The New Book Review

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Review Blogger Reviews Paranormal Thriller

Shadowed,
by Ken Hughes
Author's Web site: www.kenhughesauthor.com
Genre: paranormal thriller
Print ISBN: 978-0-9850484-0-2
E-book ISBN: 978-0-9850484-1-9

Review by Charlene Mabie-Gamble originally for Literary R&R
Description:

Paul lives in hiding, struggling to control preternatural senses no secret is safe from and certain that nobody suspects he exists. He searches the city for answers, using his power and a few self-taught tricks to outwit those who have something to hide and still he cannot remember what drove him away from the people he loved. And now Paul must risk everything to protect the family he left, make peace with a woman he's wronged and face enemies more ruthless than his worst fears, to at last learn what has transformed his life. Because the one person who knows, is the one who did it to him.

Charlene's Review:

Paul has some unusual abilities that have led to him becoming estranged from his family, friends, and most of the world. He stalks through the days searching for the cause of his abilities, as well as trying to right the wrongs of the world. When he finds out his family is in danger, he reconnects with them, rather cautiously, and through a series of events, faces the one who he believes is responsible for changing his life.

This was an amazing suspense tale. The focus on the book is Paul, a victim of a mysterious transformation that allows him to use his five senses in ways unheard of before. Despite being an unwilling victim, he does his best to bust corruption around him, and to protect his family.

Before I realized it, I had read the book through in one evening. The degree with which this novel moves will completely sweep you in. Paul is a very complex character as he struggles to understand what happened to him, and how much of the consequences is his fault. Facing unknown forces, betrayals, and even risk of death, Paul begins to piece together his past, and to hopefully, right the future.

There are a lot of twists and turns, dead-ends, and suspense, all the way to the final page. It is left wide open for a sequel, that I hope to be just as riveting.

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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.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Spanish and English Book Teaches About Squiggly Things and More

Title: She Doesn't Want the Worms - Ella no quiere los gusano

Author: Karl Beckstrand

Illustrator: David Hollenbach

LCCN: 2010910827

BISAC:JUV002140, JUV019000, JUV020000, JUV028000, JNF020010, JUV054000·Soft cover picture Book: 24 pages, 8"x 10"

Suggested List Price: $3.25 ebook, $14.95 retail

Publisher: Premio Publishing & Gozo Books (June 2011) Premiobooks.com

Languages: English, Spanish, or bilingual

ISBN bilingual:978-0-9776065-2-8, Engl: 978-0615492780, Span: 978-0977606573, eBiling: 978-1452485263, eSpan: 978-1452471020

Awards: Top 10 "Best Books" of 2011:

"She will not clutch, nor even touch, the bumblebee I gave her. The fly, she hates (but tolerates it ... like a sour neighbor)." This striking bilingual exploration of a little girl's aversion to all things wiggly works effortlessly on every level. Operating as a Spanish and/or English rhyming and grammar lesson--plus a humorous, yet gross, index of bugs, including beetles, salamanders, moths, and spiders, among others--and presenting museum-quality, collage-like artwork, this title raises the bar for all children's picture books. Ages two and up. - ForeWord Reviews Aug. 2011

Activities include: Counting/finding, pronunciation guide for trying out the names of creepy crawlies in Spanish and English. For Ages 3+

More About the Author: Karl Beckstrand works with the Utah

Humanities Council "Author on Main Street" (bilingual lecturer). Learn more about him at KarlBeckstrand.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 :

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Young Adult Reviewer Attacks Long List of "Best Books"

Title- Anna And The French Kiss

Author- Stephanie Perkins
Genre- YA
ISBN- 0142419400

Reviewed by Stacy Bernstein originally for her blog Longtime Love of Literature

Anna And The French Kiss- By Stephanie Perkins

#53- ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS

Rating- 9/10

Every book that I read throughout this, I think to myself... "this is the best one yet!" and again, this book made me think that. I'm having a hard time not rating every single book a 10/10 so I'm trying to reserve those for books I consider life-changing... not to say this book was incredible and very very good, it just didn't change my life like the other "10" books have.

That being said, Anna And The French Kiss is a story about a girl named Anna (who would have guessed!) a girl from Atlanta Georgia, whose father writes cliche love novels (think Nicholas Sparks, but 10x as corny) and decides that Anna should go to a prestigious school... in Paris!

Now for very American Anna this is a big shock, and although she is grateful for the opportunity, at first all she can think about is how much she misses home. Her first night at school she is crying into her pillow when the girl who lives in the dorm next to her, named Meredith, comes and knocks on the door and offers her hot chocolate. Anna happily accepts, and is glad to receive an invitation to eat breakfast with her the next day.

At breakfast, Anna meets Meredith's other friends, Rashmi, Josh, and Etienne St. Clair, she also has a wakeup call when the entire menu is in French, a language that she doesn't speak a single word of. To her relief St. Clair (a very adorable, English, Parisian, and very sexy boy) helps Anna order breakfast.

As expected the signs point to a romance blossoming for St. Clair and Anna, until she finds out that he has a girlfriend. So she decides that she will simply be friends with him... can I just say, YEAH RIGHT?! Everyone knows that simply being friends doesn't always work out like that, and Anna finds this out the hard way.

Throughout ups and downs of a friendship that is begging to be more Anna enjoys her year at boarding school, while finding out who she can be when she is given the chance to do things on her own.

I think that the biggest perk for me about this book was how realistic it felt. When Anna was expressing her emotions I honestly wondered whether this author had read my brain, taken my thoughts, and then written them into this book. I felt her love, her anger, her complete confusion over this boy who supposedly loved her but also loved someone else. I just wanted to rip this girl from the pages of the book and ask her some advice.

She said one thing that really made me connect to her as a character, she thinks that being with a guy is a special thing. She says that if the worst were to happen and she would to get knocked up by someone, would she be embarrassed to tell the child that he was their father? If the answer is anywhere close to a yes, then she wont have sex with him. This is something that I respect so much coming from a character in a book because it goes against the stereotypical generation that we live in that's so quick to give away every piece of themselves.

Also as a side note, the complete descriptions of Paris made me want to visit it even more so than I would have before. The descriptions of the crepes, can I say yum? Also somewhat ironic/coincidental Anna writes her own blog on movies that she watches, somewhat like this project of mine writing a blog on books I read. Even more so why I felt she was so relatable to me.

“Why is it that the right people never wind up together? Why are people so afraid to leave a relationship, even if they know it's a bad one?”

From the reviewer:

I'm Stacy Bernstein, just a semi-typical girl from California who was looking for a challenge one day and came across an article on twitter surveying the best-ever teen books as voted in 2012 by a survey conducted by National Public Radio and responded to by 75,220 voters. I decided to make it my mission to complete reading all of these books in a one year period (completing them in August of 2013) I will continue reading and rating the books on my blog [http://longtimeloverofliterature.blogspot.com/] for others to hopefully share the knowledge and joy of these books as well. The book reviewed today was number 53.

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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.

Monday, January 7, 2013

Reviewer Calls Novel Universally Appealing

Deception Peak
By Dianne Lynn Gardner
Author's Web site: http://dragontargeseries.blogspot.com/
Genre: MG/YA adventure fantasy
ISBN: 978-0615679709

Reviewed by Daniel Cann originally for The Independent Review UK

Dianne Lynn Gardner has written a ‘rites-of-passage’ YA fantasy novel with Deception Peak. This is a ripping yarn in the tradition of all heroic quest tales. We have an unlikely (and initially) unwilling hero, a father-son relationship, and a vivid, exciting new world to explore.

The synopsis of this universally appealing adventure is:

“The first book of a trilogy, Deception Peak is a young adult adventure fantasy about a teenager, Ian Wilson, who follows his father through a portal that magically appears on their computer screen. They travel into a deceptively beautiful Realm, where horses run free, the wind sings prophetic melodies, and their computer avatars come to life.

But when the two are separated, Ian is abducted by a tribe of dragon worshippers and is forced to find his courage. As he struggles for his freedom and embarks on a perilous search to find his father, Ian meets the true peacekeepers of the Realm. It's then that he learns there is a greater purpose for being there.”

What I liked about this were the characters of Ian and Alex Wilson. Ian is a young lad who is a bit of a daydreamer and an aspiring artist. There is nothing particularly remarkable about him, and he therefore has an ‘everyman’ quality about him which readers of all ages will find easy in relating to.

His father, Alex, is a different proposition: recently widowed, he is struggling to come to terms with the loss of his beloved wife and the pressures of being a single parent.

Technically gifted and practical, Alex hunts, fishes and works at a foundry. He is also an adept computer game programmer and designer. He is currently obsessed with a new game he has created and is in danger of literally losing himself in this new cyber world.

The theme of fathers and sons has been explored before, but Gardner has created a believable relationship and skilfully weaves it into her plot.

The dangers of finding solace in gaming and a fantasy world are very real twenty first century concerns which are adeptly explored here. Unfortunately, for out two protagonists, this world is a little too immersive!

I thoroughly enjoyed the scenes with horse riding, exploration and adventure in a new landscape. This world’s features include: plains, prairies, woodland, wilderness, mountains, wild boar, wolves, pumas and dragons!

Whilst Alex is in his element in this new world, poor Ian is completely out of his comfort zone. The ‘fish out of water’ adverb is very apt for his situation. He would much rather be at home in the company of his school friend Abbi and enjoying his creature comforts.

Here he finds himself tested against the elements and suffering the hardships of this organic and challenging world. He goes through the mill in his quest to be reunited with his father. Ian is a long way from his native Seattle!

Gardner’s prose is very descriptive: the sights, sounds and smells of the Realm are brought vividly to life; it was easy to picture it. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about a reluctant hero finding resolve and reserves of courage in testing circumstances. The value of friends and family, being able to survive in hostile surroundings, becoming self-reliant, are all excellent themes for children to learn.

It is also important to note that with a title like Deception Peak you should expect plenty of mind games, trickery, and sorcery! This one is a winner; look out for the sequel soon.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

First in Christian Series Given Thumbs Up

Operation Dark Angel

By Pam Funke

Available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00949V7KK

Christian Fiction

ISBN-13: 978-1462662883

Reviewed by Melanie for her Melanies Random Thoughts blog

Book Description: The world is in complete and utter chaos. ""Operation Dark Angel"" is a military operation designed to bring about world peace...or is it? General Alexander Ludlow is the man in charge of bringing about peace and serenity for not only the United States, but the entire world. But will it really bring an end to the turmoil, violence, and hatred as he was told by the voice? Who is the voice? What is its true nature? Nicolaitanes Balac is quickly gaining political power; power that no single man should ever be given. Just who is Nicolaitanes Balac really? Why is the whole world looking to this man to solve all of their problems? How did one man become in charge of the entire world? What's to become of mankind?

*e-book courtesy of the author in exchange for an honest review

Operation Dark Angel starts really strong : a voice prophesied the birth of a boy through immaculate conception. The boy, Nicolaitanes Balac, is now an adult in search of world domination. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants. "Operation Dark Angel" is creating havoc all around the world. Terrorism attacks are wiping out thousands of the world's population. Nicolaitanes sits back and waits for his chance to be seen as the saviour of mankind. He may be more evil than it seems. In the meantime, good can still be found in the world. People are reuniting trying to fight Operation Dark Angel. What will become of the world? How evil is Nicolaitanes Balac? Will Operation Dark Angel be stopped before it's too late? Well, you will have to pick up the book to find out the answer to these questions and a lot more.

Operation Dark Angel is the first book in the Four Horsemen Series. Pam Funke did an incredible job writing her debut novel. It is an exciting read that will keep you on the edge of your seat and dying to find out what will happen next. It can be terrifying at times to read about the evil going on throughout the world and how parts of the world are being destroyed in a blink of an eye.

A few things kept me from giving this book a rating of five stars. First, Operation Dark Angel has a lot of characters. It was hard for me to keep up with all of them. I found the switch from one character to another quite confusing at times but I have to say I really enjoyed how some characters crossed each other's path.

The Four Horsemen series is off to an amazing start. The series promises to be a thrilling read.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Review Blogger Jonathan Wlodarski Loves Funny Memoir

Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Author: Jenny Lawson

http://thebloggess.com/
Genre: Humor/memoir
ISBN 978-0399159015
Rated 5/5

Originally reviewed by Jonathan Wlodarski for his Jonathan Likes Books blog

"I am not particularly a fan of the humor book genre. I am frequently confused by them: are they essays? Are they memoirs? I have a difficult time understanding their purpose and function. I don't know whether to laugh or try to glean a life-lesson or some deep emotion from the book. There is, of course, the chance that the humor book won't be funny, in which case it has failed at its most basic goal (my experience with David Sedaris has left me wanting).

I read Bossypants earlier this year and, though I liked it, I found myself occasionally disappointed. The material wasn't too consistent and at times veered from the completely humorous to the overly sentimental. Jenny Lawson's memoir, fortunately, never once failed to make me laugh aloud (I measure consistency as at least one laugh per chapter/essay/whatever the heck the sections of a nonfiction humor book are called).

Let's Pretend This Never Happened is an exercise in sustaining a zany, breathless deluge of comedy, and it succeeds perfectly. Which is no small feat: Lawson commands humor even in the darkest of situations (namely, a chapter devoted to her pregnancy horrors and several instances where her overpowering social anxiety disorder causes a disaster). There are true moments of genuine emotion that the reader feels alongside the author, sadness and happiness and success and failure, feelings that never cover everything in a suffocating blanket of forced importance.

It is, of course, important that these moments of non-humor appear in the book; without some heavy anchors, the book will appear over-the-top; humorous, but not memorable. There is an almost impossible-to-achieve balance between humor and seriousness in writing a book like this, but Jenny Lawson tightrope walks it like she's been doing it her whole life (which, I suspect, she has).

I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. It is so funny in every way that I can imagine: sarcastically, genuinely, darkly, cutely, relatably hilarious.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Amazon Reviewer Recommends American Novel

Title: Beauty Rising

Author: Mark W. Sasse
Genre: Literary Fiction/General Fiction
Publisher: Kindle Direct Publishing
ASIN: B00AIOYC1G
Purchase at : http://www.amazon.com/Beauty-Rising-ebook/dp/B00AIOYC1G/ref=cm_cr-mr-img
Author's Website: http://mwsasse.wordpress.com/

Review by Richie Morrison: (Amazon Reviewer)

I highly recommend Mark's book Beauty Rising. It is definitely a page-turner that I had a hard time putting down and wanted more when it ended. Mark does an excellent job of creating characters that are real and endearing. He led me through a range of emotions and had me laughing at times from my own memories of Vietnam and being the `fat' foreigner. Anyone who has been to Vietnam will have to chuckle as Mark vividly describes the mannerisms of the Vietnamese people. I especially enjoyed the taxi driver Tan. In the character Tan, Mark really captures the spirit of a majority of Vietnamese people, fun, loving, and always willing to help the `foreigner.'

In addition, Mark addresses many underlying, and darker, issues many Nam vets and their families faced after returning home. Through his novel, I believe people will come away with a deeper understanding of some of the emotional and generational issues that the Vietnam War has caused in America. He also sprinkles in some interesting history that has tied Vietnam and America together long before the Vietnam War began.

Finally, I believe that Mark has written an American novel that captures the flow and feel of a traditional Vietnamese poem or book. Anyone who has read the famous Vietnamese poem `The Tale of Kieu' cannot help but see its influence in Mark's 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.

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