Splendors and Glooms

I've had a great week. I won a prize over on a group I belong to on Goodreads. It's called Great Middle Grade Reads, and they devised a giveaway and contest that was quite brilliant.

Several of the authors, I believe it was fourteen, joined together and compiled excerpts from one of their works. Just a chapter or two, or a shorter snippet, to give the reader a taste of their style and voice. Then one awesome member formatted them all together into book form, and offered it free for several days. I actually paid 99 cents for a copy of it before the giveaway, simply because I was impatient to begin reading.

Along with the book giveaway, they also hosted a contest through Rafflecopter and gave away some wonderful prizes. The top prize was a Kindle, I believe, but they also gave away gift cards and full copies of each of the novels included in the compilation. I won a copy of Gasparilla's Treasure, but I'd already read it, so they've offered me an optional prize instead. Is that awesome, or what?

I think this was a fantastic idea and hopefully a great marketing strategy. It brought traffic to blogs and an awareness to new authors that might pique your interest. Good for you, all involved.

Aside from winning a new book to read, I had a lovely Valentine's Day with my family, received some lovely mementos for the day, and went shopping with my granddaughter. She ended up making a killing, while Nana came home with nothing. Literally. 

But we did stop off at the library on the way home and I picked up some books I'd been wanting to read. I started Splendors and Glooms by Newbery Award winner Laura Amy Schlitz.

I've not read any of Ms. Schlitz' other works, but this book is terrifying. It's an MG read, and it is definitely an MG voice, but it left me with strange dreams last night!

I knew from the very early stages that there was something very weird going on in this story. Something about Clara made me feel that she was either a totally evil child, or else something totally evil was going to happen to her. Well, I wasn't wrong.

But I'm not going to tell you which it is. First, I don't know yet, because I'm not quite halfway through the book. (It's so good I had trouble putting it down).

Second, I try to make it a habit not to put spoilers in my posts. It isn't fair to either the readers or the authors to give away their secrets. 

So go to the store, or the library, or download your ereader, and check out this tale. If I change my mind by the time I reach the end, I'll be sure to come back and let you know, but I think this one is a winner.

Happy Reading!

Cordelia Dinsmore