Caffeinated Book Reviewer Had Five Cups of Coffee Over This One!

The Secret of Lies

By Barbara Forte Abate

Author's Web site: http://www.barbaraforteabate.com

Genre: Mainstream Literary Fiction

ISBN: 978-160844-418-2

Reviewed by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

The Secret of Lies, by Barbara Forte Abate

Propelled by an insurmountable sense of desperation, Stevie Burke is recklessly abandoning home, husband, and outwardly contented life under cover of night; at last resigned to defeat in her long battle against the tortured memories of her past. Days later, lost and floundering in a dreary motel room without plan or destination, it is a long ago song playing on the radio that gently tugs Stevie back through the dust of remembrance. 1957 - The last summer spent at the ancient house overlooking the North Atlantic. A season which had unfolded with abundant promise, but then spiraled horribly out of control - torn apart by a shattering tragedy that remains splintered in fragments upon her soul. And it is only now, when Stevie at last lifts her eyes to stare deep into the heart of her long sequestered memories, that the long held secrets of past and future are at last unveiled. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

The Secret of Lies by Barbara Forte Abate has to be one of the best novels I have ever had the pleasure to read. I was shocked to learn this is Abate’s first published work. Her writing style brings to mind such authors as Harper Lee and John Steinbeck. She writes with such detail, bringing images to life with the stroke of her pen. In her debut novel, she delivers a touching tale about, love, innocence, betrayal, loss and lies.

Secret of Lies reflects back on events that occurred off the Atlantic coast during the summer of 1957. The story unfolds through the voice of protagonist Stevie Burke. When the tale begins, Stevie is sneaking out of her home and leaving her husband. She is driving aimlessly and ends up in a dark musty hotel room three days later. We can tell that she is deeply troubled by something. It is here, as an Elvis song plays on the radio, that she reflects back on the summers, she and her sister spent at the shore home of their Aunt Smyrna and Uncle Cal.

Abate writes with a paint brush, bringing the seaside, storms, and fields to life. I could feel the wind and smell the sea air. She has a gift for beautifully expressing the emotions and feelings of a first kiss, a betrayal and loss. She unfolds the tale allowing the reader to put the pieces together before Stevie, giving us a sense of foreboding. While the subject matter is dark, Abate also shows us the light. We experience the joy of first love, childhood, and innocence.

Abates creates characters that you will love, pity and loathe. The character of Stevie is beautifully portrayed and you cannot help but like her. The way in which Abate shows the interaction between Stevie and her sister Eleanor reminded me of my own childhood. After the tragedy of 1957, we see firsthand how this affects Stevie. She struggles with the secrets and her memories. Years later,she meets Ash Waterman; through him she may finally find peace and happiness. I found myself rooting for this young man as he struggles to understand Stevie. The romance that develops between them is sweet, witty and romantic.

The story, the circumstances, and the impact it has on the characters is believable and touching. The events that occurred in the summer of '57 could have happened to any family. The ending is not wrapped up in a pretty little bow, but instead allows the reader to determine the outcome. While some may not like it, I feel it was appropriate. After all, life and family drama, do not come in neat little boxes.

I highly recommend this novel to everyone, but particularly those who enjoy books based on family, tragedy and human emotion. This would make a wonderful book club read. I have added Barbara Forte Abate to my list of must read authors and look forward to her next book.

I want to thank the author for providing this ARC, in exchange for my unbiased review.

I gave this book 5 coffee cups out of 5.

Buy here: B&N or here: Amazon

Author's website: Barbara Forte Abate

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Learn more about the author Barbara Forte Abate:

Award Winning Author: The Secret of Lies
http://www.barbaraforteabate.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaCPx-tKeW0&feature=channelhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Secret-of-Lies-Novel/195421757151252

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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 :

Feminist Poetry Perfect Christmas Gift for Women In Your Life

DEEPER INTO THE POND – A Celebration of Femininity

By Magdalena Ball and Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Genre: Poetry (Chapbook)
$6.95
There is still time to have a paperback delivered for Christmas at http://budurl.com/DeeperPond.
Available for Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/Deeper-into-Pond-Celebration-ebook/dp/B005G51I82/ for $2.99.
Chapbook cover by Jacquie Schmall

Reviewed by Jennifer Poulter

This is a rich tapestry of a celebration.

It opens with Carolyn’s verse and a ballad of marine exotica and moves to the name bearing poem “Narcissus Revisited” which mirrors the suffocation of ‘progress’ that gives  freedoms with one hand and takes with the other.  Here the deadly oil slick wall kills as readily as any of glass – progressive killing -

Those who feel 

new freedoms like I, some later-borns 
unaware that they are new, accept
the yellow-bright shimmer 
spread across the surface 
as if it were our doing 
or our due.

The next poem makes a nod to John Masefield’s “ Sea Fever” but taking it in role reversal  with ship at dock and the poet manning the great swooping cranes that  unload.

I want to go down to the sea at dawn 

with a lunch bucket and thermos, 
[and then]...  pull 
and push the big gear shifts to make a boom
tall as a building turn, swing down toward carloads 
of gravel, clamp chunks of whatever freighters 

I love the bittersweet of “Ariel” and its death-defying reach in to the unknowable.

You need 
the music to tell your story, 
to find it, to understand it
to know the truth,
to reach above the 
ocean's surface
where 
others 
live.

Death is horribly present in the all too revelatory “what I once would have called a little tiff”. Those of us who have lived long enough know too well of what she speaks…

            i learned 

to call a spat a spat, 
an inheritance something
more than money,
an argument, 
a fight-to-the-death.

Magdalena’s opening poem both celebrates and denounces the hippy freedom of a generation that chose to ‘love’ but not their children well.

ecretly leaning in for more
parenting I didn’t get
punishment I 
deserved
no rod spared
here
no spoiling.

“Time Out” speaks of the guilt trip that is motherhood if you are, as many creatives are, a perfectionist and time your merciless master .

I shoot a response
what now?
two bullets of frustration land in 
her timeless lap
as she slips off.

Magdalena has  written a powerfully poignant tribute to all those  frightened elderly flood victims, trapped in rising waters and psychologically unable to leave their lives behind –

You pretend 
three hundred netfriends
hold your virtual hand
take you places
that don’t involve
leaving 
home

he perpetual womb
shroud
you’ve pushed into. 

Magdalena’s  “Coming Back" ends the collection with an almost whispered reverie on love and loss in a no man’s land of guilt and recriminations –

No one dared point a finger.

We tried not to look at her but it was hard.
So we looked out of the corner of our eye when
we walked past, our heads thrown back fake
laughter all the while drawn towards the silence
of that pain the peripheral gravity that wouldn’t
let us settle into our evening of forgetting.

This collection offers the feminine take on life, love, and everything in between and does it with élan!

~Reviewer Jennifer Poulter is a member of JacketFlap , SCBWI Member, and a SCBWI representive to SWC and Stae Library of Queensland, QWC Member.

Learn more about this author of children’s literature at www.jenniferrpoulter.weebly.com. She blogs at http://jrpoulter.wordpress.com/ and
http://jrpoulter.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 :

Author and Blogger at Writers First Aid Blog Loves Second Edition

The Frugal Book Promoter
Second Edition
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Available paperback and Kindle
ISBN: 9781463743291

Reviewed by Kristi Holl originally for Writers First Aid Blog

The Frugal Book Promoter: Second Edition: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher.

I very rarely read an e-book and then buy the hard copy–but I did in this case. I have to mark it up, add my colored flags and post-its, and turn down page corners.

Why? Because it is so very full of practical, usable, frugal marketing advice. (And I mean frugal in terms of both money and your time.) I already owned the 2004 first edition, but publishing times have changed so much–and this 2011 updated version reflects that.

Why a New Edition?

We all know that book promotion (and life!) has changed since The Frugal Book Promoter was first published in 2004–particularly in ways that have to do with the Web, but in other ways, too. As an example, the publishing world in general is more open to independent publishing now than it was then. So, this update includes lots of information on ways to promote that were not around or were in their infancy a few short years ago.

So here is what is new:

• A simplified method for making social networks actually work–without spending too much time away from my writing
• How to avoid falling into some of the scam-traps for authors
• The best “old-fashioned” ways to promote–the ones I shouldn’t give up on entirely
• How to write (and publish) an award-worthy book
• How to promote your book to mobile users and others
• The pitfalls of using the Web and how to avoid them
• Unusual methods of getting reviews–even long after your book has been published

Up-to-Date

Today’s technology, social networking and marketing techniques are covered. Updated web resources abound. Advice in sync with today’s Internet are incorporated:

* Blogging tips and pitfalls
* Obtaining reviews and avoiding scams
* Finding places to pitch your book
* Using the eBook explosion to promote sales
* Using Google alerts to full advantage
* Staying on top of current trends in the publishing industry
* Writing quality query, media release letters and scripts for telephone pitches
* Putting together power point and author talk presentations

This is just a tip of the iceberg too. I highly recommend Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s updated Frugal Book Promoter. (NOTE: Be sure you get the new 2011 edition with the cover above.)

~Reviewer Kristi Holl is the author of how-to books for writers and works actively to help writers. Learn more about her and what she does at http://institutechildrenslit.net/Writers-First-Aid-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 :

Memoirist's Online Book Tour Introduces Self-Help Book

Unfinished
By Suzanne Gravelle

Category: Memoir, Self Help, Motivation

Publisher: TRUMEDIA

ISBN-10: 192700506X

ISBN-13:978-1927005064
Available at Amazon

The greatest lessons we learn are while trying to find ourselves

Author Suzanne Gravelle has announced the release of UnFinished on November 1^st, 2011. The paperback edition is the empowering first novel based on Gravelle’s discovery of life beyond the safe, comfortable, predictable world she had lived in.

“Unfinished" inspires readers to break free and create their own adventures, discover new ways to empower themselves, face their fears and find personal freedom in ways both big and small.

After enjoying a successful and rewarding life as mother and career woman for over 30 years, Suzanne Gravelle found herself at what appeared like,….suddenly turning 50, and at a crossroads: Single with grown children and unsure of her future, Suzanne did what many dream of but never do -- she simply left everything behind, went off the grid and on to an incredible journey into the great unknown.

She knew she had become exhausted, physically depressed but she refused to believe she was mentally depressed, but she finds herself mentally and physically detaching from friends, family and her daily life. So, she gave up her comfortable home and career for both outward and inner self-exploration, to just drive from the furthest point East in Canada, with no destination in mind, to wherever the winding roads would lead until she was ready to stop driving.

Suzanne’s desire for freedom motivated her: “I found myself wanting space… wide open space… and not just an afternoon drive out to the country. So, on May 29^th, 2010 I drove away from everything that was safe. After my youngest child came bounding down the stairs, suitcase in hand, rummaged through my fridge, proudly proclaiming he was moving out! That to me was a sign, it was my cue to take advantage of my adventurous gypsy mind, my warrior spirit and move out too! I always said I wanted a smaller home when my children moved out, but my truck….a little smaller than anticipated.”

“After 30 years of raising children, 98% of that as a single parent, I love my children but they are adults and are living their own lives and I was done! I was done with property tax, grass to cut, power bills, grocery shopping, etc., so I packed it all in, sold my beautiful home on five acres, resigned from a career I thought I would do for the rest of my life, kissed my children and friends good bye and not having a partner to consider, I just drove away.”

"There is death, birth, blissful moments, moments where I am almost killed, moments I did not want to wake up and cursed the light when I did, and fantastic people and places I have spent time and of course it has the pre-requisite heart break. It is emotional in many ways and hopefully inspiring. 16 months and 60,000 kilometers later, this is my story.”

About Unfinished

This is a true story of a woman who experienced such a profound awakening that she could no longer live the same way, the same life she was just one week before. She could no longer ignore the woman who was screaming to be set free from the ties that bind her to a life she no longer desired or recognized. The transformation to become the woman she really wanted to be has propelled her upon the most remarkable self-discovery journey of her life. She sold her home, gave up her career, kissed her children, grandchildren and friend’s good bye, got into her vehicle and just drove away…ALONE. Where was she going? 30,000km later she finds herself in the most unlikely place to try to piece her life together, trying to make sense of the constant feeling of being UNFINISHED. (To order your copy – http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Suzanne-Gravelle/dp/192700506X )

About Suzanne Gravelle

Suzanne Gravelle is 49 Years old and has 3 children, 2 grandchildren who live in Nova Scotia.  At the time this book goes to print she is single and homeless by choice, still travelling, seeking that place of comfort she will eventually call home.

She spent most of her life living in Nova Scotia but her formidable years aged 10-25, were spent living on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. She resigned as a Real Estate Agent in Nova Scotia, to embark upon this most incredible journey, driving, exploring Canada and writing this book. To read Suzanne’s extended bio, visit http://bookpromotionservices.com/2011/11/10/suzanne-gravelle-bio/

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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 :

Book Tour in Time to Buy Gift for Children on Your List

Bilbo's Adventures: A Christmas Wish
By Cheri and Peter John Lucking. 
Available now just in paperback and for kindle!
Web site: http://bilbosadventure.com/

Tomorrow is a Christmas gift buying extravganze for Cheri and Peter Lucking's  Bilbo's Adventures: A Christmas Wish.  It's the young readers version of the original book INDIE Excellence Award Winning Holiday Book and Literature Classics Seal of Approval: Santa & the Little Teddy Bear. Bilbo's Adventures: A Christmas Wish. Like the first version is has deep, rich colors, rhyming words, and lovely story!!! This book will light up the children's holidays. The writing style is much like the classics of Dr. Seuss.

"Back at the castle at the top of the world,
More presents were being wrapped and the candy swirled"
(First line from the book)

Bilbo The Little Teddy Bear's only wish, is to be a special Christmas present for someone. So much happens on his journey with Santa.  

Bilbo's Adventures: A Christmas Wish, Bilbo's Adventures, is a book series that encourages children to read through a magical world of color, set to tales that hop, skip and jump along in rhyme. http://bilbosadventure.com/

Bilbo's Adventures: A Christmas Wish, is the first book in the young readers series. Get ready to be dazzled; Santa's coming by! Soar with Santa and Bilbo, the little teddy bear on a quest to become a, A “Special Christmas Gift,” in this action-packed roller coaster ride. Slip slide and crash in places far beyond Woop Woop and the Black Stump. Hop, skip and bump into strange things on Christmas night. Do the bottom wobbling, leg wiggling, Cancan. Golly gosh you will be gob-smacked as you laugh, sing and dance with the reindeer. Giggle at bunyip’s, scream on a super doper zero G roller coaster ride. Slither through the steamy swamps. Stand dazzled at a million, zillion ritzy lights. See tall ships sail on Halley's Comets' turquoise seas more astonishing than you can imagine. Soar with Bilbo, Santa's little teddy bear, as he lives his wish. Culminating with a surprise that is sure to bring a tear of joy to every child. http://bilbosadventure.com/

A CHRISTMAS WISH! Has the quality of a magical Disney story! http://bit.ly/rCBypi Amazon SPECIAL DEAL TODAY - FREE gifts +bonuses

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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 :

Literary Journal Editor Reviews Poetry

Compartments: Poems on Nature, Femininity and Other Realms

By Carol Smallwood 

Paper, $15,

ISBN: 978-1-937-53600-8

146 pp, 6x9

Anaphora Literary Press  

Buy on Amazon

 

If there is one thing that vexes a woman, it is her sewing box. Carol Smallwood is the sorter, a poet who can enter a poem and untangle thread.

 

"The Sewing Box" is only one example of how Carol uses language and listing to empty and separate the compartments of our lives. Paying attention to detail she enters myth and the mundane with the same eye. Echoing in Carol's poem, We Are Told, is "It is Beauty alone that remained in Pandora's Box when she opened it-not Hope as we are told."

 

Both poet and practitioner of this understanding, Carol relocates a spider from a gas station to Queen Anne's lace in her backyard, considers ants and their inherent sense to venture out of their home, takes the risk of comparing the tiny creatures to Lewis and Clark and ventures herself into topics that question our femininity. She pushes back, wags her finger at women concerned with Avon or who have masked their voice as a man, revisits her childhood centering on women's ability to gang up on one another, and enters the house behind the "white picket fence." She flips our trained understanding of violence on women towards an understanding that cancer is just as violent. She never ceases to remind us of the ugliness that pervades society that keeps us from loving our neighbor and even seeps into our relationships with family. In A Need to Know Basis she puts a spotlight on our human instinct to look away.

 

Carol can envy and love what is wild. She can shed light on what is cultivated and domestic where there is rain and gray sky. She does not disappoint and will keep your ear tuned to what is outside your window and what enters.

~Reviewer Dr. Christine Redman-Waldemeyer is founder and editor of Adanna Literary Journal and author of two books of poetry with Muse-Pie Press.

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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 :

World War II Fiction Praised by Author/Reviewer

A Spent Bullet: Louisiana 1941

Author: Curt Iles
Publisher: WestBow Books, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4497-2234-0
Author's website: http://www.creekbank.net
Genre: Mainstream Fiction

Reviewed by Jan Rider Newman for The New Book Review

A Spent Bullet: Louisiana 1941, like the eight books preceding it, tells a tale of the Louisiana Piney Woods. This is a section of the state little written about. It isn’t anywhere near the glamorous big city of New Orleans. The Piney Woods borders Texas north of the Louisiana Gulf Coast. It’s called the Piney Woods for the obvious reason.

This area became familiar to lots of Army soldiers in the past and even today. Fort Polk used to be Camp Polk, and in the years leading up to the Second World War, there were other Army camps scattered through Louisiana. In the summer of 1941 many soldiers from all over the U.S. found themselves in Louisiana on maneuvers led by the likes of Eisenhower and Patton.

A Spent Bullet tells the story of Harry Miller, a private from Milwaukee. Harry hates Louisiana—the bugs, the heat, the dust that so quickly turns to impassable mud during the rainy seasons. Harry’s past holds a painful secret involving the death of his sister and alienation from his parents. He’s so bitter, he even thinks he hates Louisiana girls until his buddies play a trick on him and prove him wrong.

One day, Elizabeth Reed, a pretty young school teacher with her own painful past, stands alongside a dusty road waiting for a convoy of soldiers to drive past. In those days soldiers used to write their names, addresses, and "Write to me" on scraps of paper and stuff them into spent cartridges. These were tossed to girls they saw along the roads. One such cartridge lands at Elizabeth’s feet. She ignores it, but her little brother Ben picks it up and takes it to their grandmother. What happens after that is some gentle conniving and serendipity.

Iles has a good ear for dialogue and old-fashioned country sayings. His descriptions evoke not only 1941 Louisiana, but the nation as it spoke and thought and lived at that time. Although his work is based on a lively faith, he isn’t afraid to take on issues such as racial prejudice, alcohol abuse and out-of-wedlock pregnancy. His characters are earthy but spirit-filled. They are generally a pleasure to get to know.

Those readers who enjoy an abundance of local color will revel in A Spent Bullet. I found it a very pleasant and interesting read and enjoyed the development of Elizabeth’s and Harry’s characters and their relationship. I did get impatient with the local color aspect. In my opinion, a little goes a long way. “Every tub sits on its own bottom” got a few too many mentions in A Spent Bullet. But Iles’s books are very popular, so obviously there’s room for disagreement on that point.

I also thought the scene in which Elizabeth discusses her past with Harry fell a little flat. For its time, hers was a big secret. After exploring how Elizabeth dealt with her mistakes and her grief, I’d have liked to see more of Harry’s reaction and how he worked through the news—not that I wanted him to react in any other way than he did. But could he really not struggle even a little?

I recommend this novel of faith, love, forgiveness and redemption, especially to those who also like historical fiction and fiction set during or around the time of World War II. The era, which saw many changes in every way of life, lends itself to drama and soul-searching.

~Reviewer Jan Rider Newman has published short stories, poetry, nonfiction, and book reviews in Louisiana Literature, the New Orleans Review, Oasis Journal, LitStack, and others. She edits Swamp Lily Review: An Online Journal of Louisiana Literature & Arts (http://swamplily.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 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 :