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Category Archives: Books

Tina Lost in a Crowd by Miriam Hurdle

Posted on April 30, 2023 by Miriam Hurdle 40 comments

What a wonderful surprise! Thomas Wikman, a retired software/robotics engineer, the Leonbergers owner, lover, expert, and trainer, featured me three times in four months. Wow! What an honor. Today, he features my children’s book, Tina Lost in a Crowd.

He bought my book for his friends who have young children. Before he mailed the book to his friends, he wanted to look at it but ended up reading the entire book and reviewing it. What a delight to find his enthusiastic and honest review. Please head over to enjoy his review. While there, check out “Bronco” his handsome Leonberger, and his book.

Amazon Purchase Link

Leonberger Life

This is a Leonberger blog but sometimes I post about books that I want to promote. This post is a review and a promotion of a very good children’s book called Tina Lost in a Crowd Paperback – April 15, 2021 by Miriam Hurdle and illustrated by Victoria Skakandi.

I bought this book for friends of ours who have young children, but I read it first. I found it to be a very good and useful book, which is why I mailed it to them. Your child getting lost is one of the many nightmares’ parents must suffer. Yet it is such a common occurrence that your nightmare is bound to come true at some point. Would your children know what to do?

Front cover of the book Tina Lost in a Crowd Paperback. It features a child looking lost. It is colorful. — Front cover of the Tina Lost in a Crowd Paperback. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the paperback.

The paperback version of…

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Smorgasbord Christmas Book Fair 2022 – #Memoir #Cancer Miriam Hurdle, #Romance Ritu Bhathal, #Crimethriller Carol Balawyder

Posted on December 20, 2022 by Miriam Hurdle 17 comments

This is the wonderful time of the year! Sally at the Smorgasbord Magazine features my book, The Winding Road, at her Christmas Book Fair. Please head over to her blog to check out the book recommendations throughout the Book Fair.

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Welcome to the Smorgasbord Christmas Book Fair with a selection of books from personally recommended authors on my bookshelf I believe will make wonderful gifts for friends, family and for you.

The first book today is the poignant memoir by Miriam Hurdle…it is an inspiring read and I can recommend The Winding Road: A Journey of Survival.

About the book

In the summer of 2008, Miriam Hurdle was diagnosed with melanoma-an aggressive and invasive cancer in her internal organs. The survival rate before 2008 was low. Besides risking harsh treatments for a slim chance of survival, Miriam had hoops to jump through. By the time she received treatment at the beginning of 2009, her cancer had progressed from stage II to stage IV. It was a rough and uphill winding road. But alongside her was support and encouragement. Accompanied by the love of her family and community, this…

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The Winding Road: Pre-order is Here

Posted on August 1, 2022 by Miriam Hurdle 109 comments

August has a significant meaning for me. I want to publish my memoir, The Winding Road: A Journey of Survival, this month for a special reason.

Fourteen years ago, on July 31st, 2008, I entered my cancer journey. It was late at night, after my hysterectomy surgery, and my gynecologist came to my hospital room to break the news to me I had aggressive cancer. My life has changed forever on all counts-physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially.

The obstacles I had to overcome to get the treatment were more stressful than the treatment itself. They played a big part in the story. Fifty-three weeks later, the first week of August 2009, was my last week of radiation.

To celebrate my thirteen years of remission, my second life, and the return of my health, I want to make my story available on Amazon in August. It’s available for pre-order. It’ll be downloaded to your Kindle on August 26, 2022.

The launch tour is from Monday, September 5 to Monday, September 12, 2022. I love to see you there.

Amazon Pre-order Link: US, UK, Canada, AU , IN

~ ~ ~

A Note: 2008 was the year of recession. Many of my friends suffered a different loss. Some lost their jobs because of the companies downsizing or relocating to Colorado or Texas. Some lost their investments in stocks. Others lost their homes. We can’t predict our future. The unexpected stressful situations could come without warming. Losing my health and fighting for my life is just one of these many stories. I want to join hands with other people who suffer and be an encouragement to each other.

A Writing Challenge – The TBR Pile

Posted on January 11, 2022 by Miriam Hurdle 184 comments

Diana Wallace Peach starts 2022 with a writing challenge: write a story or poem about the TBR pile.

My TBR pile is ever-present, ever-growing, so it’s not hard to uncover it!

How to Process that Pile of Books You Can't Seem to Finish [+ 5 Other Reading Hacks] - Right Attitudes

I reshuffled and re-prioritized the books on my Kindle. The last book I wanted to read is now in the middle of the library.

How did it happen so fast?

I wanted to count how many books are on my TBR list. No need. On the left side of the Kindle, it tells me the total number of books I have, just minus the number of books I’ve read and reviewed on Amazon. So, I have about 140. I read from PC and now also read on iPad 9th generation. When I open Kindle, it shows the library with the total number of books I have on the left. Please see the screenshots. The books I’ve finished reading would have a percentage on the right top corner.

Well, how come some of them have no covers and say expired?

There were a few times Amazon offered a free trial for Kindle Unlimited. I took the offer and downloaded some KU books. I was over-ambitious and downloaded too many. Before I knew it, those pretty covers went blank because the download links disappeared.

I need to read and do some book reviews!

Amazon offered a discount price for Kindle Unlimited if I signed up for three months. I did. Three months zipped by in a flash!

Shit! I should have used the money to download those books. I would have owned the books and benefited the authors instead of Amazon! When am I going to learn?

Amazon offered a discount again for six months on Kindle Unlimited with an even cheaper price (they know I’m hooked). I signed up four and a half months ago.

Why would I have done that just before the holidays, knowing I would read even less during the family holidays? Now I have a month and a half to read those KU books.

Back in 2021, I debated on whether to buy a new iPad. Ten years ago, I bought an iPad 2 which is almost obsolete. I can’t download any new apps because they’re not compatible. The original cover with the keyboard I bought is coming apart. I’m sitting hours in front of the computer, which hurts my lower back. If I get a new iPad, I could sit on the couch to do a certain thing on the iPad, such as check the emails, respond to the blog comments, and a few other things. Oh, there are a couple of computer games I love on the iPad 2. Perhaps I can play those games on a new iPad, especially when I’m on the short two-hour flight to Portland to visit my daughter and her family.

After thinking and rethinking, I bought the iPad 9th generation as a Christmas and birthday present for myself. I tried to download many apps such as my blog and emails. When I downloaded Twitter and signed in, my account got hacked!!!

What happened? My Twitter handle is different? What? The following and followers are empty!

It took me several hours to figure out my Twitter got hacked. I wrote a message to Twitter, and they restored my account.

Phew!

Then I tried to download some games. The versions of my familiar games are not there anymore. A big change in the games and gaming industry.

That’s great! What am I going to do with the new iPad? Oh, wait! All my books are on the Kindle of the new iPad. I don’t know what happened because the books are not on iPad 2. Well, with the cover and keyboard, the new iPad weighed no heavier than a notebook. I can carry it around and hopefully do more reading this year!