Reading in Bed

Reading in Bed

By Amanda SteelArtsBooks
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Reading in Bed episodes

  • Reading in Bed Extracts: Leila Ziari

    Leila Ziari’s first collection of poetry invites readers into a world of transformative love. Dedicated to and inspired by Bob Dylan, these one hundred and eleven poems reveal the bliss, pain, expansion, longing and ecstasy of eternal love. Earthly and ethereal, timely and timeless. Just as Ziari chronicles her own metamorphosis, she invites the reader to be inspired, uplifted, healed, and renewed. Through her bold confession of passionate devotion, Ziari dissects the very essence of love and the whirlwind of emotions therein. It is her vulnerability that allow for such immersion, reminding readers that those we love are part of our spirits and have been embedded in our souls since the beginning of time. While she hints at deep scars, this poet never wallows. Her transcendent poetry reaches beyond. Ziari shows us what we know but so often forget - the evolutionary and revolutionary power of love.

    The book can be bought at:

    Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084Q9WJLG

    Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3aJECLm

    6 min
  • Reading in Bed Extracts: Andrew Shaffer

    Secret Santa – Andrew Shaffer

    Blurb

    Out of work for months, Lussi Meyer is desperate to work anywhere in publishing. Prestigious Blackwood-Patterson isn’t the perfect fit, but a bizarre set of circumstances leads to her hire and a firm mandate: Lussi must find the next horror superstar to compete with Stephen King, Anne Rice, and Peter Straub. It’s the ’80s, after all, and horror is the hottest genre.


    But as soon as she arrives, Lussi finds herself the target of her co-workers' mean-spirited pranks. The hazing reaches its peak during the company’s annual Secret Santa gift exchange, when Lussi receives a demonic-looking object that she recognizes but doesn't understand. Suddenly, her coworkers begin falling victim to a series of horrific accidents akin to a George Romero movie, and Lussi suspects that her gift is involved. With the help of her former author, the flamboyant Fabien Nightingale, Lussi must track down her anonymous Secret Santa and figure out the true meaning of the cursed object in her possession before it destroys the company—and her soul.


    ***

    You can buy the book from

    Amazon US:  https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Santa-Andrew-Shaffer/dp/1683692055/ref=sr_1_1

    Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/37hLe06

    Find out more about the author at: http://www.andrewshaffer.com/link-tree


    ***

    First Charge (My YA book I mentioned on the podcast) is free until the end of December on most eBook platforms.

    https://books2read.com/u/bzj8Aj#

    7 min
  • Reading in Bed Extracts: Summer Campbell

    Diamonds and Deception - Summer Campbell

    A Bite-Size Mystery Novella


    Nurse Juno is looking forward to some festive downtime in the seaside town of Fareport Cove when shocking theft gets in the way. The Christmas season turns out to be anything but relaxing when thieves swipe a priceless necklace from under her patient's nose. It's no surprise when big-hearted Nurse Juno tries to help by stepping in to help her distraught patient out.
    Juno is racing to beat the clock and find the necklace before Christmas day with the help of best friend and local bookshop owner, Kate.

    Who is behind the dastardly deception? Can Juno solve the mystery and get the diamond necklace back in time to save her patient's Christmas?

    Diamonds and Deception is a short prequel novella to the Nurse Juno Investigates clean cozy mystery series.

    ***

    You can buy the book from

    Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3kXv4hx

    Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08H6P2S23/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_BDAAFbG4EQMYZ

    It is also available on Kindle Unlimited. If you’re in the UK and wish to support the podcast, please consider using our affiliate link to get a free trial of Kindle Unlimited: https://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-dbs/hz/signup?tag=amandasteelwr-21

    To find out more about the author, visit her website:

    http://summercampbell.com/index.html

    7 min
  • Reading Bed Extracts: Michael Thame

    GeeGee and the Germans (The Conyers Street Gang) – Michael Thame

    Based on real people. Based on real events.


    Eight-year-old GeeGee is scared. And it’s not for the first time. Since her arrival in Scotland, the Germans have dropped their murderous bombs and nearly killed her, as well as her mum Ida, sister Betty, and brother Alec. Uncle Angus has lost his home.

    When Ida takes her children to the beautiful Campsie Glen, a place where she felt they would be safe, they got a shock. The Laird of the Clan has refused them shelter and his butler, Knox, has thrown them out.

    GeeGee never wanted to go anywhere near the Laird’s house again, but when the local kids decide to build a snowman in the grounds, she joins in. That’s when Knox the butler pulled the trigger on the shotgun and shattered the night’s calm in Campsie Glen.

    Only later does GeeGee remember; her scarf. She left it on the snowman they had built before Knox chased them away. It was a beautiful red scarf her mum and dad bought for her as a birthday present. She had to get it back.

    Betty isn’t keen, but the sisters go out in the middle of a wintry night to retrieve the scarf. However, it’s what GeeGee sees on the way back that stops her in her tracks. An aircraft flies overhead, but they cannot see it. Moments later something catches GeeGee’s eye; a parachute silently falls on the wooded hillside below the imposing Lennox Castle.

    GeeGee knows she must tell someone. There is a war on and her first thought is that the parachutist must be a German spy. Before long Campsie Glen is awash with police and soldiers. Strange things start happening and suddenly GeeGee’s life hangs in the balance.

    Can she survive the strange goings on at Lennox Castle? Can she get through the night in the haunted house? Will she ever be able to trust the self-styled Laird of Clan Galt?

    More than that, will GeeGee be able to survive the Germans that are surely in their midst?

    The book can be bought on

    Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3ffGMTg

    Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/GeeGee-Germans-Conyers-Street-Gang/dp/1912494418/ref=sr_1_1

    You can also see the author’s YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCin3-sTL4r1TY7gARI9XeZQ


    ***

    You can support the podcast by purchasing from the online store:


    https://www.amandasteelwriter.com/440773085/category/1235794/online-store

    8 min
  • Reading in Bed Extracts: Finbar Hawkins

    Witch - Finbar Hawkins

    In 17th-century England, civil war rages and witches have become pawns in a plot to oust the King. Young, red-haired Evey does not want to be a witch, but she cannot deny the magick coursing through her veins.

    A storm is coming. After witnessing the murder of her mother by witch-hunters, Evey vows to avenge her. Fury burns in her bright and strong. But she has promised her mother that she will keep her gifted, little sister Dill, her mother’s favourite, safe. But battling terrible jealousy, Evey abandons Dill with their Aunt Grey at the coven in the woods, and sets off to town where crowds are gathering for the witch trials. As the lust for blood and retribution rises to fever pitch, will Evey keep true to the bonds of sisterhood and to her witching ways?

    If you’re in the UK, the book can be bought from:

    https://uk.bookshop.org/books/witch-9781838935610/9781838935610

    Or from Amazon, if you’re in the US.

    https://www.amazon.com/Witch-Finbar-Hawkins-ebook/dp/B0814YTWKM/

    You can also follow the author on Twitter:

    https://twitter.com/finbar_hawkins

    7 min
  • Reading in Bed Extracts: Jacy Morris

    This Rotten World – Jacy Morris

    A sickness runs rampant through the world. In Portland, Oregon it is no different. As the night takes hold, eight men and women bear witness to the horror of a zombie outbreak. This Rotten World is the zombie novel that horror fans have been waiting for. Where other zombie works skip over the best part of a zombie outbreak, This Rotten World revels in it the downfall of humanity, dragging you through the beginnings of society's death, kicking and screaming.

    The book can be bought on:

    Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/This-Rotten-World-Jacy-Morris-ebook/dp/B01ILBEU7I/

    Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3kdTRgJ

    7 min
  • Reading in Bed Extracts: Matthew Oates

    Beyond Spring – Wanderings Through Nature by Matthew Oates

    A love letter to Nature – This was written as armchair winter reading – when we have forgotten what spring is like – that it will even come again. The chapters are all short and rich in language, knowledge and love. Each chapter is headed ad footed with a poetic extract

    Brett Westwood – known to you on Radio 4 and Springwatch says of the book: Matthew Oates is an equally enthusiastic naturalist, poet and writer of prose, with an abounding affection for his subject which shines out in every sentence of this book. It’s an exuberant celebration of the British countryside at its joyous, rampant best, interweaving natural and literary landscapes as it explores spring in some of the finest spots for  wildlife... A book to savour on winter evenings when the anticipation of spring tempts us all: whether he’s describing the song of a blackbird or the scent of a garlic snail, you know you’re in safe hands.

    Patrick Barkham - nature writer , and journalist on the Guardian says : Matthew Oates is a witty and imaginative companion: poetic, subtly subversive and as elusive and fast-moving as spring itself. Beautiful and Brilliant.

    It was one of only 5 Nature books shortlisted for the Countryfile magazine’s Country book of the Year, despite having been turned down by his normal publisher Bloomsbury; and his TV, Radio and National Trust credentials.

    https://fairacrepress.co.uk/shop/matthew-oates-paperback-beyond-spring-wanderings-through-nature/

    £10.99 paperback; or £17.50 for limited edition hardback.

    8 min
  • Reading in bed: Episode 35

    We reviewed books on a variety of subjects this month; from learning how to draw - to the persecution of native Americans.



    To find out about the online events we mentioned in the introduction, please see the following links.

    Writing workshop: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/creative-writing-workshop-tickets-125160900623

    Twelve Deaths of Father Christmas reading: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-twelve-deaths-of-father-christmas-author-reading-and-qa-tickets-126661813895

    1 hr 5 min

About Reading in Bed

From the publisher's feed

A monthly podcast by Amanda Steel and Andy N, where the pair review the books they've been reading.