So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

When I started the stories that became the nexus of this novel I had a notion of several family members with their separate but linked experiences forming some kind of collective experience. I wanted to create a series of fictional family daguerreotypes, each somehow touching upon the divine. I had a lot of personal material in the voices of my own family and family friends I wanted to write about, as well as many events I'd read about and cooked up, and I had some larger-than-life, magical aspects of these characters I wanted to express. As I wrote, I found myself working my way back to the immigrant experience, and I realized that I wanted to start with the story of the old matriarch as an innocent child. I knew the child of the Old World would be forced to come to the New World, but I didn't know she was going to be fleeing possible criminal charges when I started. I knew she was going to lose her mother. I knew she would suffer tremendous emotional hardship and somehow become a young wife and mother and foundation of the family in America.

John Addiego has published numerous stories and poems in literary journals and is a former poetry editor at the Northwest Review. Raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, he now lives with his wife, Ellen, and daughter, Emily, in Corvallis, Oregon, where he teaches students with special needs. The Islands of Divine Music is his first novel.

Thanks so much for making my blog a stop on your virtual tour John!

Now for the Giveaway:

Thanks to John and Caitlin Hamilton Summie of Unbridled Books, I have one signed copy of this book to give away. You can read my review here.

Here are the rules on how to enter:

1. For one entry, leave a comment. Please be sure to include email address so that I can contact you if you win.

2. For a second entry, post about this giveaway on your blog and leave link to your blog post in the comments. You will also get an entry for each person who tells me that they learned about this giveaway from you.

3. For more entries: You will earn an extra entry for each comment you leave on my past, present or future blog posts until the end of this giveaway.

4. The deadline to get your entries in is Friday December 19th, 2008 12:00 Midnight E.S.T. Once I notify you that you've won, you will have 3 days to respond. After that, I will need to choose a different winner.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 11:16 PM 13 comments    

Labels: Guest Author

Posted by Teddy Rose at 8:52 PM 4 comments    

Labels: American History, Barack Obama, Books Read 2008, Life Magazine

First of all, I want to thank all of you who entered! I also want to thank Anna Balasi of the Hachette Book Group for this wonderful opportunity!
The winner was determined by using Random.org.

The 3 winners are...

Kristi
Shoshana
Kylee in CT

I just sent you an email. Please respond within 3 days to claim your prize.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 6:40 PM 2 comments    

Labels: My Giveaways

Family Saga and the Immigrant Experience

Rosari had a difficult start in life. Born in southern Italy, her mother, Eleonora ran off with another man and her father, Lazaro was left to raise her. This was back in the early part of the 20th century, when men didn’t take part in child rearing let alone do it solo.

Rosari learned how to read and write at an early age, while the majority of the town folk didn’t know how at all. One day two men asked her to write a letter. They dictated and she wrote it, not understanding most of what she was writing but very happy that she earned some money. It turned out to be the thing that changed the family forever. When she confessed to her father what she did and what the content of the letter was, he was fearful. So much so that he book passage for the two of them on a ship to America. Right before they left, Eleonora reappeared and she went with them.

They landed in New York and soon Eleonora ran off again, only to show up dead a few months later. That is when Rosari and Lazaro ended up going to settle in San Francisco. That is where Rosari was reacquainted with one of the men that got her into trouble in the old country, Giuseppe. The man that she marries and bears seven children with. He also has an affair with a prostitute and got her pregnant with his eighth child, Jesús.

This is the point where Addiego lost me a bit. He goes on having each of the different characters in the family being the focus of each chapter in turn. These proceeding chapters made the book read much more like a series of short stories than a novel. At times I had to look back at the family tree to figure out who was who.

The Islands of Divine Music is a family saga that spans over 80 years, going through the generations. I really liked how Addiego took us through major parts of history like the Cuban missile crisis and the Vietnam War. I especially liked the story with Paulie, one of Rosari’s children. The story reenacted the famous Giants and Dodgers baseball playoff games.

If this book were to be marketed as a book of short stories that were loosely linked, I would have approached it that way and I think I would have enjoyed it more. As with most books of short stories, I enjoyed some of the stories more than others. The book didn’t work for me as a novel.

That said, Addiego’s prose was enchanting and shows great promise. Some authors have the rare gift of being able to write short stories well. This is how I see Addiego really shine. However, if he really wants to write a complete novel, that reads as a novel, I would recommend he change his approach some how. He has a way with words and I think he can do it.

I look forward to seeing John Addiego’s future endeavours as a writer.

3.5/5

Stay tuned for this coming Friday, December 12th when John will be here as my guest as part of his virtual book tour. I will also be hosting a giveaway of this book starting then.

Thanks to Caitlin Hamilton Summie of Unbridled Books for a copy of this book.

Also reviewed at:
Bermudaonion’s Weblog
Book Addiction
Booking Mama
Diary of An Eccentric
The Novel World

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:16 PM 14 comments    

Labels: Books Read 2008, Historical Fiction, Immigrant Experience, John Addiego

As usual, be sure to check back at this post throught the week for links to more book giveaways!

I still have a book giveaway in progress:

3 copies of the audiobook A Long Stone's Throw by Alphie McCourt is up for grabs. This giveaway ends on Thursday, December 11th. Enter here. I will also be hosting a giveaway of The Islands of Divine Music by John Addiego. Mr. Addiego will be my guest author on this coming Friday December 12, when I will also be announcing the details giveaway.

New offerings:

Jane at Dear Author is giving away one copy of Yorkshire by Lynne Connolly. Hurry, I'm not sure when the giveaway end. To enter leave a comment here.

Sarah of PussReboots is giving away one copy of Brother by James Fredericks. This giveaway ends on January 7th. Enter here.

Wendy at caribousmom is giving away TWO signed copies of The Heretic Queen (hard cover) and ONE signed copy of Nefertiti (trade paperback). The giveaway ends on Saturday December 13th. Enter here.

J.Danger at This Dangerous Life is giving away one copy of The Same Kind of Different as Me" by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. This giveaway will end in "about a week." Enter here.

Katrina Stonoff of Stone Soup is giving away a suprise book this Week. Go tell her the kinds of books you like and if you win, she will send you a book that matches your taste. The giveawy ends on Sunday December 14th. Enter here.

Below are giveaways that I announced in previous weeks. There is still time to enter:

Julie at Booking Mama is giving away one copy of Being Written by William Conescu. The giveaway ends on Friday December 12th. There is also a wonderful interview with William Conescu. To read the interview and enter, go here.

J. Kaye of J Kaye's Book Blog is giving away one copy of Towers of Gold by Frances Dinkelspiel. The giveaway ends on December 12th. Enter here. J. Kaye is also giving away her copy of GOING DOWN SOUTH by Bonnie J. Glover. The giveaway ends on December 20th. Enter here. J.Kaye is also giving away one LEARNING BLOGGER (CD-ROM) with Molly E. Holzschlag. This giveaway ends on December 20th. Enter here. J. Kaye is giving away yet another book: MOST LIKELY YOU GO YOUR WAY AND I’LL GO MINE by Ben Tanzer. This giveaway ends December 10th. Enter here.

Dar at Peeking Between the Pages is having another fab giveaway! This time she has three copies of The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker to giveaway. This giveaway ends on December 9th. Enter here.

Amy of Passages to the Past is giving away one copy of Simon the Coldheart by Georgette Heyer. This giveaway ends on Friday December 19th. Enter here.

Jessica at The Blue Stocking Society is having a Holiday Giveaway Extravaganza. The books are too numerous to list here. The giveaway ends on Friday December 12th. For details and how to enter click here.

Sarah of PussReboots is giving away one copy of The Once and Future Celt by Bill Watkins. It ends on December 10th. Enter here.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:15 PM 4 comments    

Labels: Giveaways Galore

From Becky:


I was thinking that it might be nice for those bloggers who are Weekly Geeks to pay tribute to Dewey in the next week or so. To take the time to post to their blogs a "Weekly Geek" post about Dewey--maybe share their favorite posts from her site, maybe share a memory or two about participating in weekly geeks, the bookworms carnival, the 24 Hour Readathon, or one of Dewey's challenges, maybe just share a favorite memory of Dewey in general, what they'll miss most, how they'll remember her, etc. I'm going to try to post mine this Saturday--but bloggers anywhere and everywhere are encouraged to post whenever they want.

About Dewey: (excerpt taken from her blog The Hidden Side of a Leaf):

"My main focus in blogging is community. I want to share my love for books with other bloggers, hear what they think of what they’re reading, and have lots of bookish fun. My non-review blog activities, such as the Bookworms Carnival, the Read-a-thon, Weekly Geeks, the challenges I host or join, and the contests and giveaways in my blog are all meant to build community."

Dewey acheived her main objective above brilliantly and with much enthusiasim. I wish we could have bottled her enthusiasm and energy!

Like most of you when I found out about Dewey's passing, I was in shock. It really hit me a few minutes later and the tear came streaming down my face. I spent the entire evening going from blog to blog reading memorials about Dewey and commenting. What has really struck me over this week is how we have pulled together as a community, just like Dewey taught us. She would be proud of what has been accomplished in our discussions of how we can keep Dewey’s projects alive. How we have come together as a community in mourning her death and celebrating her life!

Before writing this I visited Dewey’s blog, The Hidden Side of a Leaf for inspiration. What hit me first was her most recent post of "Book Coveting". She listed five books that she planned to read soon. I wondered if she started any of them, finished any of them, or even started reviewing any of them? Was there a book she started that she left unfinished? It made me sad all over again. There are so many books that I want to read and the list keeps growing. I’m sure that was the case for Dewey.

The next post of Dewey’s that hit me was here review of John Steibeck’s East of Eden. I love John Steinbeck and remember reading her review a few weeks ago. At the end she said, "I’ve enjoyed every Steinbeck novel I’ve read, but I haven’t read The Red Pony." Another book Dewey will never read.

Then a little further down on her blog was her Reading Journal November 18 2008. She said, "I am seriously behind on book review posts. I actually have about 35 books in my read-but-not-yet-reviewed pile." That’s around 35 book reviews that we will never get to read.

Dewey, we miss you!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 3:50 PM 7 comments    

Labels: Weekly Geeks

Becky at Becky's Book Reviews is asking bloggers to pay tribute to Dewey through Weekly Geeks.

Here's how Becky explains it:

I was thinking that it might be nice for those bloggers who are Weekly Geeks to pay tribute to Dewey in the next week or so. To take the time to post to their blogs a "Weekly Geek" post about Dewey--maybe share their favorite posts from her site, maybe share a memory or two about participating in weekly geeks, the bookworms carnival, the 24 Hour Readathon, or one of Dewey's challenges, maybe just share a favorite memory of Dewey in general, what they'll miss most, how they'll remember her, etc. I'm going to try to post mine this Saturday--but bloggers anywhere and everywhere are encouraged to post whenever they want.

If you're interested please SPREAD the word to all your blogging friends.

Note: You wouldn't have to have been an 'official' weekly geek to join in on this. New participants joined on a weekly basis. There was always room for more then...and now.

To join in on the Dewey discussion--how to honor her memory, keep her legacy alive...visit the Book Blogs discussion forum here.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:27 PM 0 comments    

Labels: Weekly Geeks

Thanks to Anna Balasi of the Hachette Book Group, I am giving away three copies of this audiobook.

Audiobook Description:

This memoir of the youngest McCourt begins between the borders of Canada and the United States. Because of a technical hitch in immigration law, Alphie, in town to play a rugby match with his mates, finds himself shanghaied in no man's land. This was not the first, or the last, time Alphie will be on unsteady ground.

Alphie McCourt was born in Limerick, Ireland, where his father's departure left misery behind for the family. His loneliness only grew deeper and wider as each of his older brothers (Frank, Malachy and Michael) left for America; so in the year 1959, Alphie followed them.

Alphie's adolescence in New York was marked by aimlessness, and too much drink. Briefly returning to Ireland and study law, he returned to America only three years later, where this time he settled in California, discovering marijuana and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Returning to his immigrant roots in New York City, Alphie reencounters the beautiful Upper East Side Lynn,and marries her in 1975, in a raucous ceremony attended by both priest and rabbi. Success followed by hardship in business ventures color several of the following years. Then, one night, on Route 80 in New Jersey, drunk, full of despair and driving through the snow, Alphie has an epiphany.

Today Alphie rises in the morning, at time when he used to go to bed. With a New York City dawn still lingering, he monitors the Empire State Building, in all its moods and colors, and knows he has finally landed on firm ground. He is home.

Here are the rules on how to enter:

1. For one entry, leave a comment. Please be sure to include email address so that I can contact you if you win.

2. For a second entry, post about this giveaway on your blog and leave link to your blog post in the comments. You will also get an entry for each person who tells me that they learned about this giveaway from you.

3. For more entries: You will earn an extra entry for each comment you leave on my past, present or future blog posts until the end of this giveaway.

4. The deadline to get your entries in is Thursday December 11th, 2008 12:00 Midnight E.S.T. Once I notify you that you've won, you will have 3 days to respond. After that, I will need to choose a different winner.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 1:08 PM 20 comments    

Labels: My Giveaways

Sheri at Bookopolis is hosting this month's Bookworms Carnival. The topic is memoirs.

Sheri has dedicated it in memory of the founder of Bookworms Carnival, Dewey.

The next Bookworms Carnival editions:

Edition 19 hosted by:Jackie at Literary Escapism
Deadline for submission: December 12, 2008
Theme: historical fiction
To submit a post, email: myjaxon at gmail dot com

Edition 20 hosted by: Marcia
Deadline for submission: December 26, 2008
Theme: Guilty Pleasures
To submit a post, email: woodbear97 at yahoo dot com

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:14 PM 0 comments    

Labels: Bookworms Carnival