Monday, March 26, 2012

Janet McNulty's Favorite Books/ebook Giveaway

Today, I welcome Janet McNulty to Immortyl Revolution!

Contest: Please leave Janet a comment with some of your favorite books and be entered in my month-long drawing to win a copy of My Fearful Symmetry, Book Four of the Immortyl Revolution.

Drawing ends 3/31/12 at 11:59 PM EST. Winner to be chosen by random drawing from all commenters at this blog throughout March 2012. Please leave an email where you may be contacted. Your choice of format Kindle, Nook or PDF.





My Ten Favorite Books

Janet McNulty


1. Lord of the Rings
I love this book and the basic story of the most unlikely person who turns out to be a hero. Frodo is a hobbit and such not many outside his home think much of him. But when the One Ring shows up only he volunteers to destroy it. But what Tolkien does is show how even a hero can turn bad. Throughout the story Frodo grows more attached to the ring and in the end doesn’t want to give it up. Gollum, a despicable creature, actually destroys it even if it was by accident. I thought this an interesting twist.


Lord of the Rings is an imaginative story about loyal friends, good versus evil, and how the most unlikely people turn into heroes. But it also demonstrates how a good person can be corrupted, such as with Frodo. Another thing I like about this series is that every time I read it I get more out of it.

2. Harry Potter

A lot of people love the Harry Potter series and I am one of them. I love the imaginative story the Rowling created and it doesn’t take place in some far off land. We have wizards living amongst us. Again, this is a good story about good versus evil, friendship, and loyalty. Harry, from the moment he was an infant, was destined to destroy Voldemort, the darkest and most evil wizard. However, being a hero doesn’t mean you will succeed. And let’s face it, without Ron and Hermione, Harry never would have succeeded. This series has that glue that makes it a timeless story that I believe will be read over and over by future generations.

3. The Chronicles of Narnia

If you’re not seeing a pattern here, you will shortly. Once again this series has the basic good versus evil. But something else about Narnia, is that it is bog on the idea of belief. Lucy Pevensie is able to enter Narnia because she has that childlike belief in the unimaginable. Every child that enter Narnia after her does so because they have something to achieve there, but also so that they will come to believe that there is more to this world than we think.


4. 1984


I know many think of this as a bit of a doomsday type book and it certainly does have a sad ending. But what I like about this book is it serves as a warning to us about those who want to control what you do. It is set in a world where the government controls everything: where you work, live, think, say, even what you believe. When the main character decides to rebel in a small way, it causes a bit of an upheaval. Eventually he is captured and tortured until he becomes a robot like everyone else.

1984 is a reflection and a warning of what can happen when people are forced to serve a bloated government bureaucracy. It demonstrates what can happen when we allow ourselves to conform to one way of thinking. To me this book serves as a reminder that freedom isn’t free and can always be taken away.


5. To Kill A Mockingbird


This is a timeless story and it is all told from the viewpoint of Scout as she remembers growing up in the deep south during the depression. What I love about this story is it gives insight into what life was like back then, but also some of the strife that existed. But most importantly it is about the lessons that Scout learns. She witnesses some of the darker aspects of humanity, such as Tom Robinson being convicted of rape simply because he was black and no one had the courage to call his accuser a liar. But Scout also learns to not be so prejudice herself when it concerns her neighbor Arthur Bradley. This is one of those books that can be read repeatedly without growing old.

6. Fahrenheit 451

Imagine a world without books. That is the world in Fahrenheit 451. In this story book are burned. They are not allowed to exist and the only form of entertainment is television. Basically, people spend their lives glued to the tube and never bother to consider thinking for themselves.


This story gets to me because I love to read and have a substantial library. Books contain ideas and that frightens some people. This story has a lot of bearing on the past and the future. Hitler had massive book burnings in Nazi Germany. In a lot of poorer countries around the world people cannot read. Fahrenheit 451 just serves as a reminder of the importance of books and the treasures within their pages.

7. Little Women

 
This is another of those timeless stories that can be read over and over. It concerns four sisters who achieving adulthood during the Civil War. They live in the north, butt their father is away fighting and they and their mother are forced to get by. They haven’t much money and must do what they can to make ends meet. Among all this the sisters do charity work, go to school, fall in love. The story even continues long after the war is ended. This really is a touching story that follows the triumphs, frustrations, and heartache of four sisters as they go through life. The even learn to accept loss when one of them dies suddenly from an illness. Little Women mirrors life and many of us can relate to the four main characters.

8. The Art of War


This is a must read for everyone. The Art of War is a book about basic military strategy. But such strategy has a lot of bearing on life as well. For me, this book this been helpful in writing my novels.



9. The Secret Country

This is another fantasy story, but it focuses on four cousins who play this make believe game called the Secret Country. But one day when playing, their imaginative world suddenly becomes real, but is a much darker place than they envisioned. Now they must figure out what has happened, how to save it, and how to get back home.


This is a wonderful "what if your fantasy became real". The four kids suddenly have to save a bunch of people that were once just characters in a game to them. It is a wonderful story about family, sacrifice, magic, and growing up.

10. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy

This story fits the bill of having one crazy adventure after another. Arthur Dent wakes up to find hi house is being demolished and thinks it’s the end of the world. But before he knows it, he is gallivanting around the universe with a strange man named Ford Prefect and getting into one dangerous situation after another.

This book is just very entertaining. There is a lot of good wit and humor in here that makes the story fun and easy to read.

Janet's Amazon Page

Janet McNulty


Sugar and Spice and Not So Nice

Mellow Summers just wanted to go to college and get her film degree. She moved into a furnished apartment with her friend Jackie only to find that it already had a tenant: the ghost of a girl who was murdered a year earlier. Now it is up to Mellow to not only discover who the murderer is, but to prove it as well.


With the help of the ghost Rachel, Mellow sets out to solve the year old mystery. She soon finds out that she may have taken on more than she can handle. Pursued by someone who wants the identity of the killer to remain a secret, Mellow will have to use all her resources to outwit him and help the spirit of Rachel move on.

Janet's Amazon Page


Janet's website

3 comments:

Denise Verrico said...

Janet, it's a pleasure to have you here. Wow, we have a lot of favorite books in common.

Nightly Cafe said...

Thank you for hosting Janet :)

BK

bn100 said...

I enjoyed your list of favorite books. I've read some of the books on the list.

bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com