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Archive for April, 2013

Romance Review – The Beast Within

Wednesday, April 10th, 2013

Anthology – The Beast Within The Howling / Smoke on the Water / Redeeming the Wizard
Authors: Jennifer Lyon, Erin McCarthy, Bianca D’Arc

Review by Cynthia F. (frazerc)

 

Loosely themed anthology with the usual ups and downs.  Action based plots.

 

“The Howling” BY Erin McCarthy I can’t review as I didn’t read it. I really dislike the Russian folktale that is the basis of the term “throwing someone to the wolves” and since it opens with that I moved on the next one.  I’m sure the author wrote it beautifully – she always does – it just wasn’t for me.

“Smoke On The Water” BY Bianca D’arc was a good read – zombies and spies oh my!  Our hero is the surly but well trained agent and resents being assigned to work with our heroine is not.  A chemist by training who happens to be immune to the zombie infection she’s been dumped into the deep end and told to swim.  As the heroine says to herself:  “I’m no Chuck Norris, I’m not even Chuck E. Cheese!”  Frankly, the whole shambling undead thing is a turn-off for me but the interplay between the hero and heroine kept me reading.

“Redeeming The Wizard” BY Jennifer Lyon was the real winner of this anthology.  I loved it.  The hero is a wizard with issues [fried powers, a portal that leaks demons, and trust issues – all generated by the betrayal of a woman] and a heroine with issues [no magic which puts her way at the bottom of the food chain, undeserved guilt over the death of her parents, and now her beloved grandmother has been kidnapped].  She marches off to demand the wizard find her Gram – she threatens him with blackmail and then promises anything his heart desires…  Interesting world, I’d like to see more of it.

 

 

 

 

Historical Fiction Review – Iscariot: A Novel of Judas

Tuesday, April 9th, 2013

Iscariot: A Novel of Judas by Tosca Lee

 

Review by Kelsey O.

 

 

Wow.

This was a really deep novel. The reader is taken to the very heart of a very complex and conflicted man. Tosca’s storytelling of Judas’ life makes you rethink everything you know and have been taught. Judas did not come by his decision lightly when he turned Jesus over to Pontius Pilate. He didn’t even know that is what he was doing. He thought he was saving Jesus but his limited knowledge of the law (even though he really did think he knew everything) was used against him.

Judas starts his life out being the son of a traitor and it seems everyone he attaches to becomes one also. In Jesus, he thinks he finally found someone to believe in so he joins the Nazarene’s followers in hopes of finally being free of Rome’s rule. Unfortunately, Jesus has other plans and so begins the frustration on Judas’ part. He never understands why Jesus just won’t toe the line a bit instead of always going against the old Jewish laws.

Iscariot: A Novel of Judas is worth reading. Not only for the recreating of the harsh living of people back then but for the different view of the life of Jesus Christ. The reader is taken on a journey through the eyes of Judas and dives into why a man who has obvious devotion for the Nazarene ends up betraying him.

 

Mystery Monday – Strawberry Yellow

Monday, April 8th, 2013

Strawberry Yellow by Naomi Hirahara

 

Review by Cheryl R. (Spuddie)

 

#5 Mas Arai series; protagonist: Mas Arai, 70=something Nisei (American born of Japanese immigrants) who is a gardener and lives in LA. Mas (short for Masao) went with his parents to live in Japan and he is a survivor of the Hiroshima bomb, after which he returned to his native California.

This series has become one of my favorites and I was very happy to see this newest entry published a short time ago after a break of several years. I always get a bit of culture shock at first getting inside Mas’ head because…well, because he’s not a white, middle aged Midwestern woman I guess. LOL What I mean to say is that the author does a wonderful job of making you believe from the inside out that Mas is who she says he is. J

In this book, Mas is off north to Watsonville (his hometown) for the funeral of his second cousin, Shigero “Shug” Arai. Being a bit of a loner and not one given to emotional displays, Mas really isn’t eager for all the nostalgia he feels seeing his old stomping grounds and friends from his youth and hopes to return quietly home after the funeral, having done his duty by attending. However, Minnie, Shug’s widow, corners him and tells him that she believes her husband was murdered. Unlike the humble Mas, who works in the dirt and drives an old beat up Ford pickup held together with duct tape and love, Shug was a college-educated man who became a famous strawberry breeder and his company was about to reveal a new strain of berry that was described as revolutionary, and immune to the yellowing disease that plagues strawberries from time to time.

When a young hakujin (white) woman who was having an affair with Shug’s son is found murdered soon after the funeral, Mas begins to wonder if the widow isn’t right and agrees to stick around for a day or two and see what he can discover. Besides, the police have told him they may have “more questions” for him, since he provided the alibi for their chief suspect, Shug’s son, so he’s not really free to leave anyway. Then his motel room is broken into and searched and the brake line on his truck is tampered with, and Mas gets deeper and deeper into tying together the old wounds of the past to present-day motives for revenge.

Poor Mas! He always ends up putting his foot in it, when he’d like nothing more than to do his work and live a quiet, peaceful life—a cold beer, a game of dice or cards with his friends now and then. He’s a delightful, well-fleshed character with a definite personality and each of these books have provided a focus on a different cultural facet of Japanese-American life that I have very much enjoyed learning about from the inside via Mas. Some people have said they didn’t like the sort of accented pidjin-English Mas speaks and thought it was demeaning. I personally thought it added flavor and seemed quite realistic and helped with the whole believability factor of the character. I very much look forward to the next installment in this series. I also have to admit that I will probably never look at those plastic clamshells full of red, ripe strawberries at the market in quite the same way again! Highly recommend this series, although it’s always better to start from the beginning with Summer of the Big Bachi. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Free Book Friday Winner!

Sunday, April 7th, 2013

 

 

The winner of the book Where We Belong by Emily Giffin is:

camperchick

 

Congratulations, your book is on the way to you!

 

Thank you everyone who posted a comment!

Free Book Friday!

Friday, April 5th, 2013

 

Today’s free book is Where We Belong by Emily Giffin

 

 

 

Marian Caldwell is a thirty-six year old television producer, living her dream in New York City. With a fulfilling career and satisfying relationship, she has convinced everyone, including herself, that her life is just as she wants it to be. But one night, Marian answers a knock on the door . . . only to find Kirby Rose, an eighteen-year-old girl with a key to a past that Marian thought she had sealed off forever. From the moment Kirby appears on her doorstep, Marian’s perfectly constructed world — and her very identity — will be shaken to its core, resurrecting ghosts and memories of a passionate young love affair that threaten everything that has come to define her.

For the precocious and determined Kirby, the encounter will spur a process of discovery that ushers her across the threshold of adulthood, forcing her to re-evaluate her family and future in a wise and bittersweet light. As the two women embark on a journey to find the one thing missing in their lives, each will come to recognize that where we belong is often where we least expect to find ourselves — a place that we may have willed ourselves to forget, but that the heart remembers forever.

Hardcover, ISBN 9780312554194


We will choose a winner at random from comments we receive here on the Blog from PBS members.

You have until Sunday, April 7, 2013 at 12 noon EDT, to leave a comment.

Good Luck to everyone!

 

Note: All the books given away on Free Book Friday are available in the PBS Market. We have thousands of new and new overstock titles available right now, with more added hourly. Some of the prices are amazing – and you can use a PBS credit to make the deal even better!

Remember, every new book purchase supports the club and helps keep membership free!



Historical Fiction Review – By Fire, By Water

Thursday, April 4th, 2013

 

By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan

Review by Mirah W. (mwelday)

 

When I plan to travel to a new place I like to read books set in that location prior to my visit.  I feel it gives me one more way to connect to a place and it bridges two of the things I love most in life: reading and traveling.  In preparation for my trip to Spain this summer, I found ‘By Fire, By Water’ by Mitchell James Kaplan.  Set in the late 1400s, the novel explores the Inquisition during the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.  At the heart of the novel is Luis de Santangel, the Chancellor of Aragon and a converso, meaning he is of Jewish descent but converted to Christianity.  Throughout the novel Luis learns life lessons through his various trials and relationships.  The novel takes place in several cities I will be visiting, including Seville, Toledo, Cordoba and Granada.

Having not read much about the Inquisition, I was looking forward to learning more about Spanish history.  What Kaplan created is an almost living, breathing account of the events.  The characters came across as very real and genuine and the depiction of society was disturbingly real.  I can’t imagine life during that time; even if a person was doing nothing wrong, he or she would have been constantly concerned with how someone might misconstrue an action or word.  The Inquisition tore apart families and communities and it seems even those in positions of authority had their hands tied against challenging the system.

At a time of so much persecution it is easy to imagine how someone could lose sight of his or her true identity.  At one point in the story, Luis contemplates his life, relationships and decisions.  This was his conclusion: ‘A person was a web of relationships with social and religious groups, with society as a whole, with God.  To change these affiliations was to alter one’s being.  To sever them was to destroy oneself.’

As a reader who likes to have all the loose ends tied up, I appreciate when the author gives me the complete tale.  In my opinion, certain stories are not conducive to an interpretive ending and I think this is one of those stories.  So fear not, Kaplan provides an epilogue to let us know what happens to the characters, aside from what we all know happens for Christopher Columbus and the New World.  At least, I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by letting that cat out of the bag.

The Author’s Note provides some of the historical facts and persons included in the novel.  There is no doubt Kaplan did his research and, in the end, it helped him create a story that is simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful.  I am glad I chose this book to help me get ready for my trip.  When I’m walking through Seville or Cordoba or exploring the Alhambra I’ll have a perspective, and perhaps a different appreciation and understanding, I wouldn’t have had without reading this book.

 

 

 

 

Musings – How do you spend your vacation days?

Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013

By Mary (kilchurn)

 

 

So what makes you spontaneously take a day off from work?  A big sale at your favorite store? A beautiful day that just begs to be enjoyed?  A friend comes into town unexpectedly?

For me, apparently, it is the release of the latest book by one of my favorite authors.

I’ve had the date March 26th circled on my mental calendar for almost a year.  JR Ward’s latest book in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Lover at Last was coming out.  In the preceding weeks, I had joked with co-workers about taking the day off.  Last Thursday, I began to seriously consider it.

I know myself very well, once I start a book, I’m not going to put it down until I’m done.  The Kindle version that I’d pre-ordered would be available at midnight and I knew if I was still awake when it came out, I’d start reading – and not stop.  So Monday afternoon, I peeked my head in my bosses’ office and asked him if he had a problem with me taking Tuesday off.  He looked at me strange and asked why (I have most of my vacation days allocated at the beginning of the year).  I could hear the birds chirping over the bizarre silence as I tried to figure out what to say.  Do I tell him the truth?  Tell him I have an appointment?  I opted for the truth which got me another strange look.  You could see him processing the fact that I wanted to blow a vacation day to read a book.

But it wasn’t just any book!  It was the story I’ve been waiting on pins and needles for – for YEARS!  It was the story I was terrified would never get written!  There was no WAY I could sit at the office on Tuesday and wonder all day at the fate of Blay & Qhuinn!

Luckily, the boss was planning on being in the office on Tuesday, thus any of my projects would be covered so my vacation day was granted!

I went to bed Monday night comforted in the fact that come the morning, I could sit in my recliner and enjoy!  It took me about 8 hours to cover 608 pages and it was SO worth the vacation day.  The story was all I’d hoped it would be.   I laughed, I cried, I raged –Tuesday was possibly the best vacation day I’ve had in years!

PS – Another of my favorite author’s books is going to be released sometime this week, originally scheduled for Saturday – I see another vacation day in my future.