Hello from Cincinnati! (Not all of my business travels are to exotic places, sadly.) I have spent most of the weekend locked in a small conference room without any time to read or any time to myself, really, and I will be glad to get on the road home. Cincinnati is pretty close, so I drove down and I am on Disk 6 of Olive Kitteridge and I am really enjoying it. After this week, I will be looking forward to being all alone in my rental car, just me and my book.

Monday: I wish I could tell you about the books that have come in, but I’m not at home! That will have to wait for next week. But I have been thinking about how I choose books for trips — maybe I’ll have a chance to write a little about that.

Tuesday: No matter what, I will have a Teaser for you.

Wednesday: I hope to have some new words for you and I might even have a bonus book review!

Thursday: Be sure to check for my review of Trail of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz.

Friday: Friday I have a special guest post from Joanne DeMaio, author of Whole Latte Life. (Right now, it’s 99 cents at the Kindle store! You can have it read before her guest post!)

Saturday: I will be spending Saturday with a dear friend of mine, in town on business of his own from Canada, and you know there will be Snapshots!

Sunday: Even a blogger has to rest some day.

I’m looking forward to a great week!

This says everything I am feeling.

This week, I am coming to you from Sheffield, England. I have been looking forward to meeting all of the folks at our facility there. It’s also my first trip to England, and I hope to get a little sightseeing done while I’m there.

Monday: Let me tell you about what came in my mailbox!

Tuesday: I’m sure I’ll have a teaser, I’m just not sure what it will be from!

Wednesday: Wondrous Words Wednesday – I’ve got some great words lined up for you this week. Maybe a book review, if I get an opportunity.

Thursday: Check back for my review of Carry the One by Carol Anshaw. This was a heart-breaker of a book, and I look forward to sharing it with you.

Friday: I hope to be meeting in London on Friday with one of my colleagues and perhaps doing a little sightseeing while I’m there.

Saturday: This is going to be a travel day, so my travel pics might have to wait until next week.

Sunday: And on Sunday, she rested. And read.

This week, I am home! This is my first full week at home since January, so I plan to enjoy it. I’ve also got some cool stuff to share.

Monday: Let me tell you about what came in my mailbox!

Tuesday: I think my teaser will by from Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, unless I am hip deep in something else tomorrow.

Wednesday: Wondrous Words Wednesday – I’ve got some great words lined up for you this week. Maybe a book review, if I get an opportunity.

Thursday: Check back for my review of Carry the One by Carol Anshaw. This was a heart-breaker of a book, and I look forward to sharing it with you.

Friday: I have got an interesting guest post from Doxology author Brian Douglas Holers. He’s talking about setting in fiction, which is always an interesting topic.

Saturday: As always, there will be snapshots!

Sunday: And on Sunday, she rested. And read.

This week, I am in Huntington Beach, California! Sadly, it’s not going to be as warm as I was hoping, but the beach is still the beach. Here’s what I’ve got coming up:

Monday: I got a couple of new books last week to tell you about.

Tuesday: My teaser this week is from Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway. I’m about half-way through and absolutely loving it! The tough part is going to be deciding which teaser to pick!

Wednesday: Wondrous Words Wednesday – I’ve got some great words lined up for you this week.

Thursday: Check back for my review of So Pretty It Hurts by Kate White. It’s a great little mystery and I can’t wait to tell you about it.

Friday: I am hoping to have another review for you — all depends on the time I’ve got available.

Saturday: Saturday, I will be getting home from my trip after the red eye from hell. (Seriously – I land in Atlanta at 3:30 am with a 3 hour layover!) Hopefully, I will have some pictures posted in advance for Saturday Snapshot, because I plan to come right home and collapse.

I am coming to you this week from Minneapolis! I love the Twin Cities area — there are some great bookstores here, a new library, and so much culture. The weather should be good this week and I am hoping to hook up with some old friends.

In the meantime, here’s what I’ve got planned for this week:

Monday: I got some great new books last week and I want to tell you about them a little later today.

Tuesday: Teaser Tuesday! I’m not sure what I’ll be reading tomorrow, but I’m sure I’ll find something to tempt you.

Wednesday: Have you ever come across a word in a novel and had to dig out the dictionary? Wondrous Words Wednesday lets you share that new vocabulary with other readers.

Thursday: Be sure to stop back for my review of Burned by Thomas Enger. Another Scandinavian author, another great murder mystery.

Friday: That’s a long way off. I’m waiting for inspiration to strike.

Saturday: There will be snapshots! You know that wherever I am, there will be a Saturday Snapshot.

Coming to you from Houston! This may be a quiet week, but I hope to have a few things of interest for you.

Monday: No books came in while I was gone last week — can you believe it? But I have an order in for the new book by Nick Harkaway, Angelmaker. I talked with Nick on his website some time ago and asked about a review copy, but I guess he forgot.

Later this morning, I’ll have an interview with author John J. Smith about his new novel, Finding Katie.

Tuesday: I will have a quote from my current book — whatever that turns out to be on Tuesday.

Wednesday: I’ve got a couple of new words for Wondrous Words Wednesday.

Thursday: Be sure to check back for my review of The Face Thief by Eli Gottlieb. This was a pretty good one!

Friday: I’ve got my review of Bleed for Me by Michael Robotham — you don’t want to miss that one.

Saturday: Now, you’ll know there will be a Snapshot! But even I don’t know yet what it will be.

We get warning labels on all sorts of things. There are warning labels on food, on appliances. The salad bar I go to for lunch has a warning label that your salad may have come in contact with a peanut product. There are warnings on tv shows for violence and on movies for language and sexual content (those are always my favorites). Should there be warnings on books?

This comes up because I am getting ready to review a book I recently finished. There is one scene in the book of terrible animal cruelty. A very vicious man who is trying to intimidate our hero does so by torturing and killing his dog.

It’s not a big scene in the grand scheme of things, but it does play up just how dangerous the situation is. These people are ruthless and they are not above sending a message in a pretty sadistic way. No other pets are harmed and it really never came up again in the novel (which surprised me, but that’s another discussion), so I began to wonder: should I warn my readers?

I know a lot of people who are very sensitive when it comes to animals. They cannot read newspaper stories about injured animals, they can’t watch the shows on Animal Planet where they take care of neglected animals, and those Humane Society Commercials? Forget it — they are weeping buckets. So part of me wants to warn those sensitive souls, so they don’t get half-way through the book and then quit because of one bad scene.

On the other hand, it’s a murder mystery! I wouldn’t warn them that people get killed in a murder mystery. Why would I warn them about a pet? It’s interesting to me that many people seem to have no problem reading about horrific murders, but kick a puppy and they melt. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just an interesting reaction.

So, to warn or not to warn? I hate to give away a plot point. I think the author pretty obviously meant for this to be startling and shocking – it certainly was to me. However, it’s not really mentioned ever again in the book. (Which begs the question: why have a shocking scene that is never mentioned again?) I would hate to have someone miss out on a great book because of one bit of cruelty to a pet; on the other hand, I would also hate to recommend a book that would give someone nightmares.

******

At this point, this post has been sitting in my Draft file for a while. But something interesting happened today: a friend on a forum where I talked a bit about this book thanked me for warning her. She said she recognized the scene, took my advice (turn 2 or 3 pages and go on – the details don’t come up again) and was able to go on with the book.

I guess that answers my question, because I warned someone, they avoided the part that would disturb them and they were still able to go on and enjoy the book.

But what do you think? Would you want to be warned, even a little? Or would you rather get the shock the author intended, even if it disturbed you?

I am back in Detroit, but I still have some great stuff lined up for you!

Monday: I’ve got some new books that came for review to tell you about. Definitely some great reading in my future.

Tuesday: If it’s Tuesday, there must be a teaser. Not sure what I’ll be reading on Tuesday, but I’m sure there will be a few sentences to tempt you.

Wednesday: Hopefully, I will have some new vocabulary lined up for Wondrous Words Wednesday. The book I just finished, Bleed for Me, was set in England and there are some interesting British slang terms that I’ve got to check out.

Thursday: Check in on Thursday for my review of Defending Jacob. In fact, check the sidebar on the website here for a link to get a copy of your very own. This is a great book and by the time the review goes up, you could already have your own copy in your hands or on your Kindle. You won’t want to wait.

Friday: I have been thinking about warning labels. When should a reviewer warn a reader about a disturbing plot point? Should you ever warn a reader? I’ll be looking for your thoughts.

Saturday: Saturdays are always for Saturday Snapshot. Not sure what the pictures will be, but there will definitely be pictures.

New! Sunday: It’s been a while since I posted a Quotable, but this week I have a great quote from author Frank Delaney on literary bloggers.

A full week here — what have you got on your agenda?

This is another week on the road for me (back in Detroit), but I should have time to get to everything. Takes a little planning, but I usually know when I’ll have early nights and what I need to finish up in advance.

Monday: Along with my weekly, preview, I’ve gotten some new books to share with you.

Tuesday: If it’s Tuesday, there must be a Teaser. Not sure what I’ll be reading by Tuesday, so we’ll have to see what comes up.

Wednesday: Wondrous Words Wednesday – I’ve got some great words from a book I just finished, The Face Thief by Eli Gottlieb (check back soon for a review).

Thursday: My review of In Search of the Rose Notes — I really enjoyed this one. An interesting mystery.

Friday: I’ve got a guest post from Rudy Mazzochi, author of Equity of Evil. Be sure to stop back for that.

Saturday: There will almost certainly be a Saturday Snapshot -- I’m just not sure yet what it will be.

Sunday: A girl has to rest and catch up on her reading sometime, doesn’t she?