If you were like me, you had to read Fahrenheit 451 in school. If you haven't read it since then, I heartily encourage everyone to give it a read again, or even better listen to the audiobook. It'll make a big impression about the topic of burning books.
Kari and I learned that there were organizations calling for book burnings of 50 Shades of Grey. Now, we aren't fans of that book, however we're more strongly opposed to book burning and the consequences it can bring. We can both sympathize with the reasoning of domestic abuse counselors that the book might encourage more violence against women. However, readers and abusers have to take responsibility into their own hands.
This article from the UK Daily Mail makes and excellent point that once you start with one book, where do you stop? This woman is all up in arms about this one particular book series, but honestly there are hundreds more out there at are ten times worse. Why not burn those too?
Hopefully, this woman will continue her good work dedicated to abused women and not make a career out of burning books. Her resources would be better used eradicating losers who beat their partners, rather than taking tacky books out of the hands of desperate housewives.
Courageous (Harlequin, June 2012)... what can I say? I usually read about 50 pages or at least 2 CDs before I give up on a book. I lasted only half of the first disc. First, Peg, the 19-YO, naive heroine states that she is different from her friends because she doesn't believe in sex before marriage. Then she proceeds to say really suggestive things to the Winslow (the hero). Things like: "I hear they have birth control now that is 100% effective." and "It's not the size that matters; it's what you do with it that counts." Really? A few pages later, he tells her she should be in college and could major in Home Ec. Um...do they even offer that in college anymore? He is also scandalized that they allow coed dorms now. Anyway, I could see this book was going the way ofMerciless(which I disliked) so I decided to stop. The book seems incredibly out-dated for having been written in 2012.When the setting is 2012, I want the characters to act like they are in 2012.
I really tried to get into The Vanishers (Doubleday, March 2012). I started the audiobook 3 times. On the last try, I finished the first CD and I realized I had no idea what was going on or what the author was talking about. I was never able to orient myself to the world the author was trying to create. I may at some point try to finish the book, but with so many books on my TBR Pile, it won't be anytime soon. It is too bad, because the synopsis seemed so interesting. Maybe if the book had more of a background set up in the beginning, I would have been able to get into it more.
I picked Bone Machines by John Dodds as an audiobook selection from the library. It seemed like my kind of book. It's about a serial killer in Glasgow. The killer is an artist not only in his killing, but also in what he does with the bodies after death. Sounds like a twistedly good book right? I think my biggest problem with this audiobook was that it was narrated by Robin Sachs and he does all the Jo Nesbo books. The two are linked in my head. So his voice attached to something else wasn't really working for me. I keep getting confused with the characters and who was who and who was the bad guy. It just wasn't working for me so I moved on to something else.
Today we are hosting author, Andrew Katz who is promoting his book, Descendants. Enjoy our interview!
Author: Andrew Katz Publisher: Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing Date of publication: August 10th 2012 Knights are dead and gone since the days of Camelot. The ancient battles pitting sword and shield against one another are just a distant memory, one that very few even give validity, and that’s exactly how it should be. I mean honestly, if people knew half of what really went on in the shadows and under the bed they’d probably wind up institutionalized. Luckily, that’s where Sir Godric Patronar comes in. Sir Godric is a Knight. That’s right, an armor-clad, sword-wielding powerhouse of old, with all the powers and responsibilities that come with that position. They’re not all gone, and a few, like Sir Godric, even reside in the Kingship of North America. Trouble has been brewing in the Kingdom… and it’s kind of Godric's fault. He killed a bunch of gnomes, which in turn pissed off some trolls. Now they’re trying to kill him and start a war with all of humanity. It’s up to Sir Godric to stop the impending war but it’s kind of hard when an ancient evil is awakening and trying to block his path at every turn.
Kari: What inspired you to become a writer?
Andrew: There really wasn’t anything in particular that did it. I started one night out
of a fit of boredom and just never really looked back. The funny thing is, in
school I always hated writing, but once I began doing it for myself, it’s all I
wanted to do… all the time.
Kari: Where do you come up with the idea for your books? Andrew: I’ve actually recently started keeping a dream journal, and I get some good
ideas out of there, but mostly I just make it up as I go. I keep a small
moleskin notepad with me in my back pocket everywhere I go and as an idea hits
me I jot it down. There’s no real method to my madness in there though (it’s a
mess of sketches, overviews, and one word reminders), so I convert it into a
more organized Word file to look at. I take my ideas at random from there.
Kari: What exciting projects are waiting in the wings? Andrew: Well, I’m working on the sequel to my premier novel, “Descendants”, and I also
have a multitude of short stories in the works.
Kari: Who is your favorite literary character and why? Andrew: I’d have to choose between Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden, or Simon R. Green’s
John Taylor. They’re both supernatural P.I.s with more creative thinking than
sense, but always try and do the right thing, even if it doesn’t seem that way
to others.
Kari:Just for fun, if you could be
any animal, what would it be and why? Andrew: A bear, no question. First of all, you get to hibernate, and that seems awesome
to me. Then, you get to be scary, yet cute and furry. It’s the total package. Kari: Thanks for visiting, Andrew!
About the author:
Andrew Katz is a young, up and coming fantasy author. The anthology Dark Light, released on Feb 29th, 2012 was his first published work. His full length novel "Descendants" will be released on Aug 10th, 2012 by Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing Visit his Facebook page: http://facebook.com/AndrewKatz.Author
Author: Debbie Macomber First Published in 2001 by Mira (Harlequin) Audiobook by Brilliance Audio
Dear Reader,
You
don't know me yet, but in a few hours that's going to change. I'm
inviting you to my town of Cedar Cove because I want you to meet my
family, friends and neighbors. Come hear their stories--maybe even their
secrets! Cedar Cove--people love it and sometimes they leave it, but they never forget it!
Olivia Lockhart
I've never been a fan of soap opera's, except for a brief time in my youth when Luke and Laura were getting married on General Hospital. 16 Lighthouse Road reminded me of a soap opera, but in a good way. The characters are engaging and realistic. Cedar Cove is a small town attached to a Naval base. Everyone knows everything about everyone else. This was a hard book to review because there are multiple story lines going on in the book. I think the thing that appealed to me the most about the book is that none of the relationships are perfect. Everyone seems to be having a tough time, whether it is with their spouse or their children. While there are HEAs and resolutions for some of the characters, others are left hanging and unresolved. From further research about the series, it looks like some of the story lines span multiple books in the Cedar Cove series. I definitely will be looking for the next book in the series, 204 Rosewood Lane. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed listening to Sandra Burr narrate. She has quickly become one of my favorite narrators.
Author: Lia Habel Publisher: Del Ray (Random House Publishing) Date of Publication: October 2011 Love can never die
Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?
If you can get over the ick factor of rotting flesh, this is actually a pretty good story. I'm not a huge zombie fan, but I found myself entertained by Dearly Departed. This was an interesting mix of YA, steampunk, dystopia and zombies.
The year is 2195 and due to the melting of the polar ice caps and nuclear civil wars, the world is now divided into territories with tribes. For some reason, in rebuilding society, they have chosen the Victorian age as their social model except the technology is beyond what it is even today. Nora Dearly is an orphan who is kidnapped by rebels when she returns home for the holiday break. Rebels, known as Punks, have begun raiding and terrorizing the areas of New London. Turns out some of the punks are reanimated by the "Laz" virus. When you are reanimated, you are either a sane zombie or you go crazy and try to eat people. That is just a short summary of what is going on in this book. At the heart of the book are the characters. Nora and Bram, despite their difference in mortality, are really sweet together. I loved Bram;'s character and really felt for him. He is a really noble guy who is trying to do the right thing, he just happens to be the walking dead. I will admit that the thought of a romance between a living girl and an undead boy grossed me out at first. When I was explaining the book to Autumn, I realized that this relationship is no more gross than a young girl and a vampire. They are the walking dead, right? They just don't have rotting flesh to deal with.
I found several parts
of the book very amusing. The humor among the good zombies was a lot of
fun. The author does a great job of raising sympathy for them. Just
like Bram, they are all in a situation that they are trying to make the
best of until they eventually rot away die for good. I think Chas was my favorite out of the lot of them.
The book is told through the points of view of multiple characters. On the audiobook, each character had a different narrator. That made it easier to remember whose point of view I was listening to and that made me like it even more. The book ends with a few questions and a cliff hanger. The next book in the trilogy, Dearly Beloved, comes out this month. So far there is no hint of the dreaded YA love triangle. I really hope it stays that way. This was a pretty good YA book. I found nothing really objectionable in the book, so I think that it would be OK for the over 14 crowd.
Author: B. R. Freemont Publisher: Two Harbors Press Date of Publication: August 17, 2012 As the global energy crisis of the 21st century wears on, James Lendeman searches for answers - both for the country and for himself.
Working in the Federal Energy Department for the iconoclastic and enigmatic Kate Hastings, James is at the center of a world of political intrigue and personal conflicts. Unsure of whether he can go along with Kate's plans for the country (and for him), he is forced to steer his own way through a maze of personal and professional problems.
When we meet James a few years later (through an ingenious weaving of dual timelines), he is in Savannah, working as a contractor for the government and debating the merits of a flirtatious college student who lives in his boarding house.
Nimbly moving forward and backward through James's personal timeline, Of Time and Place leads its readers on a journey through the twists and turns of life in a kind of historical novel of the future. From a tumultuous romance and marriage to a romantic spring in Florence and the adversities along the way, James finds himself debating both his own life and the feasibility of maintaining a viable US economy in the mid-21st century.
Drawn from very real issues of global import, and playing out in some of the most storied cities in the world, Of Time and Place will leave every reader pondering the future -- and the present. I'll be honest, I really struggled with this book. I was looking forward to reading it as the synopsis was very intriguing. One thing I did like about Of Time and Place is that it is very well written and thought out. I liked the idea of a glimpse into a potential future with changes in use of energy. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to keep up my interest. I found that I did not like the dual timelines. It was a bit disorienting and it didn't work for me. The book is long and I found myself skimming sections. But! Just because it didn't work for me, doesn't mean you shouldn't try it out. It has gotten excellent reviews on Goodreads as well as other reviewers on this blog tour. Pick up a copy and try it out for yourself!
About the author:
B.R.
Freemont was born in New York and has lived in the Savannah area for over a
decade. He holds a B.A. from Columbia and an M.A. from New York University.
During his business career, Freemont filled a number of management assignments
and briefly worked for government entities.
Over the years, his interests have included: astronomy, domestic and foreign
travel, dog breed club administration, wine tasting, and avidly reading both
fiction and non-fiction.
He is married and has a son and two daughters.
Paperback& ebook
Price: $16.95 paperback, $7.99 ebook
Publisher: Two Harbors Press
ISBN: 9781937928728
Pages: 539
Release: August 17, 2012
by: Gennifer Albin
published by: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
publish date: October 16, 2012
Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.
I liked this book overall, but I found some of the concepts to be a little difficult. Perhaps maybe a little beyond the comprehension of some young readers.
Adelice knows at an early age that she has the gift to see the weave that makes up Arras. She can manipulate it and change it in ways that no one else can. Her parents know that she will be picked to be a Spinster unless they can teach her how to hide her skill. Her skills are too strong to hide and she gets picked anyway and taken away to become a Spinster. The Spinsters are responsible for taking the raw materials that make up Arras and weaving them into everything that comprises the world they live in from the ground they stand on to the food they eat to the children they bear.
The idea that there's an abstract idea of a weave of time and place and it can be manipulated by a group of specially trained women might be beyond the average young teenager. At times, it didn't make much sense to me. Why couldn't the citizens of Arras just get pregnant whenever they wanted? Why couldn't the plants just grow wild? Arras was build upon the ruins of Earth after something cataclysmic had happened and the ending hinted at things that might happen on those ruins.
Other than abstract issues, it has all the other typical YA dystopian markers. There's an evil government plot. There's the almost prerequisite love triangle. Also, her younger sister gets taken away and she's desperate to find her. All the big bases are covered for a successful YA. AND it's the start of a series. No info yet on the follow up book.
Please welcome authors Larry Buchanan & Karen Gans as they give us a peek into their journey along the publishing road. They are promoting their book, The Gift of El Tio.
Larry, a world-renowned geologist, discovers an
enormous deposit of silver beneath a remote Quechua village in Bolivia and
unwittingly fulfills a 400-year-old prophecy that promised a life of wealth for
the villagers. Karen, a specialist in child development, is deeply disturbed by
the prospect of displacing the people in order to open a mine. She challenges
Larry to leave the comforts of home and move to the village in order to bear
witness to the massive change his discovery will spark. Thus begins the
couple's life-changing, ten-year journey into the Quechua community, their
evolution from outsiders to trusted friends. Then part two of the ancient
prophecy is disclosed to them, and they are shocked by the truth of its
predictions: alienation, despair, even cannibalism.
How to Get Your Book Published
While
living amongst the Quechua people in Bolivia, documenting the changes that
would accompany moving their town to a new location, my husband and I became
enthralled with their beliefs. Although
Larry had always been a skeptic when it came to shamans, crystal healings,
fortune-tellers and such, his curiosity about Quechua culture led him to
immerse himself totally in the rituals and cosmology of these people. After all, he was the geologist who fulfilled the prophecy of the god of the
underworld, El Tio, by discovering an enormous silver deposit underneath the
town of San Cristobal. And how could a
geologist resist a culture that believes rocks harbor the souls of our
ancestors?
When our
friend, Senobio, told us that this was an auspicious day for a ch’alla, a ritual where the Quechua
request favors from the gods, Larry and I asked him to arrange a blessing for
our manuscript, The Gift of El Tio, so
that it would be published. We’d
observed many ch’allas, but had never
requested one for our own needs. The yacho, Lucrecio, who performed such
ceremonies, informed us that his talents related more to finding lost animals
or requesting a good harvest. He didn’t
exactly specialize in attempts at writing, but he’d give it his best.
After two
hours bumping across the roadless high desert of Bolivia, our truck arrived at
Lucrecio’s isolated ranch. How one ever
found their destination was beyond me as the way to anywhere all looked alike:
sandy, flat, treeless with a few scrawny thola
bushes sticking up every so often.
Lucrecio’s home consisted of several one-room houses of mud and straw,
encircling a courtyard.
The yacho held out a bloody hand to greet
us, repeating several times, “Una buena
hora, un buena dia.” We must have hesitated. He looked down, pulled his hand back and
wiped it on his jeans before extending the blood-smeared hand again.
A white llama lay upon the dusty earth, blood dripping from
its slit neck into a large white bowl. A
cloth covered its eyes to protect it from the fear of death. I had to ask myself how badly did I want this
man’s advice on publishing our book?
However the pile of rejections from agents reminded me that we might
need some “outside” help.
As Larry
and I sipped beer, puffed on cigarettes, and chewed coca leaf with the yacho, we watched his sons butcher the
llama sacrificed for this special day.
They removed the organs, sliced the muscle, and prepared the ribs for a
barbecue. The animal became hide and
pieces of organs, hung to dry on a rope strung across the courtyard.
All
afternoon, we stood in the courtyard around a small table transformed into a mesa.
A bright chartreuse aguayo was
placed as a tablecloth. The family’s
wishes were well-represented: two armadillo shells for good luck; a miniature
toy truck, a Twin Cab GMC; and an equally small house modeled after a two-story
white wooden home; tiny U.S. dollar bills for wealth; and a potato for a good
harvest. For Larry and me, a black
loose-leaf notebook filled with our manuscript was added to the crowded mesa.
Lucrecio’s son rolled out a broken red motorcycle, Yugoslavian we were
told, so that it too could be blessed.
My Timex
watch ticked away as we repeated the rituals over and over and over again: pour
a few drops of beer over each item resting on the mesa, some on the earth for the Pachamama, and then a sip for
ourselves before passing it counter-clockwise to the next person. Then sprinkle coca leaf over each item and
the earth before popping some into our mouths.
A puff of a cigarette, flick the ashes on the now sticky coca leaf
coated items and some on the beer-soaked ground. The men dropped the ashes into their hands
and placed them in their mouths to enhance the effect of the coca leaf. I declined.
Cingani, that clear liquid in a tiny
plastic bottle, circled the group. An
alcohol similar to white lightning, it burned as it touched the tip of my
tongue. It seemed to pass my way often,
and never emptied. We stood for hours,
sipping, smoking, chewing, drinking, talking just about anything, and once in a
while, praying. Larry and I offered
generous quantities of the alcohol to the gods so as not to consume too
much. After all, we were at 14,000 feet
above sea level where alcohol executed a power of its own.
By the time
the sun had crossed the immense sky, the ch’alla
ended. Lucrecio performed the final
ritual by placing gifts for Pachamama in a basin. First he arranged the misterios. These little
white wafers with designs of mountains, potatoes, books, and dollars resembled
children’s play-dough with imprints made by fancy plastic toys. But these were not play-dough; these were our
requests for blessings from the gods.
The Pachamama
also relished sweets so candies were added along with a bit of wool from the
llama, and of course, some coca leaf.
All this went up in flames as the yacho
shook a bottle of beer and a bottle of orange soda, encouraging the spewing
liquid to go far over the earth as a sign of a good ch’alla. Our prayers would
be heard. “Es buena hora. Un buen Dia.” Everyone agreed for the hundredth time.
Maybe we
should have grabbed our sticky, coca-beer-ash covered manuscript and fled while
the predictions were positive, but we didn’t.
There was one more ritual to determine the fate of our book: the
throwing of the coca leaves. Beckoning
us to sit with him inside the company truck away from the afternoon winds,
Lucrecio pulled a piece of white muslin cloth filled with coca leaves from his
pocket and laid the cloth on his lap.
Larry sat with him in the back seat; Senobio and I, in the front,
twisting our bodies to watch Lucrecio as he passed his hand over the folded
cloth and then carefully opened it, displaying a design of coca leaves. Larry and I glanced at each other.
Some of the
leaves had scattered to the edges, others stayed in a pile in the center of the
cloth. Lucrecio would do this three
times. He stared at the design as if the
future of our book was imprinted on each leaf.
He lifted several leaves and let them fall upon the pile. He shook his head and grumbled as Larry and I
leaned forward to see. Many of the
leaves criss-crossed each other.
Finally, he let us know the coca leaves did not give a favorable
sign. He said the book would probably
never be published.
Ah ha! By
now you, the reader, are thinking this is all silly hocus-pocus because we’re
advertising our book on this blog. But would
we be if we had not followed the yacho’s
further instructions?
Dismayed,
Larry and I asked if nothing could be done to change the course of the
reading. Lucrecio gave a definitive
“Yes.” He would come to our house in the
new town in the evening and perform another ch’alla. Then at 6 a.m., we would visit the chapel
that housed the saints and pray on our knees to San Augustin, the saint of
learning. After prayer, we would follow
our yacho to the highest peak where
we would perform just one more ch’alla.
Did we do
all this? Well, The Gift of El Tio is published, yes?
Check out the book trailer:
About the authors:
Larry Buchanan earned his PhD in Economic Geology in 1979 and
taught university-level geology for several years, but his love of the field
led him to gold and silver prospecting in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. In
2006, he won the coveted Thayer Lindsley Award for the San Cristobal silver
discovery. Dr. Buchanan has published a dozen scientific works and is a
sought-after speaker at international conferences and college campuses.
Karen Gans earned her Masters degree in Early Childhood Development and
has thirty-five years of experience as an educator, counselor, and consultant.
She taught English in the Quechua village while the couple lived in Bolivia.
Ms. Gans and her husband have four children and two grandchildren and reside in
Ashland, Oregon.
That was my first thought when I saw the audiobook on the library's website. It's called When it Happens to You. It's a novel in stories. The book is a collection of 8 stories, but they all touch upon the story of husband and wife, Phillip and Greta, and their daughter Charlotte.
Phillip and Greta are desperately trying for their second child. Greta is dedicating herself to the task with manic commitment and clinical precision, but she still hasn't gotten pregnant. Phillip is growing more and more distant with his wife. He feels like an outsider in his home. He begins to have affairs while on business trips. It's the relationship that he has with Charlotte's violin instructor that causes his marriage to fall apart.
Throughout the stories we learn how Phillip, Greta and Charlotte are dealing with the break up. Greta begins dating the actor on a children's TV show. Phillip casually dates the mother of one of Charlotte's friend. This part of the book was my favorite. The character of Ollie, Charlotte's friend, was one of the best in the book. Charlotte befriends the old woman that lives next door and vents her frustrations to her.
I was impressed by this book. I thought it dealt well with tough subject matter. The way that the book was laid out was creative and interesting. It kept me wondering how each story was going to tie into the greater overall story. Molly Ringwald herself did the audiobook and I thought that was also done well. As she's gotten older her voice has gotten more mellow, so that kind of high pitched Brat Pack thing wasn't happening here. So kudos Molly Ringwald! I hope you write more!
by: Joshilyn Jackson published by: Grand Central Publishing publish date: May 2, 2007 Nonny Frett understands the meaning of the phrase "in between a rock and a hard place" better than any woman alive. She's got two mothers, "one deaf-blind and the other four baby steps from flat crazy." She's got two men: a husband who's easing out the back door; and a best friend, who's laying siege to her heart in her front yard. And she has two families: the Fretts, who stole her and raised her right; and the Crabtrees, who won't forget how they were done wrong. Now, in Between, Georgia, a feud that began the night Nonny was born is escalating and threatening to expose family secrets.
This was the last book by Joshilyn Jackson I had to read. I was kinda almost sad to read it. I've become such a fangirl of J.J. over the last couple of years. Now, I have to wait for something new to come out. I haven't heard of anything on the horizon, so I'm hoping it won't be a too terribly long wait.
Between, Georgia is about a town in Georgia. It's the town that Nonny was born in. She was an unwanted, illegitimate Crabtree child that was adopted by Stacia Frett. The feud between these two families had started before this had happened, but this adoption definitely turned up the heat.
Stacia is blind and deaf, but she is a gifted artist. She, along with her sister Genny, makes dolls. Genny lives with Stacia and helps her with her artwork, but Genny has severe anxiety issues and needs the comfort Stacia provides. Bernese lives next door and she is a force to be reckoned with. She delivered Nonny on her living room floor and she takes care of Stacia's museum and makes sure she has the entire town in her pocket.
The feud reaches a fevered pitch when a Crabtree dog attacks Genny and Stacia. Nonny must come home to take care of her mother. Doing so puts her looming divorce at risk. Nonny is at her wits end trying to please everyone.
Once again Joshilyn Jackson read the audiobook. She does awesome audiobooks. They are really some of my favorites. I definitely recommend any and all of them, especially to fans of southern literature.
Author: Lillian Grant Publisher: August 2012 Date of publication: Liquid Silver Books Nineties girl Florence Spring joined Avon to find her Edward Scissorhands but instead needs to rescue his porno alter ego.
When Florence notices her eccentric ex-boyfriend, Eddie, isn't putting on his usual show in the front window on Friday night she decides to investigate. She asks her best friend, Nelson Tyler, to help but he seems more interested in seducing Florence than in finding her personal flasher.
Florence has no idea when she embarks on the adventure she will accidentally shoot an undercover policeman, or that her actions will lead to Nelson's kidnapping.
Now with two men missing she has no choice but to continue and thwart the plans of a psychotic soon to be divorcee. She needs to rescue Nelson because life without him is unbearable, especially since she's discovered his long sensitive fingers are far more erotic than scissorhands. Going with the FLo is an enjoyable read. I loved Florence and Nelson. Romances where the couple have been friends forever and finally admit they want more are the best kind. Nelson is very protective of Florence. He is always rescuing her from crazy situations that she gets herself into. They are a really cute couple and they had great chemistry together. The mystery was pretty entertaining and kept me engaged. Even though he flashes her weekly, Florence becomes concerned when she doesn't see Eddie for a couple of days. Her desire to play amateur sleuth only gets her into trouble. It also gets Nelson kidnapped. There were some very amusing and moments. This is the first book I have read by Ms. Grant. I know I will be seeking out some of her other books. If they are like this one, I know I am in for a treat.
About the author:
Born and bred in the UK, my whole life was turned on its head when, at the tender age of eighteen, I met and fell instantly in love with my darling husband. I knew the minute I met him I was going to marry him and, fortunately, he came to the same conclusion less than six months later. My husband has shown me the world, starting by bringing me to Australia. The country we now call home, and where we have raised our two boys. It didn’t take me long to turn native, becoming a citizen and dropping the British accent. However, our wanderlust didn’t stop there. We have moved from state to state always ready for a new adventure. We have also holidayed in many destinations around the world. No matter where in the world I am I always keep my quirky British sense of humor. Well, you can’t give up all of your heritage now can you?
Author: Suzanne Brockmann First published in 2000 by Random House After a near-fatal head
injury, navy SEAL lieutenant Tom Paoletti catches a terrifying glimpse
of an international terrorist in his New England hometown. When he calls
for help, the navy dismisses the danger as injury-induced imaginings.
In a desperate, last-ditch effort to prevent disaster, Tom creates his
own makeshift counterterrorist team, assembling his most loyal officers,
two elderly war veterans, a couple of misfit teenagers, and Dr. Kelly
Ashton-the sweet "girl next door" who has grown into a remarkable woman.
The town's infamous bad boy, Tom has always longed for Kelly. Now he
has one final chance for happiness, one last chance to win her heart,
and one desperate chance to save the day . . I really liked Ms. Brockman's Navy Seal series, but for some reason I have had this book (the first of her Troubleshooter series) on my TBR pile for a long time. After listening, I am not sure what took me so long to read it. I loved the characters and the complex relationships in the book. The Unsung Hero is more than just a romantic suspense. It's about love, loyalty and friendship.
The main romance between Tom and Kelly was a little underwhelming. The two do have a history, so their HEA was believable. But I thought that Kelly was kind of a jerk to Tom for most of the book. The relationship I loved more was the one between Tom's niece, Mallory and the geeky computer guy, David. I loved how Mallory realized that beauty is more about what is on the inside and has nothing to do with physical appearance. They were just too cute together. Joe and Charles friendship was so heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Told through flashbacks, we learn how the two men met and ultimately became best and lifelong friends. I hated Cybele and what she did to both of the men in during the war. The sacrifice that Joe makes in the end had me tearing up. Along with all of the complexities of the relationships, there is a real mystery going on. Tom thinks he keeps seeing a known terrorist show is supposed to be dead. Is he crazy or is there a real threat? There is a lot packed into this book. I definitely recommend this first one in the series. I look forward to continuing on and meeting more of Team 16. The audio version of the book was well done. Try it out if you missed it!
by: David Levithan
published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers
publish date: August 28, 2012
Every morning, A wakes in a different person’s body, a different person’s life. There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere. It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.
Every Day opens with A waking up in the body of Justin. Justin is Rhiannon's boyfriend. For the day, A is Rhiannon's boyfriend. Personally, I found Rhiannon to be rather unremarkable, but A fell in love with her and spends the rest of the book trying to get back to her.
Every morning A wakes up in a new body. There are a few rules. It's always a body of roughly the same age in within some geographical proximity to the last body A inhabited. The reasoning for why this happens is never explained, because A doesn't know.
Because the book is told from A's perspective we know what feelings A has for her and what memories and feelings of Justin's that A can access about her. So while A keeps insisting that Justin isn't good for Rhiannon we as readers don't know their whole story. There's the assumption that it's bad, but Justin does have his flashes of good qualities. So I was a little torn on the issue of Justin. In the end I thought it was probably better for Rhiannon to be with nobody at all and probably work on herself for awhile.
This was the first David Levithan book I've read and I was really impressed. I can see now why he has such a following. I will definitely be reading other books he's written. I don't see any need for any parental warnings on this book, I don't recall anything objectionable going on. Definitely a great YA read.
Debut author, Elisabeth Barett, is off to a great start with her Star Harbor series. The series features the Grayson Brothers. Four very sexy men who grew up in Star Harbor. The first two books, Deep Autumn Heat and Blaze of Winter are out now. If you are looking for a new series to be come addicted to, try this one out!
Deep Autumn Heat ( Loveswept, July 2012) is the first in the series. It features Sebastian Grayson and Lexie Myers. Seb is back in town for the anniversary of his father's death. When he meets Lexie in her restaurant, the chemistry between them is enough to boil water. Sebastian is immediately drawn to Lexie, not only because she can cook, but because she doesn't have any "hero worship" toward his success. Their banter is very amusing and had me laughing at times.
Lexie has been hurt in the past by a stalker ex-boyfriend She has moved across country to get a fresh start. I liked that she was hesitant to get too serious with Seb at first. I also loved that it was him that admitted his feelings first. There is a little bit of a mystery thrown in to make the tension even higher. Someone keeps threatening Lexie. Is it her ex or the rival shop owner who wants her coconut cake recipe? Along with all of this, the peripheral characters add to give the reader a great sense of the town. They are the type of people I would love to have as friends and neighbors.
Blaze of Winter (Loveswept, September 2012) picks up right where Deep Autumn Heat leaves off. I enjoyed this one as much as the first. Theo Grayson, who happens to be Seb's twin brother, has decided to move back to Star Harbor to try to break through his writer's block. Unable to concentrate while living on his brother's house boat, he moves into the Star Harbor Inn. There he meets Avery Newbridge and it is love at first sight, or at least it's lust. Avery doesn't want to get involved. She has come to help her aunt with the inn and get her head back on straight after a tragedy at work.
I loved Theo and how he just seemed to know Avery so well. I will admit to not liking Avery at first. I know one can expect self doubt when when something happens at work that makes you question your judgement, but I thought she was a bit too insecure for a social worker. Honestly, I didn't blame Theo for walking away when she thought he was breaking up with her. She did redeem herself in the end and I loved their HEA.
As in the first one, there is a little mystery. Weird noises are heard in the inn and things are moving on their own. Is it a ghost or is someone playing a joke? You'll have to read to find out. I will say that the solution involves a story arch that I think may play out in all four books.
Ms. Barrett is a wonderful writer and I know she has a bright future! I look forward to the next book, Long Simmering Spring, due out next May!
by: Carsten Stroud published by: Knopf publish date: June 12, 2012 Something is wrong in Niceville. . . A boy literally disappears from Main Street. A security camera captures the moment of his instant, inexplicable vanishing. An audacious bank robbery goes seriously wrong: four cops are gunned down; a TV news helicopter is shot and spins crazily out of the sky, triggering a disastrous cascade of events that ricochet across twenty different lives over the course of just thirty-six hours. . . .Something is wrong in Niceville, where evil lives far longer than men do. I was excited to read Niceville because I thought the synopsis sounded very interesting. About a quarter of the way into the book, I wasn't so excited anymore. Niceville was a disappointment to me. It think it tried to be too many things at once. The ghost story was really cool and had it been the main focal point of the story, I would have liked it a lot more. For me, there were too many characters to keep track of as well as too many points of view. The bank robbery really had nothing to do with the ghost story part, so it made the book very disjointed to me. The ending was just in a word, cheesy. I'll be honest, I'm not even sure why I finished the book. I think I wanted to see how the ghost story ended. This book is being compared to be Stephen King-like...for me, not so much. I'm not sure I would recommend this title.
I could see the Stephen King influences on this book. Niceville had multiple, intertwining storylines taking place in a small town. I didn't dislike this book as much as Kari did, but it wasn't one of my favorites. I also found it to be a little unconnected. It was almost like the writer had two story ideas, but there wasn't enough there with either one of them for a whole book so they got squashed together in this one book.
Unlike Kari, I liked the bank robbery storyline over the ghost story. It felt better plotted out. The ghost story seemed to take a back burner at times then at the end, there was just a kinda quick almost offhanded conclusion to it. I would have liked a little more development of that aspect of the book. Will I be singing the praises of this book? Probably not. But I might be inclined to check out what this author wrote and see how it compares.
Author: Lisa April Smith Publisher: Createspace Date of publication: September 2012 All the twists and suspense, danger and crime, romance and sizzle, that kept readers of Exceeding Expectations turning the pages long into the night, are back in Paradise Misplaced, along with Charlie, Jack and Naomi – three unforgettable characters. Paradise Misplaced is the sequel to Exceeding Expectations. (read my review here) As with the first book, I really enjoyed the story. It picks up about a year or so after Exceeding Expectations. There were a couple of surprises as the end of that book and Paradise Misplaced nicely ties up those loose ends. Charlie and her father are back, although Charlie still thinks her father is dead. Jack is up to his usual tricks, trying to woo rich older women to keep him afloat financially. I really didn't care for Jack too much after reading about his life post staged suicide. I was happy to see that he did redeem himself in the end. The reader also learns about Naomi and what she has gone through since the war. My heart broke for her and for what she had endured. I was so rooting for her and Ruben. If anyone deserved to be happy, it was Naomi! There is a nice mystery to round out the story. Someone has tried to kill Charlie. She can't figure out why. I liked to little twist at the end regarding her attack. I was saddened to see that Raul and Charlie were no longer together. I loved them together in the first book. That was my only complaint. I don't want to reveal any more about the plot because I think it would ruin it. Paradise Misplaced is a great book. I would definitely recommend it as well as the first one. Ms. Smith is a great writer and I look forward to seeing what comes next!
