A New Cover & Two Books
by Julie Coulter Bellon
I have some very exciting news! I got the cover this week for the Christmas booklet that I’m a part of---and they chose to title it after my true Christmas story. I am thrilled and want to share, so here it is:
Isn’t it a great cover? I love the colors and the layout, and I’m told it will be on the shelves in October. I can’t wait.
I also wanted to tell you about two other books that I’m currently reading. As I’ve mentioned before, we have a Bellon Family Book Club at our house. For us, this means that my children and I read a book together, and then we
go out for milkshakes to discuss what we did or didn’t like about it. My twelve-year old son is an avid reader (he read the entire Percy Jackson series three times through just for fun) and he loves Jeff Savage books. He’s read all of the Far World series so far, and loved them, so when the ARC of The Fourth Nephite came in the mail, we were both really excited. As we’ve been reading, I really wanted to say what an impression Jeff will make on a younger generation with this book. It is well-written, and a novel idea that completely engrosses you in the plot. My son is barely able to put it down each night and would gladly keep reading into the early morning if I would let him. I can’t wait to see how it ends, and I want to do a book review here when we’re done. (Hopefully by this time next week).
The other book I’ve been reading is Stephanie Black’s Cold as Ice. I’m to the part of the book now where I can’t read it before bed anymore. This is how Stephanie’s books go for me. First, you meet these nice people and you start to get to know them and their lives, and then these problems start happening and you feel bad for them, and then they handle the problems all wrong and these sinister things keep popping up, and then it gets so suspenseful I know if I read further right before
bed I will have nightmares. When I mentioned this on Twitter yesterday, someone said, “Is it really that scary?” and wondered if it could be compared to Dan Wells’ I Am Not a Serial Killer. I quickly assured them that it’s not like that at all. I’m just a big scaredy-cat when it comes to stuff like that and so I just read Stephanie’s thrillers in the daylight. (I’ve never read Dan Wells’ book for that reason. I also was at a friend’s house in junior high and they watched a horror show. I tried to be brave and watch part of it, but honestly, I watched one horrifying scene and had to leave. I still remember every detail to this day and if I think about it too much, I will get a nightmare, but suffice it to say, I don’t think about it much.) I know, it’s probably silly to most of you, but I’m just a little sensitive when it comes to very suspenseful chills and thrills. Stephanie is the master at it though, and I am smack dab in the middle of her book, hoping the heroine doesn’t do what I think she’s going to do.
What are you reading these days? Do you have any books your children have read this summer that you particularly liked?
I have some very exciting news! I got the cover this week for the Christmas booklet that I’m a part of---and they chose to title it after my true Christmas story. I am thrilled and want to share, so here it is:
Isn’t it a great cover? I love the colors and the layout, and I’m told it will be on the shelves in October. I can’t wait.
I also wanted to tell you about two other books that I’m currently reading. As I’ve mentioned before, we have a Bellon Family Book Club at our house. For us, this means that my children and I read a book together, and then we
go out for milkshakes to discuss what we did or didn’t like about it. My twelve-year old son is an avid reader (he read the entire Percy Jackson series three times through just for fun) and he loves Jeff Savage books. He’s read all of the Far World series so far, and loved them, so when the ARC of The Fourth Nephite came in the mail, we were both really excited. As we’ve been reading, I really wanted to say what an impression Jeff will make on a younger generation with this book. It is well-written, and a novel idea that completely engrosses you in the plot. My son is barely able to put it down each night and would gladly keep reading into the early morning if I would let him. I can’t wait to see how it ends, and I want to do a book review here when we’re done. (Hopefully by this time next week). The other book I’ve been reading is Stephanie Black’s Cold as Ice. I’m to the part of the book now where I can’t read it before bed anymore. This is how Stephanie’s books go for me. First, you meet these nice people and you start to get to know them and their lives, and then these problems start happening and you feel bad for them, and then they handle the problems all wrong and these sinister things keep popping up, and then it gets so suspenseful I know if I read further right before
bed I will have nightmares. When I mentioned this on Twitter yesterday, someone said, “Is it really that scary?” and wondered if it could be compared to Dan Wells’ I Am Not a Serial Killer. I quickly assured them that it’s not like that at all. I’m just a big scaredy-cat when it comes to stuff like that and so I just read Stephanie’s thrillers in the daylight. (I’ve never read Dan Wells’ book for that reason. I also was at a friend’s house in junior high and they watched a horror show. I tried to be brave and watch part of it, but honestly, I watched one horrifying scene and had to leave. I still remember every detail to this day and if I think about it too much, I will get a nightmare, but suffice it to say, I don’t think about it much.) I know, it’s probably silly to most of you, but I’m just a little sensitive when it comes to very suspenseful chills and thrills. Stephanie is the master at it though, and I am smack dab in the middle of her book, hoping the heroine doesn’t do what I think she’s going to do.What are you reading these days? Do you have any books your children have read this summer that you particularly liked?
Julie Coulter Bellon — 8/26/2010 11:38:00 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
I loved Cold as Ice! But there's a big difference between "scary" and "suspenseful." Stephanie's books have such high tension that I sometimes get a little stressed while reading them . . . and maybe I snap at my family a little bit . . . . Luckily, they draw me in so fast that I read them in a couple days.
I'm really sensitive to visual violence and gore. I have to watch movies like The Dark Night, Terminator (the most recent one) and Spider-Man with my hands over my eyes half the time. There's one part of Indiana Jones that I've never seen (propeller + face = ack!).
(But, hello irony, given the books we write!)
I hear you about the scary book thing. Lagoon's haunted rides are about as scary as I'll ever go - wimpy, I know, but I think you understand!
Chas
Waiting, waiting to read Jeff's and Stephanie's books.
I still haven't been able to bring myself to read IMNASK.
I just finished MockingJay...hmmm...
We are reading Peter and the Starcatchers at home right now. So far, very interesting.
Julie, thanks so much for your comments about my book! I appreciate the chance to creep you out again :)
And I'm not a horror movie fan either and don't blame you for leaving! I did enjoy Dan Well's book, but that's the only horror novel I can remember reading in ages.
As far as what I'm reading now, I just started Gale Sears' The Silence of God.
Currently reading Savage's A Time to Die. Waiting in the wings are Agent Bishop by Mike McPheters and Deadline by Claire Poulson. Hope I spelled their names correctly. Not sure what will come after these.
Charlie
Julie, the real problem with reading Cold as Ice right before you go to bed, is that you may not make it to bed! (Just one more chapter...)
I'm currently reading an easy-to-put-down political-intrigue-murder-mystery by Philip Margolin. It's well written, just not compelling. Time to Die is next on deck. And a book by someone Robison recommended, can't remember her name. The one who wrote about the cheerleaders and vampires, but it's not Buffy.
I read Dan Wells's book over the summer and was very surprised by the visceral nature of it. Julie: it really is not for you. Interesting read, though.
Regarding children's books,
my wife just finished going through the whole Artemis Fowl series and is about to embark on something like "Charlie Bone" ? Does that sound right? She gets books from her sister and niece to read.
Now that my older son has graduated from school and entered the work force, he thinks his days of reading books are over and nothing is more important than chatting. *sigh* Every time I think of it, I want to beat him over the head with a copy of Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians and say, "Read this and you will like it!"
I can still influence younger son to read -- sometimes, anyway. He's waiting for the newest Skullduggery Pleasant book by Derek Landy, a series that we've both enjoyed. I'm in the middle of The Magicians and Mrs. Quent by Galen Beckett, which reminds me a little bit of Jane Eyre and The Turn of the Screw. You could refer to it as "Jane Austen with magic." Next up will be Heartstone, the newest Matthew Shardlake mystery by C. J. Samson. I love that series -- so rich in detail and characterization while keeping up the suspense!
I also love the Dan Wells books and can't wait for number three to come out.
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