HONEYSUCKLE LANE BY SQUID MCFINNIGAN- HELP NEEDED

Here comes the time to help a great storyteller !

I usually don't do that but Squid McFinnigan is a great talented man with a big heart I have the pleasure to follow and to know.

His stories are awesome!
Brilliantly written, they hooked you from the start whatever they are funny or scary. He has a way with words and emotions that is really touching.
It's like he was near you whispering an old tale or sharing a part of his world. The best quality in my opinion for an author!

If you want to spend some great time, go have a look at his blog: http://squidmcfinnigan.blogspot.ie you will not be disappointed.

And if you have some time, please go and vote for Honeysuckle Lane…I've been lucky to read some chapters, but I need your help with Amazon to know the end!!!

Thanks in advance!

Summary of Honeysuckle Lane
Behind every door hides a secret.
What happens when the front door shuts? Could the person living next to you be a drunk, a wife-beater, a gambler, or even psychotic? Honeysuckle Lane is a street like any other, until one man’s obsession becomes deadly. Then all the streets secrets begin to spill out, for the world to see.

Categories:
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense  ›  Crime Fiction

Here the link to vote
https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/PGM6G83S4UOI

AMBER SMOKE BY KRISTIN CAST

The Escaped Vol 1

Summary 
There is a world that runs parallel to our own, a world in which the souls of the damned are caged, where they are looked over by the Furies, and where they spend eternity in torment, mirroring the devastation and mayhem they created when alive.

Someone has opened the cage.

The worst of terrors has crossed the barrier that separates our world from theirs, and the Furies send a great, albeit untested warrior—their only son, Alek—to try to bring those souls back. He is young and handsome, headstrong and impulsive, and he won’t be able to do it alone.

Eva has grown up, beautiful and beloved, but surrounded by secrets. First, she will be hunted in an ancient feud that will threaten her life. Then, she will become the hunter.

With the police closing in and two worlds on the verge of crumbling around them, Alek and Eva must find each other, discover the limits of their powers, and work together to save everything they hold dear, including one another.

Blending elements of mythology with the dazzling storytelling that her fans have devoured through the House of Night series, Kristin Cast weaves a spellbinding and passionate tale that starts a thrilling new series with an explosive charge.

Reactions 
In her "House of Night" series, Kristin Cast has succeeded in making me read 8 of her books with avidity as I was really attracted by her plot and twits. She has been able to hook me from the start. So, when I've read the summary of her new mythology oriented series, I've decided to give it a go.

Honestly I was even a little excited knowing this author was having a great imagination and some lovely written skills. And she still has an easy way to present the story and the characters but…there is a huge but… The more i was turning the pages, the more I was disappointed!  

I was bored by the action as the story has taken a lot of time to develop into something interesting. And at the moment, it started to get some pace something is missing. Not enough suspense, not enough paranormal stuff. Alek is arrogant, grumpy but doesn't show his potential and worse he is a mommy boy. Eva is sweet but the connexion is hard to make. She is the main character but as the same time, she is not. 

After closing the book, I really don't know if I would want to read the sequel as I'm disappointed. Sad because I really know that this author is good and great.

Source 
Arc provided by Netgalley. I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.

Photography as Meditation: Tap Into the Source of Your Creativity by Torsten Andreas Hoffmann

Summary

For many people, photography serves as a form of meditation; a way to separate themselves from their stressful lives.

In this book, Torsten Andreas Hoffmann explores an approach to artistic photography based on Japanese Zen-Philosophy.

Meditation and photography have much in common: both are based in the present moment, both require complete focus, and both are most successful when the mind is free from distracting thoughts.

Hoffman shows how meditation can lead to the source of inspiration.

Hoffman's impressive images of landscapes, cities, people, and nature, as well as his smart image analysis and suggestions about the artistic process, will help you understand this approach to photography without abandoning the principles of design necessary to achieve great images.

Photographing busy scenes, especially, requires an inner calm that enables you to have intuition for the right moment and compose a well-balanced image amidst the chaos.

The goal of this book is to develop your photographic expression. It provides enrichment for photographers who believe that only technical mastery produces great images and shows how important it is to engage with your own awareness to act creatively.

Reactions
A great book you will enjoy whatever you are looking for serenity through awesome pictures or advices to improve your photography skills.

Every entries began with explanations, quotes about the author, the creativity and his way into zen through his camera.
It's light, easy and goes very well with the book.

You can pick it up and reach what you need from this photography journey. Tip for improving your view of beauty, nature, people by opening yourself to what is in front of you or how you want to express it through a pic. The author is like a companion walking with you and helping you to open up.

Great feeling calming effect, I've enjoyed my time spend while turning the pages.

Quotes

"Adbhuta (wonder, magic, magnificence)
These basic elemental feelings are very important requirements for a good photograph. If you take all the beauty and greatness in the world for granted and can no longer find your way to a state of emotional wonder, it is difficult to produce good photography. Adbhuta is the emotion that makes it possible to see things with wonder, as though you are seeing them for the first time. The ability to achieve these emotions allows you to express the big and small things in life through photography."

"Creativity reveals itself every time you are profoundly touched by some external reality that compels you to capture expressive photographs. I have mentioned several times that this form of creativity occurs without effort. It is not inhibited or filled with intent; rather, it is a flow that you enter where you allow emotions and ideas to happen organically. This kind of creativity generally produces photographs that have originality; proof of a genuine enthusiasm about a specific moment and a particular location that is carried over into the image."

Source
*Arc provided by Edelweiss.
I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.

Maya by C.W. Huntington Jr.

Summary 
A stunning debut novel on sex, loss, and redemption.

It is 1975 and India is in turmoil. American Stanley Harrington arrives to both study Sanskrit philosophy and escape his failing marriage. When he finds himself witness to a violent accident, he begins to question his grip on reality.

Maya introduces us to an entertaining cast of hippies, expats, and Indians from all walks of life. From a hermit hiding in Himalayan jungle since the days of the British Raj, to an accountant at the Bank of India with a passion for Sanskrit poetry, to the last in a line of brahman scholars, Stanley’s path ultimately leads him to a Tibetan yogi, who enlists the American’s help in translating a mysterious ancient text.

Maya, literally “illusion,” is an extended reflection on the unraveling of identity. Filled with rich observations and arresting reflections, it mines the porous border between memory and fantasy.

Reactions
Not at all what I was expected while reading the summary… And let me tell you that's a great praise!

It's a wonderful journey through words beautifully written. The reader discovers India and its culture by following Stanley adventures.
The guy is lost and try to discover the meaning of life, love and who knows what... By going in a foreign country to become a scholar, meditating and review his life.

Believe me the summary or my review will not do justice to this book as you travel by asking yourself a lot of questions, thinking the guy is high or dreaming while in really you are hooked on the prose, the scenery and the Indian history, folklore and beauty.

In parallel of this story, I was reading Mahabharata, one of the two Sanskrit epics, and it has helped me with some references.

A book that really has picked my curiosity and offer me a way to escape and to think.
Great read!

Source
*Arc provided by Netgalley.
I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.