s a sorcerer, why’s she texting you?”

I drew a blank. “Because she’s out of eggs?”

“No,” Jen said, “I mean, doesn’t magic cause modern things to break or something?”

“Why would it do that?” I suspected that whatever she was on about had something to do with the books she liked to read. Though I’d never been interested in those types of stories myself, I was truly intrigued by the idea that magic and modern technology might not work well together.

“Well, because magical energy and things like electricity might interfere with one another.”

“You are aware that our bodies send out lots of electrical impulses, right? I mean, it’s just a force of nature, like heat or sound.” I was picturing someone having a heart attack every time they managed to cast a spell.

Jen frowned. “I hadn’t thought of that. I guess it’s not electricity, then, just modern gadgets.”

“So what, anything invented after 1353?”

“All right, all right, I get it,” Jen said. “But why would a sorcerer use a text message when she’d have magical alternatives?”

“You mean, like a journey book, where she writes a message on her end and it shows up on mine?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Well,” I said, drawing out the answer for effect, “I guess it’s because a journey book requires human blood and the cell phone company just wants a two year contract and a monthly service fee.”

Christine Amsden has been writing science fiction and fantasy for as long as she can remember. She loves to write and it is her dream that others will be inspired by this love and by her stories. Speculative fiction is fun, magical, and imaginative but great speculative fiction is about real people defining themselves through extraordinary situations. Christine writes primarily about people and it is in this way that she strives to make science fiction and fantasy meaningful for everyone.

At the age of 16, Christine was diagnosed with Stargardt’s Disease, a condition that effects the retina and causes a loss of central vision. She is now legally blind, but has not let this slow her down or get in the way of her dreams. (You can learn more here.) In addition to writing, Christine teaches workshops on writing at Savvy Authors. She also does some freelance editing work.

Learn more about Cassie Scot: Paranormal Detective and order your own copy here:

Read is the spot to share your book recommendations, reviews, lists of absolute favorites, and thoughts on anything reading or writing related in general. Share yours here.

All my life I’ve been a voracious reader and writers have been important to me. They’ve helped me to grow and mature. They’ve broadened my mind and my outlook. They’ve inspired me to keep going when things looked grim and to aim for ever loftier goals. Sometimes when I’ve been sick or in physical pain or grief-stricken, they have taken me out of my situation for a few hours and given me respite and relief. In so many ways, writers and the books they wrote have been important to me and my life.

Still, I’ve noticed an odd thing—some writers, who may have been hugely successful and famous, disappear from view. Who ever hears or sees the name Edna Ferber now? Yet she was world-famous several decades ago for her large novels telling the stories of states or sections of America, such as Cimarron (Oklahoma), Ice Palace (Alaska), So Big (Chicago),Come and Get It (Wisconsin), Giant (Texas), and Showboat (the deep South). Ferber won major awards for her books, which were always bestsellers. Hollywood made huge, successful movies from many of them, and Showboat was also a hit as a Broadway play, and her movies and plays also often won major awards.

Ahead of her time and with a sure eye for the plight of the underdog, Ferber often dealt with controversial issues in her work, such as racism and miscegenation laws, immigration, political corruption, the treatment of women and minorities, issues that you wouldn’t expect to be at the center of such popular books. Millions have found themselves mesmerized by her portrayals of the people, places, and times she portrays, as I have many times. She did extensive research for each book and was, in my opinion, the unsung precursor of James Michener’s research-heavy tomes about states in the US and hotspot areas of the world and the better writer. Ferber wrote real characters the reader could care about, rather than mouthpieces for the various aspects of history or area controversies as Michener did.

Kenneth Roberts is another writer whose books have vanished into the out-of-print bins at used bookstores and friends of library sales. His bestselling books, such Northwest Passage, Lydia Bailey, The Lively Lady, Captain Caution, Arundel, Rabble in Arms, and Oliver Wiswell, focus on the periods of American history before and during the American Revolution, and many of them were made into successful films and TV series.

Roberts was famous for his meticulous research into his period, and he told the stories of heroes and mavericks on both sides of that struggle. I think he was the first popular writer to offer the sympathetic portrayals of the Loyalist (usually called Tory) families who had to go into exile once the United States was independent, as well as the families and soldiers who fought for independence. Roberts wrote about the founding fathers and the soldiers who fought for the American Revolution, warts and all, as very real human beings with often conflicting motives and with families and other entanglements that complicated their efforts. When I finish once of his books, I always feel as if I have lived through the period that book covers in a complete immersion experience.

Pearl Buck is one of these once-great and now-forgotten authors who’s getting a new lease on life through the influence of Oprah Winfrey. I know it’s fashionable in literary circles to criticize Oprah, but I believe she provides America, in general, and literary culture, in particular, a real service in encouraging reading and in bringing recognition to forgotten or overlooked works. Look at what happened to Pearl Buck. Even though Buck was the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, her bestselling and award-winning books, such as The Good Earth, Sons, A House Divided, Other Gods, China Sky, Dragon Seed, Pavilion of Women, Peony, The Big Wave, and Imperial Woman, had mostly been out of print.  The gatekeepers of American literature, professors and critics, had pretty much consigned her books to the ash heap as “not literary enough” until Oprah pointed a spotlight back on her Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, The Good Earth.

I love what Buck said in her Nobel acceptance speech. She pointed out that, in China, “the novelist did not have the task of creating art but of speaking to the people.” “Like the Chinese novelist,” she said, “I have been taught to want to write for these people. If they are reading their magazines by the million, then I want my stories there rather than in magazines read only by a few.” Perhaps this is why her stories of people’s lives, especially women’s, are so enthralling. I know they have helped me through times of great physical and emotional pain.

What authors of the past have been favorites of yours and helped you make it through times of illness or boredom or other difficulty? What writers who are out of fashion now would you like to see back in print and in active circulation?

Linda Rodriguez‘s second Skeet Bannion novel, Every Broken Trust(St. Martin’s  Press/Minotaur Books), was published May 7. Her first Skeet novel, Every Last Secret, won the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition, was selected by Las Comadres National Book Club, was a Barnes & Noble mystery pick, and is a finalist for the International Latino Book Award. For her books of poetry, Skin Hunger (Scapegoat Press) and Heart’s Migration (Tia Chu   cha Press), Rodriguez received numerous awards and fellowships. She is president of the Borders Crimes chapter of Sisters in Crime, a founding board member of Latino Writers Collective and The Writers Place, and a member of Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers, Kansas City Cherokee Community, and International Thriller Writers. She spends too much time on Twitter as @rodriguez_linda and on Facebook.  She blogs about writers, writing, and the absurdities of everyday life at http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com.

Love / Hate is the spot for raves or rants on any book or reading related topic. Submit yours here.

Cassie Scot: Paranormal Detective by Christine Amsden

Her parents may be powerful sorcerers, but Cassie Scot doesn’t possess any magical powers. That doesn’t stop her from pursuing a career as a private investigator. After all, she’s smart, clever, and brave. Soon she’s involved in a paranormal investigation and tempted by a handsome sorcerer, leaving her wondering where she truly belongs. Mystery, romance and suspense? Sign us up for this new fantasy series!

The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro

For newlywed Grace Monroe, playing the role of a 1950s London socialite doesn’t come easy, even if it would please her husband. Though she’s trying to live up to expectations, everything changes when, one evening, a mysterious letter from France announces that Grace has received an inheritance. But Grace has never heard of Madame Eva d’Orsey, her benefactor. So begins a remarkable journey to Paris—and what transpires is an amazing story about a woman who inspired one of Paris’s greatest perfumers.

Cuts Through Bone by Alaric Hunt

Rachel Vasquez craves excitement, so her new job working for private detective Clayton Guthrie sounds like it could be perfect. But when all she’s doing is basic surveillance, she thinks it might be time for something new. And then a beautiful Columbia student is found dead, shot by a gun that belonged to her fiancé, Greg Olsen—and things start to get interesting. Guthrie and Vasquez are hired to prove Olsen’s innocence and their investigation has them fighting with the NYPD, crawling through the city’s underground tunnels and chasing one very determined killer.

School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins

Izzy’s family has been fighting monsters for centuries. But now that her older sister has vanished while on the job, Izzy and her mom move to a new town to try and start over. They quickly discover that the high school is plagued by hauntings—and Izzy decides to investigate. For the first time, Izzy has real friends and even a crush. How can she be a normal teenager while fighting demons? She’ll have to figure it out if she wants to keep her new friends safe.

What brand new titles are you excited for?

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t done it before, but this was the first time in a long time that I could recall. Inevitable for most, but an embarrassment for lit lovers, book snobs, and English majors, I had done it: I read the novel after watching the film version.

I realize this makes me a criminal to some, but I am here to plead not guilty. Why? Because reading the book after watching the movie wasn’t so awful after all.

No Country For Old Men is the novel and film in question, the former written by Cormac McCarthy in 2005 and the latter directed, produced, and written for the screen by the Coen Brothers in 2007. Set in 1980 in Texas, the story follows Llewelyn Moss, a welder on the run from Anton Chigurh, a sociopath and hitman, after he finds a satchel containing over $2 million. Chigurh leaves several bystanders dead in his pursuit of Llewelyn. Overseeing the case is Sheriff Bell, whose backstory and narration is sprinkled throughout the novel (but abridged in the film).

I saw the film a few years after it was released. Javier Bardem’s performance as the pokerfaced and ruthless Chigurh immediately sent shivers up my spine and the Coen brothers’ minimalism in sound and setting left me in a meditative state that continued long after the ending credits.

I knew it was based on a Cormac McCarthy novel but for some reason it never found its way onto my bookshelf or my Kindle. It remained steadfast at number two on my “to read” list, somehow never making it to my lap until a month ago.

I had just finished The Night Circus and, while it was delightfully fantastic, I wanted to change pace. Somehow, No Country For Old Men felt like the right next step.

Cormac McCarthy is, without a doubt, a genius. While I have not read many of his novels, I have loved the ones I have read, particularly No Country For Old Men.

I consumed the book in less than two days, reading half one afternoon after work and the second half the next afternoon. Like his other novels, McCarthy’s language is smooth and the words drip off your tongue like poetry. Even the broken English grammar of the characters can’t break the lucidity. If anything, it serves as beautiful juxtaposition to McCarthy’s grandiosity.

Having seen the film beforehand didn’t detract at all from my reading experience. Yes, I did see Javier Bardem in Chigurh and I saw the Coen brothers’ landscape in McCarthy’s description of the barren land; but that only made my reading even more visually appetizing. Throughout my reading I never once thought, “I wish I had read this before the movie!”

This is likely due to the genius of the Coen brothers who kept the screenplay remarkably faithful to the novel. Very few elements of the novel were left out; and those that were made sense for the film. Yes, excluding the sheriff’s narration and backstory changed the film’s direction and overall “moral of the story.” But, I would argue this was a genius move by the Coen brothers. Rather than recreate an exact replica of the novel or completely strip it down to its bare bones, the Coen brothers found a happy medium.

I lost myself in McCarthy’s language and setting of No Country for Old Men as quickly and easily as I had in The Road, a novel of his with a film I have not seen.

And so I’m here to say it: reading the novel after the film version is not always so bad. Maybe I got lucky because the film was a success; or maybe it’s because McCarthy is that much of a genius. Whatever the reason, I’m not so afraid of watching a film before reading its literary equivalent. Will it become a habit? Let’s not get crazy.

Melissa Darcey is a writer living in Los Angeles. She likes film, books, and the Bronte sisters. She is a strong supporter of the Oxford comma. You can chat with her on Twitter @MelissaDarcey. 

Love / Hate is the spot for raves or rants on any book or reading related topic. Submit yours here.

Darlene’s Mom and Annie on Christmas Day. circa 2007

I can never say enough words to adequately express,
All the times you sat by me helping me learn to read in first grade.
We struggled for so many days, weeks, and months,
Yet we still persevered like two soldiers on a solitary march.
Over and over again we read those “wonderful” classics:
“Dick and Jane”, “See Spot Run”, and eventually we
Graduated to those more difficult sessions of:
“The Firefly” and a lot more of that ilk.
At One point (perhaps in despair) you planned with such precision,
Much like a general on that one last forge up the battle hill,
I received that magical series: Read About Me, and suddenly,
A new world opened up!
How I eagerly turned each page to read about the adventures my
Friends, siblings, and pets were having with ME! No
Longer were there long pauses as I struggled with words I
Was unfamiliar pronouncing!! No more problems did
I have with just jumping right in to make a guess how to pronounce a word
I knew so little.  I was like George the Dragon Slayer going out to kill
Myself a dragon and dragging it back to home.

Darlene on her Farm. Her Mom’s favorite photo of her. circa 1969.

I admit I got carried away in third grade
Dare I say now I’m sorry for opening those book packages addressed to You? (I suppose carting them off to my room to read, and
Then giving them to you was a bit presumptuous.)
And I’m sure you were convinced Tina (my older sis),
Was the culprit who swiped the book you were in the middle of
Reading back in those days of Ellery Queen, to which
I say now, how sorry I am to both of you for that mistake.
Tina then showed me how to correctly “steal” the book you were in
The middle of reading while you slept or were busy working on the farm.
At least I can claim how I learned speed reading, was solely because of you.
And let’s not forget those magazine subscriptions you gave to us kids:
Cricket, Highlight for Kids, and World Geographical for kids.
(I suppose it makes sense now how each of us either did well
In the science world or the world of literature with all that you gave us.

So if anything I would like to say these few,
Magical words which realistically gave me a whole new world:
Thanks Mom, for being my book pusher!!!

Darlene has spent several years in the King County area teaching English classes, all portions of the GRE, and Adult Basic Education (ABE). She’s done phone soliciting, banking, data entry work, and currently is a book reviewer at nightowlsreview.com. She’s happily married to a great guy and has a therapy dog: Pookie, who keeps them busy. She’s owned enough books to rival the Library of Alexandria in her lifetime!

Love / Hate is the spot for raves or rants on any book or reading related topic. Submit yours here.

“Whenever Mother’s Day rolls around, I regret having eaten my young.”  So goes the quote from the only comic book I admit to reading, The New Yorker Book of Mom Cartoons.  Mother’s Day is one of my favorite holidays, mostly because I’m a mother.  I am queen for the day and my five children refer to me as “Your Highness”, dropping rose petals before my every footstep, showering me with gifts and goodies galore.  Sound like the greatest story ever told?  Yeah.  I suggest every mother indulge herself with a great story, even if you’re not a rug rat queen.

I received The New Yorker Book of Mom Cartoons as a gift from my mother.  These hilarious cartoons are not high-brow humor.  If you’re a mom, you’ll get the jokes and you’ll laugh.  Each one can be easily embraced and chuckled over with a heartwarming cocktail.  Or two.  Or three?  But, who’s counting?  Turn to page 36 where an open-door liquor storefront advertises: Remember Mother’s Day, May 10^th.  It’s funny because it’s true.

I’m reading, Woman of The Bible, by Ann Spangler and Jean E. Syswerda, a year-long devotional study of inspiring women in scripture and I need all the inspiration I can get.  Meditation and conversations with God are recommended.  God and I talk.  A lot.  Why?  Because sometimes I think He is the only one who listens to me.

The Stepford Wives, by Ira Levin, is a haunting rendition of perfection attained after death.  This 145 page classic originally meant to be a horror has today become a comedy.  The title itself makes me giggle.  Yet, how horrifying (and gratifying on some sick level) to be known as a Stepford Wife.

Patrick Dennis’ Auntie Mame tells the story of a boy orphaned at a young age and sent to live with his flamboyant aunt.  It is fittingly called an irreverent escapade and reads like a modern day memoir.  I come from a large family and while some of my aunts were fun and others were interesting, none compared to Auntie Mame, but I wish they had!  When I became an aunt for the first time (before I was married and had children of my own) I aspired to be like Auntie Mame to my nephew.  Had I been disturbingly wealthy and theatrically glamorous with a live-in housekeeper as my sidekick, then perhaps I would have been able to achieve my goal.  But alas, I live a simple and modest life.  Still, I often wonder how children would turn out if every mother took to heart this quote from Auntie Mame: “Oh, the adventure,” she cried ecstatically, “of molding a new little life!”

What books are you reading to celebrate Mother’s Day?

Catherine Jordan is a Pennsylvania author of fiction.  She has been writing stories since learning to hold a pencil.  Her first novel, Seeking Samiel, is a supernatural thriller.  Her short story, The Green Eyed Monster, was published in the anthology, A Community of Writers, edited by Ann Elia Stewart.  Both books are available at www.sunburypress.com  www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com   Like Catherine on http://www.facebook.com/CatherineJordanBooks  Follow on Twitter: @CatherineBooks. Visit her website: http://www.catherinejordan.com

We’d love to know what books are waiting for you on your nightstand. Send a picture along with a description to us here.

When we saw the trailer for Have No Shame, the latest novel from international bestselling author Melissa Foster, we knew we had to feature it on Shelf Pleasure. The setting and haunting music make you think it’s going to be a typical romance, but you quickly realize you’re in for something else completely. Watch the trailer, and then read on for details on the making of this beautiful trailer from the author herself.

Author Melissa Foster:

“I love writing, but as a natural extension of my stories, the book trailers that represent my books are a thrill to create. When I dove into creating the trailer for Have No Shame, I thought of it as a mini-movie presentation, and approached it as such. Casting my characters was my primary focus. While writing, I’d fallen in love with Alison Tillman, the nineteen-year-old daughter of a farmer who is set to marry her high school sweetheart. Capturing her innocence was key to portraying the right theme of the book. At par with Alison’s innocence, was the importance of Jackson John’s portrayal of a conflicted black man. Jackson is strong and manly (he’s a military man, after all), but he’s also vulnerable and carrying the weight of segregation, and later in the story, forbidden love, on his shoulders.

For me, creating the video trailer for Have No Shame has brought my characters to life. The music portrays the soft, loving and tense feel of the story, and the country feel of the imagery; rustic frames and grassy fields, brings the viewer right into Alison and Jackson’s daily life. I hope my readers get as much enjoyment from the trailer as I did creating it.”

Is there a book trailer that you can’t stop watching? Share it with us and it could be featured as a Shelf Pleasure trailer of the week!