Russian Reviews Fateful Love

Fateful Love
By Mary Sanglante

Based on Lost on Earth by Lily Alex
(280 pages)
ISBN: 9781604414899

Reviewed by Aglaia, Moscow, Russia

This romantic thriller is easy to read. I was not able to put the book
down until I finished it. The plot flows so smoothly, that changing
chapters is almost unnoticeable, the intrigue absorbs you completely
and the new heroes are introduced in a very comfortable way.

I especially liked to track how Martha's love grows. It's impossible
to hold back sympathy for Robert Noirson, despite the fact that he's
an antihero. All he does to impress Martha involuntarily affects the
reader as well. However, you can feel the increasing tension, and it's
obvious for Martha that it won't be a happily-ever-after marriage.

When Brandy appears, at first I felt pity for her, but when she starts
her revenge, only because of her jealousy, the sympathy for her fades
and you just want to say: "Get out of here!"

During the whole story, the author shows unstopping conflict between
Goodness and Evil, and often humans act much worse than demons. The
author shows that people have freedom of choice, and can't always use
it properly.

In the mean time, there is so much evil in this world that this book
makes us think how we act when contacting with others, how we all are
connected and how we affect each other. It's sad that Martha's love
overpowered her faith, but it's understandable and you don't feel
anger, but pity for her.

A few times the author shows the Power of God and the blessing of
forgiveness and repentance. I like the allegories and metaphors that
the author uses during the narration.

The scene that impressed me the most - when Martha was unable to go back.

The illustrations are also great! They illustrate the events without
strife with your own imagination


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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.
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Title: EGYPT, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT: CRITICAL SUSTAINABILITY PERSPECTIVES
Category: Nonfiction / Environment
Author: Tarek Selim
Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd., London
Publication date: July 2009
ISBN (hardcover): 978-1906704506
ISBN (paperback): 978-1906704513



Pure environmentalism and pure resource exploitation can be integrated together to form an encompassing sustainability solution. This is the main message of this book based on an innovative “structure-concentration-incentives” methodology applied to Egypt. This methodology provides a basis for achieving environmental sustainability based on endogenous source-driven forces of change in contrast to the traditional effects-dominant oriented approach. Though the book’s methodology could be used as a framework of analysis in environmental sustainability research for any developing country, Egypt provides a rich case study because of its historical, socio-economic, and political constructs.

Sustainable development is generally seen as a tradeoff between resource efficiency and social equity such that total resource essentials in society can become sustainable in the long run in a manner that meets the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Environmental sustainability cannot be implemented without the direct inclusion of structure (form), concentration (effect), and incentives (drivers) as critical policy choices because: (1) they constitute a necessary condition in any country’s path towards sustainable development, (2) they must be implemented simultaneously as a target and constraint, and (3) they require social and political sacrifice complemented by endogenous-based systems in contrast to authoritarian solutions.

Egypt, Energy and the Environment presents research on Egypt’s energy and environmental resources from multidisciplinary perspectives. It offers sustainability solutions to many of the country’s problems relating to energy, pollution, water, gender, wildlife, politics, economics, management, ecology, and information technology. The book’s method of analysis can be applied to other developing countries as well.

Author info:
Tarek H. Selim is Associate Professor of Economics at the American University in Cairo and Faculty Affiliate to Harvard Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness. He has published extensively in leading international journals and presented papers in many conferences. His research output includes more than fifty research articles and book reviews, and he won his school’s research excellence award in 2006. Professor Selim has PhD in economics from George Washington University, MBA from Johns Hopkins, and holds professional certificate programs from MIT, Harvard, Georgetown, Oxford, and Imperial College.

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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.
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A Powerful Tale of a Troubled Teen Is Debut Novel

Title: Another Life Altogether
Author: Elaine Beale
Website link: www.elainebeale.com
ISBN:978-0385530040
Category: Fiction

Reviewed by Sharon Ullman for The Boston Globe





When authors have won the prestigious Poets & Writers’ California Writers Exchange prize for emerging writers, as Elaine Beale did in 2007, one anticipates that their subsequent published novel will flow with exceptional craftsmanship. Surely, “Another Life Altogether,’’ Beale’s sparkling debut, does that.

In her rich characterization of the troubled teen Jesse Bennett, caught in the misery of her disastrous, if painfully funny, dysfunctional family; stuck in the most boring town in 1970s East Yorkshire, England (with, as Jesse pointedly notes, “one of the fastest eroding coastlines in the world’’), Beale has engagingly captured that tender moment when a young would-be author discovers the power of the written word to rescue herself.

“The day after my mother was admitted to the mental hospital, I told everyone at school that she had entered a competition on the back of a Corn Flakes box and won a cruise around the world.’’

So begins Jesse’s tale and her own extended journey. To persuade her classmates of this fanciful lie, she writes elaborate letters to herself supposedly from her traveling mother and reads them aloud to everyone. Of course, she is ultimately discovered and humiliated, but with this episode, the novel sets its own course. Writing produces a healing salve, and Jesse repeatedly returns to the page to escape her fate - both that forced on her from without and the one she makes for herself.

The crazy-parent genre of novel and memoir has filled the shelves in recent years. What sets Beale’s novel apart, however, is its careful depiction of the ordinary life with a seriously disturbed family member. If memoirs like “Running With Scissors’’ or “The Glass Castle’’ entertain through their outrageous events, many hilarious in their retelling (if not in living through them), Beale’s fiction, in turn, focuses on the mundane lunacy that fills Jesse’s daily world after her mother’s release from the hospital.

Her mother’s manic decorating projects start and are left hanging when weeks pass and she cannot get out of bed. It is Jesse who has to figure out what they’ll eat, when to appease her mother’s despair with beloved “Mr. Kipling’s’’ cream cakes, and how to mediate her father’s benign neglect as he escapes into his nightly rants against the British crown. Equally witty, Beale tempers the laughter with a constant balancing act that reveals precisely how trapped Jesse is by the fractured world engulfing her.

The novel plays out two major stories - Jesse’s family collapse and her own coming to terms with her sexuality. Horrified by both her attraction to an older girl and her private admiration for an openly gay classmate tormented by their peers, Jesse tries desperately to find her footing. Beale does a wonderful job describing all of her characters with richness and economy, but as she moves Jesse through this agonizing transformation, Beale is particularly powerful.

Jesse pours out her heart into letters she never sends to the girl she secretly desires, and the fate of those letters propels the book to its climax. Yet Beale is clearly after bigger game than a simple coming-of-age story, and the return of Jesse’s epistolary skills is no narrative coincidence. As a result, the book’s conclusion, like Jesse’s story overall, is both surprising and moving.

In her debut novel, Beale has revealed a mature talent with a sharp eye for both the intricacies of the surface detail and the complexities of the inner life. In “Another Life Altogether,’’ Beale reminds us that writing, always potentially dangerous, also confers grace, and that with the power of the word, we all have the potential to become the heroines of our own lives.

About the Reviewer:
Sharon Ullman is a professor of history at Bryn Mawr College and author of “Sex Seen: The Emergence of Modern Sexuality In America.’’


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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.
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Editing Up to "Great!"

Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips for Writers: The Ultimate Frugal Booklet for Avoiding Word Trippers and Crafting Gatekeeper-Perfect Copy
by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
HowToDoItFrugally Publishing,2010
ISBN: 1450507654

Reviewed by Magdalena Ball

I'm firmly of the opinion that one of the main difference between a good book and a great book is the quality of the edit. Carolyn Howard-Johnson knows that and has provided a series of books designed specifically to help authors edit their books without having to spend a fortune. The latest one in the Frugal series is a handy list of tricky, “trip-you-up” words that every writer would do well to master.

Some, like “advice / advise” are common problems that dog the writer from primary school onwards, and it's probably time to get these sorted out. Others, like “although / though” are more subtle, and Howard-Johnson doesn't shirk from pointing out why the use of one word is preferable over another. The explanations are always clear, with well written and original examples, and once you've read Howard-Johnson's words of wisdom, you won't make the mistake again. The book is just 50 pages, and is easy to carry around for reference, or check through quickly when you're unsure. You could also use it as a kind of course book, taking on a pair of words a day with the aim of improving your overall English skills. Even if your English is masterful already, you might be surprised at how often you misuse some of the more common sets, such as “bring / take” or “childlike / childish.”

Howard-Johnson even provides ill-used phrases like “It is what it is.” or the difference between i.e. and e.g. (I'm afraid I've misused this one myself). The book ends with a list of other recommended editing books.

A few small errors in a manuscript or piece of writing may seem like a minor problem, but they mark the writer as an amateur and can be just what an overworked editor is looking for in order to move your unread manuscript over to the slush pile. At best, they make the writer look sloppy and uneducated. At worst, you may be conveying something quite different to what you had in mind. Not all of writing is this clear and straightforward, so ensuring that you understand and are able to easily use and distinguish commonly confused words correctly is more than just a good thing. It's essential. That so much helpful advice is couched in such light-hearted, easy to read and entertaining prose is due to Howard-Johnson's abilityities. This little book has a simplicity that belies the importance of what it's conveying. Do yourself, and your readers, a favour and make sure that you choose the right word every time you write.

About the Reviewer:
Magdalena Ball runs the review site The Compulsive Reader (www.compulsivereader.com) .An Australian poet, she blogs at http://magdalenaball.blogspot.com/ and her Web site is www.magdalenaball.com .

About the author:
The New Book Review is blogged by UCLA Extension Writers' Program instructor 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.
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Poet Reviews Fellow Poet

The Fractured WorldTitle: Paternity
Author: Scott Owens
Genre: Poetry
Publisher: Main Street Rag, Charlotte, NC
80 pages
ISBN: 978-1-59948-222-4


Reviewed by Helen Losse for The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature (February 2010)


My first observation, concerning Scott Owens’ second book, is that Paternity begins where The Fractured World ended. Two poems—“Foundings” and “On the Days I Am Not My Father,” first published in The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature in a chapbook entitled “Deceptively Like a Sound”—are common to both books; they have to be.

For Owens, it is not laziness and repetition that gets him more miles out of the same poems, but, rather, the poet's common sense in knowing that he must begin where he is and then move on to where he wants to be. Owens is—most assuredly—not his father, but what he wants is to be a good dad and, perhaps, a good poet, too. He is even willing to give a bit on the latter to make the former happen. The poems in this volume convince me that he is a very good dad, indeed.

…you know
you’ll never change the world, become
the great poet…

…and then, out of nowhere she says,
“Daddy, you’re the best.” and you know
for a moment it will be enough.

(“Days Like These”)

By way of summary, Owens’ first book The Fractured World, also published by Main Street Rag, concerns his escape from an abusive childhood and his determination not to repeat the “sins of [his] father.” By the end of the book, Norman, the man who is part father part symbol and bit of anything Owens needs him to be, explodes and frees Owens for new adventures. I say, “Owens,” knowing that not always the “I” in a poem is the poet but also knowing that Paternity is confessional poetry at its finest. Sawyer is Owens’ real life daughter, Damian and Keegan Blankenship, also a Mule poet, his real life stepsons. The storyline in Paternity is about Owens becoming dad to his two stepsons and then to his daughter. Owens is his own main character.

Owens knows he is “the self I was/ and can never cease to be.” (“Foundings”) So the struggle continues. And the struggle is universal—a struggle we all know no matter how different our details are from those about which Owens writes. The bulk of the poems in Paternity concern Owens’ young daughter Sawyer. The poems deal with everyday events to which any parent who ever had a small child can relate. One of my favorite poems has the funny title “How To Make Okra.” As though it isn’t funny enough to think that one “makes” rather than prepares fried okra, Owens does this while giving the infant Sawyer a bath in the other side of the kitchen sink. After “fill[ing] the left side of the sink/ with warm water,” and adding necessary entertainment items, Owens wishes to sit down with a beer but proceeds to prepare and fry okra “while singing I-N-G-O,/ stamping feet instead of clapping.” Been there, done that. And a funny moment occurs when, Owens describes

Much of the book deals with the poet’s wonder at the world of a child, “worlds/ enough unfolding to keep you/ in a constant state of wonder.” (“Sky of Endless Stars”) And as a parent, Owens celebrates small occasions with his young daughter, because “days are easily forgotten without them,/ each one only a number.” (“Creating Small Occasions”)

When I walk too fast, you stop,
bend over, say you have to get
the breath back in your mouth.’

(“Raising Sawyer”)

Not everything in the book concerns happiness. Owens has to remember, when his “[son has been] mean,/ [that] just because he’s smarter than me/ doesn’t mean he’ll become my father.” (“On the Days I am Not My Father”) The father who is gone, who has exploded, is omni-present. Owens knows he always will be there. And in “The Lost Son,” he declares, “The worst is never knowing, never/ having a chance to say ‘forgiven.’” This is no fairy-tale world. Even the birth of a princess doesn’t constitute utopia. The struggle continues. Sometimes the world of child is difficult.

The laughter of little girls offends me….

This breathless melancholy [into which the poet has fallen]
… [is] willing to let nothing in.

(“Off Season”)

And then there is the death of Owens’ mother-in-law. The death of a loved one, with its many emotions and tasks, is a hard thing to face, even for adults; but when the situation must be explained to a three-year-old child, it becomes even more complicated.

For days you cry at random,
explain that you’ll miss your Grandma,
want to know if you’ll die too,
how you get back from God.

(“First Loss”)

“There is only one problem with God.”
“If you tell him ‘I love you,’
he won’t tell you he loves you too.”

(“Theology”)

Sawyer says they [the dead] are with God
and since God is everywhere,
they are everywhere too,
claims she hears them saying so.

(“My Daughter Debates the Nature of Death.”)

Like many poets Owens writes to discover truth; it’s what keeps him up at night, “It’s what keeps me trying/ the need to do better for you/ the need to save myself.” (“What Keeps Me Up At Night”) Owens has written all this down,in a way that can’t be undone.

I do it because I can’t fully believe
the world would give me what I’ve always needed.
I do it to make sure you’re real.

(“Making Fiction”)

No wonder poets write the same poem again and again. The drive to discover truth is mammoth. And isn’t the search for truth, which is a kind of salvation, what writing is all about? No wonder Paternity is a sequel to The Fractured World. In Paternity, Owens searches for meaning in fatherhood, especially in the birth and young childhood of his daughter, Sawyer. Read the book to see if you think he finds it.

About the author:

Scott Owens is the author of two full length poetry collections: The Fractured World and Paternity (Main Street Rag) and three other poetry collections. He is the Editor of The Wild Goose Poetry Review and the organizer for Poetry Hickory. He writes a column for Outlook Newspaper, Newton, NC and blogs at Scott Owens Musings. His poems have been published widely in various print and internet publications. Owens teaches creative writing at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, NC.

About the reviewer:

Helen Losse is the author of Better With Friends (Rank Stranger Press, 2009) and two poetry chapbooks, Gathering the Broken Pieces, available from FootHills Publishing, and Paper Snowflakes, published by Southern Hum Press, and the Poetry Editor of The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. She has recent poetry publications or acceptances in Blue Fifth Review, Main Street Rag, Heavy Bear, The Wild Goose Poetry Review, Referential Magazine, Hobble Creek Review, and Iodine Poetry Review.


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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.
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Karen Cioffi Reviews Study on Teaching in Chicago

Title: When Teachers Talk
Author: Rosalyn S. Schnall
Publisher: Goldenring Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 978-0-578-00563-8

Reviewed by Karen Cioffi for BookPleasures.com


Anyone who works in, or has worked in the public school system will love When Teachers Talk. While I am not a teacher myself, I have a number of family members and friends who are. This book tells it like it is. It reflects the whispers and thoughts of thousands of teachers across the country.

Schnall, a retired teacher with 35 years experience with the Chicago Public School System, realizes our education system is lacking in many areas, including effective and just management of teachers and children. Schnall rose to the occasion and decided to create a survey of teachers within the Chicago system. She focused on principal abuse of teachers.

When Teachers Talk is a compilation of 500 interviews that Schnall conducted with Chicago public school teachers. It covers overt abuse of teachers; the quality of education’s decline; lack of administrative support for teachers; politics and the school system; how the children suffer; teacher attrition; what good teachers feel about the profession; and it touches on those principals who actually do their jobs with humanity, fairness, and proficiency.

Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the teachers involved in the survey all wanted and needed to make sure their responses would be anonymous. This was for fear of reprisal from their principals.

When Teachers Talk reveals that it is apparent there is a crisis in the school systems across America. The majority of teachers involved worked under stressful and at times unbearable conditions due to their principals’ abuse. There were some who actually left schools because of the principals’ actions. Some ended up sick from the stress. And, there were those who knew teachers who just up and left the profession as a direct result of principal abuse.

Along with the abuse teachers suffer at the hand of principals is the lack of support from administration and the teachers’ union. Many of the teachers voiced concern that their principals do not support them when it comes to issues with the children or their parents. Knowing a number of teachers, this is a very common complaint. Some teachers work in dangerous areas, and each year it seems the problem and uncontrollable children increase. It’s essential that teachers know the administration is there to support them.

Schnall includes a random survey and interview of ten additional teachers from the largest school systems across the country. This small sample reflects the larger Chicago study. She also includes a section that provides the teachers an opportunity to suggest solutions to this widespread problem.

When Teachers Talk is an enlightening and sobering read. It makes clear our education system is in dire need of repair. I recommend this book; I think it’s vital that everyone is aware of what’s going on and insists on change.

About the author:
Rosalyn Schnall holds a Bachelor of Education Degree, and holds additional Certification in Early Childhood Education. She completed thirty hours of Graduate work at Loyola University of Chicago, Graduate School of Education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, which included a course in “Survey Research Methodology.”

About the Reviewer:
Karen Cioffi is a published author, writer-for-hire, and freelance writer. You can learn more about Karen at http://karencioffi.com. And, if you sign up for her free newsletter at http://dkvwriting4u.com, you’ll get a free e-book on writing and marketing.

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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.
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Reader Views Reviewer Weighs In on Feisty Family Values

Title: Feisty Family Values
Author: B.D. Tharp
Genre: Women’s Fiction
ISBN: 978-1-59414-849-1
Five Star Publications (2010)


Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (11/09)


“Can't live with them, can’t live without them” seems like something a lot of us would come up with when describing family members, particularly those whose peculiarities are very different from ours. And when it comes to being different, at least on the surface, one would be hard pressed to find two more different people than the determined, abrupt and majestic Regina Morgan-Smith and her cousin, abused, meek and drab Annabelle Hubbard. When those two are thrown together after Annabelle finds herself battered and homeless, it is hard to see how they could share the same roof over their heads without driving each other insane. Luckily for both of them, Regina’s best friend and housemate, Tillie Dawson provides some much needed balance and sanity in their daily lives.

That is, until Tillie’s cancer returns and threatens not only her life, but also Regina’s sanity and Annabelle’s shelter. To further complicate matters, a new and very handsome neighbor enters the lives of the three ladies. While all three of them seem to like him quite a bit, he seems to have fallen pretty badly for Tillie, until she tells him about her situation. Once more, the ostensible balance is destroyed. If all of this is not enough to drive the three ladies to utter distraction, Annabelle’s three grandchildren end up living in Regina’s house as well. If you are thinking, “The more, the merrier...,” think again.

Could those three ladies “of a certain age” find happiness late in life? Could they possibly even find love?

B.D. Tharp’s story is a great example of contemporary and relevant writing; perceptive, intelligent and poignant. It deals with believable and distressing situations that many of us have faced or will have to face one day. The characters are colorful, entertaining and easy to relate to. One might even find one’s traits in several of the main characters. What I found particularly refreshing were the older characters who are still full of life and who desire to live their life to the fullest. This book, “Feisty Family Values,” will make you laugh out loud, but is also a book that will make you think. It should make you grateful for what you have and hopeful for whatever you are still wishing for, and above all, it should make you grateful for your family and friends and all that they give you on a continuous basis.

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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.
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