Favorite Book of 2016 - Gina Warren Buzby

Writers read!  And here is one of our By the Bay 2 authors’ favorite books of 2016.

Written by Gina Warren Buzby

Book Title: The Nightingale

Author:  Kristin Hannah

Genre: Fiction

Setting:   France. WWII

Format: 

Pages:  448

Publication date:  2/2015

Publisher:   St. Martin's Press

Opening Line:  If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: in love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are.

Favorite Passage:Men tell stories. Women get on with it. For us it was a shadow war. There were no parades for us when it was over, no medals or mentions in history books. We did what we had to during the war, and when it was over, we picked up the pieces and started our lives over.

Review: Strong women and their stories always draw me in, especially dramatic relationships woven into historical novels.

About the author: Gina Warren Buzby is the author of “Plein Mysterious” in By the Bay: East Beach Stories.  Her next story, “Plein Blackmail” will appear in By The Bay II: More East Beach Stories, to be launched in spring, 2017.  Gina is also one of three writers that collaborated on a story in the upcoming anthology.  The story is titled “The Proposal”.  Gina is (and writes about) a professional fine artist, working out of her Norfolk, VA studio.  Her website is www.GinaWarrenBuzby.com.

Favorite Books of 2016 - Jayne Ormerod

Writers read!  And here is one of our By the Bay 2 authors’ favorite books of 2016.

Written by Jayne Ormerod

Book Title:  THE LAKE HOUSE

Author:  Kate Morton

Genre: Part Historical fiction, part gothic mystery, and part family saga.

Setting:  Cornwall, England

Format:  Hardcover

Pages:  512 

Publication date:  Oct, 2015

Publisher:  Atria Books

Opening Line: Cornwall, August, 1933:  The rain was heavy now, and the hem of her dress was splattered with mud.

Review: Kate Morton has a way with words, and she is an expert in picking the perfect word/s to illustrate an emotion or a setting or an action.  I can’t tell you how many times I stopped to reread something, not because it was confusing, but because it was so perfect.  The story itself is a yo-yo between something that happened in 1933 and today’s detective trying to solve the unsolved disappearance of a child.  The way Kate slowly reveals the details until the entire picture is clear is masterfully done.  I have lent the book to 3 other people, and all have fussed at me for giving them something that has them reading through the night.  This book is too good to put down! 

About the author: Jayne Ormerod is the author of “Secrets” and “The Sniper Sisters” in By the Bay: East Beach Stories. Her story “Write by the Bay” will be in Volume II, to be published in 2017.  For a complete list of Jayne’s other writings, please visit her website.  

Favorite Books of 2016 - Patrick Clark

Writers read!  And here is one of our By the Bay 2 authors’ favorite books of 2016.

Written by Patrick Clark

Book Title:  The One Man

Author:  Andrew Gross

Genre: Thriller

Setting:  World War II

Format:  e-book

Pages:  432

Publication date:  August 23, 2016

Publisher:  St. Martin's Press

Opening Line: (From the Prologue) The private room is on the fourth floor of the geriatric wing at the Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital outside Chicago, bent, old men shuffling down the hall in hospital gowns with nurses guiding them and portable IV's in their arms.

Review: Parachute into Nazi occupied Poland, sneak inside the Auschwitz camp, pose as a camp prisoner and find a brilliant physicist with vital knowledge that could change the outcome of the war or, perhaps the course of human history, then sneak him out of the camp and escape back to the United States.  That was the incredible task assigned to Lieutenant Nathan Blum.  More incredible is the fact that much of this fictional story is loosely based on real events.

Andrew Gross's new novel, The One Man, is an exceptional story that I could not put down.  It is a dramatic thriller set against the backdrop of World War II and the horror of the Nazi concentration camp.  It's the story of a physicist with technical knowledge critical in the development of the first atomic bomb and the Allies desperate effort to rescue him from the camp.  Gross weaves the fictional story largely from true events and many of the characters are drawn from stories handed down from Holocaust survivors.

The book is emotional, the characters are vivid and the story pits good versus evil from page one to the end. It's suspenseful, riveting and it will make you think about those dark days

About the author: Patrick Clark is the author of “Boneyard” and "The Town Hall Incident" in By the Bay: East Beach Stories.  His story “Dead Drop” will be in Volume II, to be published in 2017.  For more information on Patrick and his other writings, please visit his website: www.patrick-clark.com.

Favorite Books of 2016 - Mike Owens

Writers read!  And here is one of our By the Bay 2 authors’ favorite books of 2016.


Written by Mike Owens

Cathcart and Klein, Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar. These two authors discuss various philosophies from Aristotle on down, and illustrate with jokes. 

If philosophy had been this much fun when I was an undergraduate, I'd have majored in it. And as that worldly philosopher, Groucho Marx said, "These are my principles. If you don't like them, I have others."

About the author: Mike Owens has written two medical textbooks on end of life care as well as two novels, The Threshold and The End of Free Will. His story, Herbie Meets his Match appeared in East Beach Stories, Vol 1, and The Prodigal will appear in Volume II.

A Children's Gift In Progress

Written by Gina Warren Buzby

I try to attend art fairs whenever possible.  Taking along a few friends and tying in lunch make for a fun day of art awareness and shopping.  Being a Fine Artist myself, I can also consider it "professional development" as I like to see how various peers set up their wares and displays.  During one of my more recent outings I discovered a local Alpaca Farm had a tent that was selling some of the most beautiful wraps, scarves, and sweaters.  The Alpaca wool is buttery soft and warm.  Off to the side of the collection of colorful scarves was a box of small knitted items made to look like animals, characters and insects.  They were finger puppets.

The Start of A New Year

Wishing you all the very best for 2017!