The King of Torts by John Grisham (Audio) + Giveaway

the king of tortsThis giveaway has ended!  Thank you for your comments!  The winner is  justicejenniferreads!!!

When I think back to my early novel reading years there were certain authors I stuck with…. Danielle Steel, Nora Roberts, Dean Koontz, and of course there was … John Grisham    ~ Sheila

The office of the public defender is not known as a training ground for bright young litigators. Clay Carter has been there too long and, like most of his colleagues, dreams of a better job in a real firm. When he reluctantly takes the case of a young man charged with a random street killing, he assumes it is just another of the many senseless murders that hit D.C. every week.

As he digs into the background of his client, Clay stumbles on a conspiracy too horrible to believe. He suddenly finds himself in the middle of a complex case against one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, looking at the kind of enormous settlement that would totally change his life—that would make him, almost overnight, the legal profession’s newest king of torts…

I don’t get a lot of time for audio books but this summer has actually had me traveling a bit more than usual and many of those times alone in a vehicle.  I cant do too many hours of radio…. the music starts to get to me….  but a book, a good book… I can hardly stand getting out of the car.

And this was the case with The King of Torts.  I have read a lot of Grisham many years ago and while I still pick up his books I have not dug into one in more than a few years.  Listening to The King of Torts reminded me of what a remarkable author Grisham really is and how much I really like books about law.

Clay’s character was one that at first I pictured as frumpy…no ambition, but Grisham soon changed gears and suddenly this public defender was on the fast track if the fast track was set to mega speed… As I listened to the words of Clay changing so quickly to the Tort cases and then to this mega greedy millionaire I was reminded again of the dangers of having too much.

Bio

Long before his name became synonymous with the modern legal thriller, he was working 60-70 grishamhours a week at a small Southaven, Mississippi law practice, squeezing in time before going to the office and during courtroom recesses to work on his hobby—writing his first novel.

Born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to a construction worker and a homemaker, John Grisham as a child dreamed of being a professional baseball player. Realizing he didn’t have the right stuff for a pro career, he shifted gears and majored in accounting at Mississippi State University. After graduating from law school at Ole Miss in 1981, he went on to practice law for nearly a decade in Southaven, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. In 1983, he was elected to the state House of Representatives and served until 1990.

One day at the DeSoto County courthouse, Grisham overheard the harrowing testimony of a twelve-year-old rape victim and was inspired to start a novel exploring what would have happened if the girl’s father had murdered her assailants. Getting up at 5 a.m. every day to get in several hours of writing time before heading off to work, Grisham spent three years on A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987. Initially rejected by many publishers, it was eventually bought by Wynwood Press, who gave it a modest 5,000 copy printing and published it in June 1988.

That might have put an end to Grisham’s hobby. However, he had already begun his next book, and it would quickly turn that hobby into a new full-time career—and spark one of publishing’s greatest success stories. The day after Grisham completed A Time to Kill, he began work on another novel, the story of a hotshot young attorney lured to an apparently perfect law firm that was not what it appeared. When he sold the film rights to The Firm to Paramount Pictures for $600,000, Grisham suddenly became a hot property among publishers, and book rights were bought by Doubleday. Spending 47 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, The Firm became the bestselling novel of 1991.

The successes of The Pelican Brief, which hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list, and The Client, which debuted at number one, confirmed Grisham’s reputation as the master of the legal thriller. Grisham’s success even renewed interest in A Time to Kill, which was republished in hardcover by Doubleday and then in paperback by Dell. This time around, it was a bestseller.

Since first publishing A Time to Kill in 1988, Grisham has written one novel a year (his other books are The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, The Partner, The Street Lawyer, The Testament, The Brethren, A Painted House, Skipping Christmas, The Summons, The King of Torts, Bleachers, The Last Juror, The Broker, Playing for Pizza, and The Appeal) and all of them have become international bestsellers. There are currently over 235 million John Grisham books in print worldwide, which have been translated into 29 languages. Nine of his novels have been turned into films (The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, The Chamber, A Painted House, The Runaway Jury, and Skipping Christmas), as was an original screenplay, The Gingerbread Man. The Innocent Man (October 2006) marked his first foray into non-fiction.

Grisham lives with his wife Renee and their two children Ty and Shea. The family splits their time between their Victorian home on a farm in Mississippi and a plantation near Charlottesville, VA.

Grisham took time off from writing for several months in 1996 to return, after a five-year hiatus, to the courtroom. He was honoring a commitment made before he had retired from the law to become a full-time writer: representing the family of a railroad brakeman killed when he was pinned between two cars. Preparing his case with the same passion and dedication as his books’ protagonists, Grisham successfully argued his clients’ case, earning them a jury award of $683,500—the biggest verdict of his career.

When he’s not writing, Grisham devotes time to charitable causes, including most recently his Rebuild The Coast Fund, which raised 8.8 million dollars for Gulf Coast relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He also keeps up with his greatest passion: baseball. The man who dreamed of being a professional baseball player now serves as the local Little League commissioner. The six ballfields he built on his property have played host to over 350 kids on 26 Little League teams.

Grisham writes yet another captivating novel that as I type this review… I am eye balling my book shelves where his books are lined up… ripe for the picking…  what Grisham should I read next?

What Grisham would you recommend?

**  Leave a comment here in answer to the above question and receive a chance to win a paperback copy of The King of Torts….  this giveaway will end on September 7

This audio book is out of my personal library

I would rate this book PG

Just Food by James McWilliams Giveaway

This giveaway is closed – congratulations winners!  🙂

I love books about food.  It’s true.  I have several on my shelf that I refer to all the time on nutrition, just foodthe top 100 foods, Eat This Not That… I find this stuff interesting.

I jumped at the chance when Valerie at Hachette Book Group was offering this book, Just Food, for a review + I am able to give away 5 copies here at One Persons Journey Through Books!!!

I haven’t had the chance to review this yet, but it looks great and I will review soon…  in the meantime… lets get the giveaway started!  To signup tp win one of these books:

1.  leave a comment here with your favorite food

2.  Blog or tweet about this giveaway for an extra entry (let me know in a separate comment

3.  For a third entry leave a comment on any non giveaway post here and let me know in a separate comment

There you have it – thats it!  🙂

Be sure I have a way to contact you if you are a winner.  No PO boxes please and only US entries.

This giveaway will end Sept.  11

Blue Like Play Dough Winner!!!

I have just drawn for the winner of the book Blue Like Play Dough by Tricia Goyer.  I am please to announce our winner (using random.org) as…

winner gahomeCongratulations!!!

Gahome2mom please email me your mailing info at journeythroughbooks@gmail.com.  Be sure to have “Blue Like Play Dough Winner” in the subject line so I know which giveaway this is.  No PO Box #’s and US addresses only.

Freebie Friday: Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards

This giveaway is closed:  Winner is Nancye Davis.  Congratulations!!!

For Freebie Friday I usually try to pick a book that has something to do with the season we are in, or current world happenings… but today… well today… I chose this book because it is a good read and I have an extra copy that needs a good home.  🙂

Todays Freebie Friday is The Memory Keepers daughter by Kim Edwards.

T his stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to memory keeperdeliver his own twins.
His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes that his daughter has Down syndrome. For motives he tells himself are good, he makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. Compulsively readable and deeply moving, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter is a brilliantly crafted story of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of love.

This weeks giveaway starts right now!  To enter:

1.  Leave a comment here about how the above information on this book makes you feel.  If you have read this book and if you have not, the above paragraph is quite powerful and really sets the mood for this book to begin…

2.  For a bonus entry, blog or tweet about this giveaway and on a separate comment, leave the link here.

Thats it!  US entrants only please and be sure I have a way to contact you if you are the winner.  No PO boxes may be used for delivery.

This giveaway will end next Friday, August 28.

Good luck!!! ♣

Murder On The Down Low by Pamela Samuels Young w/Giveaway!

murder down low


About Murder on the Down Low:

murderA high-profile lawsuit erupts into chaos, revealing its place in a larger

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spree of violence in this scandalous tale of lust, lies, and vengeance. A brazen gunman is targeting prominent African American men on the streets of Los Angeles, and police are completely baffled. At the same time, savvy big-firm attorney Vernetta Henderson and her outrageous sidekick, Special, lead the charge for revenge against a man whose deceit caused his fianceé’s death. For Special, hauling the man into court and suing him for wrongful death just isn’t good enough. While she exacts her own brand of justice, a shocking revelation connects the contentious lawsuit and the puzzling murders.



Meet Pamela Samuels Young,
author of Murder on the Down Low

Pamela Samuels Young is a practicing attorney and author of the legal thrillers, Murder murder photoon the Down Low, In Firm Pursuit, Every Reasonable Doubt, and the forthcoming, Buying Time, A desire to see women and people of color represented in today’s legal fiction prompted Pamela to start writing despite a busy career as an attorney.  The former journalist and Compton native is a graduate of USC, Northwestern University and UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law.  Pamela is the fiction writing expert for BizyMoms.com and is on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Master your craft!  Take the time to study writing the same way you would study any other profession. Also, read like a writer. When you read a book you enjoy, study the author’s writing style and the book’s story structure. Ask yourself why the book was a great read. One of the most helpful things I did as a new writer was outline John Grisham’s The Firm and examine the story structure. It helped me tremendously in learning how to build suspense.

Pamela is the Fiction Writing Expert for BizyMoms.com. Her bi-monthly articles cover a range of topics on fiction writing.  Here’s a link to Pamela’s article Keep your Readers Turning the Pages.

My thoughts:  Not my normal style of read yet I dug in and found the book to quickly grab my attention and take me to a level of suspense that didnt really let go until the last page.

I enjoyed reading out of my genre style and found I was not disappointed.


Black Authors Network Interview

Pamela’s Website

Murder on the Blog Tour Giveaway!!!

Please leave a comment to be eligible to win an autographed book and a 25 dollar gift card from Pamela Samuels Young.  One winner will be chosen each day of this Blog Tour for a total of FIVE winners.

(Be sure I have a way to email you if you are a winner and US entries only please)

I received this book from Tywebbin Creations

I would rate this book a PG13 rating for some sexual content

Winner of The Constant Princess!

I was out of town this weekend and my Freebie Friday book giveaway for The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory ended on Friday.  I used random.org from my hotel room and sent a message to the winner, but have not had time to post it until now.

So – with no further adieu – whatsoever….  I bring to you, the one and only winner of The Constant Princess:

winner amyCongratulations AMY!!!

**  Freebie Fridays will resume this coming Friday!  Be sure to stop back to see what book will be on the giveaway!

The Friends We Keep/40 Minute Bible Studies by Sarah Zacharais Davis + Giveaway


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This giveaway is closed.  The winner is DEBB  🙂 Thank you to all entrants!

Summary for The Friends We Keep

The Friends We KeepDuring a particularly painful time in her life, Sarah Zacharias Davis learned how delightful–and wounding–women can be in friendship. She saw how some friendships end badly, others die slow deaths, and how a chance acquaintance can become that enduring friend you need.

The Friends We Keep is Sarah’s thoughtful account of her own story and the stories of other women about navigating friendship. Her revealing discoveries tackle the questions every woman asks:

• Why do we long so for women friends?
• Do we need friends like we need air or food or water?
• What causes cattiness, competition, and co-dependency in too many friendships?
• Why do some friendships last forever and others only a season?
• How do I foster friendship?
• When is it time to let a friend go, and how do I do so?

With heartfelt, intelligent writing, Sarah explores these questions and more with personal stories, cultural references and history, faith, and grace. In the process, she delivers wisdom for navigating the challenges, mysteries, and delights of friendship: why we need friendships with other women, what it means to be safe in relationship, and how to embrace what a friend has to offer, whether meager or generous.

Summary for 40 Minute Bible Studies

The 40 Minute Bible Study series from beloved Bible teacher Kay Arthur and the teaching staff of Precept Ministries tackles important issues in brief, easy-to-grasp lessons you can use personally or for small-group discussion. Each book in the series includes six 40-minute studies designed to draw you into God’s Word through basic inductive Bible study. There are 16 titles in the series, with topics ranging from fasting and forgiveness to prayer and worship. With no homework required, everyone in the group can work through the lesson together at the same time. Let these respected Bible teachers lead you in a study that will transform your thinking—and your life.

Titles Include:

•The Essentials of Effective Prayer

•Being a Disciple: Counting the Cost

•Building a Marriage That Really Works

•Discovering What the Future Holds

•Forgiveness: Breaking the Power of the Past

•Having a Real Relationship with God

•How Do You Walk the Walk and Talk the Talk?

•Living a Life of Real Worship

•How to Make Choices You Won’t Regret

•Living Victoriously in Difficult Times

•Money & Possessions: The Quest for Contentment

•Rising to the Call of Leadership

•How Do You Know God’s Your Father?

•Key Principles of Biblical Fasting

•A Man’s Strategy for Conquering Temptation

•What Does the Bible Say About Sex?

My Thoughts:  Friends We Keep is the type of book that spoke to me.  I love my women friendships.  I have always cherished the coffee meet ups and occasional dinners that are just catch up time.  In Sarah’s book she discusses how to be a better friend not only to other women but also to yourself.

The book is a light read with easy chapters that have topics like the roles we play (the different “friend types” in this section I could put names to!) This book is a wonderful read about friendships and would work well in a small group setting to be discussed.  Discussion Guide in back of the book.


Author Bios:

Sarah Zacharias Davis is a senior advancement officer at Pepperdine University, having joined the university after working as vice president of marketing and development for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and in strategic marketing for CNN. The daughter of best-selling writer Ravi Zacharias, Davis is the author of the critically-acclaimed Confessions from an Honest Wife and Transparent: Getting Honest About Who We are and Who We Want to Be. She graduated from Covenant College with a degree in education and lives in Los Angeles, California.

Kay Arthur, executive vice president and cofounder of Precept Ministries International has worked with her teaching staff to create the powerful 40-Minute Bible Studies series. Kay is known around the world as a Bible teacher, author, conference speaker, and host of national radio and television programs.

Ashley Boyer from Random House has given me an extra copy of this book to give away.  To enter:

1.  Leave a comment here with the answer to what qualities do you appreciate most in a friend?

2.  For a “Bonus” chance, tweet or blog about this giveaway and on a separate commment, leave the link here

3.  Comment on any non giveaway post and receive a third chance

USA addresses only please.  No PO box numbers.  This giveaway will end September 1.

Good Luck!

This book and the giveaway were given to me for review by Ashely Boyer at Random House

This book is rated G