Excerpt - Dreams of Thunder by Christian Cura

 

Let me introduce you Dreams of Fire , which is an urban fantasy novel by Christian Cura. Its sequel, Dreams of Thunder is coming out this year, you can read an excerpt from it below.

Synopsis:

Meet Kara Hartman, a young painter living and working in D.C. She would love to let you believe she is just an ordinary young woman with a dream of sharing her art with the world. But she is hiding an astonishing secret: Kara can wield magic, the most powerful force in the universe. Traumatized by the loss of her brother, she wants nothing more to do with magic. But when an old foe resurfaces, hellbent on destroying all that she loves, Kara has no choice but to embrace the only power that can stop her.

Goodreads | Amazon | Facebook

 Author Bio

Christian Cura is a new author who just recently published his debut novel Dreams of Fire.
Ever since he read Lord of the Rings as a teenager, it has been his dream to write and publish a
novel of his own. His favorite authors include J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling and Robert Jordan.
Christian lives in Northern Virginia where he lifts weights at home and creates artwork.
When he is not writing, he can be found drawing or getting beaten up at his MMA gym.

And now on to the excerpt from Dreams of Thunder, which was provided by the author himself:

Happy Reading!

Happy Easter! - Easter Readathon Update

HAPPY EASTER, FELLOW READERS!

I wish all of you a blessed holiday, I hope every one of you will find some joy in it even if we have to stay at home this time.

I've come with an update about my progress in the Easter Readathon that's hosted by Kate @ Reading Through Infinity

So far I've participated in one reading sprint per day on twitter,  which is funny because sometimes I feel like a tortoise among the others with my leisurely reading speed (I've read a lot about tortoises in My Family and Other Animals in the past two days, I just couldn't pass up on this simile, sorry...) 

I confess I cheated a bit because I didn't stick strictly to my TBR. I've read some of White Lotus by Libbie Hawker too and have finished that book during the readathon so I'll count that as part of my reading list (just to pretend I'm able to finish a book during a readathon, haha). 

I'm halfway through My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. It is extremely entertaining when the protagonist kid tells stories about the family, less so when he talks about his insects, so it only partly won my heart so far. 

I aim to finish this book by then end of Monday, we'll see how I fare.

What are you reading this weekend? 

Are you bothered we have to spend the holiday inside?

Book Beginnings and the Friday 56 #38

 Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56 are weekly memes hosted by Rose City Reader and Freda's Voice.

Rules: 

Book Beginnings: Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. 

The Friday 56: Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% in you eReader. Find any sentence (not spoilery) and reflect on it if you want.

This week I'm featuring the book I'm starting the Easter Readathon with:

My Family and Other Animals 
(Corfu Trilogy #1)

by Gerald Durrell

Synopsis:

Escaping the ills of the British climate, the Durrell family - acne-ridden Margo, gun-toting Leslie, bookworm Lawrence and budding naturalist Gerry, along with their long-suffering mother and Roger the dog - take off for the island of Corfu.

But the Durrells find that, reluctantly, they must share their various villas with a menagerie of local fauna - among them scorpions, geckos, toads, bats and butterflies.

Book Beginning:

 July had been blown out like a candle by the biting wind that ushered in a leaden August sky.

This is quite a beautiful sentence.

 The Friday 56:

Having slept for the better part of three hours in the fierce sun, she found her eyes so puffy and swollen that she could hardly see out of them. The wind and spray had made them worse, and by the time she reached the jetty she could hardly see at all. She was read and raw with sunburn and her eyelids so puffed out that she looked like a particularly malevolent Mongolian pirate.

Someone took sunbathing to another level, haha.

What are you reading this week? Share your Friday post with me by leaving a link below.

Easter Readathon TBR

Kate at Reading Through Infinity is organizing an Easter readathon and since I've got my weekend free (which when the world is normal barely happens), I'll join in the fun.

I'll choose only 2 books as my TBR since I'm a slow and fitful reader (and window cleaning is on the task list this weekend too ugh). Both will match one of the prompts Kate has suggested:

Read a book involving family/friends:

My Family and Other Animals

(Corfu Trilogy #1)

by Gerald Durrell

Synopsis:

When the unconventional Durrell family can no longer endure the damp, gray English climate, they do what any sensible family would do: sell their house and relocate to the sunny Greek isle of Corfu. My Family and Other Animals was intended to embrace the natural history of the island but ended up as a delightful account of Durrell's family's experiences, from the many eccentric hangers-on to the ceaseless procession of puppies, toads, scorpions, geckoes, ladybugs, glowworms, octopuses, bats, and butterflies into their home.

I always long to travel and now that it's not possible, even more so. This book will transport me to Greece at least in mind.

Read a book that's under 250 pages:

The Midwich Cuckoos

by John Wyndham

Synopsis:

In the sleepy English village of Midwich, a mysterious silver object appears and all the inhabitants fall unconscious. A day later the object is gone and everyone awakens unharmed - except that all the women in the village are discovered to be pregnant.

The resultant children of Midwich do not belong to their parents: all are blond, all are golden-eyed. They grow up too fast and their minds exhibit frightening abilities that give them control over others. This brings them into conflict with the villagers just as a chilling realization dawns on the world outside...

A modern classic sci-fi, simply because I haven't read sci-fi for months.

 What are you planning to do on Easter weekend? What are you planning to read?

If you feel like joining Kate's readathon make sure you comment on her blog post to be eligible for participating in her giveaway too.

Books for characters on TV - La Casa de Papel edition

 

I watched season 4 of La Casa de Papel (Money Heist) the other day, and of course I binged it a bit too quickly. 

La Casa de Papel is a Spanish Netflix show that became an international phenomenon in the past 3 years, most deservedly. The series follows a gang of robbers who fight against capitalism and oppression in the most unique way they can think of. Slowly, in the middle of all the chaos they create in the heart of Madrid, they develop complicated bonds with each other that at some points makes their job easier, at others significantly harder.

I love this show so much that whenever a season comes out and I finish it, it stays with me for days/weeks on end. The characters are like friends to me and it's hard to let them go for another year.

For this reason the idea came to me that I'd write a bookish post about La Casa de Papel. Have you ever thought which book(s) you'd gift/recommend to the characters in your favourite show? Imagine it's Christmas, or their birthday or you see they're bored or worried about something that you'd like to take their minds off. What book(s) would you give them then?

Here come my recommendations to the characters from La Casa de Papel. Some of these books I've read, some of them I haven't and decided to match them with the character based on their premise. The character names are from the original version because I watch the show in Spanish.

El Profesor
  The Pillars of the Earth 

by Ken Follett

Despite the fact the Professor doesn't talk much about history, I can't help but think he loves it. Other than that, the professional way with which the author writes about the building process of the cathedral would impress Sergio a lot.

Lisboa

Lovely War
by Julie Berry

A novel about love and war and about why they often go hand in hand. I think it's kinda fitting for Raquel.

Tokio

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1)

by Stieg Larsson

We all like when we can identify with protagonists, don't we? I think Lisbeth Salander and Tokio have a lot in common.

Nairobi

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet
by Becky Chambers

Other than the Professor I think it's Nairobi who does the most for the unity of the group, therefore I'd give her a book that is about team dynamics and found family.

Río

Ready Player One

by Ernest Cline

Rio is – simply put – the IT guy in the team. I'm sure he's a gamer and most probably a secret nerd too.

Denver

Daredevil: A Man without Fear

by Frank Miller, John Romita Jr.

I can see a small Denver sitting on a bed covered with comics. His dad always got him one whenever he seemed sad about his mum. Call it a headcanon. I bet he liked pretending he was a superhero and showing his dad the pictures that excited him the most.

Estocolmo

Murder on the Orient Express

by Agatha Christie

I think Monica is a murder mystery type of girl. I can picture her sitting on the sofa half covered with a blanket reading Agatha Christie while Cincinnati sleeps.

Moscú
 Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens

Or anything by C.D., really. The Dickensian world would resonate with him I'm sure.

Berlín

The Divine Comedy

by Dante Alighieri

Andrés loves Italy and the guy is classy AF. Dante is the right choice.

Palermo

Maurice

by E. M. Forster 

I always despised Palermo but boy, did that scene got me at the end of season 4... If you've seen it, you know which one I'm talking about. I like to think Maurice would give him hope and belief in life after love.

Helsinki
The Song of Achilles
by Madeline Miller

 I'm such an evil person. He'd cry his eyes out on this book. Then he'd tell everyone in the team they must read it.

Oslo
The Silence of the Lambs
by Thomas Harris

We don't know much about Oslo because he doesn't speak a lot. This is me trying to be funny. Maybe he'd appreciate my humour, maybe not.

Bogotá
All Systems Red
by Martha Wells

 I can totally imagine Bogotá being a sci-fi fan. I can see the team sitting down to watch the Alien films, Terminator or Robocop together just because someone mentions they haven't seen it and Bogotá tells them they must.

Marsella

My Family and other Animals

(Corfu Trilogy #1)

by Gerald Durrell

This book must be a lovely read for an animal lover (I'll tackle it soon myself).

What's your favourite show? What books would you recommend to its characters?

Do you watch La Casa de Papel? Do you agree with my recommendations? 
Would you have further suggestions? Tell me below!