Ahhhh! November! Month of Celebration and Books!

I am participating in a fun blog tour with a variety of authors--everything from nonfiction writers to poets. I thought that if you followed along it would be fun and you'd see how Karen Cioffi planned this. Not a bad thing for you who have never done a tour using your own blog. Plus, it would give you a chance to win some prizes. And for those visitors who are readers! Wow! A plethora of books in many genres.

So, watch this blog on November 11 for just one of the tour entries, the famous Old Silly, Marvin Wilson.

Here is the tour schedule for the rest of the month of November. There is a prize on each stop, so make this list your reading one-stop-shop!

November 1 Dianne Sagan is hosting Heidi Thomas
http://www.diannesagan.wordpress.com


November 2 Harry Gilleland is hosting Karen Cioffi
http://harrygillelandwrites.blogspot.com November 3 Karen Cioffi is hosting Martha Swirzinki
http://karenandrobyn.blogspot.com


November 4 Kathy Stemke is hosting Brigitte Thompson
http://educationtipster.blogspot.com

November 5 Nancy Famolari is hosting Deborah Weed
http://nancygfamolari.blogspot.com


November 6 Margaret Fieland is hosting Elysabeth Eldering
http://www.margaretfieland.com


November 7 Crystalee Calderwood is hosting Harry Gilleland http://crystaleecalderwood.blogspot.com


November 8 Katie Hines is hosting Heather Paye
http://katiehines.blogspot.com


November 9 Helena Harper is hosting Steve Tremp
http://helenaharpersblog.blogspot.com


November 10 Liana Metal is hosting Crystalee Calderwood
http://lianastories.blogspot.com

November 11 Carolyn Howard-Johnson is hosting Marvin Wilson http://thenewbookreview.blogspot.com
Note: You will go to my New Book Review blog to see this. While you're there, you'll want to check the guidelines in the left column to see how your review(s) can be utilized for more exposure.

November 12 Gayle Trent is hosting Dianne Sagan
http://www.gayletrent.com/blog/

November 13 Mayra Calvani is hosting Carolyn Howard-Johnson http://mayrassecretbookcase.blogspot.com

November 14 Marvin Wilson is hosting Gayle Trent
http://theoldsilly.com

November 15 Linda Asato is hosting Mayra Calvani
http://lindaswritingdesk.blogspot.com

November 16 Heather Paye is hosting Katie Hines
http://heatherpaye.blogspot.com


November 17 Steve Tremp is hosting Helena Harper
http://stephentremp.blogspot.com

November 18 Elysabeth Eldering is hosting Linda Asato
http://elysabethsstories.blogspot.com

November 19 Darcia Helle is hosting Liana Metal
http://quietfurybooks.com/blog/


November 20 Deborah Weed is hosting Nancy Famolari
http://deborahweed.ning.com

November 21 Brigitte Thompson is hosting Margaret Fieland http://www.writersinbusiness.blogspot.com

November 22 Martha Swirzinki is hosting Darcia Helle
http://movementplus.com


November 23 Heidi Thomas is hosting Kathy Stemke
http://heidiwriter.wordpress.com

Each day there will be prizes offered. All you have to do is leave a comment on the host's site on the day he/she is posting for their guest and you may a winner! Note, Mayra Calvani, author of a great book on how to review books for fun or for pay, will be hosting me.

The Winner will have a choice of ONE of 2 or 3 books of our members or other related gifts, OR a one day guest spot on this blog site!

Prizes being given away evert Day from November 1st through November 23rd!

OH! Wait a minute! That's not all! We will also have a Mystery Site Giveaway and the SUPER-DUPER PRIZE is a $25 (US) GIFT CARD to either Amazon, Target, or an American Express Gift Card.

Winners will be notified the day after each posting. The Mystery Site Winner will be notified Sunday, November 29th.

Come celebrate with us and you may be the winner of a great gift in the process.




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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.

Reviewer Notes Gay Literature As Suitable for Heterosexuals

Conquering Venus:
A Novel
By Collin KelleyVanilla Heart Publishing. 255 pages. $14.95.
ISBN-13: 978-1935407294



Review by Helen Losse
First published in Blogcritics

Let’s be upfront: The category on the back of Collin Kelley’s debut novel, Conquering Venus, says “Gay Literary Fiction.” As a heterosexual woman—had I not known Collin, read his insightful political poetry, I might never have picked it up. But I do know Collin, did read the book, and I’m glad I did, for in doing so, I realized something more important than anything else I will say: “Gay Literary Fiction”—or at least Kelley’s Conquering Venus, which constitutes the sum total of books from this category which I have read—concerns itself less with overt sexual acts and more about what it means to be at home in one’s own body. I know why Kelley’s publisher wanted the book labeled “gay,” but I also know that this book has much to interest the heterosexual reader.

Kelley’s characters are multi-dimensional, his plot mature, and while the book is “gay” in detail, the theme and intent are universal: claiming and letting go—accepting responsibility for one’s own actions and refusing to blame one’s self for the actions of others—are psychological tasks or developmental stages that concern us all. Also of interest is the fact that those who speak most openly are no less troubled than those whose fear is evident. Kelley carefully and masterfully creates characters who must deal with the difficult situations in their various pasts—broken marriages, betrayal, sexual confusion and dishonesty, death, suicide, and family acceptance or denial of these—and a plot that draws them together on a trip to Paris.



Shortly after Irene and Martin meet, they “sit on the balcony for hours … discussing art and poetry, dancing around their true selves, the strange desire to confess deep secrets.” (p. 45) But why? Away from the confines of home and with alcohol flowing to remove inhibition, the characters become free to ignore convention. Or are they now free to explore it? Each effect has its cause; then effects become sorely entangled. Dreams play a large roll in the plot of this novel as does the seeming coincidence. Kelley uses italics to help the reader differentiate between live action and dreams. The dead play a roll, too, as a diary of a Parisian professor, hidden in the house Irene that never leaves, gives purpose as to why Martin and the older woman, an agoraphobic who watches through binoculars the goings on at the hotel where the group are staying, come together at all.



The situation in which Peter died leads, at least in part, to Martin’s present attraction to eighteen-year-old David, with the complicated attraction/repulsion David feels in response, and his resulting, problematic drinking. Not all gays are created equal? Well, not everyone’s family is the same. Situations do not lead to pat answers. The truth about Diane leaving her ex-husband comes out, equally confusing. The characters weave their way through the violence of bombings, a hospital’s mental ward, the landmarks in Paris—The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame—and finally home before book’s culmination. The book is a page turner and kept me up ’til 5:00 am, before the story came to a quitting point, where Diane, the burned-out teacher, and her younger friend, Martin—chaperones on a school trip—end up moving separately to Europe, leaving their problematic lives in America.



But Kelley does not end Conquering Venus by wrapping things up in that proverbial neat, little package nor does he leave us in a world we do not believe possible with everyone riding into the sunset. What Kelley does is offer hope as surely as Martin conquers Venus, exchanging the Venus de Milo for the Winged Victory.

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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.

Radio Readings of Excerpts Even Better Than Reviews

This is not one of my regular review posts. It is really about an opportunity for fiction writers to read from their works and for readers to hear fiction writers in their own voices. So, a little departure. I hope you won't mind.

Lillian Cauldwell and Carolyn Howard-Johnson invite authors for a frugal and fabulous reading and cross-promotion adventure starting March, 2010. Readers may drop by to hear our lineup then, and yes, there will be lots on this blog about how you can listen to this Passionate Internet Voices Talk Radio program.

Passionate Internet Voices Talk Radio will feature authors of published books of fiction to join in the first-ever serial weekly literary festival where authors read brief excerpts from their books over PIVTR’s radio network.
(Nonfiction and Poetry Weeks will come later in 2010.)

Book an exciting and wild read of your professional writing life with this awesome and first of its kind event:

$10 for 10 minutes payable via Paypal lillian.cauldwell@gmail.com
Entries are due no later than January 15, 2010.
Readings are recorded in advance.

Air dates: March 21 thru March 28, 10 to 11 p.m. (New York time) EXCEPT Wednesday evening when the show starts 10:30 and ends at 11:30 p.m.
First come first served
Name:
E-mail:
Date & time for recording session:
Text Lillian at 734-277-2733 Or E-mail: LSaraCauldwell@gmail.com for details!

Note: To benefit all, participants are asked to promote the series (and their own appearance) on their Web sites, in their blogs, social networks and wherever else they can. Promotion templates will be provided.

Extra benefits:

 Your favorite book review will be posted on this blog, The New Book Review blog: http://thenewbookreview.blogspot.com.

 A special Authors' Page will be created on Passionate Internet Voices Talk Radio Where recordings of all the audio segments will appear in html script.
Lillian will make all MP3 streams (html codes) of participating authors' presentations available for $3 each plus shipping. Proceeds from the MP3 streams will go to Mission Socorro and Capuchin Soup Kitchen to help the homeless, migrant workers and recently released prisoners get back on their feet.

 The week will be promoted online, by Lillian and Carolyn and by participants.

Another Offer:
Internet Voices Talk Radio is running a host-your-own 30 minute program special for $49. for Carolyn's Sharing with Writers subscribers. Book now and avoid the rush. Price goes up after January 1, 2010.



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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.

Who's Ready for a Romantic Comedy?

One Apple Tasted
Josa Young
Genre: Romantic comedy
ISBN-13: 978-1904027713

Amazon.co.uk
***** five star

Reviewed by Amanda Craig for Amazon UK, Top 100 Reviewer



One Apple Tasted is by far the best-written new romantic comedy I've read this year, and I'm amazed it didn't find a more mainstream publisher.

Beginning with the adventures of Dora in the early 1980s (a period so well rendered you can almost smaell the Opium - or, in this social circle, the Floris Rose Geranium)it moves back in time to the 1950s and the 1930s, linking three generations of women in love. Dora, the second last virgin in Britain besides Lady Diana, a bright, [pretty Cambridge graduate, works on a magazine called Modern Woman (a thinly disguised version of Vogue)and is mad for the handsome, enigmatic, and it turns out depressive son of a rich man. Their mutual attraction involves much fumbling and tumbling but no actual sex, and it's something of a surprise when he proposes to her. You have to remember just how weirdly fashionable weddings were (even before Richard Curtis)to make sense of it, but they do, secretly, get married.

The story then cuts back to the start of the War, when two women meet each other in a Harley St obstetrician's. One is barely out of childhood herself, a French Jewish refugee, the other a middle aged Home Counties wife and mother. A rapport is struck, and the younger woman comes to stay with the elder. They give birth almost at the same time; opne dies and the other feeds the other's daughter. When they grow up, the refugee's child finds out how hard marrying love and lust can be.

It would be unfair to give away too much of the plot - and, unusually for this kind of novel, there's a lot of it, making it reminiscent of Nancy Mitford as well as Mary Wesley. The posh but poor Dora and her mother Hilly are so alike that they could be the same person - sweet, innocent, sensible and idealistic. They are absolutely charming creations, and needless to say, the men they adore come across as horribly selfish, immature and snobbish (by far the nicest is Dora's father Stephen, and I'd have liked to see more of him). I can't imagine that Dora's future is going to be a bed of roses but then she's too sensible (despite the one absolutely bonkers thing she does) to expect this.

This is very much a novel set in a particular segment of upper middle class life, where men work as art dealers and women dabble in journalism. There's a LOT about clothes, which will no doubt win Young an ardent teen audience. The scenes set in India come close to parody, and weaken the rest even if, again, this is a typical rite of passage. But what it is absolutely marvellous at is capturing the beauty and intensity of being very young and passionate, and not really knowing what to do with yourself.


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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.

Escucha y Habla Inglés! Listen and Speak English!

¡Escucha y Habla Inglés!
By Frank Gerace, Ph.D.
Leer Es Poder Books, N.Y. 2009
ISBN 978-1-4196-9812-5
Genre: Study Resource for Language Study
Available at: http://www.EscuchaHabla.com

Review by Miriam Guarena for Guacuru Notes

At last a book in Spanish for the Intermediate Learner of English!

This book was inspired by the author’s teaching of adult immigrants in an active New York City Community College. It has been field tested on the Internet in PDF and e-book versions.

The work presents some of the principal difficulties that Spanish Speakers have with grammar and pronunciation when learning English. It is not a complete course but is aimed at the Spanish speaking person “who knows some English and who wants to take a few steps forward”. It presents the principal “claves” or essential points dealing with the most common errors. The book is written in simple, conversational Spanish, free of regionalisms. There are multiple tables and examples to illustrate the problems dealt with. Points of pronunciation are illustrated in recordings made by a native speaker of East Coast United States English.

Among the grammatical issues treated in the first part are the framing of questions, the adjective-noun concordance, subject and predicate, possessive adjectives and pronouns etc. But the approach is light and “ungrammatical”, aided by charts and tables, and an occasional flash of humor.

The second part of the work deals with the principal errors of pronunciation that plague the Spanish Speaker. The vowels and nouns are related to similar Spanish sounds; the articulation and formation of the sounds are explained; and practice in identification of the unfamiliar sounds is provided.

An important feature of the book is the more than 140 brief sound files related to the points made in both the grammar and pronunciation sections. The reader is directed to a website to listen to the sounds while at their computer, to download them to their preferred mp3 player, or to “burn” them to a CD.

An important feature of the work is its utilization of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to indicate the pronunciation of English. This will free the user of the confusion of the different diacritical marks used in different dictionaries.


For an extensive sample (all in Spanish) click on:http://www.inglesparalatinos.com/Muestra_Escuchar_Hablar_Ingles.pdfFrank Gerace


Author Biography

Frank Gerace Ph.D currently teaches English in New York City at a CUNY college as well as maintaining a strong bilingual presence on the web. He has served in Latin America in UN and national Educational and Communication Projects, and has taught in Bolivian and Peruvian Universities. His prevous Book, "Comunicación Horizontal: Cambio de Estructuras y Movilización Social" was a key part of the surge in Communication Studies in Latin America.. He provides guidance on accent reduction and the proper American English accent. He also offers resources for Spanish Speaking learners of English at http://www.InglesParaLatinos.com and for English speaking learners of Spanish at http://www.InglesParaLatinos.com/SpanishCourses.htm. Dr. Gerace helps parents wanting their children to speak Spanish at: http://www.BooksLibros.com/SpanishForNinos.htm. He maintains a blog at http://www.InglesParaHispanos.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.

Tina Carlson Review Smashing E-Book with a Twist

Thrift Me Deadly
By Wendy Dager
E-book
Available at: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/4474
Genre: Thriller, for mature audiences only due to graphic violence, language and situations.

Review by Tina Carlson for Smashwords

Wendy Dager writes a witty story of murder and dysfunction through the diary of Enid Barker, who collects vintage clothes, hates her job and suffers the judgement of family while killing anyone who volunteers to make her life harder than it already is.
The pace is fast and the murders are many as Wendy gives us a peek into vintage collecting and sociopathic behavior in a very funny way. This is a great read.

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Free sample and synopsis of this book is available online; book can be purchased for 40 percent off list price by using coupon code ML66J through December 31, 2009. For more about the author, visit www.wendydager.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.

Recession Calls for Special Job Search Skills

Title:Over the Gap
Author: Dave Patterson
Website:www.overthegap.comGenre: Business / Career
ISBN: 9780615316208

Reviewed by Linda Brandau for Bookvisions

Over The Gap is an excellent resource for those who are serious about looking for quality employment or are interested in a career change. Written in both instruction and workbook style, it challenges the reader to take a thoughtful look at their goals, skills, and area of employment they desire. The book has charts, worksheets, sample letters, and much more. The author, Dave Patterson, is a business executive and career coach with an understanding of today's job market, and his advice is a complete look at the challenge, the process of the search, and the targeted goal.

The book shows the reader how to market themselves for the career they desire. It explains proper networking, and the interviewing experience. Chapter 9: Creating a Position for Yourself might sound overreaching, but I especially enjoyed reading it because it actually happened for me a few years ago.

Finding your place in today's job market is hard work and takes research and skill. Over the Gap is a powerful book that will assist the job seeker in a systematic method to success. I recommend this book for individuals, schools, and employment assistance agencies.” – L. Brandau

Author Biography

Dave Patterson is an author, speaker, and leadership and career coach. Find him at www.OvertheGap.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.