FREE KINDLE FOR PC

FREE KINDLE FOR PC
So you can read my books

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Solidarité and the BooksTagsBlogHop


Going on despite tragedy, growing through the efforts of trying to heal from trauma.  

To deny those who inflict violence upon you the satisfaction of seeing you crumble.

The people of Paris, of France will do that ...

 for that is who they are ... what they have done in the past.


Booktagbloghop 

Toi Thomas has developed a book bloghop for readers and writers 

to share what they are reading, have read, are writing, or have written with others. 

And although the ghost of Mark Twain is shaking his head in disbelief, 

I am going to recommend a series by CHARLAINE HARRIS --

No, not the True Blood series ... (shiver)

It is linked to the Paris Attacks and their aftermath by its striking heroine, Lily Bard.  




 Lily Bard is one of the most compelling and, frankly, admirable heroines I have ever come across. 

She has a very dark past, and from the very first page 

it's clear how much sheer will it has taken for her to make a new life for herself.

 Lily is independent, blunt, feisty, solitary, and possessing a perception born of years dealing with an event that near shattered her.

 The Shakespeare books are mysteries, and they're good ones, 

but the reason to read them is to watch Lily Bard's character grow and change.


“Once upon a time, years ago, I thought I was pretty.

 My sister, Varena, and I had the usual rivalry going, and I remember deciding my eyes were bigger and a lighter blue than hers, 

my nose was straighter and thinner, and my lips were fuller. 

Her chin was better--neat and determined. Mine is round. I haven't seen Varena in three years. 

She is now the pretty one. 

Though my face hasn't changed, my mind has. The workings of the mind look out through the face and alter it.

Sometimes, some mornings--the ones after the really bad nights--I look in the mirror and do not recognize the woman I see there.

I could tell there was no point in going to bed. My feet itched to be running.

 Front door, back door, kitchen door? Some nights it takes me awhile to decide."


When the unpopular and very nosy owner of the apartment building next door is murdered and the body dumped in the local park, 

Lily reports the body to the police--anonymously.

 The local police chief, however, is nobody's fool 

and quickly discovers Lily's involvement and her own past, which makes her a possible suspect. 

Given the situation and, since she cleans for many of the other possible suspects, 

Lily decides that the only way to clear her name is to find the real killer.

Give yourself a treat and follow Lily's re-emergence into a full life through these five mysteries.

31 comments:

  1. You are right about Paris, of that I'm sure. And the book you recommend looks promising.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is the story of a wounded soul who finds she is stronger than she believed. Good to see your here.:-)

      Delete
  2. It is a great series. I have them all.
    I am very sad for Paris, and also for Beirut, attacked the day before, and receiving a small fraction of the outpouring of support and sympathy.
    Extremists make my heart ache.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The media has been dulled with all the death in the past in Beirut but Paris was novel to them. But as you, tragic murders are tragic murders.

      Extremists, no matter the faith, are rabid souls that sow death and reap madness. :-(

      Delete
  3. Hi Roland - Paris is just terrible, normally I couldn't write anything but inadvertently found a way this time.

    I so enjoyed your recommendation re Louis L'Amour and his Walking Drum - such an excellent book ... so I will get this too ... thanks for introducing us to her. Hilary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am having a hard time to write, too. Sigh. In my 2 1895 Egyptian historical fantasies, I wrote of how the jockeying of local landed aristocrats, the British over-lords fueled a simmering anger in the common man that now has boiled over.

      Double-Sigh.

      I'm glad you enjoyed THE WALKING DRUM. His THE LONESOME GODS details the beginnings of the mega city to be of Los Angeles in the mid 1800's --

      you see its growth through a boy left to die in the desert at the age of six (my age when deserted in Detroit).

      Lily Bard is an absorbing woman whose journey to wholeness is fascinating. I think you will enjoy her mysteries.

      Delete
  4. I'm so saddened (and angry) about Paris.

    This books sounds super good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am grieved over Paris and Beirut. And when I see headlines with Kourtney Kardashian moaning over her boyfriend, it makes me want to tell all the empty celebrities to just back off their incessant need for headlines for just a little while!

      I really enjoyed the journey of Lily Bard detailed in the mysteries she felt compelled to solve. I think you might enjoy it as well.

      Delete
  5. Not interested in the True Blood series either, but that one sounds good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is a surprisingly fine series of a bruised, shattered soul trying to find some small measure of peace in a new town dragged into the road towards wellness by a murder that threatens to destroy what life she has managed to create again. Charlaine Harris never equaled these books again.

      Delete
  6. So sad about Paris...

    Actually, I couldn't stand the 'voice' of the True Blood series so I think I might like these books better!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is so sad about Paris and about the world's inability to stop Isis -- but hate is strong and hard to counter without letting it take root in our own hearts. :-(

      I enjoyed seeing the journey of a bruised woman who had retreated from life find her uneasy road to wholeness over the series of books.

      Delete
  7. Sounds like a great character. I haven't read a mystery in a while. I'm not familiar with the True Blood series either. I think I'm living under a rock.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The catalyst mystery is interesting but what is truly engrossing is the mystery of whether Lily will be able to find her way back into becoming a whole soul once again.

      Delete
  8. I'm not familiar with the author or the series, but you've made it sound interesting.

    Viva France! Let them never succumb to those who wish evil upon our civilization.


    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ViVa the Human Spirit! We must strive for the true victory of never letting the monsters turn us into one of them. It is an interesting series.

      Thanks for visiting my cyber home and staying to chat.:-)

      Delete
  9. Any senseless violence like the attacks in Paris are bad in themselves. I think what makes us react so much more is the knowledge that they could happen here again and we are not going to be withdrawing our troops.

    The series sounds great. I have a stack of to be read you would understand. But they do sound good.

    Take care

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The tragedy in Paris just made me think of Lily Bard, so I thought I would share. :-)

      If another 911 occurs here, I am afraid Congress may legislate Muslem relocation camps as they did with the Japanese relocation camps for the safety of innocent Muslems living in America. :-(

      Delete
  10. Thank you so much for hopping along with me this week. You're recommendation sounds very intersting, especially sense I'm in the mood to read more mystery. Thank you for braving the grief, anger, and frustration of this trying time to share with us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad to do it, especially since Lily Bard is a symbol for rising from the ashes to endure and triumph. :-)

      Delete
  11. This book sounds really awesome! I'll have to check it out! Thanks for sharing. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought Lily Bard's mysteries and personal growth fit the fallout from the terrible Paris attacks. :-) I think you will like it.

      Delete
  12. Thanks for your tribute to Paris and the French, Roland. I love books by Charlaine Harris. Haven't read this one, so thanks for the thumbs up. Will make sure I do. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many have tried to extinguish the spirit of Paris and France but failed. I just bought the audiobook of Lily's first mystery to listen to her struggle to become fully human once more. :-)

      Delete
  13. Upon investigating the L'amour book. I couldn't help but notice an ad for what sounds, and looks like a great book. The Author as most greats passed 2 years ago, and His book was just published 13 days ago.

    This book looks alot like your kind of book, Roland. It's got me more than curious, of course, as any Resurrection of the great Samuel Clemens and Henry Morton Stanley will.

    Twain & Stanley Enter Paradise Hardcover – November 3, 2015
    by Oscar Hijuelos (Author)

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1455561495/ref=amb_link_445548302_3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=hero-quick-promo-books-atf&pf_rd_r=0NJ8CBX9SMHM7YPDC8S9&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=2269403042&pf_rd_i=1455561495

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just bought the audio of it. Thanks, Robert. :-)

      Delete
    2. The pleasure is all mine my Friend. Especially since, you recommended so many great books, and Author's to me, over the Years spent in God's Country (chuckle) or land of the Voodo Bayou's.

      Delete
    3. Lifeshare, by the way, is situated by a flowing bayou -- which means we've been flooded out twice by hurricanes!

      So that is why they are building a dike all around our building as I write! Six months of no parking, flat tires from nails, and mud/concrete dust everywhere! Help!!! :-)

      Delete
  14. "To deny those who inflict violence upon you the satisfaction of seeing you crumble." Excellent mantra. And so very French. The world needs to celebrate life and love and pleasure instead of focusing on hatred and fear and dividing lines.

    Great post, Roland. Will check out Charlaine Harris's work.
    Guilie @ Quiet Laughter

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is a mantra I have used often in my own past. Viktor Frankel said our last freedom was the freedom to choose the attitude we take concerning the pain we are in. :-) He discovered that in a Nazi concentration camp.

      Thanks for liking my post. Roland

      Delete