The New Book Review

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Splinters On The Carpenter's Floor

Author: Randolph Nicholas Alvis
Website: www.CreationsCarpenter.com
Genre: Spiritual Help
ISBN: 978-1-60383-183-3
Publisher: Holy Fire Publishing Company

Reviewed by Dominique Sessons, originally for Apex Reviews

Stuck in the midst of a deep, worsening depression, Randolph Alvis prayed fervently to God to release him from his metal and emotional affliction. In turn, God not only heard Randolph's prayers and freed him from his spiritual plight, but He also directed him to record his prayers in written form for the benefit of the countless others worldwide who continue to suffer from depression everyday. As a result Splinters On The Carpenter's Floor is the fruit of Randolph's labors.

Comprised of more than 40 insighful musings, Splinters addresses a wide range of different topics, allowing Alvis to strike a personal chord with readers from all walks of life. Touching on everything from having patience to fighting peer pressure to adopting a more humble attitude, Splinters is a ready source of constant inspiration for anyone struggling to overcome the vast and sundry challenges of their lives. From the start, Alvis doesn't claim to be a biblical scholar, but his sagacious insights are based on the considerable wealth of his real life experiences, and, therefore, have just as much potential to have a sound, solid impact on the lives of many who seek such practical direction and guidance.

From a deep, heartfelt place, Randolph Alvis has forged an inspirational, deeply moving offering sure to serve as a balm for the daily spiritual maladies of the masses. Kudos to Alvis for taking such a courageous, selfless step in helping to improve the lot of his fellow man.

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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 read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Friday, July 15, 2011

Title: Communication With All Life: Revelations of an Animal Communicator
Author: Joan Ranquet
www.joanranquet.com
Genre: non-fictionISBN-10: 9781401916817

Reviewed by Kelli Kozak, originall for Amazon.com

Joan Ranquet's "Communication with all Life, Revelations of an Animal Communicator" is not only truly fascinating reading, but is full of inspirational stories and lots of tools that any animal lover can use to communicate with animals. As the author notes, we are all animal communicators, whether we know it or not... even whether we believe in it or not!

There are many ways we communicate with our animal companions. We use words, of course, but what we don't realize is that we are constantly communicating using pictures and feelings, as well. For example, when we tell - in words - our animals not to do something, they don't understand the "not" part, because the picture we invariably have in our minds is of the animal actually doing what we wish they wouldn't. In our minds is, "Go ahead, pee on the couch." Our expectation is often, "Well, they going to do it again anyway!"

Another example of how we unknowingly send messages is by what we are feeling: When packing for a trip, we are apprehensive about leaving our animals behind, worrying that they will miss us and feel sad and that we will miss them terribly! This often leads to separation anxiety and depression. We can try being happy about the trip and about the fact that we will be back soon and that they will have a great time while we are gone!

This book contains many exercises we can use to deepen our intuition, as well, in order to get pictures, words and feelings from our companions. I have been working with the techniques and have been able to get images from my dogs and horse. My dogs were out late enjoying their nightly run. I began to worry - it had been an hour - and tuned in to the pack leader. I got an image of a large white curve. When the dogs returned five minutes later, I realized that the image was of the roof of the barn next door. That's what the pack leader saw from the distance and that's the direction they came back from!

This book contains many stories of how Joan's advanced communication skills saved many a relationship - between animal and steward, between animals in the same household and even between the human members of a family!

This is a truly fascinating read and one that will change forever the way you behave, communicate and think about the animals around you.

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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 read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Horse Thriller? See What You Think

Title: The Bone Trail
Nell Walton
Soft Cover, 2010, $13.95 U.S.
ISBN: 978-1-45649-90799
Available from Amazon

Reviewed by Carol M. Upton: www.dreamsaloud.ca
First published in Horses All: www.horsesall.com

On the afternoon of the last day of Lindy Abraham’s life, she stood leaning against an old Jeep Cherokee, once red, now faded to kind of a dusky umber, rapping her heel impatiently against a tire. She waited in the Nevada desert in the middle of June; it was hot, and her peach colored cotton tank top stuck unpleasantly in the hollow between her narrow shoulders. ~ Nell Walton

In The Bone Trail, Nell Walton hooks the reader from the very start. We can feel the unrelenting heat and isolation of the desert, and the vulnerability of those who venture there. I was immediately drawn into this exciting story about the disappearance of two wild horse advocates – mystery, thriller and romance all rolled into one.

Walton’s book is inspired by the true-life events with which many horse lovers are familiar – the brutal helicopter roundups of wild mustangs off U.S. public lands, hearing of them being run to exhaustion into long-term warehousing facilities, where many face illness and death. But, there is more to this story, something far worse, and investigative journalist Kate Wyndham is determined to the discover the truth, even at great personal risk.

Every single character in this novel is lively and engaging – from the cold-blooded mining security staff to the Shoshone Reservation inhabitants to the stonewalling local police. Before we know it, we are following Kate’s terrifying trail, gripped with fear and sickened by the possible outcome.

This is one of those books the reader hopes will never end. Rumor has it that Walton is working on a sequel and there is no doubt readers will be lined up to get their hands on it.

~Nell Walton is a journalist and the founder of the online equestrian news magazine, The AllHorses Post (www.allpetspost.org/allhorsespost). She lives with her husband and four horses (including two mustangs) in East Tennessee.

~Submitted by Carol Upton (604) 886-8951
Dreams Aloud Promotions
~ Linking your dreams to the worldwww.dreamsaloud.ca

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Young Adult Novel Gets Rave Review

Title - New England Witch Chronicles
Author - Chelsea Bellingeri
Link - www.chelseabellingeri.com
Genre - Young Adult
ISBN - 9781463648978

Reveiwed by Lisa Luna originally for Amazon

This was a WONDERFUL BOOK! ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS! Chelsea Bellingeri does an exceptional job drawing her readers into the world of her characters. I felt like I knew each and every one of them by the time I finished, and I cannot wait to see what will happen in the next book! You LOVE Alex from the start! Peters and her relationship is fantastic, I LOVED it! Then the author throws in a "hot new guy in town" James, and it really starts the fireworks! The nightmare scenes are really good! The ending left me really wanting to know what happens next! I will be the first in line for the 2nd Book in this series! I REALLY LOVE how Bellingeri writes she really takes you into their world and you get to know and LOVE the characters. She is my new favorite author! A great read I would HIGHLY recommend it!

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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 read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

A Gypsy in New York Celebrates her 100th Birthday

A Gypsy in New York
Author: Juliette de Bairacli Levy
Ashtree Publishing
Genre: Memoir

A revised edition of A Gypsy in New York by the renowned author and healer, Juliette de Bairacli Levy, known as the Grandmother of Herbal Medicine who (11/11/12- 5/28/09) would soon have celebrated her upcoming 100^th birthday.

Before her death in 2009, Juliette de Bairacli Levy collaborated with Susun “Wise Woman” S. Weed, to update several of her books, all of which will be re-released this summer. http://bitly.com/kZziVJ

Levy was born on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1912 in Manchester, England. She was educated at Lowther College, one of the best girls schools in Britain, and went on to study veterinary medicine at the Universities of Manchester and Liverpool, but she left university after two years to study with the Gypsies and peasants of the world.

In the late 1930's Juliette ran a distemper clinic in London where, at a time when many dogs were dying, she treated and cured hundreds of dogs with fasting, herbs and a natural diet. In the 1930's Juliette developed the first line of herbal supplements for animals known as Natural Rearing Products which are today distributed worldwide. She also worked with wounded soldiers and later cured thousands of sheep declared incurable by conventional vets.

In the 1940's, while travelling in America, Spain, France, North Africa and Turkey, Juliette gathered herbal remedies from the nomadic and peasant peoples of these lands. When her Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable was published in 1951, it was the first veterinary herbal ever to be published making information previously passed by word of mouth available in print.

Thus Juliette became THE pioneer of what is known today as holistic animal care. She went on to write The Complete Herbal Book for the Dog. Both these books together with Juliette's Illustrated Herbal Handbook for Everyone and Natural Rearing of Children have become classics and many generations of humans & animals have been raised & healed on these books. As well as her herbal books, she has written several travel books, two novels and three books of poems.

This is part of the launch and online book tour for that book that includes bonuses for the purchase of this book. Find that bonus page and other information at http://bit.ly/natmed .

Here's what people are saying about A Gypsy in New York:

In this richly detailed memoir, Juliette de Bairacli Levy – one of the founders of American herbalism – offers us a rare and compelling documentary. It is at once a travel book, and herbal guide and a compendium of Gypsy lore and Gypsy ways. Juliette gives us river winds, strange characters in the streets by day, rats scurrying by at night, and legions of cockroaches in the apartments, against whose window the blossoms of apple and pear trees toss, even in the great city’s cement heart. In this richly detailed memoir, Juliette de Bairacli Levy offers us a rare and compelling documentary.

If you love animals or plants, you’ll love Juliette de Bairacli Levy & her books.” ~ Susun Weed. http://bit.ly/natmed

This jewel-like memoir details Juliette’s love of nature & animals as she relates w/Gypsies.http://bit.ly/natmed

~This book launch tour comes to you from

Denise Cassino
Publicist
Book Marketing Specialist
303 838 3399
skype: denise.cassino
www.wizardlywebdesigns.com
www.spiritoftheseasoncatalog.com
www.mybestsellerlaunch.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 read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Christmas in July: Prepare Memorable Greetings Now

Blooming Red: Unconventional Christmas Poetry
Co-authors Magdalena Ball and Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Genre: Poetry/holiday
Author's Web site: www.howtodoitfrugally.com/poetry_books.htm

Little Known Poetry History: Chapbooks, a tradition in the poetry world since Elizabethan times, are named after the itinerant chapmen who travelled from village to village selling their goods.

Award-winning poets Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball figure nothing is more meaningful at any holiday than a poem—a real poem, not sing-songy impersonal verse from the shelves of card shops. They also noticed that many people order imprinted holiday greetings (very expensive ones!) in July. With that in mind they are offering a great Christmas-in-July incentive to those early birds who want to gift a chapbook Blooming Red: Christmas Poetry for the Rational to their most cherished friends. .

But how would poetry lovers, literature lovers and those who just like something different and beautiful to use as mini gifts or greetings know if this little booklet is for them?

These multi award-winning authors have arranged to get the e-book version for 50% off until August 6. That means your sample comes to you for a mere $1.98 using the special coupon code ZZ47S when you go to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/45393

Then, when you fall in love with the exquisite poetry and the beautiful artwork by award-winning California watercolorist Vicki Thomas, you can order 25 full paperback booklets for only $3.00 each. This is a substantial discount from Amazon’s price of $6.95 each. They become your card and gift in one and orders of 12 or more come autographed by one of the poets. That’s got to be more personal than an imprint.

You just send your shipping address with your check or money order to:

Carolyn Howard-Johnson

PO Box 1101
LaCanada-Flintridge, CA 91012-1101

Include $6. Ship charges for the continental US and $12 worldwide, any quantity. Please order before August 15^th.

Blooming Red includes Maggie’s science-inspired and Carolyn’s nostalgic poetry. It also includes some humorous poems for fair measure.

Magdalena Ball runs the highly respected CompulsiveReader.com review site. She is the author of the poetry book Repulsion Thrust, which was published to unanimous 5-star reviews. Her novel Sleep Before Evening, was a Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson's poetry appears frequently in review journals. She is listed in Poets & Writers and her chapbook of poetry, Tracings (www.budurl.com/CarolynsTracings ), was given the Award of Excellence by the Military Writers Society of America and She Wore Emerald Then won its highest honor of gold. One of her poems recently won the Franklin Christoph Poetry Prize. She is also an award-winning novelist and short story writer and instructor for UCLA Extension Writers' Program.

For more information on any of the chapbooks in this poetry series, contact either of the authors or visit media rooms at www.howtodoitfrugally.com or www.magdalenaball.com. To learn more about artist Vicki Thomas and to see her selections of her work, go to www.vickithomasartist.com

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Support material available electronically or by post on request. E-mail hojonews (at) AOL (dot) com.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Military Nonfiction Reviewed by Military Writer

Title: Humble Heroes, How The USS Nashville CL43 Fought WWII

Author: Steven George Bustin
Publisher: CreateSpace (Amazon)
Author Websites: www.ussnashville.org, www.bustinmedia.com
Author Blog: www.humbleheroeswwii.blogspot.com
Genre: Historial Non-Fiction

Originally Reviewed by Donald J. Farinacci for Amazon.

The USS Nashville began its epic journey across the turbulant waters of World War II in February 1941 when it transported a contingent of U.S. Marines to Wake Island. When she finally sailed into San Francisco Harbor in January of 1946 on her return to the United States, she carried an incredible legacy to her native shores of pain, loss, horror, grief and death combined with heroism, devotion, selflessness, loyalty, skill and great distinction. If she could tell her own tale, it would no doubt be with the same humility shown by the humble heroes who served with such dedication upon her blood-stained and fire-scarred decks.

But, the job of telling that engrossing tale has fallen to Steven George Bustin, a writer of great clarity and instinctive empathy for the individuals whose exploits and travails he so lovingly depicts on the pages of this inspiring work. And the story of The Nashville and its intrepid crew is in good hands. "Humble Heroes" is meticulously crafted--both as a fond and poignant remembrance and a breathtaking tale of adventure in the perilous waters of the Pacific during WWII.

The Nashville seemed to be everywhere: on Lend Lease missions in the North Atlantic, as part of Doolittle's daring raid on Tokyo, at Midway, Hollandia, New Guinia, the Battle of Leyte Gulf and as MacArthur's flagship on his triumphant return to the Phillipines. Full of intriguing first-hand vignettes from former crew members, it is also a history of the War in the Pacific in micrcosm. "Humble Heroes" is masterful in its thoroughness and truly a great read, especially for World War II buffs and history buffs in general.

~The reviewer is Donald J. Farinacci, author of Truman and MacArthur,
Adversaries For A Common Cause (Merriam Press) as well as three other books.

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