Be My Guest: Kristy Cambron and *GIVEAWAY*

by Andrea Renee Cox

Hey, friends! Please welcome Kristy Cambron, author of The Butterfly and the Violin, as she talks about one of our favorite things: BOOKS! Stay tuned till the very end. There's a sweet surprise waiting for you.

When Books Have a Story to Tell

by Kristy Cambron

I remember the day my parents bought me my first art history book.

That was in fourth grade– many, many years ago. And today, it holds an important spot on the favorites bookshelf of this thirty-something wife, author, and momma of three.

I still have the very first copy of Pride and Prejudice (and Jane Austen book period) that I’d ever read. My high school Bible is tucked away – no longer in use because the spine is falling apart. It’s marked up, inscribed with dates and prayers in the margins, chronicling my first decade as a believer. And around my home office as I write this? You’ll find copies of Elie Wiesel’s Night stashed here and there. A stack of Dr. Seuss books occupies a toy basket in the corner. Art history books are shelved in a rainbow of spine colors. And eighteen copies of Jane Eyre are within arm’s reach of my desk.

All of these books are dear to me. They’re dear not just for the story contained between the front and back covers. It’s the memories associated with the where and when they came to me, in part, that make me who I am today.

A good story captures readers if the characters are memorable, the plot is page-turning, and often, if the message is a powerful one. But there’s something beyond the greatness of the words penned to pages. That’s not where the story ends! It’s also found in the memories attached to the books we love.  

I have many friends who adore their e-readers. It’s now possible to carry an entire library in our handbag. (Thank you, technology!) And I assure you – I have an e-reader and it’s stocked with books I’m anxious to read. I stand in no judgement if someone’s not partial to print books, especially with the hustle-bustle of our technology-driven days. E-readers just make sense sometimes. But here’s where a hold-in-your-hands book gets real for me.

Here’s where a book tells its story.

A book that’s engraved itself upon your heart becomes one you loan out to dear friends.

It’s one you purchase as a gift, watching as eyes light up when it’s unwrapped.

Maybe it’s a book that’s been so loved, you’ve carried it from college dorm to first apartment to the home you’re living in now, always finding it a special place on your shelves. Maybe you popped into a little London bookshop on your first trip overseas, and have a copy of a Dickens novel to mark the journey. Maybe you met one of your favorite authors and they signed the front cover of a first edition novel you loved. And maybe, just maybe, you want to write a book one day. To hold your own story in your hands. To know that you dreamt it, pursued it, and finally… that calling of your heart came true.

This is where a used bookshop can become a harbinger of dreams.

Who held this book before you? Who loved it? Who gave it as a gift? Who owned it, wrote their name in the front cover, only to have it come to you after they moved on from it?

Books have a story to tell. And for every book published, it’s a story far more than the awards, critical acclaim or sales numbers could explain. A book is a story you hold in your hands. It’s yesterday and tomorrow, all at the same time. And if we let it, the story will continue on each time it’s passed from palm to palm. Shelf to shelf. Heart to heart.

This is when a book tells its greatest story– by how well it’s been loved. 

What are some of your best-loved books?

What makes it so special to you?

About The Ringmaster's Wife:

An ounce of courage. A split-second leap of faith. Together, they propel two young women to chase a new life—one that’s reimagined from what they might have become.

In turn-of-the-century America, a young girl dreams of a world that stretches beyond the confines of a quiet life on the family farm. With little more than her wit and a cigar box of treasures to call her own, Mable steps away from all she knows, seeking the limitless marvels of the Chicago World’s Fair. There, a chance encounter triggers her destiny—a life with a famed showman by the name of John Ringling.

A quarter of a century later, Lady Rosamund Easling of Yorkshire, England, boards a ship to America as a last adventure before her life is planned out for her. There, the twenties are roaring, and the rich and famous gather at opulent, Gatsby-esque parties in the grandest ballrooms the country has to offer. The Jazz Age has arrived, and with it, the golden era of the American circus, whose queen is none other than the enigmatic Mable Ringling.

When Rosamund’s path crosses with Mable’s and the Ringlings’ glittering world, she makes the life-altering decision to leave behind a comfortable future of estates and propriety, instead choosing the nomadic life of a trick rider in the Ringling Brothers’ circus.

A novel that is at once captivating, deeply poignant, and swirling with exquisite historical details of a bygone world, The Ringmaster’s Wife will escort readers into the center ring, with its bright lights, exotic animals, and a dazzling performance that can only be described as the greatest show on earth!

About Kristy Cambron:

Kristy Cambron

Kristy Cambron has a background in art and design, but she fancies life as a vintage-inspired storyteller. She is the author of The Ringmaster’s Wife, named to Publishers Weekly Spring 2016 Religion & Spirituality TOP 10. Her novels have been named to Library Journal Reviews’ Best Books and RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards Best lists for 2014 & 2015, and received a 2015 INSPY Awards nomination for best debut novel. The Illusionist’s Apprentice (HarperCollins, 2017) is her fourth novel.

You may connect with Kristy on her website: kristycambron.com.

GIVEAWAY!

I'm excited to read The Ringmaster's Wife soon, so to spread the good vibes out there, I am hosting a giveaway. One (1) Kindle copy is up for grabs. Please answer at least one of today's discussion question and include your email address.

This giveaway ends on Thursday, and the winner will be contacted by Saturday.

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