Dr. Wesley Britton Loves "Unintentional" Read

Dinner With Edward

Subtitle: The Story of an Unexpected Friendship

Author: Isabel Vincent

Paperback: 240 pages

Publisher: Algonquin Books; Reprint edition (June 13, 2017)

ISBN-10: 1616206942

ISBN-13: 978-1616206949

Purchase at Amazon

Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton originally for BookPleasures.com

Dinner With Edward isn't the sort of novel I would normally pick up for summer reading. I don't read "food books." But as it was this month's assignment for a book club I belong to,  I started reading with few preconceived ideas about it.  It didn't take long for me to be glad I did.

From first to last, Dinner With Edward just hums with life and gains affirming energy as it goes along.  The premise is simple enough: Edward is a nonagenarian widower grieving over the death of his wife, strongly wanting to follow her to the grave. He's a talented man with his hands, especially with cooking exceptional dinners in his New York apartment.

Isabel is a "middle-aged" reporter who Edward invites to come to weekly dinners at the request of one of Edward's daughters who hopes Isabel can keep an eye on her father. Isabel's marriage is disintegrating and these private dinners become highlights of her life, along with the wisdom Edward offers as their friendship deepens.  Their backstories are revealed in fragments and chunks as Vincent recounts just how this friendship blossomed in chapters headed by the short menus of one dinner after another.   It's quickly obvious the nourishment the two share goes far beyond well-prepared dinners and conversations that are wide-ranging in scope and topics.

Among the lessons Isabel learns is to slow down and appreciate her life, dissecting who she is and facing things she'd rather put aside or ignore. Edward is described as a Henry Higgins figure helping his Eliza Doolittle protegee enhance her feminine aspects which she tends to downplay. Of course, she learns a lot about preparing food and allowing herself to find love again. 

One of the many aphorisms sprinkled throughout the memoir is a quote by M. F. K. Fisher, that simple dinners with a friend can "sustain us against the hungers of the world." In other words, Edward's lessons for Isabel should reach out far beyond their relationship and enrich the lives of the book's readers.  I often paused to jot down a note or two when a clear, clean insight tripped my trigger.  I will have many good things to say about Dinner With Edward when the book club meets and eagerly await the responses of the other members.

 MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWS

Dr. Wesley Britton is the author of The Beta Earth Chronicles and a reviewer for BookPleasures.com. Learn more about him at: 

Explore the Beta Earth Chronicles website:

Follow Wes Britton’s Goodreads blog:

Check out Wes Britton’s Beta Earth Chronicles Facebook page:

Enjoy the videos at Wes Britton’s YouTube Channel:

MORE ABOUT THE BLOG, THIS BLOG AND ITS BENEFIT FOR WRITERS

 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 everything 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! 

New Book Offer! And Lois's Hint # Two for Getting Them!

Author and Reviewer Alert! Free Review Service 

         

This is a regular service offered by Lois W. Stern that helps authors find interested reviewers for their books and helps reviewers find fascinating, published work to review. Watch for more of them along with some great hints for getting reviews. Scroll down to see one of Lois's How-To-Get-Great-Reviews hints! 

___________________________________________________________________

Looking for some honest reviews for your book? Follow our posted guidelines to submit your book HERE.

___________________________________________________________________

LOIS'S HINT #2 FOR GETTING REVIEWS:

“Think creatively. When a newspaper or radio station doesn’t have a regular feature that focuses on books, try to find a way around that.” 

Page 80 of Carolyn Howard-Johnson's How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally 

I recently sent a human interest story to our largest LI newspaper about a WWII hero who loved his pipe! This story has nothing at all to do with my Tales2Inspire books, but I was sure to end with a few words about Tales2Inspire and me as an author. Now I’m holding my breath to see if they will publish it. 

Lois W. Stern, Creator of Tales2Inspire®

               

Biblical Clock Virtual Book Tour from Daniel Friedman

The New Book Review welcomes virtual book tours like this one as a lovely way to know more about any given author or book. 

Virtual Book Tour for The Biblical Clock

Author: Daniel Friedmann

Genre: Nonfiction Religion/Spiritual

Publicist: The YP Publishing

Category: Religion, Spiritual, Non-Fictio

Purchase on Amazon  and at danielfriedmannbooks.ca/

GUEST POST FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE BIBLICAL CLOCK

For countless centuries, people have asked "How did our universe come into being? Has it always been here? How did we get here and are we really so close to the End of Times?"  In my book “The Biblical Clock: The Untold Secrets Linking the Universe and Humanity with God’s Plan” I have come up with some revelations that will surprise you!

Can God, Scripture, and science be reconciled? As we look at the stars in the sky many of us have pondered about our origins and how the universe was created at some point in our lives. I am no different, except perhaps that I have both a strong scientific and a religious background.  Thus, when I ponder our origins, the age of the universe I not only have to contend with two seemingly very different accounts of our universe; but with the knowledge that both are accurate, at least in terms of what happened and when it happened.

I began with knowledge gained from a basic religious upbringing and then a university education in which I studied science. Both bodies of knowledge were fascinating, yet appeared incompatible. For a while I came to think that science books answered everything. Yet, by my fourth year at university, some fundamental questions concerning our origins and the age of the universe began to re-appear. In science texts, some answers were not available, some answers were strange, and some answers were so metaphysical they looked like religious answers. So, I went back to study religion, this time also studying the mystical component of religion so as to find deeper inner meaning rather than the simple interpretation. Answers began to appear.

So what did I find?  I decided to share my findings in my book, The Biblical Clock.

The book is based primarily on Genesis and some other books of the bible. All of these are shared with Christianity and most with Islam. For non-Abrahamic religions, the book shows and approaches the issues but does not go into they're scriptures. This book is easy to read, engaging, entertaining, narrative style book that told the story of the discovery of all the information, while at the same time explain the key discoveries.  I teamed up with an award-winning writer to produce this book Dania Sheldon. 

While the book was originally intended for those 12 to 30 years of age that are or have gone through a school system that portrays science against religion, it has been well received by all ages. Readers with a knowledge-craving, open mind will thoroughly enjoy this read and be delighted by its many elements and propositions.

MORE ABOUT DANIEL FRIEDMAN 

Daniel is presently Chairman of the Board of Carbon Engineering a company dedicated to removing CO2 from the air to reduce climate change.  He has a master's in engineering physics and 30 years' experience in the space industry. He is also a longtime student of cosmology and religion. T

MORE ABOUT THE BOOK TOUR

Yvonne Wu is an author, speaker and owner of YP Publishing (http://theyyppublishing.com) Her motto is You have your own story to tell, our mission is to help you get the message out there. Learn more about this virtual book tour at http://www.danielfriedmannbooks.ca/the-biblical-clock-book-tour-2019/

MORE ABOUT THE BLOG, THIS BLOG AND ITS BENEFIT FOR WRITERS

 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 everything 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! 

Crazy Rich Asians Book and Movie Discussion Questions

Crazy Rich Asians Book and Movie Discussion Questions

The book and movie versions of Crazy Rich Asians is crazy so popular. Your book club or coffee group might like to have discussion question handout for each. Click on the next link for a free instant download of the free PDF. 

Book and Movie Discussion Questions for Crazy Rich Asians

The PDF has the book group questions first.

Page 2 has the movie discussion questions.

I am in a book club that always seems to read old, old books. There is nothing wrong with that, but the reason is we cannot get discussion questions for newer books. So I would like book groups to have a choice of more current reading materials as well as the older books that the library offers. The book sets from our library include discussion guides, and we check out a book for the month. When we meet again, we return our books to the library bag and check out another book. 

For newly published books, it could be a combination of eBooks people might buy, books from the library, and maybe some people purchase their own books. Sharing books is always good. Or a group might opt to see a movie based on a movie once in a while. Groups might have to be a little more flexible when selecting more recent reading materials.

Feel free to share on social media. 

Thank you for reading, Carolyn from The Wise Owl Factory

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG AND GETTING REVIEWS AND ANOTHER FREEBIE

 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 ) It has 325 jam-packed pages covering everything 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 shoutout praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines in the left column of this page or in the tab at the top of the home 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!

Author and Reviewer Alert! Free Review Resource

This is a regular service offered by Lois W. Stern that helps authors find interested reviewers for their books and helps reviewers find fun, published work to review. Watch for more of them along with hints for getting reviews. Scroll down to see both a new book offering and Lois's first How-To-Get-Great-Reviews Hint! 

________________

You can get the book listed below FREE 
in exchange for an honest Amazon posted review.

TITLE: Super Spoons to the Rescue: A Math Measuring Story

NUMBER OF PAGES: 58 Pages

DESCRIPTION: This is a math story about spoon superheroes who help people measure ingredients for things like chocolate cakes. When their town is hit by a tornado, they help dispense the exact amount of medicines needed. They fly to the rescue as requested. This book also has worksheets and activity cards.

AUTHOR'S NAME: Carolyn Wilhelm
Illustrator: Oxana Cerra

E-MAIL: cwilhelm@thewiseowlfactory.com

FORMAT:3 PDFs, 3 of PAPERBACK BOOKS  (people can have both)

AGE/NTEREST LEVEL: Primary Grades 1-3 (Ages 6-9)

SHORTENED LINK: https://tinyurl.com/y495v5nc 

To get your copy of "Super Spoons" for review:

1. Email the author directly using her address above.
2. Commit to writing a review within 30 days.
3. Post your review on Amazon.
4. Give the author permission to post it on this New Book Review blog, credited to you with a link to your website or social network, of course.

______________

LOIS'S HINT #1 FOR GETTING REVIEWS:

You can make writing reviews for others' books work for the marketing of your own book. Do not worry. It is ethical. It is all part of traditional Publishing standards."

Page 245 of Carolyn Howard-Johnson's How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally 

Carolyn reminds us to include a byline and credit line or tag line as part of the review.

For example, I end each Amazon review I post with the words:

Lois W. Stern, Creator of Tales2Inspire®

     MORE ABOUT THE GUEST BLOGGER AND HER TALES2INSPIRE PROJECT

Lois W. Stern's Tales2Inspire was a kernel of an idea that started in 2012 and has grown to proportions even she didn’t dare to envision. Her innate curiosity about potentially fascinating human interest stories was the spark that ignited this idea. But it was the confused state of traditional publishing that propelled her forward. Tales2Inspire delivers exactly what it promises as both an ‘Authors Helping Authors’ project and a contest. Winners get their stories published in print, as e-books, and some even in video formats that their names, headshot photos, and mini-autobiographies. Then she spreads the word about the winners and their stories on her blogs, social media and monthly newsletter. FREE to enter, this is a great competition for talented newbies and seasoned authors alike.  Learn more about her an her projects here:

Tales2Inspire website: http://www.tales2inspire.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/tales2inspire2

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/tales2inspire

LinkedIn profile: http://tinyurl.com/odtw2wt

Get a FREE Tales2Inspire Sampler book at: www.tales2inspire.com/gift

Tales2Inspire trailer: https://youtu.be/FuDgXkYMHvo

Blog: http:://www.tales2inspire/blog

___________________


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. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. 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 and love. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page and in a tab at the top of this blog's home page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites so it may be used a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. 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.

North Street Book Prize Grand Prize Winner Shares Endorsements for Her Graphic Memoir

Title: Our Last Six Months
Author: Emily Bracale

Genre: Nonfiction: Memoir / Graphic Memoir / Health / Death

Grand Prize Winner: Winning Writers' #NorthStreetBookPrize 

IISBN-13: 978-1-947758-03-2

400 cartoons and illustrations

Buy it at www.ourlastsixmonthsbook.com 

SYNOPSIS:

This is a nonfiction book about cancer and death, that reads like a graphic novel, with 400 cartoons and illustrations. Author and illustrator Emily Bracale started creating Our Last Six Months while taking care of a family member who was dying of cancer. It is inspired by Roz Chast’s cartoon memoir, "Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?” If you’ve ever taken care of someone who was dying, her book will be very affirming. If you’ve not yet assisted a loved one through this transition, her book will help prepare you. In 2019 Our Last Six Months won the grand prize out of 997 entries in the prestigious Winning Writers North Street Book Competition! 

ENDORSEMENTS: 

"Your book had me laughing one minute and crying the next. Your honesty was refreshing and your drawings added a visual component to the everyday drama of it all. I hope others will be able to use your book as a survival guide or at least appreciate that they are not the only ones in this situation. Dying is not quick or easy for anyone involved, it is a LOT OF WORK.” — Nurse Jan

“I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your book. I found it highly compelling, sad, honestly raw and helpful even. Although my experience was different and a few years old, I was glad to see the similarities in our reaction to so much beyond our control, a response that included anger. Thank you! I’m so glad I bought it! All the best to you.” — Susan MacLeod

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Emily Bracale is also the author of In the Lyme-Light: Portraits of Illness and Healing (2014), a book to help Lyme patients communicate their experiences and needs. Please find it online at www.inthelyme-light.com. She lives in Bar Harbor, Maine, where she teaches art classes for all ages. Her new cartoons and an excerpt from her award-winning book are on medium.com/@emilybracale

Reach her or learn more about her:
emilybracale@gmail.com

ourlastsixmonthsbook.com
Grand Prize Winner of prestigious WinningWriters North Street Book Competitionfor Our Last Six Months, (2018) graphic memoir/creative nonfiction book about cancer and end-of-life care.https://www.facebook.com/ourlastsixmonths/
Lyme Educator, author and illustrator of Lyme patient advocacy book: In the Lyme-Light: Portraits of Illness and Healing(2014)https://www.facebook.com/inthelymelightbook/
Cartoonist on Spiralbound/Medium
Plein air art teacher in Bar Harbor, Maine
Artists of the Round Tableprivate art classes for children and adults
Visit Acadia.com Painting Blog 

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG AND ITS BENEFIT FOR WRITERS

 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 everything 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! 

Dinner With Edward: The Story of an Unexpected Friendship Book Review

Dinner With Edward

Subtitle: The Story of an Unexpected Friendship

Author: Isabel Vincent

Paperback: 240 pages

Publisher: Algonquin Books; Reprint edition (June 13, 2017)

ISBN-10: 1616206942

ISBN-13: 978-1616206949

Purchase on Amazon

Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton

Dinner With Edward isn't the sort of novel I would normally pick up for summer reading. I don't read "food books." But as it was this month's assignment for a book club I belong to,  I started reading with few preconceived ideas about it.  It didn't take long for me to be glad I did.

From first to last, Dinner With Edward just hums with life and gains affirming energy as it goes along.  The premise is simple enough: Edward is a nonagenarian widower grieving over the death of his wife, strongly wanting to follow her to the grave. He's a talented man with his hands, especially with cooking exceptional dinners in his New York apartment.

Isabel is a "middle-aged" reporter who Edward invites to come to weekly dinners at the request of one of Edward's daughters who hopes Isabel can keep an eye on her father. Isabel's marriage is disintegrating and these private dinners become highlights of her life, along with the wisdom Edward offers as their friendship deepens.  Their backstories are revealed in fragments and chunks as Vincent recounts just how this friendship blossomed in chapters headed by the short menus of one dinner after another.   It's quickly obvious the nourishment the two share goes far beyond well-prepared dinners and conversations that are wide-ranging in scope and topics.

Among the lessons Isabel learns is to slow down and appreciate her life, dissecting who she is and facing things she'd rather put aside or ignore. Edward is described as a Henry Higgins figure helping his Eliza Doolittle protegee enhance her feminine aspects which she tends to downplay. Of course, she learns a lot about preparing food and allowing herself to find love again. 

One of the many aphorisms sprinkled throughout the memoir is a quote by M. F. K. Fisher, that simple dinners with a friend can "sustain us against the hungers of the world." In other words, Edward's lessons for Isabel should reach out far beyond their relationship and enrich the lives of the book's readers.  I often paused to jot down a note or two when a clear, clean insight tripped my trigger.  I will have many good things to say about Dinner With Edward when the book club meets and eagerly await the responses of the other members.

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Dr. Wesley Britton is the author of the Beta Earth Chronicles and reviews for 

BookPleasures.com. Learn more about him at: 

Explore the Beta Earth Chronicles website:

Follow Wes Britton’s Goodreads blog:

Check out Wes Britton’s Beta Earth Chronicles Facebook page:

Enjoy the videos at Wes Britton’s YouTube Channel:

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG AND ITS BENEFIT FOR WRITERS

 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 everything 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!