1.Carmen Amato: What was the first book you read that marked the transition from reading kids’ books to grown-up fare? 

EAM: The first book was one from the assigned reading list required to enter 9th grade. It was “The Axe” by Sigrid Undset, the Nobel Prize winning author. Adult themes and religious themes together for the first time. I was shocked at the complexity but bought the rest of the series. It was so intimidating that I never read the other three books.

EAM: First and foremost, the Bible. You can read that over and over and still find more you didn’t notice before. Then, I would like to find Butler’s Lives of the Saints, preferably the four volume edition. Third choice would be “To Kill A Mockingbird”. I figure if I am shipwrecked it might take a while to find me. I get bored quickly if I don’t have literature to make me think.

3. CA: What book would you give as a housewarming gift and why? 

EAM: I tend to like to give books that will be read again and again. Books that direct your thinking. I often will consider a coffee table book featuring a subject that I know the person would value. For example, a religious book for a religious-minded person or a book on cats for someone who is really into cats. I once gave the book “A Catholic Mother Speaks to Her Children” by Marie Catherine-Sophie de Flavigny to a mother of six.

4. CA: You can invite any author, living or dead, to dinner at your home. What are you serving and what will the conversation be about?

EAM: I adore the couple writing team, Bodie and Brock Thoene. I would serve them barbequed spare ribs, mustard potato salad and moscal wine. Ribs, because they are country folk and would probably enjoy that. The wine, because it is sweet and my favorite. Conversation would inevitably turn to history of the 20th century, which is predominantly their book themes, and to Christianity which is always their secondary theme.

5. CA: Can you leave us with a quote, a place, or a concept from a book that inspired you?

EAM: This is from one of Glenn Beck’s books: “Good decent people are around. Good decent people can succeed.” I like this quote because so often, in today’s society, many people think there is no decency or value system anymore. Reminding people of the fact that values still exist will go a long way towards helping this world.

More about this week’s guest: Elizabeth A. Martina grew up in central New York and went to school in both New York and Massachusetts. She has a son and several foster children.  Most of her storytelling ability comes from her grandmother, who told her tales of growing up in the 1910s and 20s. Her current project is a true crime story of passion and organized crime uncovered via historical archives in Italy, the US, and Canada.

• Twitter: @eamartina
• Email: elizabethamartina@gmail.com
• Facebook: elizabethamartina

The weekly Book Savor series grew out of my passion for good books, good friends, and great discussions about what we are reading.

 This week marketing expert Bobby McDaniel shares the books he savors:

1.Carmen Amato: What was the first book you read that marked the transition from reading kids’ books to grown-up fare?

 

Bobby McDaniel:  I was always a voracious reader as a child, but the book that made the most impact for me was Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. As a young man grappling with my own sexuality and the religious/social implications that brought, this book paralleled my own journey. Not only did I find the themes of individuality and personal identity compelling, the writing itself captivated me. It was required reading in my AP class, and usually I read these books grudgingly. I read this one three times, plus read the Cliffs Notes and Monarch Notes. I really should dust that off and give it another read!

 

2. CA: You are shipwrecked with a crate labeled “Books.” What 3 books do you hope are in it?

 

BMcD: This may be cheating… but, I’m going to say 3 series. First would be Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings series. It’s a fantasy classic, plus his prose takes forever to read… perfect for the stranded castaway who doesn’t know when help will arrive. The second would be Douglas Adams’ Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy (Ultimate edition). Why? You need to be able to laugh in crisis, and this sci-fi comedic series also provides practical guidance for staying alive in any part of the universe! Last, but not least, I would hope to have Michael J Sullivan’s Theft of Swords series. Full disclosure, I have known this author personally before his novels were published. That being said, this fantasy series is masterfully crafted and ,while lengthy, it reads quickly and easily. I love the world, the plot, and especially the characters.

 

3. CA: What book would you give as a housewarming gift and why?

 

BMcD:  I’m cheap, so I’d probably pick up those coupons they give away at the post office… I kid, I kid! Reading is such a personal experience, I find it hard to actually buy books for someone else. I’ve had so many books bought for me that sit and collect dust. So, I would either purchase a picture book of the area/state that they live or a gift card to Barnes & Noble. Lame, I know.

 

4. CA: You can invite any author, living or dead, to dinner at your home. What are you serving and what will the conversation be about?

 

BMcD: Douglas Adams. I’m a geek and I love to laugh, so I imagine hanging out with Douglas Adams would be an amazing experience. I would serve Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters, Gin & Tonics, and steak… preferably from a talking cow, but I guess any cow would do.

 

5. CA: Can you leave us with a quote, a place, or a concept from a book that inspired you?

 

BMcD: “I may be mad,” he thought, “but I prefer the shit of this world to whatever sweet ambrosia the next might offer.” – Alobar,Tom Robbins Jitterbug Perfume

 

Tell us about yourself in 3 sentences or less.

 

Bobby McDaniel is a narcissistic, juvenile lunatic with cyclothemic tendencies. He enjoys reading and writing sci-fi and fantasy when he’s not working on building his online marketing empire at Thumbprint Strategic Media.

More about this week’s guest: Bobby is the president of  Thumbprint Strategic Media, LLC, www.ThumbprintStrategic.com. He blogs occasionally at wildlyurban.com and is characteristically clever on Twitter. He and I routinely meet for work sessions at a favorite coffee shop. Over lattes and our laptop screens we talk books, social media, website design, and other critical life issues.

The weekly Book Savor series grew out of my passion for good books, good friends, and great discussions about what we are reading.

And what is the best way to get those great book discussions going? With some thought-provoking questions of course!

 This week crime fiction author Jason Beech shares the books he savors:

1.Carmen Amato: What was the first book you read that marked the transition from reading kids’ books to grown-up fare?

Jason Beech: Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock. I never read much as a boy, but I was once in WH Smith’s in Sheffield, England, and my dad told me to buy a book.

The cover got me first, then the blurb sounded odd and unusual. I’m not sure what that says. But it blew me away when I read it. It’s a story haunted by the main character Steven’s past, whose parents have died, his mother tragically. Returning from the Second World War he spends minimal time with his brother Christian in the family home before he disappears into Ryhope Wood. Their home stands at the edge of this wood and it is occupied by beings conjured by myth and peoples’ ever-changing perception of mythology. So there are bastardised versions of Robin Hood, some early Anglo-Saxons, roaming the woods, occasionally bursting from them into their garden.

The wood has paranormal barriers stopping just anybody getting in, but the characters can reach its core through persistence.

It sounds a little daft, but the characters are rich and yearning for something that seems out of reach, and the themes are epic. For example, Steven’s brother Christian has taken on his father’s obsession about the woods, into which he disappears searching for someone to give him peace. Steven’s friend Harry saw something similar when shot down over France, and is keen to get into this one because he sees his own salvation there.

Steven himself is trying to figure out his feelings for his father, (which is played out brilliantly with the Urscumug chasing Steven and Harry – you have to read it), his mother, and the hate he holds for his brother.

It’s about mythology and how it becomes distorted, as well as how history (including personal) always affects the present.

After reading it, I thought I was into fantasy, but I’ve really disliked everything else in the genre because of wooden characters with silly dialogue.

It struck a chord. I’ve read nothing else like it.

2. CA: You are shipwrecked with a crate labeled “Books.” What 3 books do you hope are in it?

JB: Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock, American Tabloid by James Ellroy (possibly the scariest book I’ve ever read, including any horror), and The Crow Road by Iain Banks.

3. CA: What book would you give as a housewarming gift and why?

JB: The Crow Road by Iain Banks, because the book is about family and what happens when you neglect it. It’s sour, political, has epic swearing, a grandmother’s heart exploding during her funeral, and has you examining your family history and how you must continue to create new memories.

4. CA: You can invite any author, living or dead, to dinner at your home. What are you serving and what will the conversation be about?

JB: Charles Dickens. I’d serve him my mother’s Sunday dinner of roast lamb, new potatoes, green beans, stuffing, spring (I think) cabbage, Yorkshire puddings, and mint sauce, smothered in gravy (onion).

Then I’d ask him if he could have cut a few hundred pages from most of his novels, and ask if Britain has moved on much from Victorian times in social terms.

5. CA: Can you leave us with a quote, a place, or a concept from a book that inspired you?

JB: “8.45 a.m. My mother is in the hospital grounds smoking a cigarette. She is looking old and haggard. All the debauchery is catching up with her.” From The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4

I need to take note.

Tell us about yourself in 3 sentences or less.

I’m an Englishman in the US writing crime fiction and words with extra letters, and coaching the beautiful game to American youngsters.

I have one novel out, Over the Shoulder, and a short story collection, Bullets, Teeth & Fists, coming out in mid-August.

http://jdbeech.wordpress.com/ Blog page

www.facebook.com/MessyBusiness Facebook page

 @beech_jason

More about this week’s guest: Jason Beech is the author of crime drama OVER THE SHOULDER which I read in one weekend. I keep expecting to hear that Hollywood has called him, ready for the next great Goodfellas-type movie. Read my review of the book here.

The Book Savor series is new to this blog and grew out of my passion for good books, good friends, and great discussions about what we are reading.

And what is the best way to get those great book discussions going? With some thought-provoking questions of course!

This week suspense writer Jason Sullivan shares the books he savors.

1.Carmen Amato: What was the first book you read that marked the transition from reading kids’ books to grown-up fare?

Jason Sullivan: Reading the Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov was a huge moment for me as a kid. I was thoroughly enthralled by the magnificent world-building of Asimov and his vision of a galaxy-wide civilization in peril. I found his focus on the interpersonal as the basis for great societies very compelling. In the Foundation Series, Asimov convinced me that psychological drama is far more exciting than spaceships having laser battles.

2. CA: You are shipwrecked with a crate labeled “Books.” What 3 books do you hope are in it?

 JS: I would probably want Hegel’s Logic, because if I were to be alone for hours, days, months and years, I might have enough time to finally figure it out, or at least go mad trying. Journey to Ixtlan by Carlos Castaneda, as I could perhaps use the mystical journey described within as a sort of spiritual workbook for my explorations. Finally, a gem by Richard Brautigan, entitled, So the Wind Won’t Blow It All Away. This is a tragic, humorous, beautiful and haunting book. I could read it many, many times.

 3. CA: What book would you give as a housewarming gift and why?

 JS: With Napoleon in Russia: Faber Du Faur. I recently came across this luxurious oversized book that includes beautiful and unposed paintings of Napoleon’s ill-fated invasion of Russia. You feel as though you are marching alongside Napoleon’s army, seeing what they saw and feeling it as well. Although a tragic event, these paintings have an unpretentious quality and are a window onto a moment in history. The book also reminds us of why it is sometimes better to stay at home and leave world conquering for another day.

 4. CA: You can invite any author, living or dead, to dinner at your home. What are you serving and what will the conversation be about?

 JS: Without a doubt, my choice would be Edgar Allan Poe. For dinner, we would have the Mid-Atlantic specialties of Silver Queen corn and extra-large Chesapeake Bay crab cakes. We would discuss Virginia and Maryland, an area we both know well. I would have secured a bottle of the finest cognac for after dinner. Once the first glasses of cognac were finished, we would sit by a roaring fire and begin to talk about everything imaginable. We would discuss Romanticism and poetry, delve into his seminal influence in Science Fiction and Mystery, and as the shadows begin to make ghastly figures upon the wall, he might share a word or two about the genre for which he is most famous – Horror. I would also want to hear his views on some of the major events that occurred after his death, such as the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, the two world wars, technology and globalism. I would bring up a few things of particular interest to me. For instance, what are his views on the nature of time and affection, and what were the circumstances surrounding the writing of “A Dream Within A Dream”? He might mention what transpired during those last few days in Baltimore, but I would not ask about this. Finally, in the early hours of the morning, as the fire drew down, we would dare to speak of the eternal secrets … before falling asleep in our chairs to the glow of the last few dying embers.

 5. CA: Can you leave us with a quote, a place, or a concept from a book that inspired you?

 JS: From the Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov, the psychohistorian Hari Seldon said, “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”

 Tell us about yourself in 3 sentences or less.

I like surrealist paintings. I have discovered that words piled like blocks on a sheet of paper (or on a computer screen) do not inspire; instead, I try to find them alive and animated within my experiences and environment. Finally, I am hopeful that the world will be a more peaceful place in the not too distant future.

More about this week’s guest: Besides knowing more about Edgar Allan Poe than the rest of us, Jason runs the review and flash fiction site DifferentOutcomes.net.