Compulsive Reader Reviews Expanded Second Edition of Frugal Book Promoter

The Frugal Book PromoterHow to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher
by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Second Edition
CreateSpace
Paperback: 416 pages, August 25, 2011ISBN-13: 978-1463743291

Reviewed by Magdalena Ball

It doesn't matter how many books you've published. Self-published or traditionally published, gaining publicity is always tricky, always critical, and always a moving target. If your budget is limited, it's even harder, and perhaps, even more imperative. Enter Carolyn Howard-Johnson, the queen of frugal promotion. Her frugal books are pitched at the modern writer: time poor, financially parsimonious, and publicity hungry. The Frugal Book Promoter (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) is the jewel in the crown. As with the first version, The Frugal Book Promoter is full of ideas, strategies, and tips for promoting your book cheaply, in innovative and effective ways, but it has been updated with a much greater focus on new technologies, the all-important social networks, and a range of strategies designed to help authors with less commercial offerings such as poetry and fiction.

Of course the book is rich with classic techniques too, such as media releases, query letters, and a whole fantastic chapter pulling together a media kit. There's information on using bylines, writing a biography, obtaining endorsements and blurbs, distribution of releases, obtaining reviews, tradeshows, book fairs, setting up a website, and many more 'must-do' items that have really become part and parcel of any author's promotional toolkit. Ignore this kind of stuff and unless you win some kind of book lotto, your book will almost certainly fall into the obscurity that is an ever-present risk of modern authordom. What I like best about Howard-Johnson's book is the simple, informal prose which is both warmly reassuring ('of course you can do this'), and deceptively intelligent. The reader is encouraged and reminded of his or her own innate capabilities even as they're goaded onto to raising the bar:
 

You’ve been practicing PR most of your life. Getting along with family. Impressing a new boss. You’ve been a customer and know why you like some products and businesses better than others. All it takes is some examination of the processes that influence you to get a grip on public relations—even on marketing as a whole.

The new version also contains a chapter on some of the most current topics, including information on blogging, working Amazon, using social networks, and even some common pitfalls to avoid in blogging and networking. Howard-Johnson totally practices what she preaches, so her advice comes directly from her many years of experience, and is rich with innovative ideas to minimise the time involved and maximise the input through such things as integration and cross-linking, clever use of soundbites and re-tweetable tweets, setting up a "Quotable Quotes” page on your Web site (I love that one), using RSS, and many other novel ideas. Throughout the book there are links, anecdotes, worked examples, and excellent templates including queries, a sample media release, blog entries, invitations, and even a tip sheet.
 

No, you don't really need a copy of The Frugal Book Promoter. You could hire a publicist for $100 an hour, or organise a retainer for anywhere from $1,500 to $20,000. But if you're looking to do your own publicity, or to augment your publishers and don't have the kind of budget that can support a publicist, or you simply want to do the legwork, connect with your reading public, and do your best to ensure that your wonderful work of art reaches a maximum audience, then this book is really the self-promoter's bible. You don't have to read it cover to cover, although it's certainly accessible and enjoyable enough to do so. The book is well-referenced and perfectly designed to enable the frugal author to dip in once a week and pull out a new publicity idea to try, or to use as a reference when it's time to pull together a marketing plan for your book, or at that moment when you need to write a press-release and want a template and guide, when you're looking for ideas to maximise your book signing. Whatever kind of promotions you want to do for your book, you're sure to find it in The Frugal Book Promoter. Howard-Johnson makes it all sound simple, and provides such easy instructions, that you'll want to go out straightaway and get to it. Put simply, The Frugal Book Promoter is the best guide around for create interesting, fresh, inexpensive, and relatively easy promotion for your book, whatever the genre.
 

~Magdalena Ball runs the popular review site Compulsive Reader and is an award-winning author and poet in her own right.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Memoir/Spirtuality Reviewed

Title: Inner Pilgrimage: Ten Days to a Mindful Me
IndiaAuthor: Raji Lukkoor
Website: www.rajilukkoor.com

Publisher: Third Eye, an imprint of Pentagon Press
Genre: Memoir; spirituality
ISBN: 9788182745025
Available for Purchase at: www.printsasia.com
Price: $6.00 + s/h

Reviewed by: Dr. Sriharsha Achar, Faridabad, India, (part of the review originally posted on www.flipkart.com )

Reviewer's Rating: 5-star

Delightful reading! It took me exactly 110 minutes to complete at a leisurely pace. Superb flow, easy understanding, and a powerful message.

It was indeed a thrilling experience to go through the book Inner Pilgrimage: Ten Days to a Mindful Me by Raji Lukkoor.

The flow of thoughts, the choice of words, the lucid description of the ten-day vipassana meditation retreat – it kind of transported me into that very place where her pilgrimage and the events that followed, unfolded. I could sense the vibrations in me as I went through the chapters. Raji came to the retreat as an ordinary citizen seeking a calmer, more centered existence. Who knew that vipassana meditation could help her transform her inner chaos into an inner calm?

The articulacy is perfect. Raji sure knows how to capture the attention and imagination of her readers with her eloquence of the English language, as well as her experience of discovering the realms and rewards of vipassana meditation.

I was penning an article for my staff on Leadership and was looking for words to complete the write-up. Believe me, I found close to 200 words that I was looking for, and those very words have enriched my own thought-flow in the said article.

I look forward to the sequel of the book.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Poet Gives Fellow Poet's Oak Wise Rave Review

Title: Oak Wise: Poetry Exploring an Ecological Faith
Publisher: Little Red Tree Publishing
Author: L.M. Browning
Author's Web site:  http://lmbrowning.com
ISBN: 987-1-935656-02-2
Subject: Poetry / Spirituality / Earth-Based Religion

Reviewed by Theodore Richards originall for his Web site's homepage  and the author's homepage.



I have been suggesting now for a while that we need a new Dante, someone who can give a poetic voice to a new worldview that allows us to live more harmoniously with the Earth and with one another. I borrow this notion from the cultural historian Thomas Berry who famously said that our problem right now is that we need a good story. Human beings need stories to integrate information and to express it meaningfully. The story—or the poem—is how information becomes wisdom, how it comes to life. The philosopher-cosmologist Brian Swimme has been at this for years, as has the poet Drew Dellinger. L.M. Browning is another such poet, giving voice to the embedded consciousness of the Celtic world.

Browning’s poetry works because it is both personal and universal. Essentially, Oak Wise is her story, a story of leaving the modern world behind for the world of “the shaman”, the world of her ancestors.

I travel across your hills
—across the curves of your shapely body—
making my way yonder,
towards the small gathering
of long-standing native folk

The Earth’s subjectivity comes forth here, in stark contrast to the Modern perspective that thinks of it as what Berry calls “a collection of objects.” Just as it is an intensely personal story, is also very much our story, the story of the end of modernity and our collective search for a return to a more meaningful culture and a deeper connection to the Earth:

We take our harvest from your body.
We peel back your grassy skin and plant our seeds
Within the deep tissue of your flesh.

…you are the womb of us all mother
we all connect to you and live off you.

Browing is establishing her self in the tradition eco-philosopher Charlene Spretnak calls “embedded literature.” This connection to the Earth comes with a warning:

We cut down the trees
—the lungs through which you breathe—
and while you could regenerate from our theft,
your natural cycles are impeded
as now the few maples and oaks that remain
yield their bounty of seeds into tar roads

Indeed, if we do not find such a connection the consequences could be disastrous.

One of Browing’s strengths as a poet is her ability to convey a cohesive narrative through the poetic form. In doing so, she joins in the ancient tradition of narrative poetry that reflects an archetypal, mythic pattern. She takes the reader on a journey, a journey of remembrance. For it is a journey we have all been on before, deep within our cultural memory, a journey that involves return. And this notion of return works two ways: First, she is inviting us to return to an older way of being in the world, the way of our shamanic ancestors. “An ecological faith,” she calls it, created “not by prophets, but by peasants.” Second, and more subtly, she is returning from this journey to teach us. While she recapitulates ancient patterns and traditions, Browning does so from her unique perspective, and with a sensitivity to the unique problems of our age. She closes the poem with a challenge to the oft-used phrase of North Carolina novelist Thomas Wolfe, and a challenge to the common sense of the modern age:

We coined the modern adage,
“you can’t return home,”
condemning ourselves to a way of life
where joy is seldom found;
closing the door
that would have always remained open to us…
a door that can still be reopened,
if only we admit that we are a people of the Earth
and what we need to be fulfilled
lies within the simple ways we left behind.

Indeed, if only we could admit.

______________________________________________________________

Theodore Richards is author of Cosmosophia: Cosmology, Mysticism and the Birth of a New Myth.   He is a poet, writer, and religious philosopher. He is a long time student of the Taoist martial art of Bagua and hatha yoga and has traveled, worked and studied in 25 different countries, including the South Pacific, the Far East, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. Richards received degrees from the University of Chicago, The California Institute of Integral Studies, Wisdom University, and the New Seminary where he was ordained. He has worked with inner city youth on the South Side of Chicago, Harlem, the South Bronx, and Oakland, where he was the director of YELLAWE, an innovative program for teens. He is the author of Handprints on the Womb, a collection of poetry. Theodore Richards is the founder and executive director of The Chicago Wisdom Project. He currently resides in Chicago with his wife and daughter.
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Fan Reviews Potter Fan Fiction

Title: James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing
Author: Norman Lippert
Author Website: http://www.elderscrossing.com/
Genre: Fan fiction.



Reviewed by Aakanksha Singh, Mumbai, India.

Yup you guessed it! The title says it all, doesn’t it? What else could I be pottering around for except for Harry Potter??? Well not exactly among the 7 Rowling books but among the Potter fan fiction. And it is quite fun to read all these stories to pass your time. Most of what I read were short stories but I came across this novel on Goodreads website by Norman Lippert titled, ‘James Potter and The Hall of Elders’ Crossing.’ At first I thought its about Harry’s dad, James but no, its about his son, James’ first year in Hogwarts.

Firstly, anyone can read the book in PDF format on the following website: www.speedbumpstudios.com/chapters/JPHEC.pdf

The author obviously makes no money out of this but he himself has written a book called, ‘The Flyover Country’ and has also written books of James’ 2nd and 3rd years at Hogwarts, although I haven’t read them as yet.

Taken from elderscrossing.com

The plot concerns James going into the first year of Hogwarts. Initially he is nervous, in general because it is his first year and in particular that he is great Harry Potter’s son and has to live up to that legend. Eventually he does make friends and relaxes a little. The novel touches upon other students as well and the mischief they do. But of course, being Harry’s son, adventure can’t be far behind right? This year at Hogwarts representatives from Alma Aleron and United States Department of Magical Administration are to arrive at Hogwarts. Also, a movement called the ‘Progressive Element’ is spreading among the students that questions the recent history of the whole Battle with Voldemort and the fact that the existence of the magical community has to be kept a secret from the Muggle world. James and his two friends, Ralph and Zane, an American whose father works in England, discover a sinister plot to bring back the most dangerous wizard, Merlin, to this time. And these three are determined and confident to foil this plan. Well, the book is more exciting than it sounds here. It really is.

Being a Harry Potter fan, it was good to read this particular book. ‘James Potter and The Hall of Elders‘ Crossing‘ is definitely not fantastic yet it gives a plausible imaginative story about Harry’s first kid. Reading the novel will stimulate any Potter fan as it takes the reader back to the school, gives tidbits of Harry and gang’s future and everything. Its quite fun to plunge back into that world again and is definitely enjoyable. So ok, Lippert is not a Rowling but his writing is decent, simple and comprehensible and retains the magic of the Potter world. The dash of the American element is well blended in in the book. Certain other imaginative bits like Snape’s portrait and Diggory’s ghost add a touch of nostalgia. The friendship between different houses, James need to become like his father and the slight sketches of the old characters like Harry in the role of the Head of Auror Department, Neville as the Herbology professor and several such more elements show Lippert’s desire to be different while still capturing the charm of the Harry Potter books. In fact, all sort of fan fiction does require neccesarily to hold on to the original books to make a connection with the reader. I remember feeling very happy seeing all the old characters in a new avatar.

However,there were some odd discrepancies which haven’t been explained such as James having subjects like Muggle Studies in his first year itself(which in Rowling’s case is supposed to be studied in the third year) or that different year students are attending the same lecture etc. The whole idea of magic as a science wasn’t too appealing either but those classes of Technomancy were good nonetheless. It just showed(along with the American flavour) that Lippert has the capability to imagine quirky bits while mingling the original ideas from JK Rowling.

In all, its worth a read for sure. Its good to be back in Potter world and ‘James Potter and the Hall of Elders’ Crossing‘ just helps you take the plunge into it! Go for it!


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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Unconventional Memoir Reviewed

Title: Proud Pants: An Unconventional Memoir

Author: Gregory G. Allen

Website: ggallen.net

Genre: Memoir

ISBN: 978-0-9836049-2-1

Available for Kindle at only 99 cents.

http://www.amazon.com/Proud-Pants-ebook/dp/B005CQ5O3K

Reviewed by Brittany Jedrzejewski, originally for Amazon

Reviewer’s Rating: 4-star

Oh, the beauty and courage of perspective, of putting yourself in someone else's shoes (or in this case, purple and yellow striped pants) to help understand another's personal struggles and choices. Gregory G. Allen's unique memoir, Proud Pants, bravely does just this.

In this quick paced snapshot into the mind of Johnny, a troubled, angry and misunderstood boy, we learn of his heartache and confusion at his absent mother and how he is derailed because of this and blind to the other love surrounding him. Proud Pants shows how fragile we are at our core and how much we all need love, acceptance, security and little things that make us feel special...unconditionally. Even though Johnny's stepmom in particular is absolutely amazing, he continues to fall all the way into a destructive path of drug addiction.

Only at the end of this book do we realize that that the book is told from the perspective of the author, Gregory himself, the half-brother of Johnny. Understanding this unique voice explains the story structure and concludes with a powerful memory of Gregory's own perspective of an encounter from the book, "When I was nine years old I picked up a lead pipe and prepared to hit my fourteen-year old half brother in case he did something to my mother."

If only all of us were lucky enough to have someone try to truly understand us by putting themselves in our shoes. While reading this, I wanted Johnny to prevail, to recover, to find his freedom. Above all, this memoir shows the power we have in being present in each other's lives and the affect we have on each other.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

A Special Niche in Outstanding Historical Fiction

Caleb's CrossingAuthor - Geraldine Brooks
ISBN 978-0670021048
Author website http://www.geraldinebrooks.com
Historical fiction


Reviewed by Holly Weiss originally for Amazon
Five of five stars

The best historical fiction takes historical fact and pulls us in by creating interest in characters of the time period. Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks is one of the most versatile historical fiction writers of today. Her talent lays in takes a slice of history and creating a world we long to enter. Imaginatively conceived and exquisitely written with compelling characters, Caleb’s Crossing will command your attention and demand your respect.

1660. Great Harbor (now Martha’s Vineyard), Massachusetts. Bethia Mayfield anticipates the arrival of Caleb, a member of the Wampanoag tribe, to her home for tutoring with her minister father. Unperceived by her family, she and Caleb, who share a love of nature, have learned each other’s languages and formed a friendship over the past few years. Her brother and Caleb, the first Native American to do so, enter Cambridge to prepare for studies at Harvard. Bethia feels at a loss when she leaves Martha’s Vineyard to become a servant in the headmaster’s home. Her love of learning prods her secret vigilance in listening to all the lessons.

You will find yourself reading in a leisurely fashion to fully savor the evocative prose. “And then I woke, on my cold pallet in this stranger’s kitchen, with ice winds from the cracked window fingering my flesh and a snowflake melting slowly on the fireless hearth.”

The characters are absorbing. The soulful narrative voice of Bethia has an ethereal quality. She is haunted by guilt, taking upon herself blame for a smallpox outbreak, a death during the delivery of a baby—all because of her secret relationship with Caleb. Caleb yearns to be a Pawaaw, or healer of his people. For him, knowledge respects no boundaries. He glows with appreciation of life, zest for learning, curiosity and love of nature.

Integral elements of the remarkable Caleb’s Crossing are joy in learning, unexpected death, heartbreaking starvation, and the ever-present bond between Caleb and Bethia despite all hardship and prejudice against their bond. Knowledge equals power in this unique book. Caleb says, “And since it seems that knowledge is no respecter of boundaries, I will take it wheresoever I can…if necessary, I will go into the dark to get it.” Intrigued?

The release of Caleb’s Crossing coincided with an important Harvard University event. A degree will be awarded in May to Tiffany Smalley, the first Martha’s Vineyard member of the Wampanoag tribe since Caleb to graduate. An official portrait of Caleb will be painted in commemoration.

To what does Caleb cross? Read Caleb’s Crossing to find out. In the book, Ms. Brooks highlights this question: What are the effects of attempting to Christianize an already spiritual, established civilization? Her own opinion is not expressed. Instead, she tells Caleb’s story with forthrightness and clarity, allowing the reader to draw his own conclusions.

I thank Viking for providing a copy. The opinions expressed unbiased and solely that of the reviewer.

Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Lovers of Greek Mythology Alert!

The Niobe Trilogy from the Tapestry of Bronze series

Authors: Victoria Grossack & Alice UnderwoodAuthors’ Website: www.tapestryofbronze.com

Genres: Historical Fiction/Greek Mythology
Children of Tantalus: Niobe & Pelops – ISBN-13 978-1456368906
The Road to Thebes: Niobe & Amphion – ISBN-13 978-1456415914
Arrows of Artemis: Niobe & Chloris – ISBN-13 978-1456460587

Reviewer name: Barry Brake. Note that this review originally appeared at Amazon.com with 5 stars. Reviewer’s website: www.barrybrake.com

The Tapestry of Bronze novels recast familiar and unfamiliar stories set in Bronze Age Greece in the form of novels. In so doing, they also yank the tropes of mythos into the tropes of the novel in ways that surprise and inform, deepen our understanding of a very foreign time, and, not least, delight the reader with just about every page.

One of their favorite tricks is what Viktor Schklovsky called ostranenie: "strangemaking." They'll plop you down in a scene and let you take in its unfamiliar combination of the barbaric and the civilized, and let you get hooked on whatever thing happens to be going on, and only a beat later allow you to realize that you are indeed in the middle of a familiar scene from myth or legend -- the quiz of the Sphinx, the slaughter of the Niobids -- and seeing it for the first time. After enough of this, you realize how conveniently we imagine ancient Greeks as people just like us only costumed. The truth is wilder and weirder, and far more interesting, and the result of seeing it is that we begin to see ourselves for the first time as well.

I especially enjoy the way the authors create such realistic nodes between the rational and the mythical: things that, one sees, can easily be explained by the natural language of a modern novel but are also easily explained by the supernatural language of the mythical mind. Lesser authors would simply use this trick to rob a story of its magic, or explain away some phenomenon; with Underwood and Grossack you feel again and again as if a black-and-white photo has been made into full color.

I'll also point out that when you buy these books, which are published by CreateSpace, you're helping affirm a new relationship between author and audience that suits our new century well, and points toward a solution for revitalizing all kinds of art in a way that finally makes economic sense for both author and audience.

One of the great pleasures of civilization is to sit down with a storyteller you know will absorb and satisfy. Thanks to Underwood and Grossack, we now have several more books on our shelf that provide just that pleasure----- The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Political Thriller Highly Praised

ETA - Estimated Time of Arrest

A novel by Delphine Pontvieux
Author's Web site: http://www.missnyet.com
Genre: ThrillerMiss Nyet Publishing
ISBN: 9780984217601
Winner of Indie Excellence Book Award 2011 - thriller category
Also 2010 recipient of French in Chicago community award in the Arts andculture category

Review by: Jason Pettus for the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography

Rrating: 8.9 of 10: 8.9: 9.4 for fans of political thrillers

As I've said here several times before, I think it unfair to directly compare the worth of a book by a full-time writer on a major press with one by a part-time self-publishing author, if for no other reason than the tremendous amount of editorial advantages held by the former -- after all, a full-time author signed to a large publishing company will have at least a full-time editor, copy editor, proofreader and agent at their disposal, all of them making fine-tuned changes to that manuscript that a self-published one simply doesn't receive, not to mention the entire army of student volunteers that full-time writers sometimes have if they are a professor as well, which they are in so many cases. So it's always a real delight to come across a book like Delphine Pontvieux's ETA: Estimated Time of Arrest; because although you should be aware from the start that it's not much more than a beach-and-airport political thriller, it's a good enough one that it could literally be picked up right this second by Random House for a million-copy print run with no changes needed, a rare occurrence for a book like this which is basically one step above being self-published. (So that is, it's put out by an actual company called Miss Nyet, but which was started by the author specifically to put out this book, the situation that many people are referring to when they use the term "basement press.")

And in fact I suspect one of the reasons this book is so effective is that it's set in a milieu that's rarely discussed here in the US; that of the Basque separatists who live in the borderland between Spain and France, a place that the French-born, globetrotting Pontvieux (now a Chicagoan) is obviously quite familiar with, and which turns out makes for an almost perfect setting in which to base an exciting political potboiler. For those who need a little primer (and forgive me if I get some of this wrong -- I'm getting most of my info from the novel itself), you can think of the situation in Basque in much the same terms as the more well-known Northern Ireland; for a long time a tiny independent nation surrounded by the various Great Powers (much like its nearby neighbors Monaco and Luxembourg), during the fascist Franco years it was taken over by Spain and subjected to a brutal process of assimilation, which like the Irish Republican Army (or IRA) inspired the formation of a paramilitary nationalist organization, known there as the ETA. But by the 1990s, twenty years after the fall of the Franco regime, a compromise of sorts had been struck, which gave the Basque region an autonomous political status while still officially remaining a part of Spanish and French territory, with an end to imperialistic hostilities and the official public right again to celebrate Basque history and culture; and again, much like the IRA, it was at this point that even more and more locals started questioning the effectiveness or even need of a continued ETA, making them much more controversial and not nearly as automatically supported by separatists as when they were fighting literal fascists hellbent on destroying them.

And like the best political thrillers, Pontvieux takes no official sides in ETA, but rather uses the complex situation itself to tell an epic and far-reaching story, essentially centered around a young good-guy named Lorenzo Izcoa, swept up as a teen into the romanticism of the paramilitary movement but then eventually falsely accused of blowing up a police station, during a mass protest that turned chaotic. Like the early work of Tom Clancy, then (which I happen to like a lot), Pontvieux uses Izcoa's situation to examine a whole series of communities and locations related to the issue of Basque independence -- from rural Mexico where he spends time as a fugitive, to the alps of southern France where he is brought in by the group to do one last favor, from a mountain hippie community full of environmental activists to the weary police inspectors of big-city Espana. Pontvieux uses all these settings to examine the issue of Basque separatism and terrorist violence from all kinds of different angles, thankfully enfolding these more philosophical issues into the action itself, instead of simply lecturing us like so many mediocre political thrillers do; and along the way, she bases an important aspect of the plot on her personal love for freehand rock-climbing, a natural addition within the beautiful yet treacherous mountain terrain of southern France and northern Spain where our story largely takes place.

Now, like I said, this is a genre project through and through, and you will need to be an existing fan of people like John LeCarre to have even a chance of enjoyingETA; but as far as that's concerned, this is definitely on the high end of the quality scale for that genre, a quickly-paced page-turner that I imagine most fans of political thrillers will find themselves flying through. What a great week it always is when I get a chance to stumble across a book like this, one that far exceeds both my expectations and its publishing circumstances. It comes highly recommended today to those who are fans of such work.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

The Inscrutable Life of a Spy

Title: A Spy At Home
Author: Joseph M. Rinaldo
Website: www.josephmrinaldo.com
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
ISBN: B0033WSVVC


Reviewed by Citizen John, originally for Amazon
Reviewer's Rating: 5-star


This review is from: A Spy At Home (Kindle Edition).

"The Number One lesson for a band, it is said, is to get off stage
while the audience still wants you. A Spy At Home is like a Grisham
novel exiting stage right just as the subconscious mind tells you this
is not really fiction. I'm ready to read more by Joseph Rinaldo.

Spies like Garrison, the protagonist, have a tendency to become their
legend, their claimed background or biography. They support it by
documentation, memorization and years of life experience. They live
what they project. One of Garrison's tradecrafts is moving and hiding
large funds clandestinely. However, Garrison assumes caregiver
responsibilities and that changes everything.

I was unsure whether Garrison is an unusually caring man or if so much
of his time was window dressing. He could not easily have selected a
better cover story to convince observers that what they are observing
is genuine. My suspicions were confirmed that there would be a wet job
well into the approximately 125-page story. Even now I think about
this story and wonder where reality ends and fiction begins."

Thank you for the opportunity to promote my ebook by submitting this review.

Joe Rinaldo
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Simon Barrett Reviews Chip Wagar's Historical Novel

Title: An American in Vienna

Author: Chip Wagar

Genre: Historical Fiction

Website: www.anamericaninvienna.com

ISBN: 978-1-4502-6766-3

Publisher: iUniverse, January 26, 2011

Reviewed by Simon Barrett for  Blogger News Networt: Book Review

Fiction is a hard taskmaster. The author must weave the fiction elements into the harsh reality of the facts. When done well (a rare occurrence) you have a book where fact and fiction blend so well that the reader does not know where one ends, and the other begins.

These are lofty goals. But there is one even higher. Weave fact and fiction together and create a work that not only entertains but also teaches. I found that in Chip Wagar and his debut novel An American In Vienna.

The First World War or Great War has been written about many times. Authors have labored long and hard on books about the battlefront, the inhumane conditions, the horrible torture that those brave men faced. Few authors though dare to tread in the ‘back story’. How did a gun shot start a conflict that consumed the Western World for four years?

Chip Wagar has taken a very unique approach. Through the eyes of a vacationing young American visiting Vienna we are exposed to how this war escalated and forever changed the world map.

Andy Bishop has just graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in journalism. His plan is to join his father in the family business, a newspaper in Columbus, Ohio. However before he ’settles down’, he wants to explore Europe, most particularly Austria, which seems to be where the family roots are. And when an invitation is extended to visit these relatives Andy sets sail for the adventure of his lifetime.

Andy Bishop quickly discovers that his Viennese cousins are not regular middle class merchants and bankers, but rather members of Austrian aristocracy with close toes to the Kaiser himself.

The brutal slaying of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie sets the wheels in motion for world war one. This information is hardly new, and almost any High Schooler will recite this fact. But what is far less well understood is why this senseless murder was so pivotal in shaping the events of the ensuing months.

1914 might in retrospect seem a poor choice of date to visit Europe, but minor skirmishes between countries had been going on for hundreds of years!

Chip Wagar is to be congratulated, he has taken a very complex political history subject and presented it in a fashion that any reader will enjoy.

Using the character Andy Bishop as the storytelling conduit is a master stroke, it is sheer brilliance. Andy being an American is at best naive as to the the politics in Austria, and in the rest of Europe

Through Andy Bishop we meet Johann and Maria. Johann is the the young and debonair aide-de-camp to Franz Ferdinand, and Maria his aristocratic, but very forward thinking fiance. It could be argued that what results is a love triangle, but it is very far from the standard one. I prefer the term Dynamic over Love Triangle. There is a unique dynamic between these three people.

An American In Vienna is a very unique book. There are three ways to approach Historical Fiction, live the life vicariously through other books, and increasingly resources found on the Internet. The second approach is write about an area that you spent at least a little time in, this allows you the luxury of being able to describe the location with a sense of ‘being there’.

The third approach is the rarest and always most effective, total immersion.

An American In Vienna is clearly written using ‘total immersion’. The dead giveaways are found in the very opening pages. It is the minutiae of everyday life that is mentioned. ‘Hoch’ German is not so much a dialect of speech as it is a lifestyle.

I talked to Chip Wagar a little about An American In Vienna, my guess about ‘immersion’ was correct, Chip spent a considerable amount of time in Vienna as a student.

An American In Vienna is well worth the price of admission, it is a book that has wide and diverse appeal. You can read it as a great adventure novel, or you can read it as a very interesting discussion of the causes and in someways effects of World War One viewed from the Austrian perspective.

A saying popped into my mind when I put this book down, ‘there are three views about any situation, there is mine, there is yours, and there is the truth which lays somewhere in between’. I am a fan of history, but as George Orwell alludes to in 1984, the history books are written by the victors.

You can get your copy of this very thought provoking book by using the Amazon link above. This is a book destined for great things.

----- The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Deb Hockenberry Reviews Quirky Kids Zoo

TITLE: Quirky Kids Zoo

AUTHOR: Pat Brannon

PUBLISHER: Wandering Sage Publications http://www.wanderingsagepublications.com

FORMAT: Paperback

PAGES: 32

PRICE: $11.99 (US), £7.46 (UK), CDN$ 11.39 (CA)

ILLUSTRATOR: Jimena Pinto-Kroujiline http://www.amelia2.blogspot.com

ISBN – 10: 1933300833

ISBN – 13: 9781933300832

 Reviewed by Deb Hockenberry originally for Deb's Book Reviews

 

Hi! Welcome to a different kind of zoo. We’re going to see some strange sights. What’s that you say? What kind of strange sights? Well never fear, there’s nothing scary here.

Do you have you camera ready? You can take pictures of different things here. What’s different here? Look over there; did you ever see porcupines with fur so soft? Let’s walk down this walk. Look over there. See the elephants playing leapfrog with the ants? See the gorillas roller skating? There’s a lot to take pictures of in this quirky zoo!

Children and adults both will love this book by Pat Brannon. Children will love laugh at the quirky kids’ zoo’s inhabitants. They will love the fact that they can help read the book by counting. Adults will love the rhyming story because it teaches kids to count from one to twenty five. Both parents and children will love the imaginative and silly antics (like gardening kangaroos) of the inhabitants. This interactive book makes reading time fun!

The brightly painted illustrations by Jimena Pinto-Kroujiline brings this delightful rhyming story to life.

I loved reviewing this children’s book and highly recommend it. It’s so imaginative and just a pleasure to read. From beginning to end, the Quirky Kids Zoo kept a smile on my face!

To learn more about Pat Brannon, just visit her website. You’ll find it at: http://www.patbrannon.com. While you’re visiting websites, you can visit Jimena Pinto-Kroujiline’s website at: http://www.amelia2.blogspot.com.

You can purchase Quirky Kids Zoo for your children or grandchildren at a variety of places. Among them are: http://www.amazon.com or http://www.barnesandnoble.com in the United States. In Canada you can go to http://www.amazon.ca or pick it up in the United Kingdom at: http://www.amazon.co.uk.

 ~Reviewed by Deb Hockenberry

The Bumpy Road http://thebumpyroadtopublishing.blogspot.com

Deb's Book Reviews http://debsbookreviews.blogspot.com

"When God closes a door, He always opens a window."

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Excerpt from a Book with Staying Power

Spanish Mountain Life
Juliette de Bairacli Levy
#3 in series
Ash Tree Publishing
Available at www.wisewomanbookshop.com

Note: Because this book is a re-release, The New Book Review is publishing an excerpt from titled The Gypsies to give readers a taste of why it has the staying power it does:

Oh, that flamenco singing of the night of Saint Juan!  The age-old passion and frenzy and grief of the Moors within, and without, the howl of the winds from barren Spanish plains and mountain heights, the croon of mountain streams and pouring fountains. And the beat of the tambours: tambours for war and tambours for love.

                                                     

Not one of the family of the water-mill came to visit Luz that night. Patrocinio, who had mothered my baby for nearly two months and must know that she was passing from life, was too busy selling wine and soda drinks to the people making fiesta. Alone, Señor Jose came faithfully to bring me water from the fountain, and to carry Rafik — who was overcome by sleep while enjoying the revelry — from the courtyard to his bed.

The old woman, El Antigua, came around midnight with her daughter, declaring that I should not be alone at such a time. The daughter, Pura, told me that her own child, Carmen, had been abandoned by the doctors but had recovered.  I knew Carmen well and admired her for her vivacious nature and the brightness of her singing as she washed clothes in the river. Pura said that she would send for Carmen to confirm this and thus to give me faith.

Carmen came later, around one in the morning, and confirmed her mother’s account of her near death, and told me that she had a premonition that Luz, also, would not die.  Then the Gypsies left my room for I told them that I would not steal their sleep; I knew they all had work to do on the morrow; and furthermore Rafik was company. No matter that he was asleep; my little lad was company and also inspiration.  I was inspired! The baby had much pain from the weeks of faulty diet and improper care. Her pain had kept her from sleep for a day and a night. I suddenly bethought myself of a group of white opium poppies which I had seen in flower in the upper mill garden. Those poppies were certainly part of that night of Saint Juan, for they died away then and never came again, while I was at the water-mill, and I don't remember seeing them in flower before. I made a brew of the gray-green heads from which the white petals had fallen, and gave Luz sips of that medicine mixed with honey. This very quickly lessened the pain, but I knew that it was a desperate and dangerous medicine, for it made yet colder her already over-cold body. But she did not die. That night of Saint Juan she was as cold and white as the opium poppies themselves, but she did not die.

The next day she remained the same, but with the night, she suddenly worsened. That was the crisis. I remembered that the Gypsy Carmen had not died and she had promised that Luz would not die. I sent for the doctor, wanting him to check her heart and respiration; and then the great wound came to me.  He said, in quick Spanish to Patrocinio, that Luz was dying and she must be prepared for this.  “Cuando?” (When?), I asked of him, and his face paled at my having heard his words and at the way my voice sounded.  “Any hour,” he replied, lowering his eyes.  I will not write about the symptoms of life’s ending which I saw upon my baby. But well I recall my quite childish words.  “I will not let her die!” I cried. I held Luz against my heart. I was like a child about to be deprived of a doll which she loved. I would not give her up to anyone; I would not.

Dr. Moran said that Luz must have penicillin injections.  That was a great test for me. I am absolutely opposed to injections. Always they are a shock to the body and do much damage to the nerves. Any medicine of any value at all should be able to be taken into the body by the mouth: the natural place for medicines. But penicillin is at least plantlike and was not evolved from cruel experiments on animals, therefore I agreed to that medical treatment.  I also continued with the opium medicine, and a further brew of dill seed with much honey, to save the tiny laboring heart. The following day a different  doctor suggested tissue infusions of the medicinal water of Lanjaron. To this, also, I agreed. Which part of the treatment saved the baby, I do not know. But she lived!  As with Rafik, so Luz’s illness also passed. The dawn came, the swallows twittered, and my baby lay safe in her Gypsy cradle. Personally, if I were to choose the treatments which I think most helped her, indeed saved her, it would be the three days’ fasting from all food, combined with an external treatment which I had learned a summer ago from Portuguese fisher-women, of massaging the stomach area time and again, night and day, with hot olive oil and pounded aniseed. To me, these were the most important remedies of all the many which kept my baby from death. And further:  Fervent prayer, and the good wishes of the Gypsies who came to Luz that night of Saint Juan and thereafter, surely saved her.  When the crisis was one week ended, Rosario Heredia, an eighteen-year-old Gypsy girl, came to offer her milk for Luz. She had a son, Juan, born close to the same time as my baby. I remember the birth of Juan: I used to send gifts of goat’s milk for Rosario, who had been rather weak at that time. Luz fed at the gypsy’s breast for nearly one month, until Rosario’s milk became insufficient. It seemed to me a Gauguin picture: Rosario with Luz at her tawny breast, red geraniums in her charcoal-black Gypsy hair, her short strong body squatting — Native American-fashion — upon the green turf by the mill-stream in the shade of the quince trees, which were at that time decorated with their pale green-yellow lamps of fruit. Rosario sang to Luz, songs almost as endless as the chant of the coursing mill-stream, Gypsy songs and other songs of Spain. The one which Luz seemed to like best and which Rosario sang most often was a sweet and simple thing:

Oh green eyes! Green as the eyes of cows,

Green as the first tassels of the wheat

And green as the early lemons.

Rosario had none of the sweetness and kindliness of my other Gypsy friend Maria of the basket-makers. Rosario was tawny and fierce as a tiger; perhaps she reminded me of a tiger because she preyed on others. She was an incurable monger — a Gypsy word for beggar. She came from a mongering family. From her equally tiger-like but very tall mother to her youngest sister, all pestered me for money and articles which I was often in need of for my own family. I never gave to that begging family one peseta. But to Rosario I gave a new green apron, and a green and white skirt which she chose, of exactly the same material and pattern as my own.  We looked like sisters when we went into the town together!  And I gave her also a gaudy scarf such as the Gypsies love, for her milk had greatly helped my baby.  I found Rosario intelligent and humorous and I loved to talk with her because, as with most mongerers, her speech was fanciful. For instance, she told me once of another water-mill which was to be rented. She described a paradise!

 Excerpt from Spanish Mountain Life

By Juliette de Bairacli Levy

----- The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Jerry Simmons Reviews Lois Stern's Beauty Book

Title:  Tick Tock, Stop the Clock ~ Getting Pretty on Your Lunch Hour

Author: Lois W. Stern

Author's Web site:  www.ticktockstoptheclock.com

Genre: Nonfiction: Self-Help/Health  

ISBN #: 0-7414-5359-2

Reviewed by Jerry Simmons, Indi Publishing; Former Vice president The Time Warner Book Group
Published on Amazon

“Congratulations to Lois Stern for following up her fabulous book Sex Lies and Cosmetic Surgery with an equally informative one. Tick Tock Stop the Clock is well written and filled with incredible information from renowned experts in the health and beauty field. This book is for anyone serious about affordable ways to enhance their appearance.”

 

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

How-to Book That Could Make You Money Revieweed

Remodeling: Buying and Updating a Foreclosure By Joy V. Smith
Author's Web site: http://pagadan.blogspot.com/
Genre: Nonfiction: Self-helpISBN: 978-1-4524-3318-9

Reviewed by Vincent Miskell  originally for Smashwords and Amazon.

Joy Smith’s Remodeling ebook takes the reader on an upbeat odyssey of house selling, house buying, and house remodeling (or perhaps house rebuilding). Her style is lively, detailed, and, at times, quite amusing. She integrates the details (setbacks, struggles, and mini-triumphs) of her efforts, along with the help of a small army of contractors, plumbers, and others, so well into her virtually day-by-day narrative that we speed happily along with her toward the wonderful ending that we know must lie just ahead. Anyone thinking about remodeling (really transforming) a fixer-up house (that might also need extensive landscaping) will gain insight, courage, and many, many practical tips from her first-person reports that begin in January and end in June when her beautiful home finally becomes ready for its house warming party.

~  Learn more about the author and media tidbits at  http://pagadan.livejournal.com/

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :