Tag: Book Tour

The big 30 is right around the corner and friends Jennifer, Holly, and Amanda are starting to question if they are truly doing what they wanted to be doing with their lives.  In 2006, the girls make a pact, quit their media jobs in Manhattan and take a leap of adventure, committing to a year-long trip around the world in search of inspiration and direction.  In the dust of their departure they leave a trail of boyfriends and apartments.

Through thick and thin (and sometimes…. it does wear very thin!) the girls learn to rely on each other… sometimes funny, sometimes scary, and everything in between.

I recently read this joke that said, when a man takes off to find himself it is called a journey.  When a woman does it, she is lost.  Reading The Lost Girls made me laugh at the thought of this… these girls are not lost at all… they  are adventurers; they have a heart for more and they speak my language.  😀

Have you ever just wanted to get lost?  I used to have this fantasy of going off in the woods like Grizzly Adams (or…. err.. the female version of Adams) and just get away from it all…. the commitments, phones, the noise of life… and live off the land.  Ok, ok you scoff because those who know me know about four days of that and I would be packing it up for the “big city” of Brainerd Minnesota, constantly checking for cell phone reception….. my point however is – that I did have this dream of myself just getting up and going, and so did these three girls.

I adored this book of the adventures of these three amazing women who threw caution to the wind and explored our world as most of us have only dreamed of.  (Honestly – I wish they would have called me -I would have gladly been a fourth lost girl!)

There is so much to this book that I enjoyed I do not even know where to begin!  The part of their trip that took them to Kenya where they worked in an orphanage with girls touched me deeply.  Touring the killing fields in Cambodia would have taken my breath away.  They  traveled to the places that may not be the easiest,  and I appreciated that this was not a book of “cruise ship” port stops.

I also love love ♥LOVE ♥that these women did not walk away from boring slouchy jobs… oh no, their jobs sound to me like…. well…. BLISS. Jennifer was a marketing manager at VH1, Holly was an Editor at Self Magazine and Amanda was an editor at Shape Magazine.  The move to motivation was not the fact that they did not like these jobs, but more that they wondered if this was what they really wanted out of life…. the working too much… and living too little. 

In the end the women found that the problems that they once found to be all-consuming in their pre-lost girls moment, were nothing compared to the troubles those in other countries face.  Jennifer, Holly, and Amanda learned that things are never as bad as they seem and their lives no matter how cluttered and frustrating at times, are still pretty great lives. 

For anyone who has ever dreamed of exploring the world and just letting go and seeing what happens, this book can take you there. 

amazon Rating

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for my review copy

In 1947, American historian and veteran of WWII, Martin Mitchell, wins a Fulbright Fellowship to document the end of British rule in India. His wife, Evie, convinces him to take her and their young son along, hoping a shared adventure will mend their marriage, which has been strained by war.

But other places, other wars. Martin and Evie find themselves stranded in a colonial bungalow in the Himalayas due to violence surrounding the partition of India between Hindus and Muslims. In that house, hidden behind a brick wall, Evie discovers a packet of old letters, which tell a strange and compelling story of love and war involving two young Englishwomen who lived in the same house in 1857.

Drawn to their story, Evie embarks on a mission to piece together her Victorian mystery. Her search leads her through the bazaars and temples of India as well as the dying society of the British Raj. Along the way, Martin’s dark secret is exposed, unleashing a new wedge between Evie and him. As India struggles toward Independence, Evie struggles to save her marriage, pursuing her Victorian ghosts for answers.

You have to wonder if a book that is so incredible looking on the outside could possibly deliver on the inside.  Wonder no more.  Elle Newmark brought me into her journey

I admit I was a little cautious about reading yet another book that was war related… I feel as of late I have over dosed a bit on this topic, yet The Sandalwood Tree provided more than a compelling cover, on the inside the words fell right into place along side my heart.

I love the idea behind the hidden letters and the flash forwards and backs are done flawlessly so I easily was able to follow along with the time changes and the story lines and they mixed and mingled to weave this much desirable story.

The characters were well written and I found myself drawn to Evie and then again to her son Billy.  Honestly there is so much more I would like to say in this review but am censoring myself not to give any bit of the adventure away.   I hope you too will experience this book and go on this adventure.

In 1940, Iris James is the postmistress in coastal, Franklin, Massachusetts. Iris knows more about the townspeople than she will ever say – for example, that Emma Trask has come to marry the town’s doctor, and that Harry Vale watches the ocean for U-boats. Iris believes her job is to deliver secrets. Yet one day she does the unthinkable: slips a letter into her pocket, reads it, and doesn’t deliver it.

Meanwhile, Frankie Bard broadcasts from overseas with Edward R. Murrow. Her dispatches beg listeners to pay heed as the Nazis bomb London nightly. Most of the townspeople of Franklin think the war can’t touch them. But Iris and Emma and Frankie know better…

 

 

Who are we to decide what is considered truth and who is allowed to hear it?  This is the underlying message in this book and I am thankful to say this is not as much of a war novel as it is the knowledge that there is a war happening.

 

 

 

My first impressions were “whoa – that’s a lot of characters!”…  I have mentioned this before, I prefer books with few characters as I like to get to know them.  I also struggle keeping a gaggle of characters straight when many are brought in at once or switched frequently and that does happen within this read.  As much as I enjoyed the three main female characters and found this to a pleasant read, there was a lot to keep track of and having just read another world war II book it felt a little like work to read.

But hang in there reader.  These three women do make for an interesting read.  Iris, who resides in Massachusetts is the keeper of all things postal… in this case, the local post office and insists that she be called the “postmaster”, (I am curious as to why the book was not names this, instead of postmistress). Iris’s job is a serious one as in a time where TV’s were pretty much non-existent, radios were the source of entertainment (yup – pre Twitter, texting and hang on to your chair, pre- Facebook.).  Iris was in many cases the communication life line between people such as Will and Emma… until one day…

OOPS!  Moving on 😉

American journalist Frankie Bard is the voice of the war.  Frankie’s job is to find a way to tell the stories of those she meets and this becomes her struggle, as she can not remain neutral.   Frankie’s role really becomes a center to this books as much is set around her broadcasts and the other characters (Iris who feels it can not be as bad as Frankie is saying and Emma  listening to them.

 

Emma is a young newly wed to the towns doctor, Will.  She also resides in Massachusetts.  Through a happening in the book she becomes friends with the much older Iris.  Emma waits for Wills letters that come frequently for a while…. and then they slow to the point of stopping, the results are what will bring all three of these women to a heartbreaking togetherness.

 

While the book at times felt choppy, I have to admit I took great interest in the story line…. what right do we have to withhold information?  How is it that while our world is at war we can go on living as though all is well?  This applies to the book – and I think to our every day lives.  Of course, my thoughts drift to Japan…

Final thoughts:  It is a good read but I did not find it to be an easy read and at times it felt a bit like work to follow what was happening.  If you are making a decision on this book, please check out other thoughts as well as they are mixed and this is one of those books that holds a sense of mystery around it…. some love it, some hate it….  I liked it.  🙂

 

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include Postmistress

 

I received this book to review for the TLC Book Tour

Scarlet Santana is never happier than when creating fabulous fashions for women of all shapes and sizes. Now, after years of hard work, she finally has the chance to live her dream and study under the hottest designer in New York. To raise money for her move, Scarlet opens an after-hours sewing school in a local record shop, teaching a type-A working mom whose rigid parenting style is causing her family to unravel and an enigmatic seamstress with a mysterious past.

But as stitches give way to secrets and classmates become friends, the women realize an important truth: There is no single pattern for a good life. Happiness is always a custom fit.

 

 

 

I read Kathy Cano-Murillo last summer when I read her book Waking Up In The Land Of Glitter .  At the time I enjoyed her fun style of writing with a flair for the humorous.

Scarlet is a wonderful character and her determination to sew (despite her families efforts to help her move on to another career and her two degrees in engineering) is a good lesson in sticking to what you believe about yourself, no matter what. Her friends are a hoot and I enjoyed the diversity among them.  I like the fact that the women were not all cookie cutter cut outs of one another but that they all brought a little something different to the story.

I found the book to be a light, quick read and a break from my normal routine as of late… I am not a crafty person although I like to pretend I am… and reading about someone who has a real heart and talent for a craft such as sewing was fun.  Scarlett’s passion is inspiring!  The play of words, referring to the “patterns” in our own life are fun and through provoking.

Amazon Rating

The “how to’s” at the end of the book are fun… and after a read like this, I am inspired to try my hand at “Little Victories Pages”…. maybe.  😛

 

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The Giveaway

Thanks to publisher Hachette Book Group, I am able to offer a giveaway (USA and Canada) for a book bundle including copies of Miss Scarlet’s School of Patternless Sewing and Waking Up in the Land of Glitter.

Leave me a comment here letting me know what craft you are either good at or wish you were….  and I will enter you in this giveaway

For a second chance to win – subscribe to my blog or let me know if you already have (upper right hand side bar) and let me know in a separate comment here and I will give you a second entry.

I will choose a winner on March 17th using Random.org.

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include Miss Scarlet’s School Of Patternless Sewing

 

I received this book for review from Hachette Book Group

 

Late in the summer of 1877, a flock of purple-and-white hoopoes suddenly appears over the town of Constanta on the Black Sea, and Eleonora Cohen is ushered into the world by a mysterious pair of Tartar midwives who arrive just minutes before her birth. “They had read the signs, they said: a sea of horses, a conference of birds, the North Star in alignment with the moon. It was a prophecy that their last king had given on his deathwatch.” But joy is mixed with tragedy, for Eleonora’s mother dies soon after the birth.

Raised by her doting father, Yakob, a carpet merchant, and her stern, resentful stepmother, Ruxandra, Eleonora spends her early years daydreaming and doing housework—until the moment she teaches herself to read, and her father recognizes that she is an extraordinarily gifted child, a prodigy.

When Yakob sets off by boat for Stamboul on business, eight-year-old Eleonora, unable to bear the separation, stows away in one of his trunks. On the shores of the Bosporus, in the house of her father’s business partner, Moncef Bey, a new life awaits. Books, backgammon, beautiful dresses and shoes, markets swarming with color and life—the imperial capital overflows with elegance, and mystery. For in the narrow streets of Stamboul—a city at the crossroads of the world—intrigue and gossip are currency, and people are not always what they seem. Eleonora’s tutor, an American minister and educator, may be a spy. The kindly though elusive Moncef Bey has a past history of secret societies and political maneuvering. And what is to be made of the eccentric, charming Sultan Abdulhamid II himself, beleaguered by friend and foe alike as his unwieldy, multiethnic empire crumbles?

 

 

 

 

I do not normally give the synopsis you can read on line word for word like that, but I thought it was written so well and covered the basics of the book that I knew I could not do it justice trying to write my own.   And oh a little historical fiction fix!  Just what I needed!  😀  As if the beautiful packaging this book arrived in wasn’t enough – I need not worry, the beauty of this book was not only package deep – but deep within the words themselves came beauty.

Breathtaking and imaginative.. visually fulfilling… the descriptions of the time the place… and even Eleonora.  Eleonora is not like the other children, brilliant in mind, logic, and figuring out facts, she is something to be marveled at and feared as she is different and there is no hiding her abilities.  I enjoyed getting to know this character and how the story vined around her.

This book brought forth memories of wonderful stories from my child hood, there was something about the descriptive pages that brought images to mind much as I think I would remember them as a child – big and powerful and oh so real.  I can not recall a book even bringing memories like these out of me before this one.

I felt for most of the book I was in the story and I held on tight as though putting it down would break the charm… always a fan of unique writing that breaks out of the traditional cookie cutter book molds, I have to say I enjoyed this book thoroughly.  While the ending was not quite as strong as I would have hoped and imagined it would be after being carried through the majority of the pages as though I was on a magic carpet ride – I still am left feeling a sense of….

satisfaction.

I am excited to see that this author, Michael David Lucas comes up with next.

Here are a few others that are posting their thoughts on this book on the tour:

Wednesday, March 2nd: Simply Stacie

Thursday, March 3rd: Janet Boyer Blog

Friday, March 4th: Kelly’s Lucky You!

Tuesday, March 8th: Coffee and a Book Chick

Wednesday, March 9th: Teresa’s Reading Corner

Wednesday, March 9th: Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books

Amazon Rating

I have updated the 2011 WHERE Are You Reading to include The Oracle of Stamboul

I received this book for review as part of the TLC Blog Tour

16th-century Prague, Wishnia’s outstanding debut convincingly transforms a Jewish sexton and his rabbinic mentor into a plausible pair of sleuths. Just before the start of Passover, the discovery of the bloody corpse of Gerta Janek, a blond girl, maybe seven years old, inside the store of Jacob Federn, a Jewish businessman, triggers the inevitable revival of the blood libel and threat of mass retribution against the entire Jewish community. Benyamin Ben-Akiva, the newly arrived shammes, has three days to prove that someone other than Federn is guilty of Gerta’s brutal murder. He faces opposition from his own people, but manages to win the respect and support of the legendary Rabbi Loew, who helps him gain access to the body so that a rudimentary examination can be done, though many Gentiles are offended by the very notion.

 

I love reading about different cultures and that is what initially drew me to this book.  That, a little historical fiction and I do love a good mystery.

Highly detailed and full of 16th century imagery – this part of the book I really enjoyed as author Kenneth Wishnia truly has a way with words.  And speaking of words… on the flip of that this is a book that would be a delight for those who love learning languages as the Hebrew, German, and Yiddish words are used throughout.  For me – it started to feel a bit like work to stop and roll the words through my mind, however I can see me going back and reading this book again when I have more time to really spend time in the language of it.  (*There is a glossary for the words in the back of the book).
The Fifth Servant opens up to many colorful characters and much of the book is seen through Benyamin Ben Akiva eyes and as such is a witness to the hideous murder.  This book reminds me strongly of another that I have read but for the life of me I can not seem to put my finger on that tile.

While maybe not so historically correct – I did like the way women were portrayed in the book as strong and capable.  That was refreshing for someone who like me enjoys reading about strong women.

There were parts that I did not enjoy – at times it felt like the religious/political aspect of the book became more important than the mystery itself and the plot felt lost for a time until suddenly the ending pulled me back into the story.

Final thoughts…  there was more to this book then I originally anticipated but still I found it to be a good read.  Due to my own procrastination I started this book later than I should have and feel I could have spent more time in it, working through some of the details.  This is one I will probably pick up again soon and spend a bit more time with it.

You can see Kenneth Wishnia’s website here

Amazon Rating

I received this book for review as part of the TLC Book Tour

It is the late 19th century and Irma Vitale of the age of 16 sits with her dieing mother.  Her mother warns Irma never to leave their mountain village as doing so will doom her to die among strangers.  Fast forward a few years and Irma finds she must go against her mother’s last wishes  to avoid the advances of her father.  Taking only her a small dowry and the sewing skills she has learned, she boards a boat crossing the ocean to a world that is foreign to her.  Irma dreams that her sewing will take to places where she will be able to be a seamstress and make beautiful dresses with her skills.  Some will take advantage of this immigrant girl, while others will become what true friendship is all about as Irma learns to pick herself up and move forward as she travels parts of the United States.

This is just the kind of book I get giddy about reviewing.  When a story  pulls you in with its breathtaking descriptions of the time, the place, the people, the food…

I thought about how hard is it is for even people like myself in the US to move away from our roots to another state, and as I think about that I can not even imagine what it would have felt like for Irma, a plain, poor girl, from a small village to have the courage to take up her things and move to a world she did not know anything about.

Irma’s story was a mix of emotions and I followed her all the way through them all.  As she traveled I was delighted to read about the interesting characters she met, Lula, the African American cook was so well described that I felt I would know her if I passed her on the street, then Molly an Irish maid and Sofia an Italian nurse left colorful descriptions in my mind of how different these women’s backgrounds all were.

This is not a sweet easy fluffy read.  Irma’s travels are sprinkled with hard ships and hard decisions from the time she is on the boat to her new life as she travels from Cleavland, to Chicago, and then finally to San Francisco.  There is even quite a graphic scene of violence that made me catch my breath.  While fiction, I can imagine that what is described in this book is not too far from what some of the immigrants did endure in search of a better life.  These thoughts, break my heart.

A book I do not think I can stress enough how much I recommend.  A literary treat that will leave you feeling satisfied. This book would make for a fantastic book club discussion and you can bet that this will be the title I bring to our next Bookies meeting as my suggestion for our April read.

Amazon Rating

I have updated the WHERE Are You reading Map to include When We Were Strangers (where oh where to put the map peg!)

I read this book as part of the TLC Book Tours

Witty Emily harbors conflicted feelings toward her female status: her esteemed father, the town’s preeminent lawyer, adores Emily at home for her intellectual companionship, but also dismisses her formal education as a waste of money & a waste of time, and it’s easy to see how Emily’s poetic instincts are born from the shifting sensations of comfort and resentment brought by a childhood spent serenading Father with my tiny Tambourine. Emily’s growth is brightly drawn as she progresses from petulant child to a passionate woman with a ferocious will and finally to that notorious recluse.

 

I have never been someone who could sit and read poetry.  I find this interesting since as a teenager I loved to write it and still have books in my cedar chest filled with my writing from those years.  Still – I find myself fascinated with certain writers of the past and Emily Dickinson would be one that I would like to know more about.  A chance to read about her – fiction or not, was appealing.

The first thing that I noticed was the beautiful writing style. The author’s note in the front of the book was one that explained that Jerome Charyn wanted to write about the fictional Emily – or perhaps the Emily no one really got to know, as she eventually became somewhat of a recluse and towards the end of her days rarely left her room. I suspect there is a lot to Emily Dickinson that we can only guess.

While I mention my fascination in this woman and her prolific writing style (most of her poems had no titles, were unconventional in capitalization and punctuation, and mostly dealt with these of death and immortality) Charyn’s book has little poetry in it.  Instead I found it filled with stories of an Emily Dickinson, who I did not know anything about

While in reality Emily Dickinson never married, and was referred to as an old maid, Charyn writes a very different side to Emily – one where she admires many men and receives many marriage proposals – all of which… she turns down.

At times the book buried me in the words – deep, pungent words…. all written as the author becomes the voice of Emily Dickinson.  I did indeed learn more about Dickinson through this writing, mainly because the book caused me to research Emily further to see what I could sort out as fact or fiction.  In the end while I did find parts of the book interesting, I did find it a bit unsettling with what is referred to as Emily Dickinson’s “secret life”.

This is probably a book that will captivate many readers with its rich Dickinson style writing, it just was not the book for me.

Amazon Rating

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading map has been updated to include The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson

 

I received this book for review for the Tribute Books Tour

When my kids were learning to walk, I remember walking behind them, ready to catch them if they stumbled backward. I never dreamed that thirteen years later my kids would be walking behind me, ready to catch me if I stumbled backward.

I was 42 years old when I was diagnosed with a benign, operable, brain tumor. Doctors predicted a short hospital stay followed by a speedy recovery. Complications arose, giving me unexpected life-long obstacles.

A divorced mother of two beautiful, talented, wonderful children, I had high hopes for a bright and happy future. I had a secure job that I loved, and I was beginning to date again when my brain tumor was diagnosed.

My life since that fateful day has been focused on regaining basic human functions: breathing, swallowing, walking, etc. I am working again, and trying to be a good mother to my two beautiful, talented, wonderful children.

Putting a positive spin on life’s disasters doesn’t always work, but looking for, and accepting, positive things in spite of life’s disasters works. Instead of making lemonade out of lemons, I add life’s sweet sugar and cranberries to my lemons. This makes life much more palatable.

Ok… yes I admit it… I was partially drawn to this book because book is in the author’s name. It’s true.. I am that girl.  😛  BUT, before you go rolling your eyes (if it’s not too late) I did find more in this book than a really cool authors name… I found a fighter, a survivor… and a down right funny woman!

What Shari goes through in this book would put some of us down for the count.  In a time that would be easier to go lay back in bed with the covers up to your eye brows, Shari writes of a determined spirit.

Here is a part of the book:

At night when I couldn’t sleep, I asked myself some very difficult questions.  I had questions about the value of my life, questions about my future, questions about why this happened to me, and questions about my dogs capacity for humor.  My questions had no right answers just like my problems had no solution.

These were some of the questions I asked myself:

What should I do if my life is over but I am still alive?

When I get to Heaven, will I be able to walk normally?

It is said that as long as you have your health, you have everything.  Well what if I don’t have my health, then what have I got?

Is my glass half full or half empty?  Who cares if I don’t like the beverage?

How can I accept my physical limitations and believe that I can continue to improve physically as well?

Where’s Nemo?

Page 116

I enjoyed reading Shari’s story very much.  This is a book that as Shari would say, helps you exercise your right to choose how you are going to go forward from the lemons that life tends to toss our way.

AMAZON RATING

I received this book for review as part of a Pump Up Your Book Blog Tour