Joy Smith Reviews Sci-Fi

Rescuing the Future: A Naomi Kinder Novel (e-book)
By Vincent Miskell (Smashwords, 2011)Link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/76371
Genre: Science FictionISBN 978-1-4659-5330-8

Reviewed by Joy V. Smith originally for Joy's Live Journal and at Smashwords

Reviewer's rating: 5 stars

Naomi Kinder is back with her friend Bonnie and her friend and lover, Leo, plus some new friends she makes along the way. This adventure is even more complicated for Naomi because it involves time travel and how they became the stuff of legends--or at least a children's story (dating back to their tussle with a black hole in Godspeed Inc)--and nanobots (the little dickens).

I loved the characters (the Medusan Marines were outstanding!), and I really enjoyed the story; as a matter of fact I finished it in one reading because I had to know what happened to everyone, including the main characters, the infested people, and especially Earth! (I did take breaks--to take the dog out, etc.--because reading for pleasure at the computer is something l rarely do. For the first time I saw a reason for buying a reader like Kindle or Nook.) I recommend this book because it's a great story, the quality of the writing is excellent, and the beauty and science of the background don't interrupt the story.

Note: Adult content

 

~ The reviewer blogs media tidbits and more at http://pagadan.livejournal.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 :

Josh Hathaway Reviews Guide Book for TV Program

Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D.

By Barbara Barnett

Author's Web site: http://barbarabarnett.com
Genre: Adult non-fiction
ISBN: 1550229559

Reviewed by Josh Hathaway originally for Blog Critics

House M.D. returned for its seventh season this week and not a moment too soon for the millions of fans worldwide. The award-winning show is one of the richest in recent television history, preparing to traverse a minefield this season that has torpedoed many acclaimed shows before it (I'll refrain from being more specific than that for those wishing to avoid spoilers). The show has sailed dangerous waters before with mixed results but through it all has flourished due to a magnetic force at its center. As Season 7 debuts, now is the perfect time to reflect on how the show reached this pivotal moment in its history and there is a new book that is perfect to do just that.

Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D. by Barbara Barnett is an outsider's look at the inner workings of one of the best shows that has ever hooked me. I say outsider because Barnett was not hired by the studio that produces the show (NBC Universal) nor has she ever worked for the show in any capacity, but she has gotten access to several of the show's writers, producers, and actors and used that access to help craft as comprehensive a look at the show as you're likely to find anywhere.

Before we leave that idea of access behind, now would probably be a good time to disclose the fact that a significant part of the evolution Chasing Zebras happened here at Blogcritics, where Barnett is a writer and editor. Before any of you start screaming conflict of interest, know this: neither Blogcritics nor I are getting cut in by the author or the publisher. Remember, writers and reporters who have worked for the New York Times or Washington Post have had their books reviewed by their home paper. Legendary journalist Bob Woodward just completed a book about President Obama and the war in Afghanistan. You'll probably read mention of it in thePost. My point is this: the work of Chasing Zebras is entirely that of Barnett and the review you're about to read is solely my opinion with no pressure to do anything other than review the book. With that out of the way, let's discuss Chasing Zebrasand House M.D.

One of Chasing Zebras' strengths is its structure. It is structured in a way that allows for a long read in one sitting but can also be used for picking and choosing your topic of interest or to quickly refer back to notes on a particular episode. There is more to the guide than simply recapping episodes. Barnett traces the evolution of characters and storylines, how they relate to one another, and like the show's main character brilliantly portrayed by the amazing Hugh Laurie she assembles the clues and does her own differential diagnosis.

It becomes clear throughout the guide Barnett is relentlessly enthusiastic about the show and obsessive about it, but that doesn't prevent her from offering criticisms or recognizing criticisms of other House fans about different aspects of the show and its workings. She discusses casting changes and how those were resolved and fan issues with them. She also notes a storyline in Season 3 that introduced a new foil for Dr. House was not entirely well received. She also looks into technical features such as how changes in the Fox network's commercial breaks caused the writers to structure and pace the show differently and the challenges that presented.

Chasing Zebras' greatest strength is its ability to be a primer for fans new to the show who want to catch up or delve deeper as well as rewarding obsessives like me who have seen every episode multiple times. I was continually amazed as I read through the examinations of the individual episodes and the broader themes at all the things I missed or never clued in to because I was following the horse, not the zebra. Barnett has spent a lot of time pouring over these episodes and connecting dots in a compelling way, and that's important because even if you don't reach the same conclusion on this point or that, she makes her case persuasively throughout.

Over the course of the guide, we learn interesting tidbits about how art imitates life and life imitates the art of House. We get examinations of the principle characters using Barnett's critical eye and in many cases through the eyes of the actors who portray and experience these characters and the writers who put words in their mouths. The music, settings, and ethical dilemmas that are so much a part of what makes the show great are also dissected. We become aware of things we've missed as we read these sections and also understand how they add to the impact of the more obvious dynamics in the show.

There is also a section devoted to recapping each episode through six seasons. The medical puzzle is discussed as are major plot points that are developed over multiple episodes. The book also identifies the "Eureka" moment, when some seemingly trivial piece of dialog or random occurrence leads House to the solution to the puzzle. My wife refers to this as the "Ham Sandwich moment," as House could seemingly find a cure for some obscure, infectious disease by looking at or eating a ham sandwich. It's a favorite moment of many of the best episodes and it's always fun to see the look on House's face when the final piece of the puzzle is put in place and to follow him to the end of that conclusion to episode's end.

Chasing Zebras

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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 :

Free Posters for Reader 'n' Writers

My friend (and the designer of the new book cover for 2^nd Edition of The Frugal Book Promoter!) has a new kind of club going. It is marketing genius, a way to introduce people to his graphic talents. He is Chaz DeSimone, www.chazdesimone.com.

His typographic design project features what he considers the most interesting and beautiful character, the ampersand.  He says,

• “Did you know that the ampersand used to be the last letter in the English alphabet?
• “And do you know how it got its name?
• “In fact, did you ever wonder why it is the shape it is, and why it has been designed in so many different configurations, most of which are valid and express exactly the same meaning? (Some are not true ampersands, probably because the "designer" did not know what the symbol is supposed to represent.)

“I will be explaining (and maybe surprising) you with the answers to the above questions, as I send you each AmperArt poster in the series. You'll also get some creative ideas from other subscribers on how they display their AmperArt pieces.

Right now, however, let's start your AmperArt collection with the first poster in the series, "Art & Design."

After you’ve signed up, your art comes to you with printing suggestions, etc. I can see this one in the office where I writer (it has yellow furniture!). Subscribe here: http://forms.aweber.com/form/91/119176491.htm

Visit Chaz's blog to see how he publicizes his clients and a little more on this poster project: http://chazdesimone.wordpress.com

Wait until you  see his first few designs in this future. You'll want to spice up your office for sure! And watch for the cover he did for me on my soon-to-be-released book!

~Chaz DeSimone may be reached at  Chaz DeSimone Graphic Design, 12228 Venice Blvd. #156, Los Angeles, CA 90066, USA

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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 :

Dr. Bramhall Battle for Tommorrow Highly Recommended

Title: The Battle for Tomorrow: a Fable

Author: Dr. Stuart Jeanne Bramhall

Website: www.stuartbramhall.com

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

ISBN: 978-1-61204-219-0

Genre: Fiction

 

Reviewed by Cecilia Lee for Allbooks Review International

 

In “The Battle for Tomorrow: A Fable”, you will read about current catastrophes facing our world from a totally different perspective.

This fascinating tale is about a vivacious 16-year-old girl who is headstrong and clearly independent. She has been through a lot - two pregnancies, and an equal number of abortions. She has to care for a disabled mother because the caregivers rarely last more than a few months. However, her little world is shattered when she develops a relationship with a 23-year-old nurse-cum-activist. He exposes her to his political and environmental ideals - combating the way the government deals with climate change and the downward spiraling economy. Soon, she believes in her boyfriend’s ideals as much as he does, even joining him on her first protest march! She becomes concerned about the effect these issues will have on young people like herself. In fact, she is so concerned about them that she leaves her home in Seattle and makes the long journey to Washington, D.C. She journeys that far for a non-violent resistance- training course - basically code for getting-arrested-for-civil-disobedience training. Not that she really wants to be arrested. Nevertheless, she jumps at the chance to be totally independent and is soon off on a journey that will change her life forever.

Dr. Stuart Jeanne Bramhall strikes me as a superb author, showing remarkable insight into the mind of this 16-year-old activist. This award-winning book will captivate and inspire the inner activist in all who read it!

Highly Recommended by reviewer: Cecilia Lee, Allbooks Review International, www.allbooksreviewint.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 :

Well Known Southwest Author Pens New Children's Book

Title: Belle’s Trial

Author: Connie Gotsch
Author's blog:  conniegotsch.blogspot.com
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 152 pages
Publisher: Artemesia Publishing (November 30, 2010)
Publisheer's Web site: apbooks.net
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1932926127
ISBN-13: 978-1932926125
Sequel to Belle's Star

The little rescue puppy, Belle, loves being Darcy’s pet, but dislikes lazy afternoons doing nothing. In search of a job, she digs out of the yard, knocks over waste baskets, and encourages Buster into all kinds of mischief. Darcy’s parents discuss giving her to a farmer who needs a working dog. Finally, they allow Darcy to put Belle into agility training, but Belle must complete the 4-H agility trial at the county fair before she can stay. Learning agility is hard, especially when it comes to climbing the terrifying teeter totter. She is so sure she’ll fall off, that she jumps wildly off the obstacle every time she faces it. She’ll be disqualified from the class and lose Darcy forever. Can she conquer her fear and and discipline herself to succeed?

 

~Connie Gotsch is an award-winning author listed in A History of New Mexico Press Women by Sandy Schauer and Denise Tessier. She has two published novels for adults, Snap Me a Future and A Mouth Full of Shell.

 

----- 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 :

Romantic Full Moon Bride Tours The Web

Full Moon Bride
By Shobhan Bantwal

Review by Lily Azerad-Goldman, B.F.A. is an artist and a children's author.

The Full Moon Bride is Shobhan Bantwal’s fifth book. Her first four books tackled serious and often complex topics of interest to contemporary women – especially women in India or of Indian culture. In her latest book she takes us inside the experiences of a young woman who is going through the arranged marriage process.

About The Full Moon Bride

What makes a marriage—love or compatibility? Passion or pragmatism? THE FULL MOON BRIDE is a compelling story that explores the fascinating subject of arranged marriage, as young Indian-American attorney Soorya Giri navigates the gulf between desire and tradition.

In choosing between two very different men, Soorya must reconcile her burgeoning independence and conservative background. And she must decide what matters most to her—not just in a husband, but in a family, a culture, and a life.

About Shobhan Bantwal

Award-winning author Shobhan Bantwal calls her writing “Bollywood in a Book”—romantic, colorful, action-packed tales, rich with elements of Indian culture—stories that entertain and educate. Shobhan has five published novels by Kensington Publishing, with a sixth slated for 2012. Shobhan can be contacted through her website: www.shobhanbantwal.com or Facebook.

Since 2002, Shobhan's articles and short stories have appeared in a variety of publications including The Writer magazine, India Abroad, Little India, U.S. 1, Desi Journal, India Currents, Overseas Indian, and New Woman. Her short stories have won honors and awards in fiction contests sponsored by Writer's Digest, New York Stories and New Woman magazines. Shobhan can be contacted through her website: www.shobhanbantwal.com or Facebook.

What People Are Saying –

Shobhan Bantwall is certainly a prolific author with her fifth book, The Full Moon Bride just released. After writing about serious social issues as India's dowry system, female-fetus abortions, the repressive lives of some women and political violence in India, she has chosen a lighter subject, the Indian-American immigrant experience. Her compelling characters and fine writing will keep readers enthralled.

Women's Fiction with a touch of romance and sometimes a little mystery is what Shobhan Bantwall is all about. She enjoys incorporating the rich elements of her Indian culture, religious beliefs, myths, legends, superstitions, foods, scents, recipes, clothing, accessories, language including slang, history, geography, and most anything that she feels adds to entertainment and knowledge.

Moreover, she beckons her readers to travel with her on adventures where they not only experience different places, tastes, smells and feelings through her characters, but also perceive their thrills, joys, sorrows and triumphs.

Written in the first person, The Full Moon Bride is charming and engaging. Soorya Giri has everything, wealth, a rich doting Indian family and a successful career. Despite the fact that Soorya is intelligent and a successful lawyer, she is very shy and at age thirty has not yet been on a date, let alone been kissed! She lacks the self-confidence of American girls. Thanks to her Indian upbringing and customs, she considers an arranged marriage, without giving it a second thought! Under the auspicious purnina (full moon) her parents invite a prospective groom and his family. She believes she will be rejected because of her “homely” appearance, as has occurred previously.

Much to her surprise, she likes the charming prospective groom Roger, but her self-confidence is such that she does not believe he is attracted to her. Perhaps, he will only like her because of her money and rich father. He has grandiose dreams of putting up a play on Broadway that require a substantial investment.

A game of cat and mouse ensues with Roger. Does she or does she not like him? Does he truly love her? And at about the same time, she is attracted to a widowed black lawyer. We cannot wait to see who is going to gain her heart.

The author mixes this love triangle with Indian culture, cuisine and customs from the old country. She brings to life her characters with a lot of bantering dialogue and authentic descriptions of their lives in America. Join Soorya on her bumpy journey to find that nebulous, elusive thing called “love!”

Bantwall's new novel explores the complicated patterns of self-confidence, love and attraction, trying to balance Indian customs and American experience. She has created credible characters, with all their vulnerabilities, flaws, quirks, virtues and vices! The characters were so true to life that I found that I missed them a lot when I finished reading The Full Moon Bride! Maybe they will come back in Ms Bantwal's next novel. This one is a real page turner, don't miss it!

Title – Full Moon Bride      

Author – Shobhan Bantwal

Author's website link – http://www.shobhanbantwal.com 

Genre or category – Women’s Fiction, Suspense, Ethnic Fiction

ISBN – 978-0-7582-5884-7

(Review originally posted at - http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitepublisher/articles/3504/1/Shobhan-Bantwalls-The-Full-Moon-Bride-Reviewed-By-Lily-Azerad-Goldman-of-Bookpleasurescom/Page1.html)

For much more information about Shobhan Bantwal and Full Moon Bride, you can visit her website http://www.shobhanbantwal.com and you can order your own copy at http://www.amazon.com/Full-Moon-Bride-Shobhan-Bantwal/dp/0758258844

----- 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 :

Kirkus Indie Reviews Prehistoric Adventure

Title: Misfits and Heroes: West from Africa

Author: Kathleen Flanagan Rollins
Blog: misfitsandheroes.wordpress.com
Facebook: Misfits and Heroes
Genre: prehistoric adventure
ISBN: 978-1453755037
Page count: 442pp

Reviewer: Kirkus Indie Reviews

Rollins tells an epic tale of ancient conflict, migration, spirit-world mystery and love.

The story is set in 12,000 B.C. in the forests and on the grassy steppes of West Africa. From the get-go, Rollins establishes a lovely, haunting tone: “It was the smell that had brought him here, to this village, the complicated, heavy smell of men and women and children.” Naaba is an outcast and a wanderer, and in this village he will find a like soul in Asha, who has a deep affinity for the watery realm, but has so far had her yearnings thwarted. They quit the village and set out to find a home. They move through a world in flux—“There were powerful places in every community: certain hills or lakes or trees that held special energy… but this was different somehow; it was a deliberate manipulation of that power.” These early humans learn that power can be diabolical and that the gods of the proto-myths, once protective, could be just as cruelly fickle, happily killing humans “not for anything they’d done, but only because the gods found it entertaining…. [I]t was a difficult balance, to acknowledge the power of the gods and yet maintain the importance of individual life.” A dynamic tension runs through the quest, a push-pull of forces—cooperative captives, murderous love, surprising intersections of principal players—as Naaba and Asha move forward, still following their noses, through a number of different communities that Rollins draws with detailed color, and the pair gather a cast of characters around them, fashioned with panache by Rollins into breathing entities with unforeseen weaknesses and unexpected strengths. They also learn to sail and ride a hellacious storm to the Antilles. The variety of settings—brutal war scenes, sporting contests, mysterious happenings in sacred places, the spookiness of what lies beneath the ocean’s surface, island biogeography—are meticulously plotted, the language precise but not prim, with an intriguing contrapuntal melody between the cadenced formality of Dashona, the storyteller within the text, and the liquid nature of Rollin’s narrative.

The kind of dangerous book that makes you want to remove most of your clothing, climb in a dugout and just start paddling.

----- 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 :