The New Book Review

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Blogger Lauds Book of Spirituality

Title: Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life

Author: Karina Fabian and Deacon Steve Lumbert
Category: Christian, devotionals, spirituality
ISBN: 9780982256534
Available from: Publisher (Tribute Books)

or Amazon or other online dealersFor More Info: http://whygodmatters.com
Amazon link: http://amzn.to/dI7jbp

Reviewd by Kathleen's Catholic originally for her blog.

Why God Matters shows us how a typical life is a doorway to Our Christ and Savior.

I promise you, it won't take much of your time to read Why God Matters, but your reward will be special. As you read Karina's and Deacon's stories, you will nod your head as you recount your own, then realize, "Ah, yes, there was Christ."

If you are feeling a little distant from God, if you think your days are filled with too many mundane tasks, or if you wonder if God is watching over you, here is a helping hand.

With a title like Why God Matters, one would expect a tome of theology and doctrine. But fear not. Karina Lumbert Fabian (a revert) and her father, Deacon Steven Lumbert (a convert) are average, every day people who discover the simple beauty of the Catholic Church and the Faith and how they are drawn to live in its midst. There are no miracles depicted here--well, perhaps I should say here are the type of miracles that come upon us gradually, most times without being noticed. This is what I would call "how grace drizzles in." No thunder and blinding lights, just ordinarly people with typical experiences our Lord hands us daily.

Small and written in quick passages, this handbook of faith can go anywhere and read at anytime you have a spare moment. Or, if you'd like, it's just as useful for deep contemplation, with the inclusion of scripture and quotes from saints and famous catechists, as well as various selections from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Perhaps take Why God Matters with you to visit our Lord at the tabernacle or at Adoration.

There is an image I like to keep in mind: When a little bird is thirsty, he dips his beak into water, then lifts his face toward Heaven to let the nourishment seep in. So, we too can do the same--take tiny bits of our Lord's wisdom, then turn our face to Heaven to let His nourishment fill us.

I promise you, it won't take much of your time to read Why God Matters, but your reward will be special. As you read, Karina's and Deacon's stories, you will nod your head as you recount your own, then realize, "Ah, yes, there was Christ."

The back of the book includes useful materials, such as: a list of further reading (including websites as well as books), the Anima Christi prayer, the Prayer of St. Francis, and Deacon Steve's Prayer for Enlightenment.
Why God Matters has received the seal of approval from The Catholic Writers’ Guild.

Author bios:

Deacon Steve Lumbert and Karina Fabian are father and daughter who came to their faith in different ways. Karina was raised in it, while Steve discovered his calling later in life. Steve is a Deacon and parish administrator in Pueblo, CO. Karina is a writer, military wife, and mother of four.

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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, May 4, 2012

Reviewer Suggests Private Place to Read Where You Can Laugh Out Loud

Title: Magic, Mensa and Mayhem
Author: Karina Fabian Category: Fantasy, Humor
ISBN:978-1-934041-78-9

Reviewed by Kat Heckenbach originally for http://fantasynovels.wmart.org/fantasynovels/1956-magic-mensa-mayhem.html

Magic, Mensa, and Mayhem is a very appropriate title for Karina Fabian’s book, released just a few months ago from Swimming Kangaroo Books. I can think of a few more “M” words to go with it, too…mystery, music, mischief, muscle, maudlin…

Unfortunately, “merriment” is the only “M” word I can find that relates to humor, and that just doesn’t cut it. I need a word that means “hilariously funny, you will laugh out loud, do not eat or drink while reading or you’ll end up snorting said refreshments all over your book.”

This is the premier novel featuring Karina’s character, Vern, the dragon private investigator who knows not only how to save the universe, but is quite adept at properly-placed puns. Stick him in the middle of a Mensa convention…throw in a few long-winded Elves, a Norwegian she-ra, and a couple of dysfunctional dwarves….

I loved reading this book. It brought to mind the old Xanth novels by Piers Anthony–with some overlapping terms, like non-faerie humans being called “mundanes” (oh, look, another “m” word!), to the locale of the story being Florida. And of course the puns, which flow from Karina–I mean Vern–with such ease and Grace (Vern’s partner).

There were several instances that just had me rolling, but my favorite part, being a native Floridian, was the end scene in chapter fifteen. I won’t ruin it by telling you about it, but sheeeew-dang, if Karina ain’t nevah been to Flor’da and heard fer herself the ol’ suthunahs talk, she shore does have a good mind fer guessin’….

Ah, the point? Get the book. Read it. Someplace where you can laugh out loud.

Author bio:

Karina Fabian writes award-winning science fiction and fantasy that twist clichés and combines the heavy with the lighthearted. Find all her books at http://fabianspace.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 :

Monday, April 30, 2012

Marketing for Writers Book Gets 5-Star Review from Veteran Reviewer

The Frugal Book Promoter

Subtitle: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Author's Web site: www.howtodoitfrugally.com
Genre: Nonfiction/How-to/Business/Book Marketing/ Book Promotion/PR
Available paperback/Kindle www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo

Reviewed by Robert Medak

The Frugal Book Promoter is a book every author needs in their library for consultation when promoting their book without spending every dime in their piggy bank.

This copy of The Frugal Book Promoter is a revised and expanded work by Carolyn that tells it like it is as only she can.

This reviewer read and reviewed the original copy of The Frugal Book Promoter, but his copy holds even more information than the original with links to more information, people you might want to contact for help with book covers and marketing your book, which authors need to take on in today’s publishing environment.

It is a sad fact, that publishers are not what they used to be as far as publicity and marketing for your book. More responsibility rests on the shoulders of authors for getting out and making your book sell. The more you can do on your own will save you money, which most authors do not have for hiring a publicist or marketer. It is now up to the author to learn how to do this.

Yes, authors are no longer just authors. They are authors, salespersons, marketers, publicists, and anything else to get their book into the hands of readers.

In The Frugal Book Promoter, authors will find frugal ways to market and promote their books.

Authors need to add The Frugal Book Promoter to their required reference books in writer’s library.

This reviewer highly recommends The Frugal Book Promoter as a must read for anyone thinking of writing a book and getting it into the hands of readers.

The Frugal Book Promoter receives a five out of five star rating from this reviewer who is adding it to other reference books in his library.

~Robert Medak, Freelance Writer/Editor/Reviewer/Marketer

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Mother's Day Poetry Just Add a Rose

"She Wore Emerald Then"
Reflections on Mothers and Motherhood
by Magdelena Ball and
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Photography by May Lattanzio
ISBN 9781438263793
Copyright 2008
Available as an e-book. .
Learn more on the author's Web site.
Award of Excelence from Military Writers Society of America

Review by LB Sedlacek
This poetry book is split into two
sections: "The Genetic Code" (Ball)
and "Dandelions in Autumn" (Howard-
Johnson) with each section title
page perfectly accompanied by one
of Lattanzio's pictures.

In "Coil of Life," Ball punctuates
her "The Genetic Code" section with
a jolting look at creation. "Take a
single cell/tinier than the tip of a
pencil/in its nucleus the DNA blueprint/
six billion pairs of nucleotides." The
poem continues further on with "Binary
fission/mitosis and cytokinesis/the
cervix thins and dilates/the dreaming
and waking cerebral cortex/already
perfect signals uterine contractions/
the Big Bang." Each poem weaves vivid
layers (somewhat of a verbal voltage)
of life and existence. From "The
Fading": "eyelids closed tightly
against life/you create your own
shadow/the steel bars/of your deviant
past/shatter the illusion of freedom."
Ball writes with a punch -- you won't
fast forget her words.

The "Dandelions in Autumn" section
(Howard-Johnson) is more focused
on the later years of motherhood
and/or mothers themselves. In
"Mother and Daughter, The Thing I
Learned from Depends and Other Events,"
Howard-Johnson's poem deals with a
daughter taking care of an elderly
mother "... she cannot find/her words,
or the beans/on her plate. Now merely
a leafhusk,/I cannot find the strength/
to place her head upon a pillow.//I
pre-order stew with chunks/chopped to
the size of peas." Each poem seems to
pull from days gone by capturing a
daughter's journey from child to
caretaker of one's mother. The
visuals - "offers us her favorite
dish, whipped/cream, crusted Heath
bars, melted/Marshmallows (without
the rum Mother/would have added)"
from "Across the Hall from Mother" -
are stunning and leverage accordingly
within each line.

Lattanzio's pictures add a blast of
scenic flavor to the book. They
are chosen and placed at just the
right spots.

"She Wore Emerald Then" is a
tribute to mothers everywhere.

_____________________________________________

L.B. Sedlacek's poems have most recently
appeared in "Ginosko," "Pure Francis," and
"Testing the Waters" poetry anthology.
L.B.'s latest chapbook is "I Am My
Neighborhood Watch."
http://wordpress.lbsedlacek.com
www.lbsedlacek.com
Twitter: @lbsedlacek

This review first appeared in The Poetry Market Ezine: Each monthly issue features poetry markets and poetry contests plus news and a review of a poetry book or chapbook. Free to subscribe. To subscribe, send any email to poetrymarket -subscribe@yahoogroups.com
or log onto http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Poetrymarket/join For general information visit our website at www.thepoetrymarket.com
or email tpme @thepoetrymarket

Thursday, April 12, 2012

K. M. Weiland Reviews Little Booklet on Editing and Wordtrippers

Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips

The Ultimate Frugal Booklet for Avloiding Word Trippers and Crafting Gatekeeper-Perfect Copy

Author: Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Genre: Nonfiction for Writers/Editing/Grammar

ISBN: 9781450507653

Available on Amazon in paperback or for Kindle

Paper: $6.95, Kindle $2.99

Reviewed by K. M. Weiland

Carolyn Howard-Johnson is well known among writers for her helpful book The Frugal Book Promoter, and she continues to encourage and guide writers through her many other projects, including this fast read (56 pages), which she advertises as a supplement to her book The Frugal Book Editor. After opening with an intro, reminding authors of the importance of crossing our T’s and dotting our I’s in both our queries and our published works, she launches into the meat of the book: page after page of handy references for spotting and fixing tricky word pairs.

Organized alphabetically with word pairs separated by slashes (e.g., “bereft / bereaved”), the book makes it easy to look up definitions and identify which word should be used in specific circumstances. Although the book’s diminutive length prevents it from anywhere close to exhaustive, it’s a good starting place and can easily be backed up with the more complete list in The Frugal Book Editor.

Priced reasonably (especially the Kindle version) and packed with lots of writerly wit and humor, the book makes for both an enjoyable read and a worthwhile reference manual.

K.M. Weiland is the author of the historical western A Man Called Outlaw and the medieval epic Behold the Dawn. She enjoys mentoring other authors through her writing tips, her book Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success, and her instructional CD Conquering Writer’s Block and Summoning Inspiration.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Celebrate Earth Day. Give a Book to a Kid

Because Kathy Stemke is an author who has written about Earth Day for Children, I asked her to share with my New Book Review Readers. Her essay will be interesting to all. Her book will be the perfect gift for any child who is destined to grow up in this world. Keep scrolling for ways to celebrate Earth Day and ways to share with a child.

The History of Earth Day

By Kathy Stemke, author of Trouble on Earth Day

The height of hippie and flower-child culture in the United States, 1970 brought the death of Jimi Hendrix, the last Beatles album, and Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. Protest was the order of the day, but saving the planet was not the cause. War raged in Vietnam, and students nationwide increasingly opposed it.

At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity.

The idea of Earth Day came to the founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California.

Senator Gaylord Nelson said, “At a conference in Seattle in September 1969, I announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and invited everyone to participate. The wire services carried the story from coast to coast. The response was electric. It took off like gangbusters. Telegrams, letters, and telephone inquiries poured in from all across the country. The American people finally had a forum to express its concern about what was happening to the land, rivers, lakes, and air - and they did so with spectacular exuberance.”

As a result, on the 22nd of April, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.

Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.

In time, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It also prompted President Bill Clinton to award Senator Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1995) -- the highest honor given to civilians in the United States -- for his role as Earth Day founder.

With Earth Day Approaching on April 22nd it's time to focus on educating our children about conservation. Troubleon Earth Day would be a great resource for this purpose and a super addition to any school or home library.

Learning how each of us can take steps to protect our environment is important for children and adults alike. It will take all our efforts to help improve the environment for a healthier tomorrow. Trouble on Earth Day is a great start for children.

Here’s an excerpt from the resource section
of Trouble on Earth Day:

A-Z Let’s Go Green

Arrange a wildlife refuge in your backyard with a birdbath, nest building project, bird feeder, and plants that attract birds and other animals.

Bicycle instead of using a car.

Create posters about caring for the earth.

Don’t leave water running when brushing your teeth or bathing.

Eat organic foods.

Feed the birds.

Grow a flower or vegetable garden.

Hold on to your helium balloons that can hurt animals when they fall to the ground.

Insulate near doors and windows.

Join with your friends to clean up the neighborhood.

Keep stuff in a box until you can reuse it.

Light your home with compact fluorescent bulbs.

Make scratchpads with old paper.

Nurture the soil with coffee grinds, eggshells and other compost.

Omit aerosols because they damage the ozone layer.

Plant a tree.

Quit wasting food.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

Stop throwing out old toys. Donate them instead.

Turn off the lights.

Use paper on both sides.

Visit a recycling center to see all the things that can be recycled.

Write a letter to the newspaper encouraging your neighbors to recycle.

eXercise your body while collecting tin cans.

Yell, “I love the Earth!”

Zero in on helping the earth!

Trouble on Earth Day is available at a discounted price on my blog: http://educationtipster.blogspot.com and through Amazon, B & N, and other online stores.

Sh Sh Sh Let the Baby Sleep is available through the publisher, http://guardianangelpublishing.com/shshsh.htm and through Amazon, B & N, and other online stores.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Waiting for Next Three-Way Collision of Hammett, Tolkien, and Chesterton

Title: Magic, Mensa and Mayhem

Author: Karina Fabian

Category: Fantasy, Humor

ISBN:978-1-934041-78-9

Available from: Swimming Kangaroo

Reviewed by Walt Staples orignally for Fantasy Novels

This author is as funny as Robert Asprin on one of his good days. Who else could come up with a twelve foot Sam Spade named Vern and get away with it so brilliantly? His partner is no Miles Archer; Sister Grace is a lot sharper, more honest, and carries a mean tune. Her shootout with a muse during a con panel is priceless.

Fabian’s take on elves is a good corrective to the near adoration of some portrayals. And, who knew elvish names could be so much fun when translated into English?

The only problem is going to be waiting for the next instalment of this three-way collision of Hammett, Tolkien, and Chesterton.

Author bio:

Karina Fabian writes award-winning science fiction and fantasy that twist clichés and combines the heavy with the lighthearted. Find all her books at http://fabianspace.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 :

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