Lark and the Loon, by Rhiannon Gelston- A Virtual Book Tour

I’m delighted to be participating in author Rhiannon Gelston’s blog tour for her latest release, LARK AND THE LOON. 

I was drawn to participate in this virtual book blog tour because of this cover! I love the rainbow of color in the background along with the child in profile under a tree. This cover says to me the contents of this book will be filled with the sorts of adventures that can only happen when you are a kid.

If I had to compare this book to another book I would say that Lark's journey reminded me of The Little Prince. A fantastical adventure with unusual companions by a boy who is 10.

I found that I appreciated the fanciful telling of the author's own story as a mother, as I think it made space for telling hard, frightening times with joy and love.

◊ Genre: Memoir with a Twist
◊ Publisher: WiDo Publishing (July 17, 2020)
◊ Print & eBooks
◊ Paperback: 284 pages
◊ ISBN-10: 1947966251
◊ ISBN-13: 978-1947966253

Lark and the Loon follows the adventures of a tentative boy named Lark, as he is catapulted out of all that he knows, into a courageous journey beyond his wildest imagination. 

Upon receiving a special gift from his Gramps, Lark embarks on a reflective journey of self-discovery as the innovative story weaves the true-life memoir of his mother (the author) in with a fantastical journey. With some special new-found friends, Lark travels back and forth from a symbolic tree to his mother’s true memories of life and death moments, and simple moments, found everywhere from wild Africa to their very own living room. Lark and his friends must ascend this tree and gain the important life lessons offered along the way if they ever hope to find their way out. Within this journey, Lark finds these lessons, and ultimately himself, in the space between imagination and truth in this wild tale.  

The story explores friendships, philosophies, and everyday challenges and joys, both from a child's perspective and from a parent's perspective. This memoir with a twist results in a coming-of-age story that ultimately leads to a new understanding of self, others, and the world that surrounds us.

LARK AND THE LOON is available at AMAZON * Barnes & Noble * WiDo Publishing. Also, be sure to add it to your TBR List on Goodreads.

Meet the Author

RHIANNON GELSTON loves to lose herself in all things creative. She enjoys writing, painting, live music, traveling, sports, being outdoors, exploring, playing, spirituality, and energy work. She has a BA in English and an MS in Occupational Therapy with a pediatric focus. Rhiannon just had her first novel published. It is a memoir with a twist called, LARK AND THE LOON, available wherever books are sold.

Rhiannon grew up on Spa Creek in downtown Annapolis. Home for Rhiannon will always be the sound of the halyards hitting the masts on a breezy day, a pile of crabs saturated in Old Bay, raft-ups with friends as kids cannonball off of the stern, and time with family and friends, in, on, and around the Chesapeake Bay.

She lives in Annapolis with her husband, their five lovely and lively children, and their black lab, McNasby.

Connect with Rhiannon on Facebook and Instagram.

Be sure to enter the tour wide giveaway. It ends May 3. The grand prize is a $25 Amazon Gift Card and an eBook of LARK AND THE LOON. The second-place winner has to be a US resident as the gift is a signed copy of LARK THE LOON. The third-place prize is an eBook that two winners will receive. If the Rafflecopter widget doesn’t work, you can still enter by clicking HERE.

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Thanks for stopping by today. Doesn’t this sound like an intriguing memoir?

Starting Off The Week With A Free Short Read and Another Rom Com from The Mystic Bayou!

 I've read and listened to a few shorter stories so I thought I'd give some reviews here. But before I do that, I have to share this great spring picture I took on my run the other day. I'm working on increasing my mileage so I am working on expanding my running routes. This is on a four-mile route I do most often during the summer, why? Great question!  In the winter if there is snow, too much of the route isn't shoveled and I don't like trying to run in drifts of snow.  But in the spring, it's a good route and has some of my favorite trees. 

Since I enjoyed running with Love and Other Wild Things, I decided to go right into the next book in the Mystic Bayou series. This one is called  Selkies Are A Girl's Best Friend, and like the other books in this series, the readers are Amanda Ronconi and Jonathan Davis. 

This time around it's Sonja--Gillian's best friend who's come to Mystic Bayou.  She's the office manager and more for the league office and her dander is up from the moment she meets the new Doctor in town Will Camody.  Yes, this is starting off with an enemies to lovers vibe! As I've said before this series is nice to listen to while working out or cleaning.  The readers seem to be having fun acting out these books so you stay engaged in the story and the romance is comedic.  It's a light and fun escape listen! 

In case you aren't aware, selkies are seal people. When they are in the water they are seals and when they are on land, they are people people. 

If you like cozy mysteries, I have a free taste of a series for you!  Just click hear and you can sign up for Ellen Jacobson's newsletter and get a free ecopy of her prequel  Robbery at the Roller Derby. It's a novella origin story for Ellen Jacobson's Mollie McGhie's Sailing Mystery Series.   Mollie is the kind of ametur sleuth I'd like to have as a friend in real life. She's smart, kind and no one's fool.  The prequel doesn't have a murder this is a robbery mystery.  I liked this aspect, I feel that it's hard to build up suspects in a book that is only about 40% as long as a mystery novel. I will be reading on in this series.  I thought this first story was well-crafted and a nice distraction!

Mollie in Robbery at the Roller Derby

 

#TheSundayPost We Are Halfway There!

  

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

I am happy to report that our household is half vaccinated. Everyone has had their first short. The Man was able to get the J&J vaccine, so he is now fully vaccinated.  The rest of us got Pfizer so we are going back for that second shot in a few weeks.  Here is the selfie I took instead of taking a picture of my card.

It's been a tough week. The killing of a 20-year-old in Minnesota and the killing of a 13-year old in Chicago, and the killing of a 16-year-old in Maryland --all done by police officers followed by a mass shooting at a Fed-Ex workplace made me sad and angry. As a white lady, who has white kids, I don't carry the worry about the higher likelihood that one of my kids could wind up killed during an encounter with the police. I can only imagine how much more heartbroken and angry I would be. 

One thing I can do is give money directly to people who need it. I belong to a group that raises money and gives it directly to BIPOC single moms who have kids with special needs. We share their needs and then give money for food, power bills, and copays direct to those in need.  I'm not saying that for any pat on the back, I'm just sharing something I have found to try and help others. if you follow me on Twitter at @Victoria7401 I post the needs there if you ever want to give! 

I also donate time to help local candidates who I believe in when they run for office. If you want to make a change, you don't have to have money, volunteering time is huge. 

Tell me, did something good happen in your neck of the woods this week? How are you? 

Here is my Christmas Cactus and look---you can see tiny buds!  It's gonna flower!

Happy Friday! Time for a #Readalong Review! Hostage To Pleasure by Nalini Singh #ParanormalRomance

 My approach to the month of April in Chicagoland boils down to if it ain't snowing I'm happy. We had some unusually awesome weather to begin the month and now it seems, fingers and toes crossed, to have settled into mostly sunny skies with temps in the mid to high 50s. I'll take it! 

I don't know about your, but I love watching the trees flower and then leaf out! 

Today's review is for Hostage to Pleasure by Nalini Singh.  It is the fifth book in her Psy-Changeling series and I'm reading it as part of the COYER/Books of My Heart 2021 read-a-long. 

The romance of this installment in the series centers on Dorian one of the Dark River pack's sentinels and  Ashaya Aleine an M-Psy and arguably the top medical researcher for all the Psy. We knew at the end of Mine To Possess that the start of a romance between Dorian and Ashaya was imminent. 

In this book, Nalini Singh features a Psy for whom Silence never really took, so that was a new revelation for the readers.  We also get a manifestation of the duel nature of the net. As for Dorian, he is a latent shifter meaning, he is as jaguar as all his packmates, except he can't physically shift.  This causes him physical and emotional pain.  As I read, I *knew* at some point, some way Dorain was going to finally shift.  I had full confidence that Nalini wasn't going to keep mentioning his inability to shift without at some point overcoming the problem.  That's one of the reasons I am loving this series.  I'm a rider on this journey, I'm not sure exactly what roads we are taking, but I have complete trust in our driver.  Both Dorian and Ashaya have perceived flaws that make them different than others like them. Dorian can't shift and the Silence protocol didn't work on her. This leads to a deeper understanding of each other. 

In addition to the relationship between Dorian and Ashaya, so much was happening in the political worlds of the Psy/Changeling/Humans.  It's clear that the Psy Council is going to come crashing down.  We don't know yet what that will mean for the PsyNet as a whole and now we have a new Human organization on the scene, what are their motivations and how will that affect the characters we have come to love.  I am in awe at all the plot plates that Nalini Singh is able to spin at once--so much is happening in this world and I love to read it! 

As I was reading, the sentences below said by Ashaya Aliene really struck me.  

I thought to myself, Wow, now I get it! That is a description of white supremacy with the Psy being the white supremacists--focused only on their 'race'.  Over and over we have read how the Psy believe the Changelings and Humans as lesser beings driven by their emotions.  The Psy only care about their bloodlines and having power through wealth. The Psy don't even seem to realize that Psy/Changelings/Humans are the same species and what hurts the Changelings and Humans also hurts the Psy.  

Until the Psy realized they are all part of one humanity (for lack of a better descriptor) bad stuff is going to happen.  Fortunately for us, we already know of a nascent network connecting all three races has taken root like a seed that will one day become a mighty forest by the end of this series.  

On Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, I Didn't Used To Be Like This!

Post #2 in My Series of posts sharing me navigating the minefield of my own mind post-cancer treatment. 

Tree beginning to flower on a recent walk. 

 As I work on practicing Mindfulness and living life post-cancer treatment, I am slowly realizing a few things. For example, I’ve been operating from the idea that my medical anxiety and fears started when I was diagnosed with cancer, but now that I have distance from those early days I look back and realize that’s not quite true. When I got ‘the call’ it was more of a ‘crap I knew it!’ moment than a surprise. 

At first, when I was still a cancer newbie, I thought it wouldn’t be that bad. Maybe I wouldn’t even need chemo and I was sure I’d be fine. I wasn’t worried that it could kill me. I wasn’t worried when I had my surgery, and I wasn’t even worried when I found out I had the BRCA-2 gene. I still had great confidence that I would be cured, even finding out I’d need chemo, didn’t rock me. 

What destroyed my confidence in my body was the bone scan. I didn’t think they would find anything, just another test to hurdle over, no big deal—my biggest problem was I’d be starting chemo soon and that stupid stuff was going to make my hair fall out. 

I was in the walkway from the hospital to the parking garage when my Medical Oncologist called me to say that my bone scan results were in and that everything was good BUT there was one tiny spot on my pelvis and she wanted me to get an MRI. That was the moment all confidence drained from my body. It has not yet returned—even though once I had the MRI the tiny spot was ruled to be a bony island. If you are going to have a bony something an island is what you want to have. 

It’s funny how something so small and something that turned out not to be anything ‘bad’ completely destroyed the confidence I had in my body for decades. It’s also wild that having come to the realization of how much that phone call rocked my world—so not in a good way—knowing the genesis of my fear is helping me to worry less. Not having a psychology degree, I do not understand why this has made a difference, but I will definitely accept any reduction in medical anxiety!

#2021 Audiobook Challenge Review - Pure Fun and An Easy Vegetarian Dinner!

 

Spring Fried Rice from Real Simple Magazine.  Simple to make and easy to modify! 

I didn't have nori (dried seaweed) or cashews on hand,but I did have a red bell pepper that needed to be used so I added that and I doubled the garlic in the recipe. If I had leftover ham, pork, chicken, steak, any of those proteins could be included if you didn't want a vegetarian meal. If you sub tofu for the eggs, then the recipe is vegan. 

Next time I make this I would like to add more scallions and pea pods. 

 

I tried to be very patient when cooking the egg so it done without flipping it.  I feel I succeeded. 

Now that it is looking like the Chicago Marathon will be a go this year, I've started to increase my running mileage and that means, I'm on the hunt for audiobooks that are engaging to distract me from the long miles I need to put in to build my stamina.  

This week I listened to the second audiobook in the Mystic Bayou Series by Molly Harper: Love and Other Wild Things.  Having enjoyed book one, How To Date Your Dragon I was ready to dive into Love and Other Wild Things.  This book is the story of my favorite side character in book one, Zed the werebear and mayor of Mystic Bayou.  As in book one, this story is loaded with humor:

“You would think I would have weird abandonment issues, considering that both my parents left me behind. But I’m pretty well adjusted, except for this little thing where I run from emotional intimacy like my hair is on fire.”
― Molly Harper, Love and Other Wild Things

One of the best parts of book one was the best friend duo of Bael and Zed, I was very happy to see it continue in this book:

“Bael, you’re my best friend, but please don’t smell me. We’ve talked about this.”
― Molly Harper, Love and Other Wild Things

This book was a great distraction as a ran. I love to read book series in part because I enjoy seeing the characters unfold when reading a series.  Book two in a series also gives the reader a clearer understanding of the overarching conflicts in the story.  

4 stars- if you have Audible, definitely give this series a go! 

Ready for some Coziness? #NetGalley #PintofNoReturn

 Trinidad is one of the three former wives of a white-collar criminal named Gabe.  She is now divorced from said con-man and has relocated to her ex-husband's hometown.  Why?  Well, the only good thing he seems to have done was leave her a building in Upper Sprocket, Oregon.  Trinidad Jones is opening an ice cream shop that will feature fantastical giant shakes with loads of toppings that she calls Freakshakes.  Just a few weeks before her July 4th opening, Trinidad stumbles across a dead body.  

Dana Mentink's book includes everything that makes a cozy a cozy.  We have a quirky small town, We have an amateur sleuth who is new to town. Trinidad has this wonderful dog named Noodles who flunked out of service-dog school and was rescued by her. Trinidad makes a friend and that draws her into the murder investigation.  Trinidad also meets Quinn the nut farmer who is a military veteran that is also the caretaker of his brother. I can't imagine anyone reading this book and not thinking Quinn is a great guy.  There is a real tender friendship, leading to affection and a future romance (?) between Trinidad and Quinn that is so lovely to read. 

The suspects all have good motives and the red herrings and clues make perfect sense in the story.  I appreciated that in this series the police chief is not a love interest, and she is portrayed as very competent at her job.  Additionally, as the story and the sleuthing goes on, Trinidad isn't out running around putting herself in danger and leaving the police investigation out of the loop. 

I think this is an excellent example of a cozy mystery and I would recommend it to anyone looking to start reading the genre.  I'm looking forward to reading more in the series!

5 stars, I don't really have any complaints! 

I received an ARC of this book from #NetGalley, #PintofNoReturn.  All of the opinions are mine! 

#TheSundayPost is Here! Happy #NationalPetDay !!!!

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

Did you know that April 11th is #NationalPetDay?  Do you have a pet cat, dog, turtle, fish, etc?  Tell me more! 

His Royal Highness, Bowie "The Dog" 

Speaking of pets, Monday I'm reviewing Pint of No Return by Dana Mentick (I won an ARC for review from #NetGalley). This cozy mystery has a super lovable rescue dog named Noodles who is our sleuth's cozy companion.  

I also picked up a couple of Cozies from my library - Color Me Murder by Krista Davis. This is the April Cozy Mystery Book Club selection and I get to be a co-host for the YouTube live stream this month!  I also borrowed Death in D Minor which is the follow-up book from our March book club!

Don't forget to tell me about your cozy companions! Have a great week! 

Happy National Unicorn Day! Today I have 3 Short Book Reviews! And a #VegetarianDinnerOption

Hey hey, I got to use my mini food processor for this!  You could also use a regular blender or a hand blender to make the pesto.  Once again, I was missing an ingredient in the title of the recipe, but nevertheless, I persisted.  I substituted more parsley for the missing mint. The finished meal was fresh and full of the taste and smells of springtime! From Real Simple Magazine, Fusilli with Minty Pea Pesto 

I listened to the audio of  The A.I. Who Loved Me because it was by Alyssa Cole and it was included in my Audible subscription. This audiobook is more of a play for your ears as there are more than just one or two readers--including Regina King!  The story is the kind of top-notch contemporary romance you've come to expect from Alyssa Cole.  The story is so engaging I don't know if you should listen while driving!  

This is a short prequel to Rosie A. Point's Burger Bar Mystery series. If you want to give it a read you can click here and get a free copy.  When you are ready to read the series you can find it here on BookBub along with other cozy mysteries series Rosie has written.   The murder in this short book is simple, but I think it's more about meeting main characters in the Burger Bar Books. I liked being able to get a taste of this series before hopping into the first book. 

A handsome man and his abs grace the cover of this new release by Lisa Torquay. This is a historical romance that takes place in England in 1820.  The author  Lisa Torquay uses the language of the time so it may read as antiquated if you are used to reading contemporary romance. As you can tell from the title this book uses the trope of a class-bridging forbidden romance. He's a miner; her family owns the mine.  Being a woman, Amelia is seen as an asset to grow instead of a person with their own wants and needs.  It being the early 1800s, Amelia's brother is planning to marry her off to increase the political standing of the family. Will she throw a wrench in his plans?  You have to read to find out! You can purchase this book on Amazon. I was given an ecopy of the book by Lisa Torquay to review. 

On Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, Welcome to The Worry Bar!

 Hi There! 

This is the first in a series of posts about anxiety, post-cancer treatment life, and coping skills. I'll be posting them on Thursdays.  Please share or comment below if you like! 

Ivy starting to regrow on one of my top five favorite trees I run past all the time!

Welcome To The Worry Bar! 

During the month of March, I took an MBSR virtual class. MBSR stands for Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. However, when I say it in my head I always read it as Mind Body Stress Reduction. This is also a decent description. During week three of the MBSR class, the instruction focused on Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and that apparently is my jam. 

One very helpful tip I learned was that thoughts are not facts. This has become my little mantra for all the times when my random thoughts start to get out of hand and illogical worries start circling in my brain. Now instead of getting completely stuck on the road to panic; I say to myself: "Thoughts are not facts." Yes, technically some thoughts are facts, but in the realm of my rambling brain, they are mostly not facts—especially if they relate to worrying. 

MBCT also focuses on reducing aversion. For example, if you have a worrying thought, and you try to shut it down or push it down with ‘be positive! think happy thoughts!” —what happens is you spend more time pushing that thought away than if you would just allow it to be. You don’t have to give it attention, just acknowledge it, allow it to exist in your mind, and then go about your life. It sounds too simple to work, and yet…It seems to work?!? 

Using my imagination I created a bar in my mind. Currently, it's a seedy dive bar. Dark interior, surly patrons, and a limited menu. I named it “The Worry Bar”, I know, not very creative or punny. Maybe later I’ll give it a nice alliterative name when I’m better at  MBSR and MBCT and have some room in my head to breathe and be happier. 

All thoughts are welcome at The Worry Bar. I’m the proprietor and sole bartender. It does have a lovely glossy mahogany bar with well-worn leather stools and then there are four top tables with captain's chairs. Along the left and right sides are empty booths with cracked vinyl seats and Formica tables. Normally there are only a few thoughts hanging out in the dark, dank space of the bar, and oh did I mention,  the jukebox is broken. I am hoping as time goes by I might be able to give it a remodel, put in some new lighting, clean the windows, and have it become more of a gastro-pub or a craft brewery. I want to have lots of fun happy thoughts who are enjoying fried pickles and freshly brewed IPAs. Or if it’s summertime, iced lattes with a nice charcuterie platter and a bottle of perfectly chilled Riesling or a fresh lemon shake-up. That is however too hard for me to contemplate right now. 

Currently, I have Scanxiety (anticipatory anxiety based on an upcoming medical scan) just hanging at the bar nursing a kombucha. She’d like to have a beer, but I’m the owner here and she doesn’t get to pick her drink. She can stay as long as she wants to, but I’m in charge of the menus so it’s kombucha and stale popcorn for her.

 

Tomorrow I am scheduling a CT scan which is routine and is the best current method of surveillance for me. I had a lot of treatment and am doing all I can to make sure my body is as healthy as it can be for decades to come; so I don’t want to potentially undo that work by not having the routine checkups because they stress me out. All that is to say that scanxiety may really start ramping up once I make the appointment tomorrow. That's why I decided to take the MBSR class in the first place, I knew I had to schedule a scan for late March and I wanted to try another non-medicinal tool to manage my fears. 

When I get a handle on my thoughts, The Worry Bar is going to have big soft pretzels and super zesty beer cheese.