World War II Fiction Reviewed

TITLE: 1106 Grand Boulevard

AUTHOR: Betty Dravis

PUBLISHER: Canterbury House Publishing, Ltd.,

http://www.canterburyhousepublishing.com

FORMATS: E-book

PRICE: Kindle $4.99 (US), £3.58

PAGES: 312

ASIN: B00564TQ28

Reviews by Deb Hockenberry

Let’s travel back in time to the 1930’s. It’s evening and an argument has just broken and Billie Jean accidentally gets shot in the shoulder by her husband, Cal. Running for her life she hides from her husband in the bushes. Naturally, she goes back to her childhood home…1106 Grand Boulevard. This is one woman’s story of her search for true love during and after the turbulent World War II years.

At her childhood home, she is welcomed with open arms by her family. Naturally, her parents admit her to the hospital where the doctors repair her shoulder.

Now that sixteen-year-old Billie Jean is married, can she stay at her childhood home or will her stern mother make her go back to her manic husband?

Aunt Tommie enters the story here. She believes in marrying rich and having the best of everything. She takes Billie Jean to Arizona to live with her and her uncle. Billie Jean is schooled in the proper way to get a rich husband. Aunt Tommie teaches her how to walk, talk and behave like a lady around the ‘right’ people. At her coming out party, Billie meets a handsome man in his twenties named Jackson. Of course, Jackson is struck by Billie Jean’s beauty and wants to marry her.

By this time, Billie Jean is used to the high life and the attention shown to her by men. She flits from man to man searching for someone who can take Cal’s place. She marries several of these men. Each time she marries, Billie Jean is sure she is in love. But is she?

Six times she goes home to 1106 Grand Boulevard where her sister helps her drown her sorrows by going shopping. She goes back to 1106 Grand Boulevard each time a husband dies or when Billie Jean goes through a divorce. Once she went back when her then husband went off to fight in World War II. Will there be a seventh homecoming for Billie? Will Billie Jean ever find true love or will she keep flitting from man to man like a bee flits from flower to flower?

There are a couple of ways to find out more about the author of this love story. You can go to Ms. Dravis’ website at: http://www.bettydravis.com and click on the ‘Bio’ tab. You can also surf here to read more about her: http://kindlenationdaily.com/2011/08/who-is-betty-dravis.

You can find out more about 1106 Grand Boulevard by going to her website at: http://www.bettydravis.com. Just click on the ‘Books and Stories’ tab.

You can pick up this excellent e-book at several places. Among them are Amazon (US) (click on the widget in this column) and Amazon (UK) http://www.amazon.co.uk. Go to the kindle store at Amazon to find this story of life during the World War II era. You can also find it at Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com and at Barnes & Noble for the Nook http://www.barnesandnoble.com.

Reviewed by Deb Hockenberry

The Bumpy Road http://thebumpyroadtopublishing.blogspot.com

Deb's Book Nook 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 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 :

Nonfiction Book That Leads to Better Teamwork Tours

Leadership Soup, A Healthy Yet Tasty Recipe for Living and Leading on Purpose
By Kamran Akbarzadeah
Available in hardcover and paperback
Publisher: Xlibris 

Leadership Soup, A Healthy Yet Tasty Recipe for Living and Leading lets you attain productivity, profit, and prosperity by linking purpose, passion, and people; Leadership Soup provides you a healthy yet tasty recipe for living on purpose and leading on purpose. 

This book is full of simple and powerful insights, tools, and solutions for becoming a profound and authrentic leader who leads with his or her heart and empowers others to soar to greatness no matter who they are and what they do. This book will show you and your team how to lead and succeed. www.leadershipsoupbook.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 :

Kristin Johnson Reviews Young Adult Book with Asian Influence

1. 

Title: WALKING THROUGH WALLS

Author: Karen Cioffi
Illustrator: Aidana WillowRaven
Publisher: 4RV Publishing, LLC
Genre: Middle Grade/Young Adult

Reviewed by Kristin Johnson

Wang bound the last bunch of wheat stalks as the sun beat down on the field. Sweat poured from the back of his neck drenching the cotton shirt he wore.

I hate doing this work. He hurled the bundles on a cart. “Father, the bales are stacked. I am going home; it is too hot.”

Twelve-year-old Wang longed to be an Eternal. He craved wealth . . . and power….

So opens Karen Cioffi’s retelling of a classic Chinese fable. In just a few sentences of this 61-page children’s book, she establishes the main character, a disgruntled twelve-year-old boy, and the conflict, his dreams of a life away from unending hard work on his family farm. She also hints at a mystery: what is an Eternal?

In short order, Cioffi also introduces us to a bit more of Wang’s personality. Like any 12-year-old, he fights with his sister and his father. He knows his father wants him to work on the farm rather than daydream about learning magic and being “the richest man in all of China”.  When he receives a dream visitation from the dragon illustrated on the cover—think ERAGON set in China—Wang decides his father can’t keep him on his peasant farm any more.

After Wang goes to the Elder of his village, a lemon-loving mystic, and asks the way to the Eternals’ home, he ends up more confused than ever. In typical martial-arts movie fashion the Elder speaks in cryptic messages before scolding Wang for seeking wealth and power for their own sake: “I cannot give you the information you seek. Your heart has already spoken. Go home and set your sights on learning patience and virtue.”

Oddly, Wang’s younger sister helps him, because of her sweet nature—or perhaps she wants to teach the arrogant Wang about a girl’s worth. The true value of a person—character, kindness, integrity—is a common theme in this story and Cioffi brings it out quite well. She also subtly highlights the Confucian society of the time, where “respect your elders, especially males” is paramount, and the Asian ethos, in which the group is much more important than the individual. Wang, like many child heroes, rebels against his family and society to seek his own way—and learns a lesson. You have to give Wang credit for pursuing what he wants and for undertaking his perilous journey to the distant mountaintop to find the Eternals (This is what you want: you must follow through, he thinks). While Wang’s journey may seem reckless, he shows some guts and courage in leaving his family to pursue his dream.

There’s a lovely moment in which Wang’s father gently touches him and asks him to stay. It’s an understated and in-character way of showing that Wang’s father is concerned, for the first time, about his son leaving home—a deeply human emotion.  Wang does not understand until much later—he is too excited about seeing the mystical temple of the Eternals materialize after his long perilous trek.

Wang’s impressions of the temple capture my own awe whenever I visit Asian temples such as Wat Pho, Senso-Ji, Sanjusangendo, and shrines in Taiwan, even though in keeping with a fable like this, the temple’s plain exterior belies its grand interior (representing, perhaps, the richness of the Eternals’ spiritual life). Although I have never met an Eternal Master, I imagine he (she?) would be just like the one in Walking Through Walls (many of the Buddhist rimbans and reverends I’ve met have senses of humor to package their lessons). The Eternal Master is the equivalent of a magical drill sergeant—not what Wang expected. Everything about the Eternals, from their strict regimen of simple food and hard work to their habit of appearing and disappearing, confounds Wang—although he begins to understand a bit more of the world when he meets his roommate Chen and hears of Chen’s quest to help his village and rescue his sister by becoming an Eternal. Chen’s story kindles compassion in Wang’s heart, but not enough to make him gain patience. With all the magic around him, Wang is hungry to become an Eternal himself, especially after he sees the more advanced students walking through walls after a midnight feast. Is it a dream? Is it a test? Wang decides he must learn to walk through walls.

Wang endures his peculiar education for a year before deciding to leave, despite his best friend Chen’s hope of having an ally in his quest. The Eternal Master teaches him the longed-for spell of walking through walls, even though he lectures Wang about not being pure of heart or worthy of the Eternals’ great power. Of course, Wang does learn the spell—and faces a test of his character once he returns home. During that test, I bit my nails and then screamed, “Don’t do it,” when Wang was about to make the wrong choice. Cioffi makes us care about Wang in spite of, or perhaps because, of his character flaws.

In addition to the magic of the storytelling, the sense of wonder never lets up—enchanted snakes and other creatures follow Wang as he chooses his destiny, and we learn that the Eternal Master is even more extraordinary than he appears…

In addition to the story, Cioffi provides dragon lore, a brief, easily readable history (and cultural facts) of the Ming Dynasty during which the story is set, and activities and questions for young readers.

You can check out the Walking Through Walls book trailer at:

http://youtu.be/90aJO5qHHWc

~Reviewer Kristin J. Johnson

Kristin is a three-time award-winning poet and short story writer, professional writer, screenwriter, travel blogger, freelance writer, full-time ghostwriter and children's book author. Her latest book is THE HIGH-TECH GOOSENECK PUTTER, written with Samuel DiMatteo. http://www.seo-writer.com/writers/

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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 :

Joyce White Reviews Frugal and Focused Tweeting

Frugal and Focused Tweeting for Retailers:
Tweaking Your Tweets and Other Tips for Integrating Your Social Media By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Paperback: 130 pages Publisher: CreateSpace (April 1, 2010) Language: English ISBN-10: 1451546149 ISBN-13: 978-1451546149 Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches Available as paperback, e-book, and for Kindle This Book Is Sponsored by Gift Shop Magazine Blurb: "It's entirely possible that three or four years from now, we'll have moved on [to something new on the Web]. But the key elements of the Twitter platform will persevere. Every major channel of information will be Twitterfied." ~ Time Magazine

Reviewed by Joyce White originally for Amazon and Sculpting the Heart Reviews--Five Stars

“When business is slow,” says Carolyn, “the last budget one should trim is advertising.” Up until now Tweeting cost us nothing unless we become addicted. In that case, I suggest you stop tweeting if it hurts. Carolyn writes that tweeting helps us connect with our target audience in a way that delights them, builds relationships, and creates a sense of community with people of like interest.

Since I am a new author myself, and Yes, I tweet; but,

after reading this book, I realize I haven‘t been

appreciating what an exciting and versatile tool

Twitter can be in promoting my books and myself

over the internet. Carolyn reinforces the ideas that

 tweeting will help you not only drive new traffic to

 your site, but it will also help you create a loyal

 following of repeat clients . . .even help you make

new friends. I like this idea.

There are several books out there on tweeting but

 Carolyn Howard-Johnson's "Frugal and Focused

 Tweeting for Retailers" should be the one considered

 mandatory reading. For all who want to successfully

 compete in the marketplace regardless of the services

or products being offered to a consuming public, her

 books are like a congenial roadmap with all the

 shortcuts and detours to your future prosperity.

Twitter is about making new connections, says Carolyn. For retailers that means, it’s a customer-building process. We aren’t fussy about who comes into our store as long as they are reasonably well behaved. It’s the same with Twitter.

FIVE STARS FOR AMAZON

~Reviewer Joyce White writes  Sculpting the Heart Book Reviews at www.wingedforhealing.com.

Joyce White
Author
Sculpting the Heart with Art Therapy
Read Now - http://bit.ly/d1jGLN
Twitter - @wjoycewhite

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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 :

Joyce Gilmour Lauds Book Marketing Technique

Class Act: Sell More Books Through School and Library Author Appearances

By Barbara Techel

www.promoteyourbooktoschools.com

Genre: Book Marketing
ISBN: 978-0-9800052-6-4

Reviewed by Joyce Gilmour originally for Amazon

 

Class Act: Sell More Books Through School and Library Author Appearances by Barbara Techel is a fantastic resource for authors who are considering making appearances and/or selling books at schools and/or libraries. Barbara really has done a superb job of putting together everything an author would need to know in preparation for such presentations.

During this past school year, I had the pleasure of working with Barbara, to set up two Skype presentations, along with an in-person visit at our school in southern Wisconsin. I could tell that she really had her act together when it came to making sure that absolutely everything would run smoothly. After her visits, I had more positive comments than any other time we've had an author visit our school.

The book is very well organized and is set up in a logical order to help authors every step of the way. There are many helps, checklists, and resources throughout the book. Barbara also includes information from authors other than herself. The index makes it a topnotch quality, as it is so easy to go back and find a particular topic when you are in the midst of planning and need something in a hurry.

I highly recommend Barbara Techel as an author for a visit to your school and/or library, but more than that I recommend Class Act as a resource for everyone who is considering going this route as an author/speaker. After seeing Barbara Techel in action, I would say, "Read her book and take her advice. She knows what she is talking about. She truly is a class act!"

~Author Barbara Techel is an the award -winning author of Frankie the Walk ‘N Roll Dog book series and Frankie the Walk 'N Roll Coloring and Paper Doll Activity Book

Website: Joyful Paws

Email: barb@joyfulpaws.com

Invite Frankie to Skype with your classroom or library!

Follow Frankie on Facebook, Twitter, and Blog

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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 :

Compulsive Reader Reviews Expanded Second Edition of Frugal Book Promoter

The Frugal Book PromoterHow to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher
by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Second Edition
CreateSpace
Paperback: 416 pages, August 25, 2011ISBN-13: 978-1463743291

Reviewed by Magdalena Ball

It doesn't matter how many books you've published. Self-published or traditionally published, gaining publicity is always tricky, always critical, and always a moving target. If your budget is limited, it's even harder, and perhaps, even more imperative. Enter Carolyn Howard-Johnson, the queen of frugal promotion. Her frugal books are pitched at the modern writer: time poor, financially parsimonious, and publicity hungry. The Frugal Book Promoter (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) is the jewel in the crown. As with the first version, The Frugal Book Promoter is full of ideas, strategies, and tips for promoting your book cheaply, in innovative and effective ways, but it has been updated with a much greater focus on new technologies, the all-important social networks, and a range of strategies designed to help authors with less commercial offerings such as poetry and fiction.

Of course the book is rich with classic techniques too, such as media releases, query letters, and a whole fantastic chapter pulling together a media kit. There's information on using bylines, writing a biography, obtaining endorsements and blurbs, distribution of releases, obtaining reviews, tradeshows, book fairs, setting up a website, and many more 'must-do' items that have really become part and parcel of any author's promotional toolkit. Ignore this kind of stuff and unless you win some kind of book lotto, your book will almost certainly fall into the obscurity that is an ever-present risk of modern authordom. What I like best about Howard-Johnson's book is the simple, informal prose which is both warmly reassuring ('of course you can do this'), and deceptively intelligent. The reader is encouraged and reminded of his or her own innate capabilities even as they're goaded onto to raising the bar:
 

You’ve been practicing PR most of your life. Getting along with family. Impressing a new boss. You’ve been a customer and know why you like some products and businesses better than others. All it takes is some examination of the processes that influence you to get a grip on public relations—even on marketing as a whole.

The new version also contains a chapter on some of the most current topics, including information on blogging, working Amazon, using social networks, and even some common pitfalls to avoid in blogging and networking. Howard-Johnson totally practices what she preaches, so her advice comes directly from her many years of experience, and is rich with innovative ideas to minimise the time involved and maximise the input through such things as integration and cross-linking, clever use of soundbites and re-tweetable tweets, setting up a "Quotable Quotes” page on your Web site (I love that one), using RSS, and many other novel ideas. Throughout the book there are links, anecdotes, worked examples, and excellent templates including queries, a sample media release, blog entries, invitations, and even a tip sheet.
 

No, you don't really need a copy of The Frugal Book Promoter. You could hire a publicist for $100 an hour, or organise a retainer for anywhere from $1,500 to $20,000. But if you're looking to do your own publicity, or to augment your publishers and don't have the kind of budget that can support a publicist, or you simply want to do the legwork, connect with your reading public, and do your best to ensure that your wonderful work of art reaches a maximum audience, then this book is really the self-promoter's bible. You don't have to read it cover to cover, although it's certainly accessible and enjoyable enough to do so. The book is well-referenced and perfectly designed to enable the frugal author to dip in once a week and pull out a new publicity idea to try, or to use as a reference when it's time to pull together a marketing plan for your book, or at that moment when you need to write a press-release and want a template and guide, when you're looking for ideas to maximise your book signing. Whatever kind of promotions you want to do for your book, you're sure to find it in The Frugal Book Promoter. Howard-Johnson makes it all sound simple, and provides such easy instructions, that you'll want to go out straightaway and get to it. Put simply, The Frugal Book Promoter is the best guide around for create interesting, fresh, inexpensive, and relatively easy promotion for your book, whatever the genre.
 

~Magdalena Ball runs the popular review site Compulsive Reader and is an award-winning author and poet in her own right.

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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 :

Memoir/Spirtuality Reviewed

Title: Inner Pilgrimage: Ten Days to a Mindful Me
IndiaAuthor: Raji Lukkoor
Website: www.rajilukkoor.com

Publisher: Third Eye, an imprint of Pentagon Press
Genre: Memoir; spirituality
ISBN: 9788182745025
Available for Purchase at: www.printsasia.com
Price: $6.00 + s/h

Reviewed by: Dr. Sriharsha Achar, Faridabad, India, (part of the review originally posted on www.flipkart.com )

Reviewer's Rating: 5-star

Delightful reading! It took me exactly 110 minutes to complete at a leisurely pace. Superb flow, easy understanding, and a powerful message.

It was indeed a thrilling experience to go through the book Inner Pilgrimage: Ten Days to a Mindful Me by Raji Lukkoor.

The flow of thoughts, the choice of words, the lucid description of the ten-day vipassana meditation retreat – it kind of transported me into that very place where her pilgrimage and the events that followed, unfolded. I could sense the vibrations in me as I went through the chapters. Raji came to the retreat as an ordinary citizen seeking a calmer, more centered existence. Who knew that vipassana meditation could help her transform her inner chaos into an inner calm?

The articulacy is perfect. Raji sure knows how to capture the attention and imagination of her readers with her eloquence of the English language, as well as her experience of discovering the realms and rewards of vipassana meditation.

I was penning an article for my staff on Leadership and was looking for words to complete the write-up. Believe me, I found close to 200 words that I was looking for, and those very words have enriched my own thought-flow in the said article.

I look forward to the sequel of the book.

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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 :