I’ve missed the Sunday Sketch feature and today, I was sketching up a storm. Unfortunately, I spent most of the day sketching random ideas that popped into my head rather than a scene or character from one of my current reads…which is why today’s Sunday Sketch is unfinished.

I decided to stop and post it up before the clock officially struck midnight so that it would still qualify as a Sunday Sketch.

Initially I planned to do a scene from Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant fairytale—there was a scene that I thought would be perfect—but  I couldn’t quite get what was in my head onto paper, so I ended up going with something that was yelling to be sketched: a stolen embrace between Destiny and Seth from The Miles Between.

Although they never truly kiss, they had such a lovely low-key romance blossoming through the story that it warms my heart just thinking about it.

When I do finish it, I’ll post that up too. For now, I hope you enjoy what’s done so far.

I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated, but that’s because my nose has been either in:

1. a book
2. mountains of wrapping paper
3. ink
4. prior obligations

But I wanted to suspend this brief hiatus to wish you all a wonderful holiday season. Once everything calms down a bit, I’ll be back in full force and I have some great things planned (especially for newsletter subscribers). So on a parting note: eat, drink, be merry (and above all, safe)!

Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here’s the latest arrival: Numbers by Rachel Ward

First line: There are places kids like me go. Sad kids, bad kids, [...]

Initial thoughts:  I can’t remember the name of the blog, but I remember reading a synopsis of the book and thinking to myself, I want to read that book.

Then lo and behold, the book fairy delivered a copy to me (OK, it was really the publisher via the postal lady) and I did a little happy dance.

It’s about a girl who can look into someone’s eyes and see the date of their death. There’s a bit more to it, but that’s the gist.

The premise just sounds intriguing, no? Right up my alley.

Book description:

By the Numbers…

"Listen, Jem." The words came spitting out of her face. "I don’t need this today, so just…shut…up." Syllables stinging like angry wasps, her venom fizzing all around me. And all the time, as we sat eye-to-eye, her number was there, stamped on the inside of my skull: 10102001.

Four years later, I watched a man in a scruffy suit write it down on a piece of paper:

Date of Death: 10/10/2001

Book Details: 336 pages; Chicken House; Pub. February 2010

Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here’s the latest arrival: The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg

First line: When I was five years old, I walked down the aisle with [...]

Initial thoughts: This book looks adorable. When I read the description, I laughed out loud and shook my head in amazement. As someone who has sworn off love and men a time or two, this just seemed like it was bound to be an entertaining read.

Book description:

(Rather than a back cover blurb, I’m presenting you with the opening page.)

I, Penny Lane Bloom, do solemnly swear to never date another boy for as long as I shall live.

All right, maybe I’ll reconsider it in ten years or so when I’m no longer living in Parkview, Illinois, or attending McKinley High School, but for now I’m done with guys. They’re all lying, cheating scum of the earth.

Yes, every last one of them. Pure evil.

Sure, there are some that seem nice, but the second they get what they want, they’ll dump you and move on to their next target.

So I’m done.

No more dating.

The end.

Book Details: 320 pages; Point; Pub. January 2010

Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here’s the latest arrival: The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf

First line: Louis and I see you nearly at the same time. In the woods, [...]

Initial thoughts:

I’ve seen this book a few times when out and about and every time, I pick it up. For some strange reason, however, I never end up buying it. There’s something haunting about the cover and description and ever since reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, I’ve been somewhat wary of books which can leave me too emotionally haunted after reading them. (Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy them…I just have to build up my will first.)

After hearing so many good things about this book, and in general, feeling as though I need another deeply emotional and moving read, this topped my list. I’ve steeled myself and am ready to take this ride.

Book description:

It happens quietly one August morning. As dawn’s shimmering light drenches the humid Iowa air, two families awaken to find their little girls have gone missing in the night.

Seven-year-old Calli Clark is sweet, gentle, a dreamer who suffers from selective mutism brought on by tragedy that pulled her deep into silence as a toddler. Calli’s mother, Antonia, tried to be the best mother she could within the confines of marriage to a mostly absent, angry husband. now, though she denies that her husband could be involved in the possible abductions, she fears her decision to stay in her marriage has cost her more than her daughter’s voice.

Petra Gregory is Calli’s best friend, her soul mate and her voice. But neither Petra nor Calli has been heard from since their disappearance was discovered. Desperate to find his child, Martin Gregory is forced to confront a side of himself he did not know existed beneath his intellectual, professorial demeanor.

Now these families are tied by the question of what happened to their children. And the answer is trapped in the silence of unspoken family secrets.

Book Details: 384 pages; Mira; Pub. July 28, 2009