"Between You & Me" by Marisa Calin ~ Compulsive Read!

Summary:   Phyre knows there is something life-changing about her new drama teacher, Mia, from the moment they meet. As Phyre rehearses for the school play, she comes to realize that the unrequited feelings she has for Mia go deeper than she's ever experienced. Especially with a teacher. Or a woman. All the while, Phyre's best friend-addressed throughout the story in the second person, as "you"-stands by, ready to help Phyre make sense of her feelings. But just as Mia doesn't understand what Phyre feels, Phyre can't fathom the depth of her best friend's feelings...until it's almost too late for a happy ending. Characters come to life through the innovative screenplay format of this dazzling debut, and unanswered questions-is "you" male or female?-will have readers talking

Particulars of the Book :
Publisher:  Bloomsbury
Pages:  256
Genre:  YA/General Fiction
Author:  Marisa Calin


About Marisa :
Marisa Calin was born in the U.S., grew up in Bath, England, then moved to New York City at the age of eighteen to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and pursue her dreams of being an actress. She is still in hot pursuit, and when not on stage or on set uses all her spare time and training to create vivid character-driven worlds on paper.

See her amazing website sponsored by Bloomsbury here:  http://www.marisacalin.com/    where you'll find videos, voice overs, music to "Between You and Me" and other amazing reviews!


The Dame's Review :

I'm very excited about this book.  It's a truly unique read with all the components that make it a stand out for YA and general fiction.  Breaking ground in the genre, "Between You & Me" is a screen play within a novel including a school play story that is so well written and so dynamic it will have you reading far more quickly and more compulsively than anything in your hands lately!  I was blown away.  While it sounds strange on paper, by way of my review no doubt, the format works amazingly well, and Marisa Calin is genius to think of it.

Quick witted and snappy dialog makes the book move at a bullet's pace.  The depth of emotion conveyed seems unlikely with such spare words, which is one of the charming things about this book.  We are brought into a situation of the love-lorn that it both poignant and profoundly expressive between two different teens, and two different scenarios simultaneously, and they both work in such perfect heart-stopping harmony.  I found it timeless.  If any of you remember "Love Story," you'll understand how few words can convey a world of angst and true depth of caring.  This is such a book.

In the summary of the book, you'll find the outline of the story of Phyre and her obsessive crush on Mia, her drama teacher...and her "blind" relationship at the same time with the "You" of her play.  There is nothing more I would give away on that count except to say that the invisible is so beautifully drawn here on the "You" character that you ache for him/her.  This, of course, shows the writing talent and expressive gifts of the author.

I enjoyed very much, as well, her instructions to the drama class on how to find the emotions and meanings in their acting.  What a wonderful way to work Phyre's emotional turmoil and "You's" behind the scenes feelings into the story/play.  And then, the school play on top of the storyline play was so enjoyable a read.

This is a unique book.  One that I won't be surprised to find visited with awards this year.  Get it and experience a wonderful story.  Guaranteed to please you.  Good for Bloomsbury!

5 stars               Deborah/TheBookishDame

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"Cradle My Heart" by Kim Ketola ~ Healing From Abortion

Summary:  Abortion continues to be a hot topic in politics, women's rights, and medical practice. But for the eight to ten million American Christian women who have had one, abortion is a spiritual issue as well, raising questions of life and death, heaven and hell, grief and loss.

Writing from her own experience, Kim Ketola sheds light on one of the darkest and most neglected personal issues of our time: the widespread need for healing and spiritual recovery after abortion. "After abortion brought the worst trouble into my life I had ever known," writes Ketola, "I just couldn't see my way free to believe in God's love." With a compassionate heart, Ketola offers ten true stories of healing promise from the Bible to help women answer the most common spiritual torments they face: Is abortion a sin? Does God hate me? Where can I turn in my shame and distress? How could I ever tell anyone the truth? And more.

Inspired by Romans 6:4—"just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life"—this is a definitive resource to help women see themselves and God anew and—finally—to find spiritual healing.

Particulars of the book:
Publisher:  Kregel Publications
Pages:  224
Genre:  Christian/Spirtual
Author:  Kim Ketola
Find this book on Amazon   or  Barnes & Noble

From the Back Cover :

God's love is not a casualty of abortion

For eight to ten million American Christian women, abortion is not just a political or medical issue--it is a spiritual issue as well. Abortion raises questions of life and death, heaven and hell, grief and loss. You may be asking: Does God hate me? Can I be forgiven? Is it really possible to just start over with God?

Kim Ketola asked these questions as well. In Cradle My Heart, she lays out a compassionate path toward spiritual healing. You will learn how to:
* Face yourself and face God
* Forgive and be forgiven
* Repent and accept God's love
* Grieve and find an end to sorrow

With an understanding and empathetic voice, Kim Ketola exposes the hurt in your heart, reveals the healing in God's heart, and brings the two together to create a whole heart where restoration--and celebration--are possible.

 

 

About Kim Ketola :

 

 

Kim Ketola is a writer and speaker with thirty years' broadcast experience while known as "Kim Jeffries" on CBS' WCCO Radio and Television, and KTIS/Faith Radio Network, and other outlets. Cradle My Heart, Finding God's Love After Abortion (Kregel, 2012) reflects Kim's ministry to help individuals recover from the emotional and spiritual wounds of abortion, and was awarded First Place in the Sonfire Media contest at the 2010 Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference.
Kim has traveled internationally with Ruth Graham and Friends conferences, and she is a frequent media guest addressing pro-life issues on Salem, Moody, Sirius, and other network outlets. Tim Pawlenty appointed Kim as chairperson of the MN Governor's Council on Faith and Community Service Initiatives (2006-2008), and she serves organizations reaching the homeless, the addict, and those in prison. She and her husband, Bruce, make their home in suburban Atlanta.

Visit www.kimketola.com to learn more.


The Dame's Review :

When I was in college in the 1960's, during the age of Aquarius, free love and student uprisings, I had a room-mate who had had an abortion.  It was the first time I was exposed to anyone who had been through the experience.  She almost immediately related the incident and circumstances to me, and said it was the central and most painful thing of her life.  It colored everything she did from that moment on.  She was deeply grieved by it.  And she was profoundly regretful.  I was astounded by the extent to which it had scarred her. Up to that point I had been lead to believe it was an option young women chose to be free of an unwanted "situation" or "problem."

When I was a young mother some 8 years later, I met another young mother who was in turmoil and withdrawn in many ways. She was a friend of mine because of our children's ages and because we lived in the same neighborhood, and because we seemed drawn to each other.  But for several years she debated and tortured me over my faith with a harsh anger that was personal to her and strange to me.  Years later, and after I had moved away, she became a Christian and confessed to me her anger at me at my faith had been because of her guilt over an abortion she had had as a college student, and which she thought God couldn't forgive her for; and, that she couldn't forgive herself for.  Once she got hold of the fact that there was healing and forgiveness in Jesus Christ, she was relieved of her spiritual burdens and believed her unborn child was safe and secure.

There have been numerous other women I've come into contact with during my 60 some years who have suffered this similar grief and guilt.  Some have been able to resolve it through faith, and some have not because they have no faith.  But all have been scarred.

Though I personally have never had an abortion, I can feel the depth of my friends' and loved one's pain.  It is easy to see in their lives.  It is easy to see how it's shaped their lives for good and for worse depending upon how they have resolved it or not.

Kim Ketola's book is one of the few books I've read that simply outlines a way to look at this personal tragedy.  She honestly exposes herself and her own pain.  She kindly shares the gift of her personal grief and struggles, and her resolution through faith in Christ.

I found the particular passages of scripture not only apparent as healing pathways for those who have experienced an abortion, but for those of us who have walked the resulting path with them, or who have struggled with other losses in our lives.  They are up-lifting and speak of Christ's eternal forgiveness and healing powers through faith.

While everything we do and every choice we make results in a mark on our lives for good or for bad, we can rest in the fact that we have a heavenly Father who loves us and is willing to take us as we are.  Kim Ketola's "Cradle My Heart" gives testimony to that, and shows a pathway to healing.

This is a book I would recommend for everyone who is considering an abortion, who  has had one, who knows of those who have, and for those who wonder about the reasons and results of them for some women.  It's a powerful book.

I must add that this is not a politically centered book.  That is not its purpose in text.

Find this book on Amazon or Barnes & Noble


5 stars                Deborah/TheBookishDame

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"The Playdate" by Louise Millar ~ Breathtaking Suspense!

Summary: 

TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED. . . .

In a quiet London suburb, a group of mothers relies on each other for friendship, favors, and gossip. But some of them shouldn’t be trusted, and others have dark secrets.

When Callie moved into her new neighborhood, she thought it would be easy to fit in. The other parents have been strangely hostile, though, and her frail daughter Rae is finding it impossible to make friends. Suzy, with her rich husband and her three energetic children, has been the only one to reach out, although their friendship has recently felt inexplicably strained. Now the police have suggested that someone dangerous may be living in their neighborhood, and the atmosphere feels even more toxic. Then there’s the matter of Callie’s ex-husband, and the shocking truth behind their divorce . . . a truth that she would do anything to hide.

Particulars of the Book :

Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Publication date: 7/3/2012

Pages: 432

Genre:  Thriller/Suspense, General Fiction

Something About The Author:
Louise Millar was raised in Scotland. She began her journalism career in music and film magazines. A former senior editor at Marie Claire, she has written for Red, Psychologies, Stella, the Observer, Glamour, Stylist, and The Guardian. She lives in London with her husband and daughters.

Read an Excerpt and purchase a copy here:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-playdate-louise-millar/1107043658?ean=9781451656671


The Bookish Dame Reviews :

I'd read a bit about this book from another blogger somewhere in the blogosphere (I apologize that I can't remember where!) a few weeks ago, and and remember only slightly being caught by the idea that women were helping care for each other's children and something happened.  That was enough to get me off my duff and out to find "The Playdate."  With so many kidnappings and losses and killings of little children in this country in these times, it was a subject that I couldn't wait to see how a debut writer would handle.  Old subject?  New perspective!  I thought it would be enjoyable to read but easy to figure out.  Wrong!!!  Not so easy to figure out...suspenseful and very full-bodied!

Perfect pitch in the dialogs whether among adults or adults with children.  Even internal dialogs are meaty and ring true...often anxiety-producing, often truly terrifying.  And speaking of pitch, much of the suspense and anxiety of the book is built around sounds both good and bad that are built upon throughout the book.  An unusual and fascinating technique that I enjoyed following.  Sound as horror...and sound as holy.

Easily deniable/ordinary happenings with sinister underbellies first make us think we're safe, and then confuse us!  It's the use of these ordinary things we encounter every day, employed as background for a disaster just waiting to happen and juxtaposed with a pot boiling over that can hold us in the most tenderhooks.  Does the vaccum cleaner noise from next door really follow you from room to room as you move around your own house?  Who's watching your trash?

While the book is set in London and country, it has none of the hard edge of the British writing that so many books of this mystery/suspense genre can have. It was easy reading, and such fun.

 I found absolutely all of Ms Millar's settings and characters engaging.  Each character was so well described--down to their individual ticks and manipulations.  It was a magical book to read.

Often, I felt my heart racing with Callie, the single mother who just wanted to regain some of her "self" by returning to work at her beautiful job...which meant leaving her pre-school child in the after school care until she could get there.  Scenes describing Callie's emotions, her racing home from work, her anxieties and her heart-wrenching moments were some of the best I've read in this genre.  Just incredible writing that you could feel in your body.

Suzy, Callie's best friend next door, was the best friend "every mom" so many of us know or have known who just seems to give it all for the children...hers and yours.  She's the earth mother type who doesn't seem quite like everyone else.  She's more devoted to her children than anything on earth, and her life displays that; is messy with it.  Millar gives wonderful life to this character.  The easy way Suze had of drawing in those who needed to be cared for, both mother and child.  We've all known moms like Suze.

My favorite character was Callie, but the character who was most interestingly distressing and who rubbed me wrong the whole time, of course, was Debs.  Strange, alienated, weird and obviously a little mental, Debs was the new neighbor with very little to bolster her up....and very little reputation to stand on.  Millar uses this character in such a delightfully malicious way.  It's criminal!!!  Was she the kindly new after school helper and earnest next door neighbor, or a woman with violent and shady past?

Louise Millar takes a subject close to our hearts; our children, and writes around the anxiety of who they really belong to, and who really cares for them.

This is a book not to be missed.  I simply couldn't stop reading it.  It was my constant companion for 2 days!!  Highly recommended read.

5 stars for a great read!    Deborah/TheBookishDame

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"Final Approach" by Lyle Prouse ~ Airlines & Alcohol

SUMMARY:   More than two decades after his prosecution and imprisonment for operating an aircraft while intoxicated, a Northwest Airlines captain breaks from the media frenzy surrounding his firing and public humiliation to offer his own version of events. Prouse, whose childhood in Wichita and other cities in the Midwest and South was marred by the "cotton-mouthed fear" of facing neighborhood bullies and the troubles of alcoholic parents, provides a memoir that skips alternately between his becoming a pilot in the Marines and the lapse of judgment that undid everything he had earned. After graduating high school, Prouse joined the Marines and was selected to receive flight training at a military institution in Pensacola. A stint at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro followed in 1963, as did employment during the Vietnam War flying combat missions, before Prouse departed the military to pursue work as a commercial pilot in 1968. His noteworthy career came to a halt in 1990, when he was arrested upon landing a flight in Minneapolis after a night of hard drinking with his colleagues. He was charged and sent to prison. Prouse stares steadfastly into his own history as an alcoholic, detailing even the most traumatic events with a remarkable self-awareness; he explains without excuse how his alcoholism strained his relationship with his wife and almost severed his relationship with his daughter, Dawn. Prouse, who obtained a presidential pardon for his mistake and eventually regained captain status with Northwest Airlines, constructs prose strengthened by sharp anecdotes. However, the flow of Prouse's story line can become stagnant under the weight of several tedious or obtuse passages. Although the divergences between the book's dual narratives can distract or appear incongruous, Prouse's recollection of his incarceration ultimately succeeds in indicting the prison system for corruption, sadism, incompetence and unsafe operations. An endearing retrospective, beginning and ending as one man's examination of a tragic segment of his life, which comments meaningfully on addiction and the unpredictable nature of bureaucratic systems.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK:
Pages:  298
Genre:  Memoir/Nonfiction
Published by:  Createspace
Available on Amazon


From the Author's Mouth :

I wrote “Final Approach” for my grandkids and family but had no intention of actually publishing it until a friend read it and strongly encouraged me to do that.  The reaction has been surprising and I’ve been taken aback by it.

So much was said about this first-of-a-kind event in which three airline pilots were arrested for flying under the influence and most of it was inaccurate.  Reporters and journalists, TV news anchors, and late night comics all had their say and put their own personal twists on things as I sat, watched, listened, and remained mute.  I was amazed at reporters I didn’t know who claimed to know what I was thinking as though they had access to my innermost thoughts and how the public seemed to accept, without question, the information they put out.

Clearly, the groundwork for sensationalism was part of the scenario with an impaired flight crew at 35,000 feet and passengers in the aircraft cabin.  I understood and accepted that and I never attempted to excuse or minimize what had taken place – nor do I do that in my book.  Throughout the entire manuscript I take very clear and naked responsibility for the event.  Indeed, I’ve done that my entire life, including my Marine Corps career and my time in Vietnam.

Nothing excuses or mitigates what happened, not even my alcoholism; and I’ve never hidden behind that.

This event destroyed and shredded me, reducing me to an emotional shell, and I found myself thinking thoughts I had never before believed possible – suicide.  Hopelessness can never be reduced to a lower plateau than when suicide becomes seductively attractive and the desire to escape the pain and shame overwhelmingly outweighs the desire to live.

From that near fatal outcome came a story of beauty and redemption and one that I claim no personal credit for.  I suited up and showed up, but I can take no credit for anything other than that. 

As the story unfolded I experienced the absolute best of mankind…and the worst of it.  We need love the most when we deserve it the least and I’ve never forgotten that as I devote a lot of my time to helping those who are suffering as I once was.

In front of me as I write this is a statement that says, “I believe life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it” and that has become one of my credos as a result of what happened to me.

I need others in my life and that’s a gift of humility, something I once viewed more as a character flaw than asset.  I learned about humility through another form of the word – humiliation. 

What began as the most devastating experience in my life, and one that nearly ended my life, has evolved into the greatest positive thing that could ever have happened to me.  In my Native culture we often speak of ‘Grandfather’ or ‘Creator’ and I use those terms as well as the God I knew growing up.  Whatever He does and however He does it will never be something I can understand, but I do know that some power somewhere steered the outcome of this story and I had nothing to do with it.

I went from pilot to pariah, yet in an astonishing turn of events I ended my career as a 747 captain for the same airline I’d so horribly shamed and embarrassed; and I never fought or resisted my termination.  I went from prison to Presidential Pardon and even I, who was there every moment and lived every day of this, cannot possibly understand how it all occurred.

Blue skies,

Lyle Prouse

 

About the Author:

Lyle Prouse was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1938. He is part Comanche and grew up in an alcoholic home in a World War II housing project. He was active in his Native American community. After graduating from High School in Wichita, Lyle joined the Marines as a private but made the rare transition from enlisted to officer grade and ultimately Captain, a jet fighter pilot flying combat missions in Vietnam.

After his discharge from the Corps, Lyle became an airline captain for Northwest Airlines and flew for nearly 22 years before the same alcoholism that killed his parents almost destroyed his life. He was the first commercial pilot ever arrested and sent to prison for flying drunk.

The blistering media coverage was relentless as he was fired, stripped of all flying certificates, tried, convicted, and sent to Federal prison for sixteen months. The trial judge added sanctions on top of the conviction to guarantee he would never fly again. In spite of all the seemingly impossible obstacles, Lyle got sober, experienced many breathtaking miracles, returned to Northwest Airlines and retired as a 747 captain. In January of 2001 he received a full Presidential pardon from then President Bill Clinton.

Today, Lyle is a husband, father, and grandfather. He has been sober over twenty-one years and has devoted his life to helping others overcome alcoholism. He is still flying and has participated with all the major airlines in their ongoing alcohol programs. He remains active in Native American sobriety movements.

His latest book isFinal Approach: Northwest Airline Flight 650 Tragedy and Triumph.

You can visit his website at www.lyleprouse.com.

 

 

About the Book :

This is the story of the first airline pilot ever arrested and sent to prison for flying under the influence. He was fired by his airline, stripped of his FAA licenses, tried, convicted, and sent to Federal prison. This was a first. It had never occurred before.

Lyle Prouse came from a WWII housing project in Kansas and an alcoholic family where both parents died as a result of alcoholism. He rose through the ranks of the United States Marine Corps from private to captain, from an infantryman to a fighter pilot. He made his way to the pinnacle of commercial aviation, airline captain…then lost it all.

Today he is a recovering alcoholic with nearly twenty-two years sobriety. This story describes his rise from the ashes of complete destruction from which he was never to fly again. It is full of miracles which defy all manner of odds.

In a long and arduous journey, he eventually regained his FAA licenses. He never fought his termination; he considered it fair and appropriate.

Miraculously, after nearly four years, the President/CEO of his airline personally reinstated him to full flight despite the adverse publicity and embarrassment.

In effect, the President/CEO gambled his own career by taking such a risk on a convicted felon and publicly acknowledged alcoholic pilot.

In another stunning event, the judge who tried, sentenced, and sent him to prison watched his journey and reappeared eight years after the trial. He became the driving force behind a Presidential pardon although he’d never supported a petition for pardon in all his years on the bench.

Lyle retired honorably as a 747 captain for the airline he’d so horribly embarrassed and disgraced. He lives with his wife of nearly forty-nine years and has five grandchildren.

He continues to work with all the major airlines in their alcohol programs. He is also active in his Native American community, and he provides hope to those struggling with the disease of alcoholism, no matter who they are or where they are.

 

 

The Dame's Review :

"Final Approach" is the story of a man who took  his very successful life and got it caught up in the insidious death noll of alcoholism.  Like so many before and after Lyle Prouse have done, we learn the story of how a seemingly innocent drink can take a strong, and brave, and caring man down to the dregs of  himself.  How boose can break his will, his heart and his morality to such a point he would risk the very lives of those he is committed to protect flying on a national airline.  He would become a would-be murderer in the air...one just waiting for the small slip greased by too much drink, to happen.  One mechanical slip that would send his planeload of passengers crashing to their deaths.

I was drawn to "Final Approach" out of a tremendous curiosity having been very familiar with the pilot and incidents described via the national news and other print coverage.  I wanted to see how Mr. Prouse would handle himself in his time of confession and "making amends."

From the earliest of paragraphs, I got the sense that he was making the "I didn't really know I'd had that much to drink" excuse, and that he set about to tell the story of  how alcohol (personified...made into a sort of boogie man of its own) was the villian.  He had become entrapped by the villian alcohol and it was unbeknownst to him how it had taken over and caused this problem in his flight schedule.  That was a disappointment from the get-go for me.  I'm the mother of a recovering alcoholic (now over 25 years sober) and I believe honesty is the only way out and into true sobriety.  So, to see an excuse right up front and center worried me about the way the book started.  Accepting personal responsibility is the first of the ways of getting sober for life.

However, as the book progresses, you can see that Lyle Prouse was greatly embarrassed and devastated by  his injury to himself, his potential harm to others, and his loss of his job.  It was enough to get him set straight and through a series of struggles, to find him working out his sobriety and then reaching out to others with his same issues.

Finally, as the book comes to a close, Mr. Prouse expresses his genuine feelings of wanting to be a resource to others, and of wanting to help provide insight into the alcohol and drugs that are hidden and  are acutely dangerous situations in the airline industry.  I felt this continued work on his own sobriety, and his continued means of reaching out were the keys to his health and well-being...and to the cause for good in so many other's lives.

I found the book fascinating in detail, and well written as a memoir/"tell-all."  It's a significant story about alcohol and airline pilots and the airline's work with them.  Prouse is a fine writer.  That so many in the airline hierarchy would work with him to help him turn his life around and give him another outlet for good was most heartwarming.

A good read for men and women, alike.  Probably don't want to read it on a plane trip!  :]

 

3.5 stars                            Deborah/TheBookishDame

 

 

 

 

 

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"The Naturals" by Tiffany Truitt ~ Spotlight/ Cover Reveal

About NATURALS:

Tess is finally safe from the reach of the Council, now that she is living in the Middlelands with the rebel Isolationists. With James having returned to Templeton, she easily falls back into her friendship with Henry, though her newfound knowledge of Robert’s chosen one status still stings. Even surrounded by people, Tess has never felt more alone. So she’s thrilled when James returns to the settlement, demanding to see Tess — until she finds out that it’s because her sister, Louisa, has been recruited into Tess’s old position at Templeton, and that the dangerously sadistic chosen one George has taken an interest in her.

NATURALS is the second book in The Lost Souls trilogy, and follows the dystopian hit CHOSEN ONES.

 

Cover Rating !

These natural symbols of earth, iron and fire displayed by her hair, the cracked ground and the metallic lettering aren't lost on the discerning reader.  I've always found an upside-down head disconcerting, however!  I like the font and text placement very much, although I think Tiffany's name should have been given more space and importance..Very pretty cover which is a grabber!  I'm rating it A-

 

Genre:  YA/dystopian

 

 

 

About Tiffany: Tiffany Truitt was born in Peoria, Illinois. A self-proclaimed Navy brat, Tiffany spent most of her childhood living in Virginia, but don’t call her a Southerner. She also spent a few years living in Cuba. Since her time on the island of one McDonald's and Banana Rats (don't ask) she has been obsessed with traveling. Tiffany recently added China to her list of travels (hello inspiration for a new book).

Besides traveling, Tiffany has always been an avid reader. The earliest books she remembers reading belong to The Little House on the Prairie Series. First book she read in one day? Little Woman(5th grade). First author she fell in love with? Jane Austen in middle school. Tiffany spent most of her high school and college career as a literary snob. She refused to read anything considered “low brow” or outside the “classics.”

Tiffany began teaching middle school in 2006. Her students introduced her to the wide, wonderful world of Young Adult literature. Today, Tiffany embraces popular Young Adult literature and uses it in her classroom. She currently teaches the following novels: The Outsiders, Speak, Night, Dystopian Literature Circles: The Hunger Games, The Giver, The Uglies, and Matched.

 

Find out more about Naturals Here:

 

NATURALS on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15811135-naturals

 

Tiffany's website: http://tiffanytruitt.wordpress.com/

 

Tiffany on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tiffanytruitt

 

And please use this pre-order link on Amazon for NATURALS:  http://www.amazon.com/Naturals-Lost-Souls-Tiffany-Truitt/dp/1620611473/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345929106&sr=8-1&keywords=naturals+tiffany+truitt

 

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"Once Upon A Gypsy Moon" by Michael Hurley ~Sailing Alone

"Once Upon A Gypsy Moon" by Michael Hurley

Ragbagger Publishing, 2012

 

Find it on Amazon here: 

http://www.amazon.com/Once-Upon-Gypsy-Moon-Improbable/dp/1455529338/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346036279&sr=8-1&keywords=once+upon+a+gypsy+moon

Overview:
Michael Hurley watched his world unravel in the wake of infidelity, divorce and failure. In August 2009, he was short of money, out of a job, and seeking to salvage a life that had foundered. Deeply in need of perspective, he took to the open seas in a 32-foot sailboat, Gypsy Moon. The story of his 2-year outward odyssey, deterred by rough weather and mechanical troubles, combines keen observation, poignant thoughts, and deeper introspection with glorious prose.

Once Upon a Gypsy Moon also presents a rare and much-needed point of view on the familiar spiritual-journey narrative. It offers a star-crossed love story wrapped inside a rollicking good sea tale, but it also has something important to say to the reader about relationships, faith and disbelief, life and death, love and marriage, and what really matters

Particulars of the Book :
Genre:  Memoir/Non-Fiction
Pages:  256
Author:  Michael Hurley
Photo of the book cover is not available at this time


Review by Catherine Fahy of A Bookish Libraria:

At times meandering, given to excessive self-reflection and peppered with a few too many preachy sailing analogies, Michael Hurley's memoir of life aboard his 32-foot sloop, The Gypsy Moon, is nevertheless worth reading to the very last page for its dramatic ending.

Because that is where the author is revealed in full — as a man of admirable wisdom and candor. It's no small feat to take to the open ocean alone in a small sailboat, and the end of Hurley's journey with his beloved Gypsy Moon is the stuff of sailors' nightmares.

 

What makes Hurley's seagoing memoir so honest and satisfying is its ability to reveal flaws that may make a reader dislike him (as I did for awhile) then, while documenting his own transformation, also manage to win the reader's heart in the end.

 

Talking about the affair that ended his first marriage, Hurley says he believes strongly in the fallibility of mankind: ". . . every one of us, since the Fall of Man, has been the cheating kind in whatever area of life that holds for him or her the greatest temptation."

 

Equally strong is his conviction in our redemptive qualities when he says that it's important to recognize that we are not defined by our mistakes. "A ship's wake tells you where she has been, not where she is going," he writes, in one of the book's more appealing analogies.

 

With his affair, Hurley lost his friends, his two children's trust and enough of his productivity at work that he was asked to leave the partnership of the law firm where he'd worked for 11 years. A rock bottom moment was finding himself in a laundromat near his rented apartment "next to college kids in backwards baseball caps and flip-flops, with the smell of marijuana wafting down the hall."

 

The one constant in his life, it seems, was his love of sailing, and the promise that one day he'd have enough money to embark on an extended voyage aboard the Gypsy Moon, which he did in August, 2009. The premise for the book is a series of letters he wrote about the voyage for his friends, and while much of the sailing jargon can be confusing for non-sailors, the book is worth reading for the philosophical journey it recounts.

 

Hurley's journey began in Annapolis, after which he bumped in stages down the East Coast until ultimately reaching Florida, where he hoped to make ready for a passage to Nassau (something this writer did with one other person aboard a 25-foot sailboat, following much the same Florida-Caribbean route as Hurley).

For some, the open ocean is an irresistible salve to life's woes, to others it offers some of the most profound moments they'll ever know and celebrates the awesome magnificence and vulnerability of life. For Hurley it was both, and his account of his journey is reflective, entertaining and informative as it unfolds at the same time as his journey of the heart.

 

Not everyone who has fallen from grace is a lucky as Hurley in finding "The One" as relatively quickly as he did. He credits the Gypsy Moon with that when her self-steering vane broke in high winds and seas south of Charleston and he had to turn around for repairs. Back in Raleigh, N.C., where he lived, an on-line dating foray led him to a woman near Charleston, where he would be returning to resume his Bahama-bound voyage once Gypsy Moon's autopilot was fixed.

Leaving Charleston the week before Christmas, 2009, Hurley wrote to Susan that he had "a childlike sense of wonder, awe and excitement" about their future together.

 

Here is where the tone of the book takes a turn from introspective to romantic and adventurous as Hurley tackles some of the more challenging legs that will carry him nearly 2,000 miles southeast. Once away from the East Coast, he encounters the deprivations of life at sea, ill-equipped ports, dangerous shoals and reefs, poor anchorages, disturbing economic disparity and spotty communication, but with Susan sometimes accompanying him he makes it all the way to the Dominican Republic.

 

There, he has to decide whether to head east to cruise the Caribbean or south, 1,000 miles through the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti to the Panama Canal and eventually across the Pacific Ocean.

True to character, Hurley takes the path less traveled, or the latter path. And although a series of mishaps and a rogue wave cripple his boat, he emerges a wiser man at the end of the journey — something we can all find inspirational.

 

 

A recommended read by Catherine Fahy, August 26, 2012.

 

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Hidden Paradise by Janet Mullaney ~ X-Rated



Summary :  Louisa Connelly, a recently widowed Jane Austen scholar, needs some relief from her stifling world. When a friend calls to offer her a temporary escape from her Montana ranch, she is whisked into a dizzying world of sumptuous food, flowing wine…and endless temptation.

She's an honored guest at Paradise Hall, an English resort boasting the full experience of an authentic Georgian country-house weekend. Liveried servants tend to every need of houseguests clad in meticulous period costume: snug breeches, low-cut silken gowns and negligible undergarments.

It's Mac Salazar, a journalist immersing himself fully, deeply, lustily in the naughty pleasures of upstairs-downstairs dalliances, who piques Louisa's curiosity—and libido—most. He's a dilettante straight out of a novel: uninhibited, unapologetic and nearly insatiable. But Lou's not romantic about this much, at least: Paradise Hall is a gorgeous fantasy, nothing more. A lover like Mac is pure fiction. And the real world beckons….

Particulars :

Publisher: Harlequin

Publication date: 9/18/2012

Pages: 320

About the Author :
Janet Mullany was raised in England by half of an amateur string quartet and now lives near Washington, DC. Persecuted from an early age for reading too much, she still loves books and is an avid and eclectic reader. In addition to writing, she has worked as an archaeologist, classical music radio announcer, arts administrator, and for a small press.         

The Dame's Review :   
Janet Mullany is well known for her writing in connection with the Georgian and Victiorian periods;  Jane Austenish inspired tales of vampires, and historical novels of English ladies caught in compromising positions with Lords and Dukes who wish to swoop them off to hidden and mysterious estates.  Most of us who recognize her or have heard of her, know her for this genre.  So when I heard she had a new book out, I was the first in line to want to read it!  I'm a great fan of her Austen-inspired vampire series and reviewed it here last year...."Jane and the Damned" is the latest in that series.

When Mullany's book arrived, I was anxious to get started reading and snuggled down for what I expected to be a good night's read.  But before my head had hit the pillow, I was gasping for air at the first paragraphs!  "Hidden Paradise" was not the book I expected!  Sexually explicit ... actually raunchy in parts, Janet Mullany has spared no details to make this attempt at "Shades of Grey" completely "dark grey!"  There's no shading about it!

Though the sexuality is cushioned in the smokescreen of a getaway and the serving staff who administers the sex play, this is simply a book about a woman's sexual fantacies.  The bottom line here is that the book is a tease and a temptation...soft porn or even more...medi-porn for women who want to get it on while reading.  And, I don't mean that lightly.

While I'm obviously not one who appreciates erotic or sexually explicit material, I can appreciate that Ms Mullany knows  how to write well.  For those whose bag this kind of book is....I'm sure you'll quite enjoy it!

Deborah/TheBookishDame     

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"The Order" (The Gift) by Marsha Megan Stokes

Summary:

 

Peter's job as a Locator is to find extraordinary people—those with the Gift. The Gifted can sense and harness different kinds of energy and manipulate it in incredible ways. They have a heightened sense of the good that surrounds them, but they also more easily fall prey to the bad as well—to the Evil.

As a new year at Grayson College begins, Peter is thrown into a whirlwind of terror, danger, and love. Will he be able to save a newly found Gifted One from the seductive influence of the Evil? Will he be too late?

Or will he also fall victim to the darkness?

 

 

Particulars of the Book :

Published by:  Createspace

Pages:  229

Author:  Marsha Megan Stokes

Genre:  YA/Paranormal

Purchase:  Amazon ~ http://www.amazon.com/The-Order-Saga-ebook/dp/B0083WVJ1G/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_t_2

 

 

About the Author:

 

A graduate of Utah State University, Marsha discovered her passion and ability for writing while being a stay-at-home-mom. The Order was her first novel, and she is currently working on a sequel. Marsha lives in Utah with her husband, sons, and dog.

 

 

The Dame's Review:

 

This is a first attempt at a novel in a paranormal and YA genre written by an adult and set in a college setting.  All of these things are apparent, of course.  I felt the author made valiant attempts to bring together her good skills as an author with her imagination about supernatural gifts.  However, where she fell short was a clear and current understanding of college-aged kids in this generation.

 

The writing was staged and stilted and dialog was aged when it came to the college students.  I felt the author was pulling on her own college experiences, and hadn't researched today's climate or kids.  This was a problem over all for me, and made the reading of the book difficult but not impassible. The dialog and descriptions were just improbable in sections, it seemed to me.

 

As for the paranormal experiences of the students, the concepts and imaginary situations were interesting and caused me to continue to read.  I was drawn in by the relationships they engendered between the author's characters, and felt this was the strongest area of her writing.

 

Paranormal "gifts" in an ordinary setting falls short for me in the reading, no matter who has written the book, but I thought this one had many redeeming qualities.  As a first novel, it was especially promising and Ms Stokes's book improved as it worked toward the climax and end.  I think she will continue to grow as a writer.

 

If you would enjoy the supernatural and paranormal in a provincial college setting with fairly naive students, this may be the book for you.  Although there were no student uprisings here, there were fights for the minds against Evil, and for the discovery of extrasensory "gifts."  In that sense, I believe Ms Stokes was successful in accomplishing her goals.

 

3 stars                      Deborah/TheBookishDame

 

 

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Family Issues Delay Giveaway Announcements

Due to an unforseen family crisis, I will be delayed in announcing the winners of my July giveaways.  I hope you'll remain patient with me on this.  I've tried to keep up my commitments to authors and publishers with regard to reviews and guest posts...and I hope to you, as I've written just a few book reviews in the past 3 weeks.

I expect to get the announcements out within the next couple of weeks....

Thanks for your understanding.

Deborah/TheBookishDame

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"The Wicked Wives" by Gus Pelagatti~Novel of True Crime!

Summary:  The Wicked Wives is based on the true story of the 1938 Philadelphia poison scandals whereby 17 wives were arrested for poisoning their spouses to death for insurance money. 

Particulars of the Book :
Publisher:  Gustine Pelagatti
Pages:  298
Find the book for sale on:  Amazon  and Barnes & Noble

The Bookish Dame Brings You This Guest Post :

Hello, Gus.  Welcome to A Bookish Libraria!

I’m so delighted you’ve agreed to allow us to get to know you and your book better.  I have several questions!

First of all, please tell us a special something about what makes you “tick.”  When you aren’t writing, what are you doing?

After 47 years, I still practice trial law in Philadelphia. 

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

In 1938, Philadelphiawas rocked with scandal: 17 wives were arrested for poisoning their husbands for insurance.   Our family had a tiny row house in South Philadelphia where the poison ringleader operated a tailor shop located two blocks away.  Consequently, I grew up hearing gossip about the wives and their lovers.

Bronte or Austen?  Hemingway or Hawthorne?  Why?

Hemingway –Regarded as a master of the narrative.

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

When there isn’t a boring page in the novel.

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

Harold Robbins-The Carpetbaggers, etc.  He was one of the first authors that made sex part of American literature.

Read any good books in the past 6 months?

I read, “A stone for Danny Fisher.” –Harold Robbins

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

Benito Mussolini – During World War II, did he have difficulty understanding reality or was he insane?

Fidel Castro -  Explain how he thought he could stimulate the Cuban economy in 1959  after electing to seize the assets of all foreign investors and appointing unqualified  Marxist fanatics to run the Cuban economy.

 

John F. Kennedy –Was he really prepared to start a nuclear war with Russia over the Cuban missile controversy in October, 1962

Which of your characters is most like you?

A little bit of me exists in all my characters.

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

George Clooney- Tom Rossi

Cate Blanchette-Lillian

Paul Giamatti –Giorgio

Maria Bello –Eva

Halle Berry-Hope

Worst habit you have?

impatience

How much research did you do before and during writing?

years

Psychologists tell us the thing we think we’d most like to grow up to be when we’re ten years old is our avocation.  What did you want to be?

A cowboy

Interesting choice, Gus.  I think the rough and tumble, shoot-'em-up tone of a cowboy suits the type of lawyer you are very well!!  And the type of novel you've chosen to write!
You've become the cowboy you always wanted to be...

Thanks for joining us on The Bookish Libraria! I loved having you aboard today.
 

About Gus Pelagatti:

Gus Pelagatti is a practicing trial lawyer with over 47 years of experience trying civil and criminal cases including homicide.  He’s a member of the Million Dollar Advocate Forum, limited to attorneys who have been recognized as achieving a standard of excellence as a trial expert.  He has spent years researching the true story of the 1938 insurance scam murders, interviewing judges, lawyers, police and neighbors involved in the trials.

Gus was born and raised within blocks of the main conspirator’s tailor shop and the homes of many of the wives convicted of murdering their husbands.

His latest book is The Wicked Wives.

You can visit Gus’ website at www.guspelagatti.com.

To get your paperback copy of  THE WICKED WIVES by Gus Pelagatti: http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Wives-novel-based-story/dp/1936780631/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315865476&sr=1-1

To purchase an e-copy of THE WICKED WIVES for your Kindle for $2.99: http://www.amazon.com/The-Wicked-Wives-novel-ebook/dp/B005784LB4/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1315865476&sr=1-1

To purchase an e-copy of THE WICKED WIVES for your Nook for $3.99: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wicked-wives-gus-pelagatti/1013204282?ean=2940013218611

Follow Gus Pelagatti on Twitter: https://twitter.com/guspelagatti

Like Gus Pelagatti on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/guspelagattiauthor

About The Wicked Wives:

When I was an eight year old boy I overheard adults in my South Philadelphia neighborhood discussing 17 disenchanted and unfaithful neighborhood wives who murdered their husbands for insurance money, love and lust. This was a fascinating topic for an eight year old boy eavesdropping on adult conversation. The adults were discussing the true story of Philadelphia’s infamous 1938 murder scandals. My fascination led to obsession. I knew that I had to write about these wicked wives someday.

After I became a trial lawyer in 1964, I researched the poison murder cases in the law library and obtained newspaper accounts of the scandals dating back to October, 1938. Thereafter I conducted interviews with judges, lawyers, police, witnesses, sheriff deputies and neighbors who knew the defendants.

One of the chief conspirators was a tailor who seduced, then persuaded at least twelve wives to poison their husbands for insurance. The setting for his seductions was the couch in the rear of his tailor shop, located two blocks from our family home.

A fascinating conspiracy unfolded in these murder cases. The poison gang’s colorful and hilarious characters helped to deep-six a minimum of 20 husbands. The supporting cast includes Giorgio, “The Don Juan of Passyunk Avenue. ” Aside from scheming Lillian, “the society wife”, the wives include Rose, the “Kiss of Death Widow, ” Eva “the nymphomaniac” and the “hopelessly in love, ” Joanna.

After many comical episodes, intriguing detective work and two suspense filled high profile trials, 12 wives plead or are found guilty of murdering their husbands. Two male conspirators were executed in the electric chair.

“The Wicked Wives” gleefully explores the sins of lust and greed, and the disappointments that love often brings. The characters, although they commit murder and adultery, are extremely likable, and often amusing. Writing “The Wicked Wives” was a true labor of love.

The Dame's Final Word :
"The Wicked Wives" is a book that reads as fluently and fascinatingly as a story about the New Jersey Housewives on a murderous roll!  Pelagatti has a keen eye and sense of psychology as he delves into the personalities and characters of the women involved in this true crime put to a novel.
While we can't help feeling sympathy for them, these wives are blood thirsty and greedy during a time when the better road would have been loyalty and love for their husbands.  Gus shines a light on the human spirit's darkest side, and sets a warning for those who would think that "crime pays!"

This is a novel that will keep you up all night!  I loved it and highly recommend it for those who love to sink their teeth into true crime at its best.  It's running an average of 4.5 rating on Amazon at the moment...mostly 5 stars.  You won't regret purchasing it!

5 stars from The Dame in this genre...

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