Reviewer Lauds Author's Debut Thriller

Title: The Gizeh Scrolls

Author: Charles Yockelson

Author's Web-site Link: http://www.wix.com/charlieyo/gizeh1

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

ISBN: 9781475173451

Reviewed by Eve Anderson originally for Amazon

Reviewer's Rating: 5 stars

Charles Yockelson has produced an excellently crafted storyline of international intrigue mixed with historic content. I was not expecting such a page turner plot and, once started, I could not stop reading the book. His descriptions of historic landmarks in many countries are so well constructed that you feel as if you are walking alongside the book's characters and experiencing the same breezes and seeing the same views as they.

The book was obviously very well researched and the author intertwined fact and fiction so well that the telling of the story could easily be mistaken for nonfiction instead of a novel.

It is hard to believe this is Yockelson's first book. I sincerely hope there are more to come.

----- 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 :

Yvonne Perry's Consciousness Tour Stops at New Book Review

Title: Shifting into Purer Consciousness

Subtitle: Integrating Spiritual Transformation with the Human Experience

Author: Yvonne Perry
Author's Web site:http://shiftingintopurerconsciousness.com.

ISBN-13: 978-0-9825722-9-0

Publisher: Write On!, May 2012

Reviewer: Carl David  (Philadelphia, PA USA) May 11, 2012

If you only read one book in your search for answers as to who we are, why we are here and where we are going, then this is your guide to the Universe. This work is the ultimate handbook to life as it spells out very clearly all aspects of life as we know it and what lies beyond as the evolution of our soul’s progress. Every question is addressed in detail leaving no stone unturned. The ascension has begun and we are all in it together. The end of the world is mere fearmongering out of ignorance and ego. We are on the edge of a magnificent energy increase as the Universe graces us with its benevolence. Fabulous events for humanity are in the works like never before.

If you are fortunate enough to get a copy of this incredible compendium of knowledge you will never look at life in the same way. You will have a sense of peace without worry. No longer will fear of the unknown be part of your vision, you will embrace the present and the future as they merge tenses before your very eyes. Any and all of your questions will gain clarity as we move together into the tide of rising consciousness.

Yvonne has done it again with this extraordinary book of knowledge which she so freely imparts to us. I have had the distinct pleasure of reading Yvonne's other books and like the others, this one is a jewel! My best advice, get it now; don't wait another minute. You will never regret it.

Today is the first day of Yvonne’s tour! Tomorrow the tour will be at Jacqueline Stone’s blog, On the Journey and I invite you to visit that site to learn more about the spiritual transition we are currently in. See the full tour schedule at http://dld.bz/byrF7 .

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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 :

New E-Book Helps Authors Shoot Their Books to Amazon Bestseller Lists

Amazon Categories Create Best Sellers: But That's Not All They Do by Aggie Villanueva
ISBN 13: 978-0-9825914-4-4

Genre: Non-fiction, How-to
Category: Writing, Publishing
Author's Web site
Purchase Link
Book Trailer
Press Page
E-Book

This book was an immediate bestseller in multiple categories and that status for the first seven  weeks of publication, which attests to the effectiveness of this book.

Synopsis:

This e-book is the most comprehensive help you'll find in using the simple techniques offered through Amazon's category choices, leading to your book to not only become a category bestseller but also make many of Amazon's other top-100 lists.

Further, this book discusses background Amazon strategies and controversy affecting authors while attempting to understand and utilize it on many levels. A fellow author's probe into the machinations of Amazon's mega-publicity engine. It attempts to understand Amazon Book Store's multi-leveled promotional core with no legal lingo, no geek speak."

Amazon created an ingenious marketing engine that drills through several layers of free and automated publicity, each layer completely unique, and each layer reaching millions of readers every minute of every day.

They have wisely structured their site for auto-promotion, promotion and more promotion applied to each book without bias. But few authors are aware of the tendrils of opportunity extending from your sales page to your target audience. And those lead to more and those lead to more and...

Even lesser known is that it all starts with categories.

Categories are the inverted pyramid point from which nearly every top-100 list is drawn. Mess up your categories and you'll never rank in most of Amazon's lists, including bestselling.

What people are saying:

"This book is a little jewel. Aggie Villanueva changes your perspective of Amazon from that of an online book store to that of an author publicity machine. Amazon.com like its namesake - is a large, unfathomable, murky river with many secrets and many treasures. This book shines a light on one such secret - using the categories function on Amazon to create best sellers. This little book is essential reading for authors ... even those who hate Amazon!"
Vikram Narayan, CEO BookBuzzr.com.

“I’ve been in the kindle ebook publishing game for a number of years now, have learned a lot, but after reading this Kindle book, it made me realize there is still tons of stuff I don’t know – and need to know. I also already had a basic understanding about Amazon categories – but Villanueva has obviously been combing through Amazons methods and policies – analyzing everything in critical detail, and what she has discovered is significant and important.”
Ken Korczak, Reviewer.

About the Author:

Aggie Villanueva  is a Bestselling, Award-winning Author & Marketing Specialist, and owner of Promotion a la Carte author marketing services. She also owns My Book Marketing Systems where authors get their mobile app affordably.

Aggie Villanueva 575.268.6095 aggie@promotionalacarte.com Skype: myaggie2
Promotion a la Carte, Promotional Menu of Choice: Promoting Authors & Celebrating Books

My Book Marketing Systems: Learn why you need your own author app
SUBSCRIBE TO LEARN ALL ABOUT BOOK PROMOTION & OUR PROMOTIONAL SERVICES

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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 :

A Gift for Mother and Other Women In Your Life

She Wore Emerald Then
Subtitle: Reflections on Motherhood
By Magdalena Ball and Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Photography by May Lattanzio
Number one in the Celebration Series of chapbooks
Author's Web site: www.howtodoitfrugally.com/poetry_books.htm
Amazon Link: www.budurl.com/motherchapbook
ISBN: 978-1438263793
Also available for Kindle


Reviewed originally for Amazon by Zoe Potok, Czech Republic

REVIEW

She Wore Emerald Then

I read this collection of thirty poems slowly, allowing myself only a few at a time usually before I went to bed. The poems deserve such an approach, they need to settle in the mind and soul, to be savoured like a good wine.

The description (on the Amazon.com site only) says "Moods of Motherhood" but it is more than that. At its heart it is about a grown-up child reflecting on the elderly and dying mother and on earlier days when the mother was the strong adult and other. Maybe it is because I am at that stage of life (with a grown-up son and a frail mother) that the poems meant so much to me. The description also suggests that it would make the ideal Mother's Day gift, I'm not so sure about that, I certainly wouldn't give it to my mother, too close to home.

The two poets come at the subject from different points: Magdalena Ball talks about the cosmos before focusing in on the personal with her late poems, Carolyn Howard-Johnson starts with and continues with the personal. And it is the personal that catches the reader in the throat:

We all forget names, I say as numb

moves from hand to heart

because it is my name she has forgotten.

~More on the reviewer: Zoe Brooks (Potok) is a poet and writer. She is the author of Fool’s Paradise a long poem for voices http://www.amazon.com/Fools-Paradise-ebook/dp/B0087EB5KA/

She blogs at http://zoebrooks.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 :

Poetry Market Ezine Reviewer Weighs in on Chapbook

LIBRETTI LUMI
By Roy Anthony Shabla
poetry
ISBN: 978-1-105-18751-3
royanthonyshabla.com
http://royanthonyshabla.com/books.html


Review by LB Sedlacek, originally for the  "The Poetry Market Ezine" - March 2012


Roy Anthony Shabla gets an "A" in visual
presentation for his new poetry book,
"Libretti Lumi." Even the envelope it
arrived in had a poem by Shabla stamped
on the outside -- a clever way to further
share his poetry.

"Libretti Luma" is divided into two sections:
"Air Play" "Cantata Aria" and "Word Play"
"lingua recitativa." Poems aren't titled --
they are numbered making the book more like
how an epic poem might be presented.

Poem III in the "Air Play" section is a
wonderful and somewhat playful romp through
the ups and downs of love in a relationship.
It explores appreciation of the earth, sky,
the breeze, etc. "Air Play" contains
grounded poems that reach into the
every day but also encompass the universe.

Poem IV in the "Word Play" section deals
with the end of everything: "the city is
gone./Maybe it never existed./the streets
go nowhere,/come from nowhere,/are nowhere./
the buildings are merely a trick of the light,/
a glimmer in the wasteland ...." In this
same poem, though, Shabla still presents a
glimmer of hope including lines such as
"I sing./I sing./O you may not think of
my song as singing,/but I sing ..." and
"I love you/you know this/I do not think."

The last poem (V in the "Word Play"
section) is a fitting end to the book:
"We say words/to each other//we say them/
like they mean something...."

There is an overall sense of sureness and
calmness in the poems presented in this
book. The subjects and symbollism are
sharp, but yet they exude a relaxed state.
I'm glad I opened the cover and dived on
in -- this is a poetry book I would read
again and again.
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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 :

Medical Fiction From India Grabs New Book Review Spotlight

Title: Mahashweta

Author: Sudha Murthy.

Genre: Indian fiction, medical fiction.

Originally published at  Book Reviews Galore

Step into the world of leukoderma and understand it complexity, problem and the various Indian superstitions revolving around it. Before you groan and go away, let me tell you that this isn't a book a la 'Emperor Of Maladies'(though I am told it is a fascinating book) but rather a fictional story of the struggles that a woman suffering leukoderma faces. 'Mahashweta' by Sudha Murthy, from the synopsis at the back and the glittering praise from well established newspapers, promises to be a unique read that delves into the suffering of a disease that afflicts many but doesn't find its way in the stories. Unfortunately, the novel fails to live up to those promises for which there are many reasons to which we will get back to later on.

'Mahashweta' is aptly dedicated to women suffering from leukoderma and urges them to fight and not be oppressed by their disease. The story begins on a congratulatory note with the birth of a girl child which is a means to establish the single status of Dr. Anand-the successful, handsome and rich doctor- who helped give birth to the baby girl. Later while at his work, Anand is coaxed into buying a Rs. 1000 ticker for a play he has no idea about by the 'incomparable' Anupama. The play is a love story between Mahashweta and Pundalik and is part of the book 'Kadambari' written by Bhana Bhatta. Anupama plays the heroine and as expected Dr. Anand is mesmerized by her beauty and acting skills. After a few irrelevant incidents, they both get married(how predictable!) despite the difference in their economic status. It is only after marriage that Anupama develops a white patch and it begins to spread despite her clandestine treatment. When her mother-in-law realises this, all hell breaks loose. She accuses Anupama of having tricked her son into marrying him and begins to consider her inauspicious because of leukoderma. She eventually returns to her father's house, disgraced. Her evil stepmother's taunts and ill treatment just worsens the situation. To top it all, Dr. Anand- being a doctor at least should know that leukoderma is nothing but a disease and not something that turns a person inauspicious-also does not support Anupama and abandons her when she needed him the most. Anupama, however, does not let the circumstances get the better of her. She bravely decides to go to Mumbai, away from her callous family and in-laws, to eke out a living and carve a place of her own free from any pain, stigma and stereotypes. She is quite successful is achieving her dreams and standing proudly on her own two feet.

'Mahashweta' is a conventional story of the suffering bravely overcoming their difficult trials and tribulations. The only redeeming aspect of the story comes at the end when Anupama decides to remain her own master and be economically independent rather than being bound by someone else's rules and regulations. Other than this, the novel as a whole is marred by a fragmented narrative, dollops of stereotypes, amateurish writing, no smooth narration and a very soap operatic treatment of the entire story. In fact, I wouldn't be wrong in saying that 'Mahashweta' is a soap opera in prose style as it has all the prerequisites of one-the constant preoccupation with marriage, the evil mother-in-law and sister-in-law twist, the evil stepmother convention, the too good to be true daughter-in-law who suffers silently, the narrow minded and religious focus of the story at time and the list is endless.

While Sudha Murthy does take up a relatively lesser known disease to tell her story, she does not break any new ground on it as the entire novel is steeped in too many stereotypes particularly about girls and marriage. For eg, on the first page itself, the nurse who assisted in the birth of the girl ponders over how the female child is stronger at birth than the male but later on becomes the one who suffers. The nurse attributes this as being 'a fact of life' which is not really true because being feminine or masculine is not a fact of life but rather a cultural construct. The system of patriarchy conditions women to expect suffering in their life. Anything that is exploited or oppressed is associated with the female sex. For eg. it is 'mother' earth and never 'father' earth. The novel is replete with such redundant stereotypes. Murthy may have wished to challenge them but she does not do a good job as she merely states them with no attempts at challenging them much like any commonplace Indian soap opera.

Moreover,her writing does not have the emotional depth that is perhaps required in such a sensitive story. Most of her attempts at philosophy(through Anupama) are also blunt and shallow.

Although, 'Mahashweta' educates the reader about leukoderma and the debilitating superstitions that even 'educated' Indians follow, the novel becomes a drag to read. It reveals the hypocrisy of the Indian society in their attitudes to leukoderma but does not do so in a profound, erudite and personal manner.

Final Verdict: It is best to skip 'Mahashweta' altogether. If you really want to know more about leukoderma, then contact you nearest dermatologist. Or if you don't have the time, then just click here to know more!

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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 :

Sigmarie Soto Reviews Thriller

Title: Q: Awakening
Author: G.M. Lawrence
Author's Website: http://www.gmlawrence.com/
Genre: Fiction/Philo-Thriller
ISBN: 9781935142539
Variance Publishing

Reviewed by Sigmarie Soto originally for ZiggySoto

 
G.M. Lawrence’s career as an author can only excel from here given the sophistication of his first novel. Q: Awakening focuses on the quest of conflicted hero, Dr. Declan Stewart, in not only searching for an ancient manuscript (“quelles”), a lost gospel believed to be written by Christ, but also regaining his faith in people and God after years of hiding.


The writing in Q: Awakening is elegant and clever, providing multiple layers and insight into a variety of complex cultural, political, and religious components. While this is an action-packed, save-the-world adventure, there is significantly more depth due to the philosophical aspects and the conflicts among and within the characters as well as the motives driving each of them. And all of this can draw a variety of audiences ranging from diehard adventure/thriller fans to those interested in modern philosophical fiction.


The read is captivating and enjoyably consuming in everything from character development to the vivid settings covering anything from New Zealand to the deserts of Saudi Arabia. While most plots have one villain, Q: Awakening has multiple villains with multiple agendas. Some want to profit from Q while others want to destroy it.



Beyond struggling with accepting that Q is his destiny and obsession, Declan is also interesting because of his struggle with moving forward after already having lost so much during his prior search for Q. As with any good and believable hero, Declan is flawed and even mysterious. His constantly weighed conscience forces him to accept his mission despite the fact he insists he doesn’t believe it is the salvation of the human race.


The quality of writing and imagination mixed with the detail and realness of the characters and places is quite refreshing. Since Q: Awakening is the first in Lawrence’s trilogy, the remaining novels have quite a bit to live up to as well as a lot of questions to answer. Given the complexity and adventure in this novel, a screen adaptation would also be successful and well-received.


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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 :