Endless Summer: My Life with the Beach Boys
By Jack Lloyd
Bear Manor Media
ISBN-10: 1-59393-xxx-x (alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 973-1-59393-xxx-x (alk. paper)
(Release scheduled for Late July 2010)
Reviewed by Wesley Britton originally for “Wesley Britton’s Entertainment Scrapbook"
Of all the rock memoirs I’ve read this year, Jack Lloyd’s slice of the ‘60s is one of my favorites. For one matter, Lloyd knows readers want to know about the subject of his book’s title, so Endless Summer isn’t a full-blown autobiography. Lloyd doesn’t bog the early chapters down with his upbringing and his book ends when his tenure with the Beach Boys was over. So readers will quickly realize Lloyd is acting as a narrator of what he saw during some important years in rock history with a minimum of details about his own personal life. As a result, Lloyd says his account is a “tell some,” not “all” book.
More importantly, Lloyd provides a perspective into the music of the ‘60s very different from the usual memories of musicians or their girlfriends or wives. His role was, depending on what hat he was wearing, as a personal manager/promoter/producer who got into the entertainment business selling programs, watching the box office, arranging concert dates, and sitting in the office writing publicity and paying bills. In his early days, he got to know folks involved with the Smothers Brothers before he began spending considerable time on the road. Lloyd’s duties expanded to keeping a careful eye on the Beach Boys in general and drummer Dennis Wilson in particular, especially in the after-hours bars and speakeasys. It was a life in planes, hotels, getting the boys to the gig on time and finding food when the show was over. It was a life with unusual lessons. For example, Lloyd learned it’s better to hire prostitutes on the road—professionals don’t blackmail or come back with paternity suits. Check ages on driver’s licenses before letting the girls in the room. Be wary of girls who sleep with rock stars or their entourage in hopes of getting a record contract. And be more careful still with the locals who don’t always want to pay their bills.
The Beach Boys weren’t the only band Lloyd worked with, and much of his book is anecdotes about Sonny and Cher, Jim Morrison, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Buffalo Springfield, and others. It’s the story of an era when road managers and producers had a viable role in entertainment. Often using the band’s own funds, they made money from percentages and selling souvenir books. They had to be creative when ticket sales were low and invent publicity on the spot. Lloyd had to put out fires like fighting Canadian tax collectors dogging the band for cuts of concert revenues. Some of all these stories can be skimmed—not every stopover, drunken evening, or sexual encounter is entertaining. As Lloyd was mainly involved with the Beach Boys on tour, he has little to say about Brian Wilson as his time was spent with Bruce Johnson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Carl Wilson and, again, the wild drummer, Dennis Wilson. So there are no studio insights nor discussions of song composition or production. As other books cover this ground, this isn’t a criticism—merely a clarification of Lloyd’s scope. He was the guy who traveled ahead of the band to make sure the gigs ran smoothly and hopefully lucratively and he was the man calling radio stations to fill in where the record label failed. Remember, there was a time when Beach Boys LPs weren’t selling and the late ‘60s was an era when the group seemed out of step with current trends. In short, Lloyd was the guy who looked after the band’s interests while they were engaged in orgies, binges, performing, or preparing for tours. Whether he became a friend of the group remains an open question. When he moved on to greener pastures, no one seemed to notice. That’s rock ‘n roll.
If all this sounds like stories for a select audience, Lloyd has an engaging style and keeps the anecdotes coming at a fast clip. There’s plenty of humor and surprising twists. Whether you’re a Beach Boys fan or not, Endless Summer offers a perspective into rock history new to me, at least. The Stones had fun with their “Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man”—Lloyd demonstrates such bands wouldn’t have gotten very far without him.
Details and ordering information.
~ Dr. Wesley Britton has written four books on espionage in the media and is co-host of online radio’s “Dave White Presents.” Many of his reviews are posted at www.spywise.net and his radio interviews are archived at www.audioentertainment.org/dwp.
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
This blog, #TheNewBookReview, is "new" because it eschews #bookbigotry. It lets readers, reviewers, authors, and publishers expand the exposure of their favorite reviews, FREE. Info for submissions is in the "Send Me Your Fav Book Review" circle icon in the right column below. Find resources to help your career using the mini search engine below. #TheNewBookReview is a multi-award-winning blog including a MastersInEnglish.org recommendation.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Great Travel Reading for Women
Title: Serendipity House
Author: Joyce DeBacco
ISBN: 978-1-935013-98-3
Genre: women’s fiction w/romance
Publisher: Wild Child Publishing
Price: List $5.95 e-book only
Reviewed by Meg Kinsella of The Romance Studio
5 hearts out of 5
Sylvie Gardner is running from a controlling mother and a wedding she has discovered she doesn't want when she finds Serendipity House. Alexander Clemenceau is the private investigator hired by her ex-fiance to find her. Serendipity House is a bit rundown and full of unique seniors but Sylvie now has a place to find herself and perhaps the trust to love someone.
Joyce DeBacco has done a wonderful job of dealing with such deep emotional issue as mother-daughter conflicts. She does an excellent job in making you both see and feel with the heroine who feels she has never made her mom happy. We have all had the experiences she describes so accurately in the book. This book deals with all the different interpersonal relationships we have and we see Sylvie grow and become a stronger better person through these relationships. I really enjoyed this book even when I was cringing from reading some of the conversations between mothers and daughters. I felt a bit like I was sitting in the corner listening.
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
Author: Joyce DeBacco
ISBN: 978-1-935013-98-3
Genre: women’s fiction w/romance
Publisher: Wild Child Publishing
Price: List $5.95 e-book only
Reviewed by Meg Kinsella of The Romance Studio
5 hearts out of 5
Sylvie Gardner is running from a controlling mother and a wedding she has discovered she doesn't want when she finds Serendipity House. Alexander Clemenceau is the private investigator hired by her ex-fiance to find her. Serendipity House is a bit rundown and full of unique seniors but Sylvie now has a place to find herself and perhaps the trust to love someone.
Joyce DeBacco has done a wonderful job of dealing with such deep emotional issue as mother-daughter conflicts. She does an excellent job in making you both see and feel with the heroine who feels she has never made her mom happy. We have all had the experiences she describes so accurately in the book. This book deals with all the different interpersonal relationships we have and we see Sylvie grow and become a stronger better person through these relationships. I really enjoyed this book even when I was cringing from reading some of the conversations between mothers and daughters. I felt a bit like I was sitting in the corner listening.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Sculpting the Heart's Poetry While Conversing With the Masters
Sculpting the Heart's Poetry While Conversing With the Masters
By Joyce White
Reviewed by Molly Martin for Amazon
Joyce White's Sculpting the Heart's Poetry While Conversing With the Masters offers first some thoughts regarding Feminist Mythology.
Setting the tone is the first poem entitled Women in which all nuances of women are introduced from the kisses and tears, to rivalry, Caffeine, Nicotine and Prozac to an understanding that women have too many dimensions to simply set down on paper.
Poet White explains in Bird of God how she goes about constructing her rhythmical pieces.
Interspersed among the poetic odes in the work Sculpting the Heart's Poetry is found artwork including pen and ink drawings, photography and artwork created by the Masters. I found one photograph in particular to be... More >be particularly compelling, entitled A Family's Hands we see a grouping of hands including one of a baby and continuing on to the veined and conceivably arthritic hand of perhaps the oldest member of the family.
What daughter, I ponder might not find something with which to agree or to enjoy while reading the words of the four stanzas entitled Turning Into Mom.
Birthdays, Happy Children, and Becoming a Poem are some of the gentle, well crafted odes comprising Chapter 1 Feminist Mythology.
In the second Chapter of the book is found a collection of writer White's conversations with the Masters. From Zeus, Hermes, Dionysus and the First New Year Baby to Saint Raphael, and Madonna and Jesus and angels; poet White talks of love and flowers, and feeling loved, the thousand artists eyes. She tells of Artists who write and paint and create.
White tells of Raphael who comes to heal, and of angels who bless with celestial knowledge and of Jesus and the melodic music of Mozart and how angels fly and, Hermes. Hermes, the keeper of the in between, is chosen to report, record, and transport the dead.
Picasso is discussed in Chapter 3. That Poet White harbors a good bit of interest, caring and perhaps love for this artiste is very evident as the reader undertakes the works included in this series.
Picasso was born in Spain, moved to France and enjoyed a reputation as a renowned theater designer, draftsman, and sculptor, and, he was likely the greatest printmaker of his era and beyond.
White tells how Picasso's paintings fill her head, she relates that the artist's favorite model was Olga, and tells us something of that woman from her 22 inch waist to her dancing to unheard melodies, and while she looks a little odd in her cubic form, HE, no doubt, thought her perfectly constructed.
And one of my favorite paint artists, Van Gogh, is addressed in Chapter 4 which is introduced with a Chagall collage presented in muted magenta and lavender and is created by versifier White herself.
'There is beauty and bravery and achievement in Van Gogh's Starry Night.' I must agree.
Aphrodite and Venus and Marilyn Monroe, and Botticelli all become part of what we females are, we are women.
Chapter 5 leads the reader to Drama, Drama, Drama and tears like polliwogs, I think that is one of my favorite lines in the this section, and maybe even the work as a whole. Tears like polliwogs, what visual portrayals fill the senses. That, and poet White's assertion that if it looks and sounds like a poem, it is cause a smile. There is hope for all of us then, isn't there?
Money, Grammar and Endless love and barking Yorkies and graying hair and lips that taste of chocolate, White weaves visions with words.
Only a bard would recognize so easily that moths live, work and die much as do humans. She watches a spider spinning a web, and plays what if with white on white.
White pigeons hide from white cats and white birds search for white worms, and, she asks the question could we learn if white chalk wrote on a white chalkboard. We CAN live without a good many things we think we just have to have, but, can we actually live without red, orange, yellow, green, blue, black and brown?
I have cats, I particularly enjoyed the Ballet of Cats, 'by day they sit and stare in unison. They achieve lift off, twitch tails, and maybe even hiss ad stew. They are, cats by day and tigers by night.'
And Chapter 6 is filled with The Circle of Life. Works include evocative narrative of An Alcoholic, the delicate lilt Blossoms Praying, and mischevious First Dirty Word summing up a youngster's growing up, a Cowboy's Moonlight Ride, Hermit Poets and Ribbons, Bows and Lace present a slice of life across generations, times, places and gender.
Who should live and Who should die is a thought provoking discussion especially for those of us who have had, or may have soldier fathers, brothers, husbands, or today moms and sisters.
Growing Love, and The glass Dancer complete the work.
Rhymster White has crafted an eclectic, balanced work trailing across a myriad of themes. The work is wordsmith in content, wordsmith in beauty. That White has come through sorrow, enjoyed beauty and finds worthwhile in much is evidenced in her odes, stanzas and poems.
Lyricist Joyce White has strengthened herself using spiritual standards directing the core values set down in use of art therapy for sculpting the heart and thus the emotional wellbeing of the self. White employs these values creatively as a way to promote healing and growth and self awareness.
Renewal of verve, optimism, self discovery, moving on following tragedy or even a happy life changing event are all recurrent themes running through her work. White's Sculpting the Heart's Poetry thrusts wellness and good heartedness to the forefront. Sharing pain, hurt and happiness is therapeutic, liberating and cathartic White fosters integrity and wellbeing through the curative acts of creativity.
God focused dreams, work and doing embracing a belief of duality, harmonizing radiance and dark through verse and conversing with our spiritual leader fills our essence with the healing, joy and motivation to move forward with renewed vigor and self awareness in the face of the upsets we all face in life.
Filled with a poignant, ethereal quality the written works offered by White are counter balanced nicely with various depictions of art work including sculpture, pictures of various medium and photographs, all in all she has taken an eclectic set of materials and woven them into an affirmation of women in whole and the individual woman who may be reading.
Happy to recommend Joyce White's Sculpting the Heart's Poetry while conversing with the Masters.
For review I received an ARC from the author.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
By Joyce White
Reviewed by Molly Martin for Amazon
Joyce White's Sculpting the Heart's Poetry While Conversing With the Masters offers first some thoughts regarding Feminist Mythology.
Setting the tone is the first poem entitled Women in which all nuances of women are introduced from the kisses and tears, to rivalry, Caffeine, Nicotine and Prozac to an understanding that women have too many dimensions to simply set down on paper.
Poet White explains in Bird of God how she goes about constructing her rhythmical pieces.
Interspersed among the poetic odes in the work Sculpting the Heart's Poetry is found artwork including pen and ink drawings, photography and artwork created by the Masters. I found one photograph in particular to be... More >be particularly compelling, entitled A Family's Hands we see a grouping of hands including one of a baby and continuing on to the veined and conceivably arthritic hand of perhaps the oldest member of the family.
What daughter, I ponder might not find something with which to agree or to enjoy while reading the words of the four stanzas entitled Turning Into Mom.
Birthdays, Happy Children, and Becoming a Poem are some of the gentle, well crafted odes comprising Chapter 1 Feminist Mythology.
In the second Chapter of the book is found a collection of writer White's conversations with the Masters. From Zeus, Hermes, Dionysus and the First New Year Baby to Saint Raphael, and Madonna and Jesus and angels; poet White talks of love and flowers, and feeling loved, the thousand artists eyes. She tells of Artists who write and paint and create.
White tells of Raphael who comes to heal, and of angels who bless with celestial knowledge and of Jesus and the melodic music of Mozart and how angels fly and, Hermes. Hermes, the keeper of the in between, is chosen to report, record, and transport the dead.
Picasso is discussed in Chapter 3. That Poet White harbors a good bit of interest, caring and perhaps love for this artiste is very evident as the reader undertakes the works included in this series.
Picasso was born in Spain, moved to France and enjoyed a reputation as a renowned theater designer, draftsman, and sculptor, and, he was likely the greatest printmaker of his era and beyond.
White tells how Picasso's paintings fill her head, she relates that the artist's favorite model was Olga, and tells us something of that woman from her 22 inch waist to her dancing to unheard melodies, and while she looks a little odd in her cubic form, HE, no doubt, thought her perfectly constructed.
And one of my favorite paint artists, Van Gogh, is addressed in Chapter 4 which is introduced with a Chagall collage presented in muted magenta and lavender and is created by versifier White herself.
'There is beauty and bravery and achievement in Van Gogh's Starry Night.' I must agree.
Aphrodite and Venus and Marilyn Monroe, and Botticelli all become part of what we females are, we are women.
Chapter 5 leads the reader to Drama, Drama, Drama and tears like polliwogs, I think that is one of my favorite lines in the this section, and maybe even the work as a whole. Tears like polliwogs, what visual portrayals fill the senses. That, and poet White's assertion that if it looks and sounds like a poem, it is cause a smile. There is hope for all of us then, isn't there?
Money, Grammar and Endless love and barking Yorkies and graying hair and lips that taste of chocolate, White weaves visions with words.
Only a bard would recognize so easily that moths live, work and die much as do humans. She watches a spider spinning a web, and plays what if with white on white.
White pigeons hide from white cats and white birds search for white worms, and, she asks the question could we learn if white chalk wrote on a white chalkboard. We CAN live without a good many things we think we just have to have, but, can we actually live without red, orange, yellow, green, blue, black and brown?
I have cats, I particularly enjoyed the Ballet of Cats, 'by day they sit and stare in unison. They achieve lift off, twitch tails, and maybe even hiss ad stew. They are, cats by day and tigers by night.'
And Chapter 6 is filled with The Circle of Life. Works include evocative narrative of An Alcoholic, the delicate lilt Blossoms Praying, and mischevious First Dirty Word summing up a youngster's growing up, a Cowboy's Moonlight Ride, Hermit Poets and Ribbons, Bows and Lace present a slice of life across generations, times, places and gender.
Who should live and Who should die is a thought provoking discussion especially for those of us who have had, or may have soldier fathers, brothers, husbands, or today moms and sisters.
Growing Love, and The glass Dancer complete the work.
Rhymster White has crafted an eclectic, balanced work trailing across a myriad of themes. The work is wordsmith in content, wordsmith in beauty. That White has come through sorrow, enjoyed beauty and finds worthwhile in much is evidenced in her odes, stanzas and poems.
Lyricist Joyce White has strengthened herself using spiritual standards directing the core values set down in use of art therapy for sculpting the heart and thus the emotional wellbeing of the self. White employs these values creatively as a way to promote healing and growth and self awareness.
Renewal of verve, optimism, self discovery, moving on following tragedy or even a happy life changing event are all recurrent themes running through her work. White's Sculpting the Heart's Poetry thrusts wellness and good heartedness to the forefront. Sharing pain, hurt and happiness is therapeutic, liberating and cathartic White fosters integrity and wellbeing through the curative acts of creativity.
God focused dreams, work and doing embracing a belief of duality, harmonizing radiance and dark through verse and conversing with our spiritual leader fills our essence with the healing, joy and motivation to move forward with renewed vigor and self awareness in the face of the upsets we all face in life.
Filled with a poignant, ethereal quality the written works offered by White are counter balanced nicely with various depictions of art work including sculpture, pictures of various medium and photographs, all in all she has taken an eclectic set of materials and woven them into an affirmation of women in whole and the individual woman who may be reading.
Happy to recommend Joyce White's Sculpting the Heart's Poetry while conversing with the Masters.
For review I received an ARC from the author.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
Monday, July 12, 2010
Twenty Short Stories Let You Travel the World
Lost Angel Walkabout: One Traveler’s Tales
By Linda Ballou
ISBN: 978-1449971526
May 2010
Reviewed by Barbara Milbourn, a writer and editor in Nashville, Tennessee
In roughly twenty short stories, travel writer Linda Ballou takes us with her up active volcanoes in Costa Rica, down hundred-mile rivers in the Yukon Territory, over combination jumps and oxers in Ireland, beneath the Sea of Cortez, and along unforgettable jaunts through deserts, woods, peaks, and valleys in both hemispheres. Her tales span years of traveling—sometimes alone, occasionally with her mother or life partner, and often with others in search of soft adventure. Brimming with action, intelligence, regional history, funny mishaps or tight squeezes, each story is set against a backdrop of nature’s jaw-dropping beauty. Ballou aims to share her world view, and through her Eco-alerts make the reader care more deeply about our vanishing resources and places of wild beauty.
Living in greater Los Angeles among millions of other lost angels keeping pace in a hurried world, Linda Ballou makes no bones about her need to seek equilibrium, solitude, and salvation in the sublimity of nature. Forget thousand-thread count sheets at luxury hotels or shopping for the latest bling. Like the great figures liberally noted in her pieces—Robert Frost, Jack London, John Steinbeck, John Muir—Ballou prefers the great outdoors and is intimately acquainted with it. She is a naturalist, a thoughtful traveler, one caring toward the environment and sensitive to local populations both near and far. And, she is a meticulous researcher.
Lost Angel Walkabout is richly detailed and poetic. It gifts the reader with the depth of observation in the clear and careful naming of the world around us—places, peoples, plants, birds, mountain ranges, animals, and sea creatures. More satisfying than naming is storytelling the authentic connection made with the inhabitants of land, sea, and sky; ravens and great spirits, fin whales the size of city buses, or Native Americans forced to flee their land. Because the author has connected deeply, so does the reader. Something is gathered from every place visited, and it seems impossible not to connect with our own highest and best self through Ballou’s experiences—not to mention wanting to get up and go there.
Linda Ballou keeps good company too and includes interviews with renowned travel writer Tim Cahill and endurance rider Lari Shea. Like her travel writing hero Tim Cahill, Ballou sees humor in many of the predicaments she stumbles into, or out of, or overboard after.
Don’t be surprised to find her on the back of a galloping horse yelling “Yee Haw!” and let out a yell yourself.
Autographed copy with free shipping is available.
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
By Linda Ballou
ISBN: 978-1449971526
May 2010
Reviewed by Barbara Milbourn, a writer and editor in Nashville, Tennessee
In roughly twenty short stories, travel writer Linda Ballou takes us with her up active volcanoes in Costa Rica, down hundred-mile rivers in the Yukon Territory, over combination jumps and oxers in Ireland, beneath the Sea of Cortez, and along unforgettable jaunts through deserts, woods, peaks, and valleys in both hemispheres. Her tales span years of traveling—sometimes alone, occasionally with her mother or life partner, and often with others in search of soft adventure. Brimming with action, intelligence, regional history, funny mishaps or tight squeezes, each story is set against a backdrop of nature’s jaw-dropping beauty. Ballou aims to share her world view, and through her Eco-alerts make the reader care more deeply about our vanishing resources and places of wild beauty.
Living in greater Los Angeles among millions of other lost angels keeping pace in a hurried world, Linda Ballou makes no bones about her need to seek equilibrium, solitude, and salvation in the sublimity of nature. Forget thousand-thread count sheets at luxury hotels or shopping for the latest bling. Like the great figures liberally noted in her pieces—Robert Frost, Jack London, John Steinbeck, John Muir—Ballou prefers the great outdoors and is intimately acquainted with it. She is a naturalist, a thoughtful traveler, one caring toward the environment and sensitive to local populations both near and far. And, she is a meticulous researcher.
Lost Angel Walkabout is richly detailed and poetic. It gifts the reader with the depth of observation in the clear and careful naming of the world around us—places, peoples, plants, birds, mountain ranges, animals, and sea creatures. More satisfying than naming is storytelling the authentic connection made with the inhabitants of land, sea, and sky; ravens and great spirits, fin whales the size of city buses, or Native Americans forced to flee their land. Because the author has connected deeply, so does the reader. Something is gathered from every place visited, and it seems impossible not to connect with our own highest and best self through Ballou’s experiences—not to mention wanting to get up and go there.
Linda Ballou keeps good company too and includes interviews with renowned travel writer Tim Cahill and endurance rider Lari Shea. Like her travel writing hero Tim Cahill, Ballou sees humor in many of the predicaments she stumbles into, or out of, or overboard after.
Don’t be surprised to find her on the back of a galloping horse yelling “Yee Haw!” and let out a yell yourself.
Autographed copy with free shipping is available.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
Saturday, July 10, 2010
So, What Do YOU Know about Javelinas?
TITLE: Javelina (Have-uh-WHAT?)
AUTHOR: Gene K. Garrison
ISBN: 978-1-4528725-3-7
GENRE: Children's
Synopsis:
This 38-page book about javelinas, wild pig-like animals that roam the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and Mexico, is chock-full of of excellent photographs.
The author took 20 of them. Another photographer, Al Brown, is credited with 12. This is the second edition, revised. Six pages have been added and the photographs upgraded.
Keep in mind that the book is nonfiction. There are no talking beasts. They simply live their lives raising families, foraging for food, avoiding enemies, napping wherever they please, and raiding gardens. They are not cuddly, sweet pets. They can be fierce when they need to be, and not everyone is pleased to see them around. There are others, however, who feel privileged to observe this animals in action.
The author, Gene K. Garrison, is one of the latter. She kept a camera on a cabinet beneath a window and very quietly, and without any sudden movements, picked it up whenever she noticed wildlife at a small waterhole outside. That's how the closeups came into being. She said, "I didn't mind being patient because I was having fun." Al Brown, too, enjoyed photographing javelinas in his yard. His were not as skittish as Garrison's, probably because they had been born in a neighborhood where houses were closer together.
Here's an excerpt:
They hear every sound —
footsteps making crunching noises
on gravel, squirrels scurrying,
a turtle plodding across the land.
They smell all of these things,
including us.
There is also a vocabulary list at the back of the book with phonetic pronunciation and definitions that children can understand. In some cases, adults could use a little help in this area. For instance," MESQUITE (mes-KEET) — a desert tree with fern-like leaves."
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
AUTHOR: Gene K. Garrison
ISBN: 978-1-4528725-3-7
GENRE: Children's
Synopsis:
This 38-page book about javelinas, wild pig-like animals that roam the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and Mexico, is chock-full of of excellent photographs.
The author took 20 of them. Another photographer, Al Brown, is credited with 12. This is the second edition, revised. Six pages have been added and the photographs upgraded.
Keep in mind that the book is nonfiction. There are no talking beasts. They simply live their lives raising families, foraging for food, avoiding enemies, napping wherever they please, and raiding gardens. They are not cuddly, sweet pets. They can be fierce when they need to be, and not everyone is pleased to see them around. There are others, however, who feel privileged to observe this animals in action.
The author, Gene K. Garrison, is one of the latter. She kept a camera on a cabinet beneath a window and very quietly, and without any sudden movements, picked it up whenever she noticed wildlife at a small waterhole outside. That's how the closeups came into being. She said, "I didn't mind being patient because I was having fun." Al Brown, too, enjoyed photographing javelinas in his yard. His were not as skittish as Garrison's, probably because they had been born in a neighborhood where houses were closer together.
Here's an excerpt:
They hear every sound —
footsteps making crunching noises
on gravel, squirrels scurrying,
a turtle plodding across the land.
They smell all of these things,
including us.
There is also a vocabulary list at the back of the book with phonetic pronunciation and definitions that children can understand. In some cases, adults could use a little help in this area. For instance," MESQUITE (mes-KEET) — a desert tree with fern-like leaves."
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
Friday, July 9, 2010
Deb Hockenberry Recommends "Feisty Family Values"
TITLE: Feisty Family Values
AUTHOR: B.D. Tharp
PUBLISHER: Five Star (ME),
February 17, 2010
FORMAT: Hardcover
PRICE: $25.95, £18.39
PAGES: 271
ISBN-10: 159414849X
ISBN-13: 9781594148491
Reviewed by Deborah Hockenberry, Independent Reviewer
A cab stops in front of the Victorian mansion in a well-to-do neighborhood in Wichita, Kansas. The passenger fumbles through her wallet for the correct fare. Finding everything but thirty cents, she dives into her cracked vinyl purse in search of it. The passenger walks up the steps of the mansion to see if her cousin, Regina, will take her in. But why is she here?
Regina, a bitter lady, a snob and born with a silver spoon in her mouth, hesitantly lets her poor relation in. After all, Annabelle is family. Regina is sure that her cousin’s stay will only be temporary. It has to be temporary! What will the neighbors think and how did Annabelle get that black eye? Tillie joins Regina at the door and makes up Regina’s mind for her.
Tillie is Regina’s best friend. She also lives in the old Victorian. Tillie is the total opposite of Regina. She’s full of life, accepts people for who they are, never hesitates to tell Regina what she thinks and is also a gourmet cook. In short, she’s one feisty lady!
Annabelle is different from either Regina or Tillie. Life has made her a timid creature so she doesn’t really speak up much. She is so eager to please her cousin that she’s even willing to learn to cook the way Tillie does! Will Annabelle overcome her shyness?
Will these three women be able to live together as a family unit? After all, each lady is in her 60’s and life has made each totally different from the other.
What’s happening to Regina’s perfect life? Now, there’s a cat in the house not to mention the chaos of Annabelle’s three grandchildren that are there periodically. What has made Regina so bitter? We don’t find this out until the end of the book. To complicate matters even more, a hunk of a man moves in right across the street from the ladies. All three ladies fall for their handsome neighbor. Will he fall for one of them?
I highly recommend Feisty Family Values. This is a very compelling and relatable tale that I had trouble putting down. Everyone knows people like Regina, Tillie, and Annabelle.
B.D. Tharp’s book deals with cancer, parental abuse, child abuse, love in your 60’s and more. Not only did she touch on some very real issues in her book but she wrote a very entertaining one. Feisty Family Values keeps you turning the pages!
If you’d like to learn more about the author please visit her website at: http://bdtharp.com.
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The reviewer is Deb Hockenberry who blogs at http://thebumpyroadtopublishing.blogspot.com. Her reviews also appear at http://debsbookreviews.blogspot.com.
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
AUTHOR: B.D. Tharp
PUBLISHER: Five Star (ME),
February 17, 2010
FORMAT: Hardcover
PRICE: $25.95, £18.39
PAGES: 271
ISBN-10: 159414849X
ISBN-13: 9781594148491
Reviewed by Deborah Hockenberry, Independent Reviewer
A cab stops in front of the Victorian mansion in a well-to-do neighborhood in Wichita, Kansas. The passenger fumbles through her wallet for the correct fare. Finding everything but thirty cents, she dives into her cracked vinyl purse in search of it. The passenger walks up the steps of the mansion to see if her cousin, Regina, will take her in. But why is she here?
Regina, a bitter lady, a snob and born with a silver spoon in her mouth, hesitantly lets her poor relation in. After all, Annabelle is family. Regina is sure that her cousin’s stay will only be temporary. It has to be temporary! What will the neighbors think and how did Annabelle get that black eye? Tillie joins Regina at the door and makes up Regina’s mind for her.
Tillie is Regina’s best friend. She also lives in the old Victorian. Tillie is the total opposite of Regina. She’s full of life, accepts people for who they are, never hesitates to tell Regina what she thinks and is also a gourmet cook. In short, she’s one feisty lady!
Annabelle is different from either Regina or Tillie. Life has made her a timid creature so she doesn’t really speak up much. She is so eager to please her cousin that she’s even willing to learn to cook the way Tillie does! Will Annabelle overcome her shyness?
Will these three women be able to live together as a family unit? After all, each lady is in her 60’s and life has made each totally different from the other.
What’s happening to Regina’s perfect life? Now, there’s a cat in the house not to mention the chaos of Annabelle’s three grandchildren that are there periodically. What has made Regina so bitter? We don’t find this out until the end of the book. To complicate matters even more, a hunk of a man moves in right across the street from the ladies. All three ladies fall for their handsome neighbor. Will he fall for one of them?
I highly recommend Feisty Family Values. This is a very compelling and relatable tale that I had trouble putting down. Everyone knows people like Regina, Tillie, and Annabelle.
B.D. Tharp’s book deals with cancer, parental abuse, child abuse, love in your 60’s and more. Not only did she touch on some very real issues in her book but she wrote a very entertaining one. Feisty Family Values keeps you turning the pages!
If you’d like to learn more about the author please visit her website at: http://bdtharp.com.
----
The reviewer is Deb Hockenberry who blogs at http://thebumpyroadtopublishing.blogspot.com. Her reviews also appear at http://debsbookreviews.blogspot.com.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Bengal Book Award Winner Historically Accurate
River Passage
by p.m. terrell
Bengal Book Award
River Passage by p.m. Terrell recently won Best Fiction and Drama for 2010 in the Bengal Book Awards. The Nashville Metropolitan Government Archives has determined that River Passage is so historically accurate they have entered Ms. Terrell's original manuscript into the Archives for future researchers and historians.
River Passage is based on the true story of the Donelson journey that left Virginia bound for Fort Nashborough (now Nashville, TN) in the fall of 1779. Their goal was to bring businessmen and community leaders westward to expand America. Terrell's ancestors, the Neely family, were on that expedition. The trip was expected to take four weeks. Instead, more than four months after they left, a ragtag group of survivors limped into Fort Nashborough with a harrowing tale. Their river journey had taken them through hostile Indian Territory at the height of the Chickamauga Indian War. They also faced frostbite, near starvation, disease, deadly rapids --and a mutiny. The Indians attacked them over hundreds of miles, capturing some of the settlers, killing or wounding others, and leaving a few to tell the tale.
For more information about the journey, visit http://maryneely.com/journey.htm and for more information about the author, visit www.pmterrell.com.
Terrell is also the author of the historical suspense Songbirds are Free acclaimed suspense/thrillers Exit 22, Ricochet, Kickback, and The China Conspiracy and four nonfiction how-to books on using computers.
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
by p.m. terrell
Bengal Book Award
River Passage by p.m. Terrell recently won Best Fiction and Drama for 2010 in the Bengal Book Awards. The Nashville Metropolitan Government Archives has determined that River Passage is so historically accurate they have entered Ms. Terrell's original manuscript into the Archives for future researchers and historians.
River Passage is based on the true story of the Donelson journey that left Virginia bound for Fort Nashborough (now Nashville, TN) in the fall of 1779. Their goal was to bring businessmen and community leaders westward to expand America. Terrell's ancestors, the Neely family, were on that expedition. The trip was expected to take four weeks. Instead, more than four months after they left, a ragtag group of survivors limped into Fort Nashborough with a harrowing tale. Their river journey had taken them through hostile Indian Territory at the height of the Chickamauga Indian War. They also faced frostbite, near starvation, disease, deadly rapids --and a mutiny. The Indians attacked them over hundreds of miles, capturing some of the settlers, killing or wounding others, and leaving a few to tell the tale.
For more information about the journey, visit http://maryneely.com/journey.htm and for more information about the author, visit www.pmterrell.com.
Terrell is also the author of the historical suspense Songbirds are Free acclaimed suspense/thrillers Exit 22, Ricochet, Kickback, and The China Conspiracy and four nonfiction how-to books on using computers.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:
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