Saturday, March 30, 2019

*Anniversary Celebration* The BookTube Your Self Daily Reader


The BookTube Your Shelf Daily Reader turns one year old this March. [Cue the party music!] The time has flown by so quickly. My to-be-read list has expanded even faster. As a reader, you know that is both a good and bad thing. LOL!

YouTube for the Bookish?

YouTube.com is the second most visited website in the world - where over 1.9 billion logged-in users visit each month. And each day, people watch over a billion hours of video and generate billions of views. While many people are aware of the music videos, make-up channels and gaming channels on the platform, far fewer know about the great bookish content available on YouTube. BookTube is a community of content creators on YouTube that film videos about books. The BookTube Your Shelf Daily Reader is a daily online newspaper featuring social shares from booktubers (including authortubers) and some bookish neighbors (like bloggers and readers). Are you familiar with BookTube?

Once Upon A Time...

Between changes in YouTube's algorithm and my book reading taste, it was a struggle for me to keep up with my favorite booktubers and keep a look-out for new booktubers. I knew many other fans of BookTube were having similar problems.

When YouTube changed it's monetization rules in early 2018, many people, including myself, worried about it's overall impact on small content creators. As I looked at my personal BookTube channel list, I thought, "What can I do to help support and encourage bookish content creators?" Then poof! The idea for The BookTube Your Shelf Daily Reader popped into my head. [Yes, with a poof]. What started out as an idea in March of 2018 has morphed into a passion project with an online newspaper and email newsletter.

Find Your Next Favorite...

One of the goals of The BookTube Your Shelf Daily Reader project is to help you find your next favorite booktuber. Check out the Videos section of TBYSDR for suggestions on bookish YouTube videos to watch. It features over 25 videos each day. https://paper.li/Readeropolis/1517059010#/videos

Another goal of the project is to help you find your next great read. In The BookTube Your Shelf web newspaper, you'll find a variety of posts like:
  • Book News
  • Book Giveaways
  • Book Reviews
  • Videos about Books
  • Videos about Reading
  • Videos about Writing
  • Book Trailers

Don't Miss A Thing.

Don't struggle with searching for book-related videos in the YouTube hay stack. Subscribe to The BookTube Your Shelf Daily Reader Email Newsletter to have the paper delivered to your email inbox. https://paper.li/Readeropolis/1517059010#/

Be sure to "Like" the TBYSDR Facebook page to stay up-to-date on the latest edition.  https://www.facebook.com/BookTubeYourShelf/


But wait... there's more!

During March I will be hosting a month-long event called BookTube Z to A, highlighting BookTube channels on YouTube, at the Readeropolis book blog. Look for the hashtag #BookTubeZtoA on your favorite social sites.  

You can follow all of the anniversary celebration events by joining the Facebook anniversary event page (click "Going" to get updates): https://www.facebook.com/events/358689728051151/


So, let's chat in in the comments.

Do you watch book-related videos on YouTube? What are some of your favorite BookTube Channels?

Have you checked out the latest edition of The BookTube Your Shelf Daily Reader?


BookTube, keep doing what you're doing. You're hands down amazing!



Mayor Sonni: Reader extraordinaire. Mayor of the Readeropolis book blog. Content curator. Lover of books, lists, sweet tea, and vacations. Well, not necessarily in that order.

Are you connected? You can find her all over the Internet under the handle Readeropolis.








Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!












*Book Tour & Giveaway* Revelations by Robert Sells


Revelations
by Robert Sells
Genre: Science Fiction

Aster Worthington spearheads the First Contact Team to unravel a message from an alien race. “The Lambdons” promise free energy if humanity builds a few special robots and downloads their message into a super computer to direct construction of the fusion reactor. An excited world agrees and builds a massive structure called the Dome to house the alien enterprise.

Seven years later, there’s no “free energy” and strange things happen in and around the Dome. Aster and her colleagues mount an expedition under the protection of Army Rangers to investigate the interior. Instead of friendly aliens, they discover hordes of deadly intelligent humanoids with insect-like characteristics.
When the military team is brutally murdered by the Lambdons, the scientists scatter. It’s soon apparent that the Lambdons intend to take over the planet using biological warfare. The only hope for humanity lies with a two-thousand year old scroll hidden by the church. The question is, can Aster and her team unravel the scroll's mystery in time to save the planet?






I attended college at Ohio Wesleyan where I struggled with physics. Having made so many mistakes in college with physics, there weren’t too many left to make and I did quite well at graduate school at Purdue.
I worked for nearly twenty years at Choate Rosemary Hall, an exclusive boarding school in the heart of Connecticut. More often than not, students arrived in limousines. There was a wooded area by the upper athletic fields where I would take my children for a walk. There, under a large oak tree, stories about the elves would be weaved into the surrounding forest.
Returning to my home town to help with a father struggling with Alzheimer’s, the only job open was at a prison. There I taught an entirely different clientele whose only interaction with limousines was stealing them. A year later Alfred State College hired me to teach physics. I happily taught there for over ten years. A rural, low income high school needed a physics teacher and the superintendent, a friend, begged me to help out. So, I am finishing my teaching career in a most fulfilling way... helping kids who would otherwise not have access to a qualified physics (and math) teacher.
My wife pestered me about putting to “pen” some of the stories which I had created for the children and other relatives. I started thinking about a young boy and a white deer, connected, yet apart. Ideas were shuffled together, characters created and the result was the Return of the White Deer. This book was published by the Martin Sisters.
Years ago I gave a lecture on evolution. What, I wondered, would be the next step? Right away I realized that silicon ‘life’ had considerable advantages over mortal man. Later this idea emerged as the exciting and disturbing story called Reap the Whirlwind, my most recent novel.
I have many other stories inside my mind, fermenting, patiently waiting for the pen to give them breath. Perhaps someday I will even write about those elves which still inhabit the woods in the heart of Connecticut.




Follow the tour HERE for exclusive content and a giveaway!





Friday, March 29, 2019

*Book Tour & Giveaway* The Accidental Mafia Queen by Khardine Gray


Mafia Boss
The Accidental Mafia Queen Book 1
by Khardine Gray
Genre: Contemporary Mafia Romance 

From USA Today Bestselling author Khardine Gray comes a sexy, delightfully devilish, seductive Mafia Romance series. Enter the alluring world of the ruthless and the dangerous with book one.


Luc
Better to be at the right hand of the devil than in his path...
When you come from a crime family, you have a name to live up to.
My enemies know I'm a bastard who shows no mercy—exactly the cold-hearted don my father would want me to be. Except we're not the ones in charge. Yet...
The Boss wants me to take over his billion-dollar business, and the only way that's happening is if I can win the heart of his cop daughter.
I planned to treat her just like all the other women who meant nothing to me, until I met her and everything changed.
Money and Power. That was all this was supposed to be about... Falling in love wasn't part of the plan.
Neither was finding out that her father has a hidden agenda, and I'm just a pawn in his game.

Amelia
Running...
Running away again. That was me.
Always running from something. Running from my past and the terrible, dark, family secrets.
Running away from myself, from the person I was and who I used to be.
Now I’m running from my heart. It betrayed me and fell for the devil.
Luc... A mobster, a criminal.
The type of man I never wanted to end up with.
The mobster, the criminal, who called me his goddess and worshiped the ground I walked on.
I shouldn’t want him...because loving this man would be my worst nightmare.
Loving this man could destroy me.
But... I couldn’t resist him...
I wish I could...

MAFIA BOSS is The Godfather and The Sopranos with the sexy edge of a drool-worthy Alpha male.
Scroll up and one click to start this sizzling hot mafia romance today!

Mafia Boss is the first book in The Accidental Mafia Queen trilogy. Lucian and Amelia’s intriguing, sexy, story continues in Mafia Scars and completes in Mafia Love.







Mafia Scars
The Accidental Mafia Queen Book 2

From USA Today Bestselling author Khardine Gray comes a sexy, delightfully devilish, seductive Mafia Romance series. Continue your journey in the alluring world of the ruthless and the dangerous with book two.


I was the devil. The worst kind of man for her.
I knew the truth would make her hate me. But, I still wanted her to be mine.
My goddess.
Damn, I’d never wanted a woman the way I wanted her.
One simple kiss could scorch my mind clean of everything I knew. That was what she did to me. She took me out of the real world, where I was a mobster and she was a cop.

I was the imposter who lied to her...

Her father gave me a task: marry his daughter and get everything.
Marry the daughter of the mafia king and get everything. The whole billion-dollar fortune.
Greed made me say yes, and love blinded me to the danger we were in.

The web of lies I got myself tangled in was the least of my worries because her life was in danger.
She had a target on her back.
Blood for blood, that’s the worst kind of mark you can get in my world.
It means death. Someone has to die...

I may be the devil and the worst kind of guy for this angel of a woman, but I’ll die trying to save her.
I will be her savior, and God help those who come for her.

Mafia Scars is the second book in The Accidental Mafia Queen trilogy. Lucian and Amelia’s intriguing, sexy, story continues in this book and completes in Mafia Love. 







Mafia Love
The Accidental Mafia Queen Book 3

From USA Today Bestselling author Khardine Gray comes a sexy, delightfully devilish, seductive Mafia Romance series. Immerse yourself in the conclusion of the alluring world of the ruthless and the dangerous.


Luc
The hour of reckoning was upon us...
Amelia’s life was in danger.
Amelia, my goddess.
The time to watch the situation had long passed.
Now, it was time to change things up.
Time for me to change.
Love made me go soft and allow the image and handle I had on things to slip out of my grasp.
I needed to find myself. Now more than ever.
All the secrets were jumping straight out of the closet. Right into the open for all to see.
We weren’t playing games anymore.
It was time for war. It was time to become the devil I was.

Amelia
No more games, no more lies.
No more running from the past.
No more running from who I used to be.
I knew I would lose my soul when I fell for Luc.
I was a cop, and he was a mobster. Love lured me to the dark side.
We could pretend to be whoever we wanted to be, but truth was truth.
The games were over and right now I couldn’t see past the darkness that waited for me.


Mafia Love is the final book in The Accidental Mafia Queen trilogy. Scroll up and one click to start this sizzling hot mafia romance today!







Khardine Gray is a contemporary romance author who lives in England with her husband, two kids, and three crazy ferrets.


She is well traveled, cultured, and a woman with a passion for dancing and ice skating.

When not writing you can catch her shopping, indulging on pizza and hot chocolate, or hanging out with her family and friends.

No need to spend money on an airline ticket. Simply pick up one of Khardine's books to become immersed in the fascinating stories and characters she creates.





Follow the tour HERE for exclusive content and a giveaway!











*Book Tour & Giveaway* The Heart Collector by Barbara Russell-GUEST POST


The Heart Collector
Auckland Steampunk Book 1
by Barbara Russell
Genre: Steampunk, Romantic Suspense

Auckland, 1884


The Supernaturals are frightened. Despite being able to do extraordinary things like teleporting or lighting a fire with a stare, a serial killer, the Heart Collector, is slaughtering them. He rips their chests open and removes their hearts.


While other aristocratic, nineteen-year-old girls spend time dancing, Isabel trains hard to become an MI7 agent—Military Intelligence Seventh Division, a crime squad run by Supernaturals. The Heart Collector murdered her best friend, and enrolling at MI7 is the best way to help catch the killer.

Isabel senses other people’s feelings as if they were her owns. But MI7’s leader is too worried about Isabel’s safety to let her join the team.

Eager to prove that her power is valuable, Isabel volunteers to meet Murk, a dangerous Supernatural man who can turn himself invisible. MI7 desperately tried to recruit him and failed.

She believes that her power is enough to convince Murk to become an MI7’s agent and help apprehend the Heart Collector. If he wants to attack her, his feelings will broadcast his intention, and she’ll be ready.

What Isabel isn’t ready for is to fall in love with the man who will collect her heart.






I’m an entomologist and a soil biologist, which is a fancy way to say that I dig in the dirt, looking for bugs. Nature and books have always been my passion. I was a kid when I read The Lord Of The Ring and fell in love with fantasy novels.
When I discovered cosy mystery and crime novel, I fell in love with Hercules Poirot and Sherlock Holmes. Then I grew up and . . . Nah, I’m joking. I didn’t grow up. Don’t grow up, folks! It’s a trap.
PS I hate gardening. There, I said it. Sorry fellow Kiwis.



GUEST POST
What the characters have to say:

Auckland, New Zealand, 1884
Lady Ermintrude

You don’t mind if I whisper, do you? Hastings Manor is full of ears, and people’s best pastime is gossip. Thank goodness I’m not that type of lady. But I have to speak my mind.
My niece Isabel, the current Duchess of Sussex, has gone mad. She’s accommodating, here in Hastings Manor, street urchins. Street urchins! From Auckland’s rookery!
Good gracious, I need a sherry. These street urchins don’t even have decent names and the youngest one, called Trigger—ptf!—spat on his teaspoon to clean it. The older, the one called Murk, I think he’s a thief or a murderer. Apparently, he can turn himself invisible. Invisible! So inappropriate.
Those dark eyes mean trouble, mark my word, but Isabel thinks he’s charming. Poppycock, I say. I’m sure she’d like to dirty-puzzle with him. Oh, the horror. But does she listen to me? No one is listening to me anymore. A bunch of rebels they are. Now, where’s my sherry?


Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!



Thursday, March 28, 2019

*Book Tour & Giveaway* Saving John Lennon by A.J. Gallant


Saving John Lennon
by A.J. Gallant
Genre: Time Travel Romantic Adventure 

A tale of love, time travel, humor, and healing hearts. The adventure of a lifetime. (Think you know how it ends? You don’t.)
In 2018, two friends discover an open door in the summer forest in Maine. It’s winter inside and they’ve never seen anything like it. When they realize that it’s 1980 on the other they hatch a plan to go to New York and save John Lennon.
In 1980, a stranger invades Sarah’s dreams on a nightly basis. He’s handsome and funny, but when she bumps into him in real life she can’t believe her eyes. But his story of time travel is preposterous and it’s difficult to decipher his motives for acting so weird. He claims to be from 2018.
Can love bloom under such circumstances? Will Richard be trapped thirty-eight-years in the past?
Payton is from a thousand years in the future; he’s trying to stop Burton from time jumping because it can cause changes that could have serious repercussions. Burton has arranged for Taft and Richard to save John Lennon, but will it all go terribly wrong?




A. J. Gallant is the best selling author of several books, including Knights of the Dragon (of Knights and Wizards series) and Dracula Hearts series, the first book in the series is Dracula: Hearts of Stone.


Detective Olivia Brown Mysteries is also gaining in popularity. (Anita's vacation in New York City ends tragically when she's killed in Central Park, but instead of the end, it's only the beginning. Her soul remains at the scene trying hard to process what happened. There are other ghosts that don't seem to be much help. And, of course, the new reality of being a ghost does not sit well with Anita.
What is she supposed to do now?)

The author has two cats that make him rise at 5 each morning to keep him on his toes.




Follow the tour HERE for exclusive content and a giveaway!






*Book Tour & Giveaway* My Son's Wife Series by Shelia E. Bell-GUEST POST


My Son's Wife: The Beginning
My Son's Wife Book 1
by Shelia E. Bell
Genre: Inspirational Romance, Drama  

First Lady Audrey Graham believes she's found the perfect woman to become her eldest son, Minister Stiles Graham's wife. Sweet, sensitive, kind, and of course a fine Christian girl, Audrey couldn't ask more of lovely Rena Jackson. But skeletons fall from the closet when Audrey and Stiles discover that Rena is in love and committed to the troubled, rebellious, ex-con, Frankie. My Son's Wife is more than a love triangle, it's a time bomb set to explode with twists, turns, entanglements and sinful revelations that only a loving God can make right.




My Son's Ex-Wife
My Son's Wife Book 2

The story of the Graham family continues in My Son's ex Wife. First Lady Audrey Graham is more than relieved when Stiles encounters the young, vivacious nutritionist Detria Mackey. Rena is equally captivated by recent divorcee, Robert Becton. Does the handsome, science teacher Robert Becton possess what Rena needs to give her life a much needed jump start? When Rena returns to Memphis for less than pleasant reasons, Stiles and Rena realize they still have deep feelings one another, but will their feelings overcome the past that severed their relationship? Will Audrey manage to come between them again or will other circumstances intervene that will give them cause to rethink their past and move forward to the future.



My Son's Next Wife
My Son's Wife Book 3

First Lady Audrey Graham is gone and her husband suffers from loneliness and the after-effects of his second stroke. Their son, Stiles, now minister of his father’s church, is engaged to Detria and has found happiness at last—despite his heartbreaking divorce from Rena. Rena’s now living in another state and has found a new love herself, Robert, though she resists his marriage proposals because she doesn’t feel she could ever be completely forgiven for her past sins. Things take a turn for the worse when Stiles’ father suffers another stroke and Detria has a miscarriage. Stiiles' faith is tested like never before. But who knows in whose arms he will land up in Book 3 in the page-turning My Son’s Wife series!



My Sister My Momma My Wife
My Son's Wife Book 4

The 4th installment in the My Son's Wife series, and Stiles Graham is the proud father of a little girl by his wife, Detria. Although he loves his role as daddy, he doesn't act so happy when it comes to his role as husband. His mind continues to have thoughts about his ex-wife, Rena who seems to have moved on with her life in Andover, Massachusetts with none other than Robert Becton. Stiles is further stunned beyond belief when he uncovers secrets that have been hidden away for years about the Graham family. In his search to heal the wounds of the past, he is hit with the truth about his very own mother, his one and only sister, Francesca (Frankie) and his new wife, Detria. What does a man of God do when the enemy pulls out all stops to destroy everything that he has believed in, including God's mercy and grace.




My Wife My Baby...And Him
My Son's Wife Book 5

In the fifth installment of the My Son's Wife series, Senior Pastor Stiles Graham and First Lady Detria Graham s marriage is rapidly falling apart, thanks to her adulterous ways. Stiles had hoped and prayed that the time they spent away from Memphis would make their marriage stronger, but after just months from returning from Myrtle Beach, Stiles questions whether that is truly the case.When whats done in the dark comes to light, and Stiles discovers that Detria is cheating on him with his good friend, Skip Madison, the marriage quickly unravels. This startling revelation brings out the worse in Stiles Graham, and leads to his eventual downfall. During the midst of it all, Detria learns that she is pregnant. As much as she wanted to steer clear of Skip Madison and give her marriage to Stiles a fighting chance, her heart says something different. Now she finds herself worried about who is the father of her unborn child. Turmoil, trouble, deception and disaster infiltrate this marriage, and much is at stake, including Stiles pastoral position at Holy Rock. When tragedy strikes this already dysfunctional marriage, it sends life, as they know it spiraling down a never-ending tunnel of hurt, anger and grief, leaving both Stiles and Detria questioning their faith and belief in God to restore their lives and relationship.




The McCoys of Holy Rock
My Son's Wife Book 6

It's been two years since Hezekiah McCoy became the senior pastor of Holy Rock, and Hezekiah, First Lady Fancy McCoy and their sons are certainly shaking things up. Frequent and lavish vacations, a new and much larger house, and what seems like a never ending flow of cash, the McCoys are enjoying the tremendous favor of God, or could there be some other reason for their rapidly growing success? 




Dem McCoy Boys
My Son's Wife Book 7

Dem McCoy boys are rocking Holy Rock! The young handsome, charming, debonair Khalil McCoy is the new senior pastor and his fresh out of the closet brother, Xavier, is Financial Administrator and Youth Director. The McCoy brothers have no limits or filters and set a new record for stirring up drama. Find out what’s really next for the McCoys, for Holy Rock, but especially for Dem McCoy Boys!




My Brother, Father, and Me
My Son's Wife Book 8

The saga of the McCoys and Grahams of Holy Rock continues. Stiles must decide if he will return to the pulpit he once graced. Pastor yearns to have a relationship with Hezekiah, while Khalil and Xavier have a personal vendetta against their father and will do just about anything to destroy his ministry...and his life. Hezekiah finds it impossible to unite with the man he discovered is his father and the brother he refuses to accept. Who will be left standing?




My Truth My Time My Turn
My Son's Wife Book 9
**New Release!!**

The McCoys and the Grahams try to work together as Stiles makes a decision whether or not to return to Holy Rock. Hezekiah shows a softer side (or does he really), while Khalil makes it evident the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Xavier continues to war against his flesh but will Pepper be able to help him win the war? So much intense drama in this next installment of the My Son's Wife series.





Shelia E. Bell (formerly Shelia E. Lipsey) is an award-winning, national bestselling author with 20+ books published in christian fiction, women’s fiction, nonfiction, and young adult genres. Her books have garnered numerous awards and accolades, including 2017 Christian Literary Readers' Choice Award, 2015 Rosa Parks Award, 2014 Christian Literary Award, AAMBC Nate Holmes Honorary Award, Kindle Award, OOSA Book of the Year, numerous SORMAG awards and more.
Shelia began her publishing career in 1999. Since then, she has set the literary industry ablaze with her dynamic, true to life stories that she calls "perfect stories about imperfect people like you...and me."

Shelia is passionate about helping others and encourages and promotes people to ‘live their dreams now.’ In 2012, she founded and non profit organization "Black Writers And Book Clubs (BWABC) Literacy Association" with a mission to promote literacy one community at a time. Shelia is also a well-respected freelance book editor.

A much sought after inspirational speaker, Shelia travels near and far sharing her inspirational messages of how to overcome the adversities of life. Having had polio since the age of two, she accepts no excuses and is determined not to let her physical imperfections keep her from her life’s purposes.


Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram
* Amazon * Goodreads

GUEST POST
How long have you been writing?
I have been writing since I was a preteen. I wrote poetry, speeches, loved writing essays and now that has evolved into me being a published author
What kind of research do you do before you begin writing a book?
I seldom do research before writing and more during writing. I research whatever I need to research that will make my book as realistic as possible.


 Do you see writing as a career?
Yes, writing is my career.


 What do you think about the current publishing market?
I think the current publishing market is over saturated with authors or those who say they’re authors but put out less than tasteful, high quality work. As an editor, I know the importance of a well edited story. It saddens me that so many people believe in slapping words on paper, putting a cover on it and publishing it. On the other hand, the publishing market has given an open forum to any and everyone who has a story they want to share. No more pleading, begging, praying and hoping for that big publishing contract.
Do you read yourself and if so what is your favorite genre?
I read but not as much as I’d like to. As an editor I read a lot of manuscripts so hardly ever do I read for pleasure anymore. My time is so busy with editing and writing, making it more difficult. I like nonfiction, suspense and general fiction.
Do you write one book at a time or do you have several going at a time?
I usually write one book at a time. I put my all into that one book before moving to the next. It works better that way for me.
Pen or type writer or computer?
Definitely typewriter/computer. I can’t see myself writing in longhand.
Advice you would give new authors?
I cannot emphasize enough to new authors: Please take your time to produce a quality story that has been professionally EDITED.


Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!