Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Island in the Sea by Anita Hughes (Plus a Giveaway!)


Island in the Sea 
A Majorca Love Story

Take a trip to the idyllic ocean side in Anita Hughes' newest release Island in the Sea. Set in the backdrop of Majorca, this enchanting novel explores the importance of love and what music can do for the soul. Readers of all ages can become smitten with the adventure of discovering yourself, and aligning yourself with what you know deep down is important.  Love is sometimes all you need. With an exotic flair, you will be eagerly planning a flight to Spain after devouring this new release from acclaimed author Anita Hughes. 

Luckily, you won't have to wait long because I have a giveaway for Island in the Sea! One lucky reader will win a finished copy of this beautiful book.

Synopsis

In ISLAND IN THE SEA, we meet Juliet Lyman, a senior executive at a prestigious record label sent to Majorca by her famously philanthropic boss Gideon with the task of retrieving much-awaited lyrics from Lionel, an award-winning lyricist and talented client who is six-months overdue on delivering new lyrics. To Juliet, business comes first, emotions are secondary, and love isn’t even on the menu. But to Lionel, love is everything, and he blames Gideon for his broken heart. He's determined to show Juliet that nothing is more important than love. As her professional and personal lives begin to overlap, Juliet learns that her boss hasn’t been completely honest and is forced to reevaluate her priorities. Love may be the only thing that gives them all what they need.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
ANITA HUGHES is also the author of Rome in Love, French Coast, Lake Como, Monarch Beach and Market Street. She attended UC Berkeley's Masters in Creative Writing Program, and has taught Creative Writing at The Branson School in Ross, California. Hughes lives in Dana Point, California, where she is at work on her next novel.


"With her magnificent descriptions of Majorca’s beauty and mouth-watering morsels, Anita Hughes takes you on a romantic journey that will leave you breathless. Island in the Sea: A Majorca Love Story is a decadent delight that must be savored!"
—Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke, authors of The Status Of All Things
To enter the giveaway:
1) Leave a comment on this post with you think is the best place to find love
2) Visit Intsagram (@lilmommareader) and tag a friend who you would love to travel with
3) Visit my Twitter page and tweet this post or tweet the following:
I want to win #IslandintheSea by @hughesanita. #stmartinspress limommareader.blogspot.com

Winners will be notified by Friday, April 15!

Monday, April 11, 2016

Let's Start a Revolution

Let's Start a Revolution.
Start now. With you, and your students.
Think about how you start a fire, the power of a flood that moments ago was rain, or how the eye of the storm becomes the strongest center. It may take moments, but sometimes it takes longer, and is accompanied by frustration and turmoil. Nature and teaching have uncanny parallels. The truth is, there needs to be a shift in our educational practice. Not tomorrow afternoon, not a year from now, but right now. Years ago, teachers held tremendous power because they were the basis of knowledge through which children tapped their knowledge. Now, we have Google. This is the start of the revolution. Young minds are depending on teachers to shift their sails and move with the changing winds. This is the time to embrace the changing winds, and sail! One little change can become a collective big change. Let's start this revolution!

The Best Books to Inspire Teachers
Most Likely to Succeed


The Gift of Failure


Mathematical Mindsets


Learn Like a Pirate
Are there any books I may need to add that have inspired you? 

Thursday, April 7, 2016

The Stopped Heart by Julie Myerson


The Stopped Heart by Julie Myerson

With shades similar to Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica, The Stopped Heart offers readers a thrilling adventure that leaves you wondering if grief really can play tricks on the our mind. Long ago in the idyllic countryside, a chilling event takes place, and at the center of the ring is someone with red hair. Fast forward a century, and a family moves to the same countryside to escape their grief that is the result of a terrible family tragedy. A chilling parallel between past and present begins to reveal itself, and the reader is left turning the pages to become immersed in this gruesome tale. This book depicts crimes against children, so for readers disturbed or revolted by that narrative, they should be warned. For the thriller in you, this book will suit the dark side of your reading tastes. Read the synopsis to decide if The Stopped Heart is the kind of book to add to your bag!

Synopsis
Internationally bestselling author Julie Myerson’s beautifully written, yet deeply chilling, novel of psychological suspense explores the tragedies—past and present—haunting a picturesque country cottage. Mary Coles and her husband, Graham, have just moved to a cottage on the edge of a small village. The house hasn’t been lived in for years, but they are drawn to its original features and surprisingly large garden, which stretches down into a beautiful apple orchard. It’s idyllic, remote, picturesque: exactly what they need to put the horror of the past behind them. One hundred and fifty years earlier, a huge oak tree was felled in front of the cottage during a raging storm. Beneath it lies a young man with a shock of red hair, presumed dead—surely no one could survive such an accident. But the red-haired man is alive, and after a brief convalescence is taken in by the family living in the cottage and put to work in the fields. The children all love him, but the eldest daughter, Eliza, has her reservations. There’s something about the red-haired man that sits ill with her. A presence. An evil. Back in the present, weeks after moving to the cottage and still drowning beneath the weight of insurmountable grief, Mary Coles starts to sense there’s something in the house. Children’s whispers, footsteps from above, half-caught glimpses of figures in the garden. A young man with a shock of red hair wandering through the orchard.
Has Mary’s grief turned to madness? Or have the events that took place so long ago finally come back to haunt her…?

It is intriguing, right? A huge thank you to Harper Books for the early copy of this book.