The New Book Review

This blog, #TheNewBookReview, is "new" because it eschews #bookbigotry. It lets readers, reviewers, authors, and publishers expand the exposure of their favorite reviews, FREE. Info for submissions is in the "Send Me Your Fav Book Review" circle icon in the right column below. Find resources to help your career using the mini search engine below. #TheNewBookReview is a multi-award-winning blog including a MastersInEnglish.org recommendation.

Showing posts sorted by relevance for query christian. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query christian. Sort by date Show all posts

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Christian Nonfiction Reviewed by Author of Fiction

A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain and God’s Sovereignty
by Joni Earkeckson Tada
ISBN 978-1596443501
Nonfiction: Christianity
Publisher christianaudio, nonfiction

Originally reviews for Amazon by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont


Why does God allow pain? Is God concerned with suffering and involved in it? Plato, C.S. Lewis, Rabbi Harold Kushner, Henri Nouwen, the apostle Paul and others have all addressed these age-old questions.


Instead of focusing on how God is involved in the problem of pain, Joni Eareckson Tada chooses instead in her book, A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain and God’s Sovereignty, to examine how God can use pain to draw her closer to Himself and lift her above her human sufferings.


Joni, left a quadriplegic from a diving accident four decades ago, is the author of over fifty books and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization devoted to accelerating Christian outreach among those with disabilities. She will serve as the Honorary Chairman of the 2011 National Day of Prayer, held on the First Thursday of May. In addition to coping with the struggles of living from a wheelchair, Joni now has new challenges. She is assaulted with unrelenting, chronic pain and has been diagnosed with cancer.


Her reactions? “Suffering may be a part of God’s…mysterious plan, but God’s intention is always to demonstrate compassion and unfailing love.” Joni illustrates over and over in her book how powerfully God’s love touches her at her deepest point of need.
Her chapter headings ask difficult questions:

• What Benefit is there to My Pain?
• How Can I Go On Like This?
• How Can I Bring Him Glory?
• How Do I Regain My Perspective?

This devout, genuine woman answers each question with tender, heartfelt examples from her walk in faith. Suffering can make us bitter or compassionate. Suffering can drive us away from God or make us fly into His arms. A Place of Healing is her testament to the restorative power of loving, committed service to God, no matter what our circumstances. She rejoices in the fact that God had plans for her life much wider, higher and more profound than she ever could imagine. Her last chapter entitled, “Thank you, God, for this Wheelchair” demonstrates that because of her circumstances, not in spite of them, she is happier as a child of God than she ever dreamed possible.

Do you have a friend or relative struggling with grief, financial loss, health issues or physical pain?

Give them a copy of A Place of Healing. May they find comfort in the profound testimony of someone who treads where they walk, albeit, in a wheelchair.

~The reviewer is Holly Weiss, author of Crestomont. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HWeissauthor.


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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 :

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Christian Futuristic Sci-Fi Book Applauded

Release date: February 7, 2016
$15.95
6x9 Trade paperback
242 pages
Science Fiction (FIC028000) / Christian Futuristic Fiction (FIC0402020)
Print ISBN 978-1-939844-29-3
eBook ISBN 978-1-939844-30-9
Order through Ingram, Follett, or from the publisher
$4.99 EBook available in all formats




THE REMNANT

by William Michael Davidson

One nation, without God...

Colton Pierce apprehends Abberants—those who display symptoms of faith—and quarantines them on a remote island to ensure public safety.  Years prior, the government released a genetically-engineered super flu that destroyed the genes believed to be the biological source of spiritual experience in an effort to rid the world of terrorism. As an extractor with the Center for Theological Control, Colton is dedicated to the cause, his only distraction a new CTC employee, Selma.

But Colton's steadfast commitment is challenged when he learns his own son has been targeted for extraction. An underground militia, the Remnant, contacts him, and he discovers the purpose of Selma’s interest. The Remnant agrees to help Colton save his son in exchange for his assistance with their plan to free the Aberrants on the island.

Colton is faced with the most important decision of his life. Does he remain faithful to the CTC? Or trust Selma and the Remnant and give up everything to save his son?



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

William Michael Davidson lives in Long Beach, California with his wife and two daughters. A believer that "good living produces good writing," Davidson writes early in the morning so he can get outside, exercise, spend time with people, and experience as much as possible. A writer of speculative fiction, he enjoys stories that deal with humanity's inherent need for redemption.


L. Diane Wolfe is the publisher of Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C. Inquiries may be sent to:


She is also known as  Spunk On A Stick author. She is a professional speaker. Learn more about her at: 


ABOUT THE NEW BOOK REVIEW

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.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Bear Lake, Idaho, Is Setting for Historical Christian Fiction

Title: Jenny's Dream: A Family Saga in Bear Lake, Idaho
Author: Linda Weaver Clarke
Genre: Historical Christian Fiction
ISBN: 978-1-58982-446-1
Rating: 5 star


Reviewed by Allison King



Linda Weaver Clarke has captured the essence of reaching for your dreams, no matter what happens to throw you off the path of getting there.

In Jenny’s Dream, the third book in A Family Saga in Bear Lake, Idaho series, the oldest daughter Jenny is home from college for the summer. She is feeling trapped in the small town of Paris, Idaho and wants to go out into the world and accomplish something to show everyone she is more than a pretty girl. Her writing is what keeps her ambition in full drive, until she meets Will. He isn’t the most ‘handsome’ man in town and he is only a farmer, but she becomes close friends with him. Will secretly falls in love with Jenny, but does she feel the same way?

Jenny’s past haunts her ability to move forward in her life in love and her dreams of being a writer. She will have to make a decision that might hurt those closest to her, for her dreams to come true.

In the meantime, Jenny’s dad, Gilbert, is helping in the search of an old grizzly bear that is attacking the local sheep and scaring the town folk. He feels the need to be a part of the hunt, even thought his wife, Melinda, is against it. When he comes face to face with the legendary bear, Three Toes, Gilbert must balance the safety of the town with the concern of his family for his life.

I loved this book as much as I did the first two books in the series. I was drawn in to Jenny’s life an wondering what decisions she would make for her future. The amazing details of the family dynamics, descriptions of the beautiful scenery and the historical facts of the time all made the story believable. The ease of the writing made it feel as though I was eavesdropping in on their lives. I didn’t want the story to end (which it won’t since their will be two more books in the series)! The best part of the book was the relationship that grows between Jenny and Will. The author didn’t use the stereotypical handsome male for the main character to fall for. This was refreshing to me, since all of us on this earth aren’t as perfect as most book characters are made out to be. This relationship reminds us that getting to know a person from the inside first and being friends, can grow in to something more.

Jenny’s Dream is a book for all ages that can wrap you up and make you feel all warm inside with the love and hope that dreams can come true if you believe hard enough. ~ `Review by Allison King – for Allison’s Attic and Rebecca’s Reads. Other books by Linda Weaver Clarke are: Melinda and the Wild West: http://www.pdbookstore.com/comfiles/pages/LindaWeaverClarke.shtml and Edith and the Mysterious Stranger: http://www.pdbookstore.com/comfiles/pages/LindaWeaverClarke4.shtml


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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 loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index 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.

Saturday, March 28, 2020

Dr. Wesley Britton Explores StarWarsday for Starwars Fans

THE GALAXY BRITAIN BUILT: The British Talent Behind Star Wars 
David Whiteley 
Foreword By Robert Watts: Star Wars Production Supervisor And Producer 
Publisher: BearManor Media
Release date: December 11, 2019
ASIN: B081YKQ2P7


Reviewed by Wesley Britton originally for BookPleasures

David Witeley's exploration into the behind-the-scenes British talent involved with the Star Wars franchise was first made public in a 1917 60-minute documentary broadcast over BBC television.     Google the title The Galaxy Britain Built, and you'll hit on the YouTube and BBC trailers, videos, and interviews conducted by David Whiteley promoting the film throughout 2017 and especially 2018.

If you explore any of Whiteley's online videos or his new BearManor Media book, you'll quickly learn how proud he is to have been born on May 4, 1977, known to fans as Star Wars day. So, in his opinion, he grew up with the franchise and became devoted to investigating how so much Star Wars work took place in Elstree Studios in North London. Why London and not Hollywood? Costs. The studios didn't want to invest too heavily in a science-fiction film as sci-fi hadn't been big box office for them. 

As it turned out, the British talent who worked on the films on the smallest of budgets and the tightest of schedules were just what the project needed, especially in terms of costumes, props, and sets. The results were so outstanding that Lucas returned to Elstreet again and again, using as much of the original talent as he could retain.


Whiteley's book chronicles to beginnings of the British work in the hot summer of 1976 through undreamed of sequels produced decades later. The stories are built on interviews with participants even the most devoted Star Wars aficionados might not have heard of: These include Robert Watts, Les Dilley, Nick Maley, Roger Christian, Peter Beale, Gareth Edwards, Colin Goudie and Louise Mollo. 

All of those involved contribute so many anecdotes about how the Star Wars mythos came to be. For example, Roger Christian tells us, "We called it the laser sword because we were British! I knew the lightsaber was the Excalibur of this film! I knew it would be the iconic image . . . I went to Brunnings on Great Marlborough Street in London, whom we rented all our film equipment from: photography, anything we needed, and I’d buy equipment there. I just said to the owner, ‘Do you have anything here that’s unusual, or stuff that might be interesting?’ He pointed me over to the side of the room. He said, ‘There’s a load of boxes under there, I haven’t looked at those for years, go and have a rummage through.’ And it was the first box, it literally was covered in dust. It hadn’t been out for, I don’t know, fifteen or twenty years. I pulled it out, opened the lid and there was tissue paper and then when I pulled it open . . . out came a Graflex handle from a 1940s press camera. I just took it and I went ‘There it is! This is the Holy Grail.’"

The Galaxy Britain Built is page-after-page of such nuggets and revelations.  I imagine many diehard Star Wars fans will have heard many of these stories before. But I doubt all of them

Without question, you got to be a serious Star Wars fan to one degree or another to want to dive into this book, no matter how much you think you already know about the production history of the saga.    It's a fast read as we get one short chunk of one interview, then another, then another, and so on.  I definitely had a feeling I was taken behind the sets and scripts and actors to see how a galaxy far away had been built with a deepened sense of just how collaborative moviemaking is. If that sort of stuff is your cuppa tea, then David Whiteley's book is just for you.

This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Sun. Jan. 12, 2020:

 MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Dr. Wesley Britton, is a frequent reviewer for The New Book Review, author of The Beta Earth Chronicles and reviewer for BookPleasures.com.  Learn more about his and his work: 





Dr. Wesley Britton Explores StarWarsday for Starwars Fans


MORE ABOUT THE  BLOGGER AND WAYS TO GET THE MOST FROM THIS BLOG


 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog 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.



Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too!

Monday, September 11, 2017

Angie Gallion Chooses New LGBT Novel for Gallion Picks Reviews

Title: Two Natures
Author: Jendi Reiter
Author's website: http://www.jendireiter.com
Genre: Literary fiction, LGBTQ
ISBN: 978-0-9969074-2-2
Publisher: Saddle Road Press



Reviewed by Angie Gallion originally for Gallion Picks Reviews

One of the things I try to do when I am accepting books for review is to not only review the type of books I would write.  When Jendi Reiter contacted me to offer her book, a gay love story with a Christian undertone, I didn't know what to expect from Two Natures, but was happy to give it a go. What I got was a well written novel with enough descriptive detail to let me walk the life of the main character Julian.  The novel begins in New York City in January 1991. Our protagonist is a fashion photographer in New York, and yes this is during the height of the AIDS epidemic. This book offers a brutal, but not unkind vision of early 1990's.

Two Natures is a very honest bildungsroman, a coming of age novel, with all the key factors, finding your path, breaking with your parents' traditions, learning to stand independent, with a healthy side of Southern Baptist guilt and a childhood fractured by abuse. His journey is complex and the people that populate his life are founded and defined.  Julian is a serious person, and artist, a person sometime prone to self reflection.  He felt familiar to me, just like an old friend.   There are no caricatures here, no one sided coins. This book could have been about my college friend, who was coming to terms with his own sexual identity during the years I knew him, the same years this book covers.  He was creative and passionate, and a little awkward about who he was recognizing as himself, just like we all are.  Julian touches the underbelly of New York City, and we are witness to it.  Reiter does a great job of bringing the city, and all of her locales to life.  She gives enough description and flavor that I got to be there without having to examine every blade of grass along the way.  Reiter does exactly what I like in a book, she lets me walk as the character.  I am Julian as he struggles against the traditions of his family and the calling of his own soul.  I feel his turmoil as he moves through this time in his life and I feel his heart break, along with his joy.  

This book is complex, with religious, political, and social realities in the mix.  Reiter paints the dimensions of her characters with a very fine brush, capturing their shadows and scars very nicely.   This book does not shy away from anything, but it also doesn't make you wallow.  There were scenes that made me uncomfortable, in my middle aged, traditional soul, and the very next scene would remind me again of all of our shared human condition.  People are people, regardless of their trappings, we all want the same things of lives, to be safe, to know love, to be accepted.   You will cheer for Julian in his triumphs.  You will weep for him in his despair.  You will know him. 



Two Natures by Jendi Reiter is a good book with a really big story.  It is published by a small publisher out of Hilo, Hawaii, Saddle Road Press. 

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Angie Gallion is the author of Alison Hayes Journey, Intoxic, Purgus, and Icara. Her website is also the home of Gallion Picks Book Reviews of Small Press and Indie Press Writers."Bringing Attention to One Great Book at a Time." Follow her on Twitter @AngieGallion

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jendi Reiter is the Editor of WinningWriters.com 
Writer's Digest "101 Best Websites for Writers" and author of the newly released novel Two Natures (Saddle Road Press). See the book trailer at http://bit.ly/twonaturestrailer
"Intense revelations about what it means to be both Christian and gay...a powerful saga" --Midwest Book Review
"Things are not what they appear to be: nor are they otherwise."
Surangama Sutra

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG


 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ). This blog 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.

 



Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Christian Book Reviews Offers Review of "No Innocent Affair"

Title: No Innocent Affair
By: Edward F. Mrkvicka Jr. with Kelly Helen Mrkvicka
ISBN # 978 -1- 61777-768-4
 
Reviewed by: Christian Book Reviews
10.0 stars on a scale of 10.0 stars
No Innocent Affair by Edward F. Mrkvicka Jr. with Kelly Helen Mrkvicka takes a look at the plague of the 21st century and one of the main contributors to the destruction of the American family-the sin of Adultery. Being a lay minister and a man who has studied the Word for many years, the author, Edward F. Mrkvicka Jr., gives not his opinion, but gives the absolute truth of God’s Word through an extensive categorical list of scripture therefore laying first a biblical foundation. Then by clearly stating first God’s view and comparing it with Society’s view, the author lays bare the truth about adultery and the devastating consequences of adultery, not only to the person who commits the sin, but to others we love in our life who are the innocent victims of this pervasive ripple effect sin that is so prevalent in our society.

Most do no realize the far-reaching consequences of the sin of adultery in their lives, nor the cost and the author makes no mistake that there is no such thing as ‘an innocent affair’. This book is an eye opener for most and highly recommended for anyone either contemplating an adulterous affair or for those who may have been entangled in an adulterous affair. The author shows the way out with some of most practical teachings culminated from the infallible Word of God to bring others out of their sin and into the light of the Lord.

Openly, but lovingly, the author shares the unavoidable, yet dire consequences of adultery and reveals that not only does it affect our lives spiritually and physically, but the sin has a ripple effect that goes on to “… virtually every innocent person in our lives” (p.11). The consequences are so monumental, that no one in their right mind “armed” with the truth of God’s Word would commit adultery, but sadly, the author concedes from a recent survey, “…that over 88 percent of Americans believe adultery is wrong. Yet 77 percent of marriages involve at least one adultery.” This alarming fact in our society today is bringing many to the wide-path of destruction. Quite simply put, it is choosing death over life.

Edward Mrkvicka’s true desire is two-fold, first for all those that may be contemplating adultery to know the absolute truth of God’s Word and the dire consequences and for those that are in an adulterous affair or have been in the past that they would also realize the devastating consequences and that the truth would bring true repentance in their life. Lastly, Mrkvicka’s desire is that all would receive eternal life in Jesus Christ. Again, the author does not give his opinion, but God’s view and His Holy Word. This book offers no excuses, nor apologies, but gives the truth of the Word of God. This book is truly a blessing to the body of Christ and to all who read it.

This subject is not an easy subject to be discussed, nor is it very popular, but with so many on the path to destruction in our society it is a must read for anyone entangled in or contemplating adultery. This fascinating and well-written book exposes the truth and deception in the sin of adultery and brings forth light to the subject. Thankfully, the author ends that there is hope and states, “God can save us” (p.11). For there is one hope, and that one hope is the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. Come, read, know the truth and be set free. 

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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 :

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Kelly Klepfer Reviews Women's Literature

Crossing Oceans
Gina Holmes
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (April 12, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1414333056
Women's Fiction


Book Description:

Jenny Lucas swore she’d never go home again. But being told you’re dying has a way of changing things. Years after she left, she and her five-year-old daughter, Isabella, must return to her sleepy North Carolina town to face the ghosts she left behind. They welcome her in the form of her oxygen tank–toting grandmother, her stoic and distant father, and David, Isabella’s dad . . . who doesn’t yet know he has a daughter. As Jenny navigates the rough and unknown waters of her new reality, the unforgettable story that unfolds is a testament to the power of love and its ability to change everything—to heal old hurts, bring new beginnings . . . even overcome the impossible. A stunning debut about love and loss from a talented new voice.



Reviewed by Kelly Klepfer for Amazon

I am always hesitant to review a book written by a friend. Can you imagine how much more apprehensive I was reading the debut novel from not only a friend but a critique partner? A critique partner lives to rip and shred work to point out what's wrong and what needs to be changed to make the work readable.

Though I've critiqued Gina Holmes for years, I had just glimpses into Crossing Oceans and I knew it was a very different style from her previous suspense novels. Her suspense is strong. But how well would her voice translate to women's fiction?

Once I opened her book and began to read I can say that her voice translates with a poignant grace that is rare in a debut novelist. And Crossing Oceans is a story that Holmes was meant to tell.

Holmes tackles a heavy story line with a touch of whimsy and deep, deep melancholy, sometimes in the same paragraph. A young mother, emotionally orphaned when her mother died and father cocooned himself in a cloak of angry grief, finds herself forced to return to the home she had escaped. Jenny has Stage IV metastatic cancer and must reunite with the family she fled for the sake of her little girl's very near future need. With less than a year to repair and restore relationships Jenny tackles the past and the future, the present and the pain, all while attempting to give her daughter, Isabella, memories and love and what life she has available to give.

This is a novel that quickly overcame the author and my relationship with her. The story told itself in a realistic and three-dimensional tale of life and death, sorrow and fear, choices and consequences, pain and beauty, loss and hope. Holmes voice is similar to some of my favorite authors in the Christian fiction genre, Siri Mitchell, Charles Martin, Susan Meissner, Claudia Mair Burney, Lisa Samson and Bonnie Groves.

Crossing Oceans is not an easy read. It is haunting and beautiful and raw. Expect to cry and expect to remember this family long after you turn the last page.

--
Reviewer Kelly Klepfer reviews at http://www.noveljourney.blogspot.com/ 101 Best Websites for Writers - Writers Digest, 2010. Learn more about her at http://kellyklepfer.blogspot.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 loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index 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 the widget below:

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Midwest's Diane Donovan Reviews Jendi Reiter's "Wishes."

Title: An Incomplete List of My Wishes
Author: Jendi Reiter
Genre: Literary Fiction - Short Story Collection
Author website: http://www.jendireiter.com/
ISBN: 9781944977207


Reviewed by Diane Donovan originally for Midwest Book Review

An Incomplete List of My Wishes provides social inspections in short stories that are astute windows into society's secrets, prejudices, double standards, and individual purpose. In the course of short pieces that examine relationships and reactions to life's biggest challenges, these works offer tightly-written, engrossing inspections that are as diverse in nature as they are connected by the unifying theme of plucking elements of humanity from inhuman conditions and fiery reactions. 

Many of these works have won prizes and publication by prestigious literary journals. Their stand-alone nature lends nicely to this pursuit, but when compiled as a whole under one cover, their impact is even greater. 

Take the short story 'Five Assignments and a Mistake', for example. The piece opens with a bang ("The day begins with a dead baby.") that makes it impossible to put down, but events turn far from the compelling opener as readers learn about a college psychology student's assignment to watch a child being wrested from its mother as she pursues a degree in social work. 

The protocols she's absorbing to handle clinical emergencies are actually the same lessons Laura Sue will need to make it through life, ministering to people who could turn violent, bleed, or bite. Riding shotgun with a woman from the city's Child Protection Department provides Laura Sue with a perspective that uniquely defines the world and sets the path for her involvement in it: one that deftly contrasts reality with the possibility of a different kind of discovery about life forces ("The day begins with dark hands...in her sleep, alone, she can lift off again into the oh of discovery: how the buzzing in her limbs subsided, for the first time ever, and she was vast and powerful as a sheet. She was wind. She could lie on the ocean and nothing would stir."). 

Laura Sue has evolved to be a student, a thief, a sexual tease to her boyfriend, and a mama's girl who has learned her lessons far too well. She sports a diamond engagement ring, but the engagement dialogue in her heart is another matter. 

Like the other observational vignettes in this collection, Jendi Reiter offers no easy conclusion. The "incomplete list" slices pieces from lives that, themselves, are works in progress as yet purposeful and undeveloped, offering inspections that cement the notion of lives led in a whirlwind of self-inspection and social challenge. 

The result is a vivid literary and psychological collection especially recommended for those who like their stories passionate yet observational, their psychological depths presented in sips rather than explosions of flavor, and their stories nicely imbedded with social and spiritual reflection alike. 

An Incomplete List of My Wishes offers the kinds of inspections that leave readers thinking far beyond the curtain call of quiet dramas in lives lived on the edge of self-realization and social engagement. 

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jendi Reiter is author of the novel Two Natures (Saddle Road Press), a Rainbow Award winner and finalists at Book Excellence Award and National Indie. See the book trailer at http://bit.ly/twonaturestrailer. Midwest Book Reviews called it "Intense revelations about what it means to be both Christian and gay...a powerful saga"  Jendi is also editor of WinningWriters.com, a Writer's Digest "101 Best Websites for Writers. "

"Things are not what they appear to be: nor are they otherwise."  Surangama Sutra
Midwest's Diane Donovan Reviews Jendi Reiter's "Wishes."


MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG AND GETTING REVIEWS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog 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.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Honoring Ann McGovern and Her Stone Soup

On occasion I just can't resist popping in my usual approach to letting authors, reviewers, and readers talk about the books they want to share with others.  Here is a little blurb from my newsletter about the death of a favorite writer and one of my favorite books:

I loved the children’s book Stone Soup. I always thought it was a traditional fairy tale. You know, like Grimm or Perrault or Hans Christian Andersen. Though it may have sold darn near as many books as those authors, it was written in 1968 and the author, Ann McGovern, recently died of cancer at the age of 85. Just knowing she is gone . . . well, I shall miss her. I have a love affair with fairy tales—new or old—and with nursery rhymes. Readers of my poetry find allusions to them sprinkled throughout. Now, perhaps I shall write something with at least a nod to Ann and the fairy tale that really wasn’t. Or was. Does a genre ever really die?




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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.

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Andrew Benson Brown Reviews Poems by "The Sonnet Queen"

 

“The Singing Lines of Theresa Rodriguez: A Review of Sonnets”

by Andrew Benson Brown

 

Title: Sonnets

Author: Theresa Rodriguez

Publisher: Shanti Arts LLC

Publisher Website: www.shantiarts.com

ISBN: 978-1951651350

Released July 2020

$12.95 (print, soft cover, perfect bound)

80 pages

Purchase 


 

Theresa Rodriguez was called "The Sonnet Queen" by one of her other appreciators following a recent public reading she gave. While there are a few other women, and not that many more men, who have written and published sonnets in our time (not exactly a popular genre compared to the fad of 'instapoetry'), she is the only contemporaneous 'female sonneteer' I know of—which is to say, the only woman who has written many sonnets, a la Shakespeare, and published a book exclusively devoted to the craft.

 

In his literary criticism, William Empson showed a subtle attention to what he called the singing line.” In her new collection of poetry, Sonnets, Rodriguez raises this concern for the musicality of verse to a spiritual level. Take the first stanza of The Sacred Harp:

 

The music, oh the music starts, and we

Begin to sing in skillful harmony;

Begin to sing in sweet simplicity;

Begin to sing in deep complexity.

 

As both a poet and a trained classical singer, Rodriguez is more consciously aware of the musicality of poetry than most, and it is not surprising that other poems in this collection such as The Piano,’ and Oh, When I Hear,’ also take music as a subject. Most are of course not directly about music, per se, though all display the melodious qualities of regular meter and perfect rhyme. Those that do take music as their surface-level subject are really avenues of exploring larger themes: a panegyric to a Steinway as an expression of ideal beauty, suffering as a path to where a truth, so sacred, may be found,” and, in The Sacred Harp,’ the worship of Gods mystery.

 

In just these three poems, Rodriguezs work captures what poetry (and I would add, most great art in general) is meant to do: to capture truth, beauty, and goodness. Poets, those writers who carefully order their words to make of it a musical language and to use metaphors liberally, are those beings most suited to drawing comparisons in the order of creation. Rodriguez seems to implicitly understand this idea that poetry is, perhaps after pure music, the straightest vehicle to God. Sonnet for the Sonnet-Maker,’ is addressed to God Himself, and draws our attention to how the elegance of iambic pentameter dominates so much of the King James Bible:

 

You know the beats and rhythms, the iamb

Which pulses like a crippled-legged walk;

You, with the force of one who said, I am

That I am,” in iambs you will talk

Of truth and beauty, pain and sorrow, all

And nothing, touching both Heaven and Hell

In what you speak and say…

 

Cripple-legged walk” is a brilliant detail: a phrase that at once mimetically describes the iambic line, and with it our relationship to God. It finely illustrates Aquinass concept of analogical predication, and how words may be understood two different ways as they apply to two different levels of being. God, I am that I am,” knows the beats and rhythms” of the iamb, and communicates to us in His cripple-legged walk” because we, as bipedaled, fallen creatures, must use words to hobble towards He who soars. In Sonnet Sonnet’ Rodriguez repeats this imagery with variation to refer to the three poets with sonnet forms named after them. Being mere mortals (though ones who approach the divine closer than others), the cripple-rhythmed beauty” of Petrarch, Shakespeare, and Spenser is emphasized for their more delimited abilities to exercise Condensed and distilled thought,” rather than to touch Heaven and Hell or to recall the void.

 

In CCP and Falun Gong Sonnet,’ the first-person narrator awakens on an operating table with one or two less internal organs: Go, invoke / your party loyalty as I am cut / And mutilated.” From communing with the deities in golden ages of yore, we have degenerated to living in a Kafkaesque world where the muse is an anonymous bureaucrat singing of zoning laws.

 

Rodriguez expresses her own sense of belief in opposition to pernicious modern tendencies in the sonnet, In This Post-Christian Era,’ as well as in a number of other poems in the collection that explore her faith. These tend to come in the latter half of the book; they are preceded by reflections on the art of sonnet-writing and relationships, and precede in turn final poems on the decay of time. One might roughly divide the collection into four sections dominated by these themes (though there are also a few on political and historical subjects interspersed throughout). The move from writing, to love, to God, to the passing of things would seem to be no accident, and this framework offers further proof that Theresa Rodriguez is an artist who speaks to the soul.

 

The straightforwardness of many titles (Spenserian Sonnet,’ ‘Petrarchan Sonnet,’ etc.) are mirrored in the candor of Rodriguezs personal, often self-conscious, reflections on all of the topics mentioned; and the variety of sonnet-styles she mixes (sometimes within a single poem) echo the variety of topics. The pathos of certain poems is balanced by a mimetic wit in others. In Enjambment sonnet,’ the lines begin in terse sentences that give way to longer ones that flow over, preventing isolation between lines. The weight of the line is shifted to the beginning and middle rather than the end, as the addressee is enjoined to

 

Dissent! The point

Is to surprise. Surprise! Then negate

All smoothed-out evenness.

 

The carefully chosen end word point” gives a sense of periodization before rushing us along to the next line, as the author negates” the usual expectations of the poetic line. The brief imperative, Think!” is sandwiched at the midpoint of the line before the final couplet. And then think more,” we are told. Theresa here shows us that the art of poetry, while inventive, is more than mere spontaneity. In the equally clever Five Minute Sonnet,’ the narrator opens the first stanza relating doubts as to whether such a thing can be done, increases in confidence during the second stanza, and describes the flow of how, The lines just come so quickly to my mind,” in the third, until hitting writers block in the final couplet. Artlessness in art is not really a thing, aside from occasional brief spurts as the one that resulted in ColeridgeKubla Khan,’ following waking from an opium dream. Lacking drugs for stimulation, most examples of effortlessness are only apparent—the Muse only descends upon one after long reflection. Examples of pure spontaneity that contemporary free-verse poets often brag about are simply the results of museless minds.

 

In poems like Annelid Sonnet,’ ‘Cut Sonnet,’ and Homeless Sonnet,’ each titular analogy is at once partly autobiographical, a description of her subject matter on love or pain, and a metaphor for the artistic process. In Sonnet of the Hardened Heart,’ she employs crustaceous imagery to create an analogy with the relation between flesh and spirit:

 

Care less, I warn myself; bother no more

With inner crevices: prying the shell

Like scabs (rough, oozing, sore), which crust, but tell

Of tumults against the psychic seabed floor;

It is in vain.

 

She goes on to pile images on top of one another to convey a sense of being entombed” within her existence: the meat” is like newborn skin” and the vaginal flower.” The effect on display here is an example of William Empsons second of the seven types of ambiguity he describes in his book of that name: when two or more meanings are resolved into one for purposes of building psychological complexity.

 

Rodriguez often undertakes to explore her conceptual themes through a repetition of abstract words. Most of these occur in poems about the self-reflexivity of writing, and occasionally in poems about capturing the divine. In Earl of Oxenfords Sonnet’ she defines a term with itself (For truth is truth, and you do shake a spear…”) to justify the narrators euphoria in discovering the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship. In Form Sonnet’ there is the nested identification-turned-negation of

 

….the freedom that free form can miss.

 

For freedom in most freedom is remiss

In finding beauty in this poetry.

 

Rodriguez here highlights the contradictory nature of free verse: that through its own lack of discipline it loses the quality it seeks to define itself through. Referring then to her own penchant for poetic structure she writes, In building such some scoffers might dismiss: / But such is perfect perfection to me.” Here the placement of perfection” upsets the hitherto perfect meter of the stanza, creating an ironic effect.

 

This placing of the same abstract term adjacently to itself as a different part of speech occurs in several other poems in the collection. In The Simple, Stalwart Faith,’ she asks, Where is the light / that lit this darkened darkness?” She could have used deepened,’ to modify darkness” or some other synonym of intensified’ to make her point, yet she chose to use the same word to emphasize the depth and doubling of a metaphysical condition once was lit” by light.” In the next line, Now I strive to say regurgitated prayers,” she further emphasizes the sense of monotony to the rituals that underlie her doubts. Some might see the use of abstractions in this way as a weakness that undermines the purpose of poetry, whose strength lies in the use of sensual imagery; Rodriguez, though, seems to use them to careful effect in most places in a way that reflects her themes.

 

The William Empson quote about the singing line” cited at the beginning of this essay is better applied to Rodriguez than even Empson himself—a modernist poet whose verse reflects his admiration for scientism by employing objective diction, and as such can sometimes falls rather flat. Rodriguez writes in a straightforward and clear style, and while her poems operate on different levels, there is little thats overtly contradictory in a head-scratching way. With a few possible exceptions, the reader seldom stops to invent interpretations or tease apart multiple meanings that must be held in the mind at once. These are poems that can be appreciated by the average literate person, as well as the more sophisticated enthusiast.

 

Theresa’s website is www.bardsinger.com.


MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

 

Andrew Benson Brown is a poet who lives in rural Missouri. In exile from urbane delights and perversions, he spends his days tending to the needs of the downtrodden. At night he enters the ancient courts of ancient men, via the Internet Archive. He is currently in the early stages of writing a mock epic poem about the American Revolution.

 

Andrew Benson Brown Reviews Poems by "The Sonnet Queen"


MORE ABOUT BLOGGER AND WAYS TO GET THE MOST FROM THIS BLOG

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog 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.



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