I am a certified bookaholic and am embracing my addiction. Here you will find my short book reviews and other wonderful information all about books. I will also share my love for animals and show you some of my knitting projects.
R. L. Prendergast is going on tour with Dinner With Lisa for the entire month of March. He would like to jump star the tour by offering a giveaway of one copy of the book here.
Book Description:
In the disastrous economic times of the 1930s, Joseph Gaston, a young widower with four children, arrives in the small town of Philibuster seeking security for his family. Instead, he faces barriers everywhere. He does his best despite great adversity, but the strain of feeding and protecting his family whittles away his strength. Finally, destitution forces him to consider giving up his children in order to save them. Enraged by his situation, he attempts one last desperate act—on the night he learns about the mysterious Lisa.
Heart wrenching, humorous and historically authentic, Dinner with Lisa incorporates the crucial issues of the depression: poverty, unemployment, drought and racism. In the midst of love and loyalty, trickery and despair, the ultimate message of the novel is one of hope and the courage to survive even the worst odds.
About R.L. Pendergast:
R. L. (Rod) Prendergast was the entrepreneurial kid you saw on your neighbourhood street selling lemonade on a hot summer’s day. Recognizing young Rod’s preoccupation with money, his mother bribed him to read with an offer of 25 cents per book—and instilled in him a lifelong love of reading.
Although he continued down the path of industry—he started and sold his first business before completing his Bachelor of Commerce—he continued to read voraciously. After a number of years working in sales, marketing and management for several companies he spent a year’s sabbatical surfing and reading in New Zealand and, free of business pressures, he began to write. Those first words became the backbone of The Impact of a Single Event—which was long listed for the Independent Publishers Book Award for literary fiction, and which became a national bestseller in Canada. Spurred on by the success of his first novel, he took another sabbatical and wrote Dinner with Lisa. He is currently working on his next book.
Be sure to watch for my review on March 16th, I'm really excited About this one!
A U.S. or Canadian winner will have their choice of a print copy or an ebook copy. An international winner will receive an ebook format.
I accepted this book because I have very little sales experience and I wanted to get some basic tips on marketing my on-line business.However, I would call the tips in this basic.However, some were helpful.
In chapter one Sue Kasson talks about setting up a Wordpress website.I had actually made the switch from Blogger to Wordpress with my business website right before I started reading this book.It was a move I had been thinking about making for a long time.So far, there are certainly things on Wordpress that I prefer to Blogger, so I think it was a good move.
Sue also mentions briefly the idea of offering a free gift for people who sign up for your newsletter.That kind of lost me because there was no real introduction to the idea of a newsletter.It seemed to come out of left field.However, she introduced the newsletter concept better in chapter 2.
The beginning of chapter two was how to build your contact list for your newsletter.I would have preferred that she go in chronological order first.First talk about the newsletter, target audience, and ideas for contact first.Then talk to me about the contact list.I am a pretty type A, ordered person.I admit.I like ideas presented in order of what makes sense to me.
That said, I really do like the idea of a newsletter, even if it doesn't get me more business.I often email ideas I have to indie authors I have worked with in piece mail.However, I have realized that the same ideas could apply to other authors as well and that they would probably like to get them, even if they don't do business with me.After all I went into this business for my passion for literature.Why not offer as much support as I can.
In chapter 3 Sue discussed telemarketing seminars.I can't say that I would consider doing them, at least not in the near future.There's nothing wrong with them, as long as they aren't high pressure sales tactics, it's just not for me.Besides, I thought we were moving away from those in favor of webinars.She makes no mention of that.
Next, she introduces the concept of Article Marketing.Writing good content articles to demonstrate your an expert in your field and where to get them published, besides your own website.I may try this idea after I work on the newsletter concept more.I am a one step at a time kind of person.
Then Sue discusses Joint Ventures, teaming up with an already established business that is similar of complimentary to yours.Again, baby steps for me.I won't say I would never do this but not in the foreseeable future.
Next, Sue sums up all of the strategies she presented and talks about setting up a time table to get them all in place.It seemed a bit ambitious for a one person operation, to me.I am trying to keep my business part time.
All in all this is a good book for people who have perhaps a bit of sales experience to start with.However, I did get some things out of it.I especially liked the newsletter idea and I am running with it!Then we will see what the future has in store.One thing I know for sure, I will never be a high pressure sales person.I don't like them personally, so why would I become one?
3/5
Thanks to Nikki Leigh of Promo 101 Promotional Services and Sue Kasson for this eBook.
Sue Kasson specializes in helping business owners get more clients by having relaxed, authentic and confident client enrollment conversations. She is on a mission to help coaches fill their practices and learn to enjoy getting clients without stress or fear. Sue has a 20+ year sales and sales management background with several Fortune 500 companies and, in the last 11 years, has trained and coached hundreds of people to help them get more clients and sell more of their products and services.
Thanks to Debby Tobias of Joan SchulhaferPublishing and Media Consulting, I am giving away on copy of Before She Dies.
Book Description:
MARY BURTON—GUILTY ON FOUR COUNTS!
THREE COUNTS OF MURDER AND ONE OF KEEPING READERS UP ALL NIGHT WITH BEFORE SHE DIES, THE THIRD OF HER ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA SET ROMANTIC SUSPENSE NOVELS
She’s back in town!Mary Burton returns to Alexandria, the scene of the crime in SENSELESS and MERCILESS and, now, for high-powered attorney Charlotte Wellington’s story in BEFORE SHE DIES.Readers first met Charlotte in Christmas Past, Mary’s novella appearing in SILVER BELLS.Mary didn’t plan her as a continuing character, but she kept thinking about Charlotte and included her in the first two Alexandria novels.It soon became clear that Charlotte was destined to take over one of Mary’s novels and BEFORE SHE DIES began taking shape. All Mary needed was the right strong, independent man for Charlotte and she found him in Detective Daniel Rokov from MERCILESS.
Add in Charlotte’s secret past, the owner of a traveling carnival threatening to unmask her,the reappearance of her now eighteen-years-old niece, Sooner,in need of a lawyer fast,two dead women,a killer obsessed with forcing confessions from women he believes are witches , the unsolved murder of Sooner’s mother, and the undeniable heat between her and Rokov and, according to Publishers Weekly, you’ve got a thriller that “will have readers sleeping with the lights on,” and that has also just been heralded as a “page-turner” by RT Book Reviews.
EXCERPT FROM MARY BURTON’S BEFORE SHE DIES
“Identification?” Sinclair knelt by the body and stared into the woman’s face half cloaked by her hair.
“No ID. No jewelry. And there are red marks on the side of her neck.Looks like he got her with a stun gun several times.” Paulie knelt down and examined the hair draping her forehead. He snapped more pictures and then gently moved the hair back. “Have a look at this.”
Sinclair squatted and glanced down. “She’s been tattooed with the word Witch.” The bold letters covered most of the delicate forehead skin, still puckered red and raw from the tattoo needle. “Shit.”
Rokov’s half-baked theory had been correct, but it gave him no pleasure.“She have any other tats or markings?”
“Not on the exposed areas. But there could be other body art under the clothes.”
“I can’t imagine anyone willingly doing this to themselves,” Sinclair said. “But we’ve seen all kinds of oddities.”
Rokov glanced around the room. The flowered wallpaper was peeling off in frayed strips, and the ceiling was soiled with a dozen watermarks.All the furniture had been stripped out, and a shadow imprint on the back wall suggested there’d been a bar at one point. A thick coating of dust covered the room.“Footprints?”
“Two distinct sets,” Paulie said.“The first I identified as Barrows. He was kind enough not to trample all over the floor, which left me with clear impressions of the second set.” Paulie pointed to the window. “The best impression is over by the window, and I’ve marked it with a cone.I’ve got an electrostatic dust print collector. It will pull an impression.”
“Rokov moved toward the footprints carefully to mirror Barrow’s path.“It looks like a size eleven or twelve.” He studied the grooved pattern. “Sneakers?”
“That’s my guess, but it will take time to narrow the brand.”
“The impressions are clear and defined. He walked carefully and with precision.”
Paulie shrugged. “You know I don’t make impulsive calls.”
“I’m not holding you to it,” Rokov said.
“That’s what they all say.I’ll have a report by tomorrow.”
Rokov studied the impression.“Inside back right heel looks worn. He’s favoring the foot.”
Paulie snapped more pictures. “Could be an injury or he could have had a wart at one time, and it changed the way he walks. Doesn’t mean he noticeably favors the foot now.”
“So he moved her here,” Rokov says. “Positions her, stakes her, and then moves to the window to stare at what?”
“The river. The full moon. It was a clear night last night. He stops to enjoy the full moon.Maybe he heard a sound.”
“If he’s got a thing about witches, the moon makes sense,” Rokov said. “The full moon has a lot of power in some circles. Stands to reason he’d be drawn to the moon.”
Sinclair rose. “We need to figure out who she is. I’ll head downstairs and put a call into Missing Persons and see what they have.”
“Good.” Rokov turned to Paulie. “Does she have defensive wounds? Did she fight for her life?”
“I’m going to bag her hands. Hopefully, the medical examiner will find something under her nails.”
Rokov knelt by the victim’s right hand and studied the crude stake that had pierced the flesh of her palm. It would have taken tremendous force to drive the wood through the flesh. He wondered if she’d known her attacker.Most murdered women knew their killers. Lovers. Husbands. Boyfriends. Love could turn vicious instantly.
“I wanted you to see her before I pulled the stakes.If I can pull them out now, I can roll her over.”
“Need a hand?” Rokov said.
“I got it.” Paulie slid on workman’s gloves over his surgical gloves and grabbed a hold of the stake. “The floor boards are rotted.” He pulled hard, and the stake wriggled free of the floor and the victim’s palm. Carefully, he moved to the other side and repeated. Then it was on to the feet. The last stake proved stubborn and it took assistance from Rokov to free it.
Paulie laid the stakes out and photographed them.Then very carefully, he turned the body on its side. The victim’s jacket was embossed with the word Magic.
As I said last week, I am spotlighting Ivan E. Coyote for the entire month of February, for short story Monday.
I just finished reading her collection of shorts titled Loose End.All the stories in Loose End are about 2-3 pages long.I am really impressed by this collection.Ms. Coyote is a master storyteller.Usually when I read a collection there are some stories I love, like, or hate.This is not the case with Loose End, I loved every one!
There is one common theme through the collection, that of homosexuality and identity.Ivan has been through her fair share of gay bashing but even so, she embraces who she is with style, grace, and dignity.Her writing is fresh and crisp and easy to relate to.I may not be gay but I have been through of my share of bigotry as a Jew, at least as a child.I also have a cousin who is gay and he use to have a hard time of it.
I really don't get it at all.It's not like heterosexual people have to go into the bedrooms and watch or experience "gay sex."I think it's crazy that it is 2012 and there are still people who are discriminated against.Are you listening U.S. Republicans?It's crazy!Perhaps if you could be more comfortable with yourselves, you could stop focusing and even blaming others for your problems.Yes, I'm advocating that you get a real life and leave others out of it.
Well written, provocative, sad, and funny, Loose End has it all!
5/5
Did you review Loose End?Please leave a link in the comments.
This is the clue for my stop in the The Legacy of Eden by Nelle Davy Scavenger Hunt. Good luck to you all! You can read my review and enter the giveaway here.
The walls between my memories and reality are disintegrating and everything from my past that I have tried to push back, now rushes forward to escape.
Once while on the way to the bathroom, I passed my cousin Jude, who I have not seen since I was ten. He cracked a hand on the back of my legs. “Toothpicks,” he chortled; I gave him the finger.
Part of me is terrified. I wonder if I am losing my mind. But I find their intrusions oddly comforting. It is like turning up at a reunion I have been dreading only to remember all the things we had in common, all the memories that made us laugh, and I am reminded of a time when it was easy to be yourself.
At one point when I was flicking through the channels and stumbled on a soap opera my grandmother used to love, I hesitated. Even though I knew it was crap, and I have never watched it, I left it on for her, imagining she was behind me, waiting to hear her slip past and the soft creak of the wicker chair as she settled down to watch it. Tomorrow, click on the following link for the continuation of the scavenger hunt:http://mommyofamonster.com/ .
Thanks to Anna Balasi of Little Brown & Company, I am giving away 3 copies of Snow Child.
Book Description:
Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart--he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone--but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees. This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods.
She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.
About Eowyn Ivey:
Eowyn LeMay Ivey was raised in Alaska and continues to live there with her husband and two daughters. She received her BA in journalism and minor in creative writing through the honors program at Western Washington University, studied creative nonfiction at the University of Alaska Anchorage graduate program, and worked for nearly 10 years as an award-winning reporter at the Frontiersman newspaper. This is her first novel.
Thanks to April Sirianni of Sourcebooks, I am giving away one copy of Paris, My Sweet to one of my U.S. readers.
Book Description:
Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (and Dark Chocolate) is a charming memoir about a woman’s journey balancing her love for New York and Paris. Forever a girl obsessed with Nutella crepes, silk scarves, and all things French, sweet freak Amy Thomas landed a gig as rich as the purest dark chocolate: leave Manhattan for Paris to write ad copy for Louis Vuitton.
Amy details her personal insights on being a single thirty-something living in a foreign country, along with her forays into the dating scene abroad, all while sampling the best cakes and pastries that the City of Light has to offer.
Driven to the most delicious spots in Paris and New York, Amy shares the addresses of the best patisseries, boulangeries, and chocolatiers in both cities that have shaped and colored her delicious adventures along the way. Paris, My Sweet is about having faith and making choices, a story of delicious adventures to savor.
About Amy Thomas:
Amy Thomas is a New York–based writer who, for two lucky years, got to call Paris home. In addition to working as a copywriter in advertising, she writes about food, travel, design, and fashion for various publications such as the New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, Town & Country, and Every Day with Rachael Ray. She is slightly obsessed with sweets. a Rafflecopter giveaway Tweet
David Lamb has a failed at marriage, perhaps because of the much younger woman he is still having a relationship with.Although, he's not sure he wants to continue with that either.After his father dies he meets an 11-year-old-girl , Tommie and they become friends.
Tommie skips school sometimes and he takes her to lunch and other places, saying that it can be just as much of an education as school.Lamb, thinks to himself that this overly freckled rail thin, not so intelligent girl deserves to be spoiled a bit.After all, she had little hope of a happy future.
Tommie has never been camping or seen mountains before so Lamb decided to take her to his run down cabin, about three days drive away. She agrees with the understanding that he will bring her back home after and she will make up an excuse for being gone that doesn't involve Lamb.Lamb feels he is giving her the attention she is so desperately lacking and she has never been on any kind of trip before.
It's hard for the reader to tell what his real intentions are, so right away, I felt creepy right away.At first I thought Lamb was having a nervous breakdown and really thought he was doing the right thing, taking Tommie on the trip.At first it seemed more like a father daughter trip than anything really creepy.However, later things started happening and I started to imagine the worst.Will she make it out alive?
This a pretty tame re-telling of Lolita.It is not graphic so is okay for those with a week stomach.That said,my heart raced for much of the book and my heart was up in my throat.I read in bed at night, but as I found out, this is not a good bedtime book.I stayed up very late two nights because I had to see what happened.
I would have never guessed thatthis is Bonnie Nadzam's first novel , without reading that.He writing is beautifulpoetic, and hypnotic.She grabbed my heart in the first chapter and didn't let go until the last.My heart still races just thinking about it!
5/5
Thanks to Net Galley and Other Press for the egalley of this book.
Did you review Lamb?Please leave the link in the comments. Tweet
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