"Spectral" New YA Paranormal by Shannon Duffy

 Convinced she’s a part of the witness protection program, sixteen-year-old Jewel Rose is shuffled around the globe with her family like a pack of traveling gypsies. After arriving at lucky home twenty-seven, she stumbles upon a mysterious boy with magical powers claiming to be her guardian . . . and warning of imminent danger. Despite the obvious sparks between them, Jewel discovers a relationship is forbidden, and the more she learns about dark, brooding Roman, she begins to question who she can even believe — the family who raised her, or the supposed sworn protector who claims they’ve been lying to her all along.

As she struggles to uncover who her family has really been running from, she is forced to hide her birthmark that reveals who she is. With new realities surfacing, unexplained powers appearing, and two tempting boys vying for her heart, Jewel battles to learn who she can trust in an ever growing sea of lies, hoping she’ll make it through her seventeenth birthday alive.

Particulars of the Book :

Author:  Shannon Duffy

e-book

ISBN: 9780983741879

ISBN: 9781476293585Pages: 334
Release: April 10, 2012

Author Bio:

Shannon Duffy writes young adult and middle grade fiction. She grew up on the beautiful east coast of Canada and now lives in Ontario, Canada. She is the mom of one boy, Gabriel, her angel. She loves writing, reading, working out, soccer, and the sport of champions-shopping. She is the author of the young adult paranormal romance, SPECTRAL. Her upcoming middle grade fantasy novel, GABRIEL STONE AND THE DIVINITY OF VALTA is scheduled for a January 2013 release.

Spectral web site:
http://spectralwitch.blogspot.com/
Shannon Duffy's Blog:
http://1fantasyfairy.blogspot.com/

Spectral GoodReads page:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13319632-spectral

Tribute Books website:
http://www.tribute-books.com

The Dame's Review :

YA readers will certainly be kept guessing while reading Shannon Duffy's debut book, "Spectral" this summer!  The plot is a perplexing one, and the characters serve to keep one guessing almost to the end about the crux of their life-style and the problem that keeps them running. Jewel's birthmark and special qualities are featured and decidedly interesting.  Duffy's beautiful book cover will grab lots of ebook followers, is my guess, which is first and foremost in the the YA fiction crowd these days.

While her writing is good, I think Ms Duffy could have made the twists and turns of the novel a bit clearer to her readers.  It's good to have suspense and mysterious characters; particularly handsome leading men!  But, readers need time and information to fall deeply under the spell of a book and character.  As in art--we sometimes need to create some clear space to see the full picture.  Some more self-editing and experience will help in her next YA book, I suspect.

There is much to recommend "Spectral." The family and Jewel are, for the most part, interesting characters, their moving and "hiding" creates good mystery, as does her attempt to discover the whys and wherefores of her being.  I loved the idea of Shannon's book. 

I'm looking forward to more from this talented author.  I think she has good ideas, and I think with her next book we'll see her develop as a solid YA author.  This was a 3.5 star book for me.  Not quite a cross over fiction... but fun, I thought, and age appropriate for teenagers.

Deborah/TheBookishDame

This review is brought to you by Tribute Books!

Please visit the site to find more blog reviews with regard to "Spectral."

http://tribute-books.com

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"Ashen Winter" by Mike Mullin~Warning! Super Volcano Eruption Dystopian!

Where will you be when Yellowstone National Park's super volcano erupts? It will.  It's just a matter of when. Mike Mullin has written two very impressive YA fiction novels about the inevitable eruption in the United States's Mid-West that cripples and virtually destroys the country. His first book in the series, "Ashfall" and this one, "Ashen Winter" tells the story of a teenaged couple who learns to survive, along with others in a world completely rewritten by the volcano's devastation. It's a story of humanity's survival...of the end of Eden and the loss of innocence coupled with the struggle for sanity and hope, literally, amidst the ashes.  As always, it's love that's found to be the highest order of all things.

Mullin shows the evils of mankind in their most blatant...the "what ifs" at their worst. And, he shows the courage of women and men under duress, as well. Many times I found myself holding my breath, and then cheering for Darla, the stronger-than-the-men young woman, who is a genius at almost everything she puts her hand to including mechanics! Often, I clenched my teeth and shook my head in frustration at the stops and starts, the things and people that held back Alex, the teenager from whose eyes and ears we first experienced the disaster.  The characters running amok in these books are worthy of zombie-land!  The main characters, however, are salt-of-the-earth types who we can easily recognize among our friends and family.  The struggle to survive is the driving force of their lives.

This is a novel that's not easy to read in terms of it's plausibility. It's not easy to "hear." The Super Volcano eruption could happen. It might happen in our time..any day. What's for sure is that this is a set of books that would do well to be taught in public and private high schools throughout the United States! Forewarned is to be a little better prepared. Because if it ever happens...all bets are off and it's literally every single woman for herself.

5 stars blazing for this fabulous book!!


Summary :

It’s been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex’s relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It’s also been six months of waiting for Alex’s parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex’s parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive.

Here's an interesting YouTube video for you, but don't watch it if you're easily frightened:

 

More About Mike Mullin:

Mike Mullin’s first job was scraping the gum off the undersides of desks at his high school. From there, things went steadily downhill. He almost got fired by the owner of a bookstore due to his poor taste in earrings. He worked at a place that showed slides of poopy diapers during lunch (it did cut down on the cafeteria budget). The hazing process at the next company included eating live termites raised by the resident entomologist, so that didn’t last long either. For a while Mike juggled bottles at a wine shop, sometimes to disastrous effect. Oh, and then there was the job where swarms of wasps occasionally tried to chase him off ladders. So he’s really hoping this writing thing works out.

Mike holds a black belt in Songahm Taekwondo. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and her three cats. ASHFALL is his first novel.

You might want to visit Mike on his website at:  http://mikemullinauthor.com

You may wish to purchase his books on:  Amazon    or  Barnes & Noble

From his website, you can follow him on Twitter and Facebook


Here's a trailer of his first book in this series:  "Ashfall"

I  hope we never see this sort of eruption of our society in our time, but it's always great to know there are those who will survive and that they may be the ones who represent the best within us.

Read "Ashfall" and "Ashen Winter," I know you'll love these books and so will the teens in your life.

Deborah/TheBookishDame

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Book Haul~ Where Have I Been Lately!!???

If you've been visiting me at all in the past few weeks, you know I've been on a reading blitz!!  I have hardly had time for anything else except reading and reviewing.  Which is the elixir of my life, as you know.  But, it makes for very little reporting of books coming into my door these days.

I decided to give you an update on my latest; although, you know I'm leaving tons out just because there's no room and I can't list the links of all of them!!  I'll picture more at the bottom of the page....

Here they are and why:

Purchased at Barnes & Noble

I'm a total fan of John Irving. I don't think he can write a bad book...  On the inside flap: "A compelling novel of desire, secrecy and sexual identity..."   Well, I'm there already.  I don't know about you!!  Love John Irving.

You may want to purchase this through Amazon

Inside the flap:  When Bitterblue became queen at ten years old, she thought her father's murder meant the end of his violent, sociopathic influence.  She was wrong.

Wooohhh!! I had to have this one.  I started the Graceling series a couple of years ago, and now want to get back to it.

Gorgeous cover!!

"

You need a hard copy of this beauty from Barnes & Noble

First, we need to talk about this author.  Do you remember her from "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane?"  Fabulous author!!  I'm so looking forward to reading this.

Inside the flap reads:

....entrancing historical novel set in Boston in 1951, where a young woman stands on the cusp of a new century, torn between loss and love, driven to seek answers in the depths of a crystal ball.

Here are others I received in the mail for reviewing:

The King's Agent     by  Donna Russo  Morin     "To the casual observer, Battista della Palla is an avid art collector, or perhaps a nimble thief.  In reality, the cunning Italian is an agent for Francois, the Kind of France, for whom he procures the greatest masterpieces of the day by any means necessary.  

From her earliest days, Genevieve Gravois has known one fact above all:  Francois I, King of France, is her enemy.   Yet..one day she will be forced to make deadly decisions about where her heart and her ultimate loyalties lie."  Purchase her book here:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-kings-agent-donna-russo-morin/1103264816?ean=9780758246820

Guilded Age  by Claire McMillan    "Ellie Harr made a brilliant marriage in New York, but it ended in a scandalous divorce and thirty days in Sierra Tucson rehab.  Now she comes home to Cleveland to find that, despite feminist lip service, she will still need a husband to be socially complete..."

A Violet Season  by Kathy Leonard Czepiel   One of my new contemporary author favorites, Taylor Polites, who wrote "The Rebel Wife," says about this book:  "The Violet Season" is a moving and detailed look at the hopes and hardships women faced at the turn of the last century. Her narrative is hopeful, painful and empowering..."

This Beautiful Life  by Helen Schulman   "When 15 yr. old Jake Bergamot receives and then forwards to a friend~a sexually explicit video that an eighth-grade admirer sent him, the video goes viral within hours.  The scandal that ensue threatens to shatter his family's sens of security and idenity~and, ultimately, their happiness."

You may want to look for this one at your local book store.

Oh my gosh, I love this little book.  I love the look of it, the size of it, the deckle edges and the gingham plaid of it.  I love the heart-shaped pie tin of it on the back.  I love the red and white lacy spine of the bookcover of it. The rolling pin and cherry pie of it.  And I love the way the author writes so out-spokenly of her widowhood and

 how the mundane baking of pies got her through it.

I'm taking my time reading this book.  It's another "night stand" book, for sure.  I just love it!!!



This is one you'd have to pre-order.  It was sent to me as a book to review.  C.W. Gortner is a wonderful historical fiction author whose books I've reviewed before.  I like his serious scholarship, mixed with his willingness to give us strong protrayals of brilliant women in history such as Isabella of Castile (Spain) and "Catherine de Medici."  I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing this for my blog.

So, there they are...my books hauled and in the mail for May; or, at least some of them.

Thanks to publishers:

Simon and Schuster

Ballantine Books

Harlequin

Harper/Perennial

Thank you for stopping to see me today.  I know you have lots of places to go and you're busy.  I appreciate your comments...

Deb

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My American Idol~Phillip Phillips!!

If there's ever been an American Idol, Phillip Phillips is the one.  Strong in his musical and personal style, and his convictions; but gentle in his spirit and personality...that represents the best in an American man. 

I've been watching with rapt attention over the last few months as Phillip just walked along this race like the proverbial tortoise.  He watched the rabbits race by.  They were frenetic in their song choices. They ran and hopped fast and high!  They screamed and warbled and laid out their notes to impress us all. 

But, Phillip kept on singing his songs, his way, wearing his clothes his way and slaying us with his quiet and gentle demeanor. His humor shining through and his humility bleeding out of him at every turn. Something to be said about that in these rough and rowdy times.  Maybe we just need a quiet and soft place to land..."going home."    

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Girl's Summer Reading List! You Gotta Get These!!

Time for Summer Reading~My "Riding With The Queen Gazette" if featuring a list of the best books for children from Huffington's Press today.
Here are my favorites from that list:

For Girls~


PreSchool-Grade 2—There is big trouble: "It started one day with a trip to the zoo/When a pale, sniffly girl named Felicity Floo/Wiped her red, runny nose without a tissue." Ignoring the "please do not pet the animals" sign, Felicity goes around petting and riding and cozying up to all the occupants, and they all get sick. The book then ends with the caution: "Her cold got so big/That they named it The Floo./You may not believe me,/But if I were you,/I think I'd go bowling/And not to the zoo." Told in verse with every line ending in a word that rhymes with "zoo," the story may be a little gross, but the overall package is humorous. The distinctive watercolor and ink illustrations in subdued shades of green, gray, and brown are a perfect match for the text. They feature large-eyed, waiflike Felicity decked out in purple and placing her very visible sickly green handprints on every animal pictured. Young readers and storytime attendees will delight in the antics and receive a timely lesson in hygiene as well.—Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA END
This darling book is published by Candlewick.  It has 32 pages illustrated!  For 2-6 yr. olds.
You might want to purchase it here:  Amazon

Kirkus Reviews
Who wouldn't want to put on a monster show in a big, cardboard box or pop bubble wrap at rapid-fire speed? After a new television ruins "family fun time," Chloe, the middle bunny in a brood of 21, tries to pull her brothers and sisters from its glowing grip. Colored-ink drawings hover on lush, creamy paper, offering delightfully dreamy details: the bunnies' fur, pert mouths and dewy eyes, their clothes' stripes and patterns, their bodies clustered together around the house. On one dizzying double-page spread, Chloe levitates at the epicenter of the domestic swirl, her family circling swiftly around her. McCarty says simply and directly to middle children everywhere, "Chloe was in the middle." The narrative maintains perfect pacing throughout, speeding up with long sentences and slowing down with abbreviated lines that allow readers to linger on the soft, mesmerizing artwork (so many bunnies!). A bustling dinner scene shows the family nibbling on every kind of spring veggie; readers' eyes roam from one end of the table to the other and back again, studying each whiskered face and plate. Fashion (eyeglasses, dresses, shirts) and minute tweaks in expression individualize each rabbit, while Chloe always manages to shine. McCarty captures the tensile ties strung among siblings, parents, genders and ages in every household. Beautifully benign illustrations conjure powerful familial feelings. (Picture book. 3-6)
This darling little book is published by Balzer & Bray.  It has 40 pages illustrated!   You can buy it here: Barnes & Noble

School Library Journal

Gr 3–5—Josephine-Kathryn Smith just can't seem to keep track of her shoes, earning her the nickname "Cinderella." Most of the time her propensity to lose footwear is just an annoyance, but it's a different story when she misplaces one of her new ruby-red tap shoes—they are a necessity if she wants to keep the hard-earned role of Pumpkin Blossom Fairy in the autumn dance recital. On top of that, Cinderella is dealing with some social drama. Her usual group of friends, led by bossy Rosemary T., seems to forget about her when cool, new Erin dazzles everyone in their class. Instead of being roped in by Rosemary T., though, Erin gravitates toward Cinderella. Their close camaraderie sends Rosemary T. through the roof, and her jealous reaction may give readers a clue as to the whereabouts of the wayward tap shoe. The light drama gives readers a nonthreatening environment in which to explore how to deal with friendship difficulties, and they will root for the likable Cinderella from start to finish. Loose, cheerful line drawings pepper the pages, adding to the overall upbeat feel of the book. This is a competently told, solid choice for libraries that are looking to expand their selection of contemporary realistic fiction, but it doesn't stand out among the growing clutch of books about spunky girls with unusual names.—Amy Holland, Irondequoit Public Library, NY  
Such the awesome sounding book for coming-uppers! Harper Collins Published this 249 page book. It's bound to delight the girly girls!  You may want to find it on:  Amazon

What on earth would a list for girls be without the inclusion of "Charlotte's Web?"  This is the 60th Year Anniversary! I can't believe it.  I picked up a copy of this edition for myself and my granddaughter.  Any of us who love Charlotte, it seems, must read her this summer...  Here's the summary:

Sixty years ago, on October 15, 1952, E.B. White's Charlotte's Web was published. It's gone on to become one of the most beloved children's books of all time. To celebrate this milestone, the renowned Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo has written a heartfelt and poignant tribute to the book that is itself a beautiful translation of White's own view of the world—of the joy he took in the change of seasons, in farm life, in the miracles of life and death, and, in short, the glory of everything.

We are proud to include Kate DiCamillo's foreword in the 60th anniversary editions of this cherished classic.

Charlotte's Web is the story of a little girl named Fern who loved a little pig named Wilbur—and of Wilbur's dear friend Charlotte A. Cavatica, a beautiful large grey spider who lived with Wilbur in the barn.

With the help of Templeton, the rat who never did anything for anybody unless there was something in it for him, and by a wonderfully clever plan of her own, Charlotte saved the life of Wilbur, who by this time had grown up to quite a pig.

How all this comes about is Mr. White's story. It is a story of the magic of childhood on the farm. The thousands of children who loved Stuart Little, the heroic little city mouse, will be entranced with Charlotte the spider, Wilbur the pig, and Fern, the little girl who understood their language.

The forty-seven black-and-white drawings by Garth Williams have all the wonderful detail and warmhearted appeal that children love in his work. Incomparably matched to E.B. White's marvelous story, they speak to each new generation, softly and irresistibly.

Wilbur the pig is desolate when he discovers that he is destined to be the farmer's Christmas dinner until his spider friend, Charlotte decides to help him.

Published by:  Harper Collins with 192 pages.  You may want to purchase your copies via:  Barnes & Noble                   


YA Reading :

This Barnes & Noble exclusive edition includes a letter to Jace from his father!

The New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments continues—and so do the thrills and danger for Jace, Clary, and Simon. Can the lost be reclaimed? What price is too high to pay for love? Who can be trusted when sin and salvation collide?

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge.

Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

This is a hot, hot, hot book for the YAs this summer!  It's published by Simon & Schuster and has 560 pages...they can't get enough!  You'll be able to get your copy at:  Barnes & Noble which includes the "exclusive letter."


I'll be back tomorrow with some other of my own picks for Summer Reading!

Thanks for stopping by!       Deborah/TheBookishDame

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"The Twarted Queen" by Cynthia Haggard~Cecylee Neville & The War of the Roses

This is an extensive and nicely rendered study of Cecylee Neville the young woman who was made to be Queen and wife of Henry IV of England. It is the story of the historic mother of Kings and Dukes, and the Abbess of a Benedictine Order.  Also written as  historical fiction and able to be enjoyed by all readers, the book is largely the tale of the War of the Roses. It is written in such a way that I finally understand that War.  Long an Anglophile who wanted to have a thorough understanding of this familial war and the main players,

I was delighted to find it within the pages of this  little segment of a book.

 The summary of Ms Haggard's book follows:

Cecylee is the apple of her mother’s eye. The seventh daughter, she is the only one left unmarried by 1424, the year she turns nine. In her father’s eyes, however, she is merely a valuable pawn in the game of marriage. The Earl of Westmorland plans to marry his youngest daughter to 13-year-old Richard, Duke of York, who is close to the throne. He wants this splendid match to take place so badly, he locks his daughter up.

The event that fuels the narrative is Cecylee’s encounter with Blaybourne, a handsome archer, when she is twenty-six years old. This love affair produces a child (the “One Seed” of Book II), who becomes King Edward IV. But how does a public figure like Cecylee, whose position depends upon the goodwill of her husband, carry off such an affair? The duke could have locked her up, or disposed of this illegitimate son.

But Richard does neither, keeping her firmly by his side as he tries to make his voice heard in the tumultuous years that encompass the end of the Hundred Years War – during which England loses all of her possessions in France – and the opening phase of the Wars of the Roses. He inherits the political mantle of his mentor Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, and become’s the people’s champion. The rambunctious Londoners are unhappy that their country has become mired in misrule due to the ineptitude of a King prone to fits of madness. Nor are they better pleased by the attempts of the King’s French wife to maneuver herself into power, especially as she was responsible for England’s losses in France. But can Richard and Cecylee prevail? Everywhere, their enemies lurk in the shadows.

This book is filled with many voices, not least those of the Londoners, who forged their political destiny by engaging in public debate with the powerful aristocrats of the time. By their courageous acts, these fifteenth-century Londoners set the stage for American Democracy.

Particulars About The Book :
Published by:  Spun Stories Press
Pages:  380
By:  Cynthia Sally Haggard
You May Purchase at:     Amazon    or    Barnes & Noble


Something About Ms Haggard :

Born and raised in Surrey, England, Cynthia Sally Haggard has lived in the United States for thirty years. She is the author of the Thwarted Queen series, which includes The Bride Price, One Seed Sown, The Gilded Cage, Two Murders Reaped and Rose of Raby. She has had four careers: violinist, cognitive scientist, medical writer and novelist. Yes, she is related to H. Rider Haggard, the author of SHE and KING SOLOMONS’S MINES. (H. Rider Haggard was a younger brother of the author’s great-grandfather.) Cynthia Sally Haggard is a member of the Historical Novel Society. You can visit her at: http://spunstories.com/, https://twitter.com/ – !/cynthiahaggard, and http://www.facebook.com/cynthia.haggard.


Cynthia Haggard's Interview with The Bookish Dame :

Ms Haggard, welcome to A Bookish Libraria.  I'm so  happy my readers will have a chance to get to know you better!  I have several questions for you today.  Here they are!!

1) First of all, please tell us a special something about what makes you "tick." When you aren’t writing, what are you doing? (Aside from being a dad/mom)

Thinking. I like analyzing things.

2) You chose a specific genre, a place and time to write about, what made you choose it?

I just got interested in the character of Cecylee Neville when I heard that British historian Michael K. Jones had uncovered some research suggesting that one of her sons was illegitimate. I was intrigued because that particular son was made heir by her husband the Duke of York, and later became King Edward IV. My question was, what on earth did Cecylee say to her husband to persuade him to make this illegitimate son the heir to the House of York. I was immediately intrigued by her character?

3) Bronte or Austen? Hemingway or Hawthorne? Why?

Oh dear, what a difficult question! So I'm not going to answer it directly. I like reading subversive books, especially about subversive heroines. That is one reason why I love PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. I also like reading books in which there is lots of conflict like THE SUN ALSO RISES.

　

4) In your opinion, what makes a book a great one?

It is really a combination of character and plot, I think. You want to have a protagonist that is likeable, but believably complex. You want to put that character in a situation where there are difficult choices to be made. And then I think you need to have control of pacing to give the story shape, and a dynamic range of emotion from piano to fortissimo (as they would say in music).

5) Which author(s) most influenced your love of books from childhood?

Jane Austen, Fanny Burney, Leo Tolstoy, and various historical novelists, such as Jean Plaidy, Georgette Heyer and Rosemary Sutcliff.

6) Read any good books in the past 6 months?

Yes. There was Rosemary Sutcliff's Roman Britain trilogy, and Margaret George's MARY, CALLED MAGDALENE.

7) Choose 4 guests from any era for dinner. Who would they be and what would you choose for a topic of conversation?

Cecylee Neville, Elizabeth I, Cleopatra and Boudicca. The role of powerful women in the world and how best to manage men.

8) Which of your characters is most like you?

Cecylee is a bit like me!

9) If you could cast your book for a movie, who would you choose?

Meryl Streep is one of my favorite actresses, so I think she would be perfect for Cecylee. Antony Hopkins would be good as her husband Richard of York. Colin Firth for Richard III (because he could be relied upon NOT to make him an evil villain). Ralph Fiennes for Blaybourne and Edward IV. Nicole Kidman as Queen Elisabeth Woodville.

10) Worst habit you have?

Forgetting what the time is while I'm writing. I have to keep a timer on my desk.

11) How much research did you do before and during writing?

I did a tremendous amount of research, reading every book I could lay my hands on about the Wars of the Roses and the various kings and queens of the period. Then I had to make myself throw most of it away, so as not to bore the reader!

12) Tell us a secret about your book we wouldn’t otherwise know, please!

 I completed the first draft of my novel in October 2007.
　

Thanks for joining us on The Bookish Libraria!

Thank you for having me, it was a pleasure answering all of your questions!



The Dame's Review In A Nutshell :
This is a book for the brave-hearted.  As I've mentioned at the beginning, I've always had a difficult time keeping the characters straight in the War of the Roses, but in "The Twarted Queen," it finally came together for me.

Cynthia Haggard's love of history and of this brave and daring young queen in particular comes together in a very good  historical novel.  I, too, love a gutsy heroine, especially one who lived and was a bit defiant of the male powers who reigned in her time.  It wasn't easy being a woman in her day, danger surrounding her on every front, sons being chased, captured and killed.  But, Ms Haggard was able to paint a portrayal of a historical "Diana" who triumphed rather than who was crushed by politics, royalty and the church.

I recommend this book for those who have a true love of English history and are aware that there is much having to do with the War in it.  There is a lovely storyline of love and strength, as well, so the book isn't dry by any means.  But it holds close to the truths of history in its gallantry as well as sufferings.

Ms Haggard is a fine writer.  I enjoyed her style of writing very much. But this is not your ordinary historical fiction, and; therefore, one I would recommend with a 4 rating since I don't think it would be for everyone.  Those interested in a strong feminist role model will particularly like it.

Deborah/TheBookishDame

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50 Shades of Grey~"If I Write It, They Will Read" by Jessica Magill

Traditionally, I don’t read romance novels. I certainly don’t read erotic romance, and when 50 Shades of Grey was mentioned to me, I immediately brushed it off as a cheap and tacky Twilight rip off. I read a lot, every day in fact, and am interested in many subjects. I am not the squeamish type, and the more daring and unconventional, the more interested I am. I am an unabashed reader.

This novel piqued my interest when my mother mentioned it and warned me against it!

I found out that it was about a college-aged girl who falls in love..with a Dominant, or so it was explained to me. I am not your run of the mill "reader," I have a Bachelor’s Degree in English, and read fiction like an English teacher. I always try and look beyond the "cover," read between the lines, understand all the layers of meaning.

However, the cover of "50 Shades of Grey" immediately drew me in. It is beautiful, haunting, dark, and mysterious. I like the shimmer in the tie. The simplicity of the cover, the single subject, the tie against the opaque background; chic and sophisticated. The cover shows sharp contrasts of color dark and light, grey and black, the focus, simple and strong. Really hadn't jumped out at me from the shelves, though. But, of course I had to find it after being told about its general subject matter. Can’t be that bad if Target is carrying it, right?

I picked up the book, and read the back, feeling rebellious, cutting edge, and a bit naughty. Expectant and anxious, I was drawn in, and within 10 minutes purchased the book. Now, you readers, if you are here in my review, you too have decided to read on. Are you curious too? Curiosity is the bait. I am hooked.

E.L. James is brilliant. She hooked me, just as Christian hooks the main character Anastasia Steele. Once you are hooked, you are compelled to keep reading. "Ana" the protagonist, is curious and astute, educated and independent, and at a crossroads in her life, when she unwittingly interviews Christian Grey for her roommate, who needs the article for the school newspaper.

Begrudgingly, Ana goes in place of her roommate to interview Mr. Grey.

This simple act of kindness, to "save" her friend from not meeting a deadline, changes Ana’s life. It’s funny how one seemingly mundane event which doesn’t have to be a milestone or a celebration, can change your perspective and take you to a place you never thought you would be, ever .

James slowly wraps the reader in, just as Ana is slowly wrapped in to a relationship with Christian. She lulls you into a sense of false security, leads you to read more, want more, creates a strong justification to you the reader, that you are just "finding out what happens." Just as soon as I was reaching a point of disdain, in that I was predicting the future of this couple, James shocks me with an unexpected twist. Again, I am intrigued, and don’t want to be wrong, I need to keep guessing. What happens to Ana? I am in it now. Just like Ana.

James writes the novel from Ana’s perspective. The commentary is in the first person, and although you may not relate to Ana’s situation, there is something about her that is relatable to all women. She's curious, she's strong, she is willing, and a loyal friend. Aren’t these the very characteristics that we cherish as women? These are the very characteristics that work both in Ana’s favor, and against her. Ana is shrewd, or so she thinks. Ana likes the volley back and forth with Christian. She pushes and pulls, teases and flirts, is confident and insecure. She is both intrigued and wary of Christian; he is an enigma. Much about the thoughts Ana has is relatable to all women. I understand why Ana finds Christian alluring. I find him alluring, too.. he is the ultimate modern bad boy. It seems that both the people and things that scare us a little often intrigues us, and keep us wanting more.

E.L. James keeps Ana's and Christian’s relationship tense and sweet. I found myself asking the same questions Ana does, feeling the same way she does. Ana is an innocent; naive, but not ignorant. She, like so many of us, is swept away in love and lust. As hard as she tries to rationalize the relationship she has with Christian, her emotions get the best of her, and

she maintains her emotional connection and even deepens it with him.

Ana is a realistic. To me, her actions and emotions are genuine. James’s gives her life, makes her a sympathetic character. Similarly, Christian is not someone that I have ever known in real life, but his caricature is. I have wondered many times if what people look like on the exterior matches who they are on the interior.

  Christian is a modern Heathcliff~brooding, dark and dangerous. He has secrets that keep him locked in his own world. The question is, can Ana unlock them? Or not?

Thus, the quest Ms James entices us to keep on.

"50 Shades Grey" has been touted as "Mommy Porn." Yes, the sex scenes are raw and descriptive, but if you are an adult woman, you can handle it. To me, they are not the focus of this intense novel. It is the relationship between Christian and Ana. Their relationship parallels the dominant submissive sex scenes throughout the novel.

I often asked myself through the novel, who is the dominant?

Is it really Christian? Or is it Ana? 

Sting says it so beautifully in the lyrics to his song, Wrapped Around Your Finger, "when you find your servant is your master." It is always a paradox, isn’t it? In a split second the position of power can shift, leaving the master the servant and vice versa. I don’t find these scenes offensive. They are intended to be graphic, intense, and peircing. If James had written these scenes in a less intensive way, I as the reader would be less likely to believe them. I read through the scenes, and moved on. To me, in this day and age, like it or not, these scenes are shocking but not outrageous. If the reader makes this the focus of the novel they will lose the beauty of the story as a whole.

In conclusion, I loved the book" 50 Shades of Grey." Shocked?

I have since bought the next two books in the series. I understand why women and men all over the world love this series. It is fresh, exciting, dark, and engaging. Ana and Christian are just as real to the audience as Bella and Edward are to "Twi hard" fans. Move over twi-hards! There’s a new couple in town, and they are here to stay. If you haven’t gone to get your copy of" 50 Shades...," you better go now! These books are flying off the shelves faster than the stores can keep them ordered.

I believe this series will be discussed for years to come. It's a literary phenomena. 

I'm sure college courses are already being planned around it.

You may just want to take a chance to peek at it.  Do you want to open Pandora's box?  Here's your chance to know what it feels like...

 You won’t be disappointed~or will you?  Aren’t you curious?

Written by Jessica Magill

Guest Writer for A Bookish Libraria

May 24, 2012

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"I Couldn't Love You More" by Jillian Medoff~Startling Family Drama!

Being a step-mother has its pitfalls on a normal day, but being one when the chips are down is even more difficult.  In "I Couldn't Love You More,"   Eliot Gordon, referred to as the motherly "good one" by her sisters, loves her "steps" like her own children, but she's often stonewalled as so many caring step-mothers are.  In this close monologue of a book, we find out a good deal about mothering, how "Sophie" may have made her choice and why we take the roads in life we do.  This is a passionate book that calls to the mother and the fallible in all of us.  Read it and weep.  I did.  A book to share with your friends, mom, sisters and book group. This one will have you talking to yourself, so you'll need a friend to share it with.  You may have to buy two copies at one time!!

The book is published by:  Grand Central Publishing/Hachette and is written by Jillian Medoff.  You may find it at Barnes & Noble  and at Amazon
There are more than 400 pages to this book. 
You may also want to visit the author's website here:  http://jillianmedoff.com


Summary :

Which child would you save? A decision no parent can even fathom.

Eliot Gordon would do anything for her family. A 38-year-old working mother, she lives an ordinary but fulfilling life in suburban Atlanta with her partner, Grant Delaney, and their three daughters. The two older girls are actually Eliot's stepdaughters, a distinction she is reluctant to make as she valiantly attempts to maintain a safe, happy household . . .

Then Finn Montgomery, Eliot's long-lost first love, appears, triggering a shocking chain of events that culminates in a split-second decision that will haunt her beloved family forever. How Eliot survives-and what she loses in the process-is a story that will resonate with anyone who has ever loved a child. With hilarious honesty, wrenching depth, and a knockout twist, I COULDN'T LOVE YOU MORE illuminates the unbreakable bonds of family and reveals the lengths we'll go to save each other, even as we can't save ourselves.

Please take a moment to view this book trailer ~

Who Is Jillian Medoff ?
Jillian Medoff's bitterly funny, shocking third novel, I Couldn't Love You More, will be available from Grand Central Publishing in 2012. She is the acclaimed author of Hunger Point and Good Girls Gone Bad, both of which received surprisingly great reviews (surprising to her). A huge seller in the US, Hunger Point was the basis for the original Lifetime movie starring Barbara Hershey and Christina Hendricks (Mad Men). Although Jillian is proud of Hunger Point, had anyone asked, she would not have selected such a bright pink (any pink, frankly) for the trade paperback edition. Her books have been translated into many different languages, including French, Spanish, Hebrew, Turkish, Hungarian, Japanese (abridged), Polish, and German (forthcoming).
The eldest daughter of a traveling salesman, Jillian moved 17 times by age 17, ultimately ending up in Atlanta, where her new novel is set. She has a BA from Barnard and an MFA from NYU, and is grateful for having studied with such luminary writers as Mona Simpson, Jonathan Dee, Robert Coover, and Alice Walker. She also attended Master Classes with Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, and Grace Paley. Although these authors continue to influence her work in powerful and diverse ways, she suspects few of them, if any, remember her. A former fellow at the MacDowell Colony, Blue Mountain Center, VCCA and Fundacion Valparaiso in Spain, Jillian taught at NYU and the University of Georgia, but for only, like, five minutes. She currently lives in New York with her family, and has no plans to move anytime soon.

The Dame's Review :

I have been reading " I Couldn't Love You More" for over a week.  This is very unusual for me.  I just had to savor every word of it. I had to take time to take it all in.  Like a delicious Godiva truffle, I wanted to take my time to chew over what Jillian Medoff was "saying."  This is an extraordinary piece of literature.  It's one that warrants such time-taking.  It's a book I wanted  to cherish and reread, personally.  It may be one of those "nightstand" books because I'd like to keep opening it to passages to think on again and again.  This may give you some idea of the quality of Ms Medoff's writing. 

 I'm not surprised she worked under and studied with some of the finest authors of our times...

it shows up in her work.

I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't do some influencing herself.

The book also meant a great deal to me as a mother and step-mother.  Her ability to translate this very delicate balance of love and responsibility,

 of wanting to be loved and wanting to do what's right is just masterful.

Her telling of that risk of giving it all in mothering for what may be receiving little or no return in the long run is what each of us mothers understands...but it's more so for step-moms.

The risks in this book are just staggering.  And they kept me nailed to the novel mind and spirit.

At last, I thought, someone gets it down on paper.

I write notes about books as I read them, and I read without reading any reviews or summaries of my books if I can help it.  In this case, I kept things to a minimum.  So one of my notes to myself was about Sophie's choice.  Yes, there is that happenstance in this book and it's as horrifying here and as smashing of lives as you can imagine. The dysfunction of families, and the particular dynamics of three significantly different sisters (all playing their Shakespearean roles) is hilarious enough to break the underlying tensions. But, these are not the only things that captured me about this novel.

Primarily, and in addition to what I've already said about the mothering,  I was captivated by its quality of voice.  That's a rare thing to me. To so clearly hear the author's voice was stunning.  It was hypnotic.  It felt as if I were sitting on the sofa of my very best friend and she was telling me her life story.  I felt I was hearing her secrets; her intimate thoughts and feelings that she kept inside but was now sharing with me. 

This book begins in a sort of monologue.  At least, to me there was little dialog.

This sort of thing is ordinarily not appealing to me.  But, as I said, it was simply golden in Jillian Medoff's hands.  To this day I'm in awe of that. 

 As I write this, I wonder if my readers will even comprehend how something can be told without an emphasis on dialog and be so powerful and absorbing to the reader!

It would be redundant to tell you what "I Couldn't Love You More" is "about," so I won't do that.  Only, I will say it is such a beautifully created story of love and sacrifice and redemption.  I thought Jillian Medoff's quote of a Willa Cather saying was significant in the beginning of her book:

" There are only one or two human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before."

This is one of those tellings of one of those lives and times. It may be we've all experienced much of what Ms Medoff describes in her story. It may be this that makes it so relavant and so poignant. And, it's a profound and wonderful telling.

I hope you get your own copy to read and share.  You can never have mine...

5 stars

Deborah/TheBookishDame

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A Gothic Mystery! "A Darkly Hidden Truth"~ by Donna Fletcher Crow

Book Summary: "Felicity can’t possibly help Father Antony find the valuable missing icon. She’s off to become a nun. Then her impossible mother turns up unexpectedly. And a good friend turns up murdered…   Breathtaking chase scenes, mystical worship services, dashes through remote waterlogged landscapes keep the pages turning. Felicity learns the wisdom of holy women from today and ages past and Antony explores the arcane rites of the Knights Hospitaller. But what good will any of that do them if Felicity can’t save Antony’s life?"    I love a good gothic novel with mystery and paranormal enchantment.  This book has it all!  Don't fail to find it on Amazon...links below.


You must watch this amazing book trailer!

A Bit About Ms Crow:
Donna Fletcher Crow is the author of 38 books, mostly novels dealing with British history. The award-winning Glastonbury, an Arthurian grail search epic covering 15 centuries of English history, is her best-known work. Donna and her husband live in Boise, Idaho. They have 4 adult children and 11 grandchildren. She is an enthusiastic gardener.
Her newest release is A Darkly Hidden Truth, book 2 in her clerical mystery series The Monastery Murders. She also writes the Lord Danvers series of Victorian true-crime novels and the romantic suspense series The Elizabeth & Richard Mysteries. To read more about these books and to see book videos for A Darkly Hidden Truth and for A Very Private Grave, Monastery Murders 1, as well as pictures from Donna’s garden and research trips go to:
http://donnafletchercrow.com

Please find Ms Crows links here:

To purchase her book~

                                                                        Amazon     and  Barnes and Noble

Again, her beautiful website:  http://donnafletchercrow.com will give you such a wonderful tour of her books and very prolific writing life.

An Short Guest Post With Ms Crow Regarding Her Reading Life :   (Taken from her blog...)
People always ask me, "did you always want to write?" No, I always wanted to read, although I did "write" my first novels in the sixth grade: an adventure series starring me, complete with illustrations. I think each book was about five pages long. I also sat in our back garden under a huge cottonwood tree and wrote embarrassingly bad poetry, complete with illustrations. My poetry is still embarrassingly bad, but that doesn't stop me writing it.
I had an ideal childhood for a reader. I was an only child, living on a farm. I would take a book out to the middle of the alfalfa field in front of our house, lay down flat and revel in the fact that God was the only person in the whole universe who knew where I was.
In the tenth grade my Charlie Chaplain look-alike English teacher Mr. Hodgson, of blessed memory, told me the only book report he would accept from me was Wuthering Heights. I still think that's a strange choice for a 15-year-old, and as many times as I have read the novel and seen the movie (and even visited Howarth) I still don't understand it. But it "took". From that moment I was hooked on the English classics and to this day I read very little other than English authors. Jane Austen, of course, is my lifelong literary love.

I naturally majored in English and became a starry-eyed English teacher, aspiring to inspire my students to a love of great literature before I retired to become a full time mother.
My reading life has always gone by passions, finding a writer I loved, reading everything he or she (usually she) wrote, then feeling absolutely bereft when I came to the end. Much the same feeling as having a child leave for college, I later learned. My passions have included Norah Lofts, D. E. Stevenson, Mary Stewart, Rumer Godden, Elizabeth Goudge and Elswyth Thane with whom I carried on a delightful correspondence just before she died and I began writing professionally.
The writer that really catapulted me into writing, however, was Gerogette Heyer. Her Venetia became the springboard for my first novel Brandley's Search, reissued later as Where Love Begins, although my book was set in 1824, so can't be strictly called a Regency. That book grew into the six-book Cambridge Chronicles series.


The Bookish Dame's Review :

I hardly know what to tell you except there's little that brings me back to my young adult years like a gothic mystery.  I love a gothic novel!  Shades of Norah Lofts and Mary Stewart--only more umph and a little better, I have to say!  I could hardly wait to receive a copy of Ms Crows book to review.  I particularly was anxious to read one set in a monastery with a proper, would-be novice nun,  a situation and setting which has always been a curiosity of mine.  That this book had a paranormal twist just made it all the more a draw for me, and once I visited Donna Fletcher Crow's website, I was sunk!  This is a book for a stormy night, everyone!  And, you'll be reading it when you're supposed to be doing lots of other things...I was.

Donna Fletcher Crow is a natural born writer with skills that make reading such a joy.  I identified immediately with her young protagonist Felicity, who is the aspiring nun cum sweetheart of not-sure-he-wants-to-be priest, Antony.  They, as sleuths, are familiar to those who have read Ms Crow's previous book, "A Very Private Grave;" which you don't have to have read, by the way, to enjoy this second book in the Monastery Series.  The couple is irrepressible!  I adore them and their bantering, their bravery and their push-pull of relationship throughout this mystery novel.  I'm dying to read more about them.

In having read the book, I would say that Ms Crow's influences by other authors are apparent, but subtle.  She has a wonderful sense of herself and it comes across brilliantly.  This is a novel in the vein of a Carolyn Hart's Annie Darling series with her husband and mother-in-law, but so much a superior quality.  Any of you who love a mystery with a moral and a twist will love this one, as well.  For me,  historical and art references were a plus.  Particularly those about the Templars.

I'm now going to be reading the 1st book in this series, and I look forward to her new book coming soon featuring the wonderful Felicity and Antony team called "An Unholy Communion."  I truly think I've found my latest favorite author in this gothic, set mystery genre.  Hopefully, you'll try this book, too, and join me as an on-going fan.

Please let Donna and me know if you decide to read...and if you've gone to Amazon or Barnes & Noble to check out her book!

5 stars for my newest find!!!

Deborah/TheBookishDame

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Richard Ford's "Canada"~ Must Be Instant Best Seller!!

One of my all time favorite writers has a new book being released tomorrow, which isn't coming soon enough for me!  If you haven't read anything by Richard Ford, now's the time.  This Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Falkner Award winner is among the best authors the US has to offer, writing such masterpieces as "Independence Day," and other fabulous books about our society. Below you'll find some pertinent information and about this book, which has to be an instant best seller once we get our hands on it!   The book is published by Harper Collins, a publisher I'm finding is fast becoming my favorite in the book business.  They are publishing consistently wonderful books...another topic, however.  Here are "Canada" summaries:

Library Journal

Since winning the Pulitzer Prize for his 1995 novel, Independence Day, Ford has cultivated a reputation for writing lucid and compelling prose. Here, he lives up to that reputation. The story unfolds around 15-year-old Dell Parsons, whose world collapses when his parents are jailed for a bank robbery, his twin sister flees, and he is transported across the border by a family friend to an obscure town in Canada. With detailed descriptions of place, Ford connects Dell's feelings of abandonment with the equally desolate setting of a remote Canadian landscape. The novel is pervaded by a profound sense of loss—of connectedness, of familiarity, of family—set against a profound sense of discovery. By piecing together the random events in his life, Dell transcends the borders within himself to find a philosophy of life that is both fluid and cohesive. VERDICT Segmented into three parts, the narrative slowly builds into a gripping commentary on life's biggest question: Why are we here? Ford's latest work successfully expands our understanding of and sympathy for humankind.—Joshua Finnell, Denison Univ. Lib., Granville, OH

Summary :

Book Description

Publication Date: May 22, 2012

"First, I'll tell about the robbery our parents committed. Then about the murders, which happened later."
Then fifteen-year-old Dell Parsons' parents rob a bank, his sense of normal life is forever altered. In an instant, this private cataclysm drives his life into before and after, a threshold that can never be uncrossed.
His parents' arrest and imprisonment mean a threatening and uncertain future for Dell and his twin sister, Berner. Willful and burning with resentment, Berner flees their home in Montana, abandoning her brother and her life. But Dell is not completely alone. A family friend intervenes, spiriting him across the Canadian border, in hopes of delivering him to a better life. There, afloat on the prairie of Saskatchewan, Dell is taken in by Arthur Remlinger, an enigmatic and charismatic American whose cool reserve masks a dark and violent nature.
Undone by the calamity of his parents' robbery and arrest, Dell struggles under the vast prairie sky to remake himself and define the adults he thought he knew. But his search for grace and peace only moves him nearer to a harrowing and murderous collision with Remlinger, an elemental force of darkness.
A true masterwork of haunting and spectacular vision from one of our greatest writers, Canada is a profound novel of boundaries traversed, innocence lost and reconciled, and the mysterious and consoling bonds of family. Told in spare, elegant prose, both resonant and luminous, it is destined to become a classic.

The Dame's Final Words For Now 

I'm coming back next week with a review of this book.  I can't keep mum about it.  This will probably be one of the "must reads" on my book list for the year.  To be continued....


Thanks for stopping by because I know your browsing time is so limited these days.     Deborah/TheBookishDame 

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