He that loves reading has everything within his reach.
—William Godwin

Succeed and Soar seeks to lift hearts and spirits, awareness and humanity. Because books help fulfill that mission, this post offers three books of fiction I hope you’ll consider.

Succeed and Soar!

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Five Karat Soul , by James McBride, is a collection of six short stories, a soul food buffet of perspectives and experiences. One presents an antiquities dealer trying to pay a self-sacrificing  family a fortune. Another shares the lives of youths trying to form a band. The collection closes with a lion in a zoo sharing his experiences. The read was marvelous.

In this collection, James McBride—a musician and National Book Award Winner—demonstrates an impressive craftsmanship so that Five Karat Soul presents an entertaining and easy read, plus an education in how to write fine fiction. I learned a few things.

Of Five Karat Soul, The New York Times wrote, “These brilliant miniatures display all of the rambunctious fearlessness of his deeply empathetic imagination … The result is a pinball machine zinging with sharp dialogue, breathtaking plot twists and naughty humor.” Full Review

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We are all completely beside ourselves

1. Fowler has a substantial vocabulary, essential for writers. And she uses these head-scratcher, uncommon words [considered a no-no] while holding the reader, as with ‘tule fog’ in the sample text.
2. Fowler also time travels a lot, sometimes leaping decades on the same page. Seeing how she handles these transitions, sliding readers from her college years, to childhood to later life proves jumps back and forth in time can be done without confusing or losing readers.

When I chose Shari Lapeña’s book at the library, the title intrigued, but I didn’t read summary. Didn’t know what to expect. The opening lines showed how important the description of setting is in establishing the story‘s tone and ‘foreshadowing’ what’s to come. [see sample text]

I also enjoyed the novel’s Agatha Christie quality, evoking her  Murder on the Orient Express and Ten Little Indians.The who-dunnit reveal is delicious.

Of An Unwanted Guest, Nerd Daily wrote, “I loved how each chapter had a different character telling their perspective and feelings, and some of those characters were so interesting, that I just wanted to read more about them! An Unwanted Guest had themes of human survival and instinct, complex characters, and an incredible mystery!” Full Review

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• Reversible, same image printed on both sides
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NOTE: Sometimes art size must be adjusted for whole image to fit. CUSTOMIZE. Use tools with item to:

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