Xepherus Reads

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!   I have been speaking with other read ers about how they read. For some they only read an e-book . For others a n audio book on the way to work saves them time. But then there are readers like myself that take it a few steps further. I utilize many forms of reading when taking on a book. With my Good reads and Xepherus Reads reading challenges underway, I have found some great ways to keep on reading .   AU DIOBOOK/ B OOK COMBINATION -   I have tro uble with reading from time to time. I will begin a paragraph, but then I veer off track and lose my place. This can sometimes keep me reading a page for over t en minutes. Therefore I use an audio book in conjunction with my physical book, so that I can read along with the words as the narrator presents the material. This is most helpful while reading my Kindle, which when paired up with audio book through their Whispersync feature, can high light words as the narrator...

  Hello, Book Worms and Book Dragons!   I had the privilege growing up to be able to sit in front of the television, and watch the Carol Burnett Show new every week. Although I was young in the late 1970s (around five years old) I knew that there was something special about this show. In my world of GI Joe, Sesame Street, and riding the swings at the playground, I stopped my kid brain to watch Carol and company. She was magic. She made me laugh harder than any other person on television had. And i f she could get the attention of a rambunctious five year old like I was, she must be magic.   As I grew older and moved on into adulthood, I would catch Carol Burnett Show reruns on television.  I even ordered the VHS cassette tape set of the show on CBS Video. In one way or another Carol Burnett has been a part of who I am at any age. When I recently began to work as a writer and book reviewer, I told myself (Self! I said) I will find a book on Carol Burnett's li...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms,   Janet Evanovich has always been able to entertain me with her Stephanie Plum stories. But little did I know that she also has a new series based in Salem, Massachusetts featuring magical characters. Enter the Wicked Series. I was on the hunt at a local book fair last Fall, and I stumbled upon (literally, there was a book on the floor) a table of mystery books. There, among the hundreds of volumes, sat Wicked Appetite, Wicked Business, and Wicked Charms. Charms I had saw at the book store on their New Releases shelf, making this a huge score for only one dollar each. The series sat on my shelf for four months until last week when I was choosing my February TBR (to be read) picks. I started with the first book in the series, Wicked Appetite.   Wicked Appetite is published by St. Martin's Press, and is a departure from Evanovich's usual mystery or romance fair. While using those elements to fuel the base of this story, the spotlight is on ma...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms!   Let me offer you a scenario:   It's the middle of the month, and you are in the worst reading slump of your life. You have no time to physically pick up a novel and read. Your TBR pile is stacked by the side of your bed, taunting you. Then you decide that if you cannot read a book visually, why not try an audiobook? You search for the audio production of the book you wish to read, and start it. But the narrator's voice annoys you. Their speaking is like nails on a chalkboard. You fear you are back to square one. What do you do?   I have been in this very situation many times. However all narrators are not bad. Here is my list of narrators that are, in my opinion, the best at bringing a book to life, with my all-time favorite saved for last: Marc Thompson:  currently narrating several of Del Rey's new Star Wars novels, including Dark Disciple, Aftermath, and A New Dawn. Thompson has a great knack for voic...