Lists to Help You Plan Your Reading for 2010

I know it's not January 1 but it's not too late to think about reading for 2010, is it? Here are a few I've been directly involved with:

MyShelf.com runs top ten lists from each of its reviewers and columnists. My list is there for you to peruse but mostly I'm proud to be on reviewer Jennifer Akers's list with the poetry chapbook I co-authored with Magdalena Ball. It is She Wore Emerald Then: Reflections On Motherhood. http://www.myshelf.com/toptenreads.html


Then there is the Top Ten List on Squidoo from Jennifer Akers. She included The Frugal Book Promoter as one of her Top Ten for LIFE changing books. Guess improving a career can be life changing. But I’m getting a really big, fat head here. You’ll find several other great books on writing on that list, too. http://www.squidoo.com/booklist.

You may also want to buzz over to see the prizes I give out every year. They aren't limited to ten nor do I always name ten. The Noble (Not Nobel!) prize is a fun way to honor excellence in literature that isn't considered for the Nobel--and that leaves lots of room for me to play! It is at http://www.myshelf.com/backtoliterature/column.htm. Find past year's winners every January in the archives. You reach them from the Back To Literature page.

I am on a campaign to get more people to read and to buy books as gifts. And, I'm hoping I can encourage them not only to support the publishing industry but also to support emerging writers. Maybe set a goal. Half of those books could be by emerging writers. In other words, Stephen King's On Writing is superb and so is Bird by Bird, but do a search on Amazon. There are many other books on writing that are good and that your writing friends (or reading friends) will love.
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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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Imagination on Board Author Reviews Avon Romance

An Artful Deception
By Karen Kogan
Avalon Books
Hardcover: 216 pages
ISBN-10: 0803499175
ISBN-13: 978-0803499171
$23.95


Reviewed by Connie Gotsch

Lady Katherine wants no part of marriage to Phillip, to whom she has been pledged since childhood. But as her carriage takes her farther and farther from her girlhood home, she realizes she must either accept Phillip as her husband, or Cedric, the cousin she detests.

When the carriage turns over on a rough road and her maid dies, Lady Katherine conceives a plan to avoid both Phillip and Cedric. She will pose as the maid until she can find her own husband But Phillip turns out to be handsome and much kinder than the bullyboy she remembers . Now what?

The absolutely delightful romance, An Artful Deception of course, by Karen Cogan, published by Avalon Books.

The story twists and turns as romances do, while Lady Katherine struggles to clear up the misunderstanding she has created. With the help of a jealous servant, Cedric finds her and closes in. Phillip becomes furious when he discovers her true identity and threatens to let Cedric have her.

Predictably, Lady Katharine straightens out her mess, as good romance heroines do, but the fun of An Artful Deception comes from watching her do it. Karen Cogan has an easy-to-read style and a good sense of pacing. She balances action with just the right amount of description and dialog.

An Artful Deception is a light, cheerful, and totally fun read. It’s great for a winter night by the fire, or a warm beach in some mid-February vacation spot.

The reviewer is the author of A Mouth Full of Shell and Snap Me a Future
Featured in "The Complete Writer's Journal" --www.redenginepress.com
Learn more at www.conniegotsch.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.
And while you're at it, as a courtesy to the author, please retweet this post:

Gay Fiction Given Applause By Reluctant Reviewer

Title: BenedictionA Novel
Genre: Gay Fiction
Author: Jim Arnold
Publisher: BookSurge
301 pp. $13.99
Kindle, $7.99
ISBN 9781439248577
Genre: Gay Fiction
Benediction Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb_QYDHPKeg



Reviewed by Victor J. Banis for Examiner.com



If I were to describe this novel in one word, it would be "earnest." And if I were to name its chief fault, it is that it wears its earnestness on its sleeve.

In all honesty, I am really not the best reader to review Benediction because it is exactly the kind of read I try to avoid. This has nothing at all to do with the merits or failings of the book, and everything to do with my own personal biases. I don't care for stories of catastrophic and/or terminal illness. For instance, I avoid AIDS novels, for reasons too complicated to get into here; and, really, this is an AIDS novel in which AIDS has been switched to prostate cancer.

Thus, in established AIDS novel fashion, we follow the fortunes of Ben Schmidt from early detection through the various stages of the illness and its treatment, with each step described in earnest, often clinical, detail. Men tend to not talk about prostate problems. It's probably a good thing for some to experience this with Ben. There's scarcely anything left unsaid.

So, why, you're wondering, am I writing about a book I didn't like—except, that I did, putting my personal preferences aside, and for what it is. And what it is, for the most part, is very well written.

The author is at his best in describing his settings, and the armchair traveler gets a lot for his ticket: an often lyrical San Francisco; raunchy New York club scenes; tacky giddy West Hollywood; Sydney, from sex dens to sand dunes; even Turin.

The plot—well, the illness mostly dominates that, though there is an off again on again relationship with the hunk next door; ditto with an internet trick; ditto the sexy doctor, and…hmm, might as well say it, Ben Schmidt is a slut. Also, once he falls off the AA wagon, a heavy duty lush and druggie.

Which brings up characterization. The people in the book are mostly well drawn, if mostly not very sympathetic. There just isn't anyone to root for. Certainly not poor Ben, who seems to have no fun at all, not even when he's having—often—sex. But I did come to admire him, and he has the good sense eventually to figure out where he needs to be; and that, too, is a tribute to the author, because I found myself thinking of Ben as I would of someone I know. Okay, someone who aggravates me no end, but still, my point is, the character does come alive.

The prose is literary. I'm surprised Kensington didn't jump all over this. As I was reading, I kept checking the cover, convinced I was reading a Kensington release. It should have been a shoo-in for a Lammie. It's the kind of thing they love. If I'd gotten it in time I'd have nominated it for a Publishing Triangle Award—there's one for debut novels, and this would have been worth their consideration.

All of which is to say, this is a really a fine book, and Jim Arnold is obviously a writer of considerable talent and a welcome addition to the glbt genre. Highly recommended, but with this caveat: it's a grueling journey, not only for Ben, but for the reader as well.













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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.
And while you're at it, as a courtesy to the author, please retweet this post:

Authors, Poets and Readers Unite for Haiti

This just came to me from Lillian Cauldwell. She is sponsoring a way for authors, poets and other artists to contribute spiritually and financially to Haiti:

On Saturday, January 16, Lillian Cauldwell is sponsoring a Mixed Media event at PIVTR LIVE airwaves to raise monies for the Haitian children.

Programming runs from 2 to 4 p.m. est . Spots are 10 minutes!!

Please reserve a spot to recite poetry, read a short-short story, sing a song or sing-along with me, tell jokes, share a thought or opinion to help raise monies for these kids who are hungry, in need of medical care, clothing, water and the basic necessities especially if they're parnets are missing or died.

All proceeds go to Mission Socorro. (More on how Mission Socorro will use the proceeds below).

Contact Info: Lillian Cauldwell; 734-827-9407; lillian.cauldwell@gmail.com

"Creator" Cauldwell
Voices of the People - United We Roar!
734-332-5902
http://internetvoicesradio.com

This is information on the organization to which Mission Socorro sends its donations for the Haitian children.

Bethany International is responding to the tragedy in Haiti in several ways. We will send our first relief team to Haiti in six weeks. Two more teams will follow. We welcome you to join one of these teams.

What to Do?
Bethany now oversees a ministry called Short-Term Evangelical Missions (STEM). STEM has sent 115 teams to Haiti over its 20-year history. In light of this, we believe we have a very good awareness of where the teams can go and what they can do once they are in Haiti.

You can learn more about the teams here: http://www.stemintl.org/trips/opportunities/teams/locations/haiti_restoration

No Gift Too Small
A second way to become involved is through a financial gift. Team members, while they raise their own support for the trip, will need materials and supplies. This will be in the tens of thousands of dollars. You can make an online gift today toward this relief effort. To do this, go to
https://secure.bethanyinternational.org/donate/index.php. Gifts to the Haiti Relief Initiative are the last option.

Bethany International
6820 Auto Club Road, Suite M, Bloomington, MN 55438

If you are interested in donating to an organization likely to get out immediate relief, you can also easily donate to one of my favorites, The Clinton Foundation.
https://re.clintonfoundation.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=3869


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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.
And while you're at it, as a courtesy to the author, please retweet this post:

Fran Lewis Raves About Funny Fiction "Hauling Checks"

Title: Hauling Checks
Author: Alex Stone
Genre: Fiction\Humorous, Transportation\Aviation
ISBN: 978-1449563332
Reviewer: Fran Lewis


Review by Fran Lewis

Fly the Unfriendly Skies

Hauling Checks by Alex Stone is a humorous, yet very enlightening novel that brings to light a profession that so many people have probably never heard of, or would ever be brave enough to try. The occupation of Freight Dogs is unique and dangerous. Flying small airplanes in storms, fog, lightning, ice, and snow; Freight Dogs transport their cargo wherever and whenever, no matter what the conditions may be. This interesting and humorous novel kept my attention from the start.

In Hauling Checks the pilots of Checkflight Airlines persevere, risking life and limb every minute they are in the air, carrying canceled checks that have to be delivered to banks. Their boss (The Chief) does not care about the lives of his pilots, only the money he needs to keep his business afloat. The fact that the engine might be on fire, the wings might be so iced up that the plane may not make it off the ground, or the fog so dense that the pilots cannot see does not seem to faze him, nor does he care.

Resorting to unethical and shady business practices, The Chief is thoughtless, unfeeling, and mercenary. He cuts costs, salaries, pilots, and more in his final resort to save Checkflight when it becomes apparent that his airline might go under. In order to compensate for his lack of management skills, he decides to resort to some unsavory business practices such as having his pilots make drug runs, money laundering flights, and transporting people who he claims can sit on the floor of the plane without seatbelts or a seat, just a rope to tie around them to keep them from falling out of the plane. The situations will make you laugh, and keep you on the edge of your seat dying to see what happens next.

With a cast of characters so ill suited to their profession, the pilots create havoc wherever they go, and rarely make their destinations on schedule. This novel really keeps you laughing and yet it’s a little frightening to think that these things could really happen. The narrator flies with one co-pilot that is always plastered and another who is depressed over two failed marriages and is just a drop delusional, which makes flying with him quite an experience.

These underpaid, unappreciated pilots of Checkflight Airlines clock an insurmountable number of hours flying for a company that gives them no perks, no bonuses, and certainly no help when trouble arises in the air. On one run they leave a door open and the checks fall out of the plane. Before you know it reporters are televising pictures of these bank checks raining all over downtown Cleveland. It is like an Abbot and Costello movie but even funnier.

Also part of the mix are Checkflight’s two dispatchers, who are totally unfit for their positions, and have no clue as to what they are supposed to be doing. One of the dispatchers is senile, and barely remembers where she is, or her own name, and the other lives in her own imaginary world. You never know what is going to happen, and yet the situations that are described are so far out, you just have to laugh or stop and say: “You have to be kidding.”

The pilots fly planes that are poorly maintained and in terrible disrepair. Fixing and repairing planes is out of the question. Mechanical failures arise constantly and the people who own Checkflight airlines do not care. The safety of the pilots is not their concern, only the timely delivery of the cargo. I would not exactly call them Checkflight airlines, maybe No Budget Airlines or High Jinks Airlines. But, whatever you call them, this book is great.

For those men out there who are Freight Dogs, you deserve a lot of credit. This book, although humorous, shows the seedier side of flying. As a pilot who has experienced a lot of situations in the air, and as someone who was a Freight Dog, the author writes from experience making the novel more realistic to the reader. “Hauling Checks” is so funny that I could not put it down. The stories, the incidents, and the characters will keep the reader astounded until the very end.

I never give stars for a book. I give this book FIVE NEW PLANES IN PERFECT WORKING CONDITION, FIVE NEW DISPATCHERS THAT CAN REMEMBER WHAT THEY ARE DOING, and ONE MECHANIC THAT CAN HANDLE THE REPAIRS.


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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.
And while you're at it, as a courtesy to the author, please retweet this post:

Norm Goldman Reviews Award-Winning Literary Novel

Houses: a novel
Genre: Fiction/Literary/Women's
Publisher: Leigh Walker Books
ISBN: 978-0-32893-5

Reviewed by Norm Goldman for BookPleasures.com and Amazon
Rated 5 stars on Amazon

You may never have heard of Cynthia Rogers Parks, author of Houses winner of the 2008 Good Read novel competition sponsored by A Woman's Write, but you will wonder why, when you've read this novel.

Parks did an incredible job delivering to her readers a cozy and humane narrative through the voice of her principal character, Lacey Winters. Unveiling a half century of her life from the 1950s onwards, Lacey spins quite an absorbing yarn, and despite being a work of fiction, we actually feel she is "real," particularly if you grew up around the same time and experienced some of the rough challenges that she endured.

One of the triumphs of this novel is the manner in which Parks depicts time and place, as she cleverly intertwines the many events that have preoccupied the media over the past fifty years--assassinations, riots, scandals, civil rights protests, women rights movements, and a host of other events that, as the back cover of the book most aptly sums up, " the turbulent 60s through the psychedelic 70s, the materialistic 80s and the booms and busts of the end of the last century." And she has marvelously accomplished this feat,while avoiding the trap of overwhelming us with a great deal of back story and grounding narration. Yet, Houses still manages to reveal more about a half a century and the ways in which people inhabited it than the flood of tomes devoted to it.

As I read this novel, I couldn't help asking myself, how do you take an inventory of your life? How do you measure your life? What do you use as your signposts? What do you include and what do you leave out? How do you want to be remembered? And then there is the "what if?" Life often doesn't turn out as we expected and in fact, as is the case with Lacey, sometimes it seems to take another direction entirely. Remember the Yiddish proverb, "Man plans, God laughs."

As for Lacey, she sketches her life as a collection of phases or milestones that she identifies with the assorted houses she has lived in from the time she was a tot living at her grandmother's home with her sister and father, after the fatal accident of her mother, until her last one, when she marries for the third time. Each corresponds to a segment of her life portraying a different theme or issue that runs the gamut from teenage pregnancy and marriage, miscarriage, spousal war-time death, poverty, parental and sibling estrangements, suburbia, domesticity and independence, infidelity, divorce, depression, mid-life crisis, empty nest syndrome, unemployment, to being widowed for the second time. As Lacey sums up: "You think, don't you, that you impose yourself, stamp your own individualism, on the places you choose to live in. In fact, it works the other way around. Sometimes houses have their own ideas."

Parks is a extraordinary writer who has a talent for picking out tiny, telling details that make an entire scene or event come alive. In addition, her fine ear for dialogue effortlessly infuses mild, wry humor throughout the novel.

Cynthia Rogers Parks holds an M.A. And Ph.D in English from Georgia State University where, according to her bio, she was one of the earliest entrants in their graduate Creative Writing Program. Subsequently she taught English, business writing, and ESL classes for fourteen years. Her short stories have been published in numerous university and regional literary publications and she is a former Redbook Fiction finalist.

Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor Bookpleasures
Cynthia Rogers Parks
http://housesthenovel.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.
And while you're at it, as a courtesy to the author, please retweet this post:

Pulp Fiction Reviewer Shares New Release

Threshold
By Bonnie Kozek
Genre: Mystery/Thriller - Noir
Publisher: iUniverse, Inc.
ISBN 978-0-595-49758-4

Reviewed by Ron Fortier for Pulp Fiction Reviews



REVIEW:

This book kicked me in the teeth. It’s an ugly slice of life few of
us ever get to see, or want to for that matter. Which is why turning
its pages was like sparring with a heavyweight. Every few scenes you
get your jaw rocked and your gut punched. It hurts like hell, but
once the literary adrenalin starts juicing, there’s no way you are
going to stop. Of course the challenge here is to try and tell you
what Bonnie Kozek writes like, when it’s damn near impossible. She’s
an original. Imagine what kind of hard boiled fiction Mickey Spillane
would have given us if he’d been a she? A sassy, angry, tough,
twenty-first century dame with a story to tell. That’s Ms. Kozek.

Honey McGuinness grew up with a suicidal mother who wanted to share
eternity with her. Only problem is, mom didn’t want to wait until
nature ran its course and opted to punch both their tickets by taking
a flying leap off a high-rise. She died, Honey lived. Sex, drugs and
a little rock and roll, the girl walked on the wild side until it all
became home, one she has no intentions of ever leaving.

“… what was I afraid of? I’d ingested, digested, shoved up my ass,
and shot into my bloodstream every kind of consciousness-numbing
intoxicant, narcotic, and medication known to man – and whatever I
missed in my later years my sick-o mother shoved down my throat in the
first sixteen. I was experienced, stoned and beautiful.”

When one of Honey’s homeless friends is gunned down in front of her
apartment and left to bleed to death, her bleak, comfy world is
shattered. Especially when she finds Billy was wired and the machine
tape is still on his body. Was he a helpless pawn of the cops? A
patsy sent into the drug flooded streets to be sacrificed to the scum?
Honey believed her heart had turned to stone long ago but with
Billy’s murder, she realizes, much to her own utter disbelief, that
she gives a damn. Then she finds an unlikely ally in a
goody-two-shoes rookie cop named Skinner. All of which propels Honey
on yet another personal voyage through hell to uncover a truth too
many powerful people want hidden permanently.

Threshold is a brutal, take-no-prisoners adult thriller that paints a disturbing, factual picture of a culture most Americans will never
know. Thank God for that. Whereas the fact that people do live like
this is a crime against all mankind. Bravo to Bonnie Kozek for having
the guts to write about it. My only question is, why was this book
published by a small, unknown publisher? If any book deserved to be a
Hard Case Crime title, it’s this one. They just don’t come any
meaner.

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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.
And while you're at it, as a courtesy to the author, please retweet this post: