Author: Sharon E. Cathcart

Award-winning author Sharon E. Cathcart writes historical fiction with a twist! A former journalist and newspaper editor, Sharon has been writing for as long as she can remember and always has at least one work in progress. Sharon lives in the Silicon Valley, California, with her husband and an assortment of pets.

Weekend Reads: “Crying in H Mart”

Crying in H MartCrying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I found myself alternately laughing and crying as I read this memoir by pop musician Michelle Zauner.

The work primarily focuses on her challenging relationship with her mother, who was born in Korea. Zauner’s father is American, and she struggles to find what she thinks of as her right place in society. She is kind of dismissive of her mother’s housewifery and wants a more artistic life.

When Zauner’s mother becomes terminally ill, she finds herself reexamining many things about their relationship. When she realizes how much the two of them have connected over traditional Korean foods (many of which I’m unfamiliar with), she tries to use that method to bridge some of the gaps that have arisen over the years.

Food also becomes a metaphor for healing and grief over the course of the book, which was interesting.

I enjoyed this look into Korean culture, and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading heartfelt memoirs.

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Sample Saturday: “In The Eye of The Beholder”

ITEOTB IGHi, everyone. Today’s sample is from my 2009 debut novel, In the Eye of The Beholder. Enjoy!

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“Since the thing won’t speak, perhaps it will sing for us,” François crowed. “I vaguely recall seeing this masked visage around the Opera Garnier. I cannot imagine what kind of hideous tones would issue from that face, but surely you will indulge us with your croaking tones.”

Erik broke his silence then. His beautiful, clear tenor shocked the throng into silence, moving some to tears. The hypnotic power of his instrument was palpable as he brought his aria to a close and resumed his silent stance.

One woman near me remarked, “It’s a bloody shame that he should have such a voice with that poor face of his. He sings like an angel.”

The silent crowd began to disperse at that point. François took another draught from his jug and spat it at Erik’s feet. He gestured to a nearby young woman and walked away with his arm around her shoulders.

Back cover copy:

When French equestrian Claire Delacroix loses her fiance in a tragic accident, she comes to live at the Paris Opera during its 1890s heyday.

Whilst working at the opera, she meets a mysterious, masked stranger: Erik. Is it possible that the two of them will heal the pain of each other’s past?

Updated for 2015 with glossaries of equestrian terms and French words used in the text.

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The 25 Most Iconic Book Covers in History

First things first. What makes a book cover iconic? There are no hard and fast rules, of course—like anything else, you know it when you see it. But in order to compile this list, I looked for recognizability, ubiquity, and reproduction—that is, if there are a million Etsy stores selling t-shirts/buttons/posters/tote bags with the book cover, or if someone you know has ever dressed up as it for Halloween, or has a tattoo of it, it probably counts as iconic. That is: the most iconic book covers exist as cultural artifacts that are attached to, but slightly separate from, the books they were designed for. (That’s an admittedly hazy threshold, but what isn’t these days?)

The 25 Most Iconic Book Covers in History